 | Firdausi in Exile and Other Poems |  |
143
TO AN ACTOR.
Et jam purpureo suras include cothurno—
...Sero sapiunt Phryges.—
Livius Andronicus.
...Sero sapiunt Phryges.—
Livius Andronicus.
The red cothurnus slowly bind around those shapely thighs,
Nor fear the giggling Phrygian race that hastes not to be wise!”
Nor fear the giggling Phrygian race that hastes not to be wise!”
Thus darkly in a fragment sang, oracularly sage,
Old Andronicus, eldest bard that trod the Latin stage.
Old Andronicus, eldest bard that trod the Latin stage.
We know not rightly what he meant, but yet may soothly guess
His Muse was no vain babbler, but a learned prophetess.
His Muse was no vain babbler, but a learned prophetess.
We think across the centuries she dreamed, great mime, of thee,
And warned thee of the playwrights small, and mobs of low degree.
And warned thee of the playwrights small, and mobs of low degree.
144
A London audience moved her scorn, a London farce awoke
The anger that so dimly and in such dark music broke.
The anger that so dimly and in such dark music broke.
Then take it to thyself and bind the stately buskin on,
Walk in the large and purple light of ages dead and gone.
Walk in the large and purple light of ages dead and gone.
A holier presence guard thy steps, an antique air impart
The force of classic beauty to the movements of thine art.
The force of classic beauty to the movements of thine art.
Contrive no tricks to charm the pit, nor bend thy face to win
The raptures of a groundling and the suffrage of his grin.
The raptures of a groundling and the suffrage of his grin.
Behind the scenes, as on the stage, forswear all trivial things,
And move as one whose heart believes the noble lines he sings.
And move as one whose heart believes the noble lines he sings.
Let gorgeous shapes of tragedy pass on at thy command,
And leave the Phrygian flutes to thrill the uplands of the Strand.
And leave the Phrygian flutes to thrill the uplands of the Strand.
| Firdausi in Exile and Other Poems | |