Mr. _Dryden_ was an Admirer of our Author,
and, indeed, he owed him a great deal, as those who have read them both
may very easily observe. And, I think, in Justice to 'em both, I should
not on this Occasion omit what Mr. _Dryden_ has said of him.
Shakespear, _who, taught by none, did first impart
To _Fletcher_ Wit, to lab'ring _Johnson_ Art.
He, Monarch-like, gave those his Subjects Law,
And is that Nature which they Paint and Draw.
_Fletcher_ reach'd that which on his heights did grow,
Whilst _Johnson_ crept and gather'd all below:
This did his Love, and this his Mirth digest,
One imitates him most, the other best.
If they have since out-writ all other Men,
'Tis with the Drops which fell from _Shakespear_'s Pen.
The[B]Storm which vanish'd on the neighb'ring Shoar,
Was taught by _Shakespear_'s Tempest to roar.
That Innocence and Beauty which did smile
In _Fletcher_, grew on this _Enchanted Isle_.
But _Shakespear_'s Magick could not copied be,
Within that Circle none durst walk but he._
_I must confess 'twas bold, nor would you now
That Liberty to vulgar Wits allow,
Which works by Magick supernatural things:
But _Shakespear_'s Pow'r is Sacred as A King's._
Prologue to _The Tempest_, as it
is alter'd by Mr. _Dryden_.
It is the same Magick that raises the Fairies in _Midsummer Night's
Dream_, the Witches in _Macbeth_, and the Ghost in _Hamlet_, with
Thoughts and Language so proper to the Parts they sustain, and so
peculiar to the Talent of this Writer.
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