 | The Tragedy of Tragedies ; Or The Life and Death of Tom Thumb the Great |  |
SCENE IV.
King Huncamunca.King.
Let all but Huncamunca leave the Room.
[Ex. Cleora, and Mustacha.
Daughter, I have observ'd of late some Grief,
Unusual in your Countenance—your Eyes,
That, like two open Windows, us'd to shew
The lovely Beauty of the Rooms within,
Have now two Blinds before them—What is the Cause?
We've giv'n strict Orders not to have you stinted.
Hunc.
Alas! my Lord, I value not my self,
That once I eat two Fowls and half a Pig;
Small is that Praise; but oh! a Maid may want,
What she can neither eat nor drink.
King.
What's that?
Hunc.
O spare my Blushes; but I mean a Husband.
King.
If that be all, I have provided one,
A Husband great in Arms, whose warlike Sword
Whose Name in Terrâ Incognitâ is known,
Whose Valour, Wisdom, Virtue make a Noise,
Great as the Kettle-Drums of twenty Armies.
Hunc.
Whom does my Royal Father mean?
King.
Tom Thumb.
Hunc.
Is it possible?
King.
Ha! the Window-Blinds are gone,
A Country Dance of Joy is in your Face,
Your Eyes spit Fire, your Cheeks grow red as Beef.
Hunc.
O, there's a Magick-musick in that Sound,
Enough to turn me into Beef indeed.
Yes, I will own, since licens'd by your Word,
I'll own Tom Thumb the Cause of all my Grief.
For him I've sigh'd, I've wept, I've gnaw'd my Sheets.
King.
Oh! thou shalt gnaw thy tender Sheets no more,
A Husband thou shalt have to mumble now.
Hunc.
Oh! happy Sound! henceforth, let no one tell,
That Huncamunca shall lead Apes in Hell.
Oh! I am over-joy'd!
King.
I see thou art.
Joy lightens in thy Eyes, and thunders from thy Brows;
Transports, like Lightning, dart along thy Soul,
As Small-shot thro' a Hedge.
Oh! say not small.
King.
This happy News shall on our Tongue ride Post,
Our self will bear the happy News to Thumb.
Yet think not, Daughter, that your powerful Charms
Must still detain the Hero from his Arms;
Various his Duty, various his Delight;
Now is his Turn to kiss, and now to fight;
And now to kiss again. So, mighty Jove,
When with excessive thund'ring tir'd above,
Comes down to Earth, and takes a Bit—and then,
Flies to his Trade of Thund'ring, back again.
Lee hath improv'd this Metaphor.
Dost thou not view Joy peeping from my Eyes,The Casements open'd wide to gaze on thee;
So Rome's glad Citizens to Windows rise,
When they some young Triumpher fain would see.
Gloriana.
Almahide hath the same Contempt for these Appetites;
To eat and drink can no Perfection be.Conquest of Granada.
The Earl of Essex is of a different Opinion, and seems to place the chief Happiness of a General therein.
Were but Commanders half so well rewarded,Then they might eat.
Banks's Earl of Essex.
But if we may believe one, who knows more than either, the Devil himself; we shall find Eating to be an Affair of more moment than is generally imagined.
Gods are immortal only by their Food.Lucifer in the State of Innocence.
This Expression is enough of it self (says Mr. D---s) utterly to destroy the Character of Huncamunca; yet we find a Woman of no abandon'd Character in Dryden, adventuring farther and thus excusing her self;
To speak our Wishes first, forbid it Pride,Forbid it Modesty: True, they forbid it,
But Nature does not, when we are athirst,
Or hungry, will imperious Nature stay,
Nor eat, nor drink, before 'tis bid fall on.
Cleomenes.
Cassandra speaks before she is asked. Huncamunca afterwards.
Cassandra speaks her Wishes to her Lover.Huncamunca only to her Father.
Mr. Dennis in that excellent Tragedy, call'd Liberty Asserted, which is thought to have given so great a Stroke to the late French King, hath frequent Imitations of this beautiful Speech of King Arthur;
Conquest light'ning in his Eyes, and thund'ring in his Arm.Joy lighten'd in her Eyes.
Joys like Light'ning dart along my Soul.
| The Tragedy of Tragedies ; Or The Life and Death of Tom Thumb the Great | |