Neglected Genius A Poem. Illustrating the Untimely And Unfortunate Fate Of Many British Poets; From the Period of Henry the Eighth to the Aera of the Unfortunate Chatterton. Containing Imitations of their Different Styles, &c. &c. By W. H. Ireland |
 |
Prologue to Lillo's Elmeric.
|
|
|
|
 | Neglected Genius |  |
34
Prologue to Lillo's Elmeric.
BY JAMES HAMMOND.
No labour'd scenes to-night adorn our stage,
Lillo's plain sense wou'd here the heart engage;
He knew no art, no rule; but warmly thought
From passion's force; and as he felt he wrote.
His Barnwell once no critic's test could bear,
Yet from each eye still draws the nat'ral tear;
With gen'rous candour hear his latest strains,
And let kind pity shelter his remains.
Depress'd by want, afflicted by disease,
Dying he wrote, and dying wish'd to please:—
O! may that wish be now humanely paid,
And no harsh critic vex his gentle shade.
'Tis yours his unsupported fame to save,
And bid one laurel grace his humble grave.
| Neglected Genius | |