Inscription For The Tomb Of Mr. Hamilton

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Pause here, and think; a monitory rhyme
Demands one moment of thy fleeting time.
  Consult life's silent clock, thy bounding vein;
Seems it to say --"Health here has long to reign?"
Hast thou the vigour of thy youth? an eye
That beams delight? a heart untaught to sigh?
Yet fear!  Youth ofttimes healthful and at ease,
Anticipates a day it never sees;
And many a tomb, like Hamilton's, aloud
Exclaims, "Prepare thee for an early shroud!"

© William Cowper