"]
[Footnote 4: Nathaniel Lee (circ. 1653-1692), the dramatist, wrote 'The
Rival Queens' (1677), in which occurs the line:
"When Greek join'd Greek then was the tug of war."
He collaborated with Dryden in 'OEdipus' (1679) and 'The Duke of Guise'
(1682). His numerous dramas were distinguished, in his own day, for
extravagance and bombast. His mind failing, he was confined from 1684 to
1688 in Bethlehem Hospital, where he is said to have composed a tragedy
in 25 acts.]
[Footnote 5: 'The Critic', act i. sc. I. "Sneer," speaking of "Sir
Fretful Plagiary," says,
"He is as envious as an old maid verging on the desperation of six and
thirty; and then the insidious humility with which he seduces you to
give a free opinion on any of his works can be exceeded only by the
petulant arrogance with which he is sure to reject your observations."]
* * * * *
250.--To Lord Holland.
September 26, 1812.
You will think there is no end to my villanous emendations. The fifth
and sixth lines I think to alter thus:
Ye who beheld--oh sight admired and mourn'd,
Whose radiance mock'd the ruin it adorn'd;
because "night" is repeated the next line but one; and, as it now
stands, the conclusion of the paragraph, "worthy him (Shakspeare) and
_you_," appears to apply the "_you_" to those only who were out of bed
and in Covent Garden market on the night of conflagration, instead of
the audience or the discerning public at large, all of whom are intended
to be comprised in that comprehensive and, I hope, comprehensible
pronoun.
Pages:
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226