[23] This undoubtedly is the manner in which this charming little piece ought to be performed. It is a dramatic poem, but not an acting play, and the incidents are such as cannot be represented on the stage. A few years ago another attempt was made to perform it as an opera, but without success. Polyphemus is entirely an ideal character, and any attempt to personate him must be ridiculous; and the concluding scene, in which the giant throws a huge rock at the head of his rival, produced shouts of merriment. "Acis and Galatea" is performed in an orchestra in the manner in which oratorios are performed; but its effect would certainly be heightened by the picturesque scenery and decorations employed by Handel himself.--_Hogarth's Musical Drama_. [24] "Not showers to larks so pleasing, Not sunshine to the bee, Not sleep to toil so easing, As these dear smiles to me." [25] "Help! Galatea! Help, ye parent gods! And take me dying to your deep abodes." Alexander's Feast. Handel composed the music for Dryden's immortal ode in 1736. In the original score the close of the first part is dated January 5, and the end of the work January 17, showing rapid composition. Three years before this time he had had a violent quarrel with Senesino, his principal singer at the opera-house in the Haymarket, which led to his abandonment of the theatre and its occupancy by his rival, Porpora. After an unsuccessful attempt to compete with the latter, which nearly bankrupted him in health and purse, he decided to quit opera altogether. He sought relief for his physical ailments at Aix-la-Chapelle, and upon his return to London in October, 1735, publicly announced that "Mr. Handel will perform Oratorios and have Concerts of Musick this Winter at Covent Garden Theatre." One of the first works for these concerts was "Alexander's Feast," completed, as stated above, Jan. 17, 1736. The poem was prepared by Newburgh Hamilton, who says in his preface:--