* * * * *
Proud is thy name, O Gifford!—but not I
Am equal to the task to laudify
So great a critic both of gods and men,
Who pounced upon them with thy able pen,—
Thus set them in the rank where each could boast
Of laurels won, or grieve of fortunes lost!
No, no, dear Gifford,—mine is not the task
(And though thou’rt gone—forgiveness I must ask)
To laud so great, so good[259] a man as thou! * * *