Spend as much time as you can with a friend,

For you never know when one's life might end.

 

This emblem was created from elements found in Wither's A Choice of Emblems. It pictures a man solemnly playing the harp mourning the loss of his friend, the man seemingly floating in the air. The winged heart on the bottom of the emblem represents the bonds of everlasting love - whether as lovers or friends. The small hourglass with the skull on top of it represents the fact that time flies and is precious; death can come at any time. The text around the emblem has no bearing in my emblem as it was from the original emblem (as well as the background).

In their actual emblems, the elements of my created emblem mean, for the most part, somewhat different things. First, the man playing the harp in the foreground is from Wither 234, where he is Apollo, the god of music, prophecy, healing and the sun. In this emblem, he represents the importance of play and rest in a life full of work. The man floating in the sky is floating in the sky in his original emblem, Wither 12, where he shows that a person comes into and leaves this world naked. Thus, he represents life and death. The winged heart is from Wither 91 and has a more religious theme to it. The verse accompanying this emblem reads "The heart in him, that is upright / In heavenly knowledge takes delight." The heart, here, symbolizes the belief that the gain of heavenly knowledge in the heart is righteous/leads to heaven. Lastly, the skull and the hourglass, from Wither 235, represent the same concept in both emblems - because time is flying live ever mindful of dying.