When thofe fair funs fhall fet, as fet they must, And all thofe treffes fhall be laid in duft, This Lock, the Mufe fhall confecrate to fame, And 'midst the stars infcribe Belinda's name, 150 ELEGY To the MEMORY of an UNFORTUNATE LADY". WHA HAT beck'ning ghost, along the moon- Invites my steps, and points to yonder glade? 5 Is it, in heav'n, a crime to love too well? To bear too tender, or too firm a heart, For those who greatly think, or bravely die? 10 Why bade ye elfe, ye Pow'rs! her foul aspire Above the vulgar flight of low desire ? NOTES. *See the Duke of Buckingham's verfes to a Lady defigning to retire into a Monaftery, compared with Mr. Pope's Letters to several Ladies, p. 206. quarto Edition. She feems to be the fame person whose unfortunate death is the subject of this poem. P. 15 29 25 Ambition first sprung from your bleft abodes 3 30 35 There passengers shall stand, and pointing say, The gaze of fools, and pageant of a day! So perish all, whose breast ne'er learn'd to glow 45 For others good, or melt at others woe. What can atone (oh ever-injur'd shade!) Thy fate unpity'd, and thy rites unpaid ? No friend's complaint, no kind domestic tear Pleas'd thy pale ghost, or grac'd thy mournful bier, By foreign hands thy dying eyes were clos'd, 51 By foreign hands thy decent limbs compos'd, By foreign hands thy humble grave adorn'd, By strangers honour'd, and by strangers mourn'd! What tho' no friends in fable weeds appear, 55 Grieve for an hour, perhaps, then mourn a year, And bear about the mockery of woe To midnight dances, and the public show? What tho' no weeping Loves thy ashes Nor polish'd marble emulate thy face? What tho' no facred earth allow thee room, Nor hallow'd dirge be mutter'd o'er thy tomb? Yet fhall thy grave with rifing flow'rs be dreft, And the green turf lie lightly on thy breast: grace, 60 There shall the morn her earliest tears bestow, 65 A heap of duft alone remains of thee, 'Tis all thou art, and all the proud shall be! 74 Life's idle bufinefs at one gafp be o'er, The Mufe forgot, and thou belov'd no more! |