77
Thy glass will show thee how thy beauties wear,
Thy dial how thy precious minutes waste;
The vacant leaves thy mind's imprint will bear,
And of this book this learning mayst thou taste. 4
The wrinkles which thy glass will truly show
Of mouthed graves will give thee memory;
Thou by thy dial's shady stealth mayst know
Time's thievish progress to eternity. 8
Look! what thy memory cannot contain,
Commit to these waste blanks, and thou shalt find
Those children nurs'd, deliver'd from thy brain,
To take a new acquaintance of thy mind. 12
These offices, so oft as thou wilt look,
Shall profit thee and much enrich thy book.
78
So oft have I invok'd thee for my Muse
And found such fair assistance in my verse
As every alien pen hath got my use
And under thee their poesy disperse. 4
Thine eyes, that taught the dumb on high to sing
And heavy ignorance aloft to fly,
Have added feathers to the learned's wing
And given grace a double majesty. 8
Yet be most proud of that which I compile,
Whose influence is thine, and born of thee:
In others' works thou dost but mend the style,
And arts with thy sweet graces graced be; 12
But thou art all my art, and dost advance
As high as learning my rude ignorance.
1–14 Cf. n.
4 Cf. n.
7 shady stealth: stealthy shadow
10 waste blanks: empty pages
11, 12 Cf. n.
13 offices; cf. n.
1–14 Cf. n.
3 As: that
use: habit
4 under thee: under thy patronage
disperse: spread abroad
9 compile: compose
10 influence: inspiration
13 advance: raise
