Sic Vita

Henry King 1592 (Worminghall, Buckinghamshire) – 1669 (Chichester)



Like to the falling of a star,
Or as the flights of eagles are,
Or like the fresh spring's gaudy hue,
Or silver drops of morning dew,
Or like a wind that chafes the flood,
Or bubbles which on water stood:
Even such is man, whose borrowed light
Is straight called in, and paid to night.
The wind blows out, the bubble dies;
The spring entombed in autumn lies;
The dew dries up, the star is shot;
The flight is past, and man forgot.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 24, 2023

26 sec read
400

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABBCDEEFFGG
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 438
Words 86
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 12

Henry King

Henry King was an English poet who served as Bishop of Chichester. more…

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