Monumental Inscriptions in Ashbourn Church, Derbyshire/Penelope Boothby

PENELOPE BOOTHBY's
MONUMENT;
EXECUTED BY T. BANKS, R. A.

I was not in safety, neither had I rest, and the trouble came.

To PENELOPE,

Only Child of Sir Brooke and Dame Susanna Boothsby, Born April 11th, 1785, died March 13th, 1791.

She was in form and intellect most exquisite. The unfortunate parents ventured their all on this frail Bark, and the wreck was total.

Omnia tecum una perierunt gaudia nostra.

⁠Tu vero felix
⁠Et beata
⁠Penelope mea,
⁠Quæ tot
⁠Tantisque
⁠Miseriis una
Morte perfuncta es.

 

TRANSLATION.

All our joys are perished with thee alone.

But thou art happy and blessed, my dear Penelope, who, by one touch of Death, hast escaped so many and so great miseries.

Lei che'l ciel ne mostra terra n'asconde.

Le crespe chiome d'or puro lucente,
E'l lampeggiar dell Angelico riso,
Che solean far in Terra un Paradiso,
Poca polvere son che nulla sente

 

TRANSLATION.

Those that descend into the grave are not concealed from Heaven.

Thy curling locks of pure shining gold, the lightening of thy angelic smile, which used to make a Paradise on Earth, are now become only a little senseless dust.

Beautè c'est donc ici ton dernier azyle!

⁠Son cercueil
Ne la contient pas
⁠Toute entiere;
II attend le reste de sa proie:
—Il ne l'attendra pas
⁠Longtems.

 

TRANSLATION.

Beauty, this then is thy last asylum!

Her tomb does not yet contain all; it waits for the rest of its prey:—it will not wait long.