Edward Farr, ed. Select Poetry of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth. 1845. The Vncertayntie of Lyfe LXX. Barnaby Googe
NO 1 vayner thing ther can be found Amyd this vale of stryfe, As auncient men report haue made, Then trust vncertayne lyfe. This trwe we dayly fynde 5 By proofes of many yeares, And many tymes the trothe is tryed By losse of frendly feares. Hope whoso lyst in lyfe, Hath but vncertayne stay; 10 As tayle of ele, that harder held Doth sooner slyde away. When least we thynk thereof, Most neare approacheth it; And sodaynly possess the place 15 Wher lyfe before did sytt. How many haue byn seen In helth to go to rest; And yet, eare mornying tyde, haue ben With cruell death opprest! 20 How many in their meales Haue ioyfully been sett, That sodaynly in all theyr feasts Hath yealded earth theyr dett! Syth thus the lyfe is nought 25 That in this world we trust; And that for all the pompe and pryde The bodie tournes to dust; Hope for the lyfe aboue, Which far surmounteth all: 30 With vertuous mind await the time When God for vs doth call.
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