On The Death Of The Rev. Dr. H. Harington

WHAT universal sadness glooms around!
Oh! is he gone whose worth the heart reveres!
That solemn bell's now doubly awful sound,
Alas! too soon confirms our anxious fears!
How sits pale Grief on each dejected brow!
What heartfelt anguish heaves in every breast!
Who can forbid the starting tear to flow?
Why should the plaints of sorrow be supprest?
That gentle mien no more shall glad our eyes,
Where beam'd benignant every Christian grace;
Too perfect here to dwell, aloft he flies:
How short, but ah! how pure his earthly race.
Celestial spirit! hast thou left thy clay?
Thy virtues to remembrance ever dear,
Now bid me breathe in elegiac lay,
The mournful tribute of a sigh sincere.
Each sacred duty anxious to fulfil,
Swift to obey whene'er Religion call'd,
Thy glowing words enforc'd th' Almighty's will,
And freed the wretched mind by guilt enthrall'd.
What pious zeal thy fervent bosom fired!
Reflection paints those hours for ever gone,
When every heart thy eloquence admired,
Nor with less brilliant light thy actions shone.
With cold indiff'rence never did'st thou hear
Distress and friendless Poverty complain;
Whene'er their piercing accents met thine ear,
Thy feeling heart ne'er let them plead in vain.
Now art thou fled where Grief shall ne'er annoy;
A Saviour's hand thy bright reward bestows;
A never fading crown of sacred joy,
And Glory's deathless beams surround thy brows.
But oh! what poignant agony assails
Thy lovely widow'd consort's tender frame;
In keenest anguish she her loss bewails;
What tears of sympathy her sorrows claim!
What words, alas! can heal her grief-torn mind?
What thoughts can yield her tortur'd breast repose?
To Heav'n's all-wise all-gracious will resign'd,
Devotion's angel voice shall calm her woes.
Hope, led by Faith, shall point to distant years,
When thy exalted form her eye shall view,
Mid kindred spirits, far above the spheres,
And Friendship's joys eternally renew.
Here, while on earth she's destin'd yet to stay,
Those tender orphans doom'd her loss to share,
To guide their steps in Wisdom's sacred way,
Now doubly claim her fond maternal care.
May Heav'n's all-pow'rful hand protect their youth,
(In whom a friend each guiltless bosom finds)
May warm Benevolence and spotless Truth,
And all their father's virtues grace their minds.
Blest shade, farewell, the precepts thou hast taught
To ev'ry heart thy mem'ry must endear;
Thy fair example lives in every thought,
And distant ages shall thy name revere.
Great God! submiss before thy throne we bend,
And own th' unerring justness of thy will;
O! teach us thus our joyful course to end,
Thus while we live th' allotted part to fill!