Page 49 - Graveyard

G r av e y ar d H u m o r | 47

What though no state nor letter’d name
Enrolled him in the list of fame—
His soul aspired to nobler things,
And left the world to lords and kings!
Content to enjoy the better part,
A knowing head and honest heart.
Accept, O sage, the tribute due,
To worth so simply great as thine;
And let the learn’d with candour view
What friendship offers at this shrine.

92. From Churchill.

In the church at Churchill, on the north side of the chancel, is a quaint
monument, which, according to tradition, is an effigy of Sir John Latch
(1644), dressed in a coat of buff, boots, and spurs, looking on his wife in a
shroud; beneath, on the front of the tomb, are seven boys and four girls
kneeling on cushions. On the monument is the following quaint but
beautiful inscription, said to have been written by the celebrated Dr. Donne:—

Living and dead, thou seest how here we lie,
I dote on death, preparing how to die.
Ah, fleeting life! she is gone. Aye, summons me
Unto the grave, so will posterity;
Though singling death the sacred knot undo,
By parting two make one once more in two;
I see ‘tis, Lord, by Thy Divine decree,
Thus one by one to take us home to Thee;
Whose risen Christ doth us assurance give,
He’ll rouse this grave, and we with Him shall live;
He rich in grace, though poor in stable cratch—
So have ye here—here laid up, Sarah Latch.

93. From the Church of St. Mary, Wedmore.

In this church, on an ancient monumental tablet, may be seen the
following inscription:—