Or till I hear a scene more nobly take,
Then when thy half-sword parlying Romans spake,
Till these, till any of thy Volumes rest
Shall with more fire, more feeling be expressed,
Be sure, our Shakespeare, thou canst never die,
But crown’d with laurel, live eternally.
Prefixed to the First Folio Edition of Shakespeare’s Works. 1623.
MICHAEL DRAYTON, 1627
(1563-1631)
“To my most dearly-loved friend Henery Reynolds, Esquire, of Poets and Poesie.”