 | Ariadne : or The Triumph of Bacchus |  |
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ACT II.
Scene I.
In which appears the Triumph of Bacchus, he himself sitting in a Triumphal Chariot drawn by Lynxes, surrounded by Theseus, Pirithous, Abdalla, &c. Ariadne seated in State as Spectator, Cellania by her, Indian Princes, and other Slaves chain'd; Attendants on all Sides, with Bombey and Doppa: A Dance also perform'd, Singing and Musick.Bacchus descends from the Chariot, and Ariadne from her Place, he meets her in the Front of the Stage, and sings.
Bach.
Not awful Jove, from Phlægras War returning,
Where the Gigantick Sons of Earth lay bleeding,
When, tho' Cælestial Beauty's crown'd with Glory,
All met the Conqueror in bright Procession:
Gave half the Splendor Ariadne brings me,
Divinest Fair.
[Taking her Hand.
Ariad.
Hail to the great Immortal,
[Offers to kneel, he hinders her.
The Cheerer of all Hearts, blest Source of Pleasure.
Thes.
Patron of Joy, and Life's continual Comfort,
Long dold to Humanes, with a Grace transporting.
Pirith.
Great Bacchus whom the World with Joy confesses
Bounteous as our Olimpicus Almighty.
Abdal.
When all with Zeal and perfect Adoration,
Extol the Raiser of their high Contentment.
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Once more great Victor hail—
Bacch.
Oh Sovereign Beauty!
How Joyful, and how charming are thy Praises.
Celan.
This seems a Riddle, in each moving Accent;
Appears methinks the Language of a Lover,
[Aside.
The Gods I see too can like Mortals flatter.
Bacch.
And now let us retire from Ceremony,
To Feasting, and the Sports that are preparing,
Where tho' the Soul of Musick strive to treat us,
Compar'd to Sounds you breath 'twill all be Discord.
Air.
How sweetly the Rapture does move,
When the fair one declares she can love,
The Harmony comes from the Spheres,
'Tis told us can ravish our Ears;
The Muses employ'd in their Quire,
With Pleasure the Senses can fire:
But ah, what a Trifle is this?
When compar'd to the extasied Bliss?
That Beauty when pleas'd, can inspire.
How sweetly the Rapture, &c.
When the fair one declares she can love,
The Harmony comes from the Spheres,
'Tis told us can ravish our Ears;
The Muses employ'd in their Quire,
With Pleasure the Senses can fire:
But ah, what a Trifle is this?
When compar'd to the extasied Bliss?
That Beauty when pleas'd, can inspire.
How sweetly the Rapture, &c.
[Bacchus leads her off, and Abdalla
[Celania, the Scene shuts.
Manent Theseus and Pirithous.
Thes.
Oh Heaven! how fine a thing is Woman?
When Love and kind Desire unite us.
And favour the belov'd Enjoying;
But Oh, how pal'd is sickly Fancy!
When fondly undesir'd they teize us,
And we've a Passion for another;
She's gone, Pirithous, the poor Turtle
Must change her Mate, and coo without me.
Pirith.
Then let her go, 'tis decent Justice,
That sometimes Womankind should punish;
They should be plagu'd when we're inconstant,
For their Original deceiving.
Thes.
But is Berontus our wild Scythian,
That bore 'gainst Love and Wine such Hatred,
So strangely caught, as late 'tis rumour'd,
To languish and adore Cellania.
Pirith.
He sighs like any Village Virgin,
That first looks pale for her Philander,
Then leaves her Food,—behold him coming!
He'll stay behind, and will be useful,
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To send us News of Ariadne.
[Enter Berontus.
Ber.
What Devil is brooding here these forty Winters?
Braving the Tempests of the stormy Boreas,
And all the Plagues that ruffle human Quiet;
I've had the Halcyons Nest within my Bosom:
But since I saw this Woman I'm infected,
I burn, I freeze, a Mutiny's within me.
Thes.
We'll take no notice of his wild Disorder.
Pirith.
Now Prince of Scythia, you have shun'd the Triumph,
Some other matters have been more diverting.
Ber.
Diversion ceases now, to crown the Banquet,
Theseus is wanting, and, as Spies inform'd me,
The lovely Princess, broke from her Regalia
Through all the Sports, to charge the fair Cellania
To seek her Lord, and know his cause of Absence;
She's coming this way.
Thes.
But must fail to find us,
For our embarking this must be the Moment.
Pirith.
You, Prince, have Business here to stay behind us,
You will be fit to break this anxious Matter;
A small Elopement, 'tis but nine Days Wonder.
Air.
To rowling, rowling Seas we go,
Where Mountain Billows foam and flow;
Safe o'er the watry World we'll glide,
Defying Tempests and the Tide.
Laugh at the tumbling Porpuss there,
And sing be Welkin fowl or fair;
Rockt in a Storm, securely sleep,
And dream of Wonders in the Deep.
To rowling, &c.
Where Mountain Billows foam and flow;
Safe o'er the watry World we'll glide,
Defying Tempests and the Tide.
Laugh at the tumbling Porpuss there,
And sing be Welkin fowl or fair;
Rockt in a Storm, securely sleep,
And dream of Wonders in the Deep.
To rowling, &c.
Thes.
When Love's the Pilot, happy is the Sailing,
Green bearded Palemon will form a Consort,
And loud with quavering Sounds on shelly Hautboys,
Tritons shall sing and pipe to entertain us.
To the Gods of the Ocean I pray,
To waft us soon over the Sea;
Oh Love lend a Sigh to our Sail!
If Zephire deny us a Gale,
To land us upon the kind Shoar,
Made blest by the Nymph I adore;
Where Beauty with Pleasure prepar'd,
May Toils of a Lover reward.
Theseus and Pirithous.To waft us soon over the Sea;
Oh Love lend a Sigh to our Sail!
If Zephire deny us a Gale,
To land us upon the kind Shoar,
Made blest by the Nymph I adore;
Where Beauty with Pleasure prepar'd,
May Toils of a Lover reward.
To the Gods of the Ocean, &c.
[Exeunt. Thes. and Pirith.
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Ber.
My Sickness of the Mind they both discover;
Let it be so, I'm chain'd and must endure it;
This Royal Fugitive may aid my Passion,
Whilst I inform Cellania I am constant,
Tho' others are so false—and see she's coming,
Flushing, and fierce like Woman when she's angry.
Enter Cellania hastily.
Cellan.
If Fame to this Moment always was counted a Liar,
The noisy Tongue Member ever too plagu'd with a Blister,
Now be it authentick.
Cell.
Can Theseus leave Ariadne?
Be Phœbus extinguisht, fall ev'ry Star from the Zodiack,
Imprison the Lightning, yet 'twill be far less a Wonder.
Ber.
I'll shew ye a greater!
Cell.
That must be worthy admiring.
Ber.
I love fair Cellania.
Cell.
Gods! is this Season for Fooling.
What say ye of Theseus?—Jove, and ye Powers avenging?
Where now is the Thunder?
Ber.
Theseus o'th' East is known a Native;
We, where the Snow falls are more steady,
Have Constancy cooler.
Cell.
Why tell you me of your Temper,
[Raging.
Burn fierce as Avernus, freeze more than Icy Cocytus,
So Theseus returning, cheer the forlorn Ariadne,
I still shall be easy.
Ber.
See yonder is the Vessel Sailing:
[Points to a Window.
Sweet Charmer, have Patience!
Cell.
Patience!—Oh Mulciber! raging
Bring Fire consuming, or thou more ruinous Æther.
Flash, burn and destroy 'em.
[Stamping in rage.
Kind Boreas, down with the Mainmast;
And buried in Tempest, toss up their Keel to the Heavens.
Ber.
Tho' Passion's just, all are not Traytors,
Berontus still is firm and constant,
Averse to Love, till awful Beauty,
Controul'd the Ascendant, now I languish,
A Feaver reigns—I'm sick.
Cell.
Oh, would I were sure on't!
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Best Proof is in Action, try me, and weigh the Performance,
His Crimes are so odious, they blast the Title of Hero,
And warn'd by your Favours, I dare in Person avouch it.
The Minotaurs Conquest joyn'd with Procrastus and Sciron,
To me had been Trifles, Beauty like yours commanding,
Oh favour my Wishes, and be for ever my Pallas:
I love thee to Madness, die for the happy Possession,
My Slumbers are broken, no Food can ever sustain me,
Without my Cellania.
Cell.
'Tis well: Oh how I rejoice in't!
But are you in Earnest?
Ber.
Fervent!
Cell.
You'll wooe me like Theseus,
Ber.
I hate him and Bacchus.
Cell.
That, that's the Secret I long'd for;
Oh Men! Oh ye Monsters! Oh horrid Race of Deceivers!
But since you do love me, hear how I mean to return it.
Air.
Like Daphne, coy, I'll fly when you pursue,
And all my injur'd Sex revenge on you;
Whate'er you say, I'll turn to Ridicule,
Whate'er you do, I'll use ye like a Fool;
Whene'er you sigh, I'll shew Disdain and Spite,
And if you shed a Tear, I'll laugh outright.
Like Daphne, &c.
[Exit. Cellania.
And all my injur'd Sex revenge on you;
Whate'er you say, I'll turn to Ridicule,
Whate'er you do, I'll use ye like a Fool;
Whene'er you sigh, I'll shew Disdain and Spite,
And if you shed a Tear, I'll laugh outright.
Like Daphne, &c.
Ber.
Perdition seize the Kind—may never Woman
Be henceforth Fair, may fowl Diseases plaguing,
Blast all their Beauties—Age creep on o'th' suddain,
May Loathsome Jaundice curb their Pride inherent
Till they cry out for Men, and Men thus use 'em;
What's to be done? I love and yet I hate her;
Oh that we were alone on Mount Citharon!
Lofty Olympus, or the towring O Eta!
I'd not thus whine and play the Fool by Venus.
A gen'rous Rape's allow'd in other Creatures,
And should be natural to Men no doubt on't.
Air.
In Love to use a little Force,
Coy Silvia likes ye ne'er the worse,
Females as soon as they can go,
First learn the Words of ay and no.
The no most useful still we find,
To the Perverseness of the Kind;
But as the Nurse compels the Child,
That would do nought with usage mild.
Rough Damon oft commands his Joy,
And makes the froward Fair say ay.
In Love to use, &c.
[Exit Beron.Coy Silvia likes ye ne'er the worse,
Females as soon as they can go,
First learn the Words of ay and no.
The no most useful still we find,
To the Perverseness of the Kind;
But as the Nurse compels the Child,
That would do nought with usage mild.
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And makes the froward Fair say ay.
In Love to use, &c.
Enter Bacchus and Abdalla.
Bacch.
Wild as the Winds, as raging and impetuous,
She ranges thro' th'Apartment.—Oh Abdalla!
How can a Lover look upon such Sorrow
Without a share in't.
Abd.
You may take a share in't,
But then make haste and do't on a sudden;
For Women veer their Humours like the Weather,
And now they rain, and straight they will be shining.
Air.
Their Grief is all Art, they have Tears so at will,
Depend on't no Sorrow a Woman can kill.
A jolly young Widow there liv'd at Bengall,
Had twenty four Husbands, and bury'd 'em all;
And when every wittal was sent to his Grave,
Oh! how she would whimper, oh! how she would rave;
But when a Successor did sprucely appear,
Oh! how she would teehee, and simper, and sneer;
The time was so swift 'twixt they come and they go,
I'th' Morning she'd ha, ha, i'th' Evening cry—oh!
Their Grief is all Art, &c.
Depend on't no Sorrow a Woman can kill.
A jolly young Widow there liv'd at Bengall,
Had twenty four Husbands, and bury'd 'em all;
And when every wittal was sent to his Grave,
Oh! how she would whimper, oh! how she would rave;
But when a Successor did sprucely appear,
Oh! how she would teehee, and simper, and sneer;
The time was so swift 'twixt they come and they go,
I'th' Morning she'd ha, ha, i'th' Evening cry—oh!
Their Grief is all Art, &c.
Bacch.
I'll change her Sorrow to delightful Pleasure,
Work on her Mind with gentle moving Praise
And Greatness, which all Womankind are fond of;
Air.
Applaud the Fair, and let her Sway,
Then you'll find her pleas'd, and gay;
Gold may charm her Understanding,
Sometimes to incline her Love,
But the pleasure of Commanding
Still will never failing prove:
Thus with subtle shew of Duty
You may quench ye if ye burn,
And when you enjoy their Beauty
Know you govern in your Turn.
Applaud the Fair, &c.
Then you'll find her pleas'd, and gay;
Gold may charm her Understanding,
Sometimes to incline her Love,
But the pleasure of Commanding
Still will never failing prove:
Thus with subtle shew of Duty
You may quench ye if ye burn,
And when you enjoy their Beauty
Know you govern in your Turn.
Applaud the Fair, &c.
[Exeunt.
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SCENE II.
Ariadne appears sitting on a Couch, weeping, and in a Rage. Cellania struggling gets a Dagger from her, she starts up and sings.Ariad.
Will ye, oh! will ye then bereave me
Of what can only end my Sorrow,
If not the Dagger, give me Poyson,
Let Cordial Aconite bring Solace.
Oh! where's thy Asp, great Cleopatra,
Or thy hot Coals, resolving Portia;
One, one of these will ye not render,
And pity so forlorn a Creature.
Cell.
That precious Life has yet in Vengeance
Great things to do.
Ariad.
And I'll perform 'em.
Air.
[Distractedly raving.
I now have God Neptune's whole Power,
My Waves all Mankind shall devour;
My Surges no more shall be bounded
'Till Nature be wholly confounded,
And if to the Sky
The Perjur'd can fly,
I'll mount on my Billows and drown it.
My Waves all Mankind shall devour;
My Surges no more shall be bounded
'Till Nature be wholly confounded,
And if to the Sky
The Perjur'd can fly,
I'll mount on my Billows and drown it.
Cell.
Oh! calm your Rage, recal your Senses,
Men will be thus, 'tis second Nature.
Ariad.
My Brain's on Fire, [Raving still.
and now I'm burning;
My Breath's as hot as flaming ætna!
Oh! could I blast this Male Deceiver,
What Joy were like it?
[She throws her self agen on the Couch, and weeps.
Cell.
Cool your Passion.
Aire.
Sorrow ne'er can mend the Matter,
There's no changing human Nature;
Men must deceive,
We must believe;
Then we give Rules,
And they turn Fools;
'Tis Custom found, and Fate goes round.
Sorrow ne'er, &c.
There's no changing human Nature;
Men must deceive,
We must believe;
Then we give Rules,
And they turn Fools;
'Tis Custom found, and Fate goes round.
Sorrow ne'er, &c.
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Bacch.
Immortal Charmer, for whom Heaven
Gave him large Supplies to Goddess Nature,
To Grace with more than common Beauty,
Behold in me a perfect Lover,
Pure without Dross of frail Deceiving;
Drop then no more that pearly Treasure,
But let gay Pleasure rare and brilliant
Adorn my Fair.
Cel.
A Grief so weighty,
Oppresses: oh! give time to alter.
Bacch.
The posting Hours shall wait her Leisure,
The God of Time and I attending;
Mean while prepare your Sports to cheer her,
And turn to Pleasure hateful Mourning.
Air.
In chrystal Domes by Forms Divine possest,
Fair Ariadne shall with me be blest;
On Azure Plains we'll revel all the Day,
Regal'd with Musick, and cælestial Play;
And whilst, like Gods, we Drink, and Sing, and Love,
Forget the Cares below with Joys above.
In chrystal Domes, &c.
Fair Ariadne shall with me be blest;
On Azure Plains we'll revel all the Day,
Regal'd with Musick, and cælestial Play;
And whilst, like Gods, we Drink, and Sing, and Love,
Forget the Cares below with Joys above.
In chrystal Domes, &c.
Here follows a pleasant Entertainment of Dancing.
Abdall.
As Ariadne's Friend advise her,
[Abdalla apart to Cellania.
Such Lovers are not always coming;
Besides, what's past there's no recalling,
Let her not be too coy.
[Bacchus this while sitting on the Couch seems courting Ariadne.
Cell.
I'm thinking,
Yet if a God should take a Fancy,
And should forswear himself as you do,
'Twere worth considering.
Abdall.
I'm as constant
As Sol in India to his rising,
Air.
I never pretended to hang in my Garters,
But once I did love a whole Hour and three Quarters.
As black as a Crow,
Round fac'd like a Sloe;
With Teeth white as Snow
Was Zara the Shrew;
Who once held me fast,
But I bilkt her at last.
I never pretended, &c.
But once I did love a whole Hour and three Quarters.
As black as a Crow,
Round fac'd like a Sloe;
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Was Zara the Shrew;
Who once held me fast,
But I bilkt her at last.
I never pretended, &c.
Cell.
The Vice is rife in all Complexions,
Black, Fair, or Brown, no Truth's in Colour.
Ariad.
Can Gods too condescend to flatter,
[Ariadne rises from the Couch.
And mention Joy to one so wretched?
And one they made so. Oh! take Pity.
[Weeps.
Air.
Where Sadness reigns, and Joy can never be,
There let me hide my fatal Woes and me;
In some lone Wood where Bears and Wolves we find,
Remote from worser Brutes of Human Kind;
Where dismal Ews keep out the cheerful Day,
And baleful Screech Owls dream the Night away.
Where Sadness reigns, &c.
[Exit Ariadne.There let me hide my fatal Woes and me;
In some lone Wood where Bears and Wolves we find,
Remote from worser Brutes of Human Kind;
Where dismal Ews keep out the cheerful Day,
And baleful Screech Owls dream the Night away.
Where Sadness reigns, &c.
Bacch.
Oh! how will sprightly Mirth advance her Beauty,
That in this Dress of Sorrow is so charming.
Hear me, Cellania, hear to thy good Fortune,
Follow that Fair one, use thy Skill to gain her;
That once perform'd, as due Reward from Bacchus,
Ask what thou wilt it shall be thine that Moment.
Cell.
Ye Pow'rs Cælestial, is my hearing perfect?
If so, this Gift commands me swiftest Duty;
Have what I please! Did Jove e'er give a greater?
I'll straight about it, fear not, mighty Bacchus,
Skill'd in both Arts, persuading and beguiling,
The Turtle's Tears shall quickly turn to smiling.
[Exit Cellania.
Bacch.
Next the extreme of Love's divine Possession,
Hope is the greatest Joy attends a Lover.
Abdall.
The happy Prospect ravishing the Senses,
Half equals the Delight of true Enjoyment.
Bacch.
Come then, my Friend, and whilst inspir'd Cellania
Is busy in a Plot for Propagation,
Within the hallow'd Cell of old Silenus,
With Roses crown'd, we'll empty golden Goblets,
A glorious Sanction to the genial Hour.
Bacch. and Abdall.
Haste, haste old Time away.
And call the Hours to form the Nuptial Day;
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Let kind Lucina wait;
But bring not Venus there,
She envies still the Fair;
Nor yet the thund'ring Jove,
For fear he falls in Love.
Haste, haste, old Time, &c.
[Exeunt embracing.
Enter Doppa hastily.
Dopp.
Where is my Fool, I must not lose him;
For in this time of Melancholly
He's good against the Spleen and Vapours.
Oh! here he comes.
Enter Bombey aukwardly Dress'd.
Bom.
My Pinkaninny.
Am I not brave? Odzooks this Habit!
Dopp.
Methinks, he looks so like the perjur'd Theseus,
That tho' I order'd ye to wear it,
I wish that now 'twere torn in Tatters;
For oh! I'm jealous that you, like him,
Will be inconstant.
Bom.
I inconstant!
What do's she mean? What's that, I wonder?
To have the Itch?
Dopp.
Oh! no, an Ague,
That shakes young Courtiers 'till they chatter.
Bom.
Oh! I'll be plagu'd with no such Matter;
Air.
I'll live still free, and frolick,
And never get, if you'll be kind,
A quaking Ague of the Mind,
Nor give my Heart the Cholick;
Each coming Night I'll kiss thee twice,
The same on Mornings when I rise;
And if thou likest such wholsom Cheer,
I'll strive to hold out all the Year.
I'll live still free, &c.
And never get, if you'll be kind,
A quaking Ague of the Mind,
Nor give my Heart the Cholick;
Each coming Night I'll kiss thee twice,
The same on Mornings when I rise;
And if thou likest such wholsom Cheer,
I'll strive to hold out all the Year.
I'll live still free, &c.
Dopp.
This pleases, I confess.
Bom.
I hope so:
If Brother Courtiers take Example,
'Twill be a merry World.
Dopp.
But Bombey.
Bom.
What?
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Dear Bombey!
Bom.
Strawberry, more luscious than white Figs, what want'st thou?
Dopp.
One, one thing more, that Dress must alter,
Methinks you now look like a Fool in't.
Bom.
'Twill break me, I can't pay my Taylor.
Dopp.
He'll trust, at least will give Forbearance;
Nay, never start, I'll have my Humour,
Or else Adieu.
Bom.
This is the Devil!
[Scratching and looking simply.
Air.
A Beau did once my Fancy move,
But now a rural Swain I Love;
It seems most German to my Heart,
When you're uncas'd
I shall be pleas'd,
And then perhaps will act my Part;
You'll be, young Damon, kind and dear,
And I'll be Phillida the Fair.
A Beau did once, &c.
But now a rural Swain I Love;
It seems most German to my Heart,
When you're uncas'd
I shall be pleas'd,
And then perhaps will act my Part;
You'll be, young Damon, kind and dear,
And I'll be Phillida the Fair.
A Beau did once, &c.
Bom.
Ah! sweet as Codlings Cream and Sugar,
It shall be so.—Say now what Colour?
Dopp.
An Iron Gray.
Bom. and Dopp.
Country all over.
In Love when we join,
And sweetly combine,
No Dress or gay Folly is needing;
We despise at that Hour
Gay Riches or Power,
We have more in the Pleasure succeeding.
CHORUS of both.
In Love when, &c.
[Exeunt.
The End of the Second Act.
| Ariadne : or The Triumph of Bacchus | |