Three poets, in three distant ages born,
Greece, Italy, and England did adorn.
The first in loftiness of thought surpast;
The next in majesty, in both the last.
The force of nature could no further
go:
To make a third, she join❜d the former two.

DRYDEN.

Tres poetas, em tres remotos tempos,

Houraram Grecia, Italia, e a Gran-Bretanha.

Em grandeza de ideas se alça o primo;
Magestade o segundo, em ambas o outro.
A Natura exhaurida para o tercio
Formar, sábia ajuntou os dous primeiros.