All Things Decay And Die

 All things decay with time: The forest sees
The growth and down-fall of her aged trees;
That timber tall, which three-score lustres stood
The proud dictator of the state-like wood,
I mean the sovereign of all plants, the oak,
Droops, dies, and falls without the cleaver's stroke.

Form: Heroic Couplet Comments

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Book: Diverse Voices: The Poetry of Human Rights and the Pursuit of Peace