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Elegia XV. Ad invidos, quod fama poetarum sit perennis. - Christopher Marlowe, The Works of Christopher Marlowe, vol. 3 (Poems) [1598]

Edition used:

The Works of Christopher Marlowe, ed. A.H. Bullen (London: John C. Nimmo, 1885). Vol. 3.

Part of: The Works of Christopher Marlowe, 3 vols.

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Elegia XV.
Ad invidos, quod fama poetarum sit perennis.

  • Envy, why carp'st thou my time's spent so ill?
  • And term'st1 my works fruits of an idle quill?
  • Or that unlike the line from whence I sprung2
  • War's dusty honours are refused being young?
  • Nor that I study not the brawling laws,
  • Nor set my voice to sail in every cause?
  • Thy scope is mortal; mine, eternal fame.
  • That all the world may3 ever chant my name.
  • Homer shall live while Tenedos stands and Ide,
  • Or to4 the sea swift Simois shall5 slide.
  • Ascræus lives while grapes with new wine swell,
  • Or men with crookèd sickles corn down fell.
  • The6 world shall of Callimachus ever speak;
  • His art excelled, although his wit was weak.
  • For ever lasts high Sophocles' proud vein;
  • With sun and moon Aratus shall remain.
  • While bondmen cheat, fathers [be] hard,1 bawds whorish,
  • And strumpets flatter, shall Menander flourish.
  • Rude Ennius, and Plautus2 full of wit,
  • Are both in Fame's eternal legend writ.

    20

  • What age of Varro's name shall not be told,
  • And Jason's Argo,3 and the fleece of gold?
  • Lofty Lucretius shall live that hour,
  • That nature shall dissolve this earthly bower.
  • Æneas' war and Tityrus shall be read,
  • While Rome of all the conquered4 world is head.
  • Till Cupid's bow, and fiery shafts be broken,
  • Thy verses, sweet Tibullus, shall be spoken.
  • And Gallus shall be known from East to West,
  • So shall Lycoris whom he lovèd best.

    30

  • Therefore when flint and iron wear away,
  • Verse is immortal and shall ne'er decay.
  • To5 verse let kings give place and kingly shows,
  • The banks o'er which gold-bearing Tagus flows.
  • Let base-conceited wits admire vild things;
  • Fair Phœbus lead me to the Muses' springs.
  • About my head be quivering myrtle wound,
  • And in sad lovers' heads let me be found.
  • The living, not the dead, can envy bite,
  • For after death all men receive their right.

    40

  • Then though death racks1 my bones in funeral fire,
  • 'll live, and as he pulls me down mount higher.

The same, by B. I.2

  • Envy, why twitt'st thou me, my time's spent ill?
  • And call'st my verse fruits of an idle quill?
  • Or that (unlike the line from whence I sprung)
  • War's dusty honours I pursue not young?
  • Or that I study not the tedious laws;
  • And prostitute my voice in every cause?
  • Thy scope is mortal; mine eternal fame,
  • Which through the world shall ever chant my name
  • Homer will live, whilst Tenedos stands, and Ide,
  • Or to the sea, fleet Simois doth slide:

    10

  • And so shall Hesiod too, while vines do bear,
  • Or crookèd sickles crop the ripened ear.
  • Callimachus, though in invention low,
  • Shall still be sung, since he in art doth flow;
  • No loss shall come to Sophocles' proud vein;
  • With sun and moon Aratus shall remain.
  • Whilst slaves be false, fathers hard, and bawds be whorish.
  • Whilst harlots flatter, shall Menander flourish.
  • Ennius, though rude, and Accius' high-reared strain,
  • A fresh applause in every age shall gain.

    20

  • Of Varro's name, what ear shall not be told?
  • Of Jason's Argo and the fleece of gold?
  • Then shall Lucretius' lofty numbers die
  • When earth and seas in fire and flames shall fry.
  • Tityrus, Tillage, Æney shall be read,1
  • Whilst Rome of all the conquered world is head.
  • Till Cupid's fires be out, and his bow broken,
  • Thy verses, neat Tibullus, shall be spoken.
  • Our Gallus shall be known from East to West,
  • So shall Lycoris, whom he now loves best.

    30

  • The suffering ploughshare or the flint may wear,
  • But heavenly poesy no death can fear.
  • Kings shall give place to it, and kingly shows,
  • The banks o'er which gold-bearing Tagus flows.
  • Kneel hinds to trash: me let bright Phœbus swell,
  • With cups full flowing from the Muses' well.
  • The frost-drad2 myrtle shall impale my head,
  • And of sad lovers I'll be often read.
  • Envy the living, not the dead doth bite,
  • For after death all men receive their right.

    40

  • Then when this body falls in funeral fire,
  • My name shall live, and my best part aspire.

P. OVIDII NASONIS AMORUM.
liber secundus.

[1]Isham copy and ed. A “tearmes our.”

[2]Dyoe's correction for “come” of the old eds.

[3]Isham copy and ed. A “might.”

[4]So Isham copy and ed. A.—Dyce follows ed. B, “Or into sea.”

[5]So Isham copy and ed. A.—Ed. B “doth.”

[6]Isham copy and ed. A omit this line and the next.

[1]So Dyce.—Old eds. “fathers hoord.” (”Durus pater.”)

[2]The poet must have read “ammosi Maccius oris.” The true reading is “animosique Accius oris.”

[3]Old eds. “Argos.”

[4]Isham copy and ed. A “conquering”

[5]Isham copy and ed. A “Let kings give place to verse.”

[1]So the Isham copy.—Ed. A (followed by Dyce) gives “rocks.”—Eds B and C “rakes” (and so Cunningham).

[2]I.e., Ben Jonson, who afterwards introduced it into the Poetaster (1. I). This version is merely a revision of the preceding, which must also have been written by Ben Jonson. (Not in Isham copy or ed. A)

[1]“Tityrus et fruges Æneiaque arma legentur.”

[2]“Metuentem frigora myrtum.”