 | Miscellanies (1785) |  |
PROLOGUE FOR THE FIRST APPEARANCE OF MRS. SIMPSON.
When Nature's favourite from the scene withdraws,
Hard is the task to plead a stranger's cause;
When Siddons, honour'd, lov'd, rever'd, departs,
Ah! who may claim her empire in your hearts?
Where still enthron'd, her worth, her talents shine,
The fairest image of the richest shrine;
Where fondly cherish'd all her powers we trace,
The truth of action and the charm of face,
Transcendant manners, conduct void of blame,
And Cibber's genius join'd to Pritchard's fame.
Hard is the task to plead a stranger's cause;
When Siddons, honour'd, lov'd, rever'd, departs,
Ah! who may claim her empire in your hearts?
Where still enthron'd, her worth, her talents shine,
The fairest image of the richest shrine;
275
The truth of action and the charm of face,
Transcendant manners, conduct void of blame,
And Cibber's genius join'd to Pritchard's fame.
Yet, no usurper she who sues to-night,
No bold invader of another's right;
A lawful potentate, whose genial sway
According hearts in distant realms obey,
In ancient York, she held supreme command,
But takes your sceptre with a trembling hand:
Hither invited, anxious she appears,
The conscious victim of her generous fears,
And tho' array'd in laurels comes the fair,
(The Northern world ne'er knew a brighter star)
And tho' some generous hopes her heart assail
A thousand modest terrors still prevail;
In vain we tell her Siddons 'self you rear'd,
Her hopes expanded and her spirits chear'd,
Fenc'd from each wind the flower and bade it grow,
Delighted, nurs'd, and saw its blossoms blow;
Vain too we urge that merit well supplies,
The towering stature and heroic size,
As vain the candour we have felt we praise,
You only you can hush the storms you raise:
And since the Sun which lately gilt our skies
At length retires, in other worlds to rise,
This gentle planet may ascend our sphere,
And by your sanction fix her orbit here,
On this fair spot diffuse a milder glow
And thus reflect the radiance you bestow.
No bold invader of another's right;
A lawful potentate, whose genial sway
According hearts in distant realms obey,
In ancient York, she held supreme command,
But takes your sceptre with a trembling hand:
Hither invited, anxious she appears,
The conscious victim of her generous fears,
And tho' array'd in laurels comes the fair,
(The Northern world ne'er knew a brighter star)
And tho' some generous hopes her heart assail
A thousand modest terrors still prevail;
In vain we tell her Siddons 'self you rear'd,
Her hopes expanded and her spirits chear'd,
Fenc'd from each wind the flower and bade it grow,
Delighted, nurs'd, and saw its blossoms blow;
276
The towering stature and heroic size,
As vain the candour we have felt we praise,
You only you can hush the storms you raise:
And since the Sun which lately gilt our skies
At length retires, in other worlds to rise,
This gentle planet may ascend our sphere,
And by your sanction fix her orbit here,
On this fair spot diffuse a milder glow
And thus reflect the radiance you bestow.
| Miscellanies (1785) | |