A Prologue - To A Play For Mr Dennis's Benefit, In 1733, When He Was Old, Blind, And In Great Distress, A Little Before His Death.

As when that hero, who, in each campaign,
Had braved the Goth, and many a Vandal slain,
Lay fortune-struck, a spectacle of woe!
Wept by each friend, forgiven by every foe:
Was there a generous, a reflecting mind,
But pitied Belisarius, old and blind?
Was there a chief but melted at the sight?
A common soldier, but who clubb'd his mite?
Such, such emotions should in Britons rise,
When press'd by want and weakness Dennis lies;
Dennis, who long had warr'd with modern Huns,
Their quibbles routed, and defied their puns;
A desperate bulwark, sturdy, firm, and fierce,
Against the Gothic sons of frozen verse:
How changed from him who made the boxes groan,
And shook the stage with thunders all his own!
Stood up to dash each vain pretender's hope,
Maul the French tyrant, or pull down the Pope!
If there's a Briton then, true bred and born,
Who holds dragoons and wooden shoes in scorn;
If there's a critic of distinguished rage;
If there's a senior who contemns this age:
Let him to night his just assistance lend,
And be the critic's, Briton's, old man's friend.

Alexander Pope

Alexander Pope was an English poet, best known for his satirical verse, including 'The Rape of the Lock' and 'The Dunciad'. He is the second-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations after Shakespeare. Pope was one of the greatest English poets and the foremost poet of the early 18th century. He also translated Homer. Despite suffering from numerous health problems, Pope made a significant impact on English literature and is remembered for his sharp wit and mastery of the heroic couplet.

Alexander Pope

A Fragment Of A Poem.

Alexander Pope, Simple Poetry

The Three Gentle Shepherds.

Alexander Pope, Simple Poetry

Imitations Of English Poets. Earl Of Dorset: Artemisia.

Alexander Pope, Simple Poetry

Couplets On Wit

Alexander Pope, Simple Poetry

English

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Prologue To "The Loyal Brother; Or, The Persian Prince;"[1] By Mr Southern, 1682.

    POETS, like lawful monarchs, ruled the stage,
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To wake the soul by tender strokes of art,
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To raise the genius, and to mend the heart;
To make mankind, in conscious virtue bold,
Live o'er each scene, and be what they behold:
For this the tragic Muse first trod the stage,
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And foes to virtue wonder'd how they wept.
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In pitying love, we but our weakness show,
And wild ambition well deserves its woe.
Here tears shall flow from a more generous cause,
Such tears as patriots shed for dying laws:
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And calls forth Roman drops from British eyes.
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Robert Burns