[Page 21]

INSCRIPTION UPON A MONUMENT.

BY THE SAME.
1 HOW soon with nimble wings our pleasures haste,
2 And clouds involve the sunshine of the day!
3 The wintry storms howl o'er the dreary waste,
4 And fairest things tend swiftest to decay.
5 In dark oblivion all our glory ends;
6 This morn we flourish, and the next we fade.
7 Time lifts his sweeping scythe: the pile descends
8 Where vain Ambition all her toils display'd;
9 The work of nations, and the pomp of power
10 Sink: the once lofty spire, the dome's proud state:
11 The dust receives them at the destin'd hour,
12 And mighty kingdoms feel the force of Fate.
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13 Fall, vain Ambition's pile, and lofty spires,
14 But spare, stern Fate, the youthful and the gay;
15 Soft pity sure such innocence requires;
16 And so much beauty well might Death delay.

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About this text

Title (in Source Edition): INSCRIPTION UPON A MONUMENT.
Author: Sir James Marriott
Themes: fate; fortune; providence; death
Genres: inscription
References: DMI 32617

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Source edition

Pearch, G. A collection of poems in four volumes. By several hands. Vol. IV. [The second edition]. London: printed for G. Pearch, 1770, pp. 21-22. 4v. ; 8⁰. (ESTC T116245; DMI 1137; OTA K093079.004) (Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [(OC) 280 o.791].)

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