Taming the Epitaph

In my little search tonight, to discover the authorship of this little poem:

Were I so Tall to Reach the Pole
Or grasp the Ocean with my Span
I must be mesuer'd by my Soul
The Mind's the Standard of the Man.

I have run across numerous interesting things.

Apparently the author of the poem is Isaac Watts. I shall try to eventually find the whole poem somewhere and post it. The poem is most often quoted because it was apparently a favorite poem of John Merrick (photo below) the "Elephant Man".

The most amusing thing I discovered was that I ran across at least two different historical societies where some important figure had the above poem engraved on his gravestone. And, LOL, one of those two historical societies thinks that their tomb stone is the original poem that is so often quoted. But alas, it is only the four most memorable lines in a poem by Isaac Watts.

Regards, and good night!
Basil

Beware of Monastic Breweries...

I have always been suspicious of Monastic Breweries. And then tonight I discoverd this:
http://www.weaselbreweries.com/monks.html
It really sets my mind at ease to find a nice detailed history of one such place.

Cheers!
Basil

To John Merrick:



Tis true my form is something odd,
But blaming me is blaming God;
Could I create myself anew
I would not fail in pleasing you.
If I could reach from pole to pole
Or grasp the ocean with a span,
I would be measured by the soul;
The mind's the standard of the man.
- Author unknown
(is it Shakespeare?)