James Thomson (1700-1748). On the Death of William Aikman. Andrew Macphail, comp. 1916. The Book of Sorrow

Andrew Macphail, comp. The Book of Sorrow. 1916.

XI. O Come Quickly
On the Death of William Aikman

By James Thomson (1700–1748)


AS those we love decay, we die in part,
String after string is sever’d from the heart;
Till loosen’d life, at last but breathing clay,
Without one pang is glad to fall away.

Unhappy he who latest feels the blow,	5
Whose eyes have wept o’er every friend laid low,
Dragg’d lingering on from partial death to death,
Till, dying, all he can resign is breath.