Poetical Works of Johnson, Parnell, Gray, and Smollett - With Memoirs, Critical Dissertations, and Explanatory Notes by Thomas Gray;Thomas Parnell;Tobias George Smollett;Samuel Johnson
page 52 of 295 (17%)
page 52 of 295 (17%)
|
Says swelling Crispin, 'begg'd a cobbler's vote;'
'This night our wit,' the pert apprentice cries, 'Lies at my feet; I hiss him, and he dies.' The great, 'tis true, can charm the electing tribe, The bard may supplicate, but cannot bribe. Yet, judged by those whose voices ne'er were sold, He feels no want of ill-persuading gold; But confident of praise, if praise be due, Trusts without fear to merit and to you. 30 * * * * * PROLOGUE TO THE COMEDY OF 'A WORD TO THE WISE,' SPOKEN BY MR HULL. This night presents a play which public rage, Or right, or wrong, once hooted from the stage; From zeal or malice now no more we dread, For English vengeance wars not with the dead. A generous foe regards with pitying eye The man whom Fate has laid--where all must lie. To Wit, reviving from its author's dust, Be kind, ye judges! or at least be just. For no renew'd hostilities invade The oblivious grave's inviolable shade. 10 Let one great payment every claim appease, |
|