text:  The monarch oak the patriarch of the trees Shoots rising up and spreads by slow degrees; Three centuries he grows and three he stays Supreme in state and in three more decays: So wears the paving pebble in the street And towns and towers their fatal periods meet: So rivers rapid once now naked lie Forsaken of their springs and leave their channels dry: So man at first a drop dilates with heat; Then form'd the little heart begins to beat; Secret he feeds unknowing in the cell; At length for hatching ripe he breaks the shell And struggles into breath and cries for aid; Then helpless in his mother's lap is laid