Page:The Works of Lord Byron (ed. Coleridge, Prothero) - Volume 1.djvu/443

Rh A sage, or rakish youngster wild from school,

A wandering Peregrine, or plain John Bull;

All persons please when Nature's voice prevails,

Scottish or Irish, born in Wilts or Wales.

Or follow common fame, or forge a plot;

Who cares if mimic heroes lived or not!

One precept serves to regulate the scene:

Make it appear as if it might have been.

If some Drawcansir you aspire to draw,

Present him raving, and above all law:

If female furies in your scheme are planned,

Macbeth's fierce dame is ready to your hand;

For tears and treachery, for good and evil,

Constance, King Richard, Hamlet, and the Devil!

But if a new design you dare essay,

And freely wander from the beaten way,