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Shawords

Quote#Speech

The play is done; the curtain drops

Quote byWilliam Makepeace Thackeray · 1811–1863

Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Ballads (1855), "The End of the Play", st. 1..

English (original)

The play is done; the curtain drops, Slow falling to the prompter’s bell: A moment yet the actor stops, And looks around, to say farewell. It is an irksome word and task; And, when he’s laughed and said his say, He shows, as he removes the mask, A face that’s anything but gay.

— William Makepeace Thackeray

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