University of Virginia Library

SCENE V.

Enter Aristea attended.
Aris.
Lycoris,
Pursue your harmless pastime.

Arg.
Dost thou, princess,
Return to bless again my poor abode?

Aris.
O that I could as well avoid myself
As I can fly from others! Ah! my friend,
Thou little think'st how fatal is this day
To Aristea.

Arg.
Rather say this day
Is glorious to you! Of your matchless beauty
What ampler proofs can future times receive?
To win you all the flower of Greece this day
Meet in th' Olympic lists.

Aris.
He whom alone
I wish to find, alas! he is not there.
But let us change to some more pleasing theme;
Again resume your interrupted tasks.
Lycoris sit, and let me hear thee speak:
Thou didst begin to tell me all thy fortunes;
Pursue the story now; with thy lov'd converse,
Assuage awhile my pains; and if thou canst,
By telling thy afflictions, soften mine.

[they sit.
Arg.
If aught from me has power to charm your grief,
Then are my sufferings not without reward.
Already have I told you that my name
Is Argene, that Crete beheld me born
Of noble blood, that my affections soar'd
A higher flight than even my birth could claim.

Aris.
Thus far I have learn'd.

Arg.
Hear whence my woes began.
On Lycidas, the princely heir of Crete,
I fix'd my love, and was again belov'd.
Awhile with prudence we conceal'd our flames:
Till passion strengthening, as it oft befalls,
And prudence growing weak, some watchful eye
Perceiv'd at length, and read our mutual glances:
The tale to others flew; from tongue to tongue
The rumour spreading reach'd the royal ear.
The king with anger heard, rebuk'd his son,
And sternly bade him never see me more;
And thus by opposition but increas'd
His wish to see me; so the fanning wind
Adds strength to fire; so rivers higher swell,
In straiten'd bounds. Impatient with his love
The frantic Lycidas resolv'd to fly
And bear me thence by force; his whole design
To me he sent, the messenger betray'd
His trust, and gave the letters to the king.
My hapless lover then was close confin'd,
And I commanded to a foreign husband
To give my hand, which I refus'd to obey.
Against me all declar'd; the monarch threaten'd,
My friends condemn'd me, and my father oft
Urg'd me to accept the nuptials: nothing now
Could save me but determin'd flight or death,
Of these I chose the first, which prudence seemd'd
To point, and nature least recoil'd to follow.
Unknown I came to Elis: in these woods
I purpos'd to reside, 'midst shepherds here
A rural nymph, I now am call'd Lycoris.
But in the faithful bosom of Lycoris,
I cherish still the heart of Argene.

Aris.
Indeed I pity thee; but cannot yet
Approve thy flight; a virgin and alone
To seek a distant country—to forsake—

Arg.
And should I then have yielded up my hand
To Megacles?

Aris.
To Megacles!—O Heaven!
Declare what Megacles was this?

Arg.
The husband
For whom the king design'd me: ought I then
To have forgotten—

Aris.
Know'st thou not his country?

Arg.
Athens.

Aris.
What cause had brought him into Crete?

Arg.
The cause was love; for so himself declar'd.
A band of robbers, at his first arrival,
Attack'd, and had depriv'd him of his life,
But Lycidas by chance came by and sav'd him.
Since which they still have liv'd in strictest friendship:
This friend of Lycidas, known to the king,
Was, as a stranger, by the royal mandate
Decreed for me.

Aris.
But dost thou yet remember
His aspect?

Arg.
Yes, methinks I see him present.
Fair were his shining locks, his eyebrows dark,
His lips of ruddiest hue, and gently swelling;
His looks sedate, and full of tenderness;
A frequent smile, a pleasing speech—but princess,
Your colour changes—say—what can this mean?

Aris.
O Heaven! that Megacles whom you describe,
Is him I love.

Arg.
What say'st thou?

Aris.
O! 'tis true:
In secret long he lov'd me; but my father
Refus'd my hand to one in Athens born:
Nay would not hear or even vouchsafe to see him.
He left me in despair, and never since
Have I beheld him; but from thee I learn
What has befallen him since.

Arg.
Our fortunes both
Are surely wondrous.

Aris.
Could he now be told
That here I am made the prize of victory.

Arg.
Dispatch some trusty messenger to Crete,
To give him notice: thou meantime, procure
The games to be delay'd.

Aris.
Say how, my friend?

Arg.
Great Clisthenes is Aristea's father;
'Tis he presides, th' elected judge, to rule
The solemn rites; he if he will can change—

Aris.
But, ah! he will not.

Arg.
Yet, what harm, my princess,
Springs from the trial?

Aris.
Haste then, let us go
And find out Clisthenes.

[both rising.
Arg.
Forbear—He's here.