But resentful Proserpine,
Jealous of thy skill divine,
Snapping short thy vital thread
Thee too number'd with the Dead. 40
Wise and good! untroubled be
The green turf that covers thee,
Thence in gay profusion grow
All the sweetest flow'rs that blow!
Pluto's Consort bid thee rest!
Oeacus pronounce thee blest!
To her home thy shade consign,
Make Elysium ever thine!
1 Dr. John Goslyn, Regius Professor of Medicine at Cambridge. He died on the 21st October, I626.
2 A centaur whom Hercules shot with a poisoned arrow. Hercules was later poisoned by the centaur's blood-stained robe, which he was induced to put on.
3 Sarpedon. See Homer (Il. xvi, 477-491).
4 Circe and Medea were enchantresses.
5 Son of Esculapius. He was a healer to the Greeks during the siege of Troy. See Homer (Il. xi, 514).
6 The centaur Chiron was killed by Hercules's poisoned arrows.
7 Esculapius. He was killed by Jove's lightning for having saved too many from death.