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TOMBS OF GOWER AND BISHOP ANDREWS.




TOMBS OF GOWER AND BISHOP ANDREWS.

IN THE CHURCH OF ST. SAVIOUR'S, SOUTHWARK.

Father of English verse, it is not meet
    That thou unhonored of the muse shouldst lie,
The brinded lion couching at thy feet,
    And fixed on vacant space thy marble eye.

Upon thy books thy head is pillowed fair,
    A sculptured garland round thy temples wreathed,
Yet dearer still would be one living air,
    Of memory born, or sweet affection breathed.

The lyre first waked by thee should do its part,
    To soothe thy shade with soft, mellifluent strain,
As the lone sea-shell in its grateful heart
    Doth hoard the murmur of the parent main.

Armorial bearings round thy tomb are strewn,
    And arch and buttress prop its lofty height,
And graven foliage frets the mouldered stone,
    And hovering angels stay their heavenward flight.

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