This, and much more, which cannot be express'd The buskin'd muse, the comic queen, the grand And nimbler foot of the melodious pair, Nor clouds, nor thunder, but were living drawn; But fine materials, which the muses know, Now, when they could no longer him enjoy, And more than nature takes our hands shall give : In a less volume, but more strongly bound, Shakespeare shall breathe and speak; with laurel crown'd, Which never fades; fed with ambrosian meat, In a well-lined vesture, rich, and neat. So with this robe they clothe him, bid him wear it; For time shall never stain, nor envy tear it. The friendly admirer of his endowments. I. M. S. ! Upon the Lines, and Life, of the famous Scenic Poet, Master W. Shakespeare. Those hands which you so clapp'd, go now and wring, Which made the Globe of heaven and earth to ring. All those he made would scarce make one to this; HUGH HOLLAND. [The following are Ben Jonson's lines on the Portrait of Shakespeare, precisely as they stand on a separate leaf opposite to the title-page of the edition of 1623, and which are reprinted in the same place, with some trifling variation of typography, in the folio of 1632. Char. Had Yorke and Somerfet brought refcue in, Baft. How the yong whelpe of Talbots, raging wood, Bur. Doubtleffe he would have made a noble Knight: Of the most bloody Nurffer of his harmes. fl blooding Enter Lucy, and Beranto Char. For prifoners askft thou? Hell our prison is. briefly But tell me whom thou feek f Luc. But where's the great Alcides of the field, Valiant Lord Talbot Earle of Shrewsbury? |