University of Virginia Library

SCENE THE THIRD.

Priests, Chorus of Children, Virgins, and old Men, Cinyras, Cecris, People, Myrrha, Pereus, Euryclea.
Cin.
Beloved children, I infer, at least,
A joyful augury from seeing you
Precede us thus to the hymeneal rite.
On thy face Pereus transport is express'd;
And I behold my daughter's countenance
Serene and resolute. The immortal gods
With looks benign assuredly regard us,
With copious incense be the altars heap'd;
While the full choir with pealing harmony
Propitiates the gods, and to the skies
Breathed acceptably forth from hearts devout
Our loud, and long resounding hymns ascend.

CHORUS.
Hymen, benignant god, brother of Love,
Of frail humanity the soothing friend,
On us propitiously do thou descend;—
And bid henceforth these happy votaries prove
A flame so pure from thy inspiring breath,
That nothing may extinguish it but death.

CHILDREN.
Come to us, Hymen, with triumphant joy,
Borne on thy brother's wings descend below;

VIRGINS.
With his own craft deceive the treacherous boy
Both of his darts, his quiver, and his bow.

OLD MEN.
But do thou come exempt from all his arts,
His soft caprices, and insidious sighs:

CHORUS.
And deign, oh Hymen, to unite two hearts,
In mutual love unmatch'd, with thy firm ties.

Eu.
Daughter, what ails thee? How thou tremblest? ... Ah ...

My.
Peace ... peace ...

Eu.
But yet ...

My.
No, no; ... I do not tremble.

CHORUS.
Mother sublime of Hymen, and of Love,
A goddess e'en among the gods art thou;
Whose high supremacy in heaven above,
Or in the earth, none dare to disavow;
From old Olympus' heights, oh Venus, deign
Upon this pair propitiously to smile;
If e'er the rites of this thy sacred isle
Thy kind protection haply might obtain.

CHILDREN.
Those peerless charms from thee derive their birth,
Bestow'd on Myrrha with such lavish wealth;

VIRGINS.
Restoring her once more to joy and health,
Be pleased to leave thy image on the earth;

OLD MEN.
Lastly, make her the mother of a race
So noble, that their father may confess,
Grandsires, and subjects, that past wretchedness
Is all forgotten in their matchless grace.

CHORUS.
Benignant goddess, gloriously unfold,
From the pure empyrean's azure height,—
Drawn by thy swans with plumes of downy white,
Throned in thy chariot of translucent gold,—
Thy form majestical:—and by thy side
Conduct thy son:—thy veil of roseate bloom—
Cast o'er thy votaries,—pregnant with perfume;—
And let one spirit o'er two forms preside.—

Ce.
Yes, daughter, yes, with meek subserviency
Thou always soughtest to secure the favour
Of our all-powerful goddess ... But, alas! ...
Thy countenance changes? ... Thou art faint, and trembling? ...
And scarce thy faltering knees ...

My.
For pity's sake,
Do not, oh mother, with thy accents bring
My constancy to too severe a test.
I cannot answer for my countenance; ...
But this I know, the purpose of my heart
Is steady and immutable.

Eu.
For her
I feel as if my very life would fail.

Pe.
Ah! more and more her countenance is troubled? ...
Whence is this tremor which assaults my frame?—

CHORUS.
Pure faith, and concord lasting and benign,
Have in the bosom of this lofty pair
Irrevocably placed their sacred shrine;
And fell Alecto would in vain repair
To trouble with her torch's lurid glare
The lovely bride's firm and unswerving heart;
And deadly Discord, frantic with despair,
Himself consumes, and curses his weak art,
And from the noble pair all powers malign depart.

My.
What is it that ye say? My heart already
By all the baneful furies is assaulted.
See them; the rabid sisters round me glare
With sable torches, and with snaky scourge;
Behold such torches as this Hymen merits ...

Cin.
Oh heaven! what do I hear?

Ce.
My child, thou ravest ...

Pe.
Oh fatal rites! ye ne'er shall be perform'd ...

My.
But what? The hymns have ceased? ... Who to his breast
Thus clasps me? Where am I? What have I said?
Am I a spouse already? ...

Pe.
Thou art not,
Myrrha, espoused; nor shalt thou ever be
The spouse of Pereus, to thee I swear.
Not less intense, but different to thine,
The execrable furies tear my heart.
Thou hast made me a derision to the world,
And to myself, e'en more than I'm to thee,
An object of abhorrence: I for this
Will not make thee unhappy. Thou hast now,
Though 'gainst thy will, fully betray'd thyself:
And thou hast finally beyond all doubt
Divulged the invincible and long aversion
Which thou hast cherish'd towards me. We are happy,
That thou hast thus betray'd thyself in time.
Now from the self-imposed and hated yoke
Art thou released for ever. Safe art thou,
And from all ties exempt. Henceforth will I
Remove for ever from thy troubled sight
My odious presence ... Satisfied, and happy,
Thou by my means shalt be ... and thou ere long
Shalt learn the last resource that did remain
For one, who, hoping to obtain thee, lost thee.