 | Rosamond |  |
SCENE I.
A Prospect of Woodstock-Park, terminating in the Bower.Enter Queen and Page.
Queen.
What Place is here!
What Scenes appear!
Where-e'er I turn my Eyes,
All around
Enchanted Ground
And soft Elysiums rise:
Flow'ry Mountains,
Mossie Fountains,
Shady Woods,
Chrystal Floods
With wild Variety surprize.
2
As o'er the hollow Vaults we walk,
A hundred Eccho's round us talk:
From Hill to Hill our Words are tost,
Rocks rebounding,
Caves resounding,
Alluding to the famous Eccho.A hundred Eccho's round us talk:
From Hill to Hill our Words are tost,
Rocks rebounding,
Caves resounding,
Not a single Voice is lost.
Page.
There gentle Rosamond immur'd
Lives from the World and you secur'd.
Queen.
Curse on the Name! I faint, I die,
With secret Pangs of Jealousie.—
[Aside.
Page.
There does the pensive Beauty mourn,
And languish for her Lord's Return.
Queen.
Death and Confusion! I'm too slow—
[Aside.
Show me the happy Mansion, show.—
Page.
Great Henry there—
Queen.
Trifler, no more!—
Page.
—Great Henry there
Will soon forget the Toils of War.
Queen.
No more! the happy Mansion show
That holds this lovely, guilty Foe.
My Wrath, like that of Heav'n, shall rise,
And blast her in her Paradise.
Page.
Behold on yonder rising Ground
The Bow'r that wanders
In Meanders,
Ever bending,
Never ending,
3
Shades in Shades,
Running an Eternal Round.
Queen.
In such an endless Maze I rove,
Lost in Labyrinths of Love,
My Breast with hoarded Vengeance burns,
While Fear and Rage
With Hope engage,
And rule my wav'ring Soul by turns.
Page.
The Path yon verdant Field divides
Which to the soft Confinement guides.
Queen.
Eleonora, think betimes,
What are thy hated Rival's Crimes!
Whither, ah whither dost thou go!
What has she done to move thee so!
—Does she not warm with guilty Fires
The faithless Lord of my Desires?
Have not her fatal Arts remov'd
My Henry from my Arms?
'Tis her Crime to be lov'd,
'Tis her Crime to have Charms.
Let us fly, let us fly,
She shall die, she shall die.
I feel, I feel my Heart relent,
How could the Fair be innocent!
To a Monarch like mine,
Who would not resign!
One so great and so brave
All Hearts must enslave.
How could the Fair be innocent!
To a Monarch like mine,
Who would not resign!
4
All Hearts must enslave.
Page.
Hark, hark! what Sound invades my Ear?
The Conqueror's Approach I hear.
He comes, Victorious Henry comes!
Hautboys, Trumpets, Fifes and Drums,
In dreadful Consort join'd,
Send from afar
A Sound of War,
And fill with Horror ev'ry Wind.
Hautboys, Trumpets, Fifes and Drums,
In dreadful Consort join'd,
Send from afar
A Sound of War,
And fill with Horror ev'ry Wind.
Queen.
Henry returns, from Danger free,
Henry returns!—But not to me.
He comes his Rosamond to greet,
And lay his Laurels at her Feet,
His Vows impatient to renew;
His Vows to Eleonora due.
Here shall the happy Nymph detain,
(While of his Absence I complain)
Hid in her mazy wanton Bow'r,
My Lord, my Life, my Conqueror.
No, no, 'tis decreed
The Traitress shall bleed;
No Fear shall alarm,
No Pity disarm;
In my Rage shall be seen
The Revenge of a Queen.
The Traitress shall bleed;
No Fear shall alarm,
No Pity disarm;
In my Rage shall be seen
The Revenge of a Queen.
| Rosamond | |