University of Virginia Library

SCENE A Postern Gate of the Bower.
Grideline and Page.
Grid.
My Stomach swells with secret Spight,
To see my fickle, faithless Knight,
With upright Gesture, goodly Mein,
Face of Olive, Coat of Green,
That charm'd the Ladies long ago,
So little his own Worth to know,
On a meer Girl his Thoughts to place,
With dimpl'd Cheeks and baby Face,
A Child! a Chit! that was not born,
When I did Town and Court adorn.

Page.
Can any Man prefer Fifteen
To Venerable Grideline?

Grid.
He does, my Child; or tell me why
With weeping Eyes so oft I spy
His Whiskers curl'd, and Shoo-strings ty'd,
A new Toledo by his Side,
In Shoulder-belt so trimly plac'd,
With Band so nicely smooth'd and lac'd.

Page.
If Rosamond his Garb has view'd
The Knight is false, the Nymph subdu'd.

Grid.
My anxious boding Heart divines
His Falshood by a thousand Signs:
Oft o'er the lonely Rocks he walks,
And to the foolish Eccho talks;
Oft in the Glass he rolls his Eye,
But turns and frowns if I am by;
Then my fond easie Heart beguiles,
And thinks of Rosamond, and smiles.

Page.
Well may you feel these soft Alarms,
She has a Heart—

Grid.
—And He has Charms.

Page.
Your fears are too just—

Grid.
—Too plainly I've prov'd

Both.
He loves and is lov'd.

Grid.
O Merciless Fate!

Page.
Deplorable State!

Grid.
To die—

Page.
—To be slain

Grid.
By a Barbarous Swain,

Both.
That Laughs at your Pain.

Grid.
How shou'd I act? Can'st thou advise?

Page.
Open the Gate, if you are wise;
I, in an unsuspected Hour,
May catch 'em dallying in the Bow'r,
Perhaps their loose Amours prevent,
And keep Sir Trusty Innocent.

Grid.
Thou art in Truth
A forward Youth,
Of Wit and Parts above thy Age;
Thou know'st our Sex. Thou art a Page.

Page.
I'll do what I can
To surprise the false Man.

An opening Scene discovers another View of the Bower.
Grid.
[Exit Page.

Grideline
sola.
Prithee Cupid no more
Hurl thy Darts at Threescore,
To thy Girls and thy Boys
Give thy Pains and thy Joys,
Let Sir Trusty and me
From thy Frolicks be free.
[Exit Grid.

Re-enter Page, solus.
O the soft delicious View,
Ever Charming, ever New!
Greens of various Shades arise,
Deck'd with Flow'rs of various Dies:
Paths by meeting Paths are crost,
Alleys in winding Alleys lost;
Fountains playing through the Trees,
Give Coolness to the passing Breeze.

Enter Queen.
Queen.
At length the bow'ry Vaults appear!
My Bosom heaves, and pants with Fear:
A thousand Checks my Heart controul,
A thousand Terrors shake my Soul.

Page.
Behold the brazen Gate unbarr'd!
—She's fixt in Thought, I am not heard—

[Apart.
Queen.
I see, I see my Hands embru'd
In purple Streams of reeking Blood:
I see the Victim gasp for Breath,
And start in Agonies of Death:
I see my raging dying Lord,
And O, I see my self abhorr'd!

Page.
My Eyes o'erflow, my Heart is rent
To hear Britannia's Queen lament.

[Aside.
Queen.
What shall my trembling Soul pursue?

Page.
Behold, Great Queen, the Place in View!

Queen.
Ye Pow'rs instruct me what to do!

Page.
That Bow'r will show
The guilty Foe.

Queen.
—It is decreed—It shall be so;
[After a Pause.

Page.
Her Heart with Rage and Fondness glows.
O Jealousie! thou Hell of Woes!
[Aside.
That conscious Scene of Love contains
The fatal Cause of all your Pains:
In yonder flow'ry Vale she lies,
Where those fair-blossom'd Arbours rise.

Queen.
Let us haste to destroy
Her Guilt and her Joy.

[Exeunt.