Not marble, nor the gilded monuments <br />Of princes shall outlive this powerful rhyme, <br />But you shall shine more bright in these contents <br />Than unswept stone besmeared with sluttish time. <br />When wasteful war shall statues overturn, <br />And broils root out the work of masonry, <br />Nor Mars his sword, nor war's quick fire shall burn <br />The living record of your memory. <br />'Gainst death and all-oblivious enmity <br />Shall you pace forth; your praise shall still find room <br />Even in the eyes of all posterity <br />That wear this world out to the ending doom. <br /> So, till the judgment that yourself arise, <br /> You live in this, and dwell in lovers' eyes.<br /><br />William Shakespeare<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/sonnet-55-not-marble-nor-the-gilded-monuments/