Men are but children of a larger growth, Our appetites as apt to change as theirs, And full as craving too, and full as vain.
John DrydenRead
…So when the last and dreadful hour This crumbling pageant shall devour, The trumpet shall be heard on high, The dead shall live, the living die, And Music shall untune the sky
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the inevitability of death and the transient nature of life, suggesting a divine judgment and an eternal existence beyond death.
John Dryden's quote explores the themes of mortality, the impermanence of life, and the promise of an afterlife where music symbolizes the divine order being restored. It speaks to the ultimate fate of all beings when confronted with death, emphasizing that life as we know it is temporary, yet hints at a resurrection or continuation of existence beyond this life, where even the very fabric of reality, represented by the sky, will experience a transformation.
Themes
DeathLifeMusicEternityResurrection
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared during a memorial service to reflect on the themes of life and death.
More from John Dryden
All quotes →Of no distemper, of no blast he died, _x000D_ But fell like autumn fruit that mellow'd long: _x000D_ Even wonder'd at, because he dropp'd no sooner. _x000D_ Fate seem'd to wind him up for fourscore years; _x000D_ Yet freshly ran he on ten winters more; _x000D_ Till like a clock worn out with eating time, _x000D_ The wheels of weary life at last stood still.
John DrydenRead
Or hast thou known the world so long in vain?
John DrydenRead
Shame on the body for breaking down while the spirit perseveres.
John DrydenRead
Love reckons hours for months, and days for years; and every little absence is an age.
John DrydenRead
And write whatever Time shall bring to pass_x000D_ _x000D_ With pens of adamant on plates of brass.
John DrydenRead
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