 | Original Poems and Translations |  |
103
EPITAPHS.
Oh let your once-lov'd friend inscribe the stone,
And, with domestic sorrows, mix his own!
Pope.
And, with domestic sorrows, mix his own!
Pope.
I. On a very good WOMAN.
Could marble know what virtue's buried here,This monument would scarce refuse a tear,
But mourn so early snatch'd from mortal life,
The tenderest parent, and the dearest wife,
Bless'd with sweet temper, and of soul so even,
She seem'd a copy of the saints in heaven.
104
II. On a Young GENTLEMAN,
Who died A. D. 1743, Ætat. 15. In a Church in CHESHIRE.
When age, all-patient, and without regret,Lies down in peace, and pays the general debt,
'Tis weakness most unmanly to deplore
The death of those who relish life no more.
But when fair youth, that every promise gave,
Sheds his sweet blossom in the blasting grave,
All eyes o'erflow with many a streaming tear,
And each sad bosom heaves the sigh sincere.
105
III. ON A WORTHY FRIEND,
Who was accomplished In the Sister Arts of Music and Painting.
Oh born in liberal studies to excel,Thou friendly, candid, virtuous mind, farewel!
To speak thy praise all eloquence is faint,
Except the style's expressive as thy paint:
Unless th' enliven'd numbers sweetly flow,
As when thy music gave the soul to glow:
Unless the Muses polish every line,
And draw the good man with a warmth divine,
Serenely pious, with the gentlest mind,
Through life contented, and in death resign'd.
106
IV. On the Rev. Mr. COOKSON,
VICAR OF LEEDS.
Wrapt in cold clay beneath this marble liesWhat once was generous, eloquent, and wise;
A genius form'd in every light to shine,
A well-bred scholar, and a sage divine;
An orator in every art refin'd,
To teach, to animate and mend mankind:
The wise and good approv'd the life he led,
And, as they lov'd him living, mourn him dead.
1747.
107
V. On Mrs. FOUNTAYNE,
Daughter of Thomas Whichcot, Esq; AND Wife to the Dean of YORK, Who died in Child-Bed, July 1750. Ætat. 19.
If e'er thy bosom swell'd with grief sincere,
View this sad shrine, and pour the pitying tear:
Here Fountayne lies, in whom all charms combin'd,
All that e'er grac'd, or dignified her kind.
View this sad shrine, and pour the pitying tear:
Here Fountayne lies, in whom all charms combin'd,
All that e'er grac'd, or dignified her kind.
Farewel bright pattern of unblemish'd youth,
Of mildest merit, modesty, and truth!
Death snatch'd thy sweetness in the genial hour,
Just when thy stem put forth its infant flower:
Still blooms the tender flower; as oft we see
Fair branches budding from the lifeless tree.
Of mildest merit, modesty, and truth!
Death snatch'd thy sweetness in the genial hour,
Just when thy stem put forth its infant flower:
Still blooms the tender flower; as oft we see
Fair branches budding from the lifeless tree.
108
VI. On a young Gentleman, who died for Love.
If modest merit ever claim'd thy tear,
Behold this monument, and shed it here:
Here every blooming virtue beam'd in one,
The friend, the lover, and the duteous son.
Behold this monument, and shed it here:
Here every blooming virtue beam'd in one,
The friend, the lover, and the duteous son.
Bless'd youth! whose bosom Nature form'd to glow
With purest flame the heart of man can know,
Go, where bright angels heavenly raptures prove,
And melt in visions of seraphic love.
With purest flame the heart of man can know,
Go, where bright angels heavenly raptures prove,
And melt in visions of seraphic love.
1751.
109
VII. On JAMES FOX, Esq
1754.
Peace to the noblest, most ingenuous mind,
In wisdom's philosophic school refin'd,
The friend of man; to pride alone a foe;
Whose heart humane would melt at others woe:
Oft has he made the breast of anguish gay,
And sigh'd, like Titus, when he lost a day.
All vice he lash'd, or in the rich or great,
But prais'd mild merit in the meanest state.
Calm and serene in virtue's paths he trod,
Lov'd mercy, and walk'd humbly with his God.
| Original Poems and Translations | |