The Works of the Right Honourable Sir Chas. Hanbury Williams ... From the Originals in the Possession of His Grandson The Right Hon. The Earl of Essex and Others: With Notes by Horace Walpole ... In Three Volumes, with Portraits |
I. |
II. |
An Epigram,
ON QUIN, THE COMEDIAN. |
III. |
The Works of the Right Honourable Sir Chas. Hanbury Williams | ||
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An Epigram, ON QUIN, THE COMEDIAN.
WHEN Quin, of all grace, and all dignity void,Murdered Cato the censor, and Brutus destroy'd;
He strutted, he mouthed, you no passion could trace
To his action, deliv'ry, or plumb-pudding face.
269
He was suffer'd, because we of actors had dearth;
But, when Foote, with strong judgment, and genuine wit,
Upon all his peculiar absurdities hit;
When Garrick arose with those talents and fire,
Which nature and all the nine Muses inspire;
Poor Guts was neglected, or laugh'd off the stage,
So bursting with envy, and tortur'd with rage:
He damn'd the whole town in a fury, and fled,
Little boys an extinguisher clapp'd on his head.
Yet we never shall Falstaff behold so well done,
With such character, humour, such spirit, such fun;
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Glutton, parasite, pander, pimp, letcher, or liar;
He felt as he spoke, Nature's dictates are true,
When he acted the part, his own picture he drew.
The Works of the Right Honourable Sir Chas. Hanbury Williams | ||