Calypso and Telemachus :: :: University of Virginia Library

Calypso and Telemachus

An Opera

Hughes, John (1677-1720)

CALYPSO AND TELEMACHUS.

SCENE VII.

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SCENE VII.

Telemachus, Mentor.
Tel.
O Mentor, best of Friends,
My Guide and my Support!
What canst thou say to sooth my swelling Grief?

Ment.
Thy Grief is pious;
And yet I fear—

Tel.
Why dost thou chide me with thy Eyes?
O speak!—
Thy gloomy Silence wounds me.

Ment.
Then hear me: Let thy Father's Image
Live in thy Soul, and waken all thy Virtue.

Tel.
Can I forget my Father—Let these Tears
Speak how I mourn his Loss.

Ment.
Alas! thou dost not see
What Dangers here surround thee.

Tel.
Danger!—from whence?
Calypso smiles.

Ment.

So smil'd of late the Ocean;
And yet the Storm arose, by which the Ship,
Ev'n on this Shore, this faithless Shore, was split.

Let not Pleasure's Charms undo thee;
Trust not the deluding Joy.

Tho' the Syren softly wooe thee,
Gayly smiling,
And beguiling,
She'll thy nobler Bliss destroy.

Let not Pleasure's Charms undo thee;
Trust not the deluding Joy.

Tel.

Speak thus for ever! when I hear thy Voice,
I think the Gods themselves
Vouchsafe to give me Counsel.
i now perceive thy Fears,
Lest I forget my Country—No—
I'll leave this charming Place,
Wou'd the kind Gods but point me out the way,
And favour my Return.

Two VOICES.
Ment.
Hark, how the Voice of Fame
Calls loudly, Come away!

Tel.
I hear th'immortal Claim,
I hear, and I obey.

Ment.
Come, come away.

Tel.
I hear, and I obey.

Ment. & Tel.
The Hero's Soul with native Fires,
To Glory's noblest Height aspires,
And scorns supine Delay.

Ment.
Hark, how the Voice of Fame
Calls loudly, come away!

Tel.
I hear th'immortal Claim,
I hear, and I obey.

Ment.
Come, come away.

Tel.
I hear, and I obey.