University of Virginia Library

ACT the FIRST.

The SCENE, the Seraglio.
Enter Roxolana, Mirva, Guards, and Ladies.
Mirva.
The Turkish pow'r was absolute till now:
All knees, all hearts did to the Sultan bow.
Nay Beauty too by Heav'n and Nature made,
To Conquer Kings, in the tame crowd obey'd;
The world was searcht, and busie Nations strove
To find out Martyrs for a Tyrants Love.

2. Lady.
Even Daughters by their Parents were betray'd,
Who their fair race a willing Victim made;
In a Seraglio, they Cloyster'd slept,
For servile Love in shining Fetters kept:
Till Roxolana the long Bondage broke,
And by her Influence shook off the yoke.

Mirva.
Yes, Royal Madam, 'twas your Eyes alone,
That could confine his wandring heart to one;
And singly rule the Conquer'd Solyman:
Beauty was ne're a Monarch till your Reign.
The glorious Sun shines by himself most bright,
When crowds, like Stars, make but a feeble light.

Roxolan.
And Mirva, to confirm the Chains I gave,
By Sacred Rites I've bound my Royal Slave.
It has been mine, and only my Renown,
T'have joyn'd a Nuptial Wreath t'a Turkish Crown.
He saw me, and he look'd his pow'r away;
Nor can years raize the Structures of that day:
The Siege I laid, an Age cannot remove;
His Constancy's as great as is His Love.
Men call me Proud; yes, so might Heav'n be too,
If its Adorers were but half as true.
Homage to that, inconstant Mortals pay;
And Heav'n meets with Apostates ev'ry day.
Brighter their Temples and their pow'r would shine,
Did God's maintain their Altars, as I mine.

Enter Asteria attended.
Aster.
I come to lay new Honours at your Feet,
In your returning Lord a Conqu'rour meet.
The Sultan does from Vanquisht Persia come,
From being fear'd abroad, to be ador'd at home.
By what the Arms of Solyman have won,
The Turkish Moon Eclips'd the Persian Sun.

Roxol.
Your Father, dear Asteria, has in you,
A pious Herauld found, and just one too.
But whilst the Sultans Conquests you express,
Is not Love shrowded in this Martial dress?
Amidst the lowder Vows you pay to him,
Does not the Great and Faithful Ibrahim,
(To whose success the Sultans glory's due)
Extort some silent Veneration too?

Aster.
I cannot but with blushes own his pow'r.
Ibrahim is every where a Conquerour.

Roxol.
Nay! Blush no more! His Victories remove
That Barr, which has so long conceal'd your Love:
All that he is; all he has don's your due,
Life, and the Sultan's smiles he gain'd by you.
At once a Condemn'd Criminal and a Slave,
You Rescu'd him from Fetters and a Grave.
He, and his Conquests your Creations are.
To you he owes them, and shall pay 'em here.

Aster.
Grant this, and Heav'n, Il'e make no other pray'r.
If the kind Destinies this wish fulfil,
Let all their other works of Fate stand still.

Roxol.
By my Commands, you have conceal'd your flame,
Till his illustrious Deeds had rais'd his Fame,
Above all Conquerours this Age can shew;
The only worth that should aspire to you.
Till then I bid you your low passion hide:
And see how Heav'n rewards your noble Pride.
In this high State, He may your Kindness know;
You've made him God-like e're you treat him so.
Love like Religion in a mighty mind,
Should build those Temples which it does not find.

Aster.
My Breast thus long has my Loves Jailour been,
And kept by force the strugling Prisoner in.
But oh! how much is my freed soul at peace,
When you pronounce the tiresome Slaves Release.

Enter Solyman, Ibrahim, Ulama, Dorea, Bassas, and Janizaries.
Solym.
Be this days Pomp your care, in th'Aga's room,
to Dorea.
Fix you my Standard in the Hippodrome:
And as my Agent pay that debt I owe;
My Gratitude in Ibrahims glory show.
Do it with such Magnificence and State,
As fits the Triumph which we celebrate.

Here Solyman approaches and discovers Roxolana.
Roxol.
Welcome the Worlds great Conqueror & mine;
Enough before did your bright Luster shine.
You needed not new Victories, new Charms,
To welcome you to Roxolana's Arms.

Solym.
Yes; I need all my glories, when you're near,
I bring my Trophies as a Tribute here.
Great, though I am, your pow'r is greater yet;
The World to me, I, to your Eyes submit.
Betwixt Loves pow'r and Majesty's this odds;
The Vows men pay to Saints, Saints pay their Gods.

Ibrah.
Yes, Dorea, goe; raise this Triumphant Seat.
[to Dorea.
Let th'Entertainment be both rich and great;
Let it have all that Majesty may dress,
In spoiles of War or Ornaments of Peace.
But then consider where that Honour's due;
To him alone, you must with Homage bow:
Obey him as my Sovereign, not my Friend.

Ulam.
Oh Ulama, thy heart, thy heart defend.

[Gazing on Roxolana.
Roxol.
Great and Victorious you must ever prove,
Be but your Stars thus constant as your Love.

Solym.
Their influence is secure; I cannot fear
Success nor Conquest whilst this Arm makes War.
[presents Ibrahim to her.
For when my Ibrahim did to Persia go,
Against the Sophy, my most pow'rful Foe;
So small his Forces were, so few his Arms,
That they seem'd only fit to give Alarms,
Not overthrows; sent but to rowze my game;
But as the Light'ning till my Thunder came.
Yet when my greater force ith' Field I drew,
Expecting danger and a stubborn Foe;
Expecting by long Sweat and Toyl t'have gone,
Through Blood and Ruin to the Persian Throne,
His wondrous Arm such Miracles had done,
I came but to behold the Fields he won.

Ibrah.
The Sultans pleasure is, that shining things,
Should only be the Favourites of Kings.
[To Roxolana.
And shews his God-like Bounty when he takes
Delight t'adorn the Creatures which he makes.

Solym.
Though Crowns and Empires have his Tryumphs been,
There was one Trophy left for me to win,
[To Roxolana.
This Princes heart; the bravest and the best
Of all my Persian Foes; is Solymans Guest.
[presents Ulama to her.
I have, to shew what to your Beauty's due,
Brought the great Sophies Son to wait on you.

Ulama.
Your generous Lord such favours does confer
On Ulama his Ibrahims Prisoner.
That from my Chains, without a Ransom paid,
Not only freed, but Solymans Creature made,
My overthrow I must Heav'ns blessings call,
Who owe this Resurrection to my fall.

Roxola.
His favours Solyman does not id'ly place,
No doubt he found you merited that Grace.

Ulama.
So eminent your Sultans Vertues are;
I wonder not at his success in War.
The Fates in Duty to such worth are kind:
Justly th'obsequious Destinies design'd
No other force should Solyman subdue;
As being the only Conquest fit for you.
(Aside...)
Was't not enough I was subdu'd at home?
Have I a new Captivity to come?
On envy'd Solyman! Oh infinite charms!
My Eyes are more ambitious than thy Armes! (...Aside.)


Solym.
But my dear Ibrahim, now is the time,
I must accuse a Conquerour of a Crime:
You wear a look unfit for Victory:
In all the glories you have heap'd on Me,
In Deeds that ought to make the Actor proud,
On your dark Brow you wear a sullen Cloud.

Roxol.
I have observ'd him with the same surprize,
And markt a killing sorrow in his Eyes.

Solym.
In this dejected look
There's something more then modesty: Your Friend
And King must know from whence those Clouds descend?
Do you repine at the loud Fame you get?
Or is't unwillingly you make me great?

Ibrah.
Unwillingly! Forbear that killing sound;
Give not a Loyal heart so deep a wound.
Unwillingly! not Misers meet their Wealth,
Lovers success, despairing Sinners Health,
Or Martyrs Heav'n, with half the joy, that I
Can in your Cause, subdue, obey, or dye.

Aster.
My life shall pay for one ill thought in Him,
I'le answer for the Loyal Ibrahim.

Solym.
But, my best Ibrahim, your griefs declare;
Can you have Sorrows, which I must not share?
Your troubles may be just, and by my fault;
Perhaps I have not us'd you as I ought:
Perhaps your merits are not fully paid;
The Crowns that Ibrahim won, are not on Ibrahims head:
But though my tardy hand has guilty been;
'Tis not too late to expiate that sin.
Crowns thou shalt have—

Ibrah.
Oh Royal Sir, no more;
Bounty was never Cruelty before.
So great, so large a present as a Crown,
Is fit for Solyman to give alone:
'Tis great, but 'tis not kind; when you can think,
My soul t'a mercenary thought can sink.
My thoughts from a more just Ambition spring,
'Tis all my Pride; Unbrib'd to serve my King.

Solym.
Then tell me—

Ibrah.
Oh the secret must not out—

[Aside.
Roxol.
If not his kindness, then his pow'r you doubt:
Can there be any thing disturbs your rest,
As cannot be by Solyman redrest?
Think you his power's so little?—

Ibrah.
No, so great—
When yours joyns too, to make that pow'r compleat,
'Tis infinite, like that bright boundless space,
Where light and Saints their endless glories place:
Within it all things, and beyond it nothing.

Solym.
Say then, from whence does all this darkness come?
Have I done injury to Christendom?
Have any of my forreign pow'rs by steel,
Or Rapine, wrong'd those Altars where you kneel?

Ibrah.
(Aside...)
Love pardon dutys sin, when I reveal
My lesser sorrows, but the great conceal! (...Aside.)

Sir, when I bring
The Lowness whence you drew me to my thought;
The change which your Almighty hand has wrought:
Though he that rais'd it can support my state;
With trembling I behold my dang'rous height.
Malice and Envy will my life persue,
And strive to make me hated be by you.
How many of my Predecessors fell?
Nor could their Services their Dooms repel.
The faithful Vizier Achmat,
Rais'd Bajazet the Second to his Throne;
And little less had Valiant Chassan done
For your great Father: Yet in all their pride,
Both by their jealous Lords suspected dy'd.
The fear of death my trouble does not make;
My Life and Honours you may freely take.
But when I think the fatal time may be
When you will but suspect my Loyalty;
'Tis that strikes horrour through my staggering sence:
No Torture like mistaken Innocence.

Solym.
I thought to you I'had made my breast so clear;
That you had nothing left to wish or fear.
But since my kind conjectures are not sure,
At once your weakness I'le forgive and cure:
I swear by Alla (and to bind my Vow,
Heav'n make me happy as I'm just to you)
Whilst Solyman Lives, his Ibrahim shall not dye
By any violent death.

Ibrah.
Your favours are so high—

Solym.
Forbear your thanks, 'tis only what I owe;
Men thanks for Gifts, and not for Debts bestow.

Roxol.
No Sir, your constancy he cannot doubt;
He knows his Prince too well for such a thought.
Why this disguise?—

Solym.
I'le take this surer way;
Though Friendship have no influence, Love may.
Here be your looks as Conqu'ring as your Sword;
I call you Friend, and she shall call you Lord.

[Gives him Asteria.
Aster.
That word my ravish'd sence does overcome:
Aside.
I feel my joys too mighty to be dumb.

Aside.
Solym.
Be to my blood, as to my soul ally'd:
Now have you thoughts, you from your King can hide?
Have I not bought 'em yet?

Ibrah.
What shall I say?

[Aside.
Aster.
My Bliss was never perfect till this day.

[Aside.
Rox.
This Lady, whom in Chains you could subdue,
Admir'd by all, deserv'd by none but you;
Enrich'd with Solyman's favours, and above
All other Ornaments; her greater Love;
Meets you with all the kindness souls e're shar'd;
Your Glories prize, your Loyalties reward.

Aster.
Do not too high her little Merit raise,
Who blushes but too much without this praise;
Yet Sir—
By your commands I should all shame remove:
I need not blush when Duty bids me Love.
But mighty Sir, if the o're-hasty guest,
[to Ibrahim.
By a too early Raign, this Seat possest;
[points to her Breast.
Let th'easie prize not make the value less;
Nor Love its merit loose for its excess.
A Love which could not be by force expell'd;
And now wants pow'r to keep its joyes conceal'd.

Solym.
To make her yet more worthy—

Ibrah.
Great Sir, hold—
Let me alone this Beauties worth unfold:
'Tis I can best describe such excellence.

Aster.
I feel new raptures in my softn'd sence!

[Aside.
Ibrah.
Some Heroe whom Imperial Crowns adorn,
To greatness rais'd, and as much greatness born.
Some Prince that has so much Man-kind out-done,
As should make Solymans's equal in his Son:
'Tis such a one should meet Asteria's charms;
But I the most unworthy of her Armes—

Roxol.
Where will this end?

[Aside.
Aster.
Some God that pitty's Love, divert my fear.

[Aside.
Ibrah.
So little pow'r of Gratitude dwells here!
[points to his Breast.
That I'am beneath your scorn, so wretched I,
To reconcile my Fate, beg leave to dye.
Yes, take my heart; but when 'tis yours, it must
Be offer'd up in blood, to make it just.
To give me back my Chains, would be too kind;
Let me in Death, Yours, and his Justice find.

Solym.
Has Ibrahim crimes make him deserve to dye?

Ibrah.
I Criminal! Oh none so much as I.
I am below the state of Infidels:
I view that face where Soveraign Beauty dwells:
Beauty, which homage, next to Gods, receives;
And commands hearts, more than the Sultan, Lives.
Yet, I to neither can Allegiance pay,
Love my Preserver, or my Prince obey.
Fair Mistress of my Life and Liberty;
The founder of my Fame, all I enjoy;
Th'ungrateful Creature of your smiles destroy.

Roxol.
Are Solymans favours and his blood abus'd?
And so much Love thus barbarously us'd?

Solym.
Ibrahim! I am unwilling to believe,
Such Disrespect I can from Man receive;
Much less from Favourites; say then, what is
That Pow'r has destin'd me to suffer this?

Aster.
Ask not the reason of his disrespect,
Let her describe the Cause, who feels th'effect.
My sighs with scorn too fatally are paid:
My Love's despis'd for some more happy Maid.
Look, Sir, on this sad object, and in me
[to Ibrah.
The sudden change of fading Greatness see.
When I came hither, (oh my short-liv'd Bliss!)
I'd not have chang'd my hopes of happiness,
To have been Empress of the World: but now
Not the most wretched of my Sex so low.
Nor am I in my slighted Love alone
Unfortunate, but guilty too! I've done
What neither to my Sex nor Birth was due,
Transgrest the Laws of modesty, for you.
So weak my heart, so great my sufferings are;
I cannot hide my Love, nor my Despair.

[offers to go.
Roxol.
What do I live to hear! Asteria, stay—

Aster.
No! let me take my hated sight away:
This freedom to the lost Asteria give;
In Crowds the Prosperous, not the Wretched live:
[Exit Asteria.

Roxol.
Who is that pow'rful Rival, for whose sake,
Your stubborn heart her Beauty cannot shake.
For whom Asteria's favours, and her blood,
Are priz'd as little as they're understood:
Yet name her not; already I have heard
Too much; if Solyman you lov'd or fear'd,
You would not treat him thus. You've wrong'd him more
Then all your Victories oblig'd before.

[Exit.
Solym.
Go tryumph in her suff'rings and my shame,
And add this one proud Title to your Fame;
You from an injur'd King this Grace receiv'd;
You are the first disturb'd my peace, and liv'd.

[Exit with his Train, all but Ibrahim.
Ibrah.
Ruin'd at once so sure! Fate has made haste.
Who could believe that so few hours are past,
Since this undone, lost, despicable thing
Was fear'd by all the World, and favour'd by his King.
But now her Love refus'd, his blood disgrac'd;
How are those Titles at one blast defac'd!
Oh Love! Oh Isabella! When thy Ear
Shall the dire sound of my misfortunes hear,
Give me at once thy pitty and applause:
And whilst my Ruin has so dear a Cause,
Dying for thee; Fame to my praise shall tell,
That Ibrahim liv'd less Nobly, than He fell.
[Exit Ibrahim.