The Canons of Criticism and Glossary Being A Supplement to Mr. Warburton's Edition of Shakespear ... The Sixth Edition, with Additions [with] The Trial of the Letter y, alias Y, and Sonnets [by Thomas Edwards] |
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SONNET XL. |
 | The Canons of Criticism and Glossary |  |
320
SONNET XL.
To Shakespear.
Shakespear, whose heart-felt scenes shall ever give
Instructive pleasure to the listening age;
And shine unrival'd on the British stage
By native worth and high prerogative;
Instructive pleasure to the listening age;
And shine unrival'd on the British stage
By native worth and high prerogative;
When full of fame Thou did'st retire to live
In studious leisure, had thy judgment sage
Clear'd-off the rubbish cast on thy fair page
By Players or ignorant or forgetive —
In studious leisure, had thy judgment sage
Clear'd-off the rubbish cast on thy fair page
By Players or ignorant or forgetive —
O what a sea of idly squander'd ink,
What heaps of notes by blundering critics penn'd
[The dreams of ignorance in wisdom's guise]
Had then been spar'd! nor Knapton then, I think,
And honest Draper had been forc'd to send
Their dear-bought rheams to cover plums and spice.
What heaps of notes by blundering critics penn'd
[The dreams of ignorance in wisdom's guise]
Had then been spar'd! nor Knapton then, I think,
And honest Draper had been forc'd to send
Their dear-bought rheams to cover plums and spice.
| The Canons of Criticism and Glossary | |