| Herbert J.C. Grierson, ed. (18861960). Metaphysical Lyrics & Poems of the 17th C. 1921. |
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| Thomas Carew |
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129. Maria Wentworth, Thomæ Comitis Cleveland
filia præmortua prima, virgineam animam exhaluit An. Dom.Æt. suæ |
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| AND here the precious dust is laid; | |
| Whose purely-tempered Clay was made | |
| So fine, that it the guest betray'd. | |
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| Else the soul grew so fast within, | |
| It broke the outward shell of sin, | 5 |
| And so was hatch'd a Cherubin. | |
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| In height, it soar'd to God above; | |
| In depth, it did to knowledge move, | |
| And spread in breadth to general love. | |
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| Before, a pious duty shin'd | 10 |
| To Parents, courtesie behind, | |
| On either side an equall mind. | |
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| Good to the Poor, to kindred dear, | |
| To servants kind, to friendship clear, | |
| To nothing but her self severe. | 15 |
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| So though a Virgin, yet a Bride | |
| To every Grace, she justifi'd | |
| A chaste Polygamie, and dy'd. | |
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| Learn from hence (Reader) what small trust | |
| We ow this world, where vertue must | 20 |
| Frail as our flesh crumble to dust. | |
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