University of Virginia Library

ACT I.

SCENE I.

A rocky shore, wild and desart, with a distant view of the sea. Calypso is discovered sitting in a disconsolate posture. Antiope and the Nymphs attending. She rises.
AIR. CALYPSO.
Ye founts, whose rilling waters creep,
In murmuring currents to the deep,
Ah, teach my tears to flow!
And you that o'er my island fly,
Ye winged breezes, catch my sigh,
And spread it as you go.

ANTIOPE.
How long will the divine Calypso weep
For false Ulysses? Was immortal youth
Only bestow'd, that you should mourn for ever?

CALYPSO.
I think it was.

ANTIOPE.
Ah, no, it cannot be;
Upon that watery mirror turn thine eyes,
And if 'tis fit such lustre should be given,
For tears to wash it out, weep on.

CALYPSO.
Well, my kind nymphs, I'll strive to be less sad.

ANTIOPE.
Goddess, be mirthful; we were made for mirth:
Give sorrow to the winds.

CALYPSO.
I would I could.

ANTIOPE.
Look at your island once so fair and smiling,
What is it now? a tear-besprinkled rock,
A howling waste of doleful sighs and groans,
No seat, as once it was, for love and joy:
But smile, dear goddess, smile again;
Thy beauty hath a renovating power,
Which Nature must obey.

CALYPSO.
I know my power
Can call up spring, trick out my isle afresh
In all its flowery bloom, and change the face
Of faded nature; but no power have I
Myself to change, or stem one falling tear;
Therefore this scene were best—Yet for your sakes,
All that I can, I will. Let me have music;
Strange is the magic of harmonious song,
And strong its workings in the hearer's heart:
Sing then, but let it be some soothing air,
Light, not fantastic; stealing on the ear,
Not loudly storming it; and welcome 'twere,
Might it take off, though but a feather's weight,
From my sad bosom's load.

AIR. ANTIOPE.

CALYPSO.
Your music wins my sorrow to attention;
It stirs it, as the zephyr does the rose,
Shaking the dew-drops from its weeping leaves;
But still my rooted grief resists your song.
Now, wood nymph—

A Wood Nymph enters.
NYMPH.
As I kept my watch but now
On the tall summit of yond eastern cliff,
I saw a goodly bark approach your isle;
Lab'ring she seem'd with still-opposed helm
And top-sails, courting the reluctant breeze,
To stem the flattering tide, that gently woo'd her
To the false smiling shore, her sandy grave.

CALYPSO.
Where are my magic imps, that us'd to do
My sportive errands?

ANTIOPE.
In their rocky cave
Torpid they lie, and lifeless with disuse.

RECITATIVE. CALYPSO.
Take thou my wand, and with it smite the rock:
Let them all forth:—'tis well—Behold
How the grim cavern yawns! And hark, they cry—

Antiope having struck the rock with the wand, it suddenly falls asunder, and discovers a deep dark cavern.
AIR. DÆMONS in the Cave.
Magic queen, whose potent spell
Binds us in this dreary cave,
Loose us from our prison-cell;
Save us, mighty mistress, save!

RECITATIVE. CALYPSO.
Dæmons, come forth!
[Six Dæmons come forth, bound with chains.
What will you do, ye sprites,
From your gall'd limbs, if I strike off
These adamantine fetters?

RECITATIVE. FIRST DÆMON.
Sovereign, we'll dance for joy,
And sing loud glees of liberty and triumph;
Will run upon the moon beams, mount the winds,
And jade the lagging coursers of the air
To do thee grace and service, so you'll free us.

RECITATIVE. CALYPSO.
Zudore, stand forth; where is my watery spirit?
East of my isle thou'lt find a goodly bark
Conflicting with the gale; force it on shore,
Plunge it in sand, or rive it on the rocks:
Whom it contains, I know not; but if men,
They must be faithless.

RECITATIVE. ZUDORE.
Sovereign, it is done.

RECITATIVE. CALYPSO.
Forth, and be free: fall fetters, and away!

AIR. DÆMONS.
Joy, joy, joy!
Woeful nights and days are past,
Sullen sleep and sour annoy,
Holiday is come at last.
Happy, happy spirits we,
Leap and dance and frisk amain;
Freely forth, and flit with me,
Till our queen cries, come again.

[They vanish.
CALYPSO.
They're gone like shadows, and dispers'd
To all the points of heav'n; and hark,
The loud turmoil begins!
[A storm of thunder and lightning: the sea is greatly agitated, and the air darkened.
Antiope!

ANTIOPE.
What wills my queen?

CALYPSO.
This storm, which I have rais'd,
Will call up Proteus from the troubled deep:
On the sea shore, upon the western point,
Within his oozy haunt, you'll find the god;
A prophet, as thou know'st, he can resolve me,
If 'tis decreed Ulysses shall revisit
His native Ithaca; to me, alas!
The book of fate is shut.

ANTIOPE.
And kindly shut;
Why wilt thou urge enquiry?

CALYPSO.
Nay, but go.
To all but thee, ungentle, the fond monster
Gloats on thy beauties; thou through all his forms
Canst fix the shifting deity: away!
But if thy charms prevail not, take these fetters,
And, by my nymphs assisted, cast them on him,
And bring him bound before us.

ANTIOPE.
I obey.

[Exeunt severally.

SCENE II.

The Cave of Proteus, with a view of the sea. The storm continues with thunder, &c. Proteus, after a musical prelude comes out of his cave.
RECITATIVE. PROTEUS.
Peace, peace! forbear to lash the deep,
What is this mighty coil you keep,
Ye brawling winds? Would you up-rend
The solid-seated rocks, and send
The dashing billows to the sky?
Up, father Neptune, hear my cry!
The scaly subjects of my peaceful reign,
Protect, great sire, and let me sleep again.
AIR.

Enter Antiope.
RECITATIVE. PROTEUS.
Mistress, how now! What foot prophane
Invades my solitary reign?
And is there in this island free,
No nook for silence and for me?

RECITATIVE. ANTIOPE.
Sluggard, awake; 'tis I, your friend,
Antiope; and now attend—
By fair Calypso sent, of thee
I fain would know the fates' decree:
If false Ulysses e're shall reach
His native shore, diviner, teach.

RECITATIVE. PROTEUS.
Would'st thou of prophecies enquire,
Thou wanton imp of young desire?
Come, snow-drop, throw around my neck
Thy pearly arms, and I will speak.

AIR. ANTIOPE.

RECITATIVE. PROTEUS.
Wilt thou be still perverse, thou star
Of dazzling beauty, still at war
With thine own pleasures? Look around
Through all Calypso's desart ground,
Does mirth inhabit here? Come then with me,
And give another Venus to the sea.
AIR.

ANTIOPE.
Where are you, nymphs?
Now haste, and fetter this evasive god—
Ah, you're too late! he's gone, escap'd—And look,
He glares a lion—Stand, nor be amaz'd;
He has no power to harm you: yes, deceiver,
I know thee and thy arts; that brutal form
Suits thy base nature. Give the chains to me,
Yet, yet, I'll fetter him—Hah! what is this?
A flaming fire. He can take any form,
Each living thing, the elements themselves,
All nature is his own; yet wait awhile;
Too gross and sleepy for that active flame,
He soon will shift, and see, 'tis done. He falls
A rilling fountain—Fair betide the change!
To thine own murmurs I bequeath thee, sluggard.
[All the changes described in the above speech, are effected by Proteus.
AIR.

[Exit with Nymphs.
SCENE returns to the first view of the Coast.
Telemachus and Mentor.
TELEMACHUS.
Was ever scene thus dreadful! Oh, ye powers,
Why am I spar'd to be the sad survivor
Of wreck so fatal? Ah, forgive me, Mentor!
Thy manly arm, thy ever-present mind
Snatch'd me from death; my friend himself is sav'd,
And I adore the gods.

MENTOR.
'Tis well, Telemachus;
For if I augur right, much need you'll find
In this new land of their providing care:
Now to the beach—perchance the full-gorg'd deep,
After its greedy meal, shall cast on shore
Some fragments of our wreck; in the mean time,
I will explore the isle—Why do you pause?

AIR. TELEMACHUS.
[Exit Telemachus.

Calypso, with her Nymphs, enters to Mentor.
CALYPSO.
Whom have we here? Whence, and what art thou? Speak.

MENTOR.
A suitor to your pity; a poor voyager
Wreck'd on your isle, and lost (hard fate!)
If you withhold protection.

CALYPSO.
What's thy name
And nation?

MENTOR.
Goddess, for no less you seem,
I am a Greek; Mentor, my name, the friend
Of young Telemachus.

CALYPSO.
Where is Telemachus?
Lives he?

MENTOR.
He lives, and sends me to implore
The succours of your isle; and chief, to learn
Who governs in it.

CALYPSO.
That do I; Calypso.
I know thy charge, the son of great Ulysses:
Say, to Telemachus, that he is welcome;
Tell him he may approach; no danger waits him,
Nor fraud, nor force, that he should fear—Away!
[Exit Mentor.
Now, Nymphs and Graces, your best arts prepare,
String your neglected harps afresh, to love
Attune your voices, ye fair sylvan choir;
And in the quick'ning lustre of your eyes,
Let beams of pleasure dance. Hence, to your posts!
The potent charm begins;
And your weak natures cannot stand the spell,
Haste and avoid it.

[Exeunt Nymphs.
[Music.
RECITATIVE, ACCOMPANIED.

Imps of service, hearken!
Zudore, where'er thou art, and thou, Melantho,
Thogar, and Zeripon, and Fosgar, hear me!
AIR.

[The rocks disappear, the stage is cloathed with woods and flowers, and the nymphs enter dancing to the air, which being concluded, they join in the following chorus.
CHORUS.
See, goddess, see, at thy command,
Pleasures attend this happy land.

CALYPSO.
Break off; he comes—
Telemachus enters with Mentor.
Hail to the prince of Ithaca! The fame
Of great Ulysses, your heroic father,
Has been the herald that bespeaks your welcome.

TELEMACHUS.
Is it Calypso speaks?

CALYPSO.
I am Calypso.

TELEMACHUS.
I have no words, Oh, miracle of beauty,
To give my wonder utterance; I am lost;
A scene so fair, such forms divine surround me—
Speak, Mentor, if thou canst; thou too art silent.

MENTOR.
Yes, but it is with indignation, prince,
To see thee so possest.

TELEMACHUS.
If thy stern virtue
Can look upon that face unmov'd, Oh, Mentor,
Thou must be more or less than man—Behold.
AIR.

CALYPSO.
Telemachus, what ails thy sullen friend?
Old man, what wouldst thou?

MENTOR.
I would quit your island;
These scenes accord not with a life of glory.

CALYPSO.
Yet here Ulysses liv'd; seven times the sun,
Circling his yearly zone, still found him here:
And sure Ulysses led a life of glory.

MENTOR.
Not in Calypso's arms.

CALYPSO.
Away, thou churl!
Thou art some moral railer; and I know
Thou hast a heart, a wishing heart, dissembler,
That akes for pleasures which it cannot reach.
But come, Telemachus, the bower expects thee—
Give me thy hand; Calypso is thy guide:
Nay, dost thou waver? Come—

MENTOR.
Resist, or perish.

TELEMACHUS.
It is in vain; I am not more than man,
And she is sure a goddess.

AIR. MENTOR.
Fatal fall from towering height,
Forfeit of immortal fame;
Virtue from temptation's weight,
Lab'ring droops and sinks to shame.

CALYPSO
By all my hopes, he sways his wavering mind
With more than human power. May furies strike him!
I hate, yet fear him; something awes my nature—
'Tis my last effort—Nymphs, disclose the bower!

[The back scene opens and discloses the bower of Calypso luxuriantly disposed with groupes of nymphs in various attitudes.
RECITATIVE. ACCOMPANIED.

Look back, Telemachus;
And ere you part, behold what joys
You sacrifice to mad ambition. See!

FINALE.
(Chorus of Nymphs.)
Hither, mortal, hither stray;
Here are joys without decay,
Love and laughter all the day,
Happy mortal, come away.

AIR. CALYPSO.
To sport on beds of roses,
Where no rude thorn opposes,
And laugh at wrinkled care;
Soft raptures without cloying,
If these be worth enjoying,
Approach and enter there.

TELEMACHUS.
Ah, Mentor, protect me! Ah, where shall I turn?

MENTOR.
To honour, to glory.

TELEMACHUS.
I languish, I burn;
See what beauties surround me.

MENTOR.
Escape from the sight;
When 'tis madness to struggle, there's valour in flight.

CALYPSO.
Ah! fly not; hear not!

MENTOR.
Cannot Mentor move?

CALYPSO.
What man would fly from happiness and love?

MENTOR.
Hark! Virtue calls.

CALYPSO.
But Pleasure bids you stay.

CHORUS OF NYMPHS.
Hither, Telemachus; come, come away!
(Two parts with chorus.)
Hark! Virtue, &c.
But Pleasure, &c.
Hither, Telemachus, &c.

TELEMACHUS.
How can thy wounded friend depart?
Ah, Mentor! urge me not to fly;
Love's arrow rankles in my heart,
And Love must draw it, or I die.

ANTIOPE.
See, Goddess, see, in his empassion'd eyes
What soften'd fires, what tender tumults rise!
He looks, he loves; all hail to Beauty's charms!
He smiles, he sighs, he sinks into thine arms.

CHORUS OF NYMPHS.
He looks, he loves; all hail to Beauty's charms!
He smiles, he sighs, he sinks into her arms.