# All flesh is grass

All flesh is grass (Hebrew: כָּל־הַבָּשָׂ֣ר חָצִ֔יר kol-habbāsār ḥāṣīr) is a phrase found in the Old Testament book of Isaiah, chapter 40, verses 6–8. The English text in King James Version is as follows:
   $^6$ The voice said, Cry.
          And he said, What shall I cry?
   All flesh is grass,
          and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
   $^7$ The grass withereth, the flower fadeth:
          because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it:
          surely the people is grass.
   $^8$ The grass withereth, the flower fadeth:
          but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
A more modern text, English Standard Version, reads:
   $^6$ A voice says, “Cry!”
          And I said, “What shall I cry?”
   All flesh is grass,
          and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
   $^7$ The grass withers, the flower fades
          when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
          surely the people are grass.
   $^8$ The grass withers, the flower fades,
          but the word of our God will stand forever.

## Analysis

In the New Testament the phrase reoccurs in the First Epistle of Peter (see 1 Peter 1:24; Greek: πᾶσα σὰρξ ὡς χόρτος, pasa sarx hōs chortos). It was a commonly used epitaph, frequently found for example on old ledger stones and monuments in churches in 17th century England. The phrase is interpreted to mean that human life is transitory ('impotent, perishing, limited').

## Uses

It has been used in various works, including:
| Year | Title | Creator | Type | Notes |
| c. 1570 | King Edward VI and the Pope | Unknown | Painting | Inscribed on the pope's chest |
| 1599 | The Shoemakers' Holiday | Thomas Dekker | Play | |
| 1852 | The Old Nurses Story | Elizabeth Gaskell | Short story | "Flesh is grass, they do say..." |
| 1865-1868 | "Denn alles Fleisch es ist wie Gras" | Johannes Brahms | Choral composition | The second movement of the German Requiem, used as text |
| 1886 | "Arithmetic on the Frontier" | Rudyard Kipling | Poem | Used in the first stanza |
| 1889 - | En vänlig grönskas rika dräkt | Carl David af Wirsén | Hymn | |
| Mid to late 1800s | "All Flesh is Grass" | Christina Rossetti | Poem | |
| 1921-1923 | The Good Soldier Švejk and His Fortunes in the World War | Jaroslav Hašek's | Novel | The volunteer Marek recites it to Švejk |
| 1931 | "Difficulties of a Statesman" | T. S. Eliot | Poem | |
| 1938 | The Code of the Woosters | PG Wodehouse | Novel | Quoted by Bertie Wooster |
| 1939 | "Ten Songs" | W. H. Auden | Poem | Used in the third stanza of the ninth poem |
| 1965 | All Flesh is Grass | Clifford D. Simak | Novel | |
| 1972 | The Bird of Night | Susan Hill | Novel | |
| 1980 | Heaven's Gate | Michael Cimino (writer/director) | Film | John Hurt's character Billy Irvine mutters it to himself |
| 1985 | "War Photographer" | Carol Ann Duffy | Poem | It describes the sights seen in war photographs |
| 1985 | The Handmaid's Tale | Margaret Atwood | Novel | In "Waiting Room: Chapter 8," Aunt Lydia references it incorrectly as "all flesh is weak" |
| 1994 | Cracker | Ted Whitehead (writer) | TV show | The phrase appears in the episode "The Big Crunch" |
| 1996 | "6ix" | The Lemonheads | Song | On the album Car Button Cloth |
| 2001 | All Flesh Is Grass | Madder Mortem | Album | |
| 2004 | All flesh is Grass: Pleasures & Promises of Pasture Farming | Gene Logsdon | Nonfiction book | |
| 2006 | The Omnivore's Dilemma | Michael Pollan | Nonfiction book | |
| 2020 | "All Flesh Is Grass" | Una McCormack | Novel | A Doctor Who companion |