73. Noble Nature. B. Jonson. The Golden Treasury

Francis T. Palgrave, ed. (1824–1897). The Golden Treasury. 1875.

B. Jonson

LXXIII. The Noble Nature

IT is not growing like a tree
In bulk, doth make Man better be;
Or standing long an oak, three hundred year,
To fall a log at last, dry, bald, and sere:
A lily of a day	5
Is fairer far in May,
Although it fall and die that night—
It was the plant and flower of Light.
In small proportions we just beauties see;
And in short measures life may perfect be.	10