 | Henry the Second ; Or, The Fall of Rosamond |  |
75
EPILOGUE, Written by G. COLMAN, Esq. Spoken by Miss BARSANTI.
Great
and fair Ladies! Lords gallant and mighty!
Behold a Female—fresh from Otaheite.
Stretch to the Southern Ocean your Idea,
And view, in me, the Princess Oberea.
Behold a Female—fresh from Otaheite.
Stretch to the Southern Ocean your Idea,
And view, in me, the Princess Oberea.
Full three long Hours I've sat, with smother'd Rage,
To hear the Nonsense of your tragick Stage,
To see a Queen majestically swagger,
A Bowl in this Hand, and in this a Dagger;
To stab or poison (cruel Inclination!)
A Maid, who gave a Husband Consolation.
To hear the Nonsense of your tragick Stage,
To see a Queen majestically swagger,
A Bowl in this Hand, and in this a Dagger;
To stab or poison (cruel Inclination!)
A Maid, who gave a Husband Consolation.
Ah, Ladies! no such Queen at Otaheite;
Love there has Roses—without Thorns to fright ye;
Frolick our Days, and to compleat our Joy,
A Coterie's form'd—'tis call'd the Arreoy,
Where Love is free and general as the Air,
And ev'ry Beau gallants with ev'ry Fair;
No Ceremonies bind, no Rule controuls
But Love, the only Tyrant of our Souls!
Love there has Roses—without Thorns to fright ye;
Frolick our Days, and to compleat our Joy,
A Coterie's form'd—'tis call'd the Arreoy,
Where Love is free and general as the Air,
And ev'ry Beau gallants with ev'ry Fair;
No Ceremonies bind, no Rule controuls
But Love, the only Tyrant of our Souls!
But Pleasure's foreign to these Northern Climes,
And Love, I hear, unknown in these dull Times:
Never was Maiden in these Days caught tripping,
Never was Wife on Pleasure's Ice found slipping:
True to their Lords, to Gallantry ne'er prone,
Divorces are so rare, the Name's scarce known.
And Love, I hear, unknown in these dull Times:
Never was Maiden in these Days caught tripping,
Never was Wife on Pleasure's Ice found slipping:
True to their Lords, to Gallantry ne'er prone,
Divorces are so rare, the Name's scarce known.
76
Yet in our Southern Air—at least I'm told—
Nor French nor Englishmen were quite so cold;
And, if your Poet of to-night say true,
Love formerly warm'd British Ladies too;
And Ladies of old Times perhaps might plead,
That modern Ladies are the self-same Breed.
Nor French nor Englishmen were quite so cold;
And, if your Poet of to-night say true,
Love formerly warm'd British Ladies too;
And Ladies of old Times perhaps might plead,
That modern Ladies are the self-same Breed.
There is a Place, I'm told, call'd Doctor's Commons,
Whence Husbands issue to false Wives dread Summons;
For each pretends, an all-sufficient Elf,
To keep a Lady to his precious Self.
Yet Man, proud Man, from Oberea know,
That female Follies on your Follies grow;
And all your Hopes of Constancy are vain,
If Marriage binds not in a mutual Chain.
If in cold Sheets ye leave poor Nell to sleep,
And some fair Rose in Covent-Garden keep;
Think of the Ills that wait domestic Strife,
The heaviest Care of all the Cares of Life—
A tempting Mistress, and an angry Wife!
Whence Husbands issue to false Wives dread Summons;
For each pretends, an all-sufficient Elf,
To keep a Lady to his precious Self.
Yet Man, proud Man, from Oberea know,
That female Follies on your Follies grow;
And all your Hopes of Constancy are vain,
If Marriage binds not in a mutual Chain.
If in cold Sheets ye leave poor Nell to sleep,
And some fair Rose in Covent-Garden keep;
Think of the Ills that wait domestic Strife,
The heaviest Care of all the Cares of Life—
A tempting Mistress, and an angry Wife!
For you, ye Fair, whom conscious Virtue arms,
And with her Graces heightens Beauty's Charms,
Hear a frail Sister on your Pity call,
And save fair Rosamond a second Fall!
And with her Graces heightens Beauty's Charms,
Hear a frail Sister on your Pity call,
And save fair Rosamond a second Fall!
FINIS.
| Henry the Second ; Or, The Fall of Rosamond | |