DUST.
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.—Genesis, iii. 19.
All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust.—Job, xxxiv. 15.
All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.—Ecclesiastes, iii. 20.
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.—Ecclesiastes, xii. 7.
Fear no more the frown o’ the great,
Thou art past the tyrant’s stroke:
Care no more to clothe and eat,
To thee the reed is as the oak.
The sceptre, learning, physic, must
All follow this, and come to dust.
Shakspere.
Why all this toil for triumphs of an hour?
What though we wade in wealth, or soar in fame,
Earth’s highest station ends in “here he lies;”
And “dust to dust” concludes her noblest song.
Young.
What is this passing scene?
A peevish April day!
A little sun—a little rain,
And then night sweeps along the plain,
And all things fade away.
Man (soon discussed,)
Yields up his trust,
And all his hopes and fears lie with him in the dust.
Then, since this world is vain,
And volatile and fleet,
Why should I lay up worldly joys,
When dust corrupts, and moth destroys,
And cares and sorrows eat?
Why fly from ill
With anxious skill,
When soon the hand will freeze, the throbbing heart be still?
H. K. White.