Honos venalis

WHO seekst Promotion through iust desert,
And thinkst by gift, of bodie, or of mind,
To raise thy fortune, whosoere thou art,
This new Impresa take to thee assignd,
To warne thee oft, such labour is in vaine,
If heereby thinkst, thy merit to obtaine.

For now the golden time's returned back,
And all's kept vnder, by th' Athenian Cat,
Whose helpe, and favour, whosoere doth lack,
May coole his heeles, with Homer at the gate:
Such is our age, where virtue's scarce regarded,
And artes with armes, must wander vnrewarded.