Epistle XLI. To his Friend Mr. I. W. on his Translation of a Romance

From forain soyl He at the first did spring,
Whom conquest crown'd, and custome kept our King;
And from the same, this fancy, whom this pen
Has of an Alien made a Denizen.
Dispute who dares: The issue of the brain
Admits a transplantation, like the train
That buds with Stars; and in this do hit,
The two fac Totums, Monarchy and wit.
The industrious Merchant glutted with the things
That are produced by our mother-springs,
Ransacks the Ocean, trafficking for more
And rarer beauties from the forain shore;
And makes our happiness not only be
In necessaries, but variety.
So thou with equal diligence hast gone,
To fetch the merchandize of Helicon:
Not but that wit and fancy here will be
A Native and Staple commodity:
Or that composing stories and Romances,
Were only entayl'd to wits that live beyond Seas:
But as in dearth, we oft supply our store,
From those that we perhaps reliev'd before.
So now when rare Inventions and immense,
Are parch'd and shrunk up into hardly sense,
For want of due rewards that shou'd distill
From these new Tympanies, and we call hills,
You're fain to forage for what e'r must be,
Beyond Diurnals, or a Mercury.
Yet ben't discourag'd, for here's no Excise,
Nor custome paid on these commodities;
And he that trades in wit by Sea or Land,
Needs not a convoy, fears no Rocks nor Sand.
This traffick is secure against the thump
Of Spains armado or the Belgick Trump,
And the proceed on't, though in this mad Nation,
Is free from plunder, and from sequestration.
I do commend thy choice too, for of all
The Sciences, this is most cordial;
Presenting notions to the curious mind,
Of what below we never see nor find.
Herein do differ History, and this;
This shews what ought to be, that shews what is;
Ungrateful we, if that we should receive
This precious Jewel, and should nothing give
To Thee, or to its Author; therefore I
Offer these lines to both your memory,
To testifie my thanks, though not my skill:
What's so well done, must not be praised ill:
But I nick-name my duty, when I say
I give, or offer, when I only pay.