Douglas (Home, 1757)/Epilogue
For works with similar titles, see Epilogue.
EPILOGUE.
Spoken by Mr. BARRY.
An Epilogue I ask'd; but not one word
Our bard will write. He vows 'tis most absurd
With comick wit to contradict the strain
Of tragedy, and make your sorrows vain.
Sadly he says, that pity is the best,
And noblest passion of the human breast:
For when its sacred streams the heart o'er-flow,
In gushes pleasure with the tide of woe;
And when its waves retire, like those of Nile,
They leave behind them such a golden soil,
That there the virtues without culture grow,
There the sweet blossoms of affection blow.
These were his words;—void of delusive art
I felt them; for he spoke them from his heart.
Nor will I now attempt, with witty folly,
To chace away celestial melancholy.
Our bard will write. He vows 'tis most absurd
With comick wit to contradict the strain
Of tragedy, and make your sorrows vain.
Sadly he says, that pity is the best,
And noblest passion of the human breast:
For when its sacred streams the heart o'er-flow,
In gushes pleasure with the tide of woe;
And when its waves retire, like those of Nile,
They leave behind them such a golden soil,
That there the virtues without culture grow,
There the sweet blossoms of affection blow.
These were his words;—void of delusive art
I felt them; for he spoke them from his heart.
Nor will I now attempt, with witty folly,
To chace away celestial melancholy.