University of Virginia Library

An Epitaph on M. H.

In this cold Monument lies one,
That I know who has lain upon,

355

The happier He: her Sight would charm,
And Touch have kept King David warm.
Lovely, as is the dawning East,
Was this Marble's frozen Guest;
As soft, and Snowy, as that Down
Adorns the Blow-balls frizled Crown;
As straight and slender as the Crest,
Or Antlet of the one beam'd Beast;
Pleasant as th' odorous Month of May:
As glorious, and as light as Day.
Whom I admir'd, as soon as knew,
And now her Memory pursue
With such a superstitious Lust,
That I could fumble with her Dust.
She all Perfections had, and more,
Tempting, as if design'd a Whore,
For so she was; and since there are
Such, I could wish them all as fair.

356

Pretty she was, and young, and wise,
And in her Calling so precise,
That Industry had made her prove
The sucking School-Mistress of Love:
And Death, ambitious to become
Her Pupil, left his Ghastly home,
And, seeing how we us'd her here,
The raw-bon'd Rascal ravisht her.
Who, pretty Soul, resign'd her Breath,
To seek new Letchery in Death.