Careful Words

vital (n.)

vital (adj.)

Spirits that live throughout,

Vital in every part, not as frail man,

In entrails, heart or head, liver or reins,

Cannot but by annihilating die.

John Milton (1608-1674): Paradise Lost. Book vi. Line 345.

Vital spark of heavenly flame!

Quit, O quit this mortal frame!

Alexander Pope (1688-1744): The Dying Christian to his Soul.