Book 2, Epigram 4: Ad Henricum Wottonum.
Wotton, the country and the country swain,
How can they yield a Poet any sense?
How can they stir him up, or heat his vein?
How can they feed him with intelligence?
You have that fire which can a wit enflame,
In happy London England’s fairest eye:
Well may you Poets’ have of worthy name,
Which have the food and life of Poetry.
And yet the country or the town may sway,
Or bear a part, as clowns do in a play.
Source:
Chrestoleros: Seven Books of Epigrams written by T. B.
(1598)