They are passed away as the swift ships: as the eagle [that] hasteth to the prey.
Ver. 26. They are passed away as the swift ships] Heb. They are changed (gliding away insensibly) as the ships of desire (so called, because they seem willing to be at the haven as soon as may be), or as the ships of Ebeh, a very swift river in Arabia, saith Rabbi Solomon; or as the pirate's ships, so Broughton, such as are your nimble frigates, fly-boats, A fast sailing vessel used chiefly in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries: a. for rapid transport of goods, etc., esp. in the coasting trade and catches, &c. Labitur uncta vadis abies (Virg.). Let our souls be like a ship which is made little and narrow downward; but more wide and broad upward. Let them be ships of desire, hastening heavenward; and then let our days pass away as they can, we shall but be the sooner at home; mortality shall appear to be no small mercy.
As the eagle that hasteth to the prey] When hunger addeth swiftness to her wings, and maketh her pour or souse down upon the prey like a thunderbolt; so transitory is our time: redeem it, therefore. It is reported of Ignatius, that when he heard a clock strike, he would say, Here is one hour more now past that I have to answer for.