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AN ELEGY ON THE DEATH of MISS M—s.
1 AS yet 'twas fancied woes alone I sung,
2 But now by real grief my lyre is strung.
3 'Tis HARRIET's gentle shade demands the lay;
4 Do thou MELPOMENE the tribute pay.
[Page 14]5 Dear to the Muses, to the Graces dear,
6 They all shall weep o'er HARRIET's honour'd bier.
7 HARRIET who from wisdom's hallowed page
8 Had snatch'd the spoil of every distant age.
9 Pardon, thou honour'd shade, these untaught lays
10 In which I vainly 'tempt to sing thy praise.
11 Alas! no rude, no untaught verse like mine
12 Is incense worthy of a HARRIET's shrine.
13 An abler bard thy many virtues claim,
14 An abler bard shall celebrate thy name.
[Page 15]15 Now shall the lyre again by him be strung,
16 Who in the down of life†
† Vide a Collection of Poems, entitled Euphrosyne (vol. i. p. 38) written by Mr. Graves, the classical author of the Spiritual Quixote, Columella, and Anecdotes of the Golden Vale.
thy praises sung. 17 GRAVES shall the sad, the mournful tribute pay,
18 And hail thy spirit in the realms of day.
19 Each female charm, each human virtue thine,
20 By MANLIUS, by me, by all esteem'd divine.
21 Long may we gaze on beauty's varied throng,
22 And give to them the gently flowing song;
23 But when, ah! when, shall we thy equal see?
24 When look on her we may compare with thee?
25 IN yonder shade whilst Harriet's urn we place,
26 (That shade which once her charms were wont to grace)
27 Behold you lovely, weeping, woe-worn train,
28 The boasted pride of this our village plain;
29 Who at this awful hour by sorrow led,
30 Seek the drear mansions of the silent dead,
31 And at a much lov'd sister's hallow'd bier,
32 Pay the sad tribute of a hopeless tear;
33 Whilst MANLIUS, whose generous breast is fraught
34 With all the virtue Grecian sages taught,
[Page 17]35 Midst midnight horror and funereal gloom
36 Resign'd beholds a much lov'd daughter's tomb.
37 Yet deem not ye that he no sorrow feels,
38 'Tis true philosophy his grief conceals.
39 Know on his peace this dire misfortune preys,
40 And will, we dread, cut short his valu'd days.
41 BUT mark yon aged venerable band
42 Who round their HARRIET's grave, in sorrow stand!
43 Those are the sons of poverty and woe,
44 Whose tears at her command had ceas'd to flow:
[Page 18]45 But by her death alas! their woes revive,
46 Again with penury they're doom'd to strive.
47 Ah! say who now shall all their grief assuage?
48 Ah! say who now shall cheer their drooping age?
49 MANLIUS in whose breast each virtue reigns,
50 'Tis HE shall now support these aged swains,
51 Shall bid their cruel fears 'their sorrows cease,
52 And smooth their passage to the realms of peace.
53 BUT say what form majestic now appears,
54 Oppress'd by sorrow and dissolv'd[ in] tears?
[Page 19]55 Her sighs, her groans, her wild distracted air,
56 All, all proclaim a wretched MOTHER's care.
57 Now o'er the yawning grave she wildly bends,
58 And now to heaven unnumber'd sighs she sends;
59 Whilst both her sons sad partners of her woe,
60 In silent grief their heartfelt sorrow shew.
61 IN slow procession o'er the gloomy plain,
62 See the sad father lead the wretched train,
63 Who now in solemn silence homeward turn,
64 And quit, reluctant quit, their HARRIET's urn.
[Page 20]65 But mark! tho' chang'd the spot, not chang'd the scene,
66 Nor yet their bosoms know a grief serene.
67 For lo! the sight of yonder dreary walls
68 Her lov'd idea and their grief recals.
69 Their grief may heaven in pity soon bid cease,
70 Soon may their tortur'd souls be hush'd to peace.
71 May heaven-born hope direct their streaming eyes
72 To those bless'd realms beyond the azure skies,
73 Where HARRIET's virtues meet a bright reward
74 From HEAVEN's ALMIGHTY AND ETERNAL LORD.
THE EPITAPH.
75 TRAV'LER! who e'er thou art, that seek'st this tomb,
76 And view'st with pleasure the surrounding gloom,
77 Stay, nor to beauty's urn thy tears refuse,
78 But let them fall like summer's sweetest dews.
79 O long uninjur'd may this willow wave,
80 And long protect this ever honour'd grave.
81 For know, beneath its sadly drooping shade
82 There rest the ashes of a lovely maid,
[Page 22]83 If virtuous worth be heaven's peculiar care,
84 She does its brightest, noblest pleasures share.
85 Do thou, by Harriet's bright example led,
86 The unfrequented paths of virtue tread.
87 So shalt thou dauntless meet the power of death,
88 And so shall hope receive thy latest breath.
About this text
Author: George Monck Berkeley
Themes:
grief; sadness; death
Genres:
heroic couplet; elegy
Text view / Document view
Source edition
Berkeley, George Monck, 1763-1793. An elegy on the death of Miss M----s. Eldest daughter of D---- M----, Esq. of the F---- H----, C----, Berkshire. Who died the 8th of July, 1785. By a gentleman of the Inner Temple. London: printed for H. D. Symonds, 1786, pp. []-22. 22p.; 4⁰. (ESTC T32526; OTA K035592.000)
Editorial principles
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.
Other works by George Monck Berkeley
- ADDRESS TO THE SHADE OF SHAKSPEARE. ON MRS. B—'S VISITING HIS TOMB IN COMPANY WITH THE WRITER OF THESE LINES, AUGUST 13, 1787. ()
- ADDRESS TO THE WINDS. SUPPOSED TO BE WRITTEN BY A LADY DURING THE ABSENCE OF HER LOVER. ()
- THE AUTHOR. TO ARTHUR MURPHY, ESQ. ()
- THE BANKS OF ALMOND. (VIDE PENNANT'S TOUR.) ()
- THE BIRTH OF BLISS. TO THE HONOURABLE GEORGE LESLIE, SON OF THE EARL OF LEVEN, &c. ()
- ELEGIAC BALLAD. TO HENRY M'KENZIE ESQ. ()
- ELEGY TO THE MEMORY OF LADY JANE GRAY AND MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS. TO JUDITH LADY LAURIE. ()
- ELEGY. TO ALMERIA. ()
- EPITAPH ON AN UNFORTUNATE LADY. TO THE REV. GEORGE GLEIG, A.M. ()
- EPITAPH ON G. R. BERKELEY, ESQ. TO MRS. GEORGE BERKELEY, HIS MOTHER. ()
- EVENING, A PASTORAL. TO HENRY GRIMSTON, ESQ. OF YORKSHIRE. ()
- THE FAIRIES. TO MISS GRIMSTON, YOUNGEST SISTER OF THOMAS GRIMSTON, ESQ. OF GRIMSTON, YORKSHIRE. ()
- FAREWELL STANZAS ON LEAVING COOKHAM, IN THE SPRING OF THE YEAR, 1781, WHEN MR. B. WAS NOT QUITE EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD, TWO YEARS AFTER HE LEFT ETON-SCHOOL. ()
- THE IMMORTALITY OF VIRTUE. TO MRS. FRINSHAM. ()
- IMPROMPTU, ON HEARING, AS HE WAS RISING IN THE MORNING, OF THE DEATH OF THE REV. JOHN DUNCOMBE, M.A. INSCRIBED TO MRS. DUNCOMBE, OF CANTERBURY. ()
- INSCRIPTION FOR A GOTHIC NICHE LINED WITH IVY, IN THE GARDEN OF DR. BERKELEY'S PREBENDAL HOUSE IN THE OAKS AT CANTERBURY, WHERE MR. BERKELEY USED TO SIT AND READ GREEK. THE LADIES OF THE FAMILY NAMED IT “THE GREEK SEAT.” ()
- INSCRIPTION FOR THE FRONT OF SINGLETON ABBEY. TO MISS MALTHUS'S, THE BELOVED, THE RESPECTED FRIENDS OF HIS EARLY YOUTH. ()
- INVOCATION TO CUPID. TO FREDERICK REYNOLDS, ESQ. ()
- INVOCATION TO OBLIVION. TO ROBERT MERRY, ESQ. ()
- LUCY, OR THE BANKS OF AVON. WRITTEN AT THE AGE OF SEVENTEEN, AND NEVER MEANT BY MR. B. FOR THE PUBLIC EYE. ()
- THE MAIDS OF MORVEN, AN ELEGIAC ODE. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE MARY VISCOUNTESS RUTHVEN, DAUGHTER OF THE EXCELLENT EARL AND COUNTESS OF LEVEN AND MELVIL. ()
- ODE TO CONSCIENCE. TO MRS. YEARSLEY. ()
- ODE TO GENIUS. TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON, A.M. PRECENTOR OF THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF YORK. ()
- ODE TO LOVE. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE LADY DUDLEY AND WARD. ()
- ODE TO TRAGEDY. TO MRS. SIDDONS. ()
- THE POWER OF LOVE. TO ROBERT BERKELEY, ESQ. JUNIOR, OF SPETCHLEY PARK, WORCESTERSHIRE. ()
- PROLOGUE TO BONDS WITHOUT JUDGEMENT, OR THE LOVES OF BENGAL. ()
- PROLOGUE, SPOKEN BY THE AUTHOR, ON OPENING THE NEW THEATRE AT BLENHEIM, OCTOBER 1787. TO THEIR GRACES THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH. ()
- THE RAPE OF THE WIG. WRITTEN IN THE YEAR 1782. ()
- RUMORA; OR, THE MAID OF RAASA. ()
- SONG. SUNG BY A CHORUS OF PEASANTS. ()
- SONG. TO ALMERIA. ()
- STANZAS ON PAINTING. TO THE REVEREND WILLIAM PETERS, LL.B. ()
- STANZAS WRITTEN AT THE TOMB OF SHAKSPEARE. ()
- TO A NIGHTINGALE IN CLIFDEN WOOD. TO MRS. D. MONCK, OF COOKHAM. ()
- TO MIRANDA, ON HER DETERMINING TO ASSUME THE VEIL. ()
- TO MIRANDA, ON THE DEATH OF HER BROTHER-IN-LAW THE EARL OF L—. ()
- TO MIRANDA. ()
- TO MISS — OF DUBLIN, ON THE DEATH OF HER MOTHER. ()
- VERSES ON MRS. BILLINGTON'S APPEARANCE AT OXFORD. TO THOMAS BARRETT LENNARD, ESQ. ()
- VERSES ON SEEING THE TRAGEDY OF THE REGENT. TO BERTIE GREATHEAD, ESQ. ()
- VERSES ON THE DUTCHESS OF RUTLAND'S PREFERRING MR. PETERS. TO GEORGE ATKINSON, M.D. ()
- THE VIRGIN'S MIDNIGHT HYMN, SUPPOSED TO BE SUNG BY A CHORUS OF NUNS AT BRUSSELS, IN THE YEAR 1786, WHEN THE AUTHOR WAS THERE. INSCRIBED TO THE HON. MISS MOLESWORTHS, DAUGHTERS OF LORD MOLESWORTH, AND TO MISS HORNES, DAUGHTERS OF THE BISHOP OF NORWICH. ()