This is an epitaph for John Hewet and Sarah Drew, a young couple killed by a lightning strike while working in the fields in 1718. Pope recasts their sudden, violent death as an act of divine kindness. He opens by comparing them to Eastern lovers who die together on a funeral pyre, then suggests Heaven saw how completely they loved each other and intervened to spare them the future grief of being parted. The tone is deeply reverent, almost triumphant—there’s no horror or tragedy here, only wonder. The speaker feels a calm, unwavering confidence that God’s choice was both just and merciful. The later stanzas expand that idea into a gentle command: live a good life, and you won’t need to fear a sudden end. The final couplet lifts virtue above ordinary terror, as if the flash of lightning can “melt the ball” but never touch the soul. The mood is strangely serene, turning a shocking accident into a scene of sacred rescue.
Epitaph. on Two Lovers Struck Dead by Lightning. — Summary
When Eastern lovers feed the funeral fire, On the same pile the faithful pair expire. Here pitying Heaven that virtue mutual found, And blasted both, that it might neither wound. Hearts so sincere, the Almighty saw well pleased, Sent his own lightning, and the victims seized.
NEAR THIS PLACE LIE THE BODIES OF JOHN HEWET AND SARAH DREW, AN INDUSTRIOUS YOUNG MAN,
AND VIRTUOUS MAIDEN OF THIS PARISH; WHO, BEING AT HARVEST-WORK (WITH SEVERAL OTHERS), WERE IN ONE INSTANT KILLED BY LIGHTNING, THE LAST DAY OF JULY 1718.
Think not, by rigorous judgment seized, A pair so faithful could expire; Victims so pure Heaven saw well pleased, And snatch'd them in celestial fire.
Live well, and fear no sudden fate; When God calls virtue to the grave, Alike 'tis justice soon or late, Mercy alike to kill or save.
Virtue unmoved can hear the call, And face the flash that melts the ball.