Written as if carved on a gravestone, these lines call the passerby to stop and pay quiet respect. The speaker’s voice is full of reverence for a man who was a loving husband, a gentle father, and a generous friend. There’s no grand public hero here, but a private person whose heart beat with pity for others’ sorrow and who never bent to human pride. The epitaph names two defining qualities: a “pitying heart” that felt every kind of human suffering, and a “dauntless heart” that stood fearless before the arrogance of the powerful. He was a friend to all, opposing only vice itself. The closing line, borrowed from Goldsmith, adds a warm, forgiving truth—even his faults leaned naturally toward goodness. The whole poem creates a mood of dignified tenderness, as if we are standing in a quiet churchyard, invited to admire not perfection, but a life firmly rooted in kindness and integrity.
38. Epitaph on my Ever Honoured Father — Summary
O YE whose cheek the tear of pity stains, Draw near with pious rev’rence, and attend! Here lie the loving husband’s dear remains, The tender father, and the gen’rous friend; The pitying heart that felt for human woe, The dauntless heart that fear’d no human pride; The friend of man-to vice alone a foe; For “ev’n his failings lean’d to virtue’s side.” 1
Note 1. Goldsmith.—R. B. [back]