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On the Portrait of Shakespeare

This figure, 1 that thou here seest put,
It was for gentle Shakespeare cut;
Wherein the Graver had a strife
With Nature to outdo the life:
O, could he but have drawn his wit
As well in brass, as he hath hit
His face; the Print would then surpass...

Poet: Ben Jonson
To the Memory of My Beloved Master, William Shakespeare, and What He Hath Left Us

To draw no envy, Shakespeare, on thy name,
Am I thus ample to thy book and fame;
While I confess thy writings to be such
As neither man nor Muse can praise too much.*        *        *        *        *
                        Soul of the age!
The applause...

Poet: Ben Jonson