Other stones the era tell, <br />When some feeble mortal fell; <br />I stand here to date the birth <br />Of these hardy sons of earth. <br />Which shall longest brave the sky, <br />Storm and frost -- these oaks or I? <br />Pass an age or two away, <br />I must moulder and decay; <br />But the years that crumble me <br />Shall invigorate the tree, <br />Spread its branch, dilate its size, <br />Lift its summit to the skies. <br />Cherish honour, virtue, truth, <br />So shalt thou prolong thy youth. <br />Wanting these, however fast <br />Man be fixed, and formed to last, <br />He is lifeless even now, <br />Stone at heart, and cannot grow.<br /><br />William Cowper<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/inscription-for-a-stone-erected-at-the-sowing-of-a-grove-of-oaks-at-chillington-anno-1790/
