ELEGY UPON ANACREON.
83
A dream, that ne'er must equall'd be
By all that waking eyes may see.
Thou, this damage to repair,
Nothing half so sweet or fair,
Nothing half so good, canst bring,
Though men say thou bring'st the spring.
By all that waking eyes may see.
Thou, this damage to repair,
Nothing half so sweet or fair,
Nothing half so good, canst bring,
Though men say thou bring'st the spring.
ELEGY UPON ANACREON,
WHO WAS CHOAKED BY A GRAPE-STONE.
Spoken by the God of Love.
How shall I lament thine end,
My best servant, and my friend?
Nay, and, if from a Deity
So much deified as I,
It sound not too profane and odd,
Oh, my master and my god!
For 't is true, most mighty poet!
(Though I like not men should know it)
I am in naked nature less,
Less by much, than in thy dress.
All thy verse is softer far
Than the downy feathers are
Of my wings, or of my arrows,
Of my mother's doves or sparrows.
My best servant, and my friend?
Nay, and, if from a Deity
So much deified as I,
It sound not too profane and odd,
Oh, my master and my god!
For 't is true, most mighty poet!
(Though I like not men should know it)
I am in naked nature less,
Less by much, than in thy dress.
All thy verse is softer far
Than the downy feathers are
Of my wings, or of my arrows,
Of my mother's doves or sparrows.
