CHARLES COTTON. clxvii 



Beware, you poets, that (at distance) you 



The reverence afford him that is due 



Unto his mighty merit, and not dare 



Your puny threads with his lines to compare ; 



Lest (for so impious a pride) a worse 



Than was Arachne's fate or Midas' curse, 



Posterity inflicts upon your fames, 



For vent'ring to approach too near his flames, 



Whose all-commanding muse disdains to be 



Equall'd by any, in all poesy. 



As the presumptuous son of Clymene, 



The sun's command importun'd for a day 

 ! Of his unwilling father, and for so 



Rash an attempt, fell headlong into Po. 



So you shall fall or worse ; not leave so much 



As empty names, to show there once were such. 



The Greek and Latin language he commands, 



So all that then was writ in both these lands ; 



The French and the Italian he hath gain'd, 



And all the wit that in them is contam'd. 



So, if he pleases to translate a piece 



From France or Italy, old Rome or Greece, 



The understanding reader soon will find, 



It is the best of any of that kind ; 



But when he lets his own rare fancy loose, 



There is no flight so noble as his muse. 



Treats he of war? Bellona doth advance, 



And leads his march with her refulgent lance. 



Sings he of love ? Cupid about him lurks, " 



And Venus in her chariot draws his works. 



Whate'er his subject be, he'll make it fit 



To live hereafter emperor of wit. 



He is the Muses' darling, all the nine 



Phoebus disclaim, and term him more divine. 



The wondrous Tasso, that so long hath borne 



The sacred laurel, shall remain forlorn. 

 . Alonso de Ercilla, that in strong 



And mighty lines hath Araucana sung, 



And Sallust, that the ancient Hebrew story 



Hath poetiz'd, submit unto your glory. 



So the chief swans of Tagus, Arne, and Seine, 



Must yield to Thames, and veil unto your strain. 



Hail, generous magazine of wit, you bright 



Planet of learning, dissipate the night 



Of dulness, wherein us this age involves, 



And (from our ignorance) redeem our souls. 



A word at parting, Sir, I could not choose 



Thus to congratulate your happy muse ; 



And (though I vilify your worth) my zeal 



(And so in mercy think) intended well. 



The world will find your lines are great and strong, 



The nihil ultra of the English tongue. " 



Cokayne also celebrated Cotton's merits on several other 

 occasions, 9 but only two of those effusions are deserving of notice, 

 the one for the pithiness of the compliment paid to him, and the 

 other because his father is mentioned : 



"TO MY HONOURED COUSIN MR CHARLES COTTON, JUNIOR. 



Donne, Suckling, Randolph, Drayton, Massinger, 

 Habington, Sandys, May, my acquaintance were ; 



Poems, pp. 147, 154. 



