VIII <br /> <br />Captain or Colonel, or Knight in Arms, <br />Whose chance on these defenceless dores may sease, <br />If ever deed of honour did thee please, <br />Guard them, and him within protect from harms, <br />He can requite thee, for he knows the charms <br />That call Fame on such gentle acts as these, <br />And he can spred thy Name o're Lands and Seas, <br />What ever clime the Suns bright circle warms. <br />Lift not thy spear against the Muses Bowre, <br />The great Emathian Conqueror bid spare <br />The house of Pindarus, when Temple and Towre <br />Went to the ground: And the repeated air <br />Of sad Electra's Poet had the power <br />To save th' Athenian Walls from ruine bare. <br /> <br />Notes: <br />Camb. autograph supplies title, When the assault was intended <br />to the city. <br />3 If deed of honour did thee ever please, 1673.<br /><br />John Milton<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/sonnet-08/
