Excerpt from The Dramatic Works of John O'keeffe, Esq., Vol. 4 of 4: Published Under the Gracious Patronage of the Royal Highness the Prince of Wales IN thefe dread times, when War's unfated rage rowds with difaflers life's eventful Rage, When the full trumpet and embattled ire Drown the foft warblings of the {lighted Lyra, The Mufes' lonely haunts no more difplay, Among their with'ring blooms, the Poet's bay The partial 'foil, The Laurel only rears, For martial wreaths, that vegetate in tears. At fuch a time, fuperfluous feems the art, To melt with fabled woes the fadden'd heart The forrowing Mufes need themfelves relief, And F ancy droops in fympathetic grief. The Tragic Maid, indeed, may footh her care, And future fcenes from pafling ills prepare But for the Laughing Nymph, alas! Can the At cafe prefume with her untimely glee! Is there a place, amidit the world's alarms, In fafety (till to heed her frolic charms? Yes - in the fliades of Britain's happy Ifle, Still may the Comic Mul'e fecunely (mile; Still with her tuneful Sillers fhelter here, Nor favage Anarchy's vain menace fear! Here no dire rufiians, dead to gen'rous joy, All that endears and brightens life defiroy; Or, drench'd in blood, with impious rage combine, Trampling o'er Thrones, to crufh the Hallow'd Shrine! NO Defpot here exat'ts a flavifli awe, The cafual impulfe of his paflions law. Here on a rock, fecure amid the dorm, Dwells Liberty, in fair monarchic form. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.