What is life? A thawing iceboard

On a sea with sunny shore.

Gay we sail; it melts beneath us;

We are sunk, and seen no more.

What is man? A foolish baby;

Vainly strives, and fights, and frets;

Demanding all, deserving nothing,

One small grave is what he gets!

Thomas Carlyle.

FATHER-LAND AND MOTHER-TONGUE