Classic Poem

Auspicious poet, wert thou not my friend,
How could I envy, what I must commend!
But since 't is nature's law, in love and wit,
That youth should reign, and with'ring age submit,
With less regret those laurels I resign,
Which, dying on my brows, revive on thine.
With better grace an ancient chief may yield
The long contended honors of the field,
Than venture all his fortune at a cast,
And fight, like Hannibal, to lose at last.
Young princes, obstinate to win the prize,
Tho' yearly beaten, yearly yet they rise;
Old monarchs, tho' successful, still in doubt,
Catch at a peace, and wisely turn devout.
Thine be the laurel then; thy blooming age
Can best, if any can, support the stage;
Which so declines, that shortly we may see
Players and plays reduc'd to second infancy.
Sharp to the world, but thoughtless of renown,
They plot not on the stage, but on the town,
And, in despair their empty pit to fill,
Set up some foreign monster in a bill.
Thus they jog on, still tricking, never thriving,
And murd'ring plays, which they miscall reviving.
Our sense is nonsense, thro' their pipes convey'd;
Scarce can a poet know the play he made,
'T is so disguis'd in death; nor thinks 't is he
That suffers in the mangled tragedy.
Thus Itys first was kill'd, and after dress'd
For his own sire, the chief invited guest.
I say not this of thy successful scenes,
Where thine was all the glory, theirs the gains.
With length of time, much judgment, and more toil,
Not ill they acted, what they could not spoil.
Their setting sun still shoots a glimm'ring ray,
Like ancient Rome, majestic in decay;
And better gleanings their worn soil can boast,
Than the crab vintage of the neighb'ring coast.
This difference yet the judging world will see;
Thou copiest Homer, and they copy thee.