AIR. A linnet pilfer'd from his nest, Fed by her hand, warm'd by her breast, Still felt his little bosom beat To frolic wild and free, And left his happy safe retreat, For truant liberty. He rov'd, nor thought of Chloe's grief, Till Autumn shook the falling leaf, And Winter swept the grove; Wild thro' the forest rave, Flew back, and with repentant eye, Through the intervention of a friend, this opera was presented to the manager of Covent Garden, who declined its acceptance. The author had fortified himself against disappointment, by writing another piece, decidedly superior to its predecessor; to which he gave the appropriate title of The Robbery, or Your's or Mine. Disgusted with the flimsiness and insipidity which in general characterize operatic pieces, Tobin introduced into this piece a considerable portion of the vis comica, and invested it with attractions perfectly independent of music and scenery. At the commencement of his career he indulged the hope that he might eventually reform the system, almost universally established in the production of operatic dramas, of making the dialogues merely appendant to the songs, and the characters and situations subordinate to the music. He contended that the operatic form did not necessarily exclude sense, wit, and humour; and that it was not impossible to furnish popular and attractive songs, which should at once satisfy the mind and enchant the ear. He was sensible of the epidemical mania for music; he repined at the exclusive preference which fashion awarded to the fortunate possessor of a rich voice, and at the homage which a singer usurped from the finest poet or the most accomplished actor. He could scarcely forbear to stigmatize as affectation that overweening passion for sound and spectacle, in a country which possesses no national music, and among a people generally destitute of the aptitudes for musical excellence. He conceived, however, that it might not be impossible to render even this fatuity subservient to the creation of a peculiar species of dramatic composition, which should at once give scope to the powers of the actor and the singer, and allow the poet to divide the triumph with the composer. This idea was afterwards more fully developed in the Fisherman, and two or three later pieces. Of Your's or Mine the reader will form his own judgment. The following beautiful stanza would alone establish the author's lyrical genius. Absence in Love. The flower, enamoured of the sun, Waking her beauty, as he dries her tears. The following Air is simple and elegant. As men who long at sea have been, And eye So lovers meet, With rapture greet. As maids with midnight vigils pale As anglers at day's parting gleam, As exiles bid the world farewell, With breaking heart. The opera of Yours or Mine was not more fortunate than its predecessor; but the unknown applicant resumed possession of his piece, with a determination not to be subdued by disappointment. It might appear surprising that he should persevere after a second repulse; but whilst he saw his claims supplanted by men, to whom he conceived himself to be superior, he could not but cherish the hope that he should eventually surmount every obstacle, and successfully establish his reputation and independence. Many circumstances conspired to nourish this persuasion: the English stage was at that period in a state of unexampled splendour and prosperity: the erection of a new and magnificent theatre which attested the progress of luxury, appeared to announce the triumphs of taste and refinement; and such were the overflowings of public liberality, that not only the actor, but even the author was permitted to share its munificence. The following observations are from the pen of a living dramatist, E |