“Thou wast a bauble once; a cup and ball,
Which babes might play with; and the thievish jay
Seeking her food, with ease might have purloined
The auburn nut that held thee, swallowing down
Thy yet close-folded latitude of boughs
And all thine embryo vastness at a gulp.
But fate thy growth decreed.”

—  William Cowper

Source: The Yardley Oak (1791), Lines 18-23

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

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William Cowper 174
(1731–1800) English poet and hymnodist 1731–1800

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