quote · Legacy record
These hairs of age are messengers, Which bid me fast, repent, and pray; They be of death the harbingers, That doth prepare and dress the way; Wherefore, I joy that you may see Upon my head such hairs to be. They be the lines that lead the length How far my race was for to run; They say my youth is fled with strength, And how old age is well begun; The which I feel, and you may see Such lines upon my head to be. They be the strings of sober sound, Whose music is harmonical; Their tunes declare a time from ground I came, and bow thereto I shall; Wherefore I love, that you may see Upon my head such hairs to be. God grant to those that white hairs have, No worse them take than I have meant; That after they be laid in grave, Their souls may joy, their lives well spent; God grant, likewise, that you may see Upon my head such hairs to be.
These hairs of age are messengers, Which bid me fast, repent, and pray; They be of death the harbingers, That doth prepare and dress the way; Wherefore, I joy that you may see Upon my head such hairs to be. They be the lines that lead the length How far my race was for to run; They say my youth is fled with strength, And how old age is well begun; The which I feel, and you may see Such lines upon my head to be. They be the strings of sober sound, Whose music is harmonical; Their tunes declare a time from ground I came, and bow thereto I shall; Wherefore I love, that you may see Upon my head such hairs to be. God grant to those that white hairs have, No worse them take than I have meant; That after they be laid in grave, Their souls may joy, their lives well spent; God grant, likewise, that you may see Upon my head such hairs to be.
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
- Lord Vaux (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 281 · printed citation: Lord Vaux · subject: HEAD
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.