Melodies, duets, trios, songs, and ballads, pastoral, amatory, sentimental, patriotic, religious, and miscellaneous Together with metrical epistles, tales and recitations |
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REJECTED ADDRESS. |
 | Melodies, duets, trios, songs, and ballads, pastoral, amatory, sentimental, patriotic, religious, and miscellaneous |  |
240
REJECTED ADDRESS.
When simple nature first devised the plan,
And gave the chart of life to erring man,
With tearful eye, dejected Pity traced
His cheerless path across the sterile waste,
Nor found, amid the wilderness of woes
A single spot for shelter or repose.
There roved the form and image of her God,
Wild as the dreary trackless realms he trod;
Savage and rude, uncultured, unrefined,
By turns the prey and butcher of his kind.
She saw, and sighed, in agony of soul,
And prayed that Mercy would revise the scroll.
And gave the chart of life to erring man,
With tearful eye, dejected Pity traced
His cheerless path across the sterile waste,
Nor found, amid the wilderness of woes
A single spot for shelter or repose.
There roved the form and image of her God,
Wild as the dreary trackless realms he trod;
Savage and rude, uncultured, unrefined,
By turns the prey and butcher of his kind.
She saw, and sighed, in agony of soul,
And prayed that Mercy would revise the scroll.
With magic pencil, dipt in hues of light,
Art touched the map, and all the scene was bright
A thousand islets, crown'd with sylvan bowers,
The freshest verdure, and the sweetest flowers,
With gushing fountains, pure meandering rills,
Delightful valleys, and majestic hills,
Refresh'd with dews—by fragrant zephyrs fann'd,
Seem'd scatter'd o'er that shoreless sea of sand;
The goddess saw—dismiss'd her false alarms,
And own'd that life was not without its charms.
Art touched the map, and all the scene was bright
A thousand islets, crown'd with sylvan bowers,
The freshest verdure, and the sweetest flowers,
With gushing fountains, pure meandering rills,
Delightful valleys, and majestic hills,
Refresh'd with dews—by fragrant zephyrs fann'd,
Seem'd scatter'd o'er that shoreless sea of sand;
The goddess saw—dismiss'd her false alarms,
And own'd that life was not without its charms.
Among those charms, designed by polish'd art
To warm the fancy, and improve the heart,
The Drama opes its bright enchanting scenes,
Its object use—amusement but the means;
For though the muse resort to fiction's aid,
Fiction is here but truth in masquerade;
And thousands, who her grave entreaties shun,
Are, by her borrowed smiles, allured and won.
To warm the fancy, and improve the heart,
241
Its object use—amusement but the means;
For though the muse resort to fiction's aid,
Fiction is here but truth in masquerade;
And thousands, who her grave entreaties shun,
Are, by her borrowed smiles, allured and won.
She shows what ills beset our devious way,
When reason yields to passion's lawless sway,
And what inspiring hopes his steps attend,
Who clings to Virtue as his guide and friend;
What glory crowns the hero and the sage,
Whose present labours bless a future age;
And what celestial ecstacies reward
Each act that conscience, truth, and Heav'n applaud.
Where'er is felt the drama's genial sway,
The mists of vice and ignorance melt away,
Refinement follows, and her empire grows
Till moral deserts blossom like the rose.
When reason yields to passion's lawless sway,
And what inspiring hopes his steps attend,
Who clings to Virtue as his guide and friend;
What glory crowns the hero and the sage,
Whose present labours bless a future age;
And what celestial ecstacies reward
Each act that conscience, truth, and Heav'n applaud.
Where'er is felt the drama's genial sway,
The mists of vice and ignorance melt away,
Refinement follows, and her empire grows
Till moral deserts blossom like the rose.
Thus has her power this growing city blest,
The pride, the boast, the mistress of the west;
Where genius, science, arts, and taste abound,
And every sweet embellishment is found;
And where the drama sees her cause extend,
Till virtue hails her as her warmest friend;
While bigot Prejudice, with scowl austere,
Views her new temple proudly towering here;
A fane, which we to-night, with rituals due,
Would consecrate to genius and to you.
Accept the offering—let this splendid pile,
Illumed by beauty's soul-inspiring smile,
Become the school of morals, wit, and taste,
By art embellished, and by fashion graced;
'Tis done, if you but deign to aid the cause,
Success is certain, blest with your applause.
The pride, the boast, the mistress of the west;
Where genius, science, arts, and taste abound,
And every sweet embellishment is found;
And where the drama sees her cause extend,
Till virtue hails her as her warmest friend;
While bigot Prejudice, with scowl austere,
Views her new temple proudly towering here;
A fane, which we to-night, with rituals due,
Would consecrate to genius and to you.
242
Illumed by beauty's soul-inspiring smile,
Become the school of morals, wit, and taste,
By art embellished, and by fashion graced;
'Tis done, if you but deign to aid the cause,
Success is certain, blest with your applause.
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