quote · Legacy record
Man’s soul immortal is; whilst here they live, The purest minds for perfect knowledge strive; Which is the knowledge of that glorious God, From whom all life proceeds: in this abode Of flesh, the soul can never reach so high, So reason tells us. If the soul then die, When from the body’s bonds she takes her flight, Her unfulfilled desire is frustrate quite, And so bestowed in vain! It follows then, The best desires, unto the best of men, The Great Creator did in vain dispense, Or else the soul must live when gone from hence, And if it live after the body fall, What reason proves that it must die at all?
Man’s soul immortal is; whilst here they live, The purest minds for perfect knowledge strive; Which is the knowledge of that glorious God, From whom all life proceeds: in this abode Of flesh, the soul can never reach so high, So reason tells us. If the soul then die, When from the body’s bonds she takes her flight, Her unfulfilled desire is frustrate quite, And so bestowed in vain! It follows then, The best desires, unto the best of men, The Great Creator did in vain dispense, Or else the soul must live when gone from hence, And if it live after the body fall, What reason proves that it must die at all?
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
- Thomas May (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 319 · printed citation: Thomas May · subject: IMMORTALITY
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.