The Contemplation of Death
Author: Luiken, Jan, 1649-1712
Image Title: The Contemplation of Death
Scripture Reference:
- 1 Peter 1 (further images / scripture text)
Description: A woman sits in a room and gestures to the table in front of her, on which symbols of the transitory nature of life are found: an hourglass; flowers shedding leaves; bones; a skull; and a candle burning in a candlestick. The Dutch artist and poet Jan Luiken (1649-1712), whose initials are at the lower right, was responsible for drawing and etching this emblem and for the poem that accompanies it (below). The attendant scripture text is 1 Peter 1:24-25.
Poem
Oh Death! How thinking of thee,
Should beckon the life in this flesh and blood,
From its tranquility,
Into the entrance to eternal fortune!
Because when the little candle of this life,
Has burnt down to the end,
Where has then the sweet light gone?
And where is the hand that turns the Hour-glass?
Youth and joy alas decay,
Like a fallen rose,
One counts on a large span of Years,
Yet it’s only a short while.
Oh Death! how dismal are thoughts of thee,
How thou dost dress the world’s heart in mourning;
That is not prepared to heed thee,
But would like to live forever.
Oh Death! how sweet is the contemplation,
For the pious and thoughtful heart,
How, with thy passing is gained,
The life in eternal fortune:
Oh Death! How thinking of thee,
Ought to beckon us to wise reflection!
(Translation by Josephine V. Brown, with editorial assistance from William G. Stryker)
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