William Cowper

26 November 1731 – 25 April 1800 / Hertfordshire

An Epitaph 2 (From The Greek)

Take to thy bosom, gentle earth, a swain
With much hard labor in thy service worn!
He set the vines that clothe yon ample plain,
And he these olives that the vale adorn.
He fill'd 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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