Death & Dying

Epitaph — On Mrs. Mary Draper (Reader, if thou cast thine Eye)

by Charles Cotton 1630–1687

From Poems on Several Occasions (1689)

Death & Dying

Reader, if thou cast thine Eye
On this weeping Stone below:
Know, that under it doth lye
One, that never Man did know.

Yet of all Men full well known
By those beauties of her Breast:
For, of all she wanted none,
When Death call'd her to her rest.

Then, the Ladies, if they would
Dye like her, kind Reader tell,
They must strive to be as good
Alive, or 'tis impossible.

MLA

Cotton, Charles. “Epitaph — On Mrs. Mary Draper (Reader, if thou cast thine Eye).” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/cotton/131/.

Chicago

Cotton, Charles. “Epitaph — On Mrs. Mary Draper (Reader, if thou cast thine Eye).” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/cotton/131/.

Read this poem with the Codex →

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