COMMENDATORY VERSES PREFIXED TO THE SECOND EDITION IN PARADISUM AMISSAM SUMMI POETÆ Qui legis Amissam Paradisum, grandia magni Et sine fine magis, si quid magis est sine fine, In Christo erga homines conciliatus amor. Et tamen hæc hodie terra Britanna legit. Dum vulsos montes ceu tela reciproca torquent, Excidit attonitis mens omnis, et impetus omnis, S. B., M.D. ON PARADISE LOST WHEN I beheld the Poet blind, yet bold, Heaven, Hell, Earth, Chaos, All-the argument I liked his project, the success did fear- Or, if a work so infinite he spanned, Might hence presume the whole Creation's day Thou hast not missed one thought that could be fit, So that no room is here for writers left, The majesty which through thy work doth reign Where could'st thou words of such a compass find? Whence furnish such a vast expense of mind? Just Heaven, thee like Tiresias to requite, Rewards with prophecy thy loss of sight. Well might'st thou scorn thy readers to allure While the Town-Bayes writes all the while and spells, In number, weight, and measure, needs not rime. A. M. |