| Citation |
PI.783.026
30 Dec 1783:41 (12)
What means, alas! you solemn dreadful sound!
What means that deadly stroke; Oh, piercing wound!
Oh fatal year, by Providence decreed,
In death's embrace, that we our friends should yield,
No more to cheer the glad enliv'ning hour
Of science, modest wit, or Cupid's gentle pow'r.
When spring all blooming usher'd in the year,
How did nature smile and new-born joys appear,
. . . [20 more lines]
Next, Oh my use, that should demand your song,
Is Gibbons,* the wise, the gay, the young:
But cease your theme, a much more noble pen,
Has sung his virtues in majestic strain.
But death, why here--not stop your fatal dart,
Why still pursue to part the friendly heart?
. . . [16 more lines]
Next, O my muse, that does demand your song,
Is a more tender tye--a darling son;
Nip'd in the bud, the blooming infant falls
A prey to death's insatiable jaws.
. . . [12 more lines]
[signed] Juvenis, New Brunswick, December 22, 1783.
*Mr. Mason Gibbons
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