The Snowdrop and the Critic
1737.1.29-1809.6.8
To the Editor of the Pennsylvania Magazine, 1775
Sir:
I have given your very modest "Snow Drop" what, I think, Shakespeare calls "a local habitation and a name"; that is, I have made a poet of him, and have sent him to take possession of a page in your next magazine; here he comes, disputing with a critic about the propriety of a prologue.
Enter CRITIC and SNOW DROP.
Prologues to magazines! - the man is mad,
No magazine a prologue ever had;
But let us hear what new and mighty things
Your wonder working magic fancy brings.
SNOW DROP.
Bit by the muse in an unlucky hour,
I've left myself at home, and turn'd a flower,
And thus disguised came forth to tell my tale,
A plain white snow drop gathered from the vale:
I come to sing that summer is at hand,
The summer time of wit you'll understand;
And that this garden of our magazine
Will soon exhibit such a pleasing scene,
That even critics shall admire the show
If their good grace will give us time to grow;
Beneath the surface of the parent earth
We've various seeds just struggling into birth;
Plants, fruits, and flowers, and all the smiling race,
That can the orchard or the garden grace;
Our numbers, Sir, so fast and endless are,
That when in full complexion we appear,
Each eye, each hand, shall pluck what suits its taste,
And every palate shall enjoy a feast;
The rose and lily shall address the fair,
And whisper sweetly out, "My dears, take care";
With sterling worth, the plant of sense shall rise
And teach the curious to philosophize;
The keen eyed wit shall claim the scented briar,
And sober cits the solid grain admire;
While generous juices sparkling from the vine,
Shall warm the audience until they cry-divine
And when the scenes of one gay month are o'er,
Shall clap their hands, and shout-encore, encore!
DayPoems Poem No. 2584
<a href="http://www.daypoems.net/poems/2584.html">The Snowdrop and the Critic by Thomas Paine</a>
The DayPoems Poetry Collection, www.daypoems.net
Timothy Bovee, editor
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