quote · Legacy record
What well-devised ear regards What earth can say? Thy words are gold, but thy regards Are painted clay: Thy cunning can but pack the cards, Thou canst not play: Thy game at weakest, still thou vy’st: If seen and then revy’d, deny’st; Thou art not what thou seem’st false world, thou ly’st. Thy tinsel bosom seems a mint Of new coined treasure: A paradise that hath no stint, No change, no measure, A painted cask, but nothing in it, Nor wealth, nor pleasure, Vain earth! that falsely thus comply’st With man; vain man! that thou rely’st On earth; vain man, thou dot’st, vain earth, thou ly’st. What mean dull souls, in this high measure To haberdash In earth’s bare wares, whose greatest treasure Is drop and trash? The height of whose enchanting pleasure Is but a flash? Are these the goods that thou supply’st Us mortals with? Are these the highest? Can these bring cordial peace! vain world thou ly’st.
What well-devised ear regards What earth can say? Thy words are gold, but thy regards Are painted clay: Thy cunning can but pack the cards, Thou canst not play: Thy game at weakest, still thou vy’st: If seen and then revy’d, deny’st; Thou art not what thou seem’st false world, thou ly’st. Thy tinsel bosom seems a mint Of new coined treasure: A paradise that hath no stint, No change, no measure, A painted cask, but nothing in it, Nor wealth, nor pleasure, Vain earth! that falsely thus comply’st With man; vain man! that thou rely’st On earth; vain man, thou dot’st, vain earth, thou ly’st. What mean dull souls, in this high measure To haberdash In earth’s bare wares, whose greatest treasure Is drop and trash? The height of whose enchanting pleasure Is but a flash? Are these the goods that thou supply’st Us mortals with? Are these the highest? Can these bring cordial peace! vain world thou ly’st.
Approximate author period: c. 1618 AD · renaissance
Meaning not yet available
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Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Francis Quarles
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Approximate author period: c. 1618 AD · renaissance
author lifetime midpoint (1592–1644)
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 633 · printed citation: Francis Quarles · subject: VANITY
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.