ON THE DEATH OF DR. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
Thus,some tall tree that long hath stood
The glory of its native wood,
By storms destroyed, or length of years,
Demands the tribute of our tears.
The pile, that took long time to raise,1.
To dust returns by slow decays:
But, when its destined years are o’er,3.
We must regret the loss the more.
So long accustomed to your aid,1.
The world laments your exit made;
So long befriended by your art,3.
Philosopher, ’tis hard to part!–
When monarchs tumble to the ground,
Successors easily are found:
But, matchless Franklin! what a few
Can hope to rival such as you,
Who seized from kings their sceptered pride,5.
And turned the lightning darts aside.
Full Colophon Information
Genre: Poetry
Subjects: Early National Society and Life, Franklin, Benjamin
Period: 1750-1800
Location: British America
Format: verse
The text of this document of originally published in 1788.
The text of the present edition was prepared from and proofed against Philip Freneau, "On the Death of Dr. Benjamin Franklin," in American Poetry. Edited by Percy H. Boynton (New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1918). All preliminaries and notes have been omitted except those for which the author is responsible. All editorial notes have been omitted except those that indicate significant textual variations. Line and paragraph numbers contained in the source text have been retained. In cases where the source text displays no numbers, numbers are automatically generated. In the header, personal names have been regularized according to the Library of Congress authority files as "Last Name, First Name" for the REG attribute and "First Name Last Name" for the element value. Names have not been regularized in the body of the text.