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TO MY NOBLE
brother and friend,
Captaine John Smith.
THou hast a course so full of honour runne,
Envy may snarle, as dogges against the Sunne
May barke, not bite: for what deservedly
With thy lifes danger, valour, pollicy,
Quaint warlike stratagems, abillity
And judgement, thou hast got, fame sets so high
Detraction cannot reach: thy worth shall stand
A patterne to succeeding ages, and
Cloth'd in thy owne lines, ever shall adde grace,
Unto thy native Country and thy race;
And when dissolv'd, laid in thy mothers wombe,
These, Cæsar-like, Smiths Epitaph and tombe.
Envy may snarle, as dogges against the Sunne
May barke, not bite: for what deservedly
With thy lifes danger, valour, pollicy,
Quaint warlike stratagems, abillity
And judgement, thou hast got, fame sets so high
Detraction cannot reach: thy worth shall stand
A patterne to succeeding ages, and
Cloth'd in thy owne lines, ever shall adde grace,
Unto thy native Country and thy race;
And when dissolv'd, laid in thy mothers wombe,
These, Cæsar-like, Smiths Epitaph and tombe.
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