Death & Dying

My Midnight Meditation.

by Henry King 1592–1669

Death & Dying

ILL busi'd man! why should'st thou take such care
To lengthen out thy lifes short Kalendar?
When e'ry spectacle thou lookst upon
Presents and acts thy execution.
Each drooping season and each flower doth cry,
Fool! as I fade and wither, thou must dy.

The beating of thy pulse (when thou art well)
Is just the tolling of thy Passing Bell:
Night is thy Hearse, whose sable Canopie
Covers alike dec…ased day and thee.
And all those weeping dewes which nightly fall,
Are but the tears shed for thy funerall.

MLA

King, Henry. “My Midnight Meditation.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/king/67/.

Chicago

King, Henry. “My Midnight Meditation.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/king/67/.

Read this poem with the Codex →

More by Henry King