Passing thoughts in sonnet stanzas : with other poems, original and translated / [Anon., i.e. B.G. Babington].

  • Benjamin Guy Babington
Date:
1854
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Passing thoughts in sonnet stanzas : with other poems, original and translated / [Anon., i.e. B.G. Babington]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    [The following Prologue, Songs, and Epilogue to the popular little bur- lesque, “ Bombastes Furioso,” were written for an especial occasion; but as that burlesque is frequently played in private, it is thought that these additions may serve again, as they have already once served, to impart an air of novelty to a somewhat hackneyed though still favourite piece.] PROLOGUE TO “ BOMBASTES FURIOSO,” AS PLAYED AT MRS. ’s, AT THE CHARTERHOUSE. Our bard says “ All the world’s a stage/’ If so, Where is the audience, I should like to know ? For, judging by your numbers, I should say, That all the world is come to see our play. But how can this be so? For it is clear If all the world is there* it can’t be here ;t Yet we, who sock and buskin wear to night, Are bound to think our dear old Shakespeare right. Surely he knew the world as well as most; ’T was his peculiar praise—our country’s boast. Well! here’s a puzzle, but there’s one way out of it, And that’s the way he meant, there ’s not a doubt of it. * Pointing to the audience. + Pointing to the stage.