[ ^*i ] 



POETRY. 



FAREWELL ADDRESS, 



Spoken by Mrs. Siddons, on leaving the Stage 29tli of June, 1812, 

 and written by Horace Twiss, Esq. 



WHO has not felt, how growing use endears 

 The fond remembrance of our former years ? 

 Who has not sigh'd, when doom'd to leave at last 

 The hopes of youth, the habits of the past, 

 The thousand ties and interests, that impart 

 A second nature to the human heart. 

 And, wreathing round it close, like tendrils, climb, 

 Blooming in age, and sanctified by time ? 



Yes ! at this moment crowd upon my mind 

 Scenes of bright days for ever left behind, 

 Bewildering visions of enraptured youth. 

 When hope and fancy wore the hues of truth. 

 And long-forgotten years, that almost seem 

 The faded traces of a morning dream ! 

 , Sweet are those mournful thoughts : for they renew 

 The pleasing sense of all 1 owe to you — 

 For each inspiring smile, and soothing tear — 1 



For those full honours of my long career, / 



That cheer'd my earliest hope, and chased my latest fear ! 3 



And though, for me, those tears shall flow no more. 

 And the warm sunshine of your smile is o'er, — 

 Though the bright beams are fading fast away 

 That shone unclouded through my summer-day ; 

 Yet grateful memory shall reflect their light 

 O'er the dim shadows of the coming night, 

 And lend to later life a softer tone, 

 A moon-light tint, a lustre of her own. 



Judges and Friends ! to whom the tragic strain 

 Of nature's feeling never s|)oke in vain. 

 Vol. LIV. 2 N Perhaps 



