_The Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden to till the Ground,
from whence he was taken._
GENESIS iii. 23.
[Illustration]
Th’ Almighty Father did expel
Man from his blessed Seat;
And to sustain his Life decreed
By his own proper Sweat:
Then, first, into the empty World,
Pale Death an Entrance gain’d;
And the same Pow’r o’er mortal Men,
Has ever since maintain’d.
The CURSE.
_Cursed is the Ground for thy Sake; in Sorrow shalt thou eat of it all
the Days of thy Life_, &c.
GENESIS iii. 17.
[Illustration]
Curs’d be the Earth for thy Offence,
And barren be the Ground,
And full of Toil and Labour great,
Thy anxious Life be found;
Till Death thy lifeless Limbs replace
In Earth’s cold narrow Womb,
Then Dust, which at the first thou wert,
Thou quickly shalt become.
_Woe, Woe, Woe to the Inhabiters of the Earth._
REVELATIONS viii. 13.
_All in whose Nostrils was the Breath of Life, of all that was in the dry
Land, died._
GENESIS vii. 22.
[Illustration]
Woe, grievous Woe, to all who now
In this vile World abide;
For Times await you big with Grief,
And every Ill beside.
Though now to you a plenteous Share
Of Fortune’s Gifts may fall,
Pale Death will be, or soon or late,
A Visitant to all.
The POPE.
_Until the Death of the High-Priest that shall be in those Days._
JOSHUA xx. 6.
_And let another take his Office._
PSALM cix. 8.
[Illustration]
Thou who, elated with Success,
Immortal claim’st to be,
From Men’s Affairs, in little Space,
Thyself remov’d shalt see.
Though now the great High-Priest thou art,
And in Rome’s See dost sit,
Soon shall thy Office, in thy Place,
A Successor admit.
The EMPEROR.
_Set thine House in Order; for thou shalt die, and not live._
ISAIAH xxxviii. 1.
_There shalt thou die, and there the Chariots of thy Glory shall be the
Shame of thy Lord’s House._
ISAIAH xxii. 18.
[Illustration]
Dispose thy Kingdom’s great Concerns
Intrusted to thy Care,
So that to pass to other Worlds
Thou quickly may’st prepare.
For when the Time shall come that thou
Shalt quit this mortal Throne,
Thy utmost Glory then shall be
A broken Car alone.
The KING.
_He that is To-Day a King To-Morrow shall die._
ECCLESIASTICUS x. 10.
[Illustration]
To him who this Day Sceptres sways,
In costly Pride a King,
To-Morrow’s Light, with baleful Speed,
A direful Fate will bring:
For, him who rules o’er Nations rich,
And pow’rful Kingdoms guides,
When Death his Office bids him quit,
No better Fate betides.
The CARDINAL.
_Which justify the Wicked for Reward, and take away the Righteousness of
the Righteous from him._
ISAIAH v. 23.
[Illustration]
Woe, grievous Woe, to you, who now
The impious Man caress;
Exalt the unjust to Height of Wealth,
The virtuous Man oppress.
Who seek the World’s fallacious Gifts
To gain without Delay,
And the true Path of Righteousness
Desire to take away.
The EMPRESS.
_Those that walk in Pride he is able to abase._
DANIEL iv. 37.
[Illustration]
Ye, also, who in glitt’ring Pomp
Of haughty State are plac’d,
A Day shall see wherein yourselves
Of bitter Death shall taste:
For, as the Grass by Travellers
Is trodden on the Ground,
So Death shall tread you under Foot,
And all your Joys confound.
The QUEEN.
_Rise up, ye Women that are at Ease; hear my Voice, ye careless
Daughters; give Ear unto my Speech. Many Days and Years shall ye be
troubled._
ISAIAH xxxii. 9 & 10.
[Illustration]
Hither, ye Ladies of Renown,
And Matrons rich, repair;
For Death to you now clearly tells,
A mortal Tribe ye are.
When the glad Years and empty Joys
Of this vain World are past,
The Pain of Death will sure disturb
Your Bodies frail at last.
The BISHOP.
_I will smite the Shepherd, and the Sheep of the Flock shall be scattered
abroad._
MATTHEW xxvi. 31. MARK xiv. 27.
[Illustration]
The Pastor, void of all Defence,
My Pow’r, says Death, shall own;
By me, his Mitre and his Staff,
Shall to the Ground be thrown.
His Sheep, their Pastor thus remov’d,
By Death’s fell Pow’r, away,
Shall be dispersed ev’ry one,
To prowling Wolves a Prey.
The ELECTOR, or PRINCE of the Empire.
_The Prince shall be clothed with Desolation, and the Hands of the People
of the Land shall be troubled._
EZEKIEL vii. 27.
[Illustration]
Come, mighty Prince, now quick resign
Thy perishable Joys,
Thy fleeting Glory, and the rest
Of Earth’s delusive Toys.
Lo, I alone the Pride of Kings
Am able to repress;
The splendid Pomps of regal State
My Pow’r supreme confess.
The ABBOT.
_He shall die without Instruction, and in the Greatness of his Folly he
shall go astray._
PROVERBS v. 23.
[Illustration]
This Instant, Wretch, thou shalt depart,
Consign’d to mould’ring Dust;
Because thou knew’st not, only feign’dst,
The Wisdom of the Just.
The Abundance of thy Folly great,
Did blindly thee deceive,
And made thee seek the sinful Path,
Which thou could’st never leave.
The ABBESS.
_Wherefore I praised the Dead which are already dead, more than the
Living which are yet alive._
ECCLESIASTES iv. 2.
[Illustration]
Better it is to die than live,
I constantly have taught;
Since human Life with anxious Care,
And various Ills is fraught.
Ungrateful Death me now compels
The like sad Path to tread,
With those whom in the silent Grave
The Fates severe have laid.
The GENTLEMAN.
_What Man is he that liveth, and shall not see Death? Shall he deliver
his Soul from the Hand of the Grave?_
PSALM lxxxix. 48.
[Illustration]
What Man is he, however brave,
Of mightiest Pow’r possest,
Who in this mortal World shall live,
And Death shall never taste?
What Man is he who Death’s fell Dart,
Which conquers all, can brave?
Who his own Life, by Force or Skill,
From Death can hope to save?
The CANON.
_Behold, the Hour is at Hand._
MATTHEW xxvi. 45.
[Illustration]
By Crowds attended to the Choir
Thou now dost bend thy Way;
Come on, and, with suppliant Voice,
Thy humblest Homage pay:
For, thee the Fates do loud demand,
And instant Death does crave;
A Day, which no one can retard,
Shall force thee to the Grave.
The JUDGE.
_I will cut off the Judge from the Midst thereof._
AMOS ii. 3.
[Illustration]
You who false Judgment do pronounce,
For filthy Lucre’s Sake,
From Midst of Crowds and Judgment-Seat,
I, Death, will quickly take.
To Fate’s just Laws ye must submit,
Nor ye, alone, contest
That pow’r which every Son of Man
Has hitherto confest.
The ADVOCATE.
_A prudent Man foreseeth the Evil, and hideth himself: But the Simple
pass on, and are punished._
PROVERBS xxii. 3.
[Illustration]
The crafty Man the Crime perceives,
The Guilty does protect;
The Cause of just but needy Men,
He ever does reject.
The Poor and Guiltless are oppress’d
By Justice’ vain Pretence,
And Gold, than Laws, is found to have
A greater Influence.
The COUNSELLOR, or MAGISTRATE.
_Whoso stoppeth his Ears at the Cry of the Poor, he also shall cry
himself, but shall not be heard._
PROVERBS xxi. 13.
[Illustration]
The Rich and Wealthy readily
To Suiters rich give Ear,
And scorn the poor and needy Man,
His Pray’r refuse to hear:
But when themselves, in the last Hour,
To God shall earnest cry,
Their anxious Pray’rs he shall reject,
And their Request deny.
The CURATE, or PREACHER.
_Woe unto them that call Evil Good, and Good Evil; that put Darkness for
Light, and Light for Darkness; that put Bitter for Sweet, and Sweet for
Bitter._
ISAIAH v. 20.
[Illustration]
Woe to you impious Hypocrites,
Who Evil Goodness term;
And Evil to be truly Good,
With equal Fraud affirm:
Who Dark for Light, with Falsehood great,
And Light for Dark embrace;
Bitter for Sweet who substitute,
And Sweet for Bitter place.
The PRIEST.
_I myself also am a mortal Man, like to all._
WISDOM vii. 1.
[Illustration]
The holy Sacrament, behold,
Celestial Gift, I bear,
The sick Man, at the Hour of Death,
With certain Hope to cheer.
Ev’n I myself am mortal too,
And the same Laws obey,
And shall like him, when Time shall come,
To Death be made a Prey.
The FRIAR MENDICANT.
_Such as sit in Darkness, and in the Shadow of Death, being bound in
Affliction and Iron._
PSALM cvii. 10.
[Illustration]
Some Men, the World to circumvent
By Fraud and Falsehood try,
By feign’d Religion, Sin to hide
From ev’ry mortal Eye:
Of Piety an ardent love
They outwardly profess;
But inwardly they are the Sink
Of all Voluptuousness:
But when the End shall be at Hand,
They like Reward shall have,
And Death, by Myriads, shall mow down
The Wicked to the Grave.
The CANONESS.
_There is a Way which seemeth Right unto a Man; but the End thereof are
the Ways of Death._
PROVERBS xiv. 12.
[Illustration]
_An Apostrophe to DEATH._
Why dost thou, pale and envious Death,
A sacred Maid affright?
Small Glory to thee can arise
From Victories so slight.
Go hence, let sick or aged Men
Thy fatal Dart employ;
But let this Virgin, innocent,
Life’s Pleasures long enjoy.
Pleasure and Joy her jocund Youth
Should ardently pursue;
The Pleasures of the Marriage-Bed
To her gay Youth are due.
The OLD WOMAN.
_Death is better than a bitter Life or continual Sickness._
ECCLESIASTICUS xxx. 17.
[Illustration]
Long has my Life most irksome been,
Oppress’d with Care and Pain;
No anxious Wish my Bosom fires
Here longer to remain.
My certain Judgment does pronounce,
Better to die than live;
For Death to Minds worn out with Care
Glad Peace and Rest will give.
The PHYSICIAN.
_Physician, heal thyself._
LUKE iv. 23.
[Illustration]
Diseases well thou understand’st,
And cures canst well apply,
Which to the Sick, in Time of Need,
Will welcome Health supply.
But while, O dull and stupid Wretch,
Thou others Fates dost stay,
Thou’rt ignorant what fell Disease
Shall hurry thee away.
The ASTROLOGER.
_Knowest thou it, because thou wast then born? or because the Number of
thy Days is great?_
JOB xxxviii. 21.
[Illustration]
Thou, by contemplating a Sphere
Which Heav’n’s bright Face does show,
Events which shall to others chance,
Pretendest to foreknow.
Tell me, if thou of Fates to come
A skilful Prophet art,
When to the Tomb the Hand of Death
Shall urge thee to depart?
Behold the Sphere, which to thy View
My Right-Hand now does hold,
By that the Fate which thou shalt find
May better be foretold.
The MISER.
_Thou Fool, this Night thy Soul shall be required of thee: Then whose
shall those things be which thou hast provided?_
LUKE xii. 20.
[Illustration]
This Night shall Death, with Iron Hand,
Thee, griping Wretch, subdue;
And in the narrow Grave entomb’d,
To-Morrow thee shall view.
Therefore, when thou, of Life depriv’d,
Shalt far from hence be gone,
What Successor shall thy vast Heaps
Of endless Riches own?
The MERCHANT.
_The getting of Treasures by a lying Tongue, is a Vanity tossed to and
fro of them that seek Death._
PROVERBS xxi. 6.
[Illustration]
A foolish Part he sure pursues,
Who Wealth by Fraud and Lies
T’ accumulate, and num’rous Goods
To gain unjustly tries.
For Death entangled in the Snare,
To seize him shall not fail;
And these his Actions most unjust
Shall cause him to bewail.
The SHIPWRECK.
_But they that will be rich, fall into Temptation, and a Snare, and
into many foolish and hurtful Lusts, which drown Men in Destruction and
Perdition._