Prologue To "troilus And Cressida." Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: A BBCDEEFFAAGGHHIIJJFF KKLLLLMMMNNNOOLLPPQQ| SPOKEN BY MR BETTERTON REPRESENTING THE GHOST OF SHAKSPEARE | A |
| - | |
| - | |
| See my loved Britons see your Shakspeare rise | B |
| An awful ghost confess'd to human eyes | B |
| Unnamed methinks distinguish'd I had been | C |
| From other shades by this eternal green | D |
| About whose wreaths the vulgar poets strive | E |
| And with a touch their wither'd bays revive | E |
| Untaught unpractised in a barbarous age | F |
| I found not but created first the stage | F |
| And if I drain'd no Greek or Latin store | A |
| 'Twas that my own abundance gave me more | A |
| On foreign trade I needed not rely | G |
| Like fruitful Britain rich without supply | G |
| In this my rough drawn play you shall behold | H |
| Some master strokes so manly and so bold | H |
| That he who meant to alter found 'em such | I |
| He shook and thought it sacrilege to touch | I |
| Now where are the successors to my name | J |
| What bring they to fill out a poet's fame | J |
| Weak short lived issues of a feeble age | F |
| Scarce living to be christen'd on the stage | F |
| For humour farce for love they rhyme dispense | K |
| That tolls the knell for their departed sense | K |
| Dulness might thrive in any trade but this | L |
| 'Twould recommend to some fat benefice | L |
| Dulness that in a playhouse meets disgrace | L |
| Might meet with reverence in its proper place | L |
| The fulsome clench that nauseates the town | M |
| Would from a judge or alderman go down | M |
| Such virtue is there in a robe and gown | M |
| And that insipid stuff which here you hate | N |
| Might somewhere else be call'd a grave debate | N |
| Dulness is decent in the church and state | N |
| But I forget that still 'tis understood | O |
| Bad plays are best decried by showing good | O |
| Sit silent then that my pleased soul may see | L |
| A judging audience once and worthy me | L |
| My faithful scene from true records shall tell | P |
| How Trojan valour did the Greek excel | P |
| Your great forefathers shall their fame regain | Q |
| And Homer's angry ghost repine in vain | Q |
John Dryden
(1)
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