Note 463 — REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE: 1702–1714. (continued 4)
Reading edition
A congenial spirit, Matthew Prior, produced a sort of paraphrase of this piece:
‘In total death suppose the mortal lie,
No new hereafter, nor a future sky,
Yet bear thy lot content, yet cease to grieve,
Why, ere Death comes, shouldst thou forbear to live?
The little time thou hast ’twixt instant now
And death’s approach, is all the gods allow:
And of this little hast thou aught to spare
To sad reflection and corroding care?
The moments past, if thou art wise, retrieve
With pleasant memory of the bliss they give;
The present hour in present mirth employ,
And bribe the future with the hope of joy.’