University of Virginia Library

To my praise-worthy friend Master Thomas Heywood.

Thy Worth unto the Knowing World is knowne,
Let Criticks censure others by their owne,
And tinct their foreheads with a purple shame,
When they shall see thy Works, or heare thy Name,
Whilst with thy owne, thou setst forth others fame;
Whose lofty Anthems, in our English tone
Thou sing'st, and mak'st them live, though dead & gone,
What barking or untutor'd Momus then
Will dare to belch against thy learned Pen?
Whose worthier Lines, unto their foule disgrace,
Shall spit defiance in a brasen face;
And when th'art dead, thy Poësie shall sing
Such pleasant straines, whereof the World shall ring;
And Envies selfe, in spight of all Assayes,
Shall crowne thy Tombe-stone with eternall Bayes.