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" Life is a jest, and all things show it, I thought so once, but now I know it, with what more you may think proper. "
The New Universal Biographical Dictionary, and American Remembrancer of ... - Page 426
by James Hardie - 1801
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A Handbook to the Places of Public Worship in London

1851 - 364 pages
...The short epitaph on the front was written by himself. It is censured by some for its levity, — " Life is a jest, and all things show it : I thought so once, but now I know it." Underneath are these verses by Mr. Pope, who lived always in great friendship with Mr. Gay : — "...
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Knight's Cyclopędia of London, 1851

Charles Knight - London (England). - 1851 - 882 pages
...uncomfortable amount of a»c and veneration, we have a great deal of genuine love. The worthless couplet — " Life is a jest, and all things show it; I thought so once, but now I know it" — the mere expression of a mood of the poet's mind, should never have been placed on the monument,...
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My First Visit to Europe: Or, Sketches of Society, Scenery, and Antiquities ...

Andrew Dickinson - France - 1851 - 234 pages
...literature in which he excelled. The short epitaph by himself has been censured for its profane levity : Life is a jest and all things show it : I thought so onoe, and now. I know it." Below this epitaph is another by his friend Pope. Next is ROWE, and his...
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The cruet stand, select pieces of prose and poetry, Volume 2

C. Gough - 1853 - 414 pages
...mistook seventeen for seventy-one. EPITAPH. THE following pithy epitaph appears in a country churchyard : Life is a jest, and all things show it, I thought so once, but now I know it. CRITICISM. TRUE criticism is the application of taste and good sense to the several fine arts. The...
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The Footpath and Highway: Or, Wanderings of an American in Great Britain, in ...

Benjamin Moran - Great Britain - 1853 - 444 pages
...some of them labored. One, on the tomb of Gay, written by himself, struck me as too trifling : — "Life is a jest, and all things show it; I thought so once, and now I know it." The statue of the Bard of Avon holds a scroll in one hand, on which are engraved...
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What I Saw in London: Or, Men and Things in the Great Metropolis

David W. Bartlett - London (England) - 1853 - 352 pages
...does everybody, — it is on the tomb of John Gay, and was written by himself. It is as follows : " Life is a jest, and all things show it : I thought so once, and now I know it " Not far from this shocking epitaph is the grave of the author of " The Seasons"—...
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Crests from the Ocean-world: Or, Experiences in a Voyage to Europe ...

Alonzo Tripp - Belgium - 1853 - 426 pages
...creations of his immortal genius. Here, too, was Gay, with these odd lines engraved below his bust: — "Life is a jest, and all things show it; I thought so once, and now I know it." There was, also, old Ben Johnson, with a countenance expressive of profundity and...
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The Poetical Works of John Gay, Volume 2

John Gay - 1854 - 314 pages
...despis'o very soul she met here, And now she 's in t'other, she thinks it but queer. MY OWN EPITAPH. LIFE is a jest, and all things show it ; I thought so once, but now I know it. THE END. ...
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The National Magazine: Devoted to Literature, Art, and Religion, Volume 4

Abel Stevens, James Floy - Periodicals - 1854 - 588 pages
...sentiments, could have written the following epitaph, and ordered it to be chiseled on his monument ? — "Life is a jest, And all things show it ; I thought so once, But now I know it." Yet there it stands — at once a symbol of death and an abortive attempt at wit, courting a grin from...
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The Fables of John Gay: Illustrated, with an Original Memoir, Introduction ...

John Gay - Fables, English - 1854 - 312 pages
...versification, and a style of expression easy and apposite. The epitaph he proposed for himself, " Life's a jest, and all things show it ; I thought so once, but now I know it" — LIFE OF JOHN GAY, is the flippant tribute of folly to irreligion. His friends, " Charles and Catherine,...
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