Melpomene among her livid people, <br />Ere stroke of lyre, upon Thaleia looks, <br />Warned by old contests that one museful ripple <br />Along those lips of rose with tendril hooks <br />Forebodes disturbance in the springs of pathos, <br />Perchance may change of masks midway demand, <br />Albeit the man rise mountainous as Athos, <br />The woman wild as Cape Leucadia stand. <br /> <br />II <br /> <br />For this the Comic Muse exacts of creatures <br />Appealing to the fount of tears: that they <br />Strive never to outleap our human features, <br />And do Right Reason's ordinance obey, <br />In peril of the hum to laughter nighest. <br />But prove they under stress of action's fire <br />Nobleness, to that test of Reason highest, <br />She bows: she waves them for the loftier lyre.<br /><br />George Meredith<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-two-masks/
