Quote#Nature
He was a man (then boldly dare to say)
Quote byMichael Drayton · 1563–1631
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: The Barons' Wars (1603), Canto 3, st. 40.
English (original)
He was a man (then boldly dare to say) In whose rich soul the virtues well did suit, In whom so mix’d the elements all lay, That none to one could sovereignty impute, As all did govern yet all did obey; He of a temper was so absolute, As that it seemed when Nature him began, She meant to show all, that might be in man.
— Michael Drayton
More from Michael Drayton
To my mild tutor merrily I came (For I was then a proper goodly page Much like a pigmy, scarce ten years of age) Clasping my slender arms about his thigh. O my dear master! cannot you (quoth I) Make me a poet? Do it, if you can,
Marlowe, bathed in Thespian springs Had in him those brave translunary things, That the first poets had.
That shire which we the Heart of England well may call.
Crave the tuneful nightingale to help you with her lay, The ousel and the throstlecock, chief music of our May.
Ill news hath wings, and with the wind doth go, Comfort’s a cripple and comes ever slow.
For that fine madness still he did retain Which rightly should possess a poet’s brain.