old dogs

The old dog barks backwards without getting up.
I can remember when he was a pup.
--Robert Frost, "The Span of Life"
[in a nutshell]

---

When the bones of King Arthur were digged up, the old race might think they beheld therein some originals of themselves; unto these of our urns none here can pretend relation, and can only behold the relicks of those persons who, in their life giving the laws unto their predecessors, after long obscurity, now lie at their mercies. But, remembering the early civility they brought upon these countries, and forgetting long-passed mischiefs, we mercifully preserve their bones, and piss not upon their ashes. 

--Sir Thomas Browne

Funeral Instructions 

(R.I.P) 
Mark Worden

At my gravesite lay a garland 
Of rose and sage and vine; 
Don't bury me on the lone prairee 
Plant me with yellowpine. 

Bring along my one best friend, 
My dog, my book, my ring; 
And crank the stereo to the max, 
And let Bob Dylan sing. 

Place my ashes high in the woods, 
Or scatter them about; 
And let old Wolfgang* lift his leg 
To make sure my fire is out. 

*One-man dog, now alas deceased