A Cenotaph,

written by


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TO THE MEMORY OF LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ISAAC, WHO DIED AT CAPE ST NICHOLA
MOLE, .

  Oh, hadst thou fall'n, brave youth! on that proud day,
  When our victorious fleet o'er the red surge
  Rolled in terrific glory, thou hadst fall'n
  Most honoured; and Remembrance, while she thought
  Upon thy gallant end, had dried her tear!
  Now far beyond the huge Atlantic wave
  Thy bones decay; the withering pestilence,
  That swept the islands of the western world,
  Smote thee, untimely drooping to the tomb!
  But 'tis enough; whate'er a soldier's fate,
  That firm he hied him, where stern honour bade;
  Though with unequal strength, he sunk and died.

© William Lisle Bowles