Dedication
Dedication.
TO
THE SHAKESPEARE OF OUR DAYS,
ROBERT BROWNING,
A PERMITTED TRIBUTE
FROM
HIS EVER-DEVOTED LIEGEMAN,
FREDERICK GARD FLEAY.
To him, whose craft, so subtly terse,
(While lesser minds, for music’s sake,
From single thoughts whole cantos make),
Includes a poem in a verse;—
To him, whose penetrative art,
With spheric knowledge only his,
Dissects by keen analysis
The wiliest secrets of the heart;—
To him, who rounds us perfect wholes,
Where wisdom, wit, and love combine;
Chief praise be this:—he wrote no line
That could cause pain in childlike souls.