English poem
AN ELEGY, On the DEATHS of the Citizens of Philadelphia, who were destroyed by a pestilential Infection, in…
by Samuel Stearns (1741–1810)
In Philadelphia has been slain, Indeed it is a doleful sound! Of diff'rent sects, a num'rous train. Which now lie silent in the ground!
A pestilence, which there did rage With rapid force, has swept away An hundred people from the stage, Within the compass of a day!
But sometimes less, and sometimes more, The daily publications tell, Upon that mournful city's shore, In that short time, have often fell!
The life and vigour they enjoy'd, Alas! it was their dismal fate! By this disease have been destroy'd, And they mov'd from the present state!
But happy is their lot indeed! Their bodies now need no relief; For in the silent grave they're freed From trouble, sorrow, pain, and grief!
Some worthy characters are dead! Young children too, just in their bloom! The middle-ag'd, the hoary head, Have hurry'd been into the tomb!
Alas! alas! we may relate, That by experience we have found, These losses truly have been great, To relatives and all around!
Let not the relatives repine, Since the great GOD, who reigns on high, By death, which is an act divine, Rais'd their good friends above the sky!
With patience run the heav'nly race, Trust in the Lord, and do not faint; For the Almighty, by his grace, Supplies the wants of every faint.
In prosp'rous times, or in distress, You're in the great Creator's care; As ye pass through this wilderness, Let nothing lead you to despair.
He saves alive, and he doth kill; For life and death from him do slow! In heav'n above he does his will, And on his footstool here below!
The famine, sword, and pestilence, He sends to desolate the land! Against the Lord there's no defence. None can restrain his mighty hand!
As all he doth is good and right, Let all his servants be content: Be humble-minded day and night, Under the troubles he hath sent.
Serve ye the Lord, and in him trust: That when your days on earth shall cease, Ye may be seated with the just, In boundless realms of joy and peace!