Poor human life! how short the date

Assign’d thee by relentless Fate!----

Poor transient Beauty! tender flower!

Still shorter thy allotted hour!----

Then stretch the canvass---quick, my Friend,

Thy pencil seize---thy work attend---

E’en exempt from deforming diseases,

How it fades by the torches of Time;

Every moment that flows

200 Steals the gloss from the rose;

Then catch the bright hue while it pleases,

And fix the fair face in it’s prime.