University of Virginia Library

[This man doth praise thy totterd ragged shirt]

This man doth praise thy totterd ragged shirt,
Thy shooes, and shanks, at all he hath a flirt:
And like a patient bearing Asse, he saies,
Thou bear'st thy load through faire and fowlest wais.
And for in cariage thou didst proue so able,
At night thou lai'st with iades within a stable.
Thou wast not onely in thy pace an asse,
But thou all other asses didst surpasse.
All beasts in knowledge were to thee but weake,
For thou the tōgue of Balaams asse didst speake.
But much I feare, thy booke in print will staine,
Because thou art not di'd a ([OMITTED]) in graine.