* *

_On Milton_.

Three Poets, in three distant ages born,
Greece, Italy, and England did adorn;
The first in loftiness of thought surpassed,
The next in majesty, in both the last.
The force of nature could no further go;
To make a third she joined the other two.

* * * * *

JOHN BUNYAN.
1628-1688.

_Apology for his Book_.

And so I penned
It down, until at last it came to be,
For length and breadth, the bigness which you see.

* * * * *

Some said, "John, print it," others said,
"Not so."
Some said, "It might do good," others said,
"No."

* * * * *

_Pilgrim's Progress_.

The Slough of Despond.

* * * * *

EARL OF ROSCOMMON.
1633-1684.

_Essay on Translated Verse_.

Immodest words admit of no defence,
For want of decency is want of sense.

* * * * *

EARL OF ROCHESTER.

_Written on the Bedchamber Door of Charles II_.

Here lies our sovereign lord the king,
Whose word no man relies on;
He never says a foolish thing,
Nor ever does a wise one.

* * * * *

KING CHARLES II.

_Written in Parliament attending the Discussion of Lord Boss' Divorce
Bill_.

As good as a play.

* * * * *

SHEFFIELD, DUKE OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE.
1649-1721.

_Essay on Poetry_.

Of all those arts in which the wise excel,
Nature's chief masterpiece is writing well.

There's no such thing in nature, and you'll draw
A faultless monster, which the world ne'er saw.

* * * * *

Read Homer once, and you can read no more,
For all books else appear so mean, so poor;
Verse will seem prose; but still persist to read,
And Homer will be all the books you need.

* * * * *

THOMAS OTWAY.
1651-1685.

_Venice Preserved_.

Act i. Sc. 1.

O woman! lovely woman! Nature made thee
To temper man; we had been brutes without you.
Angels are painted fair to look like you.

* * * * *

JOHN NORRIS.
1657-1711.

_The Parting_.

How fading are the joys we dote upon!
Like apparitions seen and gone;
But those which soonest take their flight
Are the most exquisite and strong;
Like angel's visits, short and bright,
Mortality's too weak to bear