A GRAVESTONE UPON THE FLOOR IN THE CLOISTERS OF WORCESTER CATHEDRAL

          "MISERRIMUS," and neither name nor date,
          Prayer, text, or symbol, graven upon the stone;
          Nought but that word assigned to the unknown,
          That solitary word--to separate
          From all, and cast a cloud around the fate
          Of him who lies beneath. Most wretched one,
          'Who' chose his epitaph?--Himself alone
          Could thus have dared the grave to agitate,
          And claim, among the dead, this awful crown;
          Nor doubt that He marked also for his own                   10
          Close to these cloistral steps a burial-place,
          That every foot might fall with heavier tread,
          Trampling upon his vileness. Stranger, pass
          Softly!--To save the contrite, Jesus bled.
                                                              1829.