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 |  |
165
PROLOGUE the Fifth. To the Devil to pay,
OR The Wives Metamorphosed, A BALLAD-OPERA. Spoke by Mr. Cibber.
In antient Greece the comic Muse appear'd,
Sworn Foe to Vice, by Virtue's Friends rever'd:
Impartial she indulg'd her noble Rage;
For Satire was the Bus'ness of the Stage:
No reigning Ill was from her Censure free,
No Sex, no Age of Man, and no Degree:
Whoe'er by Passion was, or Folly, led,
The laurel'd Chief, or sacerdotal Head,
The pedant Sophist, or imperious Dame,
She lash'd the Evil, nor conceal'd the Name.
Sworn Foe to Vice, by Virtue's Friends rever'd:
Impartial she indulg'd her noble Rage;
For Satire was the Bus'ness of the Stage:
No reigning Ill was from her Censure free,
No Sex, no Age of Man, and no Degree:
Whoe'er by Passion was, or Folly, led,
The laurel'd Chief, or sacerdotal Head,
The pedant Sophist, or imperious Dame,
She lash'd the Evil, nor conceal'd the Name.
166
How hard the Fate of Wives in those sad Times,
When saucy Poets would chastise their Crimes!
When each cornuting Mate, each rampant Jilt,
Had her Name branded on the Stage with Guilt!
Each Fair may now the comic Muse endure,
And join the Laugh, tho at herself, secure.
When saucy Poets would chastise their Crimes!
When each cornuting Mate, each rampant Jilt,
Had her Name branded on the Stage with Guilt!
Each Fair may now the comic Muse endure,
And join the Laugh, tho at herself, secure.
Link'd to a patient Lord, this Night behold
A wilful, headstrong, Termagant, and Scold;
Whom, tho her Husband did what Man cou'd do,
The Devil only cou'd relaim like you,
Like you, whose Virtues bright embellish Life,
And add a Blessing to the Name of Wife.
A wilful, headstrong, Termagant, and Scold;
Whom, tho her Husband did what Man cou'd do,
The Devil only cou'd relaim like you,
Like you, whose Virtues bright embellish Life,
And add a Blessing to the Name of Wife.
A merry
Wag, to mend vexatious Brides,
These Scenes begun, which shak'd your Father's Sides;
And we, obsequious to your Taste, prolong
Your Mirth, by courting the Supplys of Song:
If you approve, we our Desires obtain,
And from your Pleasure shall compute our Gain.
These Scenes begun, which shak'd your Father's Sides;
And we, obsequious to your Taste, prolong
Your Mirth, by courting the Supplys of Song:
If you approve, we our Desires obtain,
And from your Pleasure shall compute our Gain.
| Mr. Cooke's Original Poems | |