Classic Poem

Mirror of comedies, and of our age,
That hast re-edified the falling stage,
And once more built the theatre with thy pen,
In spite of foes, hast made it live again;
What can we render? Thy admired plays
Already have sequestered the bays
From off the head of those who writ before,
Which were but shadows to thy works, no more.
Who is not joyed, when he see'th the fall
And punishment of vice, thy Cardinal ,
And taught by thy I MPOSTURE for to shun
Lascivious courses, or else be undone?
Thy B ROTHERS teach us love, thy S ISTERS do,
In courtly terms, shew us how to woo;
Or, if we will be read in points of state,
Then thy C OURT S ECRET make[s] us up complete.
What shall we offer then, or what present?
We'll add this trophy to thy monument,
That ages yet to come shall hear and see,
When dead, thy works a living elegy.