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AN ELEGY, SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF THAT GREAT DIVINE, THE REVEREND AND LEARNED DR. SAMUEL COOPER, Who departed this Life December 29, 1783, AETATIS 59.

1 O THOU whose exit wraps in boundless woe,
2 For Thee the tears of various Nations flow:
3 For Thee the floods of virtuous sorrows rise
4 From the full heart and burst from streaming eyes,
5 Far from our view to Heaven's eternal height,
6 The Seat of bliss divine, and glory bright;
7 Far from the restless turbulence of life,
8 The war of factions, and impassion'd strife.
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9 From every ill mortality endur'd,
10 Safe in celestial Salem's walls secur'd.
11 E'ER yet from this terrestrial state retir'd,
12 The Virtuous lov'd Thee, and the Wife admir'd.
13 The gay approv'd Thee, and the grave rever'd;
14 And all thy words with rapt attention heard!
15 The Sons of Learning on thy lessons hung,
16 While soft persuasion mov'd th' illit'rate throng.
17 Who, drawn a by rhetoric's commanding laws,
18 Comply'd obedient, nor conceiv'd the cause,
19 Thy every sentence was with grace inspir'd,
20 And every period with devotion fir'd;
21 Bright Truth thy guide without a dark disguise,
22 And penetration's all-discerning-eyes.
23 THY COUNTRY mourns th' afflicting Hand divine
24 That now forbids thy radiant lamp to shine,
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25 Which, like the sun, resplendent source of light
26 Diffus'd its beams, and chear'd our gloom of night.
27 WHAT deep-felt sorrow in each Kindred breast
28 With keen sensation rends the heart distress'd!
29 Fraternal love sustains a tenderer part,
30 And mourns a BROTHER with a BROTHER'S heart.
31 THY CHURCH laments her faithful PASTOR fled
32 To the cold mansions of the silent dead.
33 There hush'd forever, cease the heavenly strain,
34 That wak'd the soul, but here resounds in vain.
35 Still live thy merits, where thy name is known,
36 As the sweet Rose, its blooming beauty gone
37 Retains its fragrance with a long perfume:
38 Thus COOPER! thus thy death-less name shall bloom
39 Unfading, in thy Church and Country's love,
40 While Winter frowns, or spring renews the grove.
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41 The hapless Muse, her loss in COOPER mourns,
42 And as she fits, she writes, and weeps, by turns;
43 A Friend sincere, whose mild indulgent grace
44 Encourag'd oft, and oft approv'd her lays.
45 WITH all their charms, terrestrial objects strove,
46 But vain their pleasures to attract his love.
47 Such COOPER was — at Heaven's high call he flies;
48 His task well finish'd, to his native skies.
49 Yet to his fate reluctant we resign,
50 Tho' our's to copy conduct such as thine:
51 Such was thy wish, th' observant Muse survey'd
52 Thy latest breath. and this advice convey'd.

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Title (in Source Edition): AN ELEGY, SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF THAT GREAT DIVINE, THE REVEREND AND LEARNED DR. SAMUEL COOPER, Who departed this Life December 29, 1783, AETATIS 59.
Author: Phillis Wheatley
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Genres: elegy

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Wheatley, Phillis, 1753-1784. Billings, William, 1746-1800. An elegy, sacred to the memory of the great divine, the Reverend and learned Dr. Samuel Cooper, who departed this life December 29, 1783, aetatis 59. / by Phillis Peters. Boston: Printed and sold by E. Russell, in Essex-Street, near Liberty-Pole, 1784 M,DCC,LXXXIV., pp. []-6. 8 p. ; 20 cm. (4to) (OTA N14771)

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The text has been typographically modernized, but without any silent modernization of spelling, capitalization, or punctuation. The source of the text is given and all editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. Based on the electronic text originally produced by the TCP project, this ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.