The Wiccamical Chaplet a selection of original poetry; comprising smaller poems, serious and comic; classical trifles; sonnets; inscriptions and epitaphs; songs and ballads; mock-heroics, epigrams, fragments, &c. &c. Edited by George Huddesford |
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THE BRITISH THEATRE.
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 | The Wiccamical Chaplet |  |
185
THE BRITISH THEATRE.
A PRIZE-POEM AT BATH-EASTON.
When first was rear'd the British Stage,
Rude was the scene and weak the lay;
The Bard explor'd the sacred Page,
And holy Mystery form'd his Play.
Rude was the scene and weak the lay;
The Bard explor'd the sacred Page,
And holy Mystery form'd his Play.
Th'affections of the Mortal Breast
In simple Moral next he sung,
Each Vice in human shape he drest,
And to each Virtue gave a Tongue.
In simple Moral next he sung,
Each Vice in human shape he drest,
And to each Virtue gave a Tongue.
Then 'gan the Comic Muse unfold
In coarser jests her homely art:
Of Gammar Gurton's loss she told,
And laugh'd at Hodge's awkward smart.
In coarser jests her homely art:
Of Gammar Gurton's loss she told,
And laugh'd at Hodge's awkward smart.
Come from thy wildly-winding stream,
First-born of Genius, Shakespeare, come!
The listening World attends thy Theme,
And bids each elder Bard be dumb.
First-born of Genius, Shakespeare, come!
The listening World attends thy Theme,
And bids each elder Bard be dumb.
186
For Thou, within the human Mind
Fix'd, as on thy peculiar throne,
Sit'st as a Deity inshrin'd;
And either Muse is all thine own!
Fix'd, as on thy peculiar throne,
Sit'st as a Deity inshrin'd;
And either Muse is all thine own!
Yet shall not Time's rough hand destroy
The Scenes by learned Johnson writ:
Nor shall Oblivion e'er enjoy
The charms of Fletcher's courtly wit:
The Scenes by learned Johnson writ:
Nor shall Oblivion e'er enjoy
The charms of Fletcher's courtly wit:
And still in matchless Beauty live
The Numbers of that Lyric Strain
Sung gayly to the Star of Eve
By Comus and his jovial Train.
The Numbers of that Lyric Strain
Sung gayly to the Star of Eve
By Comus and his jovial Train.
Here sunk the Stage:—and dire alarms
The Muse's voice did overwhelm;
For wounded Freedom call'd to arms,
And Discord shook th'embattled Realm.
The Muse's voice did overwhelm;
For wounded Freedom call'd to arms,
And Discord shook th'embattled Realm.
But Peace return'd; and with her came
(Alas, how chang'd!) the tuneful Pair:
Thalia's Eye should blench with shame,
And her sad Sister weep to hear
(Alas, how chang'd!) the tuneful Pair:
Thalia's Eye should blench with shame,
And her sad Sister weep to hear
187
How the mask'd
Fair, in Charles's reign,
Her lewd and riotous Fancy led
To Killigrew's debauchful scene,
While hapless Otway pin'd for Bread.
Her lewd and riotous Fancy led
To Killigrew's debauchful scene,
While hapless Otway pin'd for Bread.
Thus the sweet Lark shall sing unheard,
And Philomel sit silent by;
While every vile and chattering Bird
Torments the grove with ribald Cry.
And Philomel sit silent by;
While every vile and chattering Bird
Torments the grove with ribald Cry.
And see what flashy Bards presume
With buskin'd Fools to rhyme and rage;
While Mason's idle Muse is dumb,
And weary Garrick quits the Stage.
With buskin'd Fools to rhyme and rage;
While Mason's idle Muse is dumb,
And weary Garrick quits the Stage.
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