How dare men slander Shakespeare for his style

Alleging that he borrowed much he wrote;

Or placed his loves and patrons yet on trial

And even more, the wisdom that he quoth.

Greene criticized the rising ‘upstart crow’

In metaphors that he himself did steal,

Rank irony he thought the knockout blow

That there this giant stoop to bow and kneel.

Still even now that genius stands impugned

By louts that cloud the luster of his fame,

Avoiding linkage there, by fear consumed,

Embracing genres distant from his flame.

They could not hope to hold the hose he wore—

Much less the quill that scrived his timeless lore!