University of Virginia Library

Thus, having my Friends Obit, truly truly kept
Six nights, (whilst others round about me slept)
Here, that Contexture, which conceiv'd I had,
Is now produced, spun, and weav'd, and made.
'Tis true the Object, of my contemplations,
Was WESTROW: But, from him, my Meditations,
Rose higher; and my soul did contemplate
Things, which concern these Nations, and this State;
And, thereupon, some hints, are interweaved,
Which will (if passed by, as unperceived)
Make this, which is, the Muses way of giving
Life to the Dead; to be, unto the Living,
An ominous presage; at least to some,
Of death, of shame, or, of worse things to come.