To Sir William Davenant

UPON HIS TWO FIRST BOOKS OF GONDIBERT

FINISHED BEFORE HIS VOYAGE TO AMERICA.

METHINKS heroick poesy till now,

Like some fantastick fairy-land did show;

Gods, devils, nymphs, witches and giants’ race,

And all but man, in man’s chief work had place.

Thou, like some worthy knight with sacred arms,

Dost drive the monsters thence, and end the charms:

Instead of those dost men and manners plant,

The things which that rich soil did chiefly want.

Yet ev’n thy Mortals do their Gods excel,

Taught by thy Muse to fight and love so well.

By fatal hands whilst present empires fall,

Thine from the grave past monarchies recall;

So much more thanks from human-kind does merit

The Poet’s fury than the zealot’s spirit.

And from the grave thou mak’st this empire rise,

Not like some dreadful ghost t’ affright our eyes,

But with more lustre and triumphant state,

Than when it crown’d at proud Verona sate.

So will our God rebuild man’s perished frame,

And raise him up much better, yet the same:

So God-like poets do past things rehearse,

Not change, but heighten, Nature by their verse.

With shame, methinks, great Italy must see

Her conquerors rais’d to life again by thee:

Rais’d by such pow’erful verse, that ancient Rome

May blush no less to see her wit o’ercome.

Some men their fancies like their faith, derive,

And think all ill but that which Rome does give;

The marks of Old and Catholick would find;

To the same chair would truth and fiction bind.

Thou in those beaten paths disdain’st to tread,

And scorn’st to live by robbing of the dead.

Since time does all things change, thou think’st not fit

This latter age should see all new but wit;

Thy fancy, like a flame, its way does make,

And leave bright tracks for following pens to take.

Sure ‘t was this noble boldness of the Muse

Did thy desire to seek new worlds infuse;

And ne’er did Heaven so much a voyage bless,

If thou canst plant but there with like success.

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External links

Bat’s Poetry Page – more poetry by Fledermaus

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Poems in English 

• Владимир Бенедиктов – Бедняк by Владимир Бенедиктов
• Владимир Бенедиктов – Бахчисарай by Владимир Бенедиктов
• Владимир Бенедиктов – Ель и берёза by Владимир Бенедиктов
• Владимир Бенедиктов – Е. А. Карлгоф by Владимир Бенедиктов
• Владимир Бенедиктов – Две прелестницы by Владимир Бенедиктов
• Владимир Бенедиктов – Два клада by Владимир Бенедиктов
• Владимир Бенедиктов – Довольно by Владимир Бенедиктов
• Владимир Бенедиктов – Дом в цветах by Владимир Бенедиктов
• Владимир Бенедиктов – Добрый совет by Владимир Бенедиктов
• Владимир Бенедиктов – Дева за клавесином by Владимир Бенедиктов
• Владимир Бенедиктов – День и две ночи by Владимир Бенедиктов
• Владимир Бенедиктов – Dahin by Владимир Бенедиктов
• Владимир Бенедиктов – Чёрный цвет by Владимир Бенедиктов
• Владимир Бенедиктов – Чувство by Владимир Бенедиктов
• Владимир Бенедиктов – Что ж делать by Владимир Бенедиктов
• Владимир Бенедиктов – Что шумишь by Владимир Бенедиктов
• Владимир Бенедиктов – Чесменские трофеи by Владимир Бенедиктов
• Владимир Бенедиктов – Человек by Владимир Бенедиктов
• Владимир Бенедиктов – Кудри by Владимир Бенедиктов
• Владимир Бенедиктов – Коса by Владимир Бенедиктов

More external links (open in a new tab):

Russian Commerce Agency

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Doska or the Board – write anything

Search engines:

Yandex – the best search engine for searches in Russian (and the best overall image search engine, in any language, anywhere)

Qwant – the best search engine for searches in French, German as well as Romance and Germanic languages.

Ecosia – a search engine that supposedly… plants trees

Duckduckgo – the real alternative and a search engine that actually works. Without much censorship or partisan politics.

Yahoo– yes, it’s still around, amazingly, miraculously, incredibly, but now it seems to be powered by Bing.

 

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