The Works of William Cowper Comprising his poems, correspondence, and translations. With a life of the author, by the editor, Robert Southey |
 | II. |
| III. |
| IV. |
| V. |
| VI. |
| VII. |
 | VIII. |
[Mortals! around your destined heads] |
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| IX. |
| X. |
| XI, XII. |
| XIII, XIV. |
| XV. |
 | The Works of William Cowper |  |
[Mortals! around your destined heads]
Mortals! around your destined heads
Thick fly the shafts of Death,
And lo! the savage spoiler spreads
A thousand toils beneath.
Thick fly the shafts of Death,
And lo! the savage spoiler spreads
A thousand toils beneath.
In vain we trifle with our fate,
Try every art in vain;
At best we but prolong the date,
And lengthen out our pain.
Try every art in vain;
At best we but prolong the date,
And lengthen out our pain.
12
Fondly we think all danger fled,
For Death is ever nigh;
Outstrips our unavailing speed,
Or meets us as we fly.
For Death is ever nigh;
Outstrips our unavailing speed,
Or meets us as we fly.
Thus the wreck'd mariner may strive
Some desert shore to gain,
Secure of life, if he survive
The fury of the main.
Some desert shore to gain,
Secure of life, if he survive
The fury of the main.
But there, to famine doom'd a prey,
Finds the mistaken wretch
He but escaped the troubled sea,
To perish on the beach.
Finds the mistaken wretch
He but escaped 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 unprepared
To meet the fatal blow!
Our frailty from the foe,
Lord, let me live not unprepared
To meet the fatal blow!
| The Works of William Cowper | |