 | Xerxes |  |
The SCENE changes to the Magician's Cave.
Re-enter Xerxes alone.
Xer.
Come forth, ye Pow'rs on Futurity:
You, that with Pow'rful Charms unlock
The Cabinets of Heav'n, and steal from thence
The hidden Fates of Kings and Empires,
Haste from your gloomy Cell, and summon all
The Magi appear.
Your Art to wait a Monarch's Pleasure.
Mag.
Command us, and our Art obeys.
Xer.
Tell me what End my Empire is decreed,
If I by Foes, or Foes by me shall bleed.
Tell me what Pleasure Lin Love shall know;
If Love, or Force, shall make the Fair One bow.
Exert your Art, and prove what Spells can do.
Mag.
Prepare the Charm: The Charm must be
To Sophiel, who delights in Harmony.
1st Mag.
sings.
Sophiel! Old Sire of Early Fate,
Who seest before the Gods debate;
That know'st of yet Unbeing Things,
The Fates of Uncreated Kings,
Of Men, of Empires, and the Doom
Of Thousand Thousand Years to come:
1st Mag. Appear! 2d. Appear! 3d. Appear!
1st Mag.
Sophiel!
By the Moon's pale Beam,
That faintly glimmers o'er the Stygian Stream,
Appear, &c.
2d Mag.
Sophiel!
By the Ocean's Ebb and Flow,
Whose Hidden Cause we ne'er cou'd know,
Appear, &c.
3d Mag.
Sophiel!
By the Subterraneous Winds, that make
The trembling Earth and Centre shake,
Chorus.
Appear! Thrice! Thrice! invok'd, appear;
Whether in Air thy Form does stray,
Or under Earth by Charms is bound,
Swift! swift as Light'ning, dart away;
Or fierce as Thunder, tear the Ground.
Sophiel arises in the Form of an Old Man all in White, and speaks.
Soph.
Too curious Man! Why dost thou seek to know
Events, which, good or ill, fore-known, are Woe?
Th'All-seeing Pow'r, that made the Mortal, gave
Thee every thing a Mortal State should have.
Fore-Knowledge only is enjoy'd by Heav'n,
And, for his Peace of Mind to Man forbidden.
Wretched were Life, if he fore-knew his Doom;
Ev'n Joys fore-seen give pleasing Hope no Room,
And Griefs assur'd are felt before they come.
Yet loose the Charm, be wise! O send me back;
And what's decreed by Fate, with Patience take.
Mag.
Thou beg'st in vain to cross our Monarch's Will:
What he commands, Spirit, I charge thee Fell,
Speak, or I'll bind thee in an Everlasting Spell.
Soph.
O! spare me, and I speak; nor blame my Care:
I thought, in Kindness, I might say, Beware.
Know then, rash Man, thou'st lost the happy Hour
Which fav'ring Fate once gave within thy Pow'r.
While thus thou liv'st in Thoughtless Luxury,
Slighted of Friends, of Foes despis'd, thou'lt die;
In Madness only fam'd to late Posterity.
But thou in Love a stranger Fate shalt know;
The Fair One shall, but shall to Vertue bow,
With humble Love pursue, and thou shalt find
Thou art deceiv'd, Alas! in Woman-kind.
[He descends.
Xer.
Spirit, thou ly'st; I ne'er despis'd shall die:
I'll change my Death, to prove that Fate can lye.
Shou'd Fortune threaten what thy Words declare,
I'd free my Soul, to be reveng'd on her.
And for my Love, I will the Raptures know;
She shall to Love or Force, not Vertue, bow.
Vertue may please, and give dull Souls a Feast;
But Ravishment's a Joy for Gods to taste.
[Exit.
Re-enter Xerxes alone.
Xer.
Come forth, ye Pow'rs on Futurity:
You, that with Pow'rful Charms unlock
The Cabinets of Heav'n, and steal from thence
The hidden Fates of Kings and Empires,
Haste from your gloomy Cell, and summon all
The Magi appear.
Your Art to wait a Monarch's Pleasure.
Mag.
Command us, and our Art obeys.
Xer.
Tell me what End my Empire is decreed,
If I by Foes, or Foes by me shall bleed.
Tell me what Pleasure Lin Love shall know;
If Love, or Force, shall make the Fair One bow.
Exert your Art, and prove what Spells can do.
Mag.
Prepare the Charm: The Charm must be
To Sophiel, who delights in Harmony.
1st Mag.
sings.
Sophiel! Old Sire of Early Fate,
Who seest before the Gods debate;
That know'st of yet Unbeing Things,
The Fates of Uncreated Kings,
Of Men, of Empires, and the Doom
Of Thousand Thousand Years to come:
1st Mag. Appear! 2d. Appear! 3d. Appear!
1st Mag.
Sophiel!
By the Moon's pale Beam,
That faintly glimmers o'er the Stygian Stream,
Appear, &c.
2d Mag.
Sophiel!
By the Ocean's Ebb and Flow,
Whose Hidden Cause we ne'er cou'd know,
Appear, &c.
3d Mag.
Sophiel!
By the Subterraneous Winds, that make
The trembling Earth and Centre shake,
Chorus.
Appear! Thrice! Thrice! invok'd, appear;
Whether in Air thy Form does stray,
Or under Earth by Charms is bound,
Swift! swift as Light'ning, dart away;
Or fierce as Thunder, tear the Ground.
33
Soph.
Too curious Man! Why dost thou seek to know
Events, which, good or ill, fore-known, are Woe?
Th'All-seeing Pow'r, that made the Mortal, gave
Thee every thing a Mortal State should have.
Fore-Knowledge only is enjoy'd by Heav'n,
And, for his Peace of Mind to Man forbidden.
Wretched were Life, if he fore-knew his Doom;
Ev'n Joys fore-seen give pleasing Hope no Room,
And Griefs assur'd are felt before they come.
Yet loose the Charm, be wise! O send me back;
And what's decreed by Fate, with Patience take.
Mag.
Thou beg'st in vain to cross our Monarch's Will:
What he commands, Spirit, I charge thee Fell,
Speak, or I'll bind thee in an Everlasting Spell.
Soph.
O! spare me, and I speak; nor blame my Care:
I thought, in Kindness, I might say, Beware.
Know then, rash Man, thou'st lost the happy Hour
Which fav'ring Fate once gave within thy Pow'r.
While thus thou liv'st in Thoughtless Luxury,
Slighted of Friends, of Foes despis'd, thou'lt die;
In Madness only fam'd to late Posterity.
But thou in Love a stranger Fate shalt know;
The Fair One shall, but shall to Vertue bow,
With humble Love pursue, and thou shalt find
Thou art deceiv'd, Alas! in Woman-kind.
[He descends.
Xer.
Spirit, thou ly'st; I ne'er despis'd shall die:
I'll change my Death, to prove that Fate can lye.
Shou'd Fortune threaten what thy Words declare,
I'd free my Soul, to be reveng'd on her.
And for my Love, I will the Raptures know;
She shall to Love or Force, not Vertue, bow.
Vertue may please, and give dull Souls a Feast;
But Ravishment's a Joy for Gods to taste.
[Exit.
| Xerxes | |