 | Poems on several occasions |  |
EPILOGUE TO ADELPHI.
SPOKEN BY DEMEA. UPON AN ACTOR'S BEING TAKEN OFF THE STAGE AND CARRIED TO BRIDEWELL.
Since angry Justice late her power essay'd
To stop the progress of dramatic trade,
In earnest ended what in jest begun,
And dropp'd the curtain ere the play was done;
An arch comedian-wag compell'd has been
To make his entrance in another scene,
To act a part he never play'd before,
And from low life descend to suffer lower:
Perhaps you'll ask us, if our bard and we
Can stand the test of legal scrutiny.
Small privilege, I fear, can Terence have,—
By birth and fortune African and slave.
From their own parish far, his persons come;
At Athens born and bred, they stroll to Rome.
But there the vagrants meet uncommon grace,
And e'en his worship Scipio signs the pass;
Where'er they roam, of favour still secure,
If wit may favour claim, or language pure.
But who in court a plea of wit e'er saw?
And Latin, all must own, is dead in law.
To stop the progress of dramatic trade,
In earnest ended what in jest begun,
And dropp'd the curtain ere the play was done;
An arch comedian-wag compell'd has been
To make his entrance in another scene,
To act a part he never play'd before,
And from low life descend to suffer lower:
Perhaps you'll ask us, if our bard and we
Can stand the test of legal scrutiny.
Small privilege, I fear, can Terence have,—
By birth and fortune African and slave.
From their own parish far, his persons come;
At Athens born and bred, they stroll to Rome.
But there the vagrants meet uncommon grace,
And e'en his worship Scipio signs the pass;
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If wit may favour claim, or language pure.
But who in court a plea of wit e'er saw?
And Latin, all must own, is dead in law.
These reasons fail, perhaps, if strictly tried;
But, sirs, I Demea take the milder side;
And those who carry summum jus so high,
'Tis hoped, will change their minds as well as I.
Let mercy temper rigour: though, I own,
I dread no other danger than your frown.
On Rome I little build, on Athens less;
Yet no commitment fear nor law-distress:
I act by licence from the good queen Bess.
But, sirs, I Demea take the milder side;
And those who carry summum jus so high,
'Tis hoped, will change their minds as well as I.
Let mercy temper rigour: though, I own,
I dread no other danger than your frown.
On Rome I little build, on Athens less;
Yet no commitment fear nor law-distress:
I act by licence from the good queen Bess.
| Poems on several occasions | |