The Poetical Writings of Fitz-Greene Halleck/To Mr. Simpson

by Fitz-Greene Halleck and Joseph Rodman Drake

TO MR. SIMPSON,
MANAGER OF THE PARK THEATRE.

’m a friend to your theatre, oft have I told you,
And a still warmer friend, Mr. Simpson, to you;
And it gives me great pain, be assured, to behold you
Go fast to the devil, as lately you do.
We scarcely should know you were still in existence,
Were it not for the play-bills one sees in Broadway;
The newspapers all seem to keep at a distance;
Have your puffers deserted for want of their pay?

Poor Woodworth!¹⁹ his Chronicle died broken-hearted;
What a loss to the drama, the world, and the age!
And Coleman²⁰ is silent since Philipps departed,
And Noah’s too busy to think of the stage.
Now, the aim of this letter is merely to mention
That, since all your critics are laid on the shelf,
Out of pure love for you, it is my kind intention
To take box No. 3, and turn critic myself.

Your ladies are safe—if you please you may say it,
Perhaps they have faults, but I’ll let them alone;

Yet I owe two a debt—’tis my duty to pay it—
Of them I must speak in a kind, friendly tone.
Mrs. Barnes²¹—Shakespeare’s heart would have beat had he seen her—
Her magic has drawn from me many a tear,
And ne’er shall my pen or its satire chagrin her,
While pathos, and genius, and feeling are dear.

And there’s sweet Miss Leesugg,²² by-the-bye, she’s not pretty,
She’s a little too large, and has not too much grace,
Yet, there’s something about her so witching and witty,
’Tis pleasure to gaze on her good-humored face.
But as for your men—I don’t mean to be surly,
Of praise that they merit they’ll each have his share;
For the present, there’s Olliff,²² a famous Lord Burleigh,
And Hopper and Maywood, a promising pair.

H.