All flesh is grass (kol-habbāsār ḥāṣīr)[1] 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:[2]
A more modern text, English Standard Version, reads:[3]
In the New Testament the phrase reoccurs in the First Epistle of Peter (see ;, pasa sarx hōs chortos[4]). 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').[5]
It has been used in various works, including:
| Year | Title | Creator | Type | Notes | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| c. 1570 | King Edward VI and the Pope | Unknown | Painting | Inscribed on the pope's chest | ||
| 1599 | The Shoemakers' Holiday | Play | ||||
| 1852 | The Old Nurses Story | Short story | "Flesh is grass, they do say..." | [6] | ||
| 1865-1868 | "Denn alles Fleisch es ist wie Gras" | Choral composition | The second movement of the German Requiem, used as text | |||
| 1886 | "Arithmetic on the Frontier" | Poem | Used in the first stanza | |||
| 1889 - | En vänlig grönskas rika dräkt | Hymn | ||||
| Mid to late 1800s | "All Flesh is Grass" | Poem | ||||
| 1921-1923 | Novel | The volunteer Marek recites it to Švejk | ||||
| 1931 | "Difficulties of a Statesman" | Poem | ||||
| 1938 | The Code of the Woosters | Novel | ||||
| 1939 | "Ten Songs" | Poem | Used in the third stanza of the ninth poem | |||
| 1965 | Novel | |||||
| 1972 | The Bird of Night | Novel | ||||
| 1980 | Heaven's Gate | Michael Cimino (writer/director) | Film | John Hurt's character Billy Irvine mutters it to himself | ||
| 1985 | "War Photographer" | Poem | It describes the sights seen in war photographs | |||
| The Handmaid's Tale | Novel | In "Waiting Room: Chapter 8," Aunt Lydia references it incorrectly as "all flesh is weak" | [7] | |||
| 1994 | Ted Whitehead (writer) | TV show | The phrase appears in the episode "The Big Crunch" | |||
| 1996 | "6ix" | Song | On the album Car Button Cloth | |||
| 2001 | Album | |||||
| 2004 | All flesh is Grass: Pleasures & Promises of Pasture Farming | Nonfiction book | ||||
| 2006 | The Omnivore's Dilemma | Nonfiction book | ||||
| 2020 | "All Flesh Is Grass" | Novel | A Doctor Who companion |