Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

OF LEARNING by CALLIMACHUS

First Line: THE ROSY CHAPLETS WHICH MY HEAD ADORN
Last Line: WHEN ALL THINGS ELSE FORSAKE ME, STAYS BEHIND.
Subject(s): LEARNING;
THE rosy chaplets which my head adorn,
And richest garments on my body worn,
In beauty and in substance must decay,
And by degrees shall all consume away.

The meats and drinks which do my life sustain,
Nature in certain hours expels again.
We of no outward blessings are secure,
They cannot Time's nor Fortune's shocks endure.

For all my worldly goods are subject still
To a thief's mercy, or oppressor's will:
But Sacred Learning treasur'd in the mind,
When all things else forsake me, stays behind.



Home: PoetryExplorer.net