The Works of The Ettrick Shepherd Centenary Edition. With a Memoir of the Author, by the Rev. Thomas Thomson ... Poems and Life. With Many Illustrative Engravings [by James Hogg] |
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Epitaph on a Living Character.
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 | The Works of The Ettrick Shepherd |  |
Epitaph on a Living Character.
Whose headstone is this, that's so fretted and airy
In workmanship, planned by the wildest vagary?
There's the bolus, the pen, and the emblem of happiness,
With Venus, and Mars, and the sage Esculapius;
Fine gardens on arches, whose shades I remember;
The picture of May and the bust of November.
And yonder's an ox; faith, I almost could wager
'Tis the great king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar.
If you'll lend me a prop with your hand or your head, I shall
Read you the epitaph up from the pedestal.
In workmanship, planned by the wildest vagary?
There's the bolus, the pen, and the emblem of happiness,
With Venus, and Mars, and the sage Esculapius;
Fine gardens on arches, whose shades I remember;
The picture of May and the bust of November.
And yonder's an ox; faith, I almost could wager
'Tis the great king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar.
If you'll lend me a prop with your hand or your head, I shall
Read you the epitaph up from the pedestal.
“O passenger, pause o'er these sacred receptacles!
And read whom they hold, though you put on your spectacles:
Remember in season your God and your duty,
Else vain is your knowledge, your riches, or beauty;
If these had as guards stood this chilly abode upon,
Never had these two lain here to be trod upon.
And read whom they hold, though you put on your spectacles:
Remember in season your God and your duty,
Else vain is your knowledge, your riches, or beauty;
If these had as guards stood this chilly abode upon,
Never had these two lain here to be trod upon.
“Here, next to the sun, lies as bold and as rich a man,—
Ah, no, but the ashes of one that was such a man;
Of spirit decisive, of genius undoubted;
And as for his learning it ne'er was disputed.
The fire of the sky and the ray of simplicity
Were both led in train by a proud eccentricity:
Yet now, when he's gone, you may safely aver it,
His countrymen knew not one half of his merit.
Ah, no, but the ashes of one that was such a man;
Of spirit decisive, of genius undoubted;
And as for his learning it ne'er was disputed.
The fire of the sky and the ray of simplicity
Were both led in train by a proud eccentricity:
Yet now, when he's gone, you may safely aver it,
His countrymen knew not one half of his merit.
“And here by his side lies a sweet lovely creature,
A dew-sprinkled rose in the garden of nature,
Who blossomed and smiled in the richest maturity,
Then died as she lived, in submission and purity.
Yes, both are laid low here, as sure as you'd seen it,
And no man is sure of his life for a minute.
A dew-sprinkled rose in the garden of nature,
Who blossomed and smiled in the richest maturity,
Then died as she lived, in submission and purity.
Yes, both are laid low here, as sure as you'd seen it,
And no man is sure of his life for a minute.
“Go home to your book or your business, and when ye go,
Turn not aside to the tavern or bagnio;
But hold on your way with a firm resolution,
A day is approaching of fair retribution;
And when to the tomb they your carcase deliver,
For good or for evil ye're settled for ever!”
Turn not aside to the tavern or bagnio;
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A day is approaching of fair retribution;
And when to the tomb they your carcase deliver,
For good or for evil ye're settled for ever!”
| The Works of The Ettrick Shepherd | |