University of Virginia Library

SCENE IV.

Enter Zimon, and Tryphon again to Ammon.
Zimon.
Ammon?

Ammon.
My Patron!

Zimon.
I conjure thee, stay—
If yet thou hold'st thy Father's Memory dear;
If Zimon merits ought of Friendship from thee,
Unfold thy self?—what hast thou seen, or heard
To shake thee thus? whence is it, I demand,
Thou'rt haunted by thy self? I charge thee, speak!
Tell this strange Secret, which so fears the Air,
Yet struggles to be known!

Ammon.
What means my Patron?

Zimon.
No more Evasions, Ammon! 'tis too late:
I overhear'd thee—dost thou fear to trust me?
Now by the sacred Guardians of my House!
By my good Sword, and Fame, I'll do it right!
Whate'er it be, it meets with Justice here!

Ammon.
'Twas but a Dream!

Tryphon.
Remember, Ammon, Dreams
Are sacred Things; for Dreams descend from fove.

Ammon.
Forbid it, Heav'n, I shou'd resist thy Will!

Zimon.
And thou conceal'st it yet.

Ammon.
Why then, my Lord,
I will be bold, and open all my Soul;
—But first resolve me this! thus on my Knees
I beg, thou wilt resolve me from thy Heart;
For it concerns my Peace—hast thou decreed
Art thou irrevocably fix'd to hold
Thy Daughter from my Friend?

Tryphon.
Observe you that?

[Apart to Zimon.
Zimon.
Art thou to learn me yet? when am I found
Irresolute, and wav'ring in my Duty?
Tho' to these Eyes she's dearer than the Light,
Whene'er he meets her in the nuptial Bed,
May Nature err! and Monsters be their Offspring.

Ammon.
It is enough! and witness now ye Pow'rs,
[Rises.
By whose dread Names Omphales seal'd our Friendship!
Witness! I've now been faithful to the Man
Who scorns his sacred Vow!—no more! I'm free!
And thus with Honour may unfold my self.
—Know then, my Patron, even at that Time
When first your Daughter's Nuptials were deferr'd,
In the last Hour of Night, when all was hush'd,
And Sleep had shed its kindly Influence on me,
Hesione appears to grace my Slumbers.
Not as she's wont by Day: but unattir'd,
Unbound, and wild her Hair, her Garments flowing,
And loosen'd all as for the Nuptial Bed.
A while she gaz'd upon me, and in Smiles,
Such as assenting Deities bestow,
Seem'd to persuade me, that her Heart was mine.
Ambitious Dream! but mark the heavy Change!
For from that Time, e'en from that very Hour,
Forgive me, if I say, I lov'd her more
Than Health, or Life, or all that Heav'n can give!

Tryphon.
Have I presag'd aright?

Zimon.
O, thou unerring Seer!

Ammon.
Yet less than Honour! for I told my Heart
She was my Friend's, and strove to humble it.
This past, and Day by Day I grew in Fondness!
At length the second, solemn Tryal came;
Heav'n still averse! the Rites again deferr'd!
This, I confess, alarm'd me! now the Pow'rs,
And Precedents of Visions I besought
With due Libations, Pray'r, and Sacrifice,
That, if not false, my Dream might be renew'd
With clearer Evidence: when, lo! again
I met her in my Slumbers; met him too
Whom I wou'd call my Friend, the lost Omphales.
In vain, methought, he strove to hold the Maid,
While like some Nymph of Dian's nimble Train,
Thro' fancy'd Ways, o'er Hills, and flow'ry Plains
Swiftly she fled from his desiring Arms;
And with a gentle Wafture of her Hand
Bid me pursue—and then last Night again—
But thou art sick already of my Tale!

Zimon.
If thou in ought regard'st or Heav'n, or me,
I charge thee, on!

Ammon.
Then thus in brief!—last Night
Deck'd in her Marriage Garment she appear'd.
The Hymeneal Pomp; the nuptial Brands,
Attending Virgins, and rejoicing Friends
Were all around: and, strange! I there beheld,
(As Death's cold Hand had ne'er obstructed her)
Her Mother!—who in Smiles—

Zimon.
Be brief in that!

Ammon.
Why then no more than this! to Ammon's Arms
You gave Hesione, and we were happy.

Zimon.
Then happy may'st thou be!

Tryphon.
Art thou convinc'd?

Zimon.
O, ye immortal Pow'rs!

Tryphon.
What Proofs are here?
O Zimon, thou art favour'd of the Gods!

Ammon.
Surely again I dream! and this is yet
Another pleasing Vision!

Zimon.
No, thou wak'st
To Joy, to Hymen! to Hesione!

Ammon.
Shall the poor Orphan Ammon be so rais'd?

Zimon.
Think in whose Cause thou did'st become an Orphan!
For me thou lost a Father, and in me
Most right it is, that thou shou'dst find a Father.
And thus, ye Pow'rs, ye manifest your Justice!

Tryphon.
Thy Piety is register'd above!

Zimon.
O Tryphon, I have been an Age in Debt!
I blush, with shame I blush, when I reflect
How poor in Gratitude, how slow I've been
In my Returns of Love to Cleon's Offspring!

Ammon.
My Father's Action was its own Reward:
For well he knew, when he preserv'd thy Life,
In thee he sav'd our State, and dy'd for Athens.

Zimon.
Oh, Athens felt his Fall!—he was a Man!—
—Tryphon, betake thee to the holy Place!
There let the Priests adorn a sacred Altar;
With Garlands see it dress'd of genial Flow'rs;
Spread on it all the Fragrance of the East,
Each costly Spice, each Gum Arabia yields,
That on th' aspiring Sweets their Nuptial Vows
May mount aloft, and be receiv'd in Heav'n!

[Exit Tryphon.