WHEN I behold, by warrant from thy pen, A prince rigging our fleets, arming our men, Conducting to remotest shores our force, (Without a Dido to retard his course), And thence repelling in successful fight Th' usurping foe, whose strength was all his right, By two brave heroes (whom we justly may By Homer's Ajax or Achilles lay): I doubt the author of the Tale of Troy, With him that makes his fugitive enjoy The Carthage Queen, and think thy poem may Impose upon posterity, as they Have done on us. What though romances lie Thus blended with more faithful history; We of th' adult'rate mixture not complain, But thence more characters of virtue gain; More pregnant patterns of transcendent worth Than barren and insipid Truth brings forth: So oft the bastard nobler fortune meets Than the dull issue of the lawful sheets. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...BEN JONSON ENTERTAINS A MAN FROM STRATFORD by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON THE SHEPHEARDES CALENDER: MARCH by EDMUND SPENSER SONNETS OF MANHOOD: 41. TO THE 'UNKNOWABLE' GOD by GEORGE BARLOW (1847-1913) PSALM 113 by OLD TESTAMENT BIBLE WE GATHER BACK by HARRY RANDOLPH BLYTHE A CAROL FOR CHRISTMAS DAY BEFORE DAWN by GORDON BOTTOMLEY |