Prologue to the Tragedy of Irene
Ye glitt'ring train, whom lace and velvet bless,Suspend the soft solicitudes of dress!From grov'ling bus'ness and superfluous care,Ye sons of avarice, a moment spare!Vot'ries of fame, and worshippers of power,Dismiss the pleasing phantoms for an hour!Our daring bard, with spirit unconfin'd,Spreads wide the mighty moral for mankind.Learn here, how heaven supports the virtuous mind,Daring, though calm; and vig'rous, though resign'd;Learn here, what anguish racks the guilty breast,In pow'r dependant, in success depress'd.Learn here, that peace from innocence must flow;All else is empty sound, and idle show.
If truths, like these, with pleasing language join;Ennobled, yet unchang'd, if nature shine;If no wild draught depart from reason's rules;Nor gods his heroes, nor his lovers fools;Intriguing wits! his artless plot forgive;And spare him, beauties! though his lovers live.
Be this, at least, his praise, be this his pride;To force applause, no modern arts are try'd.Should partial catcals all his hopes confound,He bids no trumpet quell the fatal sound.Should welcome sleep relieve the weary wit,He rolls no thunders o'er the drowsy pit;No snares, to captivate the judgment, spreads,Nor bribes your eyes to prejudice your heads.Unmov'd, though witlings sneer, and rivals rail,Studious to please, yet not asham'd to fail,He scorns the meek address, the suppliant strain,With merit needless, and without it vain.In reason, nature, truth, he dares to trust:Ye fops, be silent: and, ye wits, be just!
Words in this poem
- avarice n.
- An excessive or inordinate desire of gain; greediness after wealth; covetousness; cupidity. [F. avaritia, fr. avarus avaricious, prob. fr. av to covert, fr. a root av to satiate one's self: cf. Gr. av to satiate one's self, rejoice, protect.]
- virtuous a.
- Possessing or exhibiting virtue. Specifically: -- (a) Exhibiting manly courage and strength; valorous; valiant; brave. [OE. vertuous, OF. vertuos, vertuous, F. vertueux, fr. L. Virtuous. See Virtue, and cf. Virtuoso.]
- depart v. i.
- To part; to divide; to separate. [OE. departen to divide, part, depart, F. départir to divide, distribute, se départir to separate one's self, depart; pref. dé- (L. de) + partir to part, depart,]
- quell v. t.
- To take the life of; to kill. [OE. quellen to kill, AS. cwellan, causative of cwelan to die; akin to OHG. quellen to torment, Icel. kvelja. See Quail to cower.]
- relieve v. t.
- To lift up; to raise again, as one who has fallen; to cause to rise. Piers Plowman. [OE. releven, F. relever to raise again, discharge, relieve, fr. L. relevare to lift up, raise, make light, relieve; pref. re- re- + levare to raise, fr. levis l]
- captivate v. t.
- To take prisoner; to capture; to subdue. [L. captivatus, p. p. of captivare to capture, fr. captivus captive. See Captive.]
- suppliant a.
- Asking earnestly and submissively; entreating; beseeching; supplicating. [F., p.pr. of supplier to entreat, L. supplicare. See Supplicate, and cf. Supplicant.]
- needless a.
- Having no need.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Prologue to the Tragedy of Irene is in the public domain. This text is taken from Dr. Johnson's Works: Life, Poems, and Tales, Volume 1 (The Works of Samuel Johnson in Nine Volumes, 1825), Project Gutenberg ebook #10835; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Samuel Johnson, Prologue to the Tragedy of Irene, in Poems (1825), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #10835, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/johnson-poems/prologue-to-the-tragedy-of-irene.html, id L27130.
Form and metre
Prologue to the Tragedy of Irene is 34 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 94% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
See other poems in heroic couplets, other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AABBCCDDDDEEFF blessA · dressA · careB · spareB · powerC · hourC · unconfin'dD · mankindD · mindD · resign'dD · breastE · depress'dE · flowF · showF
- 2 --AABB join · shine · rulesA · foolsA · forgiveB · liveB
- 3 AABBCCDDEEFFGG prideA · try'dA · confoundB · soundB · witC · pitC · spreadsD · headsD · railE · failE · strainF · vainF · trustG · justG
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Ye glitt'ring train, whom lace and velvet bless, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Suspend the soft solicitudes of dress! | 10 | ˘/··˘/˘··· |
| From grov'ling bus'ness and superfluous care, | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| Ye sons of avarice, a moment spare! | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
| Vot'ries of fame, and worshippers of power, | 10 | ····/˘˘·/˘ |
| Dismiss the pleasing phantoms for an hour! | 11 | ˘/·/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Our daring bard, with spirit unconfin'd, | 10 | //˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Spreads wide the mighty moral for mankind. | 10 | ···/˘/˘·// |
| Learn here, how heaven supports the virtuous mind, | 10 | ···/˘/·/˘· |
| Daring, though calm; and vig'rous, though resign'd; | 10 | /˘······˘/ |
| Learn here, what anguish racks the guilty breast, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| In pow'r dependant, in success depress'd. | 10 | ······˘/˘/ |
| Learn here, that peace from innocence must flow; | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| All else is empty sound, and idle show. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| If truths, like these, with pleasing language join; | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Ennobled, yet unchang'd, if nature shine; | 10 | ˘/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| If no wild draught depart from reason's rules; | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| Nor gods his heroes, nor his lovers fools; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Intriguing wits! his artless plot forgive; | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| And spare him, beauties! though his lovers live. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Be this, at least, his praise, be this his pride; | 10 | ·········· |
| To force applause, no modern arts are try'd. | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Should partial catcals all his hopes confound, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| He bids no trumpet quell the fatal sound. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Should welcome sleep relieve the weary wit, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| He rolls no thunders o'er the drowsy pit; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| No snares, to captivate the judgment, spreads, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Nor bribes your eyes to prejudice your heads. | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| Unmov'd, though witlings sneer, and rivals rail, | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| Studious to please, yet not asham'd to fail, | 10 | /˘····˘/·· |
| He scorns the meek address, the suppliant strain, | 11 | ····˘/·/˘˘· |
| With merit needless, and without it vain. | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| In reason, nature, truth, he dares to trust: | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Ye fops, be silent: and, ye wits, be just! | 10 | ···/˘····· |
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