Page 51 - Graveyard

G r av e y ar d H u m o r | 49

And if so fair, from vanity as free,
As firm in friendship, and as fond in love,
Tell them, though ‘tis an awful thing to die
(‘Twas e’en to thee), yet, the dead path once trod,
Heav’n lifts her everlasting portals high,
And bids the pure in heart behold their GOD!

96. From Anglesey Churchyard, 1740:—

Who in the grave or silent Dust
Our bodyes scattered lyes,
We trust in God at the last Day
In glory we shall rise.

97. From Barrow-upon-Soar, Leicestershire.

This churchyard contains a very punning epitaph on one Cave:—

Here in this grave there lies a Cave:
We call a cave a grave.
If cave be grave, and grave be Cave,
Then reader, judge, I crave,
Whether doth Cave lie here in grave
Or grave here lie in Cave:
If grave in Cave here buried lie,
Then, grave, where is thy victory?
Go, reader, and report here lies a Cave,
Who conquers death, and buries his own grave.

98. From Arlington Churchyard, Devonshire:—

Here lies Will Burgoin, a Squire by descent,
Whose death in this world many people lament:
The rich for his love,
The poor for his alms,
The wise for his knowledge,
The sick for his balms.