Mr. Cooke's Original Poems with Imitations and Translations of Several Select Passages of the Antients, In Four Parts: To which are added Proposals For perfecting the English Language |
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 | Mr. Cooke's Original Poems |  |
161
PROLOGUE the Third. Spoke by Mr. Henry Giffard, on opening the new Theatre in Goodman's-Fields the 31st of October 1729.
As antient Greece and Rome their Conquests spread,
Each Sister Art uprais'd her learned Head;
In brightest Annals still those Nations shine,
Who look'd propitious on the Virgin Nine:
This, Britain, is thy Boast, and this thy Gain,
And one bright Glory of Eliza's Reign:
Each Age shall raise her Monuments of Fame;
And Blessings ever shall attend her Name.
The Progress hence of Sciences we trace,
Still blooming fair beneath a Brunswick's Race:
Long may they bloom beneath a George's Sway,
As Flow'rs are cherish'd by the Eye of Day:
Beneath his Care unhurt may Commerce stand,
The great Support, the Goddess, of our Land:
To our dread Fleet may proud Insulters bend,
And Peace at home her Olive-bough extend.
Each Sister Art uprais'd her learned Head;
In brightest Annals still those Nations shine,
Who look'd propitious on the Virgin Nine:
This, Britain, is thy Boast, and this thy Gain,
And one bright Glory of Eliza's Reign:
Each Age shall raise her Monuments of Fame;
And Blessings ever shall attend her Name.
The Progress hence of Sciences we trace,
Still blooming fair beneath a Brunswick's Race:
Long may they bloom beneath a George's Sway,
As Flow'rs are cherish'd by the Eye of Day:
Beneath his Care unhurt may Commerce stand,
The great Support, the Goddess, of our Land:
162
And Peace at home her Olive-bough extend.
Where Plenty smiles the Muses now repair,
And for Protection sue without Despair;
Not vainly conscious of our Worth we sue,
But hope Indulgence from the gen'rous few.
And for Protection sue without Despair;
Not vainly conscious of our Worth we sue,
But hope Indulgence from the gen'rous few.
Ambitious of your Praise, we'll strive to please,
And raise the Mind to Virtue by Degrees.
The tragic Muse shall, by Example, prove
The dire Effects of Pride, and lawless Love,
Shall all her Charms, her ev'ry Pow'r, employ
To shew how Virtue is the Source of Joy.
The Sister Muse shall, in her comic Strain,
Expose the leud, the Coward, and the vain,
Thro ev'ry Frailty of weak Man shall run,
Shew what we shou'd embrace, and what to shun.
And raise the Mind to Virtue by Degrees.
The tragic Muse shall, by Example, prove
The dire Effects of Pride, and lawless Love,
Shall all her Charms, her ev'ry Pow'r, employ
To shew how Virtue is the Source of Joy.
The Sister Muse shall, in her comic Strain,
Expose the leud, the Coward, and the vain,
Thro ev'ry Frailty of weak Man shall run,
Shew what we shou'd embrace, and what to shun.
For this we toil, for this we tread the Stage,
And, as the Muse inspires, instruct the Age:
To the base Aids of Vice we'll ne'er descend,
Studious to please, and cautious to offend.
And, as the Muse inspires, instruct the Age:
To the base Aids of Vice we'll ne'er descend,
Studious to please, and cautious to offend.
| Mr. Cooke's Original Poems | |