Three poets, in three distant ages born, Greece, Italy, and England did adorn. The first in loftiness of thought surpassd; The next, in majesty; in both the last. The force of Nature could no further go; To make a third, she joind the former two.1
Note 1. Græcia Mæonidam, jactet sibi Roma Maronem, Anglia Miltonum jactat utrique parem (Greece boasts her Homer, Rome can Virgil claim; England can either match in Miltons fame). Selvaggi: Ad Joannem Miltonum. [back]