 | The Tragedy of Tragedies ; Or The Life and Death of Tom Thumb the Great |  |
SCENE II.
King, and Ghost.King.
What Noise is this?—What Villain dares,
At this dread Hour, with Feet and Voice prophane,
Disturb our Royal Walls?
Ghost.
One who defies
Thy empty Power to hurt him; one who dares
Walk in thy Bed-Chamber.
King.
Presumptuous Slave!
Thou diest:
Ghost.
Threaten others with that Word,
I am a Ghost, and am already dead.
King.
Ye Stars! 'tis well; were thy last Hour to come,
I'll pull thee backward, squeeze thee to a Bladder,
'Till thou dost groan thy Nothingness away.
[Ghost retires.
Thou fly'st! 'Tis well.
I thought what was the Courage of a Ghost!
Yet, dare not, on thy Life—Why say I that,
Since Life thou hast not?—Dare not walk again,
Within these Walls, on pain of the Red-Sea.
For, if henceforth I ever find thee here,
As sure, sure as a Gun, I'll have thee laid—
Ghost.
Were the Red-Sea, a Sea of Holland's Gin,
The Liquor (when alive) whose very Smell
I did detest, did loath—yet for the Sake
Of Thomas Thumb, I would be laid therein.
King.
Ha! said you?
Ghost.
Yes, my Liege, I said Tom Thumb,
Whose Father's Ghost I am—once not unknown
To mighty Arthur. But, I see, 'tis true,
The dearest Friend, when dead, we all forget.
King.
'Tis he, it is the honest Gaffer Thumb.
Oh! let me press thee in my eager Arms,
Thou best of Ghosts! Thou something more than Ghost!
Ghost.
Would I were Something more, that we again
But now I have th' Advantage of my King,
For I feel thee, whilst thou dost not feel me.
King.
But say, thou dearest Air, Oh! say, what Dread,
Important Business sends thee back to Earth?
Ghost.
Oh! then prepare to hear—which, but to hear,
Is full enough to send thy Spirit hence.
Thy Subjects up in Arms, by Grizzle led,
Will, ere the rosy finger'd Morn shall ope
The Shutters of the Sky, before the Gate
Of this thy Royal Palace, swarming spread:
So have I seen the Bees in Clusters swarm,
So have I seen the Stars in frosty Nights,
So have I seen the Sand in windy Days,
So have I seen the Ghosts on Pluto's Shore,
So have I seen the Flowers in Spring arise,
So have I seen the Leaves in Autumn fall,
So have I seen the Fruits in Summer smile,
So have I seen the Snow in Winter frown.
King.
D---n all thou'st seen!—Dost thou, beneath the Shape
Of Gaffer Thumb, come hither to abuse me,
With Similies to keep me on the Rack?
Hence—or by all the Torments of thy Hell,
Ghost.
Arthur, beware; I must this Moment hence,
Not frighted by your Voice, but by the Cocks;
Arthur beware, beware, beware, beware!
Strive to avert thy yet impending Fate;
For if thou'rt kill'd To-day,
To-morrow all thy Care will come too late.
Almanzor reasons in the same manner;
—A Ghost I'll be,And from a Ghost, you know, no Place is free.
Conq. of Granada.
The Man who writ this wretched Pun (says Mr. D.) would have picked your Pocket: Which he proceeds to shew, not only bad in it self, but doubly so on so solemn an Occasion. And yet in that excellent Play of Liberty Asserted, we find something very much resembling a Pun in the Mouth of a Mistress, who is parting with the Lover she is fond of;
Ul.Oh, mortal Woe! one Kiss, and then farewel.
Irene.
The Gods have given to others to farewel.
O miserably must Irene fair.
Agamemnon, in the Victim, is full as facetious on the most solemn Occasion, that of Sacrificing his Daughter;
Yes, Daughter, yes; you will assist the Priest;Yes, you must offer up your—Vows for Greece.
Or else, I'll squeeze thee, like a Bladder, there,
And make thee groan thy self away to Air.
Conquest of Granada. Snatch me, ye Gods, this Moment into Nothing.
Cyrus the Great.
I thought what was the Courage of a Ghost.
Conquest of Granada.
King Arthur seems to be as brave a Fellow as Almanzor, who says most heroically,
—In spight of Ghosts, I'll on.The Ghost of Lausaria in Cyrus is a plain Copy of this, and is therefore worth reading.
Ah, Cyrus!Thou may'st as well grasp Water, or fleet Air,
As think of touching my immortal Shade.
Cyrus the Great.
This Passage hath been understood several different Ways by the Commentators. For my Part, I find it difficult to understand it at all. Mr. Dryden says,
I have heard something how two Bodies meet,But how two Souls join, I know not.
So that 'till the Body of a Spirit be better understood, it will be difficult to understand how it is possible to run him through it.
| The Tragedy of Tragedies ; Or The Life and Death of Tom Thumb the Great | |