University of Virginia Library

The Scene Draws, and Discovers the Image of a Bull and Wolf Engraven in Copper, and placed at the Entrance of the Forum.
Dion.
Why stop you, Sir?

Pyrrh.
Oh! Dion, shall I tell you? I'm afraid.

Dion.
Do not, Sir;
You would not be believ'd although you did.

Pyrrh.
Look on those Figures there.

Dion.
And what of them?

Pyrrh.
I had a Message sent me from the Gods,
To tell me, where I met two such as these,
There Fate should meet with me.

Dion.
Who brought their Message?

Pyrrh.
A God himself, one who was lately made;
And mingling in the Councils with the rest,
Reveal'd this Part to me.

Dion.
And you believe him?

Pyrrh.
'Twere impious to do otherwise; yet, my Friend,
I cannot fear him yet.

Dion.
Then give me leave
To fear for you; Their Warning has been Kind,
And ought to be Obey'd.

Pyrrh.
Shall we then lose
So fair a Prospect?

Dion.
We may lose our selves
By venturing to obtain a nearer View:
We seem to lean over some hanging Clift,
O'er-looking of the Wreck that Floats below.
Should we stretch more, beyond the Verge, we fall
Infinite Fathoms down, and sink for ever.

Pyrrh.
You have prevail'd, the Gods shall be obey'd;
It is no Cowardize to yield to Heav'n:
Some other Night shall recompence for this
Less full of Fate. Go order the Retreat;
I'll be the last my self.

[Exit Dion.
Enter Martius.
Pyrrh.
What art thou,
That haunts me still in fight? I've seen thee thrice
Fixing thy glaring Eyes on me alone:
And with a Pride that scorns a smaller Conquest,
Aim only at my Life. Thy Arms are Roman;
If thou wouldst Kill me, do it with a Gallantry
Worthy thy Place of Birth.

Mart.
I am a Roman;
I have sought thee in the thickest Ranks of Battle,
And watch'd all Night to have thee my self;
But the throng'd press that still encountred you,
(For I saw not one who dar'd to meet you single)
Have held me off till now.

Pyrrh.
I cannot think
Thou hast receiv'd a hire to give me Death.

Mart.
I have; My Fame and Honour bribe me high,
And thus I strive for purchase.

Pyrrh.
Thou hast it there
[Fight. Martius falls.
At a dear rate; Fate seems not near me yet,
Spite of its menace; the Retreat begins,
And makes our distance greater.

[Exit.
Shout from within.
Enter Lanassa, Supported Bleeding.
Lan.
I heard the Argives shout the death of Pyrrhus,
And rush'd into the War, where to my Wish
I met my own. Oh! hold a little Fate;
Could I but see my Lord before I dy'd,
Contentedly I am thine.

Re-enter Pyrrhus, Dion, both Wounded and Supported by Helenus.
Pyrrh.
'Tis done; my Fate has caught me in my Flight.
Art thou here Love? and art thou wounded too?
Nay, then it takes me whole.

Lan.
It was well contriv'd,
To Summon me that hour it call'd for you;
Else I had come unsent for.

Pyrrh.
So you do.
That Death was none of thine, and Heav'n will wonder
To see an unexpected guest arrive.

Lan.
Receive, my Love, my last and sad Adieu:
The fleeting Souls of others, when they die,
Are breath'd into the Air, and vanish there;
But I pour mine into thy lovely Lips,
Its wish'd for Lodge: Thus dying both together,
We seem as at the Altar once again,
Renewing Vows of Everlasting love,
And joyning hands and hearts before the Priest;
But now we Wed more firmly than at first:
For Hymen's Office is perform'd by Death.
Death surer than our Nuptials ties us fast,
And these are Bonds that will for ever last.

[Dies.
Pyrrh.
And so they are, I shall not stay behind:
And yet, ye Gods! 'twas strange, 'twas wondrous strange
A Life so made of Miracles as mine;
Preserv'd till now at the expence of Prodigies,
Should end at last so meanly, by a Stone
Hurl'd by a Woman's hand; the very Thought
Urges my Death the swifter.

Dion.
Heav'n! what a suddain whirl of Fate was here?
Just as we had hunted Fortune to the toils,
And almost had her sure; then, then to let her
Break the involving Net, and change the Chase,
Pursuing those by whom she was pursu'd,
Is such a Caprice that has no Excuse.

Pyrrh.
I had forgot, how goes the Battle on?

Hel.
As Ships in stormy Seas, their Pilot's lost,
Drive backward with the Tide.

Pyrrh.
But one thing more:
Oh! Close those Bleeding Wounds that gape so wide;
Thrust off your Death awhile, and live my General;
Live to entreat the fortunate Antigonus
To use Helenus well.

Hel.
There needs not that;
For I can put my self beyond his Power,
And own no other Sire or King but you.

Pyrrh.
By Heav'n you should; did not Fate differ here:
Your Love still lives for you, mine dies with me;
You have a Bribe sufficient for your Life,
And I have mine for Death: Farewell, my Son.
My Eye-balls now begin to swim in Death,
And my Queen dances in my dizzy Sight;
I'll seize her thus, thus make her mine for ever.
As Merchants, that remove to foreign Climes,
Carry their Families with them, my Love, my Self,
My good old General, to make up the Third:
Three such as we, shall Charm the Eyes of Heaven;
And their Discourse shall be of nought but us.
Their Tongues shall in our Praises be imploy'd,
Our Loves and Wars the Theme of every God.

[Dies.
Dion.
Methinks old Men do linger in their Death
As much as in their Lives; my Blood moves slowly,
And drop by drop falls from my withered Veins,
Distilling like an Icicle, 'till at last,
'Tis quite dissolved.
After this Loss, life could no Joys afford;
Death pleases best, that sends me to my Lord.

[Dies.
Hel.
Farewell, Illustrious Father, Vertuous Queen
And good old Man, farewell; while here I gaze,
My struggling Soul is doubtful which to choose;
To live with her I love, or dye with you.
But oh! She comes, she comes to end the Strife,
And Love for her makes me in love with Life.

Trumpets and Kettle Drums.
Enter Antigonus, Demetrius, Æmylius, Antigone.
Æm.
See what a stately Pomp of Death lies here,
And where the Princely Mourner stands; the sole
Survivour of the royal Race of Pyrrhus,
And almost of the War, Oh! grant, ye Gods,
That every Son of Rome, that falls in Battle,
May fall as brave as these.

Dem.
Death was this Night devouring as the Deluge,
And all the World of Epiran seems swallow'd up;
And but one Person sav'd.

Ant.
[Gives Antigone to Helenus.
Short are the Glories that our Lives can boast,
And our aspiring Thoughts in Death are lost.