Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Samuel Waddington, comp. The Sonnets of Europe. 1888.

The Author to His Pen

Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616)

TO deck this frontispiece, since thou dost see

No friend hath offered me a sonnet, none,

Come thou, my ill-cut pen, and make me one,

If not so high flown as it ought to be;

From grave anxiety thou’lt set me free,

I need not then through court and alley run

To beg eulogiums; for I’d rather shun

Such vain and humbling search, I promise thee.

Let rhymes and sonnets go, for aught I care,

To deck the door-posts of the upper few,

Though flattery is at best but common stuff;

And grant me that this “Journey” have its share

Of pungent salt, at least a pinch or two,

I warrant thee ’twill sell; and so enough!