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THE TRAGEDY OF TRAGEDIES
by
HENRY FIELDING
H. Scriblerus Secundus;
HIS
PREFACE
The Town hath seldom been more
divided in its Opinion, than concerning the Merit of the following Scenes. Whilst
some publickly affirmed, That no Author could produce so fine a Piece but Mr.
P------, others have with as much Vehemence insistsed, That no one could
write any thing so bad, but Mr. F------.
Nor
can we wonder at this Dissention about its Merit, when the learned World have
not unanimously decided even the very Nature of this Tragedy. For tho' most of
the Universities in Europe have honoured it with the Name of Egregium
& maximi pretii opus, Tragaediis tam antiquis quam novis longe anteponendum;
nay, Dr. B------ hath pronounced, Citiùs Maevii AEneadem quam
Scribleri istius Tragaediam hanc crediderim, cujus Autorem Senecam ipsum tradidisse
haud dubitârim; and the great Professor Burman, hath stiled Tom
Thumb, Heroum omnium Tragicorum facilè Principem. Nay, tho' it hath,
among other Languages, been translated into Dutch, and celebrated with
great Applause at Amsterdam (where Burlesque never came) by the Title of
Mynheer Vander Thumb, the Burgomasters receiving it with that reverent
and silent Attention, which becometh an Audience at a deep Tragedy: Notwithstanding
all this, there have not been wanting some who have represented these Scenes in
a ludicrous Light; and Mr. D------ hath been heard to say, with some Concern,
That he wondered a Tragical and Christian Nation would permit a Representation
on its Theatre, so visibly designed to ridicule and extirpate every thing that
is Great and Solemn among us.
This learned Critick,
and his Followers, were led into so great an Error, by that surreptitious and
piratical Copy which stole last Year into the World; with what Injustice and Prejudice
to our Author, I hope will be acknowledged by every one who shall happily peruse
this genuine and original Copy. Nor can I help remarking, to the great Praise
of our Author, that, however imperfect the former was, still did even that faint
Resemblance of the true Tom Thumb, contain sufficient Beauties to give
it a Run of upwards of Forty Nights, to the politest Audiences. But, nothwithstanding
that Applause which it receiv'd from all the best Judges, it was as severely censured
by some few bad ones, and I believe, rather maliciously than ignorantly, reported
to have been intended a Burlesque on the loftiest Parts of Tragedy, and designed
to banish what we generally call Fine Things, from the Stage.
Now,
if I can set my Country right in an Affair of this Importance, I shall lightly
esteem any Labour which it may cost. And this I the rather undertake, First, as
it is indeed in some measure incumbent on me to vindicate myself from that surreptitious
Copy before-mentioned, published by some ill-meaning People, under my Name: Secondly,
as knowing my self more capable of doing Justice to our Author, than any other
Man, as I have given my self more Pains to arrive at a thorough Understanding
of this little Piece, having for ten Years together read nothing else; in which
time, I think I may modestly presume, with the help of my English Dictionary,
to comprehend all the Meanings of every Word in it.
But
should any Error of my Pen awaken Clariss. Bentleium to enlighten the World
with his Annotations on our Author, I shall not think that the least Reward or
Happiness arising to me from these my Endeavours.
I
shall wave at present, what hath caused such Feuds in the learned World, Whether
this Piece was originally written by Shakespear, tho' certainly That, were
it true, must add a considerable Share to its Merit; especially, with such who
are so generous as to buy and to commend what they never read, from an implicit
Faith in the Author only: A Faith! which our Age abounds in as much, as it can
be called deficient in any other.
Let it suffice,
that the Tragedy of Tragedies, or, The Life and Death of Tom Thumb,
was written in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth. Nor can the Objection made
by Mr. D------, That the Tragedy must then have been antecedent to the
History, have any Weight, when we consider, That tho' the History of Tom Thumb,
printed by and for Edward M------r, at the Looking-Glass on London-Bridge,
be of a later Date; still must we suppose this History to have been transcribed
from some other, unless we suppose the Writer thereof to be inspired: A Gift very
faintly contended for by the Writers of our Age. As to this History's not bearing
the Stamp of Second, Third, or Fourth Edition, I see but little in that Objection;
Editions being very uncertain Lights to judge of Books by: And perhaps Mr. M------r
may have joined twenty Editions in one, as Mr. C------l hath ere now divided
one into twenty.
Nor doth the other Argument, drawn
from the little Care our Author hath taken to keep up to the letter of the History,
carry any greater Force. Are there not Instances of Plays, wherein the History
is so perverted, that we can know the Heroes whom they celebrate by no other Marks
than their Names? Nay, do we not find the same Character placed by different Poets
in such different Lights, that we can discover not the least Sameness, or even
Likeness in the Features? The Sophonisba of Mairet, and of Lee,
is a tender, passionate, amorous Mistress of Massinissa; Corneille, and
Mr. Thomson give her no other Passion but the Love of her Country, and
make her as cool in her Affection to Massinissa, as to Syphax. In
the two latter, she resembles the Character of Queen Elizabeth; in the
two former she is the Picture of Mary Queen of Scotland. In short,
the one Sophonisba is as different from the other, as the Brutus
of Voltaire, is from the Marius Jun. of Otway; or as the
Minerva is from the Venus of the Ancients.
Let
us now proceed to a regular Examinatoin of the Tragedy before us, in which I shall
treat separately of the Fable, the Moral, the Characters, the Sentiments, and
the Diction. And first of the
Fable; which
I take to be the most simple imaginable; and, to use the Words of an eminent Author,
'One, regular, and uniform, not 'charged with a Multiplicity of Incidents, and
yet affording several 'Revolutions of Fortune; by which the Passions may be excited,
'varied, and driven to their full Tumult of Emotion.' -- Nor is the Action
of this Tragedy less great than uniform. The Spring of all, is the Love of Tom
Thumb for Huncamunca; which causeth the Quarrel between their Majesties
in the first Act; the Passion of Lord Grizzle in the Second; the Rebellion,
Fall of Lord Grizzle, and Glumdalca, Devouring of Tom Thumb
by the Cow, and that bloody Catastrophe, in the Third.
Nor
is the Moral of this excellent Tragedy less noble than the Fable;
it teaches these two instructive Lessons, viz. That Human Happiness is
exceeding transient, and, That Death is the certain End of all Men; the former
whereof is inculcated by the fatal End of Tom Thumb; the latter, by that
of all the other Personages.
The Characters
are, I think, sufficeintly described in the Dramatis Personae; and I believe
we shall find few Plays, where greater care is taken to maintain them throughout,
and to preserve in every Speech that Characteristical Mark which distinguishes
them from each other. 'But (says Mr. D------) how well doth the Character
of 'Tom Thumb, whom we must call the Hero of this Tragedy, if it hath 'any
Hero, agree with the Precepts of Aristotle, who defineth Tragedy 'to
be the Imitation of a short, but perfect Action, containing a just 'Greatness
in itself, &c. What Greatness can be in a Fellow, whom History 'relateth to
have been no higher than a Span?' This Gentleman seemeth to think, with Serjeant
Kite, that the Greatness of a Man's Soul is in proportion to that of his
Body, the contrary of which is affirmed by our English Physognominical
Writers. Besides, if I understand Aristotle right, he speaketh only of
the Greatness of the Action, and not of the Person.
As
for the Sentiments and the Diction, which now only remain to be
spoken to; I thought I could afford them no stronger Justification, than by producing
parallel Passages out of the best of our English Writers. Whether this
Sameness of Thought and Expression which I have quoted from them, proceeded from
an Agreement in their Way of Thinking; or whether they have borrowed from our
Author, I leave the Reader to determine. I shall adventure to affirm this of the
Sentiments of our Author; That they are generally the most familiar which I have
ever met with, and at the same time delivered with the highest Dignity of Phrase;
which brings me to speak of his Diction. -- Here I shall only beg one Postulatum,
viz. That the greatest Perfection of the Language of a Tragedy is, that
it is not to be understood; which granted (as I think it must be) it will necessarily
follow, that the only ways to avoid this, is by being too high or too low for
the Understanding, which will comprehend every thing within its Reach. Those two extremities of Stile Mr. Dryden illustrates by the familiar
Image of two Inns, which I shall term the Aerial and the Subterrestrial.
Horace
goeth farther, and sheweth when it is proper to call at one of these Inns, and
when at the other;
Telephus & Peleus, cùm
pauper & exul uterque,
Projicit Ampullas & Sesquipedalia
Verba.
That he approveth of the Sesquipedalia Verba, is plain;
for had not Telephus & Peleus used this sort of Diction in Prosperity,
they could not have dropt it in Adversity. The Aerial Inn, therefore (says Horace)
is proper only to be frequented by Princes and other great Men, in the highest
Affluence of Fortune; the Subterrestrial is appointed for the Entertainment of
the poorer sort of People only, whom Horace advises,
----
dolere Sermone pedestri.
The true Meaning of both which Citations
is, That Bombast is the proper Language for Joy, and Doggrel for Grief, the latter
of which is literally imply'd in the Sermo pedestris, as the former is
in the Sesquipedalia Verba.
Cicero recommendeth
the former of these. Quid est tam furiosum vel tragicum quàm verborum
sonitus inanis, nullâ subjectâ Sententiâ neque Scientiâ.
What can be so proper for Tragedy as a Set of big sounding Words, so contrived
together, as to convey no Meaning; which I shall one Day or other prove to be
the Sublime of Longinus. Ovid declareth absolutely for the latter Inn:
Omne genus scripti Gravitate Tragaedia vincit.
Tragedy hath of all
Writings the greatest Share in the Bathos, which is the Profound of Scriblerus.
I shall not presume to determine which of these two Stiles
be properer for Tragedy. -- It sufficeth, that our Author excelleth in both. He is
very rarely within sight through the whole Play, either rising higher than the
Eye of your Understanding can soar, or sinking lower than it careth to stoop. But
here it may perhaps be observed, that I have given more frequent Instances of
Authors who have imitated him in the Sublime, than in the contrary. To which I
answer, First, Bombast being properly a Redundancy of Genius, Instances of Nature
occur in Poets whose Names do more Honour to our Author, than the Writers in the
Doggerel, which proceeds from a cool, calm, weighty Way of Thinking. Instances
whereof are most frequently to be found in Authors of a lower Class. Secondly,
That the Works of such Authors are difficultly found at all. Thirdly, That it
is a very hard Task to read them, in order to extrat these Flowers from them.
And Lastly, It is very often difficult to transplant them at all; they being like
some Flowers of a very nice Nature, which will flourish in no Soil but their own:
For it is easy to transcribe a Thought, but not the Want of one. The Earl of
Essex, for Instance, is a little Garden of choice Rarities, whence you can
scarce transplant one Line so as to perserve its original Beauty. This must account
to the Reader for his missing the Names of several of his Acquaintance, which
he had certainly found here, had I ever read their Works; for which, if I have
not a just Esteem, I can at least say with Cicero, Quae non contemno, quippè
quae nunquam legerim. However, that the Reader may meet with due Satisfaction
in this Point, I have a young Commentator from the University, who is reading
over all the modern Tragedies, at Five Shillings a Dozen, and collecting all that
they have stole from our Author, which shall shortly be added as an Appendix to
this Work.
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
| KING Arthur, A passionate sort of King, Husband to
Queen Dollallolla, of whom he stands a little in Fear; Father to
Huncamunca, whom he is very fond of; and in Love with Glumdalca.
|
Mr. Mullart.
|
TOM THUMB the Great, A little Hero with a great Soul,
something violent in his Temper, which is a little abated by his Love for
Huncamunca. |
Young Verhuyck. |
GHOST of Gaffar Thumb, A whimsical sort
of GHOST.
|
Mr. Lacy. |
Lord GRIZZLE, Extremely zealous for the Liberty of the Subject,
very cholerick in his Temper, and in Love with Huncamunca. |
Mr. Jones. |
MERLIN, A Conjurer, and in some sort Father to Tom Thumb.
|
Mr. Hallam. |
NOODLE, Courtiers in Place, and consequently of that Party
that is uppermost.
DOODLE, Courtiers in Place, and consequently of that Party that is uppermost.
|
Mr. Reynolds.
Mr. Wathan. |
FOODLE, A Courtier that is out of Place, and consequently
of that Party that is undermost. |
Mr. Ayres. |
BAILIFF, and
FOLLOWER, Of the Party of the Plaintiff. |
Mr. Peterson.
Mr. Hicks. |
PARSON, Of the Side of the Church. |
Mr. Watson. |
WOMEN
| QUEEN Dollallolla, Wife to King Arthur, and
Mother to Huncamunca, a Woman entirely faultless, saving that she
is a little given to Drink; a little too much a Virago towards her
Husband, and in Love with Tom Thumb. |
Mrs. Mullart. |
The Princess HUNCAMUNCA, Daughter to their Majesties King
Arthur and Queen Dollallolla, of a very sweet, gentle, and amorous
Disposition, equally in Love with Lord Grizzle and Tom Thumb,
and desirous to be married to them both. |
Mrs. Jones. |
GLUMDALCA, of the Giants, a Captive Queen, belov'd by the
King, but in Love with Tom Thumb. |
Mrs. Dove. |
CLEORA, Maid of Honour, in Love with Noodle.
MUSTACHA, Maid of Honour, in Love with Doodle. |
|
Courtiers, Guards, Rebels, Drums, Trumpets, Thunder and
Lightning. |
|
SCENE
the Court of King Arthur, and a Plain thereabouts.
ACT
I
SCENE I
SCENE, The Palace.
DOODLE, NOODLE.
DOODLE. Sure, such a 1Day as
this was never seen!
The
Sun himself, on this auspicious Day,
Shines, like
a Beau in a new Birth-Day Suit:
This down the Seams
embroider'd, that the Beams.
All Nature wears one
universal Grin.
NOODLE. This Day, O Mr. Doodle, is a Day
Indeed,
2a Day we never saw before.
The mighty
3Thomas Thumb victorious comes;
Millions
of Giants crowd his Chariot Wheels,
4Giants!
to whom the Giants in Guild-hall
Are Infant
Dwarfs. They frown, and foam, and roar,
While Thumb
regardless of their Noise rides on.
So some Cock-Sparrow
in a Farmer's Yard,
Hops at the Head of an huge Flock
of Turkeys.
DOODLE. When Goody Thumb first brought this Thomas
forth,
The Genius of our Land triumphant reign'd;
Then, then, Oh Arthur! did thy Genius
reign.
NOODLE. They tell me it is 5whisper'd in the Books
Of all our Sages, that this mighty Hero
By
Merlin's Art begot, hath not a Bone
Within
his Skin, but is a Lump of Gristle.
DOODLE. Then 'tis a Gristle of no mortal
kind,
Some God, my Noodle, stept into the Place
Of Gaffer Thumb, and more than 6half
begot,
This mightly Tom.
NOODLE. --7Sure
he was sent Express
From Heav'n, to be the Pillar
of our State.
Tho' small his Body be, so very small,
A Chairman's Leg is more than twice as large;
Yet
is his Soul like any Mountain big,
And as a Mountain
once brought forth a Mouse,
8So doth
this Mouse contain a mighty Mountain.
DOODLE. Mountain indeed! So terrible
his Name,
9The Giant Nurses frighten
Children with it;
And cry Tom Thumb is come,
and if you are
Naughty, will surely take the Child
away.
NOODLE. But hark! 10these Trumpets speak the King's
Approach.
DOODLE. He comes most luckily for my Petition.
Flourish
SCENE II
KING, QUEEN, GRIZZLE, NOODLE, DOODLE, FOODLE.
KING. 11Let nothing but a Face of Joy appear;
The
man who frowns this Day shall lose his Head,
That
he may have no Face to frown withal.
Smile, Dollalolla,
-- Ha! what wrinkled Sorrow,
12Hangs,
sits, lies, frowns upon thy knitted Brow?
Whence flow
those Tears fast down thy blubber'd Cheeks,
Like a
swoln Gutter, gushing through the Streets?
QUEEN. 13Excess
of Joy, my Lord, I've heard Folks say,
Gives Tears
as certain as Excess of Grief.
KING. If it be so, let all Men cry for Joy,
14'Till my whole Court be drowned with
their Tears;
Nay, till they overflow my utmost Land,
And leave me Nothing but the Sea to rule.
DOODLE.
My Liege, I a Petition have here got.
KING. Petition me no Petitions, Sir,
to-day;
Let other Hours be set apart for Business.
To-day it is our pleasure to be 15drunk,
And this our Queen shall be as drunk as We.
QUEEN.
(Tho' I already 16 half Seas over am)
If
the capacious Goblet overflow
With Arrack-Punch
-- 'fore George! I'll see it out;
Of Rum,
and Brandy, I'll not taste a Drop.
KING. Tho' Rack, in Punch,
Eight Shillings be a Quart,
And Rum and Brandy
be no more than Six,
Rather than quarrel, you shall
have your Will.
Trumpets.
But,
ha! the Warrior comes; the Great Tom Thumb;
The
little Hero, Giant-killing Boy,
Preserver of my Kingdom,
is arrived.
SCENE III
TOM THUMB, to them with
Officers, Prisoners, and Attendants.
KING. 17Oh!
welcome most, most welcome to my Arms,
What Gratitude
can thank away the Debt,
Your Valour lays upon me?
QUEEN. [Aside.] -- 18Oh! ye Gods!
TOM THUMB. When I'm not
thank'd at all, I'm thank'd enough,
19I've
done my Duty, and I've done no more.
QUEEN. [Aside] Was ever such a Godlike Creature seen!
KING. Thy Modesty's a 20Candle
to thy Merit,
It shines itself, and shews thy Merit
too.
But say, my Boy, where did'st thou leave the
Giants?
TOM THUMB. My Liege, without the Castle Gates they stand,
The
Castle Gates too low for their Admittance.
KING. What look they like?
TOM THUMB. Like Nothing but Themselves.
QUEEN. 21And sure
thou art like nothing but thy Self.
KING. [Aside.] Enough! the vast Idea fills
my Soul.
I see them, yes, I see them now before me:
The monst'rous, ugly, barb'rous Sons of Whores.
But,
Ha! what Form Majestick strikes our Eyes?
22So
perfect, that it seems to have been drawn
By all the
Gods in Council: So fair she is,
That surely at her
Birth the Council paus'd,
And then at length cry'd
out, This is a Woman!
TOM THUMB. Then were the Gods mistaken. -- She is not
A Woman, but a Giantess -- whom we
23With
much ado, have made a shift to hawl
Within the Town:
24for she is by a Foot,
Shorter
than all her Subject Giants were.
GLUMDALCA. We yesterday were both a Queen
and Wife,
One hundred thousand Giants own'd our Sway,
Twenty whereof were married to our self.
QUEEN. Oh!
happy State of Giantism -- where Husbands
Like Mushrooms
grow, whilst hapless we are forc'd
To be content,
nay, happy thought with one.
GLUMDALCA. But then to lose them all in one black
Day,
That the same Sun, which rising, saw me wife
To Twenty Giants, setting, should behold
Me
widow'd of them all. -- 25My worn out Heart,
That
Ship, leaks fast, and the great heavy Lading,
My Soul,
will quickly sink.
QUEEN. -- Madam, believe,
I
view your Sorrows with a Woman's Eye;
But learn to
bear them with what Strength you may,
To-morrow we
will have our Grenadiers
Drawn out before you, and
you then shall choose
What Husbands you think fit.
GLUMDALCA. -- 26Madam, I am
Your
most obedient, and most humble Servant.
KING. Think, mighty Princess, think
this Court your own,
Nor think the Landlord me, this
House my Inn;
Call for whate'er you will, you'll Nothing
pay.
27I feel a sudden Pain within
my Breast,
Nor know I whether it arise from Love,
Or only the Wind-Cholick. Time must shew.
Oh
Thumb! What do we to thy Valour owe?
Ask some
Reward, great as we can bestow.
TOM THUMB. 28I ask not Kingdoms,
I can conquer those,
I ask not Money, Money I've enough;
For what I've done, and what I mean to do,
For
Giants slain, and Giants yet unborn,
Which I will
slay -- if this be call'd a Debt,
Take my Receipt
in full -- I ask but this,
29To
Sun my self in Huncamunca's Eyes.
KING. Prodigious bold Request.
QUEEN. [Aside.] -- 30Be still my Soul.
TOM THUMB. 31My
heart is at the Threshold of your Mouth,
And waits
its answer there -- Oh! do not frown,
I've try'd,
to Reason's Tune, to tune my Soul,
But Love did overwind
and crack the String.
Tho' Jove in Thunder
had cry'd out, YOU SHAN'T,
I should have love'd her
still -- for oh strange fate,
Then when I lov'd her
least, I lov'd her most.
KING. It is resolv'd -- the Princess is your own.
TOM THUMB. 32Oh! happy, happy, happy, happy, Thumb!
QUEEN. Consider, Sir, reward your Soldiers Merit,
But
give not Huncamunca to Tom Thumb.
KING. Tom Thumb! Odzooks,
my wide extended Realm
Knows not a Name so glorious
as Tom Thumb.
Let Macedonia, Alexander
boast,
Let Rome her Caesar's and her
Scipio's show,
Her Messieurs France,
let Holland boast Mynheers,
Ireland
her O's, her Mac's let Scotland boast,
Let
England boast no other than Tom Thumb.
QUEEN. Tho' greater yet
his boasted Merit was,
He shall not have my Daughter,
that is Pos'.
KING. Ha! sayst thou Dollalolla?
QUEEN. -- I say
he shan't.
KING. 33Then by our Royal Self we swear you lye.
QUEEN. 34Who but a Dog, who but a Dog,
Would
use me as thou dost? Me, who have lain
35These
twenty Years so loving by thy Side.
But I will be
reveng'd. I'll hang my self,
Then tremble all who
did this Match persuade,
36For riding
on a Cat, from high I'll fall,
And squirt down Royal
Vengeance on you all.
FOODLE. 37Her Majesty the Queen is
in a Passion.
KING. 38Be she, or be she not -- I'll to the
Girl
And pave thy Way, oh Thumb -- Now, by
our self,
We were indeed a pretty King of Clouts,
To truckle to her Will -- For when by Force
Or
Art the Wife her Husband over-reaches,
Give him the
Peticoat, and her the Breeches.
TOM THUMB. 39Whisper, ye
Winds, that Huncamunca's mine;
Echoes repeat,
that Huncamunca's mine!
The dreadful Bus'ness
of the War is o'er,
And Beauty, heav'nly Beauty! crowns
my Toils,
I've thrown the bloody Garment now aside,
And Hymeneal Sweets invite my Bride.
So
when some Chimney-Sweeper, all the Day,
Hath through
dark Paths pursu'd the sooty Way,
At Night, to wash
his Hands and Face he flies,
And in his t'other Shirt
with his Brickdusta lies.
SCENE IV
GRIZZLE
solus.
GRIZZLE. 40Where art thou Grizzle?
where are now thy Glories?
Where are the Drums that
waken'd thee to Honour?
Greatness is a lac'd Coat
from Monmouth-Street,
Which Fortune lends us
for a Day to wear,
To-morrow puts it on another's
Back.
The spiteful Sun but yesterday survey'd.
His Rival, high as Saint Paul's Cupola;
Now
may he see me as Fleet-Ditch laid low.
SCENE V
QUEEN, GRIZZLE.
QUEEN. 41Teach me to scold,
prodigious-minded Grizzle.
Mountain of Treason,
ugly as the Devil,
Teach this confounded hateful Mouth
of mine,
To spout forth Words malicious as thy self,
Words, which might shame all Billingsgate to speak.
GRIZZLE. Far be it from my Pride, to think my Tongue
Your
Royal Lips can in that Art instruct,
Wherein you so
excel. But may I ask,
Without Offence, wherefore my
Queen would scold?
QUEEN. Wherefore, Oh! Blood and Thunder! han't you heard
(What ev'ry Corner of the Court resounds)
That
little Thumb will be a great Man made.
GRIZZLE. I heard it, I confess
-- for who, alas!
42Can always stop
his Ears -- but wou'd my Teeth,
By grinding Knives,
had first been set on Edge.
QUEEN. Would I had heard at the still Noon of
Night,
The Hallaloo of Fire in every Street!
Odsbobs!
I have a mind to hang my self,
To think I shou'd a
Grandmother be made,
By such a Raskal. -- Sure the
King forgets,
When in a Pudding, by his Mother put,
The Bastard, by a Tinker, on a Stile
Was
drop'd. -- O, good Lord Grizzle! can I bear
To
see him from a Pudding, mount the Throne?
Or can,
Oh can! my Huncamunca bear,
To take a Pudding's
Offspring to her Arms?
GRIZZLE. Oh Horror! Horror! Horror! cease my Queen,
43Thy Voice like twenty Screech-Owls,
wracks my Brain.
QUEEN. Then rouse thy Spirit -- we may yet prevent
This
hated Match. --
GRIZZLE. -- We will; 44not Fate it self,
Should it conspire with Thomas Thumb, should cause
it.
I'll swim through Seas; I'll ride upon the Clouds;
I'll dig the Earth; I'll blow out ev'ry Fire;
I'll
rave; I'll rant; I'll rise; I'll rush; I'll roar;
Fierce
as the Man whom 45smiling Dolphins bore,
From
the Prosaick to Poetick Shore.
I'll tear the Scoundrel
into twenty Pieces.
QUEEN. Oh, no! prevent the Match, but hurt him not;
For tho' I would not have him have my Daughter,
Yet
can we kill the Man that kill'd the Giants?
GRIZZLE. I tell you, Madam, it
was all a Trick,
He made the Giants first, and then
he kill'd them;
As Fox-hunters bring Foxes to the
Wood,
And then with Hounds they drive them out again.
QUEEN. How! have you seen no Giants? Are there not
Now,
in the Yard, ten thousand proper Giants?
GRIZZLE. 46Indeed,
I cannot positively tell,
But firmly do believe there
is not One.
QUEEN. Hence! from my Sight! thou Traitor, hie away;
By all my Stars! thou enviest Tom Thumb.
Go,
Sirrah! go, 47hie away! hie! -- thou art
A
setting Dog, be gone.
GRIZZLE. Madam, I go.
Tom
Thumb shall feel the Vengeance you have rais'd:
So,
when two Dogs are fighting in the Streets,
With a
third Dog, one of the two Dogs meets,
With angry Teeth,
he bites him to the Bone,
And this Dog smarts for
what the Dog had done.
SCENE VI.
QUEEN sola.
QUEEN. And whither shall I go? -- Alack-a-day!
I love
Tom Thumb -- but must not tell him so;
For
what's a Woman, when her Virtue's gone?
A Coat without
its Lace; Wig out of Buckle;
A Stocking with a Hole
in't -- I can't live
Without my Virtue, or without
Tom Thumb.
48Then let me
weigh them in two equal Scales,
In this Scale put
my Virtue, that, Tom Thumb.
Alas! Tom Thumb
is heavier than my Virtue.
But hold! -- perhaps I
may be left a Widow:
This Match prevented, then Tom
Thumb is mine:
In that dear Hope, I will forget
my Pain.
So, when some Wench
to Tothill-Bridewell's sent,
With beating Hemp,
and Flogging she's content:
She hopes in time to ease
her present Pain,
At length is free, and walks the
Streets again.
THE END OF THE FIRST ACT
ACT II
SCENE I
SCENE, The Street.
BAILIFF, FOLLOWER.
BAILIFF.
Come on, my trusty Follower, come on,
This Day discharge
thy Duty, and at Night
A Double Mug of Beer, and
Beer shall glad thee.
Stand here by me, this Way must
Noodle pass.
FOLLOWER. No more, no more, Oh Bailiff! every Word
Inspires my Soul with Virtue. -- Oh! I long
To
meet the Enemy in the Street -- and nab him;
To lay
arresting Hands upon his Back,
And drag him trembling
to the Spunging-House.
BAILIFF. There, when I have him, I will spunge upon
him.
49Oh! glorious Thought! by
the Sun, Moon, and Stars,
I will enjoy it, tho it
be in Thought!
Yes, yes, my Follower, I will enjoy
it.
FOLLOWER. Enjoy it then some other time, for now
Our
Prey approaches.
BAILIFF. Let us retire.
SCENE II.
TOM THUMB, NOODLE, BAILIFF, FOLLOWER.
TOM THUMB. Trust me my Noodle,
I am wondrous sick;
For tho' I love the gentle Huncamunca,
Yet at the Thought of Marriage, I grow pale;
For
oh! -- 50but swear thoul't keep it ever secret,
I
will unfold a Tale will make thee stare.
NOODLE. I swear by lovely Huncamunca's
Charms.
TOM THUMB. Then know -- 51my Grand-mamma hath often
said,
Tom Thumb, beware of Marriage.
NOODLE.
Sir, I blush
To think a Warrior great in Arms as you,
Should be affrighted by his Grand-mamma;
Can
an old woman's empty Dreams deter
The blooming Hero
from the Virgin's Arms?
Think of the Joy that will
your Soul alarm,
When in her fond Embraces clasp'd
you lie,
While on her panting Breast dissolv'd in
Bliss,
You pour out all Tom Thumb in every
Kiss.
TOM THUMB. Oh! Noodle, thou hast fir'd my eager Soul;
Spight
of my Grandmother, she shall be mine;
I'll hug, caress,
I'll eat her up with Love.
Whole Days, and Nights, and Years shall be too short
For our Enjoyment, every Sun shall rise
52Blushing,
to see us in our Bed together.
NOODLE. Oh Sir! this Purpose of your Soul pursue.
BAILIFF. Oh, Sir! I have an Action against you.
NOODLE. At whose Suit is it?
BAILIFF. At your Taylor's, Sir.
Your Taylor put this
Warrant in my Hands,
And I arrest you, Sir, at his
Commands.
TOM THUMB. Ha! Dogs! Arrest my Friend before my Face!
Think
you Tom Thumb will suffer this Disgrace!
But
let vain Cowards threaten by their Word,
Tom Thumb
shall shew his Anger by his Sword.
Kills
the BAILIFF and his FOLLOWER.
BAILIFF. Oh, I am slain!
FOLLOWER.
I am murthered also,
And to the Shades, the dismal
Shades below,
My Bailiff's faithful Follower I go.
NOODLE. 53Go then to Hell, like Rascals as you are,
And
give our Service to the Bailiffs there.
TOM THUMB. Thus perish all the Bailiffs
in the Land,
Till Debtors at Noon-Day shall walk the
streets,
And no one fear a Bailiff or his Writ.
SCENE III.
The Princess Huncamunca's Apartment.
HUNCAMUNCA, CLEORA, MUSTACHA.
HUNCAMUNCA. 54Give
me some Musick -- see that it be sad.
CLEORA sings.
Cupid, ease a Love-sick Maid,
Bring thy Quiver to her Aid;
With equal Ardor wound the Swain:
Beauty should never sigh in vain.
II.
Let him feel the pleasing Smart,
Drive thy Arrow thro' his Heart;
When One you wound, you then destroy;
When Both you kill, you kill with Joy.
HUNCAMUNCA. 55O,
Tom Thumb! Tom Thumb! wherefore art thou Tom Thumb?
Why
had'st thou not been born of Royal Race?
Why had not
mighty Bantam been thy Father?
Or else the
King of Brentford, Old or New?
MUSTACHA. I am surpriz'd that
your Highness can give your
self a Moment's Uneasiness
about that little insignificant Fellow,
56Tom
Thumb the Great -- One properer for a Play-thing, than
a
Husband. -- Were he my Husband, his Horns should be as long
as
his Body. -- If you had fallen in Love with a Grenadier, I
should
not have wonder'd at it -- If you had fallen in Love with
Something;
but to fall in Love with Nothing!
HUNCAMUNCA. Cease, my Mustacha, on
thy Duty cease.
The Zephyr, when in flowry
Vales it plays,
Is not so soft, so sweet as Thummy's
Breath.
The Dove is not so gentle to its Mate.
MUSTACHA. The Dove is every bit as proper for a Husband --
Alas!
Madam, there's not a Beau about the Court looks so little
like
a Man -- He is a perfect Butterfly, a Thing without Substance,
and
almost without Shadow too.
HUNCAMUNCA. This Rudeness is unseasonable, desist;
Or, I shall think this Railing comes from Love.
Tom
Thumb's a Creature of that charming Form,
That
no one can abuse, unless they love him.
MUSTACHA. Madam, the King.
SCENE IV
KING, HUNCAMUNCA.
KING. Let all but Huncamunca
leave the Room.
Exit CLEORA, and MUSTACHA.
Daughter,
I have observ'd of late some Grief,
Unusual in your
Countenance -- your Eyes,
57That,
like two open Windows, us'd to shew
The lovely Beauty
of the Rooms within,
Have now two Blinds before them
-- What is the Cause?
Say, have you not enough of
Meat and Drink?
We've giv'n strict Orders not to have
you stinted.
HUNCAMUNCA. Alas! my Lord, I value not my self,
That
once I eat two Fowls and half a Pig;
58Small
is that Praise; but oh! a Maid may want,
What she can
neither eat nor drink.
KING. What's that?
HUNCAMUNCA. 59
O spare my Blushes; but I mean a Husband.
KING. If that be all, I have provided
one,
A husband great in Arms, whose warlike Sword
Streams with the yellow Blood of slaughter'd Giants.
Whose Name in Terrâ Incognitâ is known,
Whose Valour, Wisdom, Virtue make a Noise,
Great
as the Kettle-Drums of twenty Armies.
HUNCAMUNCA. Whom does my Royal Father
mean?
KING. Tom Thumb.
HUNCAMUNCA. Is it possible?
KING. Ha!
the Window-Blinds are gone,
60A
Country Dance of Joy is in your Face,
Your Eyes spit
Fire, your Cheeks grow red as Beef.
HUNCAMUNCA. O, there's a Magick-musick
in that Sound,
Enough to turn me into Beef indeed.
Yes, I will own, since licens'd by your Word,
I'll
own Tom Thumb the Cause of all my Grief.
For
him I've sigh'd, I've wept, I've gnaw'd my Sheets.
KING. Oh! thou shalt gnaw
thy tender Sheets no more,
A Husband thou shalt have
to mumble now.
HUNCAMUNCA. Oh! happy Sound! henceforth, let no one tell,
That Huncamunca shall lead Apes in Hell.
Oh!
I am over-joy'd!
KING. I see thou art.
61Joy
lightens in thy Eyes, and thunders from thy Brows;
Transports,
like Lightning, dart along thy Soul,
As Small-shot
thro' a hedge.
HUNCAMUNCA. Oh! say not small.
KING. This happy News shall
on our Tongue ride Post,
Our self will bear the happy
News to Thumb.
Yet think not, Daughter, that
your powerful Charms
Must still detain the Hero from
his Arms;
Various his Duty, various his Delight;
Now is his Turn to kiss, and now to fight;
And
now to kiss again. So mighty 62Jove,
When
with excessive thund'ring tir'd above,
Comes down
to Earth, and takes a Bit -- and then,
Flies to his
Trade of Thund'ring, back again.
SCENE V
GRIZZLE,
HUNCAMUNCA.
63GRIZZLE. Oh, Huncamunca, Huncamunca,
oh,
Thy pouting Breasts, like Kettle-Drums of Brass,
Beat everlasting loud Alarms of Joy;
As
bright as Brass they are, and oh, as hard;
Oh Huncamunca,
Huncamunca! oh!
HUNCAMUNCA. Ha! do'st thou know me, Princess as I am,
64That thus of me you dare to make your
Game.
GRIZZLE. Oh Huncamunca, well I know that you
A
Princess are, and a King's Daughter too.
But Love
no Meanness scorns, no Grandeur fears,
Love often
Lords into the Cellar bears,
And bids the sturdy Porter
come up Stairs.
For what's too high for Love, or what's
too low?
Oh Huncamunca, Huncamunca, oh!
HUNCAMUNCA. But granting all you say of Love were true,
My
Love, alas! is to another due!
In vain to me, a Suitoring
you come;
For I'm already promis'd to Tom Thumb.
GRIZZLE. And can my Princess such a Durgen wed,
One
fitter for your Pocket than your Bed!
Advis'd by me,
the worthless Baby shun,
Or you will ne'er be brought
to bed of one.
Oh take me to thy Arms and never flinch,
Who am a Man by Jupiter ev'ry Inch.
65Then
while in Joys together lost we lie
I'll press thy
Soul while Gods stand wishing by.
HUNCAMUNCA. If, Sir, what you insinuate
you prove
All Obstacles of Promise you remove;
For all Engagements to a Man must fall,
Whene'er
that Man is prov'd no Man at all.
GRIZZLE. Oh let him seek some Dwarf, some
fairy Miss,
Where no Joint-stool must lift him to
the Kiss.
But by the Stars and Glory, you appear
Much fitter for a Prussian Grenadier;
One
Globe alone, on Atlas Shoulders rests,
Two
Globes are less than Huncamunca's Breasts:
The
Milky-way is not so white, that's flat,
And sure thy
Breasts are full as large as that.
HUNCAMUNCA. Oh, Sir, so strong your Eloquence
I find,
It is impossible to be unkind.
GRIZZLE.
Ah! speak that o'er again, and let the 66Sound
From
one Pole to another Pole rebound;
The Earth and Sky,
each be a Battledoor
And keep the Sound, that Shuttlecock,
up an Hour;
To Doctors Commons, for a License
I,
Swift as an Arrow from a Bow will fly.
HUNCAMUNCA.
Oh no! lest some Disaster we should meet,
'Twere better
to be marry'd at the Fleet.
GRIZZLE. Forbid it, all ye Powers, a Princess
should
By that vile Place, contaminate her Blood;
My quick Return shall to my Charmer prove,
I
travel on the 67Post-Horses of love.
HUNCAMUNCA. Those Post-Horses to me will seem too slow,
Tho'
they should fly swift as the Gods, when they
Ride
on behind that Post-Boy, Opportunity.
SCENE VI
TOM THUMB, HUNCAMUNCA.
TOM THUMB. Where is my Princess, where's my Huncamunca?
Where are those Eyes, those Cardmatches of Love,
That
68Light up all with Love my waxen Soul?
Where
is that Face which artful Nature made
69In
the same Moulds where Venus self was cast?
HUNCAMUNCA. 70Oh!
What is Musick to the Ear that's deaf,
Or a Goose-Pye
to him that has no taste?
What are these Praises now
to me, since I
Am promis'd to another?
TOM THUMB.
Ha! promis'd.
HUNCAMUNCA. Too sure; it's written in the Book of Fate.
TOM THUMB. 71Then I will tear away the Leaf
Wherein
it's writ, or if Fate won't allow
So large a Gap within
its Journal-Book,
I'll blot it out at least.
SCENE VII
GLUMDALCA, TOM THUMB, HUNCAMUNCA.
GLUMDALCA. 72I need not ask if you are Huncamunca,
Your Brandy Nose proclaims --
HUNCAMUNCA. I am a
Princess;
Nor need I ask who you are.
GLUMDALCA.
A Giantess;
The Queen of those who made and unmade
Queens.
HUNCAMUNCA. The Man, whose chief Ambition is to be
My
Sweetheart, hath destroy'd these mightly Giants.
GLUMDALCA. Your Sweetheart?
do'st thou think the Man, who once
Hath worn my easy
Chains, will e'er wear thine?
HUNCAMUNCA. Well may your chains be easy, since
if Fame
Says true, they have been try'd on twenty
Husbands.
73The Glove or Boot, so
many times pull'd on,
May well sit easy on the Hand
or Foot.
GLUMDALCA. I glory in the Number, and when I
Sit
poorly down, like thee, content with one,
Heaven change
this Face for one as bad as thine.
HUNCAMUNCA. Let me see nearer what this
Beauty is,
That captivates the Heart of Men by Scores.
Holds a Candle to her Face.
Oh! Heaven, thou
art as ugly as the Devil.
GLUMDALCA. You'd give the best of Shoes within your
Shop,
To be but half so handsome.
HUNCAMUNCA.
-- Since you come
74To that, I'll
put my Beauty to the Test;
Tom Thumb, I'm yours,
if you with me will go.
GLUMDALCA. Oh! stay, Tom Thumb, and you alone
shall fill
That Bed where twenty giants us'd to lie.
TOM THUMB. In the Balcony that o'er-hangs the Stage,
I've
seen a Whore two 'Prentices engage;
One half a Crown
does in his Fingers hold,
The other shews a little
Piece of Gold;
She the Half Guinea wisely does purloin,
And leaves the larger and the baser Coin.
Exeunt all but GLUMDALCA.
GLUMDALCA. Left, scorn'd, and loath'd for
such a Chit as this;
75I feel the
Storm that's rising in my Mind,
Tempests, and Whirlwinds
rise, and rowl and roar.
I'm all within a Hurricane,
as if
76The World's four Winds were
pent within my Carcass.
77Confusion,
Horror, Murder, Guts and Death.
SCENE VIII
KING, GLUMDALCA.
KING. 78Sure never was so sad a King as I,
79My
Life is worn as ragged as a Coat
A Beggar wears; a
Prince should put it off,
80To love
a Captive and a Giantess.
Oh Love! Oh Love! how great
a King art thou!
My Tongue's thy Trumpet, and thou
Trumpetest,
Unknown to me, within me. 81oh
Glumdalca!
Heaven thee design'd a Giantess
to make,
But an Angelick Soul was shuffled in.
82I am a Multitude of Walking Griefs,
And only on her Lips the Balm is found,
83To
spread a Plaister that might cure them all.
GLUMDALCA. What do I hear?
KING. What do I see?
GLUMDALCA. Oh!
KING. Ah!
84GLUMDALCA.
Ah Wretched Queen!
KING. Oh! Wretched King!
GLUMDALCA. Ah!
KING. 85Oh!
SCENE IX
TOM THUMB, HUNCAMUNCA, PARSON.
PARSON.
Happy's the Wooing, that's not long adoing;
For if
I guess aright, Tom Thumb this Night
Shall
give a Being to a New Tom Thumb.
TOM THUMB. It shall be my Endeavour so
to do.
HUNCAMUNCA. Oh! fie upon you, Sir, you make me blush.
TOM THUMB.
It is the Virgin's Sign, and suits you well:
86I
know not where, nor how, nor what I am,
87I'm
so transported, I have lost my self.
HUNCAMUNCA. Forbid it, all ye Stars,
for you're so small,
That were you lost, you'd find
your self no more.
So the unhappy Sempstress once,
they say,
Her needle in a Pottle, lost, of Hay;
In vain she look'd, and look'd, and made her Moan,
For ah, the Needle was for ever gone.
PARSON. Long
may they live, and love, and propagate,
Till the whole
Land be peopled with Tom Thumbs.
88So
when the Cheshire Cheese a Maggot breeds,
Another
and another still succeeds.
By thousands, and ten
thousands they increase,
Till one continued Maggot
fills the rotten Cheese.
SCENE X
NOODLE, and then
GRIZZLE.
NOODLE. 89Sure Nature means to break her solid
Chain,
Or else unfix the World, and in a Rage,
To hurl it from its Axle-tree and Hinges;
All
things are so confus'd, the King's in Love,
The Queen
is drunk, the Princess married is.
GRIZZLE. Oh! Noodle, hast thou Huncamunca
seen?
NOODLE. I've seen a Thousand Sights this day, where none
Are
by the wonderful Bitch herself outdone,
The King,
the Queen, and all the Court are Sights.
GRIZZLE. 90D------n
your Delay, you Trifler, are you drunk, ha?
I will
not hear one Word but Huncamunca.
NOODLE. By this time she is married
to Tom Thumb.
GRIZZLE. 91My Huncamunca.
NOODLE. Your Huncamunca.
Tom Thumb's Huncamunca,
every Man's Huncamunca.
GRIZZLE. If this be true all Womankind are
damn'd.
NOODLE. If it be not, may I be so my self.
GRIZZLE. See where
she comes! I'll not believe a Word
Against that Face,
upon whose 92ample Brow,
Sits Innocence
with Majesty Enthron'd.
GRIZZLE, HUNCAMUNCA.
GRIZZLE. Where
has my Huncamunca been? See here
The Licence
in my Hand!
HUNCAMUNCA. Alas! Tom Thumb.
GRIZZLE. Why dost thou
mention him?
HUNCAMUNCA. Ah me! Tom Thumb.
GRIZZLE. What means
my lovely Huncamunca?
HUNCAMUNCA. Hum!
GRIZZLE. Oh! Speak.
HUNCAMUNCA. Hum!
GRIZZLE. Ha! your every Word is Hum
93You
force me still to answer you Tom Thumb.
Tom
Thumb, I'm on the Rack, I'm in a Flame,
94Tom
Thumb, Tom Thumb, Tom Thumb, you love the Name;
So
pleasing is that Sound, that were you dumb
You still
would find a Voice to cry Tom Thumb.
HUNCAMUNCA. Oh! Be not hasty to
proclaim my Doom,
My ample Heart for more than one
has Room,
A Maid like me, Heaven form'd at least for
two,
95I married him, and now I'll
marry you.
GRIZZLE. Ha! dost thou own thy Falshood to my Face?
Think'st
thou that I will share thy Husband's place,
Since
to that Office one cannot suffice,
And since you scorn
to dine one single Dish on,
Go, get your Husband put
into Commission,
Commissioners to discharge, (ye Gods)
it fine is,
The duty of a Husband to your Highness;
Yet think not long, I will my Rival bear,
Or
unreveng'd the slighted Willow wear;
The gloomy, brooding
Tempest now confin'd.
Within the hollow Caverns of
my Mind,
In dreadful Whirl, shall rowl along the Coasts,
Shall thin the Land of all the Men it boasts,
96And
cram up ev'ry Chink of Hell with Ghosts.
97So
have I seen, in some dark Winter's Day,
A sudden Storm
rush down the Sky's High-Way,
Sweep thro' the streets
with terrible ding dong,
Gush thro' the Spouts, and
wash whole Crowds along.
The crowded Shops, the thronging
Vermin skreen,
Together cram the Dirty and the Clean,
And not one Shoe-Boy in the Street is seen.
HUNCAMUNCA.
Oh! fatal Rashness should his Fury slay,
My hapless
Bridegroom on his Wedding Day;
I, who this Morn, of
two chose which to wed,
May go again this Night alone
to Bed;
98So have I seen some wild
unsettled Fool,
Who had her Choice of this, and that
Joint Stool;
To give the Preference to either, loath
And fondly coveting to sit on both:
While
the two Stools her Sitting Part confound,
Between
'em both fall Squat upon the Ground.
THE END OF THE SECOND ACT.
ACT III
SCENE I
SCENE, King Arthur's Palace.
99GHOST solus.
GHOST. Hail! ye black Horrors
of Midnight's Midnoon!
Ye Fairies, Goblins, Bats and
Screech-Owls, Hail!
And Oh! ye mortal Watchmen, whose
hoarse Throats
Th' Immortal Ghosts dread Croakings
counterfeit,
All Hail! -- Ye dancing Fantoms, who
by Day,
Are some condemn'd to fast, some feast in
Fire;
Now play in Church-yards, skipping o'er the
Graves,
To the 100loud Musick of
the silent Bell,
All Hail!
SCENE
II
KING, and GHOST.
KING. What Noise is this? --
What Villain dares,
At this dread Hour, with Feet
and Voice prophane,
Disturb our Royal Walls?
GHOST.
One who defines
Thy empty Power to hurt him; 101one
who dares
Walk in thy Bed-Chamber.
KING. Presumptuous
Slave!
Thou diest!
GHOST. Threaten others with
that Word,
102I am a Ghost, and
am already dead.
KING. Ye Stars! 'tis well; were thy last Hour to come,
This Moment had been it; 103yet by
thy Shrowd
I'll pull thee backward, squeeze thee to
a Bladder,
'Till thou dost groan thy Nothingness away.
GHOST retires.
Thou fly'st! 'Tis well.
104I thought what was the Courage of
a Ghost!
Yet, dare not, on thy Life -- Why say I that,
Since Life thou hast not? -- Dare not walk again,
Within these Walls, on pain of the Red-Sea.
For, if henceforth I ever find thee here,
As
sure, sure as a Gun, I'll have thee laid --
GHOST. Were the Red-Sea,
a Sea of Holland's Gin,
The Liquor (when alive)
whose very Smell
I did detest, did loath -- yet for
the Sake
Of Thomas Thumb, I would be laid therein.
KING. Ha! said you?
GHOST. Yes, my Liege, I said Tom Thumb,
Whose
Father's Ghost I am -- once not unknown
To mighty
Arthur. But, I see, 'tis true,
The dearest
Friend, when dead, we all forget.
KING. 'Tis he, it is the honest Gaffer Thumb.
Oh, let me press thee in my eager Arms,
Thou
best of Ghosts! Thou something more than Ghost!
GHOST. Would I were Something
more, that we again
Might feel each other in the warm
Embrace.
But now I have th' Advantage of my King,
105For I feel thee, whilst thou dost
not feel me.
KING. But say, 106thou dearest Air, Oh! say,
what Dread,
Important Business sends thee back to
Earth?
GHOST. Oh! then prepare to hear -- which, but to hear,
Is
full enough to send thy spirit hence.
Thy Subjects
up in Arms, by Grizzle led,
Will, ere the rosy
finger'd Morn shall ope
The Shutters of the Sky, before
the Gate
Of this thy Toyal Palace, swarming spread:
107So have I seen the Bees in Clusters
swarm,
So have I seen the Stars in frosty Nights,
So have I seen the Sand in windy Days,
So
have I seen the Ghosts on Pluto's Shore,
So
have I seen the Flowers in Spring arise,
So have I
seen the Leaves in Autumn fall,
So have I seen
the Fruits in Summer smile,
So have I seen the Snow
in Winter frown.
KING. D------n all thou'st seen! -- Dost thou, beneath the
Shape
Of Gaffer Thumb, come hither to abuse
me,
With Similies to keep me on the Rack?
Hence
-- or by all the Torments of thy Hell,
108I'll
run thee thro' the Body, tho' thou'st none.
GHOST. Arthur, beware;
I must this Moment hence,
Not frighted by your Voice,
but by the Cocks;
Arthur beware, beware, beware,
beware!
Strive to avert thy yet impending Fate;
For if thou'rt kill'd To-day
To-morrow
all thy Care will come too late.
SCENE III
KING solus.
KING. Oh! stay, and leave me not uncertain thus!
And
whilst thou tellest me what's like my Fate,
Oh, teach
me how I may avert it too!
Curst be the Man who first a Simile made!
Curst, ev'ry Bard who writes! -- So have
I seen
Those whose Comparisons are just and true,
And those who liken things not like at all.
The
Devil is happy, that the whole Creation
Can furnish
out no Simile to his Fortune.
SCENE IV
KING, QUEEN.
QUEEN. What is the Cause, my Arthur, that you steal
Thus
silently from Dollallolla's Breast?
Why dost
thou leave me in the 109Dark alone,
When
well thou know'st I am afraid of Sprites?
KING. Oh Dollallolla! do
not blame my Love;
I hop'd the Fumes of Last Night's
Punch had laid
Thy lovely Eye-lids fast. -- But, Oh!
I find
There is no Power in Drams, to quiet Wives;
Each Morn, as the returning Sun, they wake,
And
shine upon their Husbands.
QUEEN. Think, Oh think!
What a Surprize it must be to the Sun,
Rising,
to find the vanish'd World away.
What less can be
the wretched Wife's Surprize,
When, stretching out
her Arms to fold thee fast,
She folds her useless
Bolster in her Arms.
110Think,
think on that -- Oh! think, think well on that.
I
do remember also to have read
111In
Dryden's Ovid's Metamorphosis,
That Jove
in Form inanimate did lie
With beauteous Danae;
and trust me, Love
112I fear'd
the Bolster might have been a Jove.
KING. Come to my Arms, most virtuous
of thy Sex;
Oh Dollallolla! were all Wives
like thee,
So many Husbands never had worn Horns.
Should Huncamunca of thy Worth partake,
Tom
Thumb indeed were blest. -- Oh fatal Name!
For
didst thou know one Quarter what I know,
Then would'st
thou know -- Alas! what thou would'st know!
QUEEN. What can I gather hence?
Why dost thou speak
Like Men who carry Raree-Shows
about,
Now you shall see, Gentlemen, what you shall
see?
O tell me more, or thou hast told too much.
SCENE V
KING, QUEEN, NOODLE.
NOODLE. Long
life attend your Majesties serene,
Great Arthur,
King, and Dollallolla, Queen!
Lord Grizzle, with a bold, rebellious Crowd,
Advances to the
Palace, threat'ning loud,
Unless the Princess be deliver'd
straight,
And the victorious Thumb, without
his Pate,
They are resolv'd to batter down the Gate.
SCENE VI
KING, QUEEN, HUNCAMUNCA, NOODLE.
KING. See where the Princess comes! Where is Tom Thumb?
HUNCAMUNCA.
Oh! Sir, about an Hour and half ago
He sallied out
to encounter with the Foe,
And swore, unless his Fate
had him mis-led,
From Grizzle's Shoulders to
cut off his Head,
And serve't up with your Chocolate
in Bed.
KING. 'Tis well, I find one Devil told us both.
Come
Dollallolla, Huncamunca, come,
Within we'll
wait for the victorious Thumb;
In Peace and
Safety we secure may stay,
While to his Arm we trust
the bloody Fray;
Tho' Men and Giants should conspire
with Gods,
113He is alone equal
to all these Odds.
QUEEN. He is indeed, a 114Helmet to
us all,
While he supports, we need not fear to fall;
His Arm dispatches all things to our Wish,
And
serves up every Foe's Head in a Dish.
Void is the
Mistress of the House of Care,
While the good Cook
presents the Bill of Fare;
Whether the Cod, that Northern
King of Fish,
Or Duck, or Goose, or Pig, adorn the
Dish.
No Fears the Number of her Guests afford,
But at her Hour she sees the Dinner on the Board.
SCENE VII
< SCENE >, a Plain
.
Lord GRIZZLE, FOODLE,
and Rebels.
GRIZZLE. Thus far our Arms with Victory are crown'd;
For tho' we have not fought, yet we have found
115No
Enemy to fight withal.
FOODLE. Yet I,
Methinks,
would willingly avoid this Day,
116This
First of April, to engage our Foes.
GRIZZLE. This Day, of all the Days
of th' Year, I'd choose,
For on this Day my Grandmother
was born.
Gods! I will make Tom Thumb an April
Fool;
117Will teach his Wit an
Errand it ne'er knew,
And send it Post to the Elysian
Shades.
FOODLE. I'm glad to find our Army is so stout,
Nor
does it move my Wonder less than Joy.
GRIZZLE. 118What
Friends we have, and how we came so strong,
I'll softly
tell you as we march along.
SCENE VIII
Thunder and
Lightning.
TOM THUMB, GLUMDALCA cum suis.
TOM THUMB.
Oh, Noodle! hast thou seen a Day like this?
119The
unborn Thunder rumbles o'er our Heads,
120As
if the Gods meant to unhinge the World;
And Heaven
and Earth in wild Confusion hurl;
Yet will I boldly
tread the tott'ring Ball.
MERLIN. Tom Thumb!
TOM THUMB. What Voice
is this I hear?
MERLIN. Tom Thumb!
TOM THUMB. Again it calls.
MERLIN. Tom Thumb!
GLUMDALCA. It calls again.
TOM THUMB. Appear,
whoe'er thou art, I fear thee not.
MERLIN. Thou hast no Cause to fear, I am
thy Friend,
Merlin by Name, a Conjuror by Trade,
And to my Art thou dost thy Being owe.
TOM THUMB.
How!
MERLIN. Hear then the mystick Getting of Tom Thumb.
121His
Father was a Ploughman plain,
His
Mother milk'd the Cow;
And
yet the way to get a Son,
This
Couple knew not how.
Until
such time the good old Man
To
learned Merlin goes,
And
there to him, in great Distress,
In
secret manner shows;
How
in his Heart he wish'd to have
A
Child, in time to come,
To
be his Heir, tho' it might be
No
biger than his Thumb:
Of
which old Merlin was foretold,
That
he his Wish should have;
And
so a Son of Stature small,
The
Charmer to him gave.
Thou'st heard the past, look
up and see the future.
TOM THUMB. 122Lost in Amazement's
Gulph, my Senses sink;
See there, Glumdalca,
see another 123Me!
GLUMDALCA. O Sight of Horror! see, you
are devour'd
By the expanded Jaws of a red Cow.
MERLIN. Let not these Sights deter thy noble Mind,
124For
lo! a Sight more glorious courts thy Eyes;
See from
a far a Theatre arise;
There Ages yet unborn, shall
Tribute pay
To the Heroick Actions of this Day:
Then Buskin Tragedy at length shall choose
Thy
Name the best Supporter of her Muse.
TOM THUMB. Enough, let every warlike
Musick sound,
We fall contented, if we fall renown'd.
SCENE IX
Lord GRIZZLE, FOODLE, Rebels, on one
Side.
TOM THUMB, GLUMDALCA, on the other.
FOODLE.
At length the Enemy advances nigh,
125I
hear them with my Ear, and see them with my Eye.
GRIZZLE. Draw all your Swords,
for Liberty we fight,
126And Liberty
the Mustard is of Life.
TOM THUMB. Are you the Man whom Men fam'd Grizzle
name?
GRIZZLE. 127Are you the much more fam'd Tom Thumb?
TOM THUMB. The same.
GRIZZLE. Come on, our Worth upon our selves we'll prove,
For Liberty I fight.
TOM THUMB. And I for Love.
A bloody Engagement between the two Armies here, Drums beating, Trumpets sounding,
Thunder and Lightning. -- They fight off and on several times. Some fall. GRIZZLE
and GLUMDALCA remain.
GLUMDALCA.
Turn, Coward, turn, nor from a Woman fly.
GRIZZLE. Away -- thou art too ignoble
for my Arm.
GLUMDALCA. Have at thy Heart.
GRIZZLE. Nay then, I thrust
at thine.
GLUMDALCA. You push too well, you've run me thro' the Guts,
And I am dead.
GRIZZLE. Then there's an End of One.
TOM THUMB. When thou art dead, then there's an End of Two,
128Villain.
GRIZZLE. Tom Thumb!
TOM THUMB. Rebel!
GRIZZLE. Tom Thumb!
TOM THUMB. Hell!
GRIZZLE. Huncamunca!
TOM THUMB. Thou hast it there.
GRIZZLE. Too sure I feel it.
TOM THUMB. To Hell then, like a Rebel as you
are,
And give my Service to the Rebels there.
GRIZZLE. Triumph not, Thumb, nor think thou shalt enjoy
Thy
Huncamunca undisturb'd, I'll send
129My
Ghost to fetch her to the other World;
130It
shall but bait at Heaven, and then return.
131But,
ha! I feel Death rumbling in my Brains,
132Some
kinder Spright knocks softly at my Soul,
And gently
whispers it to haste away:
I come, I come, most willingly
I come.
133So; when some City Wife,
for Country Air,
To Hampstead, or to Highgate
does repair;
Her, to make haste, Her Husband does implore,
And cries, My Dear, the Coach is
at the Door.
With equal Wish, desirous to be gone,
She gets into the Coach, and then she cries -- Drive
on!
TOM THUMB. With those last Words 134he vomited
his Soul,
Which, 135like whipt
Cream, the Devil will swallow down.
Bear off the Body,
and cut off the Head,
Which I will to the King in
Triumph lug;
Rebellion's dead, and now I'll go to
Breakfast.
SCENE X
KING, QUEEN, HUNCAMUNCA, and
Courtiers.
KING. Open the Prisons, set the Wretched free,
And bid our Treasurer disburse six Pounds
To
pay their Debts. -- Let no one weep To-day.
Come, Dollallolla;
136Curse that odious Name!
It is
so long, it asks an Hour to speak it.
By Heavens!
I'll change it into Doll, or Loll,
Or
any other civil Monosyllable
That will not tire my
Tongue. -- Come, sit thee down.
Here seated, let us
view the Dancer's Sports;
Bid 'em advance. This is
the Wedding-Day
Of Princess Huncamunca and
Tom Thumb;
Tom Thumb! who wins two Victories
137To-day,
And this way marches,
bearing Grizzle's Head.
A
Dance here.
NOODLE. Oh! monstrous, dreadful, terrible, Oh! Oh!
Deaf be my Ears, for ever blind my Eyes!
Dumb
be my Tongue! Feet lame! All senses lost!
138Howl
Wolves, grunt Bears, hiss Snakes, shriek all ye Ghosts!
KING. What does the
Blockhead mean?
NOODLE. I mean, my Liege
139Only
to grace my Tale with decent Horror;
Whilst from my
Garret, twice two Stories high,
I look'd abroad into
the Streets below;
I saw Tom Thumb attended
by the Mob,
Twice Twenty Shoe-Boys, twice two Dozen
Links,
Chairmen and Porters, Hackney-Coachmen, Whores;
Aloft he bore the grizly Head of Grizzle;
When
of a sudden thro' the Streets there came
A Cow, of
larger than the usual Size,
And in a Moment -- guess,
Oh! guess the rest!
And in a Moment swallow'd up Tom
Thumb.
KING. Shut up again the Prisons, bid my Treasurer
Not
give three Farthings out -- hang all the Culprits,
Guilty
or not -- no matter -- Ravish Virgins,
Go bid the Schoolmasters
whip all their Boys;
Let Lawyers, Parsons, and Physicians
loose,
To rob, impose on, and to kill the World.
NOODLE. Her Majesty the Queen is in a Swoon.
QUEEN. Not so much in a swoon,
but I have still
Strength to reward the Messenger
of ill News.
Kills
NOODLE.
NOODLE. Oh! I am slain.
CLEORA. My Lover's kill'd, I will
revenge him so.
Kills
the QUEEN.
HUNCAMUNCA. My Mamma kill'd! vile Murtheress, beware.
Kills
CLEORA.
DOODLE. This for an old Grudge, to thy Heart.
Kills
HUNCAMUNCA.
MUSTACHA. And this
I drive to
thine, Oh Doodle! for a new one.
Kills
DOODLE.
KING. Ha! Murtheress vile, take that
Kills
MUSTACHA.
140And take thou this.
Kills
himself, and falls.
So when the Child whom Nurse
from Danger guards,
Sends Jack for Mustard
with a Pack of Cards;
Kings, Queens and Knaves throw
one another down,
'Till the whole Pack lies scatter'd
and o'erthrown;
So all our Pack upon the Floor is
cast,
And all I boast is -- that I fall the last.
Dies.
FINIS.
NOTES
1 Corneille recommends some very remarkable Day, wherein to fix the Action of a Tragedy. This the best of our Tragical Writers have understood to mean a Day remarkable for the Serenity of the Sky, or what we generally call a fine Summer's Day: So that according to this their Exposition, the same Months are proper for Tragedy, which are proper for Pastoral. Most of our celebrated English Tragedies, as Cato, Mariamne, Tamerlane, &c. begin with their Observations on the Morning. Lee seems to have come the nearest to this beautiful Description of our Authors;
The Morning dawns with an unwonted Crimson,
The Flowers all odorous seem, the Garden Birds
Sing louder, and the laughing Sun ascends,
The gaudy Earth with an unusual brightness,
All Nature smiles. (Caes. Borg.)
Massinissa in the new Sophonisba is also a Favourite of the Sun;
-- The Sun too seems
As conscious of my Joy with broader Eye
To look abroad the World, and all things smile
Like Sophonisba.
Memnon in the Persian Princess, makes the Sun decline rising, that he may not peep on Objects, which would prophane his Brightness.
-- The Morning rises slow,
And all those ruddy Streaks that us'd to paint
The Days Approach, are lost in Clouds as if
The Horrors of the Night had sent 'em back,
To warn the Sun, he should not leave the Sea,
To Peep, &c.
2 This Line is highly conformable to the beautiful
Simplicity of the Antients. It hath been copied by almost every Modern,
Not
to be is not to be in Woe. (State
of Innocence.)
Love
is not Sin but where 'tis sinful Love. (Don
Sebastian.)
Nature
is Nature, Laelius. (Sophonisba.)
Men
are but Men, we did not make our selves. (Revenge.)
3 Dr. B------y reads the mighty Tall-mast
Thumb. Mr. D------s the mighty Thumping Thumb. Mr. T------d reads Thundering.
I think Thomas more agreeable to the great Simplicity so apparent in
our Author.
4 That learned Historian Mr. S------n in the third
Number of his Criticism on our Author, takes great Pains to explode this Passage.
It is, says he, difficult to guess what Giants are here meant, unless the Giant
Despair in the Pilgrim's Progress, or the Giant Greatness in the
Royal Villain; for I have heard of no other sort of Giants in the Reign
of King Arthur. Petrus Burmanus makes three Tom Thumbs, one whereof
he supposes to have been the same Person whom the Greeks called Hercules,
and that by these Giants are to be understood the Centaurs slain by that
Heroe. Another Tom Thumb he contends to have been no other than the Hermes
Trismegistus of the Antients. The third Tom Thumb he places under
the Reign of King Arthur, to which third Tom Thumb, says he, the
Actions of the other two were attributed. Now tho' I know that this Opinion
is supported by an Assertion of Justus Lipsius, Thomam illum Thumbum non
alium quam Herculem fuisse satis constat; yet shall I venture to oppose
one Line of Mr. Midwinter, against them all,
In Arthur's
Court Tom Thumb did live.
But then, says Dr. B------y, if we place Tom Thumb in the Court
of King Arthur, it will be proper to place that Court out of Britain,
where no Giants were ever heard of. Spencer, in his Fairy Queen,
is of another Opinion, where describing Albion he says,
--
Far within a salvage Nation dwelt
Of
hideous Giants.
And in the same Canto,
Then Elfar, who two Brethren Giants had,
The
one of which had two Heads --
The other three.
Risum teneatis, Amici.
5 To whisper in Books says Mr. D------s is
errant Nonsense. I am afraid this learned Man does not sufficiently understand
the extensive meaning of the Word Whisper. If he had rightly understood what
is meant by the Senses Whisp'ring the Soul in the Persian Princess,
or what Whisp'ring like Winds is in Aurengzebe, or like Thunder
in another Author, he would have understood this. Emmeline in Dryden
sees a Voice, but she was born blind, which is an Excuse Panthea cannot plead
in Cyrus, who hears a sight.
--
Your Description will surpass,
All
Fiction, Painting, or dumb Shew of Horror,
That
ever Ears yet heard, or Eyes beheld.
When Mr. D------s understands these he will understand Whisp'ring in
Books.
6
-- Some Ruffian stept into his Father's Place,
And
more than half begot him. (Mary Q. of Scots).
7
-- For Ulamar seems sent Express from Heaven,
To
civilize this rugged Indian Clime. (Liberty Asserted.)
8 Omne majus continet in se minus, sed minus non
in se majus continere potest, says Scaliger in Thumbo. - I
suppose he would have cavilled at these beautiful Lines in the Earl of Essex;
--
Thy most inveterate Soul,
That
looks through the foul Prison of thy Body.
And
at those of Dryden,
The
Palace is without too well design'd,
Conduct me in, for I will view thy Mind. (Aurengzebe.)
9 Mr. Banks hath copied this almost Verbatim,
It
was enough to say, here's Essex come,
And
Nurses still'd their Children with the fright. (E. of Essex.)
10 The Trumpet in a Tragedy is generally as much
as to say enter King: Which makes Mr. Banks in one of his Plays call
it the Trumpets's formal Sound.
11 Phraortes in the Captives seems
to have been acquainted with King Arthur.
Proclaim
a Festival for seven Days space,
Let
the Court shine in all its Pomp and Lustre,
Let
all our Streets resound with Shouts of Joy;
Let
Musick's Care-dispelling Voice be heard,
The
sumptuous Banquet, and the flowing Goblet
Shall
warm the Cheek, and fill the Heart with Gladness.
Astarbe
shall sit Mistress of the Feast.
12 Repentance frowns
on thy contracted Brow. (Sophonisba.)
Hung
on his clouded Brow, I mark'd Despair. (Ibid.)
-- A sullen Gloom,
Scowls on his Brow. (Busiris.)
13 Plato is of this Opinion, and so is Mr.
Banks;
Behold
these Tears sprung from fresh Pain and Joy. (E. of Essex.)
14 These Floods are very frequent in the Tragick
Authors.
Near
to some murmuring Brook I'll lay me down,
Whose
Waters if they should too shallow flow,
My
Tears shall swell them up till I will drown. (Lee's
Sophonisba.)
Pouring
forth Tears at such a lavish Rate,
That
were the World on Fire, they might have drown'd
The
Wrath of Heav'n, and quench'd the mighty Ruin. (Mithridates.)
One Author changes the Waters of Grief to those of Joy,
--
These Tears that sprung from Tides of Grief,
Are
now augmented to a Flood of Joy. (Cyrus the Great.)
Another,
Turns
all the Streams of Hates, and makes them flow
In
Pity's Channel. (Royal Villain.)
One drowns himself,
--
Pity like a Torrent pours me down,
Now
I am drowning all within a Deluge. (Anna Bullen.)
Cyrus drowns the whole world,
Our
swellin Grief
Shall
melt into a Deluge, and the World
Shall
drown in Tears.
(Cyrus
the Great.)
15 An Expression vastly beneath the Dignity of
Tragedy, says Mr. D------s, yet we find the Word he cavils at in the
Mouth of Mithridates less properly used and applied to a more terrible
Idea;
I
would be drunk with Death. (Mithrid.)
The Author of the New Sophonisba taketh hold of this Monosyllable, and
uses it pretty much to the same purpose,
The
Carthaginian Sword with Roman Blood
Was
drunk.
I would ask Mr. D------s which gives him the best Idea, a drunken King,
or a drunken Sword?
Mr. Tate dresses up King Arthur's Resolution in Heroicks,
Merry,
my Lord, o' th' Captain's Humour right,
I am
resolv'd to be dead drunk to Night.
Lee also uses this charming Word;
Love's
the Drunkenness of the Mind. (Gloriana.)
16 Dryden hath borrowed this, and applied
it improperly,
I'm
half Seas o'er in Death. (Cleom.)
17 This Figure is in great use among the Tragedians;
'Tis
therefore, therefore 'tis. (Victim.)
I
long repent, repent and long again. (Busiris.)
18 A Tragical Exclamation.
19 This Line is copied verbatim in the Captives.
20We find a Candlestick for this Candle in two
celebrated Authors;
--
Each Star withdraws
His
golden Head and burns within the Socket. (Nero.)
A
Soul grown old and sunk into the Socket. (Sebastian.)
21 This Simile occurs very frequently among the
Dramatick Writers of both Kinds.
22 Mr. Lee hath stolen this Thought from our Author;
--
This perfect Face, drawn by the Gods in Council,
Which
they were long a making. (Lu. Jun. Brut.)
--
At his Birth, the heavenly Council paus'd,
And
then at last cry'd out, This is a Man!
Dryden hath improved this Hint to the utmost Perfection:
So
perfect, that the very Gods who form'd you, wonder'd
At
their own Skill, and cry'd, A lucky Hit
Has
mended our Design! Their Envy hindred,
Or
you had been Immortal, and a Pattern,
When
Heaven would work for Ostentation sake,
To
copy out again. (All
for Love.)
Banks prefers the Works of Michael Angelo to that of the Gods;
A Pattern for the Gods to make a Man by,
Or
Michael Angelo to form a Statue.
23 It is impossible says Mr. W------ sufficiently
to admire this natural easy Line.
24 This Tragedy which in most Points resembles
the Antients differs from them in this, that it assigns the same Honour to Lowness
of Stature, which they did to Height. The Gods and Heroes in Homer and
Virgil are continually described higher by the Head than their Followers,
the contrary of which is observ'd by our Author: In short, to exceed on either
side is equally admirable, and a Man of three Foot is as wonderful a sight as
a Man of nine.
25 My
Blood leaks fast, and the great heavy lading
My
Soul will quickly sink. (Mithrid.)
My
Soul is like a Ship. (Injur'd Love.)
26 This well-bred Line seems to be copied in the
Persian Princess;
To
be your humblest, and most faithful Slave.
27 This Doubt of the King puts me in mind of a
Passage in the Captives, where the Noise of Feet is mistaken for the
Rustling of Leaves,
--
Methinks I hear
The
sound of Feet
No,
'twas the Wind that shook yon Cypress Boughs.
28 Mr. Dryden seems to have had this Passage
in his Eye in the first Page of Love Triumphant.
29 Don Carlos in the Revenge suns himself
in the Charms of his Mistress,
While
in the Lustre of her Charms I lay.
30 A tragical phrase much in use.
31 This Speech hath been taken to pieces by several
Tragical Authors who seem to have rifled it and shared its Beauties among them.
My
soul waits at the Portal of thy Breast,
To
ravish from thy Lips the welcome News. (Anna Bullen.)
My
Soul stands listening at my Ears. (Cyrus the Great.)
Love
to his Tune my jarring Heart would bring,
But
Reason overwinds and cracks the String. (D. of Guise.)
--
I should have lov'd,
Tho'
Jove in muttering Thunder had forbid it. (New Sophonisba.)
And
when it (my Heart) wild resolves to love no more,
Then
is the Triumph of excessive Love. (Ibidem.)
32 Massinissa is one fourth less happy than
Tom Thumb.
Oh!
happy, happy, happy. (New
Sophonisba.)
33
No by my self. (Anna
Bullen.)
34 --
Who caus'd
This
dreadful Revolution in my Fate?
Ulamar.
Who but a Dog, who but a Dog? (Liberty Asserted.)
35 --
A Bride,
Who
twenty Years lay loving by your side. (Banks.)
36 For born upon a Cloud,
from high I'll fall,
And
rain down Royal Vengeance on you all. (Albion Queens.)
37 An Information very like this we have in the
Tragedy of Love, where Cyrus having stormed in the most violent
manner, Cyaxares observes very calmly,
Why,
Nephew Cyrus -- you are mov'd.
38 'Tis
in your Choice,
Love
me, or love me not! (Conquest
of Granada.)
39 There is not one Beauty in this Charming Speech,
but hath been borrowed by almost every Tragick Writer.
40 Mr. Banks has (I wish I could not say
too servilely) imitated this of Grizzle in his Earl of Essex.
Where art thou Essex, &c.
41 The Countess of Nottingham in the Earl
of Essex is apparently acquainted with Dollalolla.
42 Grizzle was not probably possessed of
that Glew, of which Mr. Banks speaks in his Cyrus.
I'll
glew my Ears to ev'ry word.
43 Screech-Owls,
dark Ravens and amphibious Monsters,
Are
screaming in that Voice. (Mary Q. of Scots.)
44 The Reader may see all the Beauties of this
Speech in a late Ode called the Naval Lyrick.
45 This Epithet to a Dolphin doth not give one
so clear an Idea as were to be wished, a smiling Fish seeming a little more
difficult to be imagined than a flying Fish. Mr. Dryden is of Opinion,
that smiling is the Property of Reason, and that no irrational Creature can
smile.
Smiles
not allowed to Beasts from Reason move. (State of Innocence.)
46 These Lines are written in the same Key with
those in the Earl of Essex;
Why sayst thou so, I love thee well, indeed
I do,
and thou shalt find by this, 'tis true.
Or with this in Cyrus;
The
most heroick Mind that ever was.
And with above half of the modern Tragedies.
47 Aristotle in that excellent Work of his
which is very justly stiled his Masterpiece, earnestly reco