Inscription For A Stone

<SPAN name="startofbook"></SPAN> <h3>INSCRIPTION FOR A STONE</h3> <p class="center">ERECTED AT THE SOWING OF A GROVE OF OAKS AT CHILLINGTON, THE SEAT OF T. GIFFARD, ESQ. 1790.</p> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Other stones the era tell<br/></span> <span class="i0">When some feeble mortal fell;<br/></span> <span class="i0">I stand here to date the birth<br/></span> <span class="i0">Of these hardy sons of earth.<br/></span> <span class="i2">Which shall longest brave the sky,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Storm and frost&mdash;these oaks or I?<br/></span> <span class="i0">Pass an age or two away,<br/></span> <span class="i0">I must moulder and decay,<br/></span> <span class="i0">But the years that crumble me<br/></span> <span class="i0">Shall invigorate the tree,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Spread its branch, dilate its size,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Lift its summit to the skies.<br/></span> <span class="i2">Cherish honour, virtue, truth,<br/></span> <span class="i0">So shalt thou prolong thy youth.<br/></span> <span class="i0">Wanting these, however fast<br/></span> <span class="i0">Man be fix'd and form'd to last,<br/></span> <span class="i0">He is lifeless even now,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Stone at heart, and cannot grow.<br/></span></div> </div> <p class="sig1">June, 1790.</p> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />