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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TO SIR WILLIAM UVEDALE by BEN JONSON

Poet Analysis

First Line: UVEDALE, THOU PIECE OF THE FIRST TIMES, A MAN
Last Line: I COULD ADORE, ALMOST THE IDOLATRY.
Subject(s): UVEDALE, SIR WILLIAM (D. 1652);
( To Sir William Uvedale)

Uvedale, thou piece of the first times, a man
Made for what Nature could, or virtue can;
Both whose dimensions, lost, the world might find
Restored in thy body, and thy mind!
Who sees a soul, in such a body set,
Might love the treasure for the cabinet.
But I, no child, no fool, respect the kind,
The full, the flowing graces there enshrined;
Which (would the world not miscall 't flattery)
I could adore, almost the idolatry.



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