Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TO HIS LOVING FRIEND, MR. SHAKERLY MARMION, THE AUTHOR, by                    
First Line: Friend, I have read thy poem, full of wit
Last Line: To brand the world with twenty such in print.
Subject(s): Marmion, Shakerley (1602-1639)


FRIEND, I have read thy Poem, full of wit,
A master-piece, I'll set my seal to it:
Let judges read, and ignorance be gone;
'Tis not forvulgar thumbs to sweat upon
This learned work: thy Muse flies in her place:
And, eagle-like, looks Phoebus in the face.
Let those voluminous authors that affect
Fame, rather great than good, thy worth reject.
Jewels are small; how unlike art thou to those
That tire out rhyme, and verse, till they trot prose?
And ride the Muse's Pegasus, poor jade,
Till he be founder'd; and make that their trade:
And to fill up the sufferings of the beast,
Foot it themselves three hundred miles at least.
These have no mercy on the paper reams,
But produce plays, as schoolboys do write themes.
Thou keep'st thy Muse in breath, and if men wage
Gold on her head, will better run the stage:
And 'tis more praise than, hadst thou labour'd in't,
To brand the world with twenty such in print.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net