But thou art proof against them, and, indeed,

Above the ill fortune of them, or the need,

I, therefore, will begin: Soul of the age,

The applause, delight, and wonder of our stage!

My Shakespeare rise! I will not lodge thee by

Chaucer, or Spenser, or bid Beaumont lie

A little further to make thee a room.

Thou art a monument without a tomb,

And art alive still while thy book doth live

And we have wits to read and praise to give.