But thou art in the tomb before me.

“Thou rear’st to me no filial stone,

No parent’s grave with tears beholdest;

Thou art my ancestor—my son!

And stand’st in Heaven’s account the oldest.

“On earth my lot was soonest cast,

Thy generation after mine;

Thou hast thy predecessor passed,

Earlier eternity is thine.

“I should have set before thine eyes