John Dryden (1631-1700). From 'To the Memory of Mrs. Anne Killigrew'. Andrew Macphail, comp. 1916. The Book of Sorrow

Andrew Macphail, comp. The Book of Sorrow. 1916.

VII. The Tyrant
From ‘To the Memory of Mrs. Anne Killigrew’

By John Dryden (1631–1700)


[See full text.] NOW all those charms, that blooming grace,
The well-proportion’d shape and beauteous face,
Shall never more be seen by mortal eyes;
In earth the much-lamented virgin lies!
Not wit nor piety could fate prevent;	5
Nor was the cruel Destiny content
To finish all the murder at a blow,
To sweep at once her life and beauty too;
But, like a harden’d felon, took a pride
To work more mischievously slow,	10
And plunder’d first, and then destroy’d.
O double sacrilege on things divine,
To rob the relic, and deface the shrine!