The dream of a shadow of smoke      "So is every man. he is born in vanity and sin. he comes into the world like   Morning   Mushrooms, soon thrustling up their heads into the air, and conversing with   Their   Kindred of the same production, and as soon as they turn to dust and   Forgetfulness,   Some of them without any other interest in the affairs of the world, but that   They   Made their parents a little glad and very sorrowful..."      Ashes to ashes, dust to dust      "Others ride longer in the storm, maybe until seven years of vanity be expired   And   Then, preadventure, the sun shines hot upon their heads, and they fall into the   Shades below, into the cover of death and darkness and the grave to hide them.   But   If the bubble stands the shock of a bigger drop, and outlives the chance of a   Child   Or a careless nurse, or drowning in a pail of water, or being overlaid by a   Sleepy   Servant, or such little accidents, then the young man dances like a bubble,   Empty   And gay, and shines like a dove's neck, or the image of a rainbow, which has no   Substance, and whose very imagery and colours are fantastical. And so he dances   Out   The gaiety of his youth, and is all the while in a storm, and endures only   Because   He is not knocked on the head by a drop of bigger pain, or crushed by the   Pressure   Of a load of undigested meat, or quenched by the disorder of an ill-placed   Humour      Homer calls man a leaf, the smallest;   Pindar calls him the dream of a shadow, another, the dream of a shadow of smoke;   But St. James spake, by a more excellent spirit, saying our life is but a   Vapour,   That is to say, drawn from the air by a celestial influence, made of smoke and   The   Lighter parts of water, tossed by the wind and moved by the motion of a superior   Body, without virtue in itself and lifted up on high or left below, according as   It   Pleases the demands of its foster fathers..."      Ashes to ashes, dust to dust      In my mind is the sound   Of rudderless ships   A time, and a time   And a time   And a time   So much silence   Deafens our ears   So much emptiness   Hinders our movements   Lost in the earth   And lost in the air   Around my hollow globe   Broken feathers   Blocking my words   And the no-one speaks   Oh no-one moves   Broken in snow   The sun bares teeth   So one: i shall build a boat   Two: i shall not fly a flag   Three, three, three:   God's three functions   So three: i shall cross myself   Four: and hope to die