Page:Tixall Poetry.djvu/306

So long shall Cowley be admired above
The crowd, as David's troubles pity move,
Till women cease to charm and youth to love.

While we the fall of our first parents grieve,
And worship him who did that fall retrieve,
Milton shall in majestick numbers live.

Dryden will last as long as wit and sense,
While judgment is required to excellence,
While perfect language charms an audience.

As long as men are false and women vain,
While gold continues to be virtue's bane,
In pointed satire Wycherly shall reign.

When the aspiring Grecian in the east,
And haughty Philip is forgot i' th' west,
Then Lee and Otway's works shall be supprest.

While fathers are severe, and servants cheat,
Till bawds and whores can live without deceit,
Sedley and easy Etherege shall be great.