To Mrs Siddons

SIDDONS, when first commenc’d thy ardent course,
The powers that guard the Drama’s aweful shrine,
Beauty, and grandeur, tenderness, and force,
Silence that speaks, and eloquence divine,

For thee erected that approachless throne
None may or hope to conquer, or to share,
And all our subject passions trembling own
Each various sense subdued and captive there:

Yet the heart says, respect a rival claim,
A claim that rises in unvanquish’d strife;
Behold, dividing still the palm of Fame,
Her radiant Science, and her spotless Life!