Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	day_n	die_v	end_n	4,289	5	5.3574	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A18296	The table of Cebes the philosopher. How one may take profite of his enemies, translated out of Plutarche. A treatise perswadyng a man paciently to suffer the death of his freend; Pinax. English.	Plutarch. De capienda ex inimicis utilitate. aut; Erasmus, Desiderius, d. 1536. De morte declamatio. aut; Poyntz, Francis, Sir, d. 1528.; Elyot, Thomas, Sir, 1490?-1546, attributed name.; Cebes, of Thebes, attributed name.	1545 (1545)	STC 4891; ESTC S109138	35,783	158

forth and saieth He died ere his daie he died in his childhode he died so passyng a good childe ye and so towardly disposed vnto vertue that he was worthy to haue lyued many yeres your fatherly sorowe complaineth that the course of nature is subuerted seing that you his father an olde man should ouer lyue your sonne a younge man But I praie you for the loue of god tell me what ye call before his daie as though euery daie of a mans life could not be his laste daie One before he come into this worlde and whan vnneth it hath any shape of a creature reasonable is strangled and dieth euen vnder the handes of nature workyng and formyng of it An other dyeth in the byrth An other criyng in the cradell is snatched awaie by death An other in the flowryng youth dieth whan scarsely as yet it hath any tast of the lyfe Of so many thousandes of people to how few is it geuen as Horace nameth it to steppe vpon the gryce of olde age Without doubt god hath vnder suche a law constituted the soule in the garrison of this littell body that what so euer moment he wyll commaunde it to depart thence it must by and by nedes goe Nor there is none that can of ryght thynke hym selfe to be called foorth before his daie consideryng that there is no man that hath a daie certaine to hym appoyncted but that onely is his lawfull daie whiche so euer he our soueraine capitaine wolde shoulde be his last daie If we will worke wisely we should so abide euery day as it were our very last I praie you what maketh it matter seyng the life is so short and fugitiue whether we die betimes or tary somwhat longer For it skilleth no more than it dooeth whan many be brought to execucion whiche of theim shoulde bee fyrst heeded or hanged It is all one whiche is the firste the third or the eyght And what other thing els is the lyfe it selfe but a certaine perpetuall course vnto death Sauing that their chaunce is more commodiouse the whiche from so laborious an exercyse of the lyfe are dispatched betymes But as it is a touch of a brainles felow to depart awaie from the armie and breake the arraie without the Capitaynes commandement So it is a foolishe poincte and great ingratitude whan leaue is quickly geuen of the capitain not gladly to take it And most specially if he that hath nowe lycence to goe maie departe his waie home with laude and praise and to him no rebuke nor shame Nor it is not conuenient that one should sit and recken howe many yeares he hath lyued The age should be estemed accordyng to the noble deedes And he as Homere saieth is not reputed to haue lyued that hath poystered the earth and made a noumbre but he the whiche sadde and sobrely passyng foorth his lyfe leaueth behynde hym an honest remembrance to them that come after ¶ Doe ye complayne that god sent you foorthewith suche a chylde as ye woulde desyre to haue had many yeres to come What pardie your sonne died not so soone he was now come to the age of twentie yeres at the which age after myne opinion it is best for to die for so muche as than lyfe is mooste sweete Now was he to his countrey verie bountifull now was he to his father verie lowly and gentyll now was he amonge his felowes a verie mery compaignion and nowe had he a good and a perfecte mynde to godward He decessed ignorant of vices and whan he had not tasted but littell of the calamitees and miseries of this worlde But what he should haue knowen and haue felte if he had lyued longer it is vncertaine No doubte we see veraie often tymes that the latter age dooeth bothe infecte the cleane conuersacion of yong age with more greuous vyces and spotteth and defileth the felicitee of youth with manifolde miserable grefes From all these euyls and perils death quickely withdrewe hym Nowe maie you safe and surely reioyce and be gladde that you haue had so good and so vertuous a sonne ye or rather haue But be it as you doe suppose that you had hym and that now ye be depriued and haue loste hym Whether of veraie right oughte you rather to tourment and vexe your selfe for that ye haue forgone hym orels reioyce and be glad that ye had suche a sonne Take you heede that it be not a poincte of vnkindnesse that ye should remembre the request of the gefte to be restored againe and nothyng to minde the geft No doubte a chylde of a good disposicion is a great geft but yet he is so geuen that ye should take and haue pleasure with hym for a tyme and not that he should be yours for euer You that be a perfect wyse man consider this by your selfe yea let vs bothe together consider on this wyse ¶ If a great prince should lend vs a table of an excedyng great price and of an excellent workmanshippe to passe our tyme with whether ought we whan so euer pleaseth him to demand or call for it with a glad chere ye and moreouer gentilly thankyng hym to deliuer it agayne orels with heuie and sorowfull countenance shall we complain to hym on this wyse O cruell prince of how precious a gefte haste thou spoyled vs Howe great a pleasure hast thou beraft and taken from vs How soone hast thou taken from vs contrary to our opinion this so excellent a thyng Might not he of veraie right to our so vnkynde complaintes answere on this wise Haue I this reward for my gentyll and courteyse deede Remembre ye nothyng saue onely that that ye haue forgone the moste fayre table Haue ye forgot that I of myne owne good wyll and freely lent it you And that ye haue nowe so long while of my gentilnesse and sufferaunce fedde your eies and delyted your mynde It was of my liberalitee and freedome that I lente it you and now whan I require it againe I doe but right pardie ye haue had by me some aduauntage ye lost nothyng saue that through your folie ye feigned that thyng to be your owne that was but lent you And so ye esteme it to be loste that is restored to the owner againe But the more precious and delectable that the thyng was that I lent and leat you haue at your pleasure the more a great deale ye oughte to haue thanked me Nor ye ought not to thincke it to bee to soone required again the whiche with out any iniurie or wrong might haue been kept from you ¶ If this reason can not bee proued false by no meane of argumentacion then thinke how much more iustly Nature with suche maner woordes might reproue bothe our lamentacion and sorowfull complainynges And vndoubted by these maner of reasons our sorow ought to bee swaged yea if it were so that a man were vtterly extinct by death and there remained nothyng of vs after the buriall ¶ Now

if we at the least geue credence to it whereof Socrates in Plato doubted nothyng at all that is to witte the veraie manne to be the soule and this bodie to be nothyng els but the pype or littell howse of the soule Or els to saie trouth it maie be called the burial or prison of the sowle and whan it escapeth out therof than at the last it commeth to libertie to liue muche more welthily than it did before Wherfore than should we sorowfully blame death seyng that he that dieth dooeth not peryshe but than he semeth rather to bee borne And we oughte to reioyce in the soule whiche we can not with our eies decerne as much and none otherwyse than we be wont to reioice and take pleasure in our frendes that bene absent And I doubt whether is more delectable and reioysyng to vs whan they bene present or els whan they bene absent for so muche as the corporall liuyng together is wonte to minyster to vs matter of displeasure and the muche beyng in company to gether dooeth somewhat abate the ioyfulnesse of frendship If ye desyre an exaumple of this thyng be not the apostles a sufficient argument the whiche than began to take veraie fruicion in Christe and truely to loue him after the corporal presence was taken from theim On the same wyse is the frendshippe of them that be good the whiche stedfastely perseuere in couplyng and knittyng together of the mindes and not of the bodies And there is no violence no space of tyme nor no distāce of places that can seuer or deuide the couplyng of myndes So that me thinke it a very childishe poinct to thinke that a freende were cleane loste and gone so soone as he were out of sight You maie as ofte as ye will haue your son present bothe in your thoughte and in your woordes And he on the other side remembreth you and perceiueth the tender affections of your mynde ye and other whyle in your slepe both your soules embrace eche other and talke together of some secrete thynges What thyng letteth that ye may not euen very now imagine to liue with him with whom sone after ye ar in poinct to lyue I praie you how briefe and short is all the whole tyme that we lyue here ¶ Hitherto haue I vsed the remedies the whiche I might wel vse if I had to doe with a painyme Now leat vs briefely consyder what godlynesse and christen faieth ought to require of vs. ¶ First and formoste if it were so that death were a thyng most miserable yet it behoueth vs to take it in good woorth seeyng that there is none other remedie And more ouer if death should clene extinguishe man that nothyng after shoulde remayne yet we should therewith be content for as muche as it maketh an end of many calamitees and griefes whiche we suffre in this lyfe But seeyng that death deliuereth the soule beyng of etheriall beginnyng out of the dongeon of the ponderous and heauy bodie in a maner we ought to reioyce and be glad of theim that bee departed hence out of this wretched world and that they be retourned home againe to that welthie libertee from whence they came Now than consideryng that death without any doubt conueieth the good deuoute soules out of the stormes of this troublous lyfe vnto the port or hauen of life perdurable and that not so muche as a heare of a mans head shall perysshe for the bodies also at length shall be called to enioye the same lyfe euerlastyng I praie you whether ought we to mourne and weepe or els to be glad and reioyce in hym whom death in due tyme taketh out of this most troublous sea of the lyfe and carieth hym into that quiete and sure restyng place of euerlastyng lyfe Goe to now a lyttell while and laie together the foule enormitees the paynfull labours and the perils and daungers of this lyfe if it maie be called a lyfe And on the other syde recken and cast what commoditees and pleasures of that other life are alreadie prepared for the godly creatures that bee plucked hence awaie And than ye shall soone perceiue that no man can do more vnrighteously than he the whiche lamentablie bewaileth that high goodnesse vnto the which onely we be both borne and ordeyned euen as though it were a right great and greuoꝰ harm Ye crie out because ye bee left comfortlesse alone without children whan ye haue begotte a sonne to inhabite heauen the holy remembraunce of whom as it were of a dyuine thyng ye may reuerence the whiche aboue in heauen beyng carefull for you maie greatly further the prosperous successe of your busynesse here For he is nother ignorant of mortall folkes busines nor hath not forgone with the body the lowly reuerence and tender loue which he was wont to beare to you his father No doubte he lyueth beleue me he liueth and peraduenture is present with vs and heareth and perceiueth this our communicacion and laugheth and damneth this our lamentacion And if the grossenes of our bodies letted not perchance we shoulde heare him blamyng vs for our wepyng with those maner of wordes What doe ye wyll ye abridge your daies and finishe your olde age with this vnprofitable ye I maye well saie pinyshe lamentacion Wherefore dooe you with so vniust complaintes accuse and blame destenie Fortune and death Haue you enuie at me because I am delyuered from the euylles of that lyfe and am brought to this felicitee that I am in But bee it that your fatherly goodnesse and pure amitee dooeth not enuy me Yet what other thyng meaneth this sorowfull complainyng Thinke you this woorthy to be lamented that I am deduct and brought from thraldome to libertee from peyne and care to pleasure and felicitee frō darknesse vnto light from perill and daunger vnto sure safetee from death vnto lyfe from sickenesses and diseases vnto immortalitee from so many euilles to so high goodnesse from thynges caduke and transitorie to the euerlastyng from thynges earthly to celestiall and finally from the corrupt and vncleane company of all people to the felowship of aungels Tell me I praie you for the great loue and kyndnesse that ye beare me If it laie in your power to releue me againe would ye releue me Than what offence haue I doen to deserue so great hatred of you If ye would not relieue me again than for what purpose seruen all these lamentacions the whiche as I haue saied are not onely vnprofitable but also vngodly But ne were it so that immortalitee had a while agone cleane depriued me of all sorow I woulde lykewyse with weapyng teares bewayle your sorowfull mournyng and sore haue rewed vpon thilke grosse darke cloudinesse of your mynde But ye say that you on your part wepe and make lamentacion For soth therin ye dooe not lyke louers but lyke vnto theim that haue a respect to theim selfe warde and that wyll to others discommoditee see to their own busines Now goe to tell me what losse is it that ye susteyne by my death Is it because ye can not haue me in your sight Pardie ye maie neuer the lesse at your owne pleasure remembre me the meane time ye and so much the more welthily in how muche I am in sure safetee For looke that ye esteeme me nowe delyuered from all the euylles what so euer they bee that maie bechaunce a mortall man in his lyfe yf whiche your longe and robustous life for a great part hath experience And though that I bee not with you with lowely obeysaunce to dooe you seruice yet maie I be a sure and an effectuall aduocate for you before the high maiestee of god And finally how small a thyng is it that deuideth our conuersacion and familiaritee Now loke that you so endeuour your self that whan ye haue wel and vertuously passed the course of your life that ye may thā at the houre of death be founde worthy to be conueied hither If that your sonne I say shuld saie these wordes to vs myght we not well be ashamed thus to lament and mourne as we doe ¶ With these maner of resons I am wont to ease the griefe of myne owne mind of the whiche I wold that you shuld be parte taker not all only that ye haue any great neede of those remedies but I demed it agreable that ye shuld be partaker of my consolacion of whose sorow I was partener But briefely to conclude all that hath been at length reasoned by this maner mean ye shal asswage the smartyng sorowe of your mynde ¶ My sonne is dead ye begot a mortall creature I haue loste a great iewell ye haue yelded it again to hym that frely gaue it you It is a right greuoꝰ thyng to be thus destitude It shold be the lighter born that maie be redressed by some meane He hath left me his father alone comfort lesse What doeth it auayle to weepe and wayle for that that can not bee remedied Or why mourne you for that the whiche chaunceth to so many thousandes as well as to you Alas I can not choose but wepe for the death of my son ye but he that dieth well doeth in no wyse peryshe But he died to soone He that dieth well dyeth not to soone He died long before his daie was come there is no man that hath a daie certein appoincted vnto him He decessed in his flouryng youth It is than best to die whan to lyue it is moste swete He died a very yonge man so is he withdrawen from the mo euyls troubles of this life I haue lost the best childe that any man coulde haue Be glad that ye had suche one He departed out of this worlde an innocent No death should be more desired and lesse bewailed Ye but it is not lefull for me the meane whyle to haue fruicion

ye ought so to settel your self that if ye can not as yet put awaie cleane the sorowe of your herte for no man can denie but that ye haue right good cause to bee heauy yet at the least wise some what suppresse and moderate the same dolour And for what cause should ye not cleane forgeat it Seeyng that the space of a fewe daies wyll cause ideottes so to do me thinketh reason should perswade an excellent wyse man For what seelie mother dooeth so extremely bewaile the death of hir child but that in shorte space of tyme hir sorow somwhat asslaketh and at length is cleane forgotten To haue alway a stedfast mind is a token of a perfecte wyse man But for those chaunces vnto the whiche we all equally both more and lesse be subiect to sorow out of measure me thinketh it extreme foolyshnes For who is not ware except he that myndeth nothyng that he is borne vnder suche a condicion that whan so euer god wyll call hym he must foorth with nedes depart hence So than what other thyng I pray you dooeth he that bewayleth ones death than lamentably complayne that he is mortall Or why shoulde we rather sorow the departyng hence than the entryng into this worlde consyderyng that bothe ar equally naturall Euen in like case as though one shoulde geue great thanckes for to bee called to a great feast or dyner and would lamente and demeane great sorowe whan he should departe awaie thence ¶ If that a manne as it were from an high lookyng place wold aduise well the condicion and life of all mankind might he not well recken hym selfe a nyce felow if he among so manyfolde exaumples of priuacion and among so thicke burials of yonge and old would be greuousely vexed in his mynde as though vnto him onely were chaunced some newe and great euyll and as though he onely beyng happie aboue other wold desire and looke to stand without the common lot For whithe consideracion the excellent wise men that found and made lawes in old tyme to the entent that they wolde some what inclyne to the affections of parentes and to the ende they woulde not be seene to exclude euery body from that passion beyng also condemned of some of the stoicke philosophers they lymytted vnto theim a certayne tyme to mourne the whiche endured not very longe Eyther because that they well vnderstoode and knew that in those maner of chaunces the whiche are both commune to al folkes and also dooe not hap through any iniurie of Fortune but are induced by the very course and ordynance of Nature shorte mournyng should suffice yea vnto theim that were not able to moderate all affections consideryng that Natures selfe by littell and littell soupleth the wound that she made and weareth awaie the scarre Or elles because they diligently marked that mournyng was not onely vnprofytable vnto theim that were bemoned but also hurtful to theim that made suche mone and greuouse and vnquiette to their freendes acquaintaunce and companie ¶ But nowe yf a man would consider the matter a right doeth it not seme a poinct of madnesse willyngly of one harme to make twayne and whan ye can not by no maner reason recouer your predestinate losse yet wilfully to annoy and hurte your owne selfe In lyke maner as though a man that his enemies hath spoyled of part of his goodes wolde in his anger throw all that euer remayned into the see and than wold saie how he by that meane dyd bewayle his losse ¶ If we wyll regarde the noble Mimus whose saiyng may beseeme any Phylosophier to speake Thou must paciently suffre and grutch not at it that can not be amended Let vs cal to mynde the muche goodly exaumple of the ryght excellent kyng Dauid the which so sone as tidynges was brought hym that his sonne that he so tenderly loued was dead he foorthwith rose vp from the grounde and shaked and brusshed of the duste he threwe awaie his shert of heare and so whan he had wasshed and annoincted with a glad countenaunce and a mery chere he wente to dyner And because his freendes marueyled thereat he saied to theim For what entent should I kyll my selfe with wo and sorowe For vnto this tyme some hope I had that god being moued with my lamentacion would haue saued my childe a liue but now all our weepyng teares can not restore hym againe to vs alyue we shall shortely spede vs hence after hym Who is so fonde to crouche and pray him whom he knoweth wel wyll incline to no praiers There in nothyng more vntreatable than death nothyng is more deffe nor nothyng more rigorous By craftie handling the sauage beastes yea the most wyld of theim all are made tame There is a waie to breake the harde Marbull stone and a meane to mollifie the diamante but there is nothyng wherwith death wyll be appeased or ouercome It neither spareth beautie riches age nor dignitee And therefore it ought to greue vs muche the lesse eyther because it can not be eschewed or els because it is equally commune to vs all ¶ What needeth me to goe aboute to reherse to you here the manifolde examples of the gentyles the whiche with a noble and a constaunt courage toke well in worth the death of their dere frendes In whiche constauntnes of mynde is it not a great rebuke for vs that be christiens to be of theim ouer commen Call nowe to your remembraunce thilke saiyng well woorthy to be enrolled in writyng of Telamon and Anaxagoras I wist well I begotte a mortall creature ¶ Thynke vpon Pericles the Duke of Athenes the whiche is no lesse renowmed for his eloquence than he is for his force and manlynes all be it that he within .iiii. daies space lost his ii sonnes that were endewed with right noble qualitees he not onely neuer chaunged his chere but also he beyng crowned as was the guyse than spake and reasoned among the people of mattiers concernyng their common wealth ¶ Haue in mynde also Xenophon the worthie scoler of Socrates to whom tidynges was brought as he was doyng sacrifice that his sonne was deade he made no more to doe but put of his crowne and foorthwith dyd put it on againe as soone as he vnderstode that his sonne was manly slayne in battayle ¶ Remembre Dion of Syracuse the whiche on a tyme as he was secretely talkyng with his freendes sodainely heard a great noise and rumbling in his house And whan he had enquered what the mattier ment and was enfourmed that his sonne had fallen from on hygh and was deade he beyng therwith nothyng amoued commaunded the corps as the maner was to be deliuered to women to bury For he saied he wold not leaue of his pretensed pourpose for that mattier ¶ Whom Demosthenes folowing the .vii. daie after the deth of his onely and moste entierly beloued daughter beyng crowned and araied in a fayre white garment he came foorth abrode amonge the people Of