What is this world, a net to snare the soule,
A masse of sinne, a desart of deceipt,
A momentes ioy, an age of wrecched dole:
A lure from grace, for flesh a lothsome baite,
Unto the minde a canker worme of care,
Unsure, uniust, in rendring man his share.
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What is this world? A net to snare the soul, / A mass of sin, a desert of deceit, / A moment's joy, an age of wretched dole, / A lure from grace, for flesh a loathsome bait: / Unto the mind a canker-worm of care, / Unsure, unjust, in rend'ring man his share.
Notes from Wikiquote
"A Description of the World", in The Paradise of Daintie Devises (1585), n.p. Erroneously attributed to Gascoigne. See: Notes and Queries, ser. 11, vol. 3, no. 70 (29 April 1911), p. 323