University of Virginia Library

On Man's frailty.

Short as this Hour, and brittle as that Glass

Short as this Hour, and brittle as that Glass, is Life, whose cares those sands in number pass: If with this present Hour those cares conclude, turn but the Glass, and they are all renew'd: Those sands not much exceed a handful, yet each minute brings a load of griefs with it: Oh! how unhappy is the Reck'ning then betwixt the Sorrow and the Hours of Men? But when Death finds fit time with his pale dart to break Lifes thin walls, and transpeirce the Heart; this Care-stuff'd carcase, in the grave being thrust,

will moulder, and become a heap of dust. Study this Embleme, and that lets thee see what now thou art, and shalt hereafter be.