A Selection from the Lyrical Poems of Robert Herrick

53. AN ODE FOR BEN JONSON

     Ah Ben!
     Say how or when
     Shall we, thy guests,
     Meet at those lyric feasts,
     Made at the Sun,
     The Dog, the Triple Tun;
     Where we such clusters had,
     As made us nobly wild, not mad?
     And yet each verse of thine
     Out-did the meat, out-did the frolic wine.

     My Ben!
     Or come again,
     Or send to us
     Thy wit's great overplus;
     But teach us yet
     Wisely to husband it,
     Lest we that talent spend;
     And having once brought to an end
     That precious stock,—the store
     Of such a wit the world should have no more.