JORTIN’S EPITAPH ON HIS CAT
Imitated in English
Worn out with age and dire disease, a cat,
Friendly to all, save wicked mouse and rat:
I’m sent at last to ford the Stygian lake,
And to the infernal coast a voyage make.
Me Proserpine receiv’d, and smiling said,
“Be bless’d within these mansions of the dead;
Enjoy among thy velvet-footed loves,
Elysium’s sunny banks and shady groves.”
“But if I’ve well deserv’d, (O gracious queen,)
If patient under sufferings I have been,
Grant me at least one night to visit home again
Once more to see my home, and mistress dear,
And purr these grateful accents in her ear.
Thy faithful cat, thy poor departed slave,
Still loves her mistress ev’n beyond the grave.”[256]
FLORAL DIRECTORY.
Marsh Grounsel. Senecio paludotus.
Dedicated to St. Radigundes.
[251] Zoological Anecdotes.
[252] Ibid.
[253] Ibid.