The Times' Whistle Or A Newe Daunce of Seuen Satires, and other Poems: Compiled by R. C., Gent. [i.e. Richard Corbett]. Now First Edited from Ms. Y. 8. 3. in the Library of Canterbury Cathedral: With introduction, notes, and glossary, By J. M. Cowper |
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Mundus Theatrum. |
 | The Times' Whistle |  |
Mundus Theatrum.
The world by some, & that not much amisse,
Vnto a Theater comparèd is,
Vpon which stage the goddes spectatours sitt,
And mortals act their partes as best doth fitt.
One acts a king, another a poore swaine;
One idely lives, another taketh paine;
One, like Orestes, becomes mad with rage,
Another seeks his furie to asswage.
And as i' th' play that man which acts the king,
(Though many he to his obeisaunce bring)
I' th' end is of no more account then he,
Which represents the beggers misery,
So is't i' th' world, when every man by death
Has his last exit, which doth stop his breath.
The king for all his crowne shall reape noe grace,
Nor beggers meannesse shall his cause embase.
Vnto a Theater comparèd is,
Vpon which stage the goddes spectatours sitt,
And mortals act their partes as best doth fitt.
One acts a king, another a poore swaine;
One idely lives, another taketh paine;
One, like Orestes, becomes mad with rage,
Another seeks his furie to asswage.
And as i' th' play that man which acts the king,
(Though many he to his obeisaunce bring)
I' th' end is of no more account then he,
Which represents the beggers misery,
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Has his last exit, which doth stop his breath.
The king for all his crowne shall reape noe grace,
Nor beggers meannesse shall his cause embase.
But to my thinking, in this saide compare,
Though many iump, yet some things differing are.
In our stage-plaies ther 's but one foole at most
And sometimes none at all; we cannot boast
So much, farre otherwise with vs it is;
We act the same part all, not one doth misse.
They shew awhile in iest their foppery,
We still in seriousnesse our foolery.
Though many iump, yet some things differing are.
In our stage-plaies ther 's but one foole at most
And sometimes none at all; we cannot boast
So much, farre otherwise with vs it is;
We act the same part all, not one doth misse.
They shew awhile in iest their foppery,
We still in seriousnesse our foolery.
| The Times' Whistle | |