University of Virginia Library

To my loving friend S. H. on his Tragedy entituled Sicily and Naples, or the Fatall Union.

Wonder not (friend) if I admire thy pen
That has so lively drawne the deaths of men,
And in such deeper scenes of Tragedy,
Has cloth'd thy fury Comick-wittily:
Thy lines runne smooth, and lofty, and expresse
At once their terrour, and their pleasantnesse:
Th'hast mingled mirth with horrour, and hast showne
Delight and cruelty compos'd in one.
Ferrando, and Calanth' are re-inliv'd,
And have from thee their tombe, and birth deriv'd:
Naples, and Sicily do owe their glory
To thee for this their everliving story;
Thy hand proclaimes their fame, thy pen has lent
Their Chronicles a grace, and supplement:
And what before was Fatall, now's become
A Happy, and a lasting Union.