 | The Courtezans |  |
SCENE I.
Enter PISTOCLERUS and LYDUS.PISTOCLERUS.
Ye gods! how feel I what I feel!—What is it?—
I know not, I'm in such a flutter—Yet
I'm standing still—Here is no fire, but I
Am in a flame—What am I but a ship
In danger of the rocks and shoals of love?
10
Bacchis and land I've only touch'd to-day.—
If Bacchis is a berry, she's a rough one.
Men formerly, 'tis said, rose from the earth—
Would the earth wreck the children of her womb?
Whence this misfortune then? And am I shipwreck'd
By Bacchis, or by land?—
Lyd.
[apart.]
This man's in love—
I see it plain; and therefore the piazza's,
The temples, forums, theatres, and all
The brothels, night-cellars, and stews has search'd
With such a prying curiosity—
Pis.
I'm shipwreck'd I confess.—Bacchis it is,
Not Neptune, who my little bark has toss'd;
Has tumbled, broke, and dash'd it all in pieces.
Lyd.
Bacchis has rais'd the storm—'Tis over with us—
We've lost our course—
Pis.
I'll to the rock whereon
We split, and wreck my fortune and my youth.
Uncertain is the lot of things—The fates
As they list govern men—While I, my friend
11
I found his mistress out, where he may ruin
His fortune and himself—At the same place
Perdition to myself, estate and youth
I found—Since 'tis the pleasure of the god
Of love, I'm young—To indulge myself at some
Expence, is better now, than in old age.
I hold it for a maxim of wise men,
What Lydus blames, if Venus, or the god
Of wine, or any sensual god, a youth
Contemns, he either is a fool, or will
Become a lover, when his hairs are grey.
I'll to the rock where I was lost—My father
May now collect the fragments—Follow Lydus—
I the twin sisters see, my Bacchides.
[Exeunt.
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