AN ELEGIE, Sacred to the Memory of my late Honoured Friend, Collonell Richard Lovelace.

PArdon (blest shade) that I thus crowd t. be
'Mong those that sin unto thy memory;
And that I think unvalu'd Reliques spread;
And am the first that pillages the dead:
Since who would be thy mourner as befits,
But an officicus sacriledge commits.
How my tears strive to do th…e fairer right!
And from the Characters divide my sight.
Vntill it (dimmer) a new torrent swells,
And what obscur'd it falls my spectacles.
Let the luxurious floods (impulsive) rise
As they would not be wept, but weep the eyes,
The while earth melts, and we above it lye,
But the weak bubbles of Mortalitie;
Until our griefs are drawn up by the Sun,
And that (too) drop the exhalation.
How in thy dust we humble now our pride,
And bring thee a whole people mortifi'd!
For, who expects not death, now thou art gone,
Shows his low folly, not Religion.
Can the Poetick heaven still hold on
… golden dance when the first mover's gon?
And the snatch'd fires (while circularly hurl'd)
In their strong Rapture glimmer to the VVorld?
And not stupendiously rather rise,
The tapers unto these Solemnities?
Can the Chords move in tune, when thou dost dye
At once their universal Harmony?
But where Apollo's harp (with murmur) laid…
Had to…he stones … elody convey'd;
They by some peb…le summon'd would reply
In loud results to every battery;
Thus do we come unto thy m…rble room,
To eccho f…om the musick of thy tombe.
May we dare speak thee dead that wouldest be
In thy Remove only not such a… we?
No wonder the advance i… from us hid,
Earth could not lift thee higher then it did!
And thou that did'st grow up so ever nigh,
Art but now gone to immortality:
"So near to where thou art thou here didst dwell,
The change to thee is less perceptible.
Thy but unably-comprehending clay,
To what c…uld not be circumscrib'd gave way.
And the more spacious tennant to return,
Crack'd (in the t…o restrain'd estate) its urn.
That is but left to a sucessive trust,
The Soul's first buried in his bodies dust.
Thou more thy self now thou art less confin'd
Art no… concern'd in what is left behind;
While we sustain the losse that thou art gone
Vn-essenc'd in the separation;
And he that weeps thy funerall, in one,
Is piou to the widdow'd Nation.
And under what (now) Covert must I sing
Secure as if beneath a Cherub's wing:
VVhen thou h…s… tane thy flight hence and art nigh
In place to some related Hierarchie,
VVhere a bright wreath of glories doth but set
Upon thy h…ad an equal Coronet;
And thou above our humble converse gon,
Canst but be reach'd by contemplation.
Our L…re… (as thine was touch'd) were vocall by,
And thence receiv'd the soul by sympathy;
That did abo…e the threds inspir…g creep,
And with … broke …he …
VVhich now no more (mov'd … the sweet surprise)
Aw…e …nto delicious R…psodies.
But with … silem Mistres… do comply,
And fast in und'sturbed slumber… lye.
How from thy first ascent … disperse
A blushing warmth … universe,
VVhile near the mor…s … did glow,
And to the earth a purer d…wn did throw,
VVe ever saw thee in the Roll of fame
Advancing thy already deathless name;
And though it could but be above its fate,
Thou would'st however super-errog…e.
Now as in Venice, wh…n the wanton state,
Before a Spaniard spread …heir crowded plate;
He made it the sage business of his eye,
To find the Root of the wild treasury.
So learn't from that Exchequer… but the more
To rate his Mas…ers v…getable Ore:
Thus when the Greek and Latin Muse we read
As the but cold inscriptions of the dead;
VVe to advantage th…n admired t…ee
VVho did'st live on still with thy Poesie:
And in our proud en…oyment… ▪ never knew
The end of the unruly wealth that grew:
But now we have the last dear … gain'd,
And the free vein (however rich) is dr…in'd,
Though what thou … us no …
Of this worlds span of …
But as who sometime, knew not to …
Upon the waters strange …
Did to the Ocean himse… …
That it might compre… …
Be swallowed up…wthin ….
Thou ow art … up … pr…ciou cave,
And from the hollow space of thy …,
VVe still may mourn in tune but must alone
Hereafter hope to quaver out …
No more the chirping ….
Must benceforth …olley fro… our ….
But each sad accont must … well,
To the deep solemn Organ of thy Cell.
Why should some rude hand carve thy sacred …,
And there incise a cheap inscription:
When we can shed the tribute of our tears
So long, till the relenting marble wears?
Which shall such order in their cadence keep.
That they a native Epitaph shall weep;
Untill each Letter spelt distinctly lyes,
Cut by the mystick droppings of our eyes.