The Harp of Erin Containing the Poetical Works of the Late Thomas Dermody. In Two Volumes |
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ON GARRICK'S TOMB AND INSCRIPTION.
Mean is the verse, illustrious actor, paidBy his weak hand to thy indignant shade,
Who, poorly gifted with enthusiast glow,
Bade these slight numbers o'er the marble flow;
Superior thought should stamp the sacred stone,
Diffus'd by genius powerful as thy own.
Can Painting's most illumin'd tint supply
Th' electric flashes of thy meaning eye?
Can softest strains the Muse enamour'd sung,
Vie with the honey'd cadence of thy tongue?
O! could those adamantine fetters brcak,
And thy Pigmalion-semblance warm, and speak;
Could the fir'd image quit its cumbrous load,
How would'st thou act, and look, and move—a god!
Smil'st thou not, mighty master of the heart,
At those vile mimics who disgrace thy art?
Who, form'd on Imitation's menial plan,
Forego the natural privilege of man?
Thy start, thy frown, thy accent who essay,
To-morrow, still, the copy of to-day:
And does not Shakspeare's angry sprite agree,
Those scenic puppets murder Him—in Thee?
| The Harp of Erin | |