Since honour from the honourer proceeds,
How well do they deserve, that memorize,
And leave in Books for all posterities
The names of worthies and their virtuous deeds;
When all their glory else, like water-weeds,
Without their element, presently dies,
And all their greatness quite forgotten lies,
And when and how they flourished no man heeds
How poor remembrances are statues, tombs,
And other monuments that men erect
To princes, which remain in closèd rooms
Where but a few behold them, in respect
Of Books, that to the universal eye
Show how they lived; the other where they lie!
From: Nicoll, Henry J., C Sonnets by C Authors, 1883, Anson D. F. Randolph and Co: New York, p. V.
(https://archive.org/stream/csonnets00nicouoft#page/iv/mode/2up)
Date: 1613
By: John Florio (1553-1625)
From Troubles of The World 
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