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On Ancient Paths
Yet these my own; I wrong not other men,
Nor traffique further then this happy clime,
Nor filch from Portes’ nor from Petrarch’s pen -
A fault too common in this latter time.
Divine Sir Philip, I avauch thy writ:
I am no pickpurse of another’s wit.
Yours devoted,
M Drayton.
Compare that to Eliot’s “Tradition and the Individual Talent,” or Richard Ellmann’s “Eminent Domain.”
l. 136: The line is probably the emendation of a later editor to the last page of Marlowe’s “Dr. Faustus.” The spelling is different for this reason: The first occasion says, the author finishes his work. This time it says, let the author finish his work, or may the author finish his work. The vowel change puts the mood from the indicative into the subjunctive. It has the connotation of, “Would the author please finish his work!” The which I have now done.