That Strength, and those beauties that grace thee to-day;
To-morrow may perish, and vanish away!
Thy Wealth, or thy Pleasures, or Friends that now be,
May waste, or deceive, or be traitors to thee!
Now then, O now then, if safety thou love;
Mind thou, O mind thou, thy Maker above!
Thy joints are yet nimble, thy sinews unslack!
And marrow, unwasted, doth strengthen thy back!
Thy Youth from diseases, preserveth the brain;
And blood, with free passage, plumps every vein!
Now then, O now then, if safety thou love;
Mind thou, O mind thou, thy Maker above!
But, trust me! it will not for ever be so!
Those Arms, that are mighty, shall feebler grow!
And those Legs, so proudly supporting thee now,
With age, or diseases will stagger and bow!
Now then, O now then, if safety thou love;
Mind thou, O mind thou, thy Maker above!
Then all those rare Features, now graceful in thee,
Shall, ploughed with Time's furrows, quite ruinèd be!
And they who admired and loved thee so much,
Shall loathe, or forget thou hadst ever been such!
Now then, O now then, if safety thou love;
Mind thou, O mind thou, thy Maker above!
Those tresses of Hair, which thy youth do adorn,
Will look like the meads in a winterly morn;
And where red and white intermixed did grow,
Dull paleness, a deadly Complexion will show!
Now then, O now then, if safety thou love;
Mind thou, O mind thou, thy Maker above!
That Forehead imperious, whereon we now view
A smoothness and whiteness, enamelled with blue,
Will lose that perfection, which youth now maintains;
And change it for hollowness, wrinkles, and stains!
Now then, O now then, if safety thou love;
Mind thou, O mind thou, thy Maker above!
Those Ears, thou with music didst oft entertain,
And charm with so many a delicate strain;
May miss of those pleasures wherewith they are fed,
And never hear Song more, when youth is once fled!
Now then, O now then, if safety thou love;
Mind thou, O mind thou, thy Maker above!
Those Eyes, which so many, so much did admire,
And with strange affections set thousands on fire;
Shut up in that darkness which Age will constrain,
Shall never see mortal, no, never again!
Now then, O now then, if safety thou love;
Mind thou, O mind thou, thy Maker above!
Those Lips, whereon Beauty so fully discloses
The colour and sweetness of rubies and roses;
Instead of that hue, will ghastliness wear:
And none shall believe what perfection was there!
Now then, O now then, if safety thou love;
Mind thou, O mind thou, thy Maker above!
Thy Teeth, that stood firmly, like pearls in a row,
Shall rotten, and scattered, disorderly grow!
Thy Mouth, whose proportion, earth's wonder was thought;
Shall robbed of that sweetness, be prizèd at nought.
Now then, O now then, if safety thou love;
Mind thou, O mind thou, thy Maker above!