TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE EARLE OF OXENFORD, LORD HIGH CHAMBERLAYNE OF ENGLAND, &C. RECEIVE, most noble Lord, in gentle gree The unripe fruit of an unready wit, Which by thy countenaunce doth crave to bee Defended from foule Envies poisnous bit: Which so to doe may thee right well befit, Sith th' antique glory of thine auncestry Under a shady vele is therein writ, And eke thine owne long living memory, Succeeding them in true nobility; And also for the love which thou doest beare To th' Heliconian ymps, and they to thee, They unto thee, and thou to them, most deare. Deare as thou art unto thy selfe, so love That loves and honours thee, as doth behove. |