 | The Tragedy of Tragedies ; Or The Life and Death of Tom Thumb the Great |  |
50
SCENE VIII.
Thunder and Lightning.Tom Thumb, Glumdalca cum suis.
Thumb.
Oh, Noodle! hast thou seen a Day like this?
The unborn Thunder rumbles o'er our Heads,
As if the Gods meant to unhinge the World;
And Heaven and Earth in wild Confusion hurl;
Yet will I boldly tread the tott'ring Ball.
Merl.
Tom Thumb!
Thumb.
What Voice is this I hear?
Merl.
Tom Thumb!
Thumb.
Again it calls.
Merl.
Tom Thumb!
Glum.
It calls again.
Thumb.
Appear, whoe'er thou art, I fear thee not.
Merl.
Thou hast no Cause to fear, I am thy Friend,
Merlin by Name, a Conjuror by Trade,
And to my Art thou dost thy Being owe.
Thumb.
How!
Merl.
Hear then the mystick Getting of Tom Thumb.
His Father was a Ploughman plain,
His Mother milk'd the Cow;
And yet the way to get a Son,
This Couple knew not how.
Until such time the good old Man
To learned Merlin goes,
And there to him, in great Distress,
In secret manner shows;
How in his Heart he wish'd to have
A Child, in time to come,
To be his Heir, tho' it might be
No biger than his Thumb:
Of which old Merlin was foretold,
That he his Wish should have;
And so a Son of Stature small,
The Charmer to him gave.
Thou'st heard the past, look up and see the future.His Mother milk'd the Cow;
And yet the way to get a Son,
This Couple knew not how.
51
To learned Merlin goes,
And there to him, in great Distress,
In secret manner shows;
How in his Heart he wish'd to have
A Child, in time to come,
To be his Heir, tho' it might be
No biger than his Thumb:
Of which old Merlin was foretold,
That he his Wish should have;
And so a Son of Stature small,
The Charmer to him gave.
Thumb.
Lost in Amazement's Gulph, my Senses sink;
See there, Glumdalca, see another Me!
Glum.
O Sight of Horror! see, you are devour'd
By the expanded Jaws of a red Cow.
Merl.
Let not these Sights deter thy noble Mind,
For lo! a Sight more glorious courts thy Eyes;
See from a far a Theatre arise;
There, Ages yet unborn, shall Tribute pay
To the Heroick Actions of this Day:
52
Thy Name the best Supporter of her Muse.
Thumb.
Enough, let every warlike Musick sound,
We fall contented, if we fall renown'd.
Were Heaven and Earth in wild Confusion hurl'd,
Should the rash Gods unhinge the rolling World,
Undaunted, would I tread the tott'ring Ball,
Crush'd, but unconquer'd, in the dreadful Fall.
Female Warrior.
Should the rash Gods unhinge the rolling World,
Undaunted, would I tread the tott'ring Ball,
Crush'd, but unconquer'd, in the dreadful Fall.
Female Warrior.
—Amazement swallows up my Sense,
And in th' impetuous Whirl of circling Fate,
Drinks down my Reason.
Pers. Princess.
And in th' impetuous Whirl of circling Fate,
Drinks down my Reason.
Pers. Princess.
The Character of Merlin is wonderful throughout, but most so in this Prophetick Part. We find several of these Prophecies in the Tragick Authors, who frequently take this Opportunity to pay a Compliment to their Country, and sometimes to their Prince. None but our Author (who seems to have detested the least Appearance of Flattery) would have past by such an Opportunity of being a Political Prophet.
| The Tragedy of Tragedies ; Or The Life and Death of Tom Thumb the Great | |