The three tours of Doctor Syntax In search of 1. The picturesque, 2. Of consolation, 3. Of a wife. The text complete. [By William Combe] With four illustrations |
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 | The three tours of Doctor Syntax |  |
The Doctor bow'd, and off he went, Upon his curious progress bent:
He pac'd the Parks—he view'd each Square,
And, staring, he made others stare.
At length, at the appointed hour, He hasten'd to the Playhouse door,
And took his place within the pit, Beside a critic and a wit,
As wits and critics now are known
Who hash up nonsense for the Town;
And, in the daily columns, show How small the sum of all they know.
“I think,” said Syntax, looking round,
“It is not good, this vast profound:
I see no well-wrought columns here; No attic ornaments appear;
Nought but a washy, wanton waste Of gaudy tints and puny taste:
Too large to hear too long to see— Full of unmeaning symmetry.
The parts all answer one another;
Each pigeon-hole reflects its brother;
And all, alas! too plainly show How easy 'tis to form a Row:
But where's the grand, the striking whole?
A Theatre should have a soul.”
He pac'd the Parks—he view'd each Square,
And, staring, he made others stare.
At length, at the appointed hour, He hasten'd to the Playhouse door,
And took his place within the pit, Beside a critic and a wit,
As wits and critics now are known
Who hash up nonsense for the Town;
And, in the daily columns, show How small the sum of all they know.
“I think,” said Syntax, looking round,
“It is not good, this vast profound:
I see no well-wrought columns here; No attic ornaments appear;
Nought but a washy, wanton waste Of gaudy tints and puny taste:
Too large to hear too long to see— Full of unmeaning symmetry.
The parts all answer one another;
Each pigeon-hole reflects its brother;
And all, alas! too plainly show How easy 'tis to form a Row:
But where's the grand, the striking whole?
A Theatre should have a soul.”
| The three tours of Doctor Syntax | |