 | Zelmane : Or, the Corinthian Queen |  |
PROLOGUE Spoken by Mr. Booth.
The Hero and the Lover long have beenThe pleasing Bus'ness of the Tragick Scene;
Inspiring Courage, warms the Beauteous Dame,
And Venus blushes at the Soldier's Name.
So Rival Queens for Alexander strove,
With all the Warmth of Eloquence and Love;
Ambitious to enslave that Prince, whose Sword
Had made him the Worlds universal Lord.
And Beauty's Charms do, with kind genial Heat,
And noble Ardour, animate the Great.
The Conquer'd Victor then pleas'd to obey,
To his Great Mistress yields the Sov'raign Sway;
With Pleasure executes her dread Commands,
And still resigns his Laurels to her Hands.
So that Great Day when Anna was the Word.
And every conquering Brittain drew his Sword,
Her Name with Terror struck the Nations round,
And unknown Fears their numerous Troops confound.
Gauls and Bavarians seek the Wat'ry Graves,
And shroud Dishonour in the Crimson Waves:
They fear to Die, but yet much more they fear,
With Anna's powerful Vertue to wage War.
'Twas that which gather'd Laurels from afar,
And made her Soldiers more than Men appear:
Her generous Vertue was the noble Cause;
She fought alone, to fix with equal Laws
The World; asserted Liberty to own
And settle the then tott'ring Empire's Crown
| Zelmane : Or, the Corinthian Queen | |