To Alexander Pope, Esq; Intreating him to write Verses to the Memory of Thomas, late Earl of Thanet. Mary Barber Alexander Huber Editor Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
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Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive
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Oxford This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. T42622 519 p. 45 Barber, Mary, ca. 1690-1757. Poems on Several Occasions [poems only]. London Printed for C. Rivington, at the Bible and Crown in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1734 pp. 173-179. xlviii,283,[7]p.; 8⁰.

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To Alexander Pope , Esq ; Intreating him to write Verses to the Memory of Thomas , late Earl of Thanet "[T]he fifth Earl (1644-1729) married Catherine daughter of the Duke of Newcastle". (Tucker [1992], 222) . Shall for the Epistle to Lord Bathurst , on the Use of Riches . Man of Ross thy Lyre be strung , And sleeps illustrious Thanet yet unsung ? Since to distinguish Merit is thy Care , Let Thanet in thy deathless Praises share : Let me , unequal to the Task , excite Thy matchless Muse , to do his Merit Right . Numbers , like thine , should call his Virtues forth ; Poetic Mirrors should be true to Worth ; Disdaining to reflect those glitt'ring Rays , Which flow from Pomp , or from Ambition's Blaze . From Scenes of Woe , unmov'd , whilst Others fly , And turn from Anguish the unmelting Eye ; Thanet pursues the Footsteps of the Poor , And silent enters thro' the lonely Door ; Fair Plenty in his Train , and Joy , and Health , Seeking Distress , as Others seek for Wealth ; With God like Pity ev'ry Pray'r receives , Each Wish fulfils , and ev'ry Want relieves : Where Sickness reigns , he , to his utmost Pow'r , Softens the Anguish of each dismal Hour : He smooths the rugged Brow of anxious Care , And gilds the gloomy Prospect of Despair : Whilst Libertines on Vice their Wealth employ , He makes the Widow's Heart to sing for Joy : Orphans no more their Parents lost complain ; In Thanet's Bounty they revive again . Nor for this Life alone would he provide ; To Life eternal Thanet was their Guide : Nor on Morality alone depends ; But to the noblest Heights of Faith ascends : Devotion's heav'nly Flame inspir'd his Breast ; Still in the Temple were his Vows address'd : Tho' he in Virtue's Paths , delighted , trod , Studious to please , and imitate his God ; The hallow'd Altar , grateful , he survey'd , And there his lowly Adoration paid . See the pale , childless Miser hoard up Wealth , And , trembling , snatch an anxious View by Stealth ; Amass the shining Ore with guilty Care , To aggrandize some distant , worthless Heir ; Who longs , impatient , for the solemn Toll , Which , slow , proclaims the sad-departed Soul ; Then eyes with Joy the care-collected Hoard , And spends , profuse , what Avarice had stor'd ; By Fortune's sudden Smiles to Madness fir'd , He wastes on ev'ry Vice , what Guilt acquir'd . So dwells on Mountain-Tops the Northern Snow , Congeal'd by Frosts , for Years untaught to flow ; Till hotter Suns more vig'rous Beams display ; The Mass relents , the glitt'ring Piles decay ; Sudden , from high , resounding Torrents flow , Impetuous rushing on the Vales below ; O'erwhelm the Harvest of the pining Swain , And curse with Floods , which should have bless'd the Plain . On Thanet Heav'n its happier Influence shed ; A num'rous Off-spring grac'd his nuptial Bed : And yet those Motives to paternal Care Steel'd not his Breast against the Suppliant's Pray'r . Studious to draw down Blessings on his Race , His Bountics with his Progeny increase . Like Egypt's Flood , beneficent he rose ; Silent , tho' vast , his well-judg'd Bounty flows ; O'er the parch'd Earth it spreads its ample Course , Profuse of Good , but , modest , hides its Source . Ask not , to what his Charities amount ; So many Myriads swell the vast Account . Ye vain Pretenders to superior Sense , Ye empty Boasters of Beneficence , Who in the Scorners Seat , exulting , sit , And vaunt your impious Raillery for Wit , The Gospel-Rule defective you pretend , When you the social Duties recommend ; In Thanet see them heighten'd and refin'd ; In Thanet see the Friend of human Kind ; Heighten'd by Faith , see ev'ry Virtue's Force ; By Faith , their surest Sanction , noblest Source . Loudly ye boast a more than Christian Zeal , For Virtue's Int'rest , and the public Weal ; Best by Effects are Boastings understood ; Come , prove your Ardor for the public Good ! The mighty Heroes of your Tribe survey , Their ev'ry hidden Excellence display ; Or dead , or living , set their Virtues forth ; Let all , united , vie with Thanet's Worth ; Free-thinkers , Moralists , on you I call , Can Thanet's Worth be equall'd by you all ? Accept , illustrious Shade ! these artless Lays ; My Soul this Homage , to thy Virtue pays : Led by that sacred Light , a Stranger-Muse Attempts those Paths , which abler Feet refuse ; In distant Climes thy Virtue she admires , In distant Climes thy Worth her Strain inspires . Long to thy Tomb the Wretched shall repair , And to thy Ashes pay a silent Tear ; Shall to the Traveller thy Worth relate , And Emulation thro' the World create : Ages to come shall celebrate thy Fame , And Orphans , yet unborn , shall bless thy Name . When the firm Basis of the Earth gives Way , And Nature's Self shall feel her last Decay ; When those , who from the Wretched turn'd their Eye . Too late relenting , shall for Mercy cry ; The Thousands thou hast fed , shall , in thy Praise , Their loud Hosanna's to JEHOVAH raise ; Thy modest Worth shall veil itself no more ; Angels shall tell what Thanet hid before .