Benjamin Franklin

The Body of
B Franklin Printer,
(Like the cover of an old Book
Its Contents torn out
And stript of its Lettering & Gilding)
Lies here, Food for Worms.
But the Work shall not be lost:
For it will, (as he believ'd) appear once more,
In a new and more elegant Edition
Revised and corrected,
By the Author

The above lines written by Franklin in 1728 when he was 22 years old, were intended to be his epitaph. As the years went by the lines were shortened to the following final version which appears on his tombstone.

Benjamin and Deborah Franklin: 1790