Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, EPIGRAM: TO OLD-END GATHERER, by BEN JONSON


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EPIGRAM: TO OLD-END GATHERER, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Long-gathering old end, I did fear thee wise
Last Line: Could save that line to dedicate to thee?
Variant Title(s): To Old-end Gatherer
Subject(s): Plagiarism


Long-gathering Old-end, I did fear thee wise,
When having pilled a book, which no man buys,
Thou wert content the author's name to lose:
But when (in place) thou didst the patron's choose,
It was as if thou printed hadst an oath,
To give the world assurance thou wert both;
And that, as puritans at baptism do,
Thou art the father, and the witness too,
For, but thyself, where, out of motley, 's he
Could save that line to dedicate to thee?





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