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Poem by Stephen Duck


The Answer


WHEN I, in feeble Verse, essay'd
 NASSAU and ANNA's Praise,
 A Lyric Muse flew o'er my Head,
 And dropp'd a Branch of Bays:

I would have fix'd it on my Brow;
 But PHOEBUS said, Forbear;
 'Tis Vanity to touch the Bough,
 And Sacrilege, to wear. 

Give it the Bard, who boldly dares
 Attempt the Roman Lyre;
 Who wisely checks, but not impairs
 The tow'ring PINDAR's Fire. 

Thus, Sir, to you, in PHOEBUS' Name,
 The Laurel Wreath I send;
 And, since the God denies me Fame,
 Am glad it crowns my Friend. 



Stephen Duck


Stephen Duck's other poems:
  1. Chloe's Conquest
  2. To the Author of a Poem on the Duke of Lorrain's Arrival at the British Court
  3. Gratitude
  4. On the Marriage of His Serene Highness the Prince of Orange
  5. The Absent Lover


Poems of the other poets with the same name:

  • Rudyard Kipling The Answer ("A Rose, in tatters on the garden path")
  • Alexander Brome The Answer ("STay, stay, prate no more")
  • Robert Service The Answer ("Bill has left his house of clay")

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