Page 50 - Graveyard

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

Sacred to the memorie of Captain Thomas Hodges, of the county of
Somerset, esq.; who at the siege of Antwerpe, about 1583, with
unconquered courage, wonne two ensignes from the enemy, where,
receiving his last wound, he gave three legacies: his soule to the Lord
Jesus, his body to be lodged in Flemish earth, his heart to be sent to
his dear wife in England:—

Here lies his wounded heart, for whome
One kingdom was too small a roome:
Two kingdoms therefore have thought good to part
So stout a body and so brave a heart.

94. From the Churchyard of Cherening-le-Clay, Dorsetshire.

A sorrowful husband, after recording the death of his beloved wife, Ann
Hughes, ends in the following ridiculous manner:—

Who far below this tomb doth rest,
Has join’d the army of the blest.
The Lord has ta’en her to the sky:
The saints rejoice, and so do I.

95. From Bristol Cathedral.

On the monument of Mrs. Mason, wife of the Rev. William Mason, the
distinguished Poet—1767:—

Take, holy earth, all that my soul holds dear;
Take that best gift, which Heav’n so lately gave.
To Bristol’s fount I bore, with trembling tear,
Her faded form; she bowed to taste the wave,
And died! Does youth, does beauty read the line?
Does sympathetic fear their breast alarm?
Speak, dead Maria! breathe a strain divine—
E’en from the grave thou shalt have power to charm.
Bid them be chaste, be innocent like thee;
Bid them in duty’s sphere as meekly move;