448. On the Death of a particular Friend. James Thomson. The Oxford Book of English Verse

Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900.

James Thomson. 1700–1748

448. On the Death of a particular Friend

AS those we love decay, we die in part,
String after string is sever'd from the heart;
Till loosen'd life, at last but breathing clay,
Without one pang is glad to fall away.

Unhappy he who latest feels the blow!	5
Whose eyes have wept o'er every friend laid low,
Dragg'd ling'ring on from partial death to death,
Till, dying, all he can resign is—breath.