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thy sad loss, our liberty: His was the bond and cov'nant, yet Thou paid'st the debt: Lamented maid! he won the day, But for the conquest thou didst pay. Thy father brought with him along The olive branch and victor's song: He slew the Ammonites, we know, But to thy woe; And in the purchase of our peace, The cure was worse than the disease. For which obedient zeal of thine, We offer here, before thy shrine, Our sighs for storax, tears for wine; And to make fine And fresh thy hearse-cloth, we will, here, Four times bestrew thee ev'ry year. Receive, for this thy praise, our tears: Receive this offering of our hairs: Receive these crystal vials fill'd With tears distill'd From teeming eyes; to these we bring, Each maid, her silver filleting, To gild thy tomb; besides, these cauls, These laces, ribbons, and these falls, These veils, wherewith we use to hide The bashful bride, When we conduct her to her groom: And all we lay upon thy tomb. No more, no more, since thou art dead, Shall we e'er bring coy brides to bed; No more, at yearly festivals We cowslip balls Or chains of columbines shall make For this or that occasion's sake. No, no; our maiden pleasures be Wrapp'd in the winding-sheet with thee: 'Tis we are dead, though not i' th' grave: Or, if we have One seed of life left, 'tis to keep A Lent for thee, to fast and weep. Sleep in thy peace, thy bed of spice, And make this place all paradise: May sweets grow here: and smoke from hence Fat frankincense: Let balm and cassia send their scent From out thy maiden-monument. May no wolf howl, or screech-owl stir A wing about thy sepulchre! No boisterous winds, or storms, come hither To starve or wither Thy soft sweet earth! but, like a spring, Love keep it ever flourishing. May all shy maids, at wonted hours, Come forth to strew thy tomb with flow'rs: May virgins, when they come to mourn, Male-incense burn Upon thine altar! then return, And leave thee sleeping in thy urn. _Cauls_, nets for the hair. _Falls_,
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