Though once a puppy, and though Fop by name,
Here moulders one whose bones some honour claim;
No sycophant, although of spaniel race,
And though no hound, a martyr to the chase.
Ye squirrels, rabbits, leverets, rejoice!
Your haunts no longer echo to his voice;
This record of his fate exulting view,
He died worn out with vain pursuit of you.
'Yes' -- the indignant shade of Fop replies--
'And worn with vain pursuit man also dies.'
William Cowper
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/epitaph-on-fop-a-dog-belonging-to-lady-throckmorton/
