AMID these aisles, where once his precepts show'd The Heavenward pathway which in life he trod, This simple tablet marks a Father's bier, And those he loved in life, in death are near; For him, for them, a Daughter bade it rise, Memorial of domestic charities. Still wouldst thou know why o'er the marble spread, In female grace the willow droops her head; Why on her branches, silent and unstrung, The minstrel harp is emblematic hung; What poet's voice is smother'd here in dust Till waked to join the chorus of the just, -- Lo! one brief line an answer sad supplies, Honour'd, beloved, and mourn'd, here Seward lies; Her worth, her warmth of heart, let friendship say, -- Go seek her genius in her living lay. |