On Margaret Ratcliffe
On Margaret Ratcliffe by Ben Jonson
XL. ? ON MARGARET RATCLIFFE. M arble, weep, for thou dost cover A dead beauty underneath thee, R ich as nature could bequeath thee : G rant then, no rude hand remove her. A ll the gazers on the skies R ead not in fair heaven's story, E xpresser truth, or truer glory, T han they might in her bright eyes. R are as wonder was her wit ; A nd, like nectar, ever flowing : T ill time, strong by her bestowing, C onquer'd hath both life and it ; L ife, whose grief was out of fashion I n these times. Few so have rued F ate in a brother. To conclude, F or wit, feature, and true passion, E arth, thou hast not such another.[ AJ Note: Margaret Ratcliffe was one of Queen Elizabeth's ladies-in-waiting. She wasted away from grief in November 1599, after long mourning the deaths of four of her brothers. ]
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