 | The Whole Works of William Browne
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5.
[Wer't not for you, here should my pen haue rest]
Wer't not for you, here should my pen haue rest
And take a long leaue of sweet Poesye;
Britannias swaynes, & riuers far by west,
Should heare no more mine oaten melodye;
Yet shall the song I sing of them, awhile
Vnperfect lye, and make noe further knowne
The happy loves of this our pleasant Ile;
Till I haue left some record of mine owne.
You are the subiect now, and, writing you,
I well may versify, not poetize:
Heere needs no fiction: for the graces true
And vertues clipp not with base flatteryes.
Heere should I write what you deserue of praise,
Others might weare, but I should win the bayes.
| The Whole Works of William Browne
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