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THE PLAYHOUSE
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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28

THE PLAYHOUSE

READ AT THE CASTLE SQUARE THEATRE, MAY 10, 1905

'T is writ that Troy's wild prophetess
In vision mystical could guess,
When to th' Atrides roof she came,
The story of its deeds of shame—
Before her passed the victims slain,
Glowed at her feet the bloody stain.
But I, approaching this fair scene,
Divine the Joy that here hath been,
Where, each in his enchanted seat,
The lovers of the drama meet,
While Art unfolds the magic page
That charms mankind from age to age.
Here have you read in pictures fair
The lesson of the things that were;
Othello, terrible and brave,
Hamlet, discoursing o'er a grave,
Macbeth with fatal aim pursuing
The deed that ends in his undoing,
And types more modern, strange and rich,
Framed to bewilder and bewitch.

29

And here for countless days to come,
Shall harmless Pleasure make her home.
Here shall you mark the season's flight
With memories of pure delight,
While Wisdom in each quaint disguise
Your deeper thought shall recognise.
Your plaudits shall the Right uphold,
Your censure shame the villain bold,
Your love enthrone life's greatest good,
The glory of true humanhood.