Page:The works of Anna Laetitia Barbauld volume 1.djvu/399

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

315

THE DEATH OF THE VIRTUOUS.

Sweet is the scene when Virtue dies!—
When sinks a righteous soul to rest,
How mildly beam the closing eyes,
How gently heaves the' expiring breast!

So fades a summer cloud away;
So sinks the gale when storms are o'er;
So gently shuts the eye of day;
So dies a wave along the shore.

Triumphant smiles the victor brow,
Fanned by some angel's purple wing;—
Where is, O Grave! thy victory now?
And where, insidious Death! thy sting?