Ben Jonson


  U  N  D  E  R  W  O  O  D  S .

 MISCELLANEOUS POEMS.


XXIII. — EPIGRAM. — IN AUTHOREM.1   

Thou, that wouldst find the habit of true passion,
    And see a mind attired in perfect strains ;
Not wearing moods, as gallants do a fashion,
    In these pied times, only to shew their trains,
Look here on BRETON's work, the master print,
    Where such perfections to the life do rise ;
If they seem wry to such as look asquint,
    The fault's not in the object, but their eyes.
For, as one coming with a lateral view,
    Unto a cunning piece wrought perspective,
Wants faculty to make a censure true ;
    So with this author's readers will it thrive ;
Which being eyed directly, I divine,
His proof their praise'll incite, as in this line.


1  In Authorem.] This epigram is printed before a poem of
that indefatigable writer, Nicholas Breton, called “ Melan-
cholike Humors, in verses of diverse natures.” 1600.

 
Source:
Jonson, Ben.  The Works of Ben Jonson.
Boston: Phillips, Sampson, and Co., 1853. 817.
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