PETRARCH
AND
LAURA
.
AN
EPIGRAMMATIC
TALE
.
DAN
Petrarch
of
old
,
it
has
often
been
said
,
By
some
Cardinal
urg'd
,
his
fair
Laura
to
wed
,
With
an
offer
of
fortune
(
and
well-tim'd
it
was
,
For
poets
have
seldom
much
rent
from
Parnass'
)
Cried
,
my
lord
you'll
excuse
me
,
but
I
have
a
reason
Why
even
this
offer
becomes
out
of
season
;
I've
a
new
book
of
sonnets
just
ripe
for
the
press
,
Upon
the
same
plan
as
the
last
,
you
may
guess
;
I
have
there
,
all
along
,
made
my
Laura
a
goddess
,
And
Venus
,
to
please
me
,
has
lent
her
the
boddice
;
While
Hebe
,
Minerva
,
and
twenty
to
boot
,
With
gifts
all
celestial
have
trick'd
me
her
out
.
Now
marriage
,
my
lord
,
the
whole
charm
would
destroy
,
And
hurl
her
divinity
quite
from
the
sky
,
To
my
cost
I
should
find
her
no
more
than
a
woman
,
And
my
sonnets
,
alas
!
would
gain
credit
with
no
man
.