University of Virginia Library

SCENE III.

The Battery. Evening.
Enter the nine Muses.
Clio.
Speak, sister, speak! is the deed done?

Tha.
Long ago—long ago;
'T is volume NINE, and number one.

Era.
Great acts are seldom slow,
Nor single; new ideas on former wait,
The brightest thoughts the fastest propagate.

CHORUS.
Many more volumes must this one ensue;
New pictures will abound,
And elegance surround,
As if in plates were found
Propagation too.

Clio.
He must—

Tha.
He shall—

Eut.
He will spill ink a flood,
And labor hard to make his title good.

Chorus.
He must, he shall, he will, &c.

Terps.
Now let us dance.

Tha.
Agreed,

Eut.
Agreed.

Chorus.
We should rejoice when books succeed.

Clio.
When poets woo, what should we do?
When Freedom's voice in thunder
Rends tyrants' chains asunder,
And fills the world with wonder,
What should we do?

Chorus.
Rejoice—we should rejoice.

Enter Apollo, in a rage.
Tha.
How now, Apollo! what's the matter now?
There seems to be a cloud upon thy brow.

Apol.
Have I not reason, meddlers as you are,
Saucy and overbold? How did you dare
To trade and traffic, after dark,
With Fay and Morris in the Park,
And I, the leader of your choir,
“The bright-haired master of the lyre,”
Was never called to bear my part,
Or show the glory of our art?
But make amends now: get you gone,
And meet me there to-morrow morn;
From thence we'll go to Clinton hall,
Where I expect you, one and all;
Your vessels and your spells provide,
Your charms, and everything beside.
I'm for the air; this night I'll spend,
To show that I'm the Mirror's friend.
Apollo hands Terpsichore into the car of a balloon just then inflated; the cord is cut, and they slowly ascend, singing:—
Now we go, and now we fly,
Sweet Terpsichore and I;
Oh, what a dainty pleasure's this!
To sail in the air,
Along with the fair;
To sing, to toy, to dance, and kiss.
Over woods, railroads, and mountains,
Over seas, canals, and fountains,
Over steeples, towers, and turrets,
We fly by night o'er poet's garrets.

Chorus.
We fly by night o'er poet's garrets.

[Apollo and Terpsichore ascend in a balloon, and pass over the city just as the clock on the City-Hall ought to strike twelve. The rest of the Muses form a dance on the Battery, and then disperse.