quote · Legacy record
They eat Their daily bread, and draw the breath of Heaven Without or thought or thanks; Heaven’s roof, to them, Is but a painted ceiling hung with lamps, No more, that lights them to their purposes. They wander loose about; they nothing see, Themselves except, and creatures like themselves, Short-lived, short-sighted, impotent to save. So on their dissolute spirits, soon or late, Destruction cometh, like an armed man, Or like a dream of murder in the night, Withering their mortal faculties, and breaking The bones of all their pride.
They eat Their daily bread, and draw the breath of Heaven Without or thought or thanks; Heaven’s roof, to them, Is but a painted ceiling hung with lamps, No more, that lights them to their purposes. They wander loose about; they nothing see, Themselves except, and creatures like themselves, Short-lived, short-sighted, impotent to save. So on their dissolute spirits, soon or late, Destruction cometh, like an armed man, Or like a dream of murder in the night, Withering their mortal faculties, and breaking The bones of all their pride.
Approximate author period: c. 1804 AD · industrial
Meaning not yet available
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Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Charles Lamb
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Approximate author period: c. 1804 AD · industrial
author lifetime midpoint (1775–1834)
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 40 · printed citation: Charles Lamb · subject: ATHEISM
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