Page:Sir Walter Raleigh by Thoreau, Henry David,.djvu/71

 happily withstood the trials which awaited him. The night before his execution, besides writing letters of farewell to his wife, containing the most practical advice for the conduct of her life, he appears to have spent the time in writing verses on his condition, and among others this couplet, On the Snuff of a Candle.

And the following verses, perhaps, for an epitaph on himself:

His execution was appointed on Lord Mayor's day, that the pageants and shows might divert the attention of the people; but those pageants have long since been forgotten, while this tragedy is still