"
In 1714, Addison wrote: "I look upon the playhouse as a world within
itself. They have lately furnished the middle region of it with a new
set of meteors in order to give the sublime to many modern tragedies.
I was there last winter at the first rehearsal of the new thunder,
which is much more deep and sonorous than any hitherto made use of.
They have a Salmoneus behind the scenes, who plays it off with great
success. Their lightnings are made to flash more briskly than
heretofore; their clouds are also better furbelowed and more
voluminous; not to mention a violent storm locked up in a great chest
that is designed for 'The Tempest.' They are also provided with a
dozen showers of snow, which, as I am informed, are the plays of many
unsuccessful poets, artificially cut and shredded for that vise." In
an earlier "Spectator" he had written: "I have often known a bell
introduced into several tragedies with good effect, and have seen the
whole assembly in a very great alarm all the while it has been
ringing." Pope has his mention in "The Dunciad" of the same artifice:
With horns and trumpets now to madness swell.
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