Wit in a prologue poets justly may
Style a new imposition on a play.
When Shakespeare, Beaumont, Fletcher, rul'd the stage,
There scarce were ten good palates in the age;
More curious cooks than guests; for men would eat⁠5
Most heartily of any kind of meat.
And then what strange variety! each play
A feast for epicures, and that each day!
But mark how oddly it is come about,
And how unluckily it now falls out:⁠10
The palates are grown higher, number increas'd,
And there wants that which should make up the feast;
And yet y'are so unconscionable, you'd have
Forsooth of late, that which they never gave;
Banquets before, and after——⁠15
Now pox on him that first good prologue writ!
He left a kind of rent-charge upon wit;
Which if succeeding poets fail to pay,
They forfeit all their worth; and that's their play:
Y'have ladies' humours, and y'are grown to that,⁠20
You will not like the man, 'less that his boots and hat
Be right; no play, unless the prologue be
And ep'logue writ to curiosity.
Well, gentles, 'tis the grievance of the place,
And pray consider't, for here's just the case;⁠25
The richness of the ground is gone and spent,
Men's brains grow barren, and you raise the rent.