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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PROLOGUE, to Every Man in his Folly.
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 | The Works of the Late Aaron Hill |  |
PROLOGUE, to Every Man in his Folly.
You call the stage, a glass; and look, to find
The imag'd passion, and reflected mind:
Yet, in one point, our glass, but ill agrees
With yours, where each his own resemblance sees:
Whereas, in ours, each self is, dimly, shown,
But, ev'ry other's likeness, strongly, known!
The imag'd passion, and reflected mind:
Yet, in one point, our glass, but ill agrees
With yours, where each his own resemblance sees:
Whereas, in ours, each self is, dimly, shown,
But, ev'ry other's likeness, strongly, known!
'Tis the same thing, in life—Nature is kind,
And, to home-follies, keeps us wisely blind:
Else, what dejected wits!—what crest-fall'n airs!
Shou'd none dare rally a defect, he shares!
Each eye, turn'd inward, less wou'd there be seen,
To raise the spirits, than provoke the spleen!
Yet, tho' self-censure might disturb the gay,
And pride turn, startled, from the sad survey;
Rightly conceiv'd, the oft examin'd pain,
Wou'd slowly ripen, into solid gain:
Each, losing something, to the common store,
Wou'd, from the general profit, draw back more.
What malice miss'd, benevolence wou'd find,
And joy, and peace, re-fill the balanc'd mind.
And, to home-follies, keeps us wisely blind:
Else, what dejected wits!—what crest-fall'n airs!
Shou'd none dare rally a defect, he shares!
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To raise the spirits, than provoke the spleen!
Yet, tho' self-censure might disturb the gay,
And pride turn, startled, from the sad survey;
Rightly conceiv'd, the oft examin'd pain,
Wou'd slowly ripen, into solid gain:
Each, losing something, to the common store,
Wou'd, from the general profit, draw back more.
What malice miss'd, benevolence wou'd find,
And joy, and peace, re-fill the balanc'd mind.
Fix'd on this point, and bending to the wise,
Our Author, not his wit, but reason, tries:
Full, to your view, presents that partial pride,
By which all weakness, but our own, is try'd;
Each can, with eagle's eye, the frailty see,
Which none more practises, more loves, than he!
Our Author, not his wit, but reason, tries:
Full, to your view, presents that partial pride,
By which all weakness, but our own, is try'd;
Each can, with eagle's eye, the frailty see,
Which none more practises, more loves, than he!
All, we propose; all, we dare wish, or hope,
Lies, circumscrib'd, within this humble scope;
Weigh the design, and, where small faults, you find,
Let the clouds pass, and watch the light, behind.
Lies, circumscrib'd, within this humble scope;
Weigh the design, and, where small faults, you find,
Let the clouds pass, and watch the light, behind.
| The Works of the Late Aaron Hill | |