The Hesperides & Noble Numbers/Hesperides/To the Generous Reader
95. TO THE GENEROUS READER.
See and not see, and if thou chance t'espy
Some aberrations in my poetry,
Wink at small faults; the greater, ne'ertheless,
Hide, and with them their father's nakedness.
Let's do our best, our watch and ward to keep;
Homer himself, in a long work, may sleep.