John Milton. (1608–1674). Complete Poems.
The Harvard Classics. 1909–14. |
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| On the Detraction which Followed upon my Writing Certain Treatises |
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| (1645–6) |
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| A BOOK was writ of late called Tetrachordon, | |
| And woven close, both matter, form, and style; | |
| The subject new: it walked the town a while, | |
| Numbering good intellects; now seldom pored on. | |
| Cries the stall-reader, “Bless us! what a word on | 5 |
| A title-page is this!; and some in file | |
| Stand spelling false, while one might walk to Mile— | |
| End Green. Why, is it harder, sirs, than Gordon, | |
| Colkitto, or Macdonnel, or Galasp? | |
| Those rugged names to our like mouths grow sleek | 10 |
| That would have made Quintilian stare and gasp. | |
| Thy age, like ours, O soul of Sir John Cheek, | |
| Hated not learning worse than toad or asp, | |
| When thou taught’st Cambridge and King Edward Greek. | |
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