PROLOGUE.

To raise the honour of the British stage,
And swell the glories of Eliza's age,
Great Shakespear came, indu'd with ev'ry art
To fire with rage, with pity melt the heart:
An early contract nature with him seal'd,
And, to her fav'rite, all her charms reveal'd:
Alike his skill, to paint the hero's woe,
Or bid the virgin's softer sorrows flow.
To draw young Harry in the fields of France;
Or Shepherds gambols in the rural dance.

The clown's coarse jests, the fortunes of a maid,
Whom nature's simple elegance array'd;
Princess, and milkmaid, and a prince's bride,
A subject for his Winter's Tale supply'd;
In which, the master-poet has interwove
The virgin innocence of past'ral love.

At ev'ry feast, to crown the rich repast,
The choicest fruits are always serv'd the last:
Stage cooks, indeed, reverse the bill of fare,
And ribaldry and farce, bring up the rear.

But for such guests as you, in whom we find
Judgment so clear, and taste so well refin'd,
A treat more delicate we wish to lay,
And Shakespear's wit shall send you pleas'd away.

Dramatis Personæ. Pollixenes [Polixenes], King of Bithynia. Florizel, the Prince, his Son. Camillo, a Sicilian Lord, in Banishment. Antigonus, a Sicilian Lord disguised as an old Shepherd, under the Name of Alcon. Autolicus [Autolycus], an arch Pedlar. Pan. Clown. Priest. Perdita, supposed Daughter to Alcon. Dorcas. Mopsa. Shepherds, Shepherdesses, Singers, and Dancers. [Chorus] SCENE, BITHYNIA.

THE SHEEP-SHEARING.

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