Prologue To "albumazar."[1] Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCCDEFFGHIIJJKLMMFF NOPPQRSSFFSSTTUUVVWW DDXXFFYY| To say this comedy pleased long ago | A |
| Is not enough to make it pass you now | B |
| Yet gentlemen your ancestors had wit | C |
| When few men censured and when fewer writ | C |
| And Jonson of those few the best chose this | D |
| As the best model of his masterpiece | E |
| Subtle was got by our Albumazar | F |
| That Alchymist by this Astrologer | F |
| Here he was fashion'd and we may suppose | G |
| He liked the fashion well who wore the clothes | H |
| But Ben made nobly his what he did mould | I |
| What was another's lead becomes his gold | I |
| Like an unrighteous conqueror he reigns | J |
| Yet rules that well which he unjustly gains | J |
| By this our age such authors does afford | K |
| As make whole plays and yet scarce write one word | L |
| Who in his anarchy of wit rob all | M |
| And what's their plunder their possession call | M |
| Who like bold padders scorn by night to prey | F |
| But rob by sunshine in the face of day | F |
| Nay scarce the common ceremony use | N |
| Of Stand sir and deliver up your Muse | O |
| But knock the Poet down and with a grace | P |
| Mount Pegasus before the owner's face | P |
| Faith if you have such country Toms abroad | Q |
| 'Tis time for all true men to leave that road | R |
| Yet it were modest could it but be said | S |
| They strip the living but these rob the dead | S |
| Dare with the mummies of the Muses play | F |
| And make love to them the Egyptian way | F |
| Or as a rhyming author would have said | S |
| Join the dead living to the living dead | S |
| Such men in poetry may claim some part | T |
| They have the licence though they want the art | T |
| And might where theft was praised for Laureates stand | U |
| Poets not of the head but of the hand | U |
| They make the benefits of others' studying | V |
| Much like the meals of politic Jack Pudding | V |
| Whose dish to challenge no man has the courage | W |
| 'Tis all his own when once he has spit in the porridge | W |
| But gentlemen you're all concern'd in this | D |
| You are in fault for what they do amiss | D |
| For they their thefts still undiscover'd think | X |
| And durst not steal unless you please to wink | X |
| Perhaps you may award by your decree | F |
| They should refund but that can never be | F |
| For should your letters of reprisal seal | Y |
| These men write that which no man else would steal | Y |
John Dryden
(1)
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Prologue To "albumazar."[1] is a poem by John Dryden. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
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