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Underneath this sable hearse
Lies the subject of all verse,
Sidney's sister, Pembroke's mother;
Death! ere thou hast slain another,
Fair and learn'd, and good as she,
Time shall throw a dart at thee.

— William Browne

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Source and credibility

Wikiquote does not flag this quote as disputed or misattributed.

Source: "Epitaph on the Countess of Pembroke", first published with the poems of the countess's son William and Sir Benjamin Rudyerd (1660)
Source quality: Source identified Names the work or year, but without an exact location.

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And all the former causes of her moan
Did therewith bury in oblivion.

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A heavenly bevy of sweet English dames.

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Steer, hither steer your wingèd pines,
All beaten mariners!
Here lie Love’s undiscover’d mines,
A prey to passengers.

Come on shore,
Where no joy dies till Love hath gotten more.

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Variants

'marble' instead of sable'

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Whose life is a bubble, and in length a span.

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For those sacred powers
Tread on oblivion; no desert odours
Can be entombed in their celestial breasts.

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If heaven send no supplies,
The fairest blossom of the garden dies.

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A rose as fair as ever saw the North,
Grew in a little garden all alone:
A sweeter flower did Nature ne’er put forth,
Nor fairer garden yet was never known.

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I saw a mushroom stand in haughty pride,
As if the lilies grew to be his slaves.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: William Browne (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.