28
THE ROSCIAD.
No actor ever greater heights could reach 625
In all the labour'd artifice of speech.
In all the labour'd artifice of speech.
Speech! Is that all? And, shall an actor found,
An universal fame on partial ground?
Parrots themselves speak properly by rote,
And, in six months, my dog shall howl by note. 630
I laugh at those who, when the Stage they tread,
Neglect the heart to compliment the head;
With strict propriety, their care's confin'd
To weigh out words, while Passion halts behind.
To Syllable-dissectors they appeal, 635
Allow them accent, cadence,—Fools may feel;
But, spite of all the criticising elves,
Those who would make us feel, must feel themselves.
An universal fame on partial ground?
Parrots themselves speak properly by rote,
And, in six months, my dog shall howl by note. 630
I laugh at those who, when the Stage they tread,
Neglect the heart to compliment the head;
With strict propriety, their care's confin'd
To weigh out words, while Passion halts behind.
To Syllable-dissectors they appeal, 635
Allow them accent, cadence,—Fools may feel;
But, spite of all the criticising elves,
Those who would make us feel, must feel themselves.
His eyes, in gloomy socket taught to roll,
Proclaim'd the sullen habit of his soul. 640
Heavy and phlegmatic he trod the Stage,
Too proud for tenderness, too dull for rage.
Proclaim'd the sullen habit of his soul. 640
Heavy and phlegmatic he trod the Stage,
Too proud for tenderness, too dull for rage.
When Hector's lovely widow shines in tears,
Or Rowe's gay Rake dependant Virtue jeers;
With the same cast of features he is seen 645
To chide the Libertine, and court the Queen.
Or Rowe's gay Rake dependant Virtue jeers;
With the same cast of features he is seen 645
To chide the Libertine, and court the Queen.
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