 | The works of Anna Lætitia Barbauld |  |
115
ON THE DEATH OF MRS. JENNINGS .
Est tamen quietè, et purè, et eleganter actæ ætatis, placida ac lenis senectus.
Cicero de Senect.
'Tis past: dear venerable shade, farewell!
Thy blameless life thy peaceful death shall tell.
Clear to the last thy setting orb has run;
Pure, bright, and healthy like a frosty sun:
And late old age with hand indulgent shed
Its mildest winter on thy favoured head.
For Heaven prolonged her life to spread its praise,
And blessed her with a patriarch's length of days.
The truest praise was hers, a cheerful heart,
Prone to enjoy, and ready to impart.
116
She showed that piety and age could smile.
Religion had her heart, her cares, her voice;
'T was her last refuge, as her earliest choice.
To holy Anna's spirit not more dear
The church of Israel, and the house of prayer.
Her spreading offspring of the fourth degree
Filled her fond arms, and clasped her trembling knee.
Matured at length for some more perfect scene,
Her hopes all bright, her prospects all serene,
Each part of life sustained with equal worth,
And not a wish left unfulfilled on earth,
Like a tired traveller with sleep opprest,
Within her children's arms she dropped to rest.
Farewell! thy cherished image, ever dear,
Shall many a heart with pious love revere:
Long, long shall mine her honoured memory bless,
Who gave the dearest blessing I possess.
| The works of Anna Lætitia Barbauld | |