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Engraven on a COLUMN In the Church of Halstead in Essex,

The spire of which, burnt down by Lightning, was rebuilt at the Expense of Mr. Samuel Fiske, 1717.

1 View not this Spire by Measure giv'n
2 To Buildings rais'd by common Hands:
3 That Fabric rises high as Heav'n,
4 Whose Basis on Devotion stands.
5 While yet We draw this vital Breath,
6 We can our Faith and Hope declare:
7 But Charity beyond our Death,
8 Will ever in our Works appear.
9 Best be He call'd among good Men,
10 Who to his GOD this Column rais'd:
11 Tho' Lightning strike the Dome again;
12 The Man, who built it, shall be prais'd.
13 Yet Spires and Towers in Dust shall lye,
14 The weak Efforts of Human Pains:
15 And Faith, and Hope themselves shall dye;
16 While Deathless Charity remains.

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Title (in Source Edition): Engraven on a COLUMN In the Church of Halstead in Essex, The spire of which, burnt down by Lightning, was rebuilt at the Expense of Mr. Samuel Fiske, 1717.
Author: Matthew Prior
Themes:
Genres: inscription

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Prior, Matthew, 1664-1721. Poems on Several Occasions [English poems only]. London: Printed for JACOB TONSON at Shakespear's-Head over against Katharine-Street in the Strand, and JOHN BARBER upon Lambeth-Hill. MDCCXVIII., 1718, p. 312. [42],506,[6]p.: ill.; 2°. (ESTC T075639) (Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [H 6.8 Art.].)

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