Alexander Pope’s lines for the Digby monument speak in the voice of a grieving father, bidding farewell to his son Egbert and daughter Mary. The first half addresses the young man directly, praising a life of quiet virtue—modest, truthful, composed in both joy and suffering, “good without noise.” Pope imagines him not as dead, but called to live a heavenly existence where his moral nature becomes divine. The sister is then remembered as the devoted companion who followed him to the grave; their parting was brief, and now they are united forever. The mood balances heartache with calm assurance. Grief is not suppressed—the father asks them to accept his tears and forgive his sorrow—yet the poem rests in the belief that the siblings have reached a place where love and joy are one. It feels intimate and hushed, as if the words are spoken softly over a grave, turning loss into a tender act of hope.
Epitaph. on the Monument of the Honourable Egbert Digby, and His Sister — Summary
MARY.
ERECTED BY THEIR FATHER THE LORD DIGBY, IN THE CHURCH OF SHERBORNE, IN DORSETSHIRE, 1727.
Go! fair example of untainted youth, Of modest wisdom, and pacific truth: Composed in sufferings, and in joy sedate, Good without noise, without pretension great. Just of thy word, in every thought sincere, Who knew no wish but what the world might hear: Of softest manners, unaffected mind, Lover of peace, and friend of human kind: Go live! for Heaven's eternal year is thine, Go, and exalt thy moral to divine.
And thou, bless'd maid! attendant on his doom, Pensive hast follow'd to the silent tomb, Steer'd the same course to the same quiet shore, Not parted long, and now to part no more! Go then, where only bliss sincere is known! Go, where to love and to enjoy are one!
Yet take these tears, Mortality's relief, And till we share your joys, forgive our grief: These little rites, a stone, a verse receive; 'Tis all a father, all a friend can give!