The Poetry Corner

Epitaph On The Lady Whitmore.

By John Dryden

Fair, kind, and true, a treasure each alone, A wife, a mistress, and a friend in one, Rest in this tomb, raised at thy husband's cost, Here sadly summing what he had, and lost. Come, virgins, ere in equal bands ye join, Come first, and offer at her sacred shrine; Pray but for half the virtues of this wife, Compound for all the rest, with longer life; And wish your vows, like hers, may be return'd, So loved when living, and when dead so mourn'd.