Classic and Contemporary Poetry
ELEGY UPON DOCTOR CHADDERTON, THE FIRST MASTER OF EMANUEL COLLEGE, by JOHN CLEVELAND Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Pardon, dear saint, that we so late Last Line: Than at thy many years before. Subject(s): Cambridge University | ||||||||
PARDON, dear Saint, that we so late With lazy sighs bemoan thy fate, And with an after-shower of verse And tears, we thus bedew thy hearse. Till now, alas! we did not weep, Because we thought thou didst but sleep. Thou liv'dst so long we did not know Whether thou couldst now die or no. We looked still when thou shouldst arise And ope the casements of thine eyes. Thy feet, which have been used so long To walk, we thought, must still go on. Thine ears, after a hundred year, Might now plead custom for to hear. Upon thy head that reverend snow Did dwell some fifty years ago: And then thy cheeks did seem to have The sad resemblance of a grave. Wert thou e'er young? For truth I hold And do believe thou wert born old. There's none alive, I'm sure, can say They knew thee young, but always grey. And dost thou now, venerable oak, Decline at Death's unhappy stroke? Tell me, dear son, why didst thou die And leave's to write an elegy? We're young, alas! and know thee not. Send up old Abram and grave Lot. Let them write thy Epitaph and tell The world thy worth; they kenned thee well. When they were boys, they heard thee preach And thought an angel did them teach. Awake them then: and let them come And score thy virtues on thy tomb, That we at those may wonder more Than at thy many years before. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ON THE UNIVERSITY CARRIER by JOHN MILTON WHIGS AND TORIES by WILLIAM BROWNE (1692-1774) THE CANDIDATE by CHARLES CHURCHILL HOW THE COMMENCEMENT GROWS NEW by JOHN CLEVELAND AD CHLOEN, M.A.; FRESH FROM HER CAMBRIDGE EXAMINATION by EDWARD JAMES MORTIMER COLLINS A DEDICATORY ELEGY TO THE ... UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE by ABRAHAM COWLEY LINES ON DR. ROBERT SMITH by THOMAS GRAY |
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