Sketches in verse with prose illustrations. By Mr. Polwhele. Second edition, with several additional pieces |
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SONNET IN CONSEQUENCE OF THE REPRESENTATION OF THE TRAGEDY OF LILLO IN TOWN,
When some middle-aged persons exclaimed, “It is too deep!” |
 | Sketches in verse |  |
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SONNET IN CONSEQUENCE OF THE REPRESENTATION OF THE TRAGEDY OF LILLO IN TOWN, When some middle-aged persons exclaimed, “It is too deep!”
Where is the sigh, the kind relieving tear?“Alas!” (the audience cries) “it is too deep!”
Thrill'd by the stroke of agony severe,
They gaze in blank suspence; they cannot weep.
“We who have known the pangs of real woe
“That oft from fiend-like machinations sprung;
“We, who have mark'd the bitter ills that flow
“From vice, resign these portraits to the young.
“Yes! 'tis for minds unpractis'd in the world
“To view such pictures with a transient pain;
“And tho' o'er Frenzy's wild a moment hurl'd,
“Yet feel no dizzy fever of the brain:
“O'er the drear scene their lively fancy plays,
“And gilds e'en horror's self with fairy rays.”
| Sketches in verse | |