University of Virginia Library

SCENE VI.

Enter two Spirits leading in Rinaldo.
Rin.
Smil'st thou, perfidious Hag? Art thou a Devil
And has not Hell inform'd thee, that a Soul,
Daring as mine, can scorn thy Fiends and thee!
Know I defie thy Pow'r; for Proof whereof,
Give me my Almirena or thou diest;

Arm.
Before Armida's Face this Insolence?

Rin.
Find me a Devil yet blacker than thy self!
And I'll again repeat how much I scorn thee;

Arm.
Dost thou not know thou art my Prisoner here?

Rin.
Fool! Dost thou think thy Chains can reach my Soul?

Arm.
Thy Life is in my Pow'r!

Rin.
I tell thee Hag;
That Courage cannot die!

Arm.
Methinks there shines,
I know not what gay something in his Look,
That draws me up to wonder!

(aside
Rin.
Hear me, Fiend,
Restore me to the Arms of Almirena.

Arm.
I feel a Pain so different from all Pains
I e'er yet felt, that I half fear 'tis Love!

(aside
Rin.
Lead me, where Almirena waits my Succour!

Arm.
But shall my Heart, which never bow'd before,
Become the Slave and Triumph of a Foe?

(aside
Rin.
My Rage has slept till now, but thou hast wak'd it,
To crush thy self, and thy infernal Train!

Arm.
'Tis so, my self must prove the Victim now,
Who wou'd have thought that so much Beauty dwelt
With so much Roughness?
(aside
(To him.)
Rinaldo, in the rosy Bow'rs around thee,
The Wings of ev'ry Wind are charg'd with Love;
The purling Streams, which trickle through the Grass,
The warbling Birds, and odoriferous Flow'rs,
Invite to Softness, and wou'd fain instruct thee,
That only amorous Battels here are fought;
Unbend that stormy Brow, and smile upon me,
No more my Captive now, but Conquerour;
Look kindly, while I sigh how much I love thee.

Rin.
How I detest thy Wiles!

Arm.
Receive a proffer'd Heart,

Rin.
To give it Torments.

Arm.
May Pleasures crown thy Hope.

Rin.
May Pains dash thine.

Arm.
Will not Entreaties melt thee?

Rin.
I disdain 'em.

Arm.
Have Sighs, like mine, no Force?

Rin.
To blow up Anger

Arm.
Hell listens to my Call.

Rin.
But I am deaf.

Arm.
Think what I am.

Rin.
A Tyrant and a Devil.

Arm.
Resolve on—

Rin.
Vengeance.

Arm.
Cannot Pity move thee?

Rin.
Why lose I Time? Dear Soul I fly to seek thee.

He is going off.
Arm.
Oh stay!

Rin.
I will not;

Arm.
Ungrateful! Kill not;

Rin.
Inhumane Sorcerers fly;
Leave me;

Arm.
'Tis Death;

Rin.
Quit then thy Breath;

Arm.
Why must I die?