University of Virginia Library

SCENE LAST.
Enter Creusa.
Creu.
May I, my lord! believe the joyful tidings
That echo through the palace?

Demo.
Princess, yes:
See there thy husband. I have pledg'd my faith
To wed thee to my son, and kingdom's heir;
And in Cherinthus now receive them both.

Cher.
The change may prove ungrateful to Creusa.

Creu.
In vain we hope to avoid what Heaven decrees.

Cher.
And wilt thou not confess thou lov'st Cherinthus?

Creu.
My deeds shall speak my thoughts.

Timan.
And was it me
The oracle declar'd? Was I the unknown,
The innocent usurper?

Demo.
Yes, thou wert.
The clouds are now dispell'd; the kingdom stands
Deliver'd from the annual sacrifice;
And to the rightful heir the crown returns.
I shall preserve, without the means of rigour,
My faith unbroken to the Phrygian king:
Cherinthus shall possess his lov'd Creusa:
She shall a sceptre gain; and thou may'st now
Securely clasp thy Dirce. Not a cause
For grief remains, and all this wondrous maze
Of mystic Fate, these papers have reveal'd.

Timan.
O! happy papers! fortunate Timanthes!
Ye powers! from what a dreadful weight I feel
My soul disburden'd! O my son! my wife!
Come to my bosom: now I can embrace you
Without the fear of guilt!

Dir.
Transporting hour!

[kneels.
Creu.
What moving tenderness!

Timan.
Most just of kings!
Once more behold me at your feet: forgive
The wild excesses of despairing love;
Believe me, when I swear it, you shall find me
More duteous as your subject than your son.

Demo.
Rise, thou art still my son, still call me father;
Such, while I live, thou'lt find me: till this hour
Our love was duty, henceforth be it choice.
A stronger tie shall our affections bind
Than Nature's ties, the instinctive work of Fate.

Chorus.
Good fortune most delights mankind,
That steals upon us, when the mind
Can scarce its griefs sustain.
What mortal bliss can prove sincere,
Since, to be great, our pleasures here
Must have their source in pain!