Farther on the poet discourses of the ghosts in "Venice Preserved," of
which mention has already been made:
If Belvidera her loved lost deplore,
Why for twin spectres burst the yawning floor?
When, with disordered starts and horrid cries,
She paints the murdered forms before her eyes,
And still pursues them with a frantic stare,
'Tis pregnant madness brings the visions there.
More instant horror would enforce the scene
If all her shudderings were at shapes unseen.
It may have been due to Lloyd's poem, and to the opinions it expressed
and obtained favour for, that when Drury Lane Theatre opened in 1794
with a performance of "Macbeth," the experiment was tried of omitting
the appearance of Banquo's ghost, and leaving its presence to be
imagined by the spectators. The alteration, however, was not found to
be agreeable to the audience. While granting that Mr. Kemble's fine
acting was almost enough to make them believe they really did see the
ghost, they preferred that there should be no mistake about the
matter, and that Banquo's shade should come on bodily--be distinctly
visible.
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