Fear of Death terrible to the Wicked.

Black Horror! speed we to the bed of death
Where one, who wide and far

Hath sent abroad the myriad plagues of war,
Struggles with his last breath:

Then to his wildly staring eyes

The spectres of the slaughtered rise;

Then on his frenzied ear

Their calls for vengeance, and the demons' yell,

In one heart-maddening chorus swell:

Cold on his brow convulsing stands the dew,

And night eternal darkens on his view.

ROBERT SOUTHEY.

Claudio. Ay, but to die, and go we know not where :

To lie in cold obstruction and to rot;

This sensible warm motion to become

A kneaded clod; and the delighted spirit

To bathe in fiery floods, or to reside
In thrilling region of thick-ribbed ice;

To be imprison'd in the viewless winds,

And blown with restless violence round about
The pendent world; or to be worse than worst

Of those that lawless and incertain thought
Imagine howling: 'tis too horrible!

The weariest and most loathed worldly life
That age, ache, penury and imprisonment
Can lay on nature is a paradise

To what we fear of death.

Measure for Measure, Act iii. Sc. I, 1. 118.

Despair in the Hour of Death.

From hence the lesson learn ye

To reckon no man happy till ye witness
The closing day; until he pass the border

Which severs life from death, unscathed by sorrow.

SOPHOCLES, Edipus the King, l. 1533.

THE DEATH OF CARDINAL BEAUFort.

Queen. Whither goes Vaux so fast? what news, I prithee? Vaux. To signify unto his majesty

That Cardinal Beaufort is at point of death;

For suddenly a grievous sickness took him,

That made him gasp and stare and catch the air,
Blaspheming God and cursing men on earth.
Sometime he talks as if Duke Humphrey's ghost 1
Were by his side; sometime he calls the king
And whispers to his pillow as to him
The secrets of his overcharged soul:
And I am sent to tell his majesty

That even now he cries aloud for him.

Queen. Go tell this heavy message to the king.

1

Second Part of King Henry VI., Act iii. Sc. 2, 1. 367.

1 Duke of Gloster murdered by Beaufort's order.

Enter the KING, Salisbury, WARWICK, to the CARDINAL in bed.

King. How fares my lord? speak, Beaufort, to thy sover

eign.

Car. If thou be'st death, I'll give thee England's treasure, Enough to purchase such another island,

So thou wilt let me live, and feel no pain.

King. Ah, what a sign it is of evil life,

Where death's approach is seen so terrible!

War. Beaufort, it is thy sovereign speaks to thee.
Car. Bring me unto my trial when you will.

Died he not in his bed? where should he die?
Can I make men live, whether they will or no?
O, torture me no more! I will confess.
Alive again? then show me where he is :
I'll give a thousand pound to look upon him.
He hath no eyes, the dust hath blinded them.
Comb down his hair; look, look! it stands upright,
Like lime-twigs set to catch my winged soul.
Give me some drink; and bid the apothecary
Bring the strong poison that I bought of him.

King. O thou eternal Mover of the heavens,
Look with a gentle eye upon this wretch !
O, beat away the busy meddling fiend
That lays strong siege unto this wretch's soul

And from his bosom purge this black despair!

War. See, how the pangs of death do make him grin !

Sal. Disturb him not; let him pass peaceably.

DESPAIR IN THE HOUR OF DEATH.

185

King. Peace to his soul, if God's good pleasure be ! Lord cardinal, if thou think'st on heaven's bliss,

Hold up thy hand, make signal of thy hope.

He dies, and makes no sign. O God, forgive him!
War. So bad a death argues a monstrous life.
King. Forbear to judge, for we are sinners all.
Close up his eyes and draw the curtain close;

And let us all to meditation.1

Second Part of King Henry VI., Act iii. Sc. 3, l. 1.

1 Schlegel has referred to this scene thus: "Can any other poet be named, who has drawn aside the curtain of eternity, at the close of this life, with such overpowering and awful effect? and yet it is not mere horror with which the mind is filled, but solemn emotion. A blessing and a curse, stand side by side: the pious king is an image of the heavenly mercy which, even in the sinner's last moments, labors to enter his soul."