WRITTEN BY SIR THOMAS MORE, UPON THE PORTRAITS OF ERASMUS AND OF EGYDIUS IN THE SAME PICTURE .

Erasmus and Egydius , Twins in Love,
As all the Virtues and the Muses prove,
Like the two Stars of Leda's mystic flame,
Congenial spirits into being came.
In local habits to a distance thrown,
My heart is not as near them as their own;
The Painter lends me his protecting aid,
By Genius cherish'd, and by Love convey'd.
The absent thus united arts endear;
The mind is in the pen , the form is here .