| Citation |
NYJ-N.776.055
6 Jun 1776:41 (1744)
The following prologue was spoken at the opening of the
theatre, by the ministerial army at Boston.
PROLOGUE TO THE TRAGEDY OF ZARA.
By General Burgoyne
In Briton once, it stains th' historic page,
Freedom was vital struck with party rage,
Cromwell the fever watch'd, the knife supplied,
She madden'd, and by suicide she died:
Amids't her groans sunk ev'ry liberal art,
That polish'd life, or humanized the heart;
Then sunk the stage, quell'd by the bigot's roar,
Truth fled, with sense, and Shakespear charm'd no more.
To sooth the times, too much resembling those,
And lull the care-tir'd thought, this stage arose;
Proud if you hear rewarded if you're pleased,
We come to minister to minds diseas'd.
. . . [24 more lines]
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