William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Restoration Verse. 1910.
Song: Ah, fading joy! how quickly art thou past!John Dryden (16311700)
A
Yet we thy ruin haste.
As if the cares of human life were few,
We seek out new:
And follow fate that does too fast pursue.
In their sweet notes their happiness.
They all enjoy and nothing spare,
But on their mother nature lay their care:
Why then should man, the lord of all below,
Such troubles choose to know
As none of all his subjects undergo?
And with a murmuring sound
Dash, dash, upon the ground,
To gentle slumbers call.