The final engraving , of a person in gay attire , with hat and plume , sitting and smoking at a table , is accompanied by a poem , once strangely attributed to George Wither , whose portrait the engraving was taken to be . The poem was in fact an allegorical work on earthly existence , and its burden was " Thus thinke , then drinke Tobacco . " Wither , an opponent of smoking , wrote a reply with the counter-refrain , " Thus thinke , drinke no Tobacco . " The themes of other engravings were based on sermons preached in London , and exhibit anti-Catholic feeling . There is possibly allusion to the Fatal Vespers . The preachers of the sermons are indicated by two initials only . It has been argued that in particular the 27th engraving , " The new creation " , with imagery based on an untuned musical instrument , could have been taken from preaching of John Donne
Fatal Vespers
Fatal Vespers
Thomas Jenner (publisher)