THE
Great Messenger of MORTALITY;
OR,
A Dialogue between DEATH and a LADY.
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DEATH.
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FAIR Lady, lay your costly Robes aside,
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No longer may you glory in your Pride:
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Take Leave of all your carnal vain Delight,
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I'm come to summon you away this Night.
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LADY.
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What bold Attempt is this? pray let me know,
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From whence you come, and whither I must go.
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Shall I, who Am a Lady, stoop or bow
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To such a pale-faced Visage, Who art Thou?
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DEATH.
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Do you not know me? Well, I'll tell you then,
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'Tis I that conquer all the Sons of Men.
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No Pitch of Honour from my Dart is free;
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My Name is Death, have you not heard of me?
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LADY.
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Yes, I have heard of thee, Time after Time;
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But being in the Glory of my Prime,
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I did not think you would have call'd so soon.
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Why must my Morning Sun go down at Noon?
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DEATH.
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Talk not of Noon, you may as well be mute,
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This is no Time at all for to dispute.
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Your Riches, Jewels, Gold, and Garments brave,
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Your Houses, Lands, must all new Masters have.
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Tho' thy vain Heart to Riches was inclin'd,
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Yet thou must die, and leave them all behind.
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LADY.
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My Heart is cold, I tremble at the News.
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Here's Bags of Gold, if thou wilt me excuse,
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And seize on those (thus finish thou the Strife)
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On such as are aweary of their Life.
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Are there not many bound in Prison strong,
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In bitter Grief of Soul have languish'd long,
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From all would find a Grave, a Place of Rest,
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From all their Grief, in which they are opprest.
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Besides, there's many with their hoary Head,
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And Palsy Joints, by which their Joys are fled.
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Release thou them whose Sorrows are so great,
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But spare my Life to have a longer Date.
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DEATH.
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Tho' they by Age are full of Grief and Pain,
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Yet their appointed Time they must remain.
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I come to none before my Warrant's seal'd,
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And when it is, they must submit and yield.
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I take no Bribe, believe me, this is true,
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Prepare yourself to go, I come for you.
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LADY.
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Death, be not so severe, let me obtain
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A little longer Time to live and reign
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Fain would I stay, if thou my Life wilt spare,
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I have a Daughter beautiful and fair,
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I'd live to see her wed, whom I adore.
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Grant me but this, and I will ask no more.
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DEATH.
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This is a slender frivolous Excuse.
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I have you fast, and will not let you loose.
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Leave her to Providence, for you must go
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Along with me, whether you will or no.
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I, Death, command Kings to leave their Crowns,
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And at my Feet they lay their Sceptres down.
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If unto Kings this Favour I not give,
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But cut them off, can you expect to live
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Beyond the Limit of your Time and Space?
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No, I must send you to another Place.
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LADY.
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You learned Doctors, now express your Skill,
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And let not Death of me obtain his Will.
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Prepare your Cordials, let me Comfort find,
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My Gold shall fly like Chaff before the Wind.
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DEATH.
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Forbear to call, their Skill will never do,
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They are but Mortals here, as well as you.
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I give the fatal Wound, my Dart is sure,
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'I is far beyond the Doctor's Skill to cure.
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How freely can you let your Riches fly.
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To purchase Death, rather than yield to die.
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But while you flourish'd here in all your Store,
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You would not give one Penny to the Poor,
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Tho' in God's Name they Suit to you did make,
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You would not spare one Penny for his Sare.
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My Lord beheld wherein you did amiss,
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And calls you hence to give Account for this.
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LADY.
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Oh, heavy News! must I no longer stay?
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How shall I stand in the great Judgment Day?
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Down from her Eyes the crystal Tears did flow,
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She said, None knows what I do undergo.
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Upon a Bed of Sorrow here I lie,
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My carnal Life makes me afraid to die.
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My Sins, alas! are many, gross, and foul.
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Lord Jesus Christ have Mercy on my Soul.
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And tho' I do deserve thy righteous Frown,
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Yet pardon, Lord, and pour a Blessing down.
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Then with a dying Sigh her Heart did break,
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And did the Pleasures of this World forsake.
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Thus may we see the High and Mighty fall;
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For cruel Death shews no Respect at all,
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To anyone of high or low Degree.
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Great Men submit to Death as well as we.
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Tho' they are gay, their Lives are but a Span,
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A Lump of Clay, so vile a Creature's Man!
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