A Litany in Time of Plague
Adieu,
farewell,
earth's
bliss;
This
world
uncertain
is;
Fond
are
life's
lustful
joys;
Death
proves
them
all
but
toys;
None
from
his
darts
can
fly;
I
am
sick,
I
must
die.
Lord,
have
mercy
on
us!
Rich
men,
trust
not
in
wealth,
Gold
cannot
buy
you
health;
Physic
himself
must
fade.
All
things
to
end
are
made,
The
plague
full
swift
goes
by;
I
am
sick,
I
must
die.
Lord,
have
mercy
on
us!
Beauty
is
but
a
flower
Which
wrinkles
will
devour;
Brightness
falls
from
the
air;
Queens
have
died
young
and
fair;
Dust
hath
closed
Helen's
eye.
I
am
sick,
I
must
die.
Lord,
have
mercy
on
us!
Strength
stoops
unto
the
grave,
Worms
feed
on
Hector
brave;
Swords
may
not
fight
with
fate,
Earth
still
holds
open
her
gate.
"Come,
come!"
the
bells
do
cry.
I
am
sick,
I
must
die.
Lord,
have
mercy
on
us!
Thomas Nashe
Thomas Nashe, (born 1567, Lowestoft, Suffolk, Eng.—died c. 1601, Yarmouth, Norfolk?), pamphleteer, poet, dramatist, and author of The Unfortunate Traveller; or, The Life of Jacke Wilton (1594), the first picaresque novel in English. Nashe was educated at the University of Cambridge, and about 1588 he went to London, where he became associated with Robert Greene and other professional writers. In 1589 he wrote The Anatomie of Absurditie and the preface to Greene’s Menaphon. Both works are bold, opinionated surveys of the contemporary state of writing; occasionally obscure, they are euphuistic in style and range freely over a great variety of topics.