The Conquest of Granada The Second Part |
PROLOGUE To the Second Part, OF THE CONQUEST OF Granada,
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The Conquest of Granada | ||
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PROLOGUE To the Second Part, OF THE CONQUEST OF Granada,
They who write Ill, and they who ne'r durst write,Turn Critiques, out of meer Revenge and Spight:
A Play-house gives 'em Fame; and up there starts,
From a mean Fifth-rate Wit, a Man of Parts.
(So Common Faces on the Stage appear:
We take 'em in; and they turn Beauties here.)
Our Authour fears those Critiques as his Fate:
And those he Fears, by consequence, must Hate.
For they the Trafficque of all Wit, invade;
As Scriv'ners draw away the Bankers Trade.
Howe're, the Poet's safe enough to day:
They cannot censure an unfinish'd Play.
But, as when Vizard Masque appears in Pit,
Straight, every man who thinks himself a Wit,
Perks up; and, managing his Comb, with grace,
With his white Wigg sets off his Nut-brown Face:
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To know her by her Rigging and her Trimm:
Then, the whole noise of Fopps to wagers go,
Pox on her, 't must be she; and Damm'ee no:
Just so I Prophecy, these Wits to day,
Will blindly guess at our imperfect Play:
With what new Plots our Second Part is fill'd;
Who must be kept alive, and who be kill'd.
And as those Vizard Masques maintain that Fashion,
To sooth and tickle sweet Imagination:
So, our dull Poet keeps you on with Masquing;
To make you think there's something worth your asking:
But when 'tis shown, that which does now delight you,
Will prove a Dowdy, with a Face to fright you.
The Conquest of Granada | ||