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PROLOGUE TO A DRAMA,
PERFORMED BY A FAMILY PARTY ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF MR. AND MRS. C.'S MARRIAGE
"To wake the soul by tender strokes of art,
To raise the genius, and to mend the heart,"
Hold, hold! that's not my cue, we’ve no intention
By "tender strokes" to sharpen girls' invention:
The soul will waken time enough, ne'er fear;
No lines shall rouse the slumbering passions here.
O! ever sacred be the deep repose
Which Youth, on Innocence' pure bosom, knows;
Before a wish, a throb, a care, have taught
The pangs of feeling or the lines of thought.
