Sir Edward Sherburne (1618–1702)

STRANGER, whoe’er thou art, that stoop’st to taste

These sweeter streams, let me arrest thy haste;

Nor of their fall

The murmurs (though the lyre

Less sweet be) stand to admire.

But as you shall

See from this marble tun

The liquid crystal run,

And mark withal

How fixed the one abides,

How fast the other glides;

Instructed thus, the difference learn to see

’Twixt mortal life and immortality.