So fair is man, that death (a parting blast) Blasts his fair flower, and makes him earth at last;

So strong is man, that with a gasping breath, He totters and bequeaths his strength to death;

So wise is man, that if with death he strive,
His wisdom cannot teach him how to live;
So rich is man, that (all his debts being
paid)

"O Man, what art thou?" what more could I

say

Than, Dust and clay ?

Frail, mortal, fading, a mere puff, a blast,
That cannot last;

Enthroned to-day, to-morrow in an urn;
Formed from that earth to which I must return.
HEYWOOD.

Man hath his daily work of body or mind
Appointed, which declares his dignity,
And the regard of Heaven on all his ways;
While other animals unactive range,
And of their doings God takes no account.
MILTON.

Men are but children of a larger growth; Our appetites are apt to change as theirs, And full as craving too, and full as vain. DRYDEN.

Man walks in a vain show;
They know, yet will not know;
Sit still when they should go;

But run for shadows:
While they might taste and know
The living streams that flow,
And crop the flowers that grow
In Christ's sweet meadows.
RICHARD BAXTER.

O what is man, great Maker of mankind,
That thou to him so great respect dost bear,
That thou adorn'st him with so bright a mind,
Mak'st him a king, and even an angel's peer?
O what a lively life, what heavenly power,
What spreading virtue, what a sparkling fire!
How great, how plentiful, how rich a dower
Dost thou within this dying flesh inspire!
SIR JOHN DAVIES.

heart of man.

With holy nuptials, when they are Made out of equal parts

COWPER.

MARRIAGE.

Hail, wedded love, mysterious law, true source
Of human offspring, sole propriety
In Paradise of all things common else!

MILTON.

Across the threshold led, And every tear kissed off as soon as shed, His house she enters, there to be a light Shining within, when all without is night; A guardian angel o'er his life presiding, Doubling his pleasure, and his cares dividing! ROGERS.

Not for herself was woman first create, Nor yet to be man's idol, but his mate. MRS. NORTON.