The Works of Michael Drayton Edited by J. William Hebel |
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TO HIS NOBLE FRIEND, MICHAEL DRAYTON, ESQUIRE,
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 | The Works of Michael Drayton |  |
394
TO HIS NOBLE FRIEND, MICHAEL DRAYTON, ESQUIRE,
upon his Topo-chrono-graphicall Poeme.
From Cornwal's
Foreland to the Cliffs of Dover,
O're hilly Cambria, and all England over,
Thy Muse hath borne me; and (in foure dayes) showne
More goodly Prospects, then I could have knowne
In foure yeares Travailes; If I had not thus
Beene mounted, on thy winged Pegasus.
O're hilly Cambria, and all England over,
Thy Muse hath borne me; and (in foure dayes) showne
More goodly Prospects, then I could have knowne
In foure yeares Travailes; If I had not thus
Beene mounted, on thy winged Pegasus.
The famous Rivers, the delightsome Fountaines;
The fruitfull Vallies, the steepe-rising Mountaines;
The new-built Towres, the ancient-ruin'd Walls;
The wholsome Baths, the bedds of Mineralls;
The nigh-worne Monuments of former Ages;
The Workes of Peace, the Marks of Civill-rages;
The Woods, the Forrests, and the open Plaines,
With whatsoe're this spacious Land containes,
For Profit, or for Pleasure: I o're-looke,
(As from one Station) when I read thy Booke.
The fruitfull Vallies, the steepe-rising Mountaines;
The new-built Towres, the ancient-ruin'd Walls;
The wholsome Baths, the bedds of Mineralls;
The nigh-worne Monuments of former Ages;
The Workes of Peace, the Marks of Civill-rages;
The Woods, the Forrests, and the open Plaines,
With whatsoe're this spacious Land containes,
For Profit, or for Pleasure: I o're-looke,
(As from one Station) when I read thy Booke.
Nor doe mine eyes from thence behold alone,
Such Things, as for the present there are done;
(Or Places, as this day, they doe appeare)
But Actions past, and Places as they were
A hundred Ages since, as well as now:
Which, he that wearies out his feet to know,
Shall never finde, nor yet so cheape attaine
(With so much ease and profit) halfe that gaine.
Good-speed befall Thee; who hast wag'd a Taske,
That better Censures, and Rewards doth aske,
Then these Times have to give. For, those that should
The honor of true Poesy uphold,
Are (for the most part) such as doe preferre
The fawning Lynes of every Pamphleter,
Before the best-writ Poems. And their sight
Or cannot, or else dares not, eye the Flight
Of free borne Numbers; least bright Virtue's fame,
Which flies in those, reflect on Them, their shame.
Such Things, as for the present there are done;
(Or Places, as this day, they doe appeare)
But Actions past, and Places as they were
A hundred Ages since, as well as now:
Which, he that wearies out his feet to know,
Shall never finde, nor yet so cheape attaine
(With so much ease and profit) halfe that gaine.
Good-speed befall Thee; who hast wag'd a Taske,
That better Censures, and Rewards doth aske,
Then these Times have to give. For, those that should
The honor of true Poesy uphold,
Are (for the most part) such as doe preferre
The fawning Lynes of every Pamphleter,
395
Or cannot, or else dares not, eye the Flight
Of free borne Numbers; least bright Virtue's fame,
Which flies in those, reflect on Them, their shame.
Tis well; thy happy Judgement, could devise,
Which way, a man this Age might Poetize,
And not write Satyrs: Or else, so to write
That scape thou mayst, the clutches of Despight.
For, through such Woods, and Rivers, trips thy Muse,
As, will or loose, or drowne him, that pursues.
Which way, a man this Age might Poetize,
And not write Satyrs: Or else, so to write
That scape thou mayst, the clutches of Despight.
For, through such Woods, and Rivers, trips thy Muse,
As, will or loose, or drowne him, that pursues.
Had my Invention (which I know too weake)
Enabled been, so brave a Flight to make;
(Should my unlucky Penn have overgone
So many a Province, and so many a Towne)
Though I to no mans wrong had gone astray,
I had been pounded on the Kings hye way.
Enabled been, so brave a Flight to make;
(Should my unlucky Penn have overgone
So many a Province, and so many a Towne)
Though I to no mans wrong had gone astray,
I had been pounded on the Kings hye way.
But thou hast better Fortune, and hast chose
So brave a Patron, that thou canst not lose
By this Adventure. For, in Him, survives
His Brother Henrie's Virtues: and hee lives
To be that Comfort to thy Muse, which Hee
Had nobly (e're his death) begun to be.
So brave a Patron, that thou canst not lose
By this Adventure. For, in Him, survives
His Brother Henrie's Virtues: and hee lives
To be that Comfort to thy Muse, which Hee
Had nobly (e're his death) begun to be.
Yet, overmuch presume not, that these Times,
Will therefore value thy Heroick Rymes,
According to their Merit. For, although,
Hee, and some fewe, the worth of them shall know:
This is their Fate. (And some unborne, will say,
I spake the Truth; what e're men thinke to Day)
Ages to come, shall hugg thy Poesy,
As we our deare Friends Pictures, when they dye.
Shose that succeed us, Draytons Name shall love,
And, so much this laborious Peece approove;
That such as write heereafter, shall to trim
Their new Inventions, pluck it limbe from limbe.
And our great-Grandsonnes Childrens-children may,
(Yea shall) as in a Glasse, this Isle survay,
As wee now see it: And as those did to,
Who lived many hundred yeares agoe.
Will therefore value thy Heroick Rymes,
According to their Merit. For, although,
Hee, and some fewe, the worth of them shall know:
This is their Fate. (And some unborne, will say,
I spake the Truth; what e're men thinke to Day)
Ages to come, shall hugg thy Poesy,
As we our deare Friends Pictures, when they dye.
Shose that succeed us, Draytons Name shall love,
And, so much this laborious Peece approove;
That such as write heereafter, shall to trim
Their new Inventions, pluck it limbe from limbe.
And our great-Grandsonnes Childrens-children may,
(Yea shall) as in a Glasse, this Isle survay,
As wee now see it: And as those did to,
Who lived many hundred yeares agoe.
396
For, when the Seas shall eat away the Shore,
Great Woods spring up, where Plaines were heretofore;
High Mountaines leveld with low Vallyes lye;
And Rivers runne where now the ground is drie:
This Poeme shall grow famous, And declare
What old-Things stood, where new-Things shall appeare.
And hereunto his Name subscribeth He,
Who shall by this Prædiction, live with Thee.
Great Woods spring up, where Plaines were heretofore;
High Mountaines leveld with low Vallyes lye;
And Rivers runne where now the ground is drie:
This Poeme shall grow famous, And declare
What old-Things stood, where new-Things shall appeare.
And hereunto his Name subscribeth He,
Who shall by this Prædiction, live with Thee.
George Wither.
| The Works of Michael Drayton | |