Epitaph on a Beloved Friend

Astaer prin men elampes eni tsuoisin hepsos.

Plato's Epitaph (Epig. Græc., Jacobs, 1826, p. 309), quoted by Diog. Laertins.

1. 1Oh, Friend! for ever lov'd, for ever dear!
2. 2What fruitless tears have bathed thy honour'd bier!
3. 3What sighs re-echo'd to thy parting breath,
4. 4Whilst thou wast struggling in the pangs of death!
5. 5Could tears retard the tyrant in his course;
6. 6Could sighs avert his dart's relentless force;
7. 7Could youth and virtue claim a short delay,
8. 8Or beauty charm the spectre from his prey;
9. 9Thou still hadst liv'd to bless my aching sight,
10. 10Thy comrade's honour and thy friend's delight.
11. 11If yet thy gentle spirit hover nigh
12. 12The spot where now thy mouldering ashes lie,
13. 13Here wilt thou read, recorded on my heart,
14. 14A grief too deep to trust the sculptor's art.
15. 15No marble marks thy couch of lowly sleep,
16. 16But living statues there are seen to weep;
17. 17Affliction's semblance bends not o'er thy tomb,
18. 18Affliction's self deplores thy youthful doom.
19. 19What though thy sire lament his failing line,
20. 20A father's sorrows cannot equal mine!
21. 21Though none, like thee, his dying hour will cheer,
22. 22Yet other offspring soothe his anguish here:
23. 23But, who with me shall hold thy former place?
24. 24Thine image, what new friendship can efface?
25. 25Ah, none!--a father's tears will cease to flow,
26. 26Time will assuage an infant brother's woe;
27. 27To all, save one, is consolation known,
28. 28While solitary Friendship sighs alone.