To wake the soul by tender strokes of art,

To raise the genius, and to mend the heart;

To make mankind, in conscious virtue bold,

Live o'er each scene, and be what they behold:

For this the tragic Muse first trod the stage,

Commanding tears to stream through every age;

Tyrants no more their savage nature kept,

And foes to virtue wondered how they wept.

Alexander Pope