Emblems of Mortality; representing, in upwards of fifty cuts, death seizing all ranks and degrees of people

The DUTCHESS.

Reading edition

Thou shalt not come down off that Bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.

2 Kings i. 16.

Illustration from Emblems of Mortality; representing, in upwards of fifty cuts, death seizing all ranks and degrees of people

From the soft Bed, O youthful Maid, Whereon thy Limbs now lie, Permission ever to arise, The cruel Fates deny: For first shall Death thy lifeless Limbs Subdue without Remorse, And his fell Scythe shall to the Grave Consign thy breathless Corse.