TO
MRS.
SIDDONS
.
GIFTED
of
Heaven
!
who
hast
,
in
days
gone
by
,
Moved
every
heart
delighted
every
eye
;
While
age
and
youth
,
of
high
and
low
degree
,
In
sympathy
were
joined
,
beholding
thee
,
As
in
the
Drama's
ever
changing
scene
,
Thou
held'st
thy
splendid
state
,
our
tragic
queen
!
No
barriers
there
thy
fair
domains
confined
,
Thy
sovereign
sway
was
o'er
the
human
mind
;
And
,
in
the
triumph
of
that
witching
hour
,
Thy
lofty
bearing
well
became
thy
power
.
The
impassioned
changes
of
thy
beauteous
face
,
Thy
stately
form
,
and
high
imperial
grace
;
Thine
arms
impetuous
tossed
,
thy
robe's
wide
flow
,
And
the
dark
tempest
gathered
on
thy
brow
;
What
time
thy
flashing
eye
and
lip
of
scorn
,
Down
to
the
dust
thy
mimic
foes
have
borne
;
Remorseful
musings
,
sunk
to
deep
dejection
,
The
fixed
and
yearning
looks
of
strong
affection
;
The
active
turmoil
of
a
bosom
rending
,
When
pity
,
love
,
and
honour
,
are
contending
:
They
who
beheld
all
this
,
right
well
,
I
ween
,
A
lovely
,
grand
,
and
wondrous
sight
have
seen
.
Thy
varied
accents
,
rapid
,
fitful
,
slow
,
Loud
rage
,
and
fear's
snatched
whisper
,
quick
and
low
;
The
burst
of
stifled
love
,
the
wail
of
grief
,
And
tones
of
high
command
,
full
,
solemn
,
brief
;
The
change
of
voice
,
and
emphasis
that
threw
Light
on
obscurity
,
and
brought
to
view
Distinctions
nice
,
when
grave
or
comic
mood
,
Those
who
have
been
happy
enough
to
hear
Mrs.
Siddons
read
will
readily
acknowledge
that
the
discrimination
and
power
with
which
she
gave
effect
to
the
comic
passages
of
Shakspeare
,
were
nearly
as
remarkable
and
delightful
as
those
which
she
displayed
in
passages
of
a
grave
or
tragic
character
.
It
is
to
be
regretted
that
only
those
who
have
heard
her
read
,
are
aware
of
the
extent
or
variety
of
her
genius
,
which
has
on
the
stage
been
confined
almost
entirely
to
Tragedy
;
partly
,
I
believe
,
from
a
kind
of
bigotry
on
the
side
of
the
public
,
which
inclines
it
to
confine
poet
,
painter
,
or
actor
,
to
that
department
of
their
art
in
which
they
have
first
been
acknowledged
to
excel
,
and
partly
from
the
cast
of
her
features
,
and
the
majesty
of
her
figure
being
peculiarly
suited
to
Tragedy
.
Or
mingled
humours
,
terse
and
new
,
elude
Common
perception
,
as
earth's
smallest
things
To
size
and
form
,
the
vesting
hoar-frost
brings
,
That
seemed
as
if
some
secret
voice
,
to
clear
The
ravelled
meaning
,
whispered
in
thine
ear
,
And
thou
hadst
even
with
him
communion
kept
,
Who
hath
so
long
in
Stratford's
chancel
slept
;
Whose
lines
,
where
nature's
brightest
traces
shine
,
Alone
were
worthy
deemed
of
powers
like
thine
:
They
who
have
heard
all
this
,
have
proved
full
well
Of
soul-exciting
sound
,
the
mightiest
spell
.
But
though
time's
lengthened
shadows
o'er
thee
glide
,
And
pomp
of
regal
state
is
cast
aside
,
Think
not
the
glory
of
thy
course
is
spent
,
There's
moonlight
radiance
to
thy
evening
lent
,
That
,
to
the
mental
world
can
never
fade
,
Till
all
who
have
seen
thee
,
in
the
grave
are
laid
.
Thy
graceful
form
still
moves
in
nightly
dreams
,
And
what
thou
wert
,
to
the
lulled
sleeper
seems
:
While
feverish
fancy
oft
doth
fondly
trace
Within
her
curtained
couch
thy
wondrous
face
.
Yea
;
and
to
many
a
wight
,
bereft
and
lone
,
In
musing
hours
,
though
all
to
thee
unknown
,
Soothing
his
earthly
course
of
good
and
ill
,
With
all
thy
potent
charm
,
thou
actest
still
.
And
now
in
crowded
room
or
rich
saloon
,
Thy
stately
presence
recognized
,
how
soon
On
thee
the
glance
of
many
an
eye
is
cast
,
In
grateful
memory
of
pleasures
past
!
Pleased
to
behold
thee
,
with
becoming
grace
,
Take
,
as
befits
thee
well
,
an
honoured
place
(
Where
blest
by
many
a
heart
,
long
mayest
thou
stand
)
Among
the
virtuous
matrons
of
our
land
.