The dream of a shadow of smoke



"So is every man. he is born in vanity and sin. he comes into the world like

Morning

Mushrooms, soon thrustling up their heads into the air, and conversing with

Their

Kindred of the same production, and as soon as they turn to dust and

Forgetfulness,

Some of them without any other interest in the affairs of the world, but that

They

Made their parents a little glad and very sorrowful..."



Ashes to ashes, dust to dust



"Others ride longer in the storm, maybe until seven years of vanity be expired

And

Then, preadventure, the sun shines hot upon their heads, and they fall into the

Shades below, into the cover of death and darkness and the grave to hide them.

But

If the bubble stands the shock of a bigger drop, and outlives the chance of a

Child

Or a careless nurse, or drowning in a pail of water, or being overlaid by a

Sleepy

Servant, or such little accidents, then the young man dances like a bubble,

Empty

And gay, and shines like a dove's neck, or the image of a rainbow, which has no

Substance, and whose very imagery and colours are fantastical. And so he dances

Out

The gaiety of his youth, and is all the while in a storm, and endures only

Because

He is not knocked on the head by a drop of bigger pain, or crushed by the

Pressure

Of a load of undigested meat, or quenched by the disorder of an ill-placed

Humour



Homer calls man a leaf, the smallest;

Pindar calls him the dream of a shadow, another, the dream of a shadow of smoke;

But St. James spake, by a more excellent spirit, saying our life is but a

Vapour,

That is to say, drawn from the air by a celestial influence, made of smoke and

The

Lighter parts of water, tossed by the wind and moved by the motion of a superior

Body, without virtue in itself and lifted up on high or left below, according as

It

Pleases the demands of its foster fathers..."



Ashes to ashes, dust to dust



In my mind is the sound

Of rudderless ships

A time, and a time

And a time

And a time

So much silence

Deafens our ears

So much emptiness

Hinders our movements

Lost in the earth

And lost in the air

Around my hollow globe

Broken feathers

Blocking my words

And the no-one speaks

Oh no-one moves

Broken in snow

The sun bares teeth

So one: i shall build a boat

Two: i shall not fly a flag

Three, three, three:

God's three functions

So three: i shall cross myself

Four: and hope to die