Sir William D’Avenant, 1637 (1606-1668)
“Ode. In Remembrance of Master William Shakespeare.”
1
Beware (delighted Poets!) when you sing
To welcome Nature in the early Spring;
Your num’rous feet not tread
The Banks of Avon; for each flower
(As it ne’er knew a sun or shower)
Hangs there the pensive head.
2
Each tree whose thick and spreading growth hath made
Rather a night beneath the boughs, than shade
(Unwilling now to grow),
Looks like the plume a captive wears
Whose rifled falls are steept i’ th’ tears
Which from his last rage flow.
3
The piteous river wept itself away
Long since (alas!) to such a swift decay;
That reach the map; and look
If you a river there can spy;
And for a river your mock’d eye
Will find a shallow brook.
Madagascar, with other Poems. 1638, p. 37. Printed 1637.