Thus life doth vanish as this how is gone,
Said I. That sacred nymph forthwith reply'd,
Vain showes may vanish that have gaily shone
To feeble sense; but if the truth be tri'd,
Life cannot perish, or to nothing slide:
It is not life that falleth under sight,
None but vain flitting qualities are ey'd
By wondring ignorance. The vitall spright
As surely doth remain as the Sun's lasting light.
This bow, whose breaking struck thy troubled heart,
Of causelesse grief, I hope, shall thee secure,
When I have well explain'd with skilfull art
By its resemblance what things must indure,
What things decay and cannot standen sure.
The higher causes of that colour'd ark,
What ere becomes of it, do sit secure.
That so (the body falling) life's fair spark
Is safe, I'll clearly show if you but list to mark.
He has found it necessary to annex a glossary to the poem, but these uncouth words which require a glossary are not the worst. The reader who does not understand Greek and Hebrew will naturally look there for the meaning or such words as acronychall, Adamah, Anantœsthesie, &c.
