[Page 264]

AN EPITAPH ON King WILLIAM III. Of Glorious Memory, Who Died March 8th. 1701.

I.
1 BEneath these Honours of a Tomb
2 GREATNESS in humble Ruine lies:
3 (How Earth confines in narrow Room
4 What Heroes leave below the Skies!)
II.
5 Preserve, Oh Venerable PILE,
6 Inviolate thy Sacred Trust;
7 To thy cold Arms the BRITTISH Isle
8 Weeping commits her Richest Dust.
[Page 265]
III.
9 Ye gentlest Ministers of FATE
10 Attend the Monarch as he lies,
11 And bid the Softest SLUMBERS wait
12 With Silken Cords to bind his Eyes.
IV.
13 Rest his dear SWORD beneath his Head;
14 Round him his Faithful ARMS shall stand;
15 Fix his bright ENSIGNS on his Bed,
16 The Guards and Honors of our Land.
V.
17 Ye Sister Arts of PAINT and VERSE,
18 Place ALBION fainting by his Side,
19 Her Groans arising 'ore the Herse,
20 And BELGIA sinking when he Dy'd.
VI.
21 High o're the Grave RELIGION set
22 In Solemn Gold: pronounce the Ground
23 Sacred, to bar unhallow'd Feet,
24 And plant her Guardian VERTUES round.
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VII.
25 Fair LIBERTY in Sables drest
26 Write his lov'd Name upon his Urn,
27 WILLIAM, the Scourge of Tyrants past,
28 And Awe of Princes yet Unborn.
VIII.
29 Sweet PEACE his Sacred Relicks keep
30 With Olives blooming round her Head,
31 And stretch her Wings across the Deep
32 To bless the Nations with the Shade.
IX.
33 Stand on the Pile, Immortal FAME,
34 Broad Stars adorn thy brightest Robe,
35 Thy thousand Voices sound his Name
36 In Silver Accents round the Globe.
X.
37 FLATTERY shall faint beneath the Sound,
38 While Hoary TRUTH inspires the Song;
39 ENVY grow pale and bite the Ground,
40 And MALICE gnaw her Forky Tongue.
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XI.
41 NIGHT and the GRAVE remove your Gloom;
42 Darkness becomes the Vulgar Dead;
43 But GLORY bids the Royal Tomb
44 Disdain the Horrors of a Shade,
XII.
45 GLORY with all her Lamps shall burn,
46 And watch the Warriors sleeping Clay,
47 Till the last Trumpet rouze his Urn
48 To aid the Triumphs of the Day.

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Title (in Source Edition): AN EPITAPH ON King WILLIAM III. Of Glorious Memory, Who Died March 8th. 1701.
Author: Isaac Watts
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Genres: hymn

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Watts, Isaac, 1674-1748. Horæ lyricæ: Poems, chiefly of the lyric kind. In two books. ... By I. Watts. London: Printed by S. and D. Bridge, for John Lawrence at the Sign of the Angel in the Poultrey. MDCCVI., 1706, pp. 264-267. [20],267,[1]p.; 8⁰. (ESTC T82397; OTA K067329.000) (Page images digitized from a copy in the Princeton Theological Seminary Library.)

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The text has been typographically modernized, but without any silent modernization of spelling, capitalization, or punctuation. The source of the text is given and all editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. Based on the electronic text originally produced by the TCP project, this ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.

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