 | Poetick Miscellanies of Mr John Rawlet |  |
136
An Epitaph design'd for that most excellently accomplisht and Publick-spirited Gentleman, William Banks Esq;, of Winstanly in Lancashire; who died at Chastleton in Oxfordshire, July 6, ---76.
Under this Monument the Reliques lie
Of a Great Man, all that of him could die;
Who whilst he liv'd, liv'd to the noblest ends,
To serve his God, his Country, and his Friends.
Wherefore his God, his Friends, his Country give
Freedom from Death, and make him still to live:
His Soul with God in Regions lives above,
In Regions like his Soul, all Peace and Love:
With dearest Friends his precious Memory
Lives fresh and fragrant; nor with them shall die.
His grateful Country doth preserve his name,
Just Praises, and true Tears, Embalm the same:
His lovely Picture still hath Life and Breath,
In hopeful Children; so small Power hath Death
Over good Men, who when they seem to yield,
Then, like their dying Lord, they win the Field;
Only the Grave in peace retains their Dust,
Until the Resurrection of the Just.
Of a Great Man, all that of him could die;
Who whilst he liv'd, liv'd to the noblest ends,
To serve his God, his Country, and his Friends.
Wherefore his God, his Friends, his Country give
Freedom from Death, and make him still to live:
His Soul with God in Regions lives above,
In Regions like his Soul, all Peace and Love:
With dearest Friends his precious Memory
Lives fresh and fragrant; nor with them shall die.
137
Just Praises, and true Tears, Embalm the same:
His lovely Picture still hath Life and Breath,
In hopeful Children; so small Power hath Death
Over good Men, who when they seem to yield,
Then, like their dying Lord, they win the Field;
Only the Grave in peace retains their Dust,
Until the Resurrection of the Just.
Multis ille bonis flebilis occidit;
Nulli flebilior quam mihi.
Nulli flebilior quam mihi.
| Poetick Miscellanies of Mr John Rawlet | |