For life by volumes lengthenéd,
A line or two to speak him dead.
For the laurel in his verse
The sullen cypress o'er his hearse. For a silver-crowned head
A dirty pillow in Death's bed.< For so dear, so deep a trust,
Sad requital, thus much dust!
Now though the blow that snatch him hence
Stopp'd the mouth of Eloquence,
Though she be dumb e'er since his death,
Not used to speak but in his breath,
Yet if at least she not denies
The sad language of our eyes, We are contented: for than this Language none more fluent is. Nothing speaks our grief so well As to speak nothing. Come then, tell
Thy mind in tears, whoe'er thou be
That ow'st a name to misery:
> Eyes are vocal, tears have tongues,
And there be words not made with lungs ; Sententious showers, O, let them fall, Their cadence is rhetorical.
Here's a theme will drink th' expense ne
Of all thy watery eloquence;
Weep then, only be exprest
Thus much: He's dead; and weep the rest.
Upon the Death of Mr. Herrys.
A plant of noble stem, forward and fair,
As ever whisper'd to the morning air,
Thrived in these happy grounds, the Earth's just pride, Whose rising glories made such haste to hide
His head in clouds, as if in him alone Impatient Nature had taught motion
To start from Time, and cheerfully to fly Before, and seize upon Maturity.
Thus grew this gracious plant, in whose sweet shade The sun himself oft wish'd to sit, and made
The morning Muses perch like birds, and sing Among his branches: yea, and vow'd to bring His own delicious phoenix from the blest Arabia, there to build her virgin nest,
To hatch herself in; 'mongst his leaves, the Day, Fresh from the rosy East, rejoiced to play ; To them she gave the first and fairest beam That waited on her birth: she gave to them The purest pearls, that wept her evening death; The balmy Zephyrus got so sweet a breath By often kissing them; and now begun Glad Time to ripen Expectation.
The timorous maiden-blossoms on each bough Peeped forth from their first blushes; so that now
A thousand ruddy hopes smiled in each bud,
And flatter'd every greedy eye that stood
Fixed in delight, as if already there
Those rare fruits dangled, whence the golden Year His crown expected, when (O Fate! O Time! That seldom lett'st a blushing youthful prime Hide his hot beams in shade of silver Age, So rare is hoary Virtue) the dire rage
Of a mad storm these bloomy joys all tore, Ravish'd the maiden blossoms, and down bore
The trunk. (Yet in this ground his precious root
Still lives, which when weak Time shall be poured out Into Eternity, and circular joys
Dance in an endless round, again shall rise The fair son of an ever-youthful Spring, To be a shade for angels while they sing. Meanwhile, whoe'er thou art that passest here, O do thou water it with one kind tear!
Upon the Death of the most desired Mr. Berrys.
Death, what dost? O, hold thy blow,
What thou dost thou dost not know.
Death, thou must not here be cruel, This is Nature's choicest jewel:
This is he, in whose rare frame Nature labour'd for a name :
And meant to leave his precious feature
The pattern of a perfect creature. Joy of Goodness, Love of Art, Virtue wears him next her heart. Him the Muses love to follow, Him they call their vice-Apollo. Apollo, golden though thou be, Th' art not fairer than is he, Nor more lovely lift'st thy head, (Blushing) from thine Eastern bed. The glories of thy youth ne'er knew Brighter hopes than he can shew, Why then should it e'er be seen
That his should fade, while thine is green? And wilt thou (O, cruel boast!)
Put poor Nature to such cost?
O, 'twill undo our common mother, To be at charge of such another. What? think we to no other end Gracious heavens do use to send Earth her best perfection,
But to vanish, and be gone? Therefore only given to-day, To-morrow to be snatch'd away? I've seen indeed the hopeful bud Of a ruddy rose that stood Blushing, to behold the ray Of the new-saluted Day :
(His tender top not fully spread)
The sweet dash of a shower new-shed Invited him no more to hide
Within himself the purple pride
Of his forward flower, when lo
While he sweetly 'gan to show
His swelling glories, Auster spied him, Cruel Auster thither hied him,
And with the rush of one rude blast, Shamed not spitefully to waste
All his leaves, so fresh, so sweet, And lay them trembling at his feet.
I've seen the Morning's lovely ray Hover o'er the new-born Day With rosy wings so richly bright As if he scorned to think of Night; When a rugged storm whose scowl Made heaven's radiant face look foul, Called for an untimely night To blot the newly-blossomed light. But were the rose's blush so rare, Were the Morning's smile so fair, As is he, nor cloud, nor wind
But would be courteous, would be kind. Spare him, Death! O spare him then, Spare the sweetest among men ! Let not Pity, with her tears,
Keep such distance from thine ears ;
But O! thou wilt not, canst not spare,
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