[Page 257]
NATURE to Dr. HOADLY.
On his Comedy of the SUSPICIOUS HUSBAND.
1 SLY hypocrite! was this your aim?
2 To borrow Paeon's sacred name,
3 And lurk beneath his graver mien,
4 To trace the secrets of my reign?
5 Did I for this applaud your zeal,
6 And point out each minuter wheel,
7 Which finely taught the next to roll,
8 And made my works one perfect whole?
9 For who, but I, till you appear'd
10 To model the dramatic herd,
11 E'er bade to wond'ring ears and eyes,
12 Such pleasing intricacies rise?
[Page 258]13 Where every part is nicely true,
14 Yet touches still some master clue;
15 Each riddle opening by degrees,
16 'Till all unravels with such ease,
17 That only those who will be blind
18 Can feel one doubt perplex their mind.
19 Nor was't enough, you thought, to write,
20 But you must impiously unite
21 With GARRICK too, who long before
22 Had stole my whole expressive pow'r.
23 That changeful Proteus of the stage
24 Usurps my mirth, my grief, my rage;
25 And as his diff'rent parts incline,
26 Gives joys or pains, sincere as mine.
27 Yet you shall find (howe'er elate
28 You triumph in your former cheat)
29 'Tis not so easy to escape
30 In Nature's as in Paeon's shape.
31 For every critick, great or small,
32 Hates every thing that's natural.
33 The beaus, and ladies too, can say,
34 What does he mean? is this a play?
35 We see such people every day.
36 Nay more, to chafe, and teize your spleen,
37 And teach you how to steal again,
38 My very fools shall prove you're bit,
39 And damn you for your want of wit.
About this text
Author: William Whitehead
Themes:
theatre
Genres:
References:
DMI 22455
Text view / Document view
Source edition
Dodsley, Robert, 1703-1764. A Collection of Poems in Six Volumes. By Several Hands. Vol. II. London: printed by J. Hughs, for R. and J. Dodsley, 1763 [1st ed. 1758], pp. 257-258. 6v.: music; 8⁰. (ESTC T131163; OTA K104099.002) (Page images digitized by the Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive from a copy in the archive's library.)
Editorial principles
The text has been typographically modernized, but without any silent modernization of spelling, capitalization, or punctuation. The source of the text is given and all editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. Based on the electronic text originally produced by the TCP project, this ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.
Other works by William Whitehead
- The DANGER of Writing VERSE. An EPISTLE. ()
- ELEGY I. Written at the CONVENT of HAUT VILLERS in CHAMPAGNE, 1754. ()
- ELEGY II. On the MAUSOLEUM of AUGUSTUS. To the Right Honourable George Bussy Villiers, Viscount Villiers. Written at ROME, 1756. ()
- ELEGY III. To the Right Honourable George Simon Harcourt, Visc. Newnham. Written at ROME, 1756. ()
- ELEGY IV. To an OFFICER. Written at Rome, 1756. ()
- ELEGY V. To a FRIEND Sick. Written at Rome, 1756. ()
- ELEGY VI. To another FRIEND. Written at Rome, 1756. ()
- THE ENTHUSIAST: AN ODE. ()
- EXTRACTED FROM MR. W. WHITEHEAD's CHARGE to the POETS. ()
- The Je ne scai Quoi. A SONG. ()
- The LYRIC MUSE to Mr. MASON. On the Recovery of the Right Honourable the Earl of HOLDERNESSE from a dangerous Illness. ()
- An ODE to a GENTLEMAN, On his pitching a Tent in his GARDEN. ()
- ODE TO THE TIBER. WRITTEN ABROAD. ()
- On a MESSAGE-CARD in Verse. Sent by a LADY. ()
- SONG for RANELAGH. ()
- To Mr. GARRICK. ()
- To Mr. MASON. ()
- To the Honourable *** ()
- VERSES to the People of ENGLAND 1758. ()
- The YOUTH and the PHILOSOPHER. A FABLE. ()