Sic Vita Poem by Henry King
Sic Vita
Like to the falling of a star,
Or as the flights of eagles are,
Or like the fresh spring's gaudy hue,
Or silver drops of morning dew,
Or like a wind that chafes the flood,
Or bubbles which on water stood:
Even such is man, whose borrowed light
Is straight called in, and paid to night.
The wind blows out, the bubble dies;
The spring entombed in autumn lies;
The dew dries up, the star is shot;
The flight is past, and man forgot.
Not bad for a poem that is now centuries old. The language does not really seem to be from the 1600's. I suspect that PH may have 'doctored' this one, as they have done before. The more I read it, however, the more I like it.
Awesome Poemππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππ
Beautiful poem with excellent flight of imagery. Loved it's diction. Thanks for sharing.10 points.
its not that descriptve and if i wrote the poem ill addd some descriptive words in there
This is about the fleeting existence of man in this universe not individual lives. When I first read this poem I thought how can he get away with all those lines starting with Or and The, but they divide the beauty of the falling star and its earthly counterparts against their coming fate, the same as man, all will be forgot. An excellent poem.
A decent poem, certainly not an original theme, or maybe it's just that I've been reading several poems on transience and death and have recently written one. I like all of the metaphors of life or of youth or both. As I get older I appreciate these poets elegant insight. When I was younger I had no aches and pains, I could nearly dunk a basketball, I had so much more energy than now. My youth feels to me today like the flights of eagles are. I feel like I borrowed light and now in my late 30's am slowly having to pay to night. I like how he uses 6 metaphors for youth or life and then describes these 6 metaphors drying up and terminating. The Eagles flight is past, the dew evaporates, the spring entombed in autumn lies, and in the end the man dies and is entirely forgotten, as we will be eventually. Overall an OK poem. I like Poe's a dream within a dream better or Wordsworth's Intimations of immortality in early childhood
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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4/19/2025 1:22:24 AM # 1.0.0
This is a very worthwhile poem both due to its beauty and due to the message it conveys. Usually I find literary work from the 1600's and 1700's to be difficult to win. This is smooth as modern day writing.