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On HUMAN LIFE.
 
 
 
 
 


198

On HUMAN LIFE.

Mortals! around your destin'd heads,
Thick fly the shafts of death;
And, lo! the savage spoiler spreads
A thousand toils beneath.
In vain we trifle with our fate,
Try ev'ry art in vain;
At best we but prolong the date,
And lengthen out our pain.
Fondly we think all danger fled,
For death is ever nigh;
Outstrips our unavailing speed,
Or meets us as we fly.
Thus the wreck'd mariner may strive,
Some desart shore to gain,
Secure of life if he survive
The fury of the main.

199

But here, to famine doom'd a prey,
The poor mistaken wretch,
Finds he has 'scap'd the troubled sea,
To perish on the beach.
Since then, in vain, we strive to guard
Our frailty from the foe,
Lord, let me live, not unprepar'd
To meet the fatal blow.