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R.I.P.
by Lewis Turco

 

R.I.P. EDMUND SPENSER
c. 1552-January 13, 1599

His vast romance, “The Faerie Queene,”
Cannot be read but may be seen
To need the work of a condenser —
Too late, we fear, for Edmund Spenser.


R.I.P. BEN JONSON
June 11, 1572 - August 6, 1637

Although convicted of manslaughter,
He preferred to evoke man’s laughter
In poems using rime, not con-
sonance, O rare Ben Jonson!


R.I.P. ANDREW MARVELL
31 March 1621 – 16 August 1678)

He had not world enough, nor time,
For coyness, but enough for rime
To spin its web and develop larval
Verse forms to make Andrew Marvell.


R.I.P. JOHN DRYDEN
August 9, 1631-13 May 1700

When once he learned to write in pairs
Of lines he gave himself no airs
And never after tried to widen
The field of vision of John Dryden.


R.I.P. CHRISTOPHER SMART
April 11, 1722 - May 21, 1771

When he was young he was a hack,
Or something like one. He’d a knack,
But not much more until his heart
Discovered prayer could make him Smart.


R.I.P. ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING
March 6, 1806 – June 29, 1861

Her father, Mr. Edward Barrett,
Was certainly a martinet,
But she escaped his constant frowning
When she enjoyed a bit of Browning.


R.I.P. ROBERT BROWNING
May 7, 1812 – December 12, 1889

Robert Browning fled his garret
To elope with old maid Barrett.
At last she died and he became
Himself a poet with a name.

 


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