Sonnet to a Worthy Lord, Now Dead, upon Presenting Him, for a New Year's Gift, with Caesar's Commentaries and Cornelius Tacitus

Worthily famous lord, whose virtues rare,
Set in the gold of never-stained nobility,
And noble mind shining in true humility,
Make you admired of all that virtuous are:
If, as your sword with envy imitates
Great Caesar's sword in all his deeds victorious;
So your learned pen would strive to be glorious.
And write your acts performed in foreign States;
Or if some one, with the deep wit inspired
Of matchless Tacitus, would them historify.
Then Caesar's work so much we should not glorify,
And Tacitus would be much less desired.
But till yourself, or some such put them forth,
Accept of these as pictures of your worth.