"I am weak and foolish, and don't know what, and I can't fend off my miserable grief! . . . I had some faint belief in the mercy of God till I lost that woman. Yes, he prepared a gourd to shade me, and like the prophet I thanked Him and was glad. But the next day he prepared a worm to smite the gourd and wither it; and I feel it is better to die than to live!"

-- Thomas Hardy, Far from the Maddening Crowd