Drury-lane Prologue Spoken By Mr. Garrick Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABBCCDD EEFFGGHH IIJJKKGGLLMM NNOOPPJJQQ RS TTUUVV WWQQXXYZ A2A2B2B2C2C2SSWhen Learning's triumph o'er her barb'rous foes | A |
First rear'd the stage immortal Shakespear rose | A |
Each change of many colour'd life he drew | B |
Exhausted worlds and then imagin'd new | B |
Existence saw him spurn her bounded reign | C |
And panting Time toil'd after him in vain | C |
His pow'rful strokes presiding Truth impress'd | D |
And unresisted Passion storm'd the breast | D |
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Then Jonson came instructed from the school | E |
To please in method and invent by rule | E |
His studious patience and laborious art | F |
By regular approach essay'd the heart | F |
Cold Approbation gave the ling'ring bays | G |
For those who durst not censure scarce could praise | G |
A mortal born he met the general doom | H |
But left like Egypt's kings a lasting tomb | H |
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The Wits of Charles found easier ways to fame | I |
Nor wish'd for Jonson's art or Shakespear's flame | I |
Themselves they studied as they felt they writ | J |
Intrigue was plot obscenity was wit | J |
Vice always found a sympathetic friend | K |
They pleas'd their age and did not aim to mend | K |
Yet bards like these aspir'd to lasting praise | G |
And proudly hop'd to pimp in future days | G |
Their cause was gen'ral their supports were strong | L |
Their slaves were willing and their reign was long | L |
Till Shame regain'd the post that Sense betray'd | M |
And Virtue call'd Oblivion to her aid | M |
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Then crush'd by rules and weaken'd as refin'd | N |
For years the pow'r of tragedy declin'd | N |
From bard to bard the frigid caution crept | O |
Till Declamation roar'd while Passion slept | O |
Yet still did Virtue deign the stage to tread | P |
Philosophy remain'd though Nature fled | P |
But forc'd at length her ancient reign to quit | J |
She saw great Faustus lay the ghost of wit | J |
Exulting Folly hail'd the joyful day | Q |
And pantomime and song confirm'd her sway | Q |
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But who the coming changes can presage | R |
And mark the future periods of the stage | S |
- | |
Perhaps if skill could distant times explore | T |
New Behns new Durfoys yet remain in store | T |
Perhaps where Lear has rav'd and Hamlet died | U |
On flying cars new sorcerers may ride | U |
Perhaps for who can guess th' effects of chance | V |
Here Hunt may box or Mahomet may dance | V |
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Hard is his lot that here by Fortune plac'd | W |
Must watch the wild vicissitudes of taste | W |
With ev'ry meteor of caprice must play | Q |
And chase the new blown bubbles of the day | Q |
Ah let not censure term our fate our choice | X |
The stage but echoes back the public voice | X |
The drama's laws the drama's patrons give | Y |
For we that live to please must please to live | Z |
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Then prompt no more the follies you decry | A2 |
As tyrants doom their tools of guilt to die | A2 |
'Tis yours this night to bid the reign commence | B2 |
Of rescu'd Nature and reviving Sense | B2 |
To chase the charms of Sound the pomp of Show | C2 |
For useful Mirth and salutary Woe | C2 |
Bid scenic Virtue form the rising age | S |
And Truth diffuse her radiance from the stage | S |
Samuel Johnson
(1)
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