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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


AN EPITAPH by ANONYMOUS

First Line: "TAKE TO THY BOSOM, GENTLE EARTH, A SWAIN"
Last Line: "HIS HOARY HEAD, AND DECK HIS GRAVE WITH FLOWERS"

TAKE to thy bosom, gentle Earth! a swain
With much hard labour in thy service worn;
He set the vines that clothe yon ample plain,
And he these olives that the vale adorn.

He filled with grain the glebe; the rills he led
Through this green herbage, and those fruitful bowers;
Thou, therefore, Earth! lie lightly on his head,
His hoary head, and deck his grave with flowers.



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