I have restored this poem to the place it occupied in _1633_. In
_1635_ it was placed first of all the _Songs and Sonets_. A strange
choice to our mind, but apparently the poem was greatly admired as
a masterpiece of wit. It is the first of the pieces translated by
Huyghens:
De Vloy.
Slaet acht op deze Vloy, en leert wat overleggen,
Hoe slechten ding het is dat ghy my kont ontzeggen, &c.,
and was selected for special commendation by some of his
correspondents. Coleridge comments upon it in verse:
Be proud as Spaniards. Leap for pride, ye Fleas!
In natures _minim_ realm ye're now grandees.
Skip-jacks no more, nor civiller skip-johns;
Thrice-honored Fleas! I greet you all as _Dons_.
In Phoebus' archives registered are ye,
And this your patent of nobility.
It will be noticed that there are two versions of Donne's poem.