 | The Birth of Hercules |  |
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2. INTERLUDE THE SECOND.
SCENE THE FIRST.
Scene, a magnificent hall.JUPITER, MARS, PHOEBUS, CUPID, MINERVA, VENUS, CERES, and other Deities, with many of their celestial Attendants.
While Jupiter advances from the farther part of the stage, the following chorus is sung by the rest of the Deities and Personages.
CHORUS.
May concord, glory, joy and love,
Forever fill the court of Jove.
SCENE THE SECOND.
To them MERCURY.MERCURY.
Hail, God supreme! and all Olympian pow'rs!
May never hour pass off with less delight
Than that my welcome tidings must create.
JUPITER.
Say, Hermes, what new transports shall we feel?
MERCURY.
The chaste Alcmena to immortal Jove
Has borne a son—the infant Hercules—
In happy season of propitious Omens.
AIR.
Has borne a son—the infant Hercules—
In happy season of propitious Omens.
All foretel his future worth,
Plenty, glory, grace his birth!
Fame exciting loud applause,
Vict'ry crowning virtue's cause!
These his natal hour emblaze!
These our hopes to transports raise!
Plenty, glory, grace his birth!
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Vict'ry crowning virtue's cause!
These his natal hour emblaze!
These our hopes to transports raise!
MARS.
Prognostics all that he will shine in arms,
A spoiler great, and vanquisher by war.
PHOEBUS.
Not such by my divining spirit seen—
He comes to ravag'd realms and hostile pow'rs
The welcome harbinger of smiling peace;
To hush contention, harmonize the world,
Drive hated discord to her native hell,
And once again restore Astræa's reign.
AIR.
He comes to ravag'd realms and hostile pow'rs
The welcome harbinger of smiling peace;
To hush contention, harmonize the world,
Drive hated discord to her native hell,
And once again restore Astræa's reign.
Happy birth, which shall bestow
All was hop'd for from above,
All that mortals wish below,
Safety, plenty, joy and love.
Slaughter shall desert the plain,
Peaceful arts resume their sway,
Commerce o'er the sea shall reign,
Science beam her heav'nly ray:
While Muses in their vocal grove,
Shall greet with songs the son of Jove!
All was hop'd for from above,
All that mortals wish below,
Safety, plenty, joy and love.
Slaughter shall desert the plain,
Peaceful arts resume their sway,
Commerce o'er the sea shall reign,
Science beam her heav'nly ray:
While Muses in their vocal grove,
Shall greet with songs the son of Jove!
[Jupiter and Phoebus retire towards the back part of the scene, and confer apart.
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The heav'nly pow'rs, whose bounties bless mankind,
Delight in peace. To their benign desires
This birth will prove auspicious. Ceres wishes
Felicity to those her sway protects.
AIR.
Delight in peace. To their benign desires
This birth will prove auspicious. Ceres wishes
Felicity to those her sway protects.
May ev'ry hind who treads the dale,
With heart-felt glee in cot regale;
And who from hills the prospect eyes,
See golden harvests round him rise.
With heart-felt glee in cot regale;
And who from hills the prospect eyes,
See golden harvests round him rise.
May toil, reliev'd by harmless play,
Wear willing down each welcome day;
While peace and hope together chear,
And plenty crowns the happy year.
Wear willing down each welcome day;
While peace and hope together chear,
And plenty crowns the happy year.
MARS.
Since born for earthly good, let gracious pow'rs
Endow with heav'nly gifts the son of Jove.
Imperfect virtues in the world beneath
Make valour needful, to restrain ambition,
Justice uphold, and break oppression's bonds:
Then that do I bestow.
AIR.
Endow with heav'nly gifts the son of Jove.
Imperfect virtues in the world beneath
Make valour needful, to restrain ambition,
Justice uphold, and break oppression's bonds:
Then that do I bestow.
When wrongs provoke, his dreadful ire
Shall tinge with blood
The rolling flood,
And fill the fields with martial fire!
Or when injustice spreads alarms,
When faith and honour urge his arms
The injur'd cause to right,
Far as the Poles shall speed his aid,
By toils and climates undismay'd,
Resistless in its might.
Shall tinge with blood
The rolling flood,
And fill the fields with martial fire!
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When faith and honour urge his arms
The injur'd cause to right,
Far as the Poles shall speed his aid,
By toils and climates undismay'd,
Resistless in its might.
CUPID.
Yet matchless as his prowess may be made,
As Mars from sure experience must confess,
There is a pow'r no valour can withstand.
AIR.
As Mars from sure experience must confess,
There is a pow'r no valour can withstand.
On hostile plains the stoutest heart
Which e'er won laurel prize,
Must sink the victim of the dart
That's shot from beauteous eyes.
Which e'er won laurel prize,
Must sink the victim of the dart
That's shot from beauteous eyes.
However great, renown'd in arms,
The victor of the field,
If once assail'd by female charms,
He'll glory then to yield.
The victor of the field,
If once assail'd by female charms,
He'll glory then to yield.
MINERVA.
My gifts are of the choicest: such as most
Contribute to the happiness and worth
Of those allotted to the mortal state.
AIR.
Contribute to the happiness and worth
Of those allotted to the mortal state.
What will always honour find,
I with gladness now impart;
Wisdom to exalt the mind,
Virtue to adorn the heart.
These abundant I bestow,
These shall young Alcides grace,
Born to succour worth below,
Born to bless the human race.
I with gladness now impart;
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Virtue to adorn the heart.
These abundant I bestow,
These shall young Alcides grace,
Born to succour worth below,
Born to bless the human race.
VENUS.
To gifts so precious, what can Venus add,
But, to reward the worth they shall produce
That best of blessings, sweet, endearing love?
Love, which inspires the noblest souls to do
The noblest deeds, and pays them with its joys.
AIR.
But, to reward the worth they shall produce
That best of blessings, sweet, endearing love?
Love, which inspires the noblest souls to do
The noblest deeds, and pays them with its joys.
Be his blessing,
E'er possessing
What the wise and good regard,
Hopes delighting,
Charms inviting,
These are valour's best reward.
E'er possessing
What the wise and good regard,
Hopes delighting,
Charms inviting,
These are valour's best reward.
JUPITER and PHOEBUS advance towards the front of the stage.
RECITATIVE accompanied.
JUPITER.
What you fortel, prophetic God, is joyful!
O Phoebus! shall my young Alcides add
New glories to his race?
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A life devoted to the cause of virtue,
In humbling tyrants, in relieving states
From fell oppression, in peopling regions,
In teaching men those arts which most conduce
To human welfare, worth and happiness,
Shall make him fam'd and honour'd while on earth,
And at his death—exalt him to the skies.
JUPITER.
O sweet indulgence of parental hope,
That in the objects of our tend'rest love
We rear up public blessings! So, in thought,
Anticipate what millions may acquire
Of true felicity from us deriv'd.
AIR.
That in the objects of our tend'rest love
We rear up public blessings! So, in thought,
Anticipate what millions may acquire
Of true felicity from us deriv'd.
Charming sympathies of nature,
Where we mark the kindred feature!
Charming bodings, when we trace
The budding virtues of a race!
Where we mark the kindred feature!
Charming bodings, when we trace
The budding virtues of a race!
Sweet sensations, grateful views,
Where the parent life renews!
Where he makes a second claim
To being, merit, bliss, and fame!
Where the parent life renews!
Where he makes a second claim
To being, merit, bliss, and fame!
PHOEBUS.
The infant hero nobly is endow'd
By high Olympian pow'rs; with joyful hearts,
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And which his worth will constantly diffuse.
VENUS.
Then, Phoebus, shall thy reign with mine unite.
DUETTO.
Phœbus.
Arts shall refine—
Venus.
Beauty shall shine—
Both.
Strong ardors exciting in all!
Phœbus.
As genius may fire—
Venus.
As love may inspire—
Both.
Each mortal shall own the fair call.
The Deities and their Attendants retiring to the back part of the stage, a grand dance is performed by the following personified Virtues and Blessings.
Industry, and Health,
Temperance, and Mirth,
Honour, and Liberty,
Valour, and Peace.
As the last and principal couple, Valour leads Peace on the stage, and there crowns her with a wreath of olive.
GRAND. CHORUS.
Earthly mortals, Gods above,
Greet with joy the son of Jove,
Born to glow with virtue's flame,
Born to raise a deathless name.
End of the MASQUE.
| The Birth of Hercules | |