Cowley, Abraham

In Latin: Near this place lies Abraham Cowley, the Pindar, Horace and Virgil of England and the delight, ornament and favourite of his age. While sacred bard far worlds thy works proclaim,/ And you survive in an immortal fame,/ Here may you blessed in pleasing quiet lie,/ To guard thy urn may hoary faith stand by;/ And all thy favourite tuneful nine repair,/ To watch thy dust with a perpetual care./ Sacred for ever may this place be made,/ And may no desperate hand presume to invade,/ With touch unhallowed, this religious room,/ Or dare affront thy venerable tomb:/ Unmoved and undisturbed, till time shall end,/ May Cowley's dust this marble shrine defend. So wishes, and desires that wish may be sacred to posterity, George, Duke of Buckingham, who erected this marble monument for that incomparable man. [Below] He died in the 49th year of his age and was carried from Buckingham House with considerable pomp; his obsequies being attended by persons of illustrious character of all degrees, and buried 3 August 1667.