The Works of the Late Aaron Hill ... In Four Volumes. Consisting of Letters on Various Subjects, And of Original Poems, Moral and Facetious. With An Essay on the Art of Acting |
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Prologue,
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 | The Works of the Late Aaron Hill |  |
Prologue,
for a distressed Widow.
If aught, sweet charity! can make thee shine,
With added lustre, and a ray divine,
'Tis when thy pity, un-appropriate, flows,
And joy-touch'd hearts adopt the stranger's woes.
'Tis, when the graceful giver seems to pay;
When want, and blush, at once, are charm'd away.
'Tis, when relief's kind face comes dress'd, in smiles,
And no cold insult, where it saves—reviles.
Where aided anguish feels no bite of shame,
And modest mercy wears but friendship's name.
Small gifts grow large, which chearful hands impart,
And sorrow's pang no more contracts the heart:
So human pow'r, to god-like heights, we raise;
For the preserver shares the maker's praise.
With added lustre, and a ray divine,
'Tis when thy pity, un-appropriate, flows,
And joy-touch'd hearts adopt the stranger's woes.
'Tis, when the graceful giver seems to pay;
When want, and blush, at once, are charm'd away.
'Tis, when relief's kind face comes dress'd, in smiles,
And no cold insult, where it saves—reviles.
Where aided anguish feels no bite of shame,
And modest mercy wears but friendship's name.
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And sorrow's pang no more contracts the heart:
So human pow'r, to god-like heights, we raise;
For the preserver shares the maker's praise.
'Tis yours, to-night, the widow's sighs to chear,
And dry the lone-left orphan's silent tear.
So charm'd, thro' death, to find his relicks blest,
Sooth'd, shall the ling'ring shade submit to rest;
Safe, to your hands, resign the tender trust,
And glide no longer, o'er the friendless dust.
And dry the lone-left orphan's silent tear.
So charm'd, thro' death, to find his relicks blest,
Sooth'd, shall the ling'ring shade submit to rest;
Safe, to your hands, resign the tender trust,
And glide no longer, o'er the friendless dust.
| The Works of the Late Aaron Hill | |