Classic Poem

To the pious Memory of Jane , Relict of the Reverend, and learned D ANIEL G ITTINS , L.L.B. Rector of South Stoke, and Vicar of Leominster, in Susses, — who exchanged her Mortality for Immortality, December 22, 1779, aged 61 years .

I N Friendship's arms resigning up her breath,
Serene and tranquil at the hour of death —
Composed she lay, with eyes uplift to heaven,
And sunk in peace, each venial fault forgiven:
Without a groan th' immortal part withdrew,
And left the mortal! smiling to the view.

Here rests entomb'd the cold inconscious clay;
While the free spirit seeks its bless'd abode —
Soars toward the mansions of eternal day,
And pants to view the radiance of the God.

When the Archangel gives the final sound,
And, thro' the skies responsive thunders roll,
When Nature trembles to her furthest bound,
And livid lightnings dart from pole to pole, —

Then shall these scatter'd particles unite,
And, bursting from the tomb, in glory rise,
A fairer form, superlatively bright,
Prepared for happiness, in purer skies.