"Death"
author: Katherine Philips
source date: 1667
language: en
availability: Published by Literature in Context under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

Death.

How weak a Star doth rule Mankind [Compared to the universe's other stars, the sun was considered weak.],
Which owes its ruine to the same
Causes which Nature had design'd
To cherish and preserve the frame!

As Commonwealths may be secure,
And no remote Invasion dread;
Yet may a sadder fall endure
From Traitors in their bosom bred:

So while we feel no violence,
And on our active Health do trust,
A secret hand doth snatch us hence,
And tumbles us into the dust.

Yet carelesly we run our race,
As if we could Death's summons wave;
And think not on the narrow space [i.e. a limited lifespan; from the table, where life begins, to the grave, where it ends.]
Between a Table and a Grave.

But since we cannot Death reprieve,
Our Souls and Fame we ought to mind,
For they our Bodies will survive;
That goes beyond, this stays behind.

If I be sure my Soul is safe,
And that my Actions will provide
My Tomb a nobler Epitaph, [A tribute written in memory of a deceased person, often as an inscription on a tombstone (Oxford English Dictionary).]
Then that I onely liv'd and dy’d.

So that in various accidents [Events that happen by chance or without expectation. Sometimes with a negative connotation, as in being unfortunate or unforeseen (Oxford English Dictionary).]
I Conscience may and Honour keep;
I with that ease and innocence
Shall die, as Infants go to sleep.