Inscription For A Stone Erected At The Sowing Of A Grove Of Oaks At Chillington, Anno 1790

William Cowper 1731 (Berkhamsted) – 1800 (Dereham)



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

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

31 sec read
104

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIJ
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 537
Words 104
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 18

William Cowper

William Macquarie Cowper was an Australian Anglican archdeacon and Dean of Sydney. more…

All William Cowper poems | William Cowper Books

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    "Inscription For A Stone Erected At The Sowing Of A Grove Of Oaks At Chillington, Anno 1790" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/39889/inscription-for-a-stone-erected-at-the-sowing-of-a-grove-of-oaks-at-chillington,-anno-1790>.

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