16.
But all their various deeds of sin,
What mortal man has ever reckon’d?
The mischief plann’d by Harlequin,
Fair Columbine is sure to second.
17.
They quickly kill poor Pantaloon,
And now our drama’s plot grows riper,
When e’er they frisk it to some tune,
The Clown is forc’d to pay the piper.
18.
Each foreign land he dances through,
In some new garb behold the Hero,
Pagan and Christian, Turk and Jew,
Cromwell, Caligula and Nero.
19.
A Butcher, Harlequin appears,
The rapid scene to Egypt flying,
O’er captive Turks his steel up rears,
The stage is strew’d with dead and dying.
20.
Next by the crafty genius taught,
Sportive he tries Sangrado’s trick,
Presents a bowl, with poison fraught,
And kills his own unconscious sick.