thy good will:
251 Whose vertue can not be exprest, but by an Angels quill.
252 Of me no lines are lou'd, nor letters are of price,
253 Of all which speake our English tongue, but those of thy deuice._
254
255 W. R.
256
238 _Another of the same_
239
240 The praise of meaner wits this work like profit brings,

wits > minds

241 As does the cuckoo's song delight when Philomela sings.

Philomela > (She was changed into a nightingale after Tereus had cut
out her tongue; hence: the nightingale)

242 If you have formed right true virtue's face herein,

right > aright; _perhaps also:_ very

243 Virtue herself can best discern to whom they written been.

Virtue herself > [Queen Elizabeth]
been > [have been, are]

244 If you have beauty praised, let her sole looks divine
245 Judge if aught therein be amiss, and mend it by her eyes.
246 If Chastity want aught, or Temperance her due,
247 Behold her princely mind aright, and write your Queen anew.
248 Meanwhile she shall perceive how far her virtues soar
249 Above the reach of all that live, or such as wrote of yore:

of yore > anciently, of old

250 And thereby will excuse and favour your goodwill:
251 Whose virtue cannot be expressed, but by an angel's quill.

but by > except with
quill > {Pen made from swan- or goose-feather}

252 Of me no lines are loved, nor letters are of price,

Of > By

253 Of all who speak our English tongue, but those of your device.

device > devising

254
255 _W. R._

W. R. > (Walter Raleigh, 1552-1618, poet, soldier, explorer, scholar,
statesman, and a favourite of Queen Elizabeth, who granted him, in
1584, a patent for the exploration and settlement of the Americas.
Later he fell from her good graces, and after many hardships and
adventures was beheaded by James I. Probably an exact contemporary
of Spenser. He had a huge estate near Spenser's in southern
Ireland, and under his auspices _FQ_ was published, and dedicated
to Elizabeth)

256
257
258 To the learned Shepheard.
259
260 _COllyn I see by thy new taken taske,
261 some sacred fury hath enricht thy braynes,
262 That leades thy muse in haughtie verse to maske,
263 and loath the layes that longs to lo