Or was it an autumnal shower, to dig grave pits?”
He answered: “’Twas a sprinkle, sent to soothe our care,—
That fruit inherited by all who Adam share.
Should man remain exposed for long to care’s fierce flame,
’Twould work him wrack and ruin, crush his mortal frame.“165
The world would go to ruin in a little while;
Man’s greed would get the upper hand, did he not smile.
The prop of this wide world is heedlessness, my son;
And thoughtfulness on earth below’s a curse, when won.
For thoughtfulness belongs unto the upper world;