The Works of the Late Aaron Hill ... In Four Volumes. Consisting of Letters on Various Subjects, And of Original Poems, Moral and Facetious. With An Essay on the Art of Acting |
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The EPILOGUE.
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 | The Works of the Late Aaron Hill |  |
The EPILOGUE.
I have been thinking, what this house must do,To share your envy'd favours, with the new:
But find, we strive, in vain, their match to grow,
While 'tis not they deserve, but you bestow!
And no endeavours will advantage give;
Our foes, who, cuckow-like, can sleep, and live!
You'll not be angry, gentle-hearted beaux!
'Tis natural, you know, to hate our foes!
The he controulers of our changeful state,
With patient silence, bear their falling fate:
But women, wives or virgins, young, or old,
All claim one grand prerogative—to scold.
Long have we been neglected, why, heav'n knows,
For tumblers—eunuchs—fugh—and puppet-shows!
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New hopes, new cloaths, new faces, gull mankind.
Nay, could but women change as fast as you,
Your very wives, in time, might please you, too:
Yet, there's one thing, that all the rest surpasses,
That a new house should please, ev'n with old faces.
Well, Sirs, these slights no female pride can bear,
That I, this house's championess, declare;
We do not only claim kind smiles, from you,
But must be own'd most worthy of them, too.
This, he, who dares deny, provokes my rage,
And I defy him, by this knightly gage:
[throws down a glove]
At twelve, to-night, I'll come, alone, to meet him,
And ne'er trust woman, if I don't defeat him.
| The Works of the Late Aaron Hill | |