Dulcia Mnemosyne demirans carmina Sapphus,
    Quaesivit decima Pieris unde foret.

Among others, in times past, poets had these favourers; AUGUSTUS, MAECENAS, SOPHOCLES, GERMANICUS; an Emperor, a Nobleman, a Senator, and a Captain:  so of later times, poets have [had] these patrons; ROBERT, King of Sicily, the great King FRANCIS [I.] of France, King JAMES of Scotland, and Queen ELIZABETH of England.

As in former times, two great Cardinals, BEMBA and BIENA did countenance poets:  so of late years, two great Preachers, have given them their right hands in fellowship; BEZA and MELANCTHON.

As the learned philosophers FRACASTORIUS and SCALIGER have highly prized them:  so have the eloquent orators, PONTANUS and MURETUS very gloriously estimated them.

As GEORGIUS BUCHANANUS’ JEPTHAE, amongst all modern tragedies, is able to abide the touch of ARISTOTLE’s precepts and EURIPIDES’s examples:  so is Bishop WATSON’s ABSALOM.

As TERENCE for his translations out of APOLLODORUS and MENANDER, and AQUILIUS for his translation out of MENANDER, and C. GERMANICUS AUGUSTUS for his out of ARATUS, and AUSONIUS for his translated Epigrams out of [the] Greek, and Doctor JOHNSON for his Frog-fight out of HOMER, and WATSON for his ANTIGONE out of SOPHOCLES, have got good commendations:  so these versifiers for their learned translations, are of good note among us; PHAER foi VIRGIL’s AEneid, GOLDING for OVID’s Metamorphosis, HARINGTON for his ORLANDO Furioso, the Translators of SENECA’s Tragedies, BARNABE GOOGE for PALINGENIUS’s [Zodiac of Life], TURBERVILLE for OVID’s Epistles and MANTUAN, and CHAPMAN for his inchoate HOMER.

As the Latins have these Emblematists, ANDREAS ALCIATUS, REUSNERUS, and SAMBUCUS:  so we have these, GEFFREY WHITNEY, ANDREW WILLET, and THOMAS COMBE.

As NONNUS PANAPOLYTA wrote the Gospel of Saint JOHN in Greek hexameters:  so GERVASE MARKHAM hath written SOLOMON’s Canticles in English verse.

As CORNELIUS PLINIUS writ the life of POMPONUS SECUNDUS; so young CHARLES FITZ-GEFFERY, that high towering falcon, hath most gloriously penned The honourable Life and Death of worthy Sir FRANCIS DRAKE.

As HESIOD wrote learnedly of husbandry in Greek:  so TUSSER [hath] very wittily and experimentally written of it in English.

As ANTIPATER Sidonius was famous for extemporal verse in Greek, and OVID for his

    Quicquid conabar dicere versus erat: 

so was our TARLETON, of whom Doctor CASE, that learned physician, thus speaketh in the Seventh Book and 17th chapter of his Politics.

ARISTOTLES suum THEODORETUM laudavit quendam peritum Tragaediarum actorem, CICERO suum ROSCIUM:  nos Angli TARLETONUM, in cujus voce et vultu omnes jocosi affectus, in cujus cerebroso capite lepidae facetiae habitant.