[2] before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark, and the clouds return after the rain; [3] when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men stoop, when the grinders cease because they are few, and those looking through the windows grow dim; [4] when the doors to the street are closed and the sound of grinding fades; when people rise up at the sound of birds, but all their songs grow faint; [5] when people are afraid of heights and of dangers in the streets; when the almond tree blossoms and the grasshopper drags itself along and desire no longer is stirred. Then people go to their eternal home and mourners go about the streets. [6] Remember him—before the silver cord is severed, and the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, and the wheel broken at the well, [7] and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
