University of Virginia Library

ACT IV.

SCENE I.

Melampus asleep in the arbour, which disappears at a symphony of music, and the approach of a Nymph.
She sings.
Fancy, brighter than the Graces,
Who dost guide the tuneful Nine,
Wanton o'er this sleeping hero,
And before his waking soul
Hold in dreams thy artful mirror,
Stor'd with Pleasure's various forms.

[Melampus wakes, and the Nymph vanishes.

SCENE II.

MELAMPUS.
Deceitful strains! O rather from my brow
Had slumber started at a bursting cloud,
A torrent's hoarseness, or the din of arms!
These might perhaps reanimate my soul,
Who now prefers a feeble pray'r—to learn,
If yet her cup of misery be full.

SCENE III.

Melampus. A bright cloud advances towards the front of the stage.

Song from the cloud.
[Trochaic measure.
Youth, dissolve thy cares in pleasure;
Look where, half-attir'd, the damsels,
Tripping round that glassy fountain,
Smile, and proffer sweet endearment,
Each contending for thy choice.

MELAMPUS,
turning to the side-scene.
I see a glassy fountain; I discern
A troop of damsels, azure-ey'd like morn,
Blithe as the spring, like summer glowing ripe,
In garments loosely waving. But I hear,
Or seem to hear, thy warnings, sage Madauces,
And thus exclude the wantons from my sight.

[He lifts his mantle before his eyes, and turns aside. The cloud opens, and discovers the figures of Venus and Cupid.
Venus
sings.
Then to me exalt thy raptures,
Me, the queen of love and beauty.
See my son to cure thy anguish.
Hero, come. Divine embraces
Woo thee to Idalian bow'rs.

MELAMPUS.
A languor breath'd in odours from that cloud,
Allurement stealing through my eyes and ears,
Melt down my spirit. Long-suppress'd desires
Wake in my heart; and constancy is wav'ring.
Now, Themis, strengthen thy half-vanquish'd soldier!
Let me retreat, and plunge in deepest shades.

[He withdraws, and the cloud disappears.

SCENE IV.

Song from behind the scenes.
Filial rev'rence, pious duty,
Jove hath planted in the soul.
Turn thee, Jason, turn and bow thee.
Lo! thy father's regal step.

[Melampus re-enters.

SCENE V.

Melampus, and Æson, who leads a Woman veiled, and in sumptuous attire.
MELAMPUS.
My father, Æson!

ÆSON.
Yes, thou seest thy father.
Remit thy wonder, and attend, my son.
A learn'd Thessalian charmer at my pray'r
Devis'd this maze of marvels to confine
Thy restless valour, till my fault'ring steps
Might reach and stop thee in thy fruitless wand'rings.
A vessel lies in readiness to waft thee.
Return to blessings, and forget Medea.

MELAMPUS,
starting.
Forget Medea! That were still to copy
Th' ingratitude of Æson, who accepted
The gift of empire, and forgot the giver;
Then tore each wreath of honour from his son,
And cast him down a precipice of shame,
Whence never, never can he rise again.

ÆSON.
Though deaf to duty, yield to virtuous love.
Behold thy virgin bride in Creon's daughter.

[The woman unveils.
MELAMPUS.
Creüsa!

CREUSA.
Jason, thou hast cause to marvel,
When thou behold'st the queen of Corinth here.
On this chaste lap thy weary head shall rest;
My voice shall lull thee, while the tempest roars;
My fond endearments shorten tedious time,
Till Neptune's wat'ry deserts thou hast pass'd,
To sit illustrious on the throne of Greece.

[Melampus, attempting to speak, is prevented by a full concert of music.

Song from behind the scenes.
Dance around, ye blooming Graces,
Sportive Loves, and purple Hymen;
Hither bring your lyres, ye Muses,
This unrivall'd pair recording,
First of heroes, brightest queen.

SCENE VI.

Melampus, Æson, Creusa, and the three Graces, who dance to the harps of the Muses; then Hymen with his torch, accompanied by a band of Cupids with torches likewise. Hymen and one of the Graces dance.
MELAMPUS.
If ye be phantoms, with contempt I greet ye.
If ye be real—drive me not to madness.
My children's ghosts already glide before me.

ÆSON.
My son!

CREUSA.
My love! Look on me, wedded lord.

MELAMPUS.
A frozen figure, moulded from the snows,
Which chill. That mountain's summit would attract
Such looks as mine to thee.

ÆSON.
O grief-devoted!
Canst thou refuse dominion, wealth, and beauty?

CREUSA.
Canst thou refuse Creüsa?

MELAMPUS.
Though thy hand,
That hand usurping once Medea's right,
Bore to my lips a taste of Lethe's streams,
Which with oblivion cleanse the troubled mind;
The liquid comfort I would dash aside,
And my own sorrows to thy love prefer:
While them I cherish, virtue may return.

[Æson, Creüsa, &c. all vanish.

SCENE VII.

MELAMPUS.
Are ye no more than shadows? O my heart,
Art thou not less encumber'd? Sure a dawn
Of consolation seems to break upon thee;
Or dost thou cheat thyself?
[Music from a harp.
What strains are these,
So much resembling those mellifluous notes,
Which my companion Orpheus from his lyre
Was wont to raise, when Argo plough'd the deep,
And raptur'd Nereids follow'd; while his voice,
In celebrating songs of Jason's deeds,
O'er the smooth'd ocean floated on the breeze,
And ev'ry star had cast its cloudy veil.


Song from behind the scenes.
Virtue, only source of good,
From the breast awhile remov'd,
Leaves a watchful guard behind,
Conscience, to secure the heart.
If he opens once the gate,
She will soon access regain;
Blissful change! when light to gloom,
And to horror joy succeeds.

MELAMPUS.
Celestial sounds of transport from my ear
So long withheld! O Virtue, dost thou smile
Again on Jason? Purest goddess, stay!
While thy returning influence I feel,
Let me not sink in horrible amaze
How I, who once possess'd, could ever lose thee!

SCENE VIII.

Melampus and Cassandane appearing at a distance with the Genius of Caucasus.
The Genius
sings.
Greet the hero, trembling maid,
He alone redress can yield;
Let not fear thy pace retard,
Nor sit heavy on thy tongue.

MELAMPUS.
I hear again the same Orphean voice.
But what new image of excelling beauty
Steps from the grove? Perhaps the captive princess
Orontes loves, and I am bound to rescue.
My spear is gone. Those formidable mirrors
Disarm'd my trembling and unwary hand.
Yet was that weapon well exchang'd for peace
Of mind, that best security within.
Jove and his handmaid Nature will sustain
The fortitude they gave me, and complete
My gen'rous purpose. She advances nearer.—
Fair sojourner in these fantastic shades,
If thou art she, whose loss Orontes mourns,
And whom a pow'r unnatural confines
Within these charm'd enclosures, not in vain
Have I o'erturn'd their barrier, to replace thee
In native freedom, and a monarch's love.

CASSANDANE.
O warrior, crown'd with merited success,
Who dost protect the innocent and injur'd,
There is no other in this wild recess,
Who wants like me assistance. In two hours
Wilt thou depute Orontes to this place?

MELAMPUS.
Wilt thou be here?

CASSANDANE.
Be confident, I will.

MELAMPUS.
Who, shall I say, enjoins me?

CASSANDANE.
If my words
Thou dost deliver, thou perform'st enough.

MELAMPUS.
Th' unhappy monarch is enthrall'd by demons.

CASSANDANE.
He shall have freedom. So from me assure him.

MELAMPUS.
Why this mysterious secret of thy name?

CASSANDANE.
Why, who art thou, most generous of men,
That thus undaunted hazardest thy life
To vindicate the injur'd?

MELAMPUS.
One who, long
Dead to the sense of gladness in himself,
That peace he wanted, hath to others giv'n,
And from their comfort sometimes hath enjoy'd
A transitory interval from pain;
But ne'er so full and lasting as this day,
When he relieves thy beauties from their bondage.

CASSANDANE.
Fain would I know and soften thy afflictions,
At least deplore them in a grateful tear.

MELAMPUS.
From each inquietude I mean to raise thee,
In blooming joy produce thee to my friend,
And not depress thee by a tale of woe.
Yet, as the king, distracted by the fiend,
Hath left thy name unmention'd, thou explain
Who is the injur'd fair my fortune saves.

CASSANDANE.
Know then, deserving stranger, since that question
Thou urgest further, I am charg'd to answer,
That not thy welfare less than mine, depends
On my concealment from thee at this crisis.

MELAMPUS.
I am inur'd to wonders; but, fair captive,
Thou dost in mystery surpass them all.
I press to know thee; thou art charg'd to answer,
That both my welfare and thine own depend
On thy concealment from me at this crisis:
What crisis? What concurrence of events
Can interweave our fortunes? Both, produc'd
In distant climates, never till this hour
Held converse.

CASSANDANE.
Spare me, and forgive my silence.

MELAMPUS.
Say, who hath charg'd thee?

CASSANDANE.
Ask the learn'd Enchantress.
Before I see Orontes she will greet thee:
Meantime remain in yon high-arching bow'r.

MELAMPUS.
The learn'd Enchantress! May her name be told?

CASSANDANE.
Throughout this spacious region is she known
By no distinction but of learn'd and good.

MELAMPUS.
Is she this region's native?

CASSANDANE.
No.

MELAMPUS.
Whence come?

CASSANDANE.
Past my conjecture; though two years are fled
Since in a chariot, dragon-yok'd—

MELAMPUS.
What say'st thou?

CASSANDANE.
I say, a chariot, drawn by winged dragons,
With blazing nostrils, through the air convey'd
Her form divine. The nations look'd aghast,
When on this brow of Caucasus she rested.
Soon by her pow'r this edifice was rais'd;
And soon her science veneration drew,
Her virtues love, from all the Caspian tribes.

MELAMPUS.
Her virtues!

CASSANDANE.
Yes, her virtues have obtain'd
An appellation adequate to heav'n
Of wise and bounteous. O, like nature wise
And learn'd in all her works, like dayspring pure
When not a cloud or steaming vapour taints
The orient splendour, she is half ador'd
Through this wide region.

MELAMPUS
(aside).
Can she be Medea?
Vain thought!—her gen'rous science had disclaim'd
The deeds of malice I have felt and seen.
Some spell misleads this captive to admire
The tyranny which grieves her.

CASSANDANE.
Thou art musing.

MELAMPUS.
I am, how she, whose goodness thou proclaim'st,
Should rob thy youth and innocence of freedom,
Depute a lion to destroy a king,
And still pursue him with inhuman torments.

CASSANDANE.
Still thou dost ask what cannot be reveal'd.

MELAMPUS.
From me, thy benefactor, thou dost hide
Thy name and wrongs, extolling thy oppressor.
What can I think? My just suspicion whispers,
That all is here fallacious; what I see,
But painted shadow; what I hear, but fable:
And thou may'st prove but fleeting air at last,
By magic fancy colour'd to display
All that is fair and amiable in nature,
And on my frank credulity impose.

CASSANDANE.
My benefactor I confess thee, hero.
Thy doubts to banish, lo! my virgin hand,
Giv'n to confirm my gratitude, and prove
That I am real.

MELAMPUS,
holding her hand.
I am here a stranger.
Be not offended, fair one, at my caution,
Which, bound to search these mazes of delusion,
Familiariz'd with spectres, must endure
Till this tough knot of magic be unravell'd;
And thou no clew wilt lend me.

CASSANDANE.
I must leave thee.
Farewell, most gallant, courteous, and humane;
I praise thy conduct, and can add no more.

MELAMPUS.
Mysterious virgin! Though beyond enchantment
Thou dost perplex me, I in all obey thee.

SCENE IX.

MELAMPUS.
The good Enchantress!—so I heard her styl'd.
The pow'r exerted would bespeak Medea's,
Were it not mix'd with cruelty repugnant
To her untainted nature.—Yet those dragons—
With such from Corinth did she mount the clouds.
I want thy lights, Madauces, more than ever.
Kind fortune! I perceive him with Orontes.

SCENE X.

Melampus, Madauces, and Orontes.
MADAUCES.
My son!

MELAMPUS.
I soon will satisfy thy friendship.
Orontes, hail! Bless'd monarch, I have found
Thy queen of graces; lovelier than the dawn
Serenely rising on a night of storms,
She cheers our labours with propitious smiles.

ORONTES.
Thou hast beheld her with enamour'd looks,
And dost describe her in a lover's phrase.

MELAMPUS.
Dismiss thy fears. Not all the arms of beauty,
Not Juno's eye nor Cytherea's roses
Can touch my frozen heart.

ORONTES.
Then swear again.

MELAMPUS.
A second time?

ORONTES.
Yes, swear a second time.

MELAMPUS.
To hallow'd Themis I repeat my oath.

ORONTES.
That she I love—

MELAMPUS.
Be render'd to thy arms.
Within two hours expect her presence here.

ORONTES.
Then I forget my torments, and the spurns
Of this injurious goblin.

MELAMPUS.
From those torments
She hath assur'd thy freedom.

ORONTES.
In two hours
Will she admit Orontes?

MELAMPUS.
On this spot.
Art thou content?

ORONTES.
Thrice happy.

MELAMPUS.
Then reply,
Whence sprang thy hasty and unjust suspicion,
When thou requir'dst me to renew my oath?

ORONTES.
Forgive the ardour of impetuous love,
And the high passions in a royal breast.

MELAMPUS.
Thou dost miscall the gen'rous flame of love,
Nor feel'st the impulse of a noble passion.
It was that eager, genuine self-regard,
Which sits beside a throne, for ever doubting
The faithful hand of service, yet devouring
The good procur'd by others, and suppressing
The sense of obligation. Come, Orontes;
Away with this companion, not by nature,
But coz'ning habit foster'd in a mind
Deserving better inmates.

ORONTES.
Ah! again
I see the demon.

MELAMPUS.
He will soon forsake thee.
But that internal worst of fiends control,
Unfeeling pride: thus give thy virtues freedom.

SCENE XI.

Melampus and Madauces.
MADAUCES.
Where is thy jav'lin?

MELAMPUS.
Gone. Yet I secure.
Retire with me: my station is that bow'r.

MADAUCES.
How fares thy mind?

MELAMPUS.
Why, comforted, though dubious.
Pass to that arching bow'r: I there am station'd.
The story of my trials since we parted,
May show me still entitled to thy care;
And by the further guidance of thy knowledge,
Through tenfold perils more from guile or force,
I will attain to certainty at last.