Come, brethren, let us give the last kiss to the dead, and render thanks to God; for he hath left his kinsfolk, and hasteneth to the grave: to him there is no care concerning vanities and carnal toil. Where now are kinsfolk and where friends? Lo, we are parted from him, whom, Lord, we pray thee to give rest. What, O ye brethren, is this parting? what this weeping? what this wailing in the present hour? Come, kiss ye then him whom but lately was with us; for he is given to the grave, is cover’d with a stone, in darkness dwelleth, is buried with the dead, and now is parted from all kinsfolk and from friends; and him, O Lord, we pray thee to give rest. Now is life’s evil boast of vanity destroy’d; for from its dwelling-place the soul is gone, the clay is ashen, the casket broken, it voiceless is, no feeling hath, is dead and motionless. And him consigning to the grave, let us beseech the Lord to give him everlasting rest. What is our life? a flower, a smoke, and, verily, a morning dew. O come ye then, let us, with open eyes, regard the graves. Where is the beauty of the body? where youth? where eyes, and carnal form? All are consum’d as grass, all vanish’d. Come, fall we down to Christ in tears. Great is the weeping and the wailing, great is the sighing and the need at parting from the soul. Hades and destruction wait; and transitory life appears a fleeting shade, a dream of error; and the toil of earthly life unseemly phantasy. Far let us fly from every worldly sin, that heaven may be our heritage. Gazing on him that lieth dead, O take we all a likeness of our final hour; for he is pass’d as vapour from the earth, is wither’d as a flower, as grass cut down, wrapp’d in a winding-sheet, and hid in earth. And, leaving him unseen, let us pray Christ to give him everlasting rest. Adam’s descendants, come ye, let us see laid low in earth a likeness of ourselves, which hath all beauty lost, is in the grave’s decay dissolv’d, in darkness is by worms consum’d, and in the earth is hid. And, leaving him unseen, let us pray Christ to give him everlasting rest. When from the body parted is the soul by force by Angels dread, all kinsfolk and acquaintance it forgets, and is impress’d concerning standing at the judgment-seat to come, that shall decide the things of vanity and carnal toil. Then, praying to the judge, let us all beg the Lord to pardon him what he hath done. Come, brethren, let us within the grave behold the ashes and the dust whereof we formed were. Where go we now? and what become? what is the poor, or what the rich? or what the lord, and what the free? Are not all dust? The beauty of the countenance is gone, and death hath wasted all the flower of youth.