Thomas Carew. Maria Wentworth.

Thomas Carew

MARIA WENTWORTH,

THOMÆ COMITIS CLEVELAND FILIA PRÆMORTUÆ
PRIMA VIRGINEAM ANIMAM EXHALUIT : ANNO
DOMINI —. ÆTATIS SUÆ —.

AND here the precious dust is laid,
Whose purely-temper'd clay was made
So fine, that it the guest betray'd.

Else, the soul grew so fast within,
It broke the outward shell of sin,
And so was hatch'd a Cherubin.

In height it soar'd to God above ;
In depth it did to knowledge move,
And spread in breadth to general love.

Before, a pious duty shined
To parents ; courtesy behind ;
On either side, an equal mind.

Good to the poor, to kindred dear,
To servants kind, to friendship clear :
To nothing but herself severe.

So, though a virgin, yet a bride
To every grace, she justified
A chaste polygamy, and died.

Learn from hence, Reader, what small trust
We owe this world, where virtue must,
Frail as our flesh, crumble to dust.

Source:
Vincent, Arthur, ed. The Poems of Thomas Carew.
London: George Routledge & Sons, Ltd., nd. 79.

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