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? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...LAUGHTER (YOUTH SPEAKS TO HIS OWN OLD AGE) by CONRAD AIKEN THE FLOOD OF YEARS by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT THE LOVELINESS OF LOVE by GEORGE DARLEY ON THE DEATH OF JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE by FITZ-GREENE HALLECK DRINKING ODE by ALCAEUS OF MYTILENE DELIA. AN ELEGY by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD |