quote · Legacy record
O, how portentous is prosperity! How, comet-like, it threatens while it shines! Few years but yield us proof of Death’s ambition To cull his victims from the fairest fold, And sheathe his shafts in all the pride of life. When flooded with abundance, purpled o’er With recent honour, bloomed with every bliss, Set up in ostentation, made the gaze, The gaudy centre of the public eye; When fortune thus has tossed her child in air, Snatched from the covert of an humble state, How often have I seen him dropt at once, Our morning’s envy, and our evening’s sigh! As if her bounties were the signal given, The flowery wreath to mark the sacrifice, And call Death’s arrows on the destined prey.
O, how portentous is prosperity! How, comet-like, it threatens while it shines! Few years but yield us proof of Death’s ambition To cull his victims from the fairest fold, And sheathe his shafts in all the pride of life. When flooded with abundance, purpled o’er With recent honour, bloomed with every bliss, Set up in ostentation, made the gaze, The gaudy centre of the public eye; When fortune thus has tossed her child in air, Snatched from the covert of an humble state, How often have I seen him dropt at once, Our morning’s envy, and our evening’s sigh! As if her bounties were the signal given, The flowery wreath to mark the sacrifice, And call Death’s arrows on the destined prey.
In print by 1888 AD · industrial
Recorded in a printed collection by this date; the original date of these words is still unknown.
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- Author or tradition
- Young (identity unresolved)
Attribution: unknown - Country attributed
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- 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 470 · printed citation: Young · subject: PROSPERITY
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.