The following is a copy of the epitaph written by Franklin upon himself, at the age of twenty-three, while a journeyman printer:—
The Body
of
Benjamin Franklin, Printer,
(Like the cover of an old book,
Its contents torn out,
And stript of its lettering and gilding,)
Lies food for worms:
Yet the work itself shall not be lost,
For it will [as he believed] appear once more,