Vere novo primoque in aetatis flore juventae,
Ceu rosa virgineo pollice carpta, jaces.
[1261]_On the death of my lord Rochester: pastorall._
1
As on his death-bed, gasping, Strephon lay,
Strephon, the wonder of the plaines,
The noblest of th' Arcadian swaines,
Strephon, the bold, the witty, and the gay,
With many a sigh, and many a teare, he said,
'Remember me, ye shepheards, when I'me dead.
2
'Ye triflying glories of this world, adieu!
And vain applauses of the age!
For when we quit this earthly stage,
Beleeve me, shepheards, for I tell you true,
Those pleasures which from vertuous deeds we have
Procure the sweetest slumbers in the grave.
3
'Then since your fatall houre must surely come,
Surely your head ly low as mine,
Your bright meridian soon decline,
Beseech the mighty PAN to guard you home.
If to Elysium you would happy fly,
Live not like Strephon, but like Strephon die.'