 | Poems of Freneau |  |
100
THE DISTREST THEATRE.
Health to the Muse!—and fill the glass,—
Heaven grant her soon some better place,
Than earthen floor and fabric mean,
Where disappointment shades the scene:
Heaven grant her soon some better place,
Than earthen floor and fabric mean,
Where disappointment shades the scene:
There as I came, by rumour led,
I sighed and almost wished her dead;
Her visage stained with many a tear,
No HALLAM and no HENRY here!
I sighed and almost wished her dead;
Her visage stained with many a tear,
No HALLAM and no HENRY here!
But what could all their art attain?—
When pointed laws the stage restrain
The prudent Muse obedience pays
To sleepy squires, that damn all plays.
When pointed laws the stage restrain
The prudent Muse obedience pays
To sleepy squires, that damn all plays.
Like thieves they hang beyond the town,
They shove her off—to please the gown;—
Though Rome and Athens owned it true,
The stage might mend our morals too.
They shove her off—to please the gown;—
Though Rome and Athens owned it true,
The stage might mend our morals too.
See, Mopsus all the evening sits
O'er bottled beer, that drowns his wits;
Were Plays allowed, he might at least
Blush—and no longer act the beast.
O'er bottled beer, that drowns his wits;
Were Plays allowed, he might at least
Blush—and no longer act the beast.
See, Marcia, now from guardian free,
Retailing scandal with her tea;—
Might she not come, nor danger fear
From Hamlet's sigh, or Juliet's tear.
Retailing scandal with her tea;—
Might she not come, nor danger fear
From Hamlet's sigh, or Juliet's tear.
The world but acts the player's part
—
(So says the motto of their art)—
That world in vice great lengths is gone
That fears to see its picture drawn.
(So says the motto of their art)—
That world in vice great lengths is gone
That fears to see its picture drawn.
101
Mere vulgar actors cannot please;
The streets supply enough of these;
And what can wit or beauty gain
When sleepy dullness joins their train?
The streets supply enough of these;
And what can wit or beauty gain
When sleepy dullness joins their train?
A State betrays a homely taste,
By which the stage is thus disgraced,
Where, drest in all the flowers of speech,
Dame virtue might her precepts teach.
By which the stage is thus disgraced,
Where, drest in all the flowers of speech,
Dame virtue might her precepts teach.
Let but a dancing bear arrive,
A pig, that counts you four, or five—
And Cato, with his moral strain
May strive to mend the world in vain.
A pig, that counts you four, or five—
And Cato, with his moral strain
May strive to mend the world in vain.
1791
| Poems of Freneau | |