Take thou no care how to defer thy death, And give more respite to this mortal breath. Wouldst thou live long? the only means are these -- 'Bove Galen's diet, or Hippocrates: Strive to live well, tread in the upright ways, And rather count thy actions than thy days; Then thou hast liv'd enough amongst us here. For every day well-spent I count a year. Live well, and then how soon soe'er thou die, Thou art of age to claim eternity. But he that outlives Nestor, and appears T' have passed the date of grey methusalem's years: If he his life to sloth and sin doth give, I say he only @3was@1, he did not @3live@1. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE GARDEN BY MOONLIGHT by AMY LOWELL FACADE: 21. THE OWL by EDITH SITWELL THE CHALLENGE by ALEXANDER POPE ON THE SOUL by PUBLIUS AELIUS HADRIANUS TO LADY ANNE HAMILTON by WILLIAM ROBERT SPENCER THE POET: A RHAPSODY by MARK AKENSIDE THE LOVER AND THE BIRDS by WILLIAM ALLINGHAM |