The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1812-02-25
ron TIE E.TQUIHER.

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FOR TIE EN'QUIRER.
WHO hss.ens by this sacred mound,
In prie of youth and blooming health,
Or treads this coasC Grated ground,
Absorbed in dreams OF fame on wealth.
Stay, son Of earth pause yet while,
For here an awful warning cries
Trust not deiusivc fortunes smile,
Nor sigh to catch the glittring prize.
For DER this spot, where silence, gloom,
To solemn meditation court,
Late rose an airy, graceful dome
The child of pleasures gay resort.
Here slyly smiled the conscious fair
AS oft the ailmiring glance she caught;
And here the faithful married pair,
n sober relaxation sought.
Here music bteathed its dulcet sound,
And graceful dance in charm did vie;
While joy and rapture reigncd around
Bright beamins from each youthful eye.
All sad reverse does hist'ry's page
Record Of death so dread doom!
How beauty, genius, youth and age,
Sunk in ore Overwhelming tomb
One fatal night. ne'cr shall the tear
Cease DER its dark events to Cow,
Nor time shall in its passage tear
From incm'Iy's seat the scenes of woe.
The queen of pleasure called her court;
Her smiling subjects fondly prcst,
To taste each sweet and cheerful sport,
So grsteful to the purest breast.
Der ev'rv youthful brow entwined,
Jnx,niant doomed the wreathe of bliss,
While those of ripper age and mind
Experienced calm delight and peace.
Still swecty flew the moments fair
And still the voice of pleasure calls
When 10. the accents OF despair
Reseund throughout the echoing walls.
Fly fly! was heard on every side.
e Alas the warning came too late,
For onward stalkcd with liasty stride
The fiery messenger of fate.
Now iereely glared the fatal light,
While with strand eyes and lab'ring breath,
The trembling victims sought in fight,
A refuge from impending death.
Alasl how vain tho love essayed
The object Of its vows To save;
Tho uol lest efforts friendship made
To snatch its fav'rites from he grave.
There fell in ROSY childhood's day.
The Doating parents little pride:
And feeble age with tresses grew,
And there the lover, patriot died.
To save precious sisters life,
(Nain martyr to his gen'rous care)
A brother dies his widowed wife
In anguish sheds the fruitIess tear.
To shield from death destructive dart
The partner OF bis love, his name,
The tender mistress his heart
To snatch from dread devouring flame;
In vain the anxious husband strives
Fate binds them with II S gloomy wreath,
And lovely were they in their lives
And undivided still in death
How weeps the muse thus to record,
The victims OF that dread event
But twas the mandate of the Lord
His will the awful chast'ning sent.
Here, once the scene of social mrth,
OF graceful ease and converse gay,
Low in the cold, damp breast of earth
Their mortal relies mingiing lay.
When twilight sheds her pcnsive gloom,
The weeping orphan here shall stray,
And Enger DER the sacred tomb,
Where rests the parents mould ring clay.
No more, the youthful mourner cries,
a fathers care my days shall bless,
No mother bend with smiling eyes
To give the pleasing fond caress.
Here shall the haplcss mother come,
And oft exclam in wild despair,
AS dropping DER her ciild's last home,
My fondest hope lies buried there
And often too at Evenings close,
The widowed wife her step shall bend,
Where sunk in sullcn deaths rcpnse
keei:nos the husband and the friend,
While 'ife, she signs, this heart shall move,
Here shall thy loved remembrance dwCii,
Aad oft the pledges OF our love,
Shall weep as thy story tell.
Here shall the tender husband mourn,
The stroke that rived his faithful heart,
Aud briag lis babes tn view the urn
That holds the mothers mortal Part.
An;l when the lunar beam soft plays
And sheds c'iastcned light around,
Then guided by the silver rays,
The lover seeks the sacred groDai.
There lost In sad and solemn thought,
Behold the pensiyc Wand'rsr rove,
Alone aud joyless DER the spot
Where rests the object OF lis love.
His murmurs 10y, his broken signs,
Blend with tie whispering winds OF night,
no more my moments smiling rise,
The hcrads Of some dear delight.
And h By sorrows hand cfFaeed,
No more DO fairy visions clay,
To charm my rest aud grief has chased