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Miscellanies in Prose and Verse

By Mrs. Catherine Jemmat
 

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To a young Gentleman on the Death of his FATHER.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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To a young Gentleman on the Death of his FATHER.

Let joyful heirs, in mock procession slow,
Display the pomp of counterfeited woe,
For odious dotards, miserable elves,
Who neither liv'd for others, nor themselves,
But pin'd in opulence, and in their death
Could lose no property beside their breath,
To mean demerit, breathing bustos raise,
And wound the marble with dishonest praise.
'Tis thine to bear the filial pious part,
And deep impress his virtues on thy heart;

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Thine to lament, that half thy joys must end,
With such a parent, and with such a friend;
The friend of human race, in whom combin'd,
The softest manners, and the meekest mind,
The seal of probity, the test of truth,
The force of manhood, and the ease of youth.
Peace he pursu'd, and through the level race,
Of lengthen'd life, ador'd the God of peace.
Sure such a soul, that fully had discharg'd,
All bonds of duty, long'd to be enlarg'd.
To sum up all, his fair account was past,
And nature's debt was only now the last.
Mellow'd with age, he gently dropt to rest,
Secure to wake again among the blest;
The common father summon'd him from thee,
Nor thou, my friend, repine at heaven's decree,
Nor grieve, that he should sink without complaints,
To sleep with mortals, and awake with saints.