quote · Legacy record
Ah, what is Life! a dream within a dream; A pilgrimage from peril rarely free; A bark that sails upon a changing sea, Now sunshine and now storm; a mountain stream Heard, but scarce seen ere to the dark deep gone; A wild star blazing with unsteady beam, Yet for a season fair to look upon. Life is an infant on Affection’s knee, A youth now full of hope and transient glee, In manhood’s peerless noon, now bright, anon A time-worn ruin silvered o’er with years. Life is a race where slippery steeps arise, Where discontent and sorrow are the prize, And where the goal appears the grave is won.
Ah, what is Life! a dream within a dream; A pilgrimage from peril rarely free; A bark that sails upon a changing sea, Now sunshine and now storm; a mountain stream Heard, but scarce seen ere to the dark deep gone; A wild star blazing with unsteady beam, Yet for a season fair to look upon. Life is an infant on Affection’s knee, A youth now full of hope and transient glee, In manhood’s peerless noon, now bright, anon A time-worn ruin silvered o’er with years. Life is a race where slippery steeps arise, Where discontent and sorrow are the prize, And where the goal appears the grave is won.
In print by 1888 AD · industrial
Recorded in a printed collection by this date; the original date of these words is still unknown.
Meaning not yet available
An individual explanation has not yet been added. We do not substitute a generic description for an interpretation of these particular words.
Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- E. Moxon (identity unresolved)
Attribution: unknown - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- In print by 1888 AD · industrial
In print by 1888: recorded in A Cyclopædia of Sacred Poetical Quotations (catalogued1888). Collection publication is an upper bound for this wording, not its earliest origin, composition date or the author's lifetime.
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- A Cyclopædia of Sacred Poetical Quotations (catalogued1888) (1888 AD)
Page 357 · printed citation: E. Moxon · subject: LIFE
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.