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The AGE and LIFE of MAN.
tune———isle of kell.
UPON the sixteen hundredth year,
of God, and fifty three
Frae Christ was born that bought us dear,
as writings testifie.
On January the sixteenth day,
as I did ly alone;
With many a sigh and sob did say,
making an heavy moan.
Dame Nature, the excellent bride,
did stand up me before,
And said to me, thou must provide,
this life for to abhor:
Thou sees what things are gone before,
experience teacheth thee,
In what state that ever thou be,
remember, man, to die.
Of all the creatures bearing life,
recal back in thy mind;
Consider how they ebb and thrive
each thing in their own kind.
Yet few of them have such a train,
as God hath giv'n to thee:
Therefore this lesson keep in mind,
remember, man, to die.
