and with the neglect which it has occasioned.
thy riddles all men do neglect.
Thy rugged lines of all do lie forlorn;—
Unwelcome rhymes that rudely do detect
The readers ignorance. Men holden scorn
To be so often nonplus'd, or to spell,
And on one stanza a whole age to dwell.
Besides this harsh and hard obscurity
Of the hid sense, thy words are barbarous
And strangely new, and yet too frequently
Return, as usual, plain and obvious,
So that the shew of the new thick-set patch
Marrs all the old with which it ill doth match.
This the Poet resolutely answers in his own person.
What thou dost pedantickly object
Concerning my rude, rugged, uncouth style,
As childish toy I manfully neglect. . .
How ill alas! with wisdom it accords
To sell my living sense for liveless words!
My thought's the fittest measure of my tongue,
Wherefore I'll use what's most significant;
