 | The Captivity |  |
ACT III
Scene as beforeFIRST PRIEST
Recitative
Yes, my companions, Heaven's decrees are past,
And our fixed empire shall for ever last;
In vain the maddening prophet threatens woe,
In vain rebellion aims her secret blow;
Still shall our fame and growing power be spread,
And still our vengeance crush the guilty's head.
Air
And our fixed empire shall for ever last;
In vain the maddening prophet threatens woe,
In vain rebellion aims her secret blow;
Still shall our fame and growing power be spread,
And still our vengeance crush the guilty's head.
Coeval with man
Our empire began,
And never shall fall
Till ruin shakes all;
With the ruin of all
Shall Babylon fall.
Our empire began,
And never shall fall
Till ruin shakes all;
With the ruin of all
Shall Babylon fall.
SECOND PROPHET
Recitative
'Tis thus that pride triumphant rears the head:
A little while and all her power is fled.
But ha! what means yon sadly plaintive train,
That this way slowly bends along the plain?
And now, methinks, a pallid corse they bear
To yonder bank, and rest the body there.
Alas! too well mine eyes observant trace
The last remains of Judah's royal race:
Our monarch falls and now our fears are o'er:
The wretched Zedekiah is no more!
Air
A little while and all her power is fled.
But ha! what means yon sadly plaintive train,
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And now, methinks, a pallid corse they bear
To yonder bank, and rest the body there.
Alas! too well mine eyes observant trace
The last remains of Judah's royal race:
Our monarch falls and now our fears are o'er:
The wretched Zedekiah is no more!
Ye wretches who, by fortune's hate,
In want and sorrow groan,
Come ponder his severer fate,
And learn to bless your own.
In want and sorrow groan,
Come ponder his severer fate,
And learn to bless your own.
Ye sons, from fortune's lap supplied,
Awhile the bliss suspend;
Like yours his life began in pride,
Like his your lives may end.
Awhile the bliss suspend;
Like yours his life began in pride,
Like his your lives may end.
SECOND PROPHET
Behold his squalid corse with sorrow worn,
His wretched limbs with ponderous fetters torn;
Those eyeless orbs that shock with ghastly glare,
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And shall not Heaven for this its terrors show,
And deal its angry vengeance on the foe?
How long, how long, Almighty Lord of all,
Shall wrath vindictive threaten ere it fall?
ISRAELITISH WOMAN
Air
As panting flies the hunted hind,
Where brooks refreshing stray,
And rivers through the valley wind,
That stop the hunter's way:
Where brooks refreshing stray,
And rivers through the valley wind,
That stop the hunter's way:
Thus we, O Lord, alike distressed,
For streams of mercy long;
Those streams which cheer the sore oppressed,
And overwhelm the strong.
For streams of mercy long;
Those streams which cheer the sore oppressed,
And overwhelm the strong.
FIRST PROPHET
Recitative
But whence that shout? Good Heavens! amazement all!
See yonder tower just nodding to the fall:
See where an army covers all the ground,
Saps the strong wall and pours destruction round.
The ruin smokes, destruction pours along;
How low the great, how feeble are the strong!
The foe prevails, the lofty walls recline:
O God of hosts, the victory is thine!
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Down with her, Lord, to lick the dust;
Let vengeance be begun:
Serve her as she hath served the just,
And let thy will be done.
FIRST PRIEST
All, all is lost. The Syrian army fails;
Cyrus, the conqueror of the world, prevails.
Save us, O Lord! to thee, though late, we pray,
And give repentance but an hour's delay.
Air
Cyrus, the conqueror of the world, prevails.
Save us, O Lord! to thee, though late, we pray,
And give repentance but an hour's delay.
Thrice happy, who in happy hour
To Heaven their praise bestow,
And own his all-consuming power
Before they feel the blow!
To Heaven their praise bestow,
And own his all-consuming power
Before they feel the blow!
FIRST PROPHET
Recitative
Now, now's our time! ye wretches bold and blind,
Brave but to God and cowards to mankind,
Too late you seek that power unsought before,
Your wealth, your pride, your empire, are no more.
Air
Brave but to God and cowards to mankind,
Too late you seek that power unsought before,
Your wealth, your pride, your empire, are no more.
O Lucifer, thou son of morn,
Alike of Heaven and man the foe;
Heaven, men and all
Now press thy fall,
And sink thee lowest of the low.
Alike of Heaven and man the foe;
Heaven, men and all
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And sink thee lowest of the low.
SECOND PRIEST
O Babylon, how art thou fallen,
Thy fall more dreadful from delay!
Thy streets forlorn
To wilds shall turn,
Where toads shall pant and vultures prey.
FIRST PROPHET
Recitative
Such be her fate. But listen, from afar
The clarion's note proclaims the finished war!
Cyrus, our great restorer, is at hand,
And this way leads his formidable band.
Now, give your songs of Sion to the wind,
And hail the benefactor of mankind:
He comes pursuant to divine decree,
To chain the strong and set the captive free.
CHORUS OF YOUTHS
Rise to raptures past expressing,
Sweeter from remembered woes;
Cyrus comes, our wrongs redressing,
Comes to give the world repose.
CHORUS OF VIRGINS
Cyrus comes, the world redressing,
Love and pleasure in his train;
Comes to heighten every blessing,
Comes to soften every pain.
CHORUS OF YOUTHS AND VIRGINS
Hail to him with mercy reigning,
Skilled in every peaceful art,
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Only binds the willing heart.
LAST CHORUS
But chief to Thee, our God, our father, friend,
Let praise be given to all eternity;
O Thou, without beginning, without end,
Let us, and all, begin and end in Thee!
FINIS
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