[Footnote 1: The heading which appears in the Quarto and _P. on V.
Occasions_ was subsequently changed to "Epitaph on a Friend." The motto
was prefixed in 'Hours of Idleness'. The epigram which Bergk leaves
under Plato's name was translated by Shelley ('Poems', 1895, iii.
361)--
"Thou wert the morning star
Among the living,
Ere thy fair light had fled;
Now having died, thou art as
Hesperus, giving
New splendour to the dead."
There is an echo of the Greek distich in Byron's exquisite line, "The
Morning-Star of Memory."
The words, "Southwell, March 17," are added, in a lady's hand, on p. 9
of the annotated copy of P. 'on' V. 'Occasions' in the British Museum.
The conjecture that the "'beloved' friend," who is of humble origin, is
identical with "E----" of the verses on p. 4, remains uncertain.]
[Footnote ii:
_have bath'd thy honoured bier._
[_P. on V. Occasions._] ]
[Footnote iii:
_Could tears retard,_ [_P. on V. Occasions._]
_Could sighs avert._ [_P. on V. Occasions._] ]