quote · Legacy record
What is life?—like a flower, with the bane in its bosom, To-day, full of promise, to-morrow it dies! And health like the dewdrop that hung on its blossom, Survives but a night, and exhales to the skies: How oft ’neath the bud that is brightest and fairest, The seeds of the canker in embryo lurk! How oft at the root of the flower that is rarest, Secure in its ambush the worm is at work!
What is life?—like a flower, with the bane in its bosom, To-day, full of promise, to-morrow it dies! And health like the dewdrop that hung on its blossom, Survives but a night, and exhales to the skies: How oft ’neath the bud that is brightest and fairest, The seeds of the canker in embryo lurk! How oft at the root of the flower that is rarest, Secure in its ambush the worm is at work!
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
- Dr. W. Beattie (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 285 · printed citation: Dr. W. Beattie · subject: HEALTH
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.