Pardon me, my lord, if I speak like a
philosopher on this subject; the fortune which makes a man
uneasy, cannot make him happy; and a wise man must think himself
uneasy, when few of his actions are in his choice.
This last consideration has brought me to another, and a very
seasonable one for your relief; which is, that while I pity your
want of leisure, I have impertinently detained you so long a
time. I have put off my own business, which was my dedication,
till it is so late, that I am now ashamed to begin it; and
therefore I will say nothing of the poem, which I present to you,
because I know not if you are like to have an hour, which, with a
good conscience, you may throw away in perusing it; and for the
author, I have only to beg the continuance of your protection to
him, who is,
My Lord,
Your Lordship's most obliged,
Most humble, and
Most obedient, servant,
John Dryden.
PREFACE
The death of Antony and Cleopatra is a subject which has been treated
by the greatest wits of our nation, after Shakespeare; and by all so
variously, that their example has given me the confidence to try
myself in this bow of Ulysses amongst the crowd of suitors, and,
withal, to take my own measures, in aiming at the mark.
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