Written by ROBERT MERRY, Esq.
Of all professions which have claim to pity,
The worst is his, who lives by being witty ;
For with light purse, spare diet, and small glee,
'Tis very hard to make a Comedy.
Rich men, and Lords, may write extremly fine,
Give Claret and Champaigne in ev'ry line ;
But our poor Author, of a different fort,
Fears he can only offer humble Port.
Yet, as his guests have sometimes shown him favour,
He hopes, tho'it be new, you'll like the favour.
Oh ! think an instant on a writer's pains,
Who, for your entertainment, racks his brains;
Whole months alone, in chamber full of smoke,
He fits with sighs to meditate the joke;
And far remov'd from mirthful recreation,
Labours to find a comic situation.
'I is surely somewhat difficult to seize
The moment when, the manner how to please;
For snarling Critics, wond'rous wife and able,
Pronounce it trick to hide beneath a table;
Or if a buck-basket we now should show,
They'd say, “ the sad buffoonery was low.”
To make you laugh they deem a heinous crime,
Condemn all flage-effect, as Pantomime;
And ftill demand, what never was display'd,
A perfect piece, or light without a shade,
JA