A Jacobite’s Epitaph : poem by Macaulay.
... Like Macaulay's A Jacobite's Epitaph, [Aurobindo's] Hic Jacet also achieves its severe beauty through sheer economy of words; Aurobindo's theme, the very rhythm and language of the poem, all hark back to Macaulay; ... If so, it must have been an unconscious influence; for after early childhood Macaulay's verse (The Lays) ceased to appeal. The "Jacobite's Epitaph" was perhaps not even read ...
... reason of their clarity and strength. Like Macaulay's A Jacobite's Epitaph, Sri Aurobindo's Hic Jacet also achieves its severe beauty through sheer economy of words: Jacobean or Irish patriot, the end is the same: Forget all feuds, and shed one English tear O'er English dust. A broken heart lies here. (A Jacobite's Epitaph) Page 42 Patriots, behold your guerdon...... Jacet) The influence of Macaulay's poem on Sri Aurobindo must, however, have been unconscious, for he seems never to have read The Lays of Ancient Rome after early childhood; and A Jacobite's Epitaph, in particular, had made little impression on Sri Aurobindo, and he had not probably read it even twice. 55 Yet the parallelism is striking enough, and the two poems deserve to be read together ...
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