Songs, Ballads, and Other Poems by the late Thomas Haynes Bayly; Edited by his Widow. With A Memoir of the Author. In Two Volumes |
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I WANT TO GO UPON THE STAGE. |
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 | Songs, Ballads, and Other Poems |  |
II. I WANT TO GO UPON THE STAGE.
I want to go upon the stage
And wear a wig and feathers;
I envy each tragedian
The laurels that he gathers.
I'm sure that I could give effect
To Richard's ruthful menace;
Oh, would that I might black my face,
And act the Moor of Venice!
And wear a wig and feathers;
I envy each tragedian
The laurels that he gathers.
I'm sure that I could give effect
To Richard's ruthful menace;
Oh, would that I might black my face,
And act the Moor of Venice!
My father talks of what he calls
Respectable employments.
Condemning as Tom-fooleries
My Thespian enjoyments.
He calls me mouthing mountebank,
And ranting rogue, and stroller;
And not a servant in the house
Compassionate my dolor!
Respectable employments.
Condemning as Tom-fooleries
My Thespian enjoyments.
25
And ranting rogue, and stroller;
And not a servant in the house
Compassionate my dolor!
One day I stole a pot of rouge,
And Aunt Jane's Sunday spencer;
(She left me nothing in her will—
How could I so incense her!)
I flew to Cowes, where in a barn
I found some kindred spirits.
And soon I made the manager
Appreciate my merits.
And Aunt Jane's Sunday spencer;
(She left me nothing in her will—
How could I so incense her!)
I flew to Cowes, where in a barn
I found some kindred spirits.
And soon I made the manager
Appreciate my merits.
He did announce me as a star:
(He well knew what a star meant—)
And I enacted Romeo
In Aunt Jane's pink silk garment.
My Juliet was a charming girl,
A most delicious creature!
With eyes—such eyes! and oh! her nose—
I idolised the feature!
(He well knew what a star meant—)
And I enacted Romeo
In Aunt Jane's pink silk garment.
My Juliet was a charming girl,
A most delicious creature!
With eyes—such eyes! and oh! her nose—
I idolised the feature!
Pink silk, with frogs was my costume,
And her's was muslin spangled;
And when the Nurse call'd her away,
I wish'd she had been strangled.
When we lay corpses side by side,
A gentle squeeze she gave me,
And whisper'd, “Wilt thou be my love?”
I sigh'd, “Ay, if thou'lt have me!”
And her's was muslin spangled;
And when the Nurse call'd her away,
I wish'd she had been strangled.
When we lay corpses side by side,
A gentle squeeze she gave me,
And whisper'd, “Wilt thou be my love?”
I sigh'd, “Ay, if thou'lt have me!”
But fathers they have flinty hearts,
My angry father found me;
Oh horrid night! methinks I see
Scene shifters grinning around me!
Alas! the scene they shifted not;
The very pit seems full yet;
I cannot tell the tragedy—
He tore me from my Juliet!
My angry father found me;
Oh horrid night! methinks I see
Scene shifters grinning around me!
Alas! the scene they shifted not;
The very pit seems full yet;
I cannot tell the tragedy—
He tore me from my Juliet!
26
And since that inauspicious night,
The stage I've never entered;
In life's obscure realities
My father's thoughts are centred.
Misguided man! beneath his roof
Now pines a slighted Roscius,
Whose manhood pants to realise
Youth's promises precocious.
The stage I've never entered;
In life's obscure realities
My father's thoughts are centred.
Misguided man! beneath his roof
Now pines a slighted Roscius,
Whose manhood pants to realise
Youth's promises precocious.
In tragic moods, I push my wig
High up upon my forehead;
I cork my eye-brows, and assume
A stare that's very horrid.
I roar a word or two, and then
Speak low, you scarce can hear me;
And then I thump my breast, ye gods,
At Drury, how you'd cheer me!
High up upon my forehead;
I cork my eye-brows, and assume
A stare that's very horrid.
I roar a word or two, and then
Speak low, you scarce can hear me;
And then I thump my breast, ye gods,
At Drury, how you'd cheer me!
Genteelly comic I can be,
And farcically sprightly;
I'm excellent in pantomime,
In ballet parts dance lightly.
Were Mr. Lee, the new lessee,
Aware of such a treasure,
If I ask'd fifty pounds a-night,
He'd give them me with pleasure.
And farcically sprightly;
I'm excellent in pantomime,
In ballet parts dance lightly.
Were Mr. Lee, the new lessee,
Aware of such a treasure,
If I ask'd fifty pounds a-night,
He'd give them me with pleasure.
| Songs, Ballads, and Other Poems | |