Eurydice A Tragedy |
 | 1. |
| 1. | SCENE I. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
| 4. |
| 5. |
| 6. |
| 2. |
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
| 4. |
| 5. |
| 6. |
| 7. |
| 8. |
| 9. |
| 3. |
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
| 4. |
| 5. |
| 6. |
| 7. |
| 8. |
| 9. |
| 10. |
| 4. |
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
| 4. |
| 5. |
| 6. |
| 7. |
| 8. |
| 5. |
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
| 4. |
| 5. |
| 6. |
| 7. |
| 8. |
| 9. |
 | Eurydice |  |
SCENE I.
Eurydice, Melissa.Eurydice.
Ye heavenly Powers!
What means this dreadful war of sea and sky!
Melissa.
Dreadful indeed. It rose not by degrees,
But all at once, a tempest wild and loud.
Eurydice.
Hear! from the wintry north how keen it howls
Thro' these lone towers that rock with every blast,
Each moment threatning ruine on our heads.
But see—stand here, and cast thy eyes below
2
See what confusion fills the raving deep!
What mountain-waves arise!—'Tis terrible,
And suiting to the horrors of my fate,
The deep despair that desolates my soul.
Melissa.
Ha! look, behold, due west where yonder rocks
O'erhang the beating tides—O sight of woe!
Four goodly ships, abandon'd to the storm,
Drive blindly with the billows; their drench'd sails
Stript off, and whirl'd before the rending wind.
Eurydice.
Assist them, all good Powers! The storm is high,
And the flood perilous.
Look! now they climb a fearful steep, and hang
On the big surge that mixes with the clouds.
Save me! it bursts, and headlong down they reel
Into the yawning gulph—They cannot scape.
A sea rowls o'er the foremost.
Melissa.
Ah! she strikes
On yonder wave-worn cliff. The fatal shock
Has doubtless shiver'd her strong side. She sinks
So swiftly down, that scarce the straining eye
Can trace her tallest mast.—Where is she now!
Hid in the wild abyss, with all her crew,
All lost for ever!
Eurydice.
Turn we from the sight,
Too dismal for a woman's eye to bear.
Ill-fated men! whom, knowing not, I mourn;
Whence, or what may they be? Even now, perhaps,
In some far-distant land, a faithful wife,
3
For their return; and fondly numbers up
The lingring months of absence. Fruitless love!
They never more shall meet!—By my own ills
Severely taught, I pity them; yet think
Their fate, all full of horror as it seems,
Is rather to be envy'd. They are now
Beyond the hand of Fate, at rest for ever!
While I, Melissa—
Melissa.
Ah, Eurydice,
My royal Mistress, rather think the Gods
Would teach you, by this sight of mournful ruine,
Patience and gentler thought. When others too
Are miserable, not to know the worst
Is some degree of bliss.
Eurydice.
Melissa, no.
I tell thee, no ill fate, no face of death
Can be so dreadful as a life like mine.
Call to thy thoughts what I have been; how great,
How happy in a husband, and a son
The rising boast of Greece. Behold me now
Cast down to lowest infamy; the slave,
The sport of a foul Tyrant, who betray'd me,
And would destroy my honour.—Gracious heaven!
And shall this bold offender, who has broke
All bonds of holy faith, yet bids his soul
Rejoyce and take her ease; shall he long triumph
Here in the throne of Corinth, while its lord,
The injur'd Periander, roams a fugitive,
Far, far from bliss and me!
4
These tears, my Queen,
These faithful tears, which sympathy of sorrow
Draws from my eyes, speak the sad share I take
In all your mighty ills.
Eurydice.
Say now, Melissa,
Is there among the daughters of Affliction
One so forlorn as poor Eurydice?
A prisoner here, subjected to the power
Of impious Procles, daily doom'd to hear,
O deadly insult! his detested love.
What ill can equal this? Why did I trust
The brutal Tyrant?
Melissa.
See, his Minion's here.
| Eurydice | |