An Epitaph
by Matthew Prior

Interred beneath this marble stone
Lie sauntering Jack and idle Joan.
While rolling threescore years and one
Did round this globe their courses run;
If human things went ill or well;
If changing empires rose or fell;
The morning passed, the evening came,
And found this couple still the same.
They walked and ate, good folks: what then?
Why then they walked and ate again.
They soundly slept the night away;
They did just nothing all the day;
And having buried children four,
Would not take pains to try for more.
Nor sister either had, nor brother:
They seemed just tallied for each other.

Their moral and economy
Most perfectly they made agree:
Each virtue kept its proper bound,
Nor trespassed on the other's ground.
Nor fame, nor censure they regarded:
They neither punished, nor rewarded.
He cared not what the footmen did:
Her maids she neither praised, nor chid:
So every servant took his course;
And bad at first, they all grew worse.
Slothful disorder filled his stable,
And sluttish plenty decked her table.
Their beer was strong; their wine was port;
Their meal was large; their grace was short.
They gave the poor the remnant-meat
Just when it grew not fit to eat.
     They paid the church and parish rate,
And took, but read not the receipt;
For which they claimed their Sunday's due
Of slumbering in an upper pew.
No man's defects sought they to know,
So never made themselves a foe.
     No man's good deeds did they commend,
So never raised themselves a friend.
Nor cherished they relations poor:
That might decrease their present store;
Nor barn nor house did they repair:
That might oblige their future heir.

They neither added, nor confounded;
They neither wanted, nor abounded.
Each Christmas they accompts did clear;
And wound their bottom round the year.
Nor tear nor smile did they employ
At news of public grief or joy.
When bells were rung and bonfires made,
If asked, they ne'er denied their aid;
Their jug was to the ringers carried,
Whoever either died, or married.
Their billet at the fire was found,
Whoever was deposed, or crowned.

Nor good, nor bad, nor fools, nor wise;
They would not learn, nor could advise;
Without love, hatred, joy, or fear,
They led—a kind of—as it were;
Nor wished, nor cared, nor laughed, nor cried;
And so they lived; and so they died.

1.	INFER What does the speaker convey about Jack and Joan in this stanza?
2.	PARAPHRASE Restate the stanza up to this point in everyday prose.
3.	CONTEMPORARY ISSUES The speaker criticizes Jack's and Joan's overconsumption, lack of religion, and indifferent treatment of the poor. How do some or all of these resemble issues of today?
4.	PARAPHRASE How would you restate this stanza in your own words?
5.	CAUSE-AND-EFFECT What result of Jack's and Joan's behavior is highlighted in this stanza?
6.	MAKE GENERALIZATIONS From reading this stanza, what generalization can you make about Jack's and Joan's behavior?
7.	INFER What is the poet trying to say about how people should live their lives?