 | Miscellaneous works of George Wither |  |
The Epilogue.
This, I perceive will take up too much Room,
Within a Church, or, on a Chappel Tombe;
And, peradventure, need a larger Stone
Then my estate will buy to write it on:
Ile therefore, let it wander on betwixt
The two Poles, till it finds where to be fixt:
For, though it seems brought forth before the time,
It may, whilst it continues in this Clime,
Some way advantage me, by bringing that
Into my minde, which I might else forget,
That, Whilst I live, I might conform thereto
So far forth, as I am oblig'd to do.
Within a Church, or, on a Chappel Tombe;
And, peradventure, need a larger Stone
Then my estate will buy to write it on:
Ile therefore, let it wander on betwixt
The two Poles, till it finds where to be fixt:
For, though it seems brought forth before the time,
It may, whilst it continues in this Clime,
Some way advantage me, by bringing that
Into my minde, which I might else forget,
That, Whilst I live, I might conform thereto
So far forth, as I am oblig'd to do.
Moreover, I shall know, (when this is read)
What will be said of me when I am dead;
Which, that man cannot hear, who shall not have
An Epitaph, till he is in his Grave.
Some part thereof, may likewise useful seem
To others, who my words, now disesteem:
For, through the spatious earth, I know not ought,
That is, or may be said, or done, or thought,
But, hath a tendance, if we heed it will,
Either to what is good or what is ill:
A Single haire, or fluttring of a Bird,
May providentially, sometimes afford
Hints, or precautions, to incline us, to
What we ought to Observe, beleive, or do.
What will be said of me when I am dead;
Which, that man cannot hear, who shall not have
An Epitaph, till he is in his Grave.
76
To others, who my words, now disesteem:
For, through the spatious earth, I know not ought,
That is, or may be said, or done, or thought,
But, hath a tendance, if we heed it will,
Either to what is good or what is ill:
A Single haire, or fluttring of a Bird,
May providentially, sometimes afford
Hints, or precautions, to incline us, to
What we ought to Observe, beleive, or do.
This, also will be, as it were, to some
A Messenger, who from the dead is come,
To Preach what is agreeable to Reason,
(Although it be a Preachment out of season)
But, now, both dead and living Preachers too,
Are sleighted, whatsoe're they say or do.
And, if such Predicants found no regard,
Where Moses and the Prophets were not heard,
What, probably, from those can be expected
Who Christ and his Apostles, have neglected?
Yet, from dead Letters, and from men deceast
There comes (from what in lifetime they exprest)
A voice sometimes, to which men will incline,
A willing ear; and so, there will from mine.
A Messenger, who from the dead is come,
To Preach what is agreeable to Reason,
(Although it be a Preachment out of season)
But, now, both dead and living Preachers too,
Are sleighted, whatsoe're they say or do.
And, if such Predicants found no regard,
Where Moses and the Prophets were not heard,
What, probably, from those can be expected
Who Christ and his Apostles, have neglected?
Yet, from dead Letters, and from men deceast
There comes (from what in lifetime they exprest)
A voice sometimes, to which men will incline,
A willing ear; and so, there will from mine.
| Miscellaneous works of George Wither | |