No pleasant fruit or blossom gaily smil'd, Nought but unhappy plants or trees were seen, The yew, the myrtle, and the church-yard elm, 55 The cypress, with its melancholy green. 15 There cedars dark, the osier, and the pine, Shorn tamarisks, and weeping willows grew, The poplar tall, the lotos, and the lime, And pyracantha did her leaves renew. 60 16 The poppy there, companion to repose, Display'd her blossoms that began to fall, And here the purple amaranthus rose With mint strong-scented, for the funeral. 17 And here and there with laurel shrubs between 65 A tombstone lay, inscrib'd with strains of woe, And stanzas sad, throughout the dismal green, Lamented for the dead that slept below. 18 Peace to this awful dome!--when strait I heard The voice of men in a secluded room, 70 Much did they talk of death, and much of life, Of coffins, shrouds, and horrors of a tomb. 19 Pathetic were their words, and well they aim'd To explain the mystic paths of providence, Learn'd were they all, but there remain'd not I 75 To hear the upshot of their conference. 20 Meantime from an adjoining chamber came Confused murmurings, half distinguish'd sounds, And as I nearer drew, disputes arose Of surgery, and remedies for wounds. 80 21 Dull were their feuds, for they went on to talk Of _Anchylosis_,[B] and the shoulder blade, _Os Femoris_,[B] _Trochanters_[B]--and whate'er Has been discuss'd by Cheselden or Meade: [B] _Anchylosis_--a morbid contraction of the joints. _Os Femoris_--the thigh bone. _Trochanters_--two processes in the upper part of the thigh bone, otherwise called _rotator major et minor_, in which the tendons of many muscles terminate.--_Freneau's notes._ 22 And often each, to prove his notion true, 85 Brought proofs from Galen or Hippocrates-- But fancy led me hence--and left them so, Firm at their points of hardy No and Yes. 23 Then up three winding stairs my feet were brought To a high chamber, hung with mourning sad, 90 The unsnuff'd candles glar'd with visage dim, 'Midst grief, in ecstacy of woe run mad. 24 A wide leaf'd table stood on either side, Well fraught with phials, half their liquids spent, And from a couch, behind the curtain's veil, 95 I heard a hollow voice of loud lament. 25 Turning to view the object whence it came, My frighted eyes a horrid form survey'd; Fancy, I own thy power--Death on the couch, With fleshless limbs, at rueful length, was laid. 100 26