Friday, August 28, 2009

ODE TO BEN JONSON




AH Ben!
Say how or when
Shall we thy guests,
Meet at those lyric feasts,
Made at the Sun,
The Dog, The Triple Tun;
Where we such clusters had
As made us nobly wild, not mad;
And yet each verse of thine
Outdid the meat, outdid the frolic wine.

My Ben
Or come again,
Or send to us
Why wit’s great overplus;
But teach us yet
Wisely to husband it,
Lest we that talent spend:
And having once brought to an end
That precious stock, the store
Of such a wit, the world should have no more.

Robert Herrick.

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