”WHAT is our life? A play of passion,
Our mirth the music of division,
Our mothers’ wombs the tiring-houses be,
”Where we are dressed for this short comedy,
Heaven the judicious sharp spectator is,
That sits and marks still who doth act amiss.
Our graves that hide us from the searching sun
Are like drawn curtains when the play is done.
Thus march we, playing, to our latest rest.
Only we die in earnest, that’s no jest.”
SIR WALTER RALEIGH (1554-1618)
I love Sir Walter Raleigh‘s poems, it’s poignant, somewhat melancholic but true. He hits the cord in the right places for me, and in a way, I want to be reminded of my fallibility, hence, my love for this morbid poem (so says my friend) Life is deceitfully short but our footsteps can still lead to great things if we so wish! My only prayer is, may generations yet unborn, write our stories well.
Have a great week ahead!
Much love, always.
🙂
Seyi Sandra David 
Reblogged this on aspen54.
Thanks for the Reblog, I appreciate it!
Much love. 🙂
Raleigh starts with pre-birth and ends with the grave. That wise philosopher John Lennon said, “Life is what happens while we’re making other plans.” Always loved that. All the space between the past we too often regret, and a dimly lit future wich we focus on too firmly, missing the bits in between. Loved this poem, from an explorer of the outer world, yet.
Later…
“Life is what happens while we’re making other plans.” Always loved that. ”All the space between the past we too often regret, and a dimly lit future wich we focus on too firmly, missing the bits in between.” You’ve said it all dear friend!
Great ! Keep living the in-between parts – I’ll carry on with the same – and we’ll probably run across each other somewhere in there.
Later…
I’m sure of that and I’ll be glad when we do!
Much love. 🙂
This poem is kinda morbid, but very true. We do miss so much of our lives, looking back, looking forward, waiting, sleeping and wishing. We need to praise Him while we wait! Good post!
Yes it is, and you said it right, ”We need to praise Him while we wait!” I appreciate your visit and comment!
Blessings. 🙂
Great poem – and your follow-up comment I would say “right my words” so much agree with you…. 🙂
Thank you dear friend, you’re too kind!
🙂
In my opinion, the poem is realistic, not morbid in any sense… Sir Walter Raleigh just lays the truth bare, it’s just the way it is. Thanks for sharing all the same.
Christy Nelson
Thanks for your visit and comment Christy!
🙂
Yes, there is more to him that the potato. 😉
He he heee! Yes there is Ben!!!! 🙂
Amen to the last line of your post. This poem is strikingly true and reminiscent of life’s stages and what lies thereafter.
I pray that our children will pick up from where we have stopped and consolidate on it. That will definitely be a plus to mankind.
Love the pic used for this post.
Thanks Uzoma, I echo your words, ”I pray that our children will pick up from where we have stopped and consolidate on it. That will definitely be a plus to mankind.” I’m grateful for your comment, will head over to yours now for my dose of that thrilling story of yours! 🙂 🙂
Your analysis of the poem, in my eyes, is equally as brilliant as the poem. While it may be morbid, knowing we have short lives can motivate us to attain great things! Love you.
Thank you Christy, that poem summarised our existence, from birth to the grave, I’m glad you like it!
Much love dear friend. 🙂
profound words 🙂
Fantastic words and timeless sentiments, love this post, there is a theme of life is a play going on around WordPress recently…I love how everyone synchronises their posts yet independently. Today life is wonderful.
“. . . so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 5:21
In Romans 5:12-21, Paul “is not saying merely that we have life for a time, after which life ends in death; nor is he aiming to explain the fact of such death. . . . What he is saying is rather that all that we call life . . . lies under the dominion of death. . . . Death rules supreme in this world. . . .” But since the resurrection of Christ “the new aeon has become actual fact in our world. Christ stands at the frontier between the two ages, outdating the old and blazing the way for the new. . . . In the new aeon, which burst upon man with the resurrection of Christ, life has come to dominion still more mightily.”
Anders Nygren, Commentary on Romans, pages 22-23.
This life we live is not life. This life is a living death. This whole world is ruins brilliantly disguised as elegance. Christ alone is life. Christ has come, bringing his life into the wreckage called us. He has opened up, even in these ruins, the frontier of a new world where grace reigns. He is not on a mission to help us improve our lives here. He is on a mission to create a new universe, where grace reigns in life. He is that massive, that majestic, that decisive, that critical and towering and triumphant.
We don’t “apply this to our lives.” It’s too big for that. But we worship him. And we boast in the hope of living forever with him in his new death-free world of grace.
Hello Barb,
Thanks for your insightful comment, it was such a blessing to read and I wish the peace and grace of God would continually rest on you mightily!!
I truly appreciate your visit!
Much love. 🙂