 | The poetical works of Samuel Woodworth |  |
253
ADDRESS
WRITTEN FOR THE OPENING OF THE WARREN THEATRE.
A bard, whose name will live an endless age,
Has truly said that all the world's a stage;
And we may add, that each revolving day
Presents some scene of an eventful play.
But whether tragic scenes our grief excite,
Or comic incidents afford delight;
Whether the pompous pageantry of war
Spreads ruthless devastation wide and far,
Or peaceful arts, with rural joys attract
The pleased attention through the busy act;
Whate'er the piece, or style of execution,
It always terminates in revolution.
This forms the grand catastrophe of all
The various dramas acted since the fall;
For be the curious plot whate'er it may,
The time a century, or a single day;
A Cæsar slaughtered, or a Samson shorn,
A rustic wedded, or a nation born;
A broken bank, or mended constitution,
Or a new stage—'t is still a revolution.
Has truly said that all the world's a stage;
And we may add, that each revolving day
Presents some scene of an eventful play.
But whether tragic scenes our grief excite,
Or comic incidents afford delight;
Whether the pompous pageantry of war
Spreads ruthless devastation wide and far,
Or peaceful arts, with rural joys attract
The pleased attention through the busy act;
Whate'er the piece, or style of execution,
It always terminates in revolution.
This forms the grand catastrophe of all
The various dramas acted since the fall;
For be the curious plot whate'er it may,
The time a century, or a single day;
A Cæsar slaughtered, or a Samson shorn,
A rustic wedded, or a nation born;
A broken bank, or mended constitution,
Or a new stage—'t is still a revolution.
254
Mark how the curious insect-artists drive
Their surplus population from the hive;
Who, in their turn, a new republic form
Whence their own offspring are compelled to swarm;
So woodland songsters quit their parent's care,
And with their new-fledged pinions cleave the air;
Seek a new home beneath another sky,
And teach their own young nestlings how to fly.
Their surplus population from the hive;
Who, in their turn, a new republic form
Whence their own offspring are compelled to swarm;
So woodland songsters quit their parent's care,
And with their new-fledged pinions cleave the air;
Seek a new home beneath another sky,
And teach their own young nestlings how to fly.
Such is Eternal Wisdom's wondrous plan,
Through all his works, from insects up to man;
The modest virgin owns her bashful flame,
And yields her parent's for a lover's name;
While he whose virtues win her fond embrace,
Becomes the founder of another race.
Through all his works, from insects up to man;
The modest virgin owns her bashful flame,
And yields her parent's for a lover's name;
While he whose virtues win her fond embrace,
Becomes the founder of another race.
Fired with the glow of hardy enterprise,
To western scenes the young adventurer flies,
Where the first tree his sounding axe brings down,
Forms the foundation of a future town.
Charmed by such zeal, sustained by kindred force,
The forests melt, and rivers change their course;
Till howling deserts blossom like the rose,
And each rude hamlet to a city grows;
Till a new state is added to the nation,
Another star to Freedom's constellation.
To western scenes the young adventurer flies,
Where the first tree his sounding axe brings down,
Forms the foundation of a future town.
Charmed by such zeal, sustained by kindred force,
The forests melt, and rivers change their course;
Till howling deserts blossom like the rose,
And each rude hamlet to a city grows;
Till a new state is added to the nation,
Another star to Freedom's constellation.
255
'T was the same principle, that brought of yore,
Our pilgrim fathers to Columbia's shore,
Where their descendants Freedom's flag unfurled,
And gave a new republic to the world.
Our pilgrim fathers to Columbia's shore,
Where their descendants Freedom's flag unfurled,
And gave a new republic to the world.
If, then, the drama tend to mend the heart,
Refine the taste, and moral truths impart,
You'll all confess that this enlightened age,
And growing city, claim another stage;
And on the strongest proof that we are right,
Behold this bright assemblage here to-night.
See beauty, fashion, genius, science, wit,
With taste and elegance, in box and pit;
All eager to support attempts like this,
To lighten care, and heighten human bliss;
Philanthropists, who by experience know
How sweet the pleasures which from virtue flow;
Who feel that blessing others is the best,
The only way of being truly blest.
Refine the taste, and moral truths impart,
You'll all confess that this enlightened age,
And growing city, claim another stage;
And on the strongest proof that we are right,
Behold this bright assemblage here to-night.
See beauty, fashion, genius, science, wit,
With taste and elegance, in box and pit;
All eager to support attempts like this,
To lighten care, and heighten human bliss;
Philanthropists, who by experience know
How sweet the pleasures which from virtue flow;
Who feel that blessing others is the best,
The only way of being truly blest.
| The poetical works of Samuel Woodworth | |