 | Semele |  |
SCENE III.
Two Loves lead in Jupiter; while he meets and embraces Semele, Cupid Sings.CUPID.
Sleep forsaking,
Seize him waking;
Love has sought him,
Back has brought him;
Mighty Jove tho' he be,
And tho' Love cannot see,
Yet by feeling about
He has found him out,
And has caught him.
SEMELE.
Let me not another Moment
Bear the Pangs of Absence,
Since you have form'd my Soul for Loving,
No more afflict me
With Doubts and Fears, and cruel Jealousie.
811
Lay your Doubts and Fears aside,
And for Joys alone provide;
Tho' this Human Form I wear,
Think not I Man's Falshood bear.
And for Joys alone provide;
Tho' this Human Form I wear,
Think not I Man's Falshood bear.
You are Mortal, and require
Time to rest and to respire.
Nor was I absent,
Tho' a while withdrawn,
To take Petitions
From the needy World.
While Love was with thee
I was present;
Love and I are one.
Time to rest and to respire.
Nor was I absent,
Tho' a while withdrawn,
To take Petitions
From the needy World.
While Love was with thee
I was present;
Love and I are one.
SEMELE.
If chearful Hopes
And chilling Fears,
Alternate Smiles,
Alternate Tears,
Eager Panting,
Fond Desiring,
With Grief now fainting,
Now with Bliss expiring;
If this be Love, not you alone,
But Love and I are one.
812
If this be Love, not you alone,
But Love and I are one.
SEMELE.
Ah me!
JUPITER.
Why Sighs my Semele?
What gentle Sorrow
Swells thy soft Bosom?
Why tremble those fair Eyes
With interrupted Light?
Where hov'ring for a Vent,
Amidst their humid Fires,
Some new-form'd Wish appears.
Speak, and obtain.
SEMELE.
At my own Happiness
I sigh and tremble;
Mortals whom Gods affect
Have narrow Limits set to Life,
And cannot long be bless'd.
Or if they could—
A God may prove inconstant.
JUPITER.
Beware of Jealousie:
Had Juno not been jealous,
813
Nor wander'd in my Love.
SEMELE.
With my Frailty don't upbraid me,
I am Woman as you made me.
Causeless doubting or despairing,
Rashly trusting, idly fearing.
If obtaining
Still complaining,
If consenting
Still repenting,
Most complying
When denying,
And to be follow'd, only flying.
With my Frailty don't upbraid me,
I am Woman as you made me.
JUPITER.
Thy Sex of Jove's the Masterpiece,
Thou, of thy Sex, art most excelling.
Frailty in thee is Ornament,
In thee Perfection.
Giv'n to agitate the Mind,
And keep awake Mens Passions;
To banish Indolence,
And dull Repose,
The Foes of Transport
And of Pleasure.
814
Still I am mortal,
Still a Woman;
And ever when you leave me,
Tho' compass'd round with Deities,
Of Loves and Graces,
A Fear invades me,
And conscious of a Nature
Far inferior,
I seek for Solitude,
And shun Society.
JUPITER.
[apart.]
Too well I read her Meaning,
But must not understand her.
Aiming at Immortality
With dangerous Ambition,
She wou'd dethrone Saturnia;
And reigning in my Heart
Would reign in Heav'n.
Least she too much explain,
I must with Speed amuse her;
It gives the Lover double Pain,
Who hears his Nymph complain,
And hearing must refuse her.
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Why do you cease to gaze upon me?
Why musing turn away?
Some other Object
Seems more pleasing.
JUPITER.
Thy needless Fears remove,
My fairest, latest, only Love.
My fairest, latest, only Love.
By my Command,
Now at this Instant,
Two winged Zephyrs
From her downy Bed
Thy much-lov'd Ino bear;
And both together
Waft her hither
Thro' the balmy Air.
Now at this Instant,
Two winged Zephyrs
From her downy Bed
Thy much-lov'd Ino bear;
And both together
Waft her hither
Thro' the balmy Air.
SEMELE.
Shall I my Sister see!
The dear Companion
Of my tender Years.
JUPITER.
See she appears
But sees not me,
For I am visible
Alone to thee.
816
And with Welcomes greet her.
Now all this Scene shall to Arcadia turn,
The Seat of happy Nymphs and Swains,
There without the Rage of Jealousie they burn,
And taste the Sweets of Love without its Pains.
| Semele | |