 | Poems on Several Occasions |  |
90
AN Occasional PROLOGUE SPOKEN By Mrs. WOFFINGTON,
At the Theatre Royal in Covent Garden, to the Play of the Conscious Lovers, acted Dec. 5, 1755, for the Benefit of the Middelsex-Hospital, for Sick and Lame Patients, and Married Lying-in Women.
Nature's great order rises on extremes;
Hence in each clime, where phœbus darts his beams,
Some rising impulse rules the native soul;
The national criterion of the whole;
Works as it reigns, impells life's varying scenes,
Refines in virtue, or in vice demeans;
This strong incentive lays th'unerring plan,
Whence nations judge of nations, man of man;
This gen'ral motive gen'ral fame insures,
And, Britons, god-like charity is yours!
Blest with the soul where pity's dew-drops lie,
That feels the soft petition of the eye,
'Tis yours to silence mis'ry's plaintive moan,
And make the grief of others all your own!
Nor is it strange Compassion stretch her hand,
Where beauty charms, and freedom glads the land.
Hence in each clime, where phœbus darts his beams,
Some rising impulse rules the native soul;
The national criterion of the whole;
Works as it reigns, impells life's varying scenes,
Refines in virtue, or in vice demeans;
This strong incentive lays th'unerring plan,
Whence nations judge of nations, man of man;
91
And, Britons, god-like charity is yours!
Blest with the soul where pity's dew-drops lie,
That feels the soft petition of the eye,
'Tis yours to silence mis'ry's plaintive moan,
And make the grief of others all your own!
Nor is it strange Compassion stretch her hand,
Where beauty charms, and freedom glads the land.
Sacred to Charity the pile to raise,
To trace affliction through its various maze;
Give balm to nature's accidental woes,
And sooth th'impoverish'd matron's pregnant throes;
This night, to execute these good designs,
We crav'd your favour!—Lo, your bounty shines!
Bounty, ordain'd with genial warmth to glow,
And, like the sun, enliven all below.
To trace affliction through its various maze;
Give balm to nature's accidental woes,
And sooth th'impoverish'd matron's pregnant throes;
This night, to execute these good designs,
We crav'd your favour!—Lo, your bounty shines!
Bounty, ordain'd with genial warmth to glow,
And, like the sun, enliven all below.
92
Wealth, grandeur, pow'r, with all that crowns the Great,
The smiles of monarchs, and the pomp of state,
Heav'n lends to dignify the virtuous breast;
To bid the fount of goodness flow confest;
Shew transient actions in a light refin'd,
And prompt Northumberlands to bless mankind.
The smiles of monarchs, and the pomp of state,
Heav'n lends to dignify the virtuous breast;
To bid the fount of goodness flow confest;
Shew transient actions in a light refin'd,
And prompt Northumberlands to bless mankind.
When all our earthly pomp shall fade away,
This globe dissolve, and nature's self decay;
While guilt shall at impending judgment start,
And keenest anguish sieze the Hard-of-heart;
Then white-rob'd Charity her friends shall chear,
And pay with int'rest all they lent her here.
Happy, whose name by virtuous deeds was rais'd,
Whom little foundlings lisp'd, or cripples prais'd!
Such goodness first shall meet distinct regard,
And whom this earth ador'd, yon skies reward.
This globe dissolve, and nature's self decay;
While guilt shall at impending judgment start,
And keenest anguish sieze the Hard-of-heart;
Then white-rob'd Charity her friends shall chear,
And pay with int'rest all they lent her here.
Happy, whose name by virtuous deeds was rais'd,
Whom little foundlings lisp'd, or cripples prais'd!
Such goodness first shall meet distinct regard,
And whom this earth ador'd, yon skies reward.
| Poems on Several Occasions | |