Adelaide : or The Emigrants | ||
TO MISS O'NEILL.
Madam,
I am indebted to your great talents for the success of this tragedy, and dedicate it to you as a feeble testimony of my gratitude.
The part of Adelaide was written for you. In adapting it, I endeavoured to combine beauty, innocence, and feeling. I knew that your representation of such a character would not be the effort of art, but the spontaneous effusion of nature.
The lines which the author of Zaire has addressed to Mademoiselle Gaussin, are applicable to yourself:
iv
Ta voix touchante, et tes sons enchanteurs,
Qui du critique ont fait tomber les armes.
Ta seule vue adoucit les censeurs:
L'illusion, cette reine des cœurs,
Marche à ta suite, inspire les alarmes,
Le sentiment, les regrets, les douleurs,
Et le plaisir de repandre des larmes.
I have the honor to be,
Madam,
Your most obedient and very
Humble Servant,
RICHARD SHEIL.
Adelaide : or The Emigrants | ||