 | The Captivity |  |
ACT II
Scene as beforeCHORUS OF ISRAELITES
O Peace of mind, thou lovely guest,
613
Dispense thy balmy store.
Wing all our thoughts to reach the skies,
Till earth, diminished to our eyes,
Shall vanish as we soar.
FIRST PRIEST
Recitative
No more. Too long has justice been delayed,
The king's commands must fully be obeyed;
Compliance with his will your peace secures,
Praise but our gods and every good is yours.
But if, rebellious to his high command,
You spurn the favours offered from his hand,
Think, timely think, what ills remain behind;
Reflect, nor tempt to rage the royal mind.
SECOND PRIEST
Air
Fierce is the whirlwind howling
O'er Afric's sandy plain,
And fierce the tempest rolling
Along the furrowed main:
O'er Afric's sandy plain,
And fierce the tempest rolling
Along the furrowed main:
But storms that fly
To rend the sky,
Every ill presaging,
Less dreadful show
To worlds below
Than angry monarchs raging.
To rend the sky,
Every ill presaging,
Less dreadful show
To worlds below
Than angry monarchs raging.
ISRAELITISH WOMAN
Recitative
Ah, me! what angry terrors round us grow;
How shrinks my soul to meet the threatened blow!
Ye prophets, skilled in Heaven's eternal truth,
Forgive my sex's fears, forgive my youth!
If, shrinking thus, when frowning power appears,
I wish for life and yield me to my fears.
Let us one hour, one little hour obey;
Tomorrow's tears may wash our stains away.
Air
How shrinks my soul to meet the threatened blow!
Ye prophets, skilled in Heaven's eternal truth,
614
If, shrinking thus, when frowning power appears,
I wish for life and yield me to my fears.
Let us one hour, one little hour obey;
Tomorrow's tears may wash our stains away.
To the last moment of his breath
On hope the wretch relies;
And even the pang preceding death
Bids expectation rise.
On hope the wretch relies;
And even the pang preceding death
Bids expectation rise.
Hope, like the gleaming taper's light,
Adorns and cheers our way;
And still, as darker grows the night,
Emits a brighter ray.
Adorns and cheers our way;
And still, as darker grows the night,
Emits a brighter ray.
SECOND PRIEST
Recitative
Why this delay? at length for joy prepare;
I read your looks and see compliance there.
Come raise the strain and grasp the full-toned lyre:
The time, the theme, the place and all conspire.
615
Air
See the ruddy morning smiling,
Hear the grove to bliss beguiling;
Zephyrs through the valley playing,
Streams along the meadow straying.
FIRST PRIEST
While these a constant revel keep,
Shall reason only bid me weep?
Hence, intruder! we'll pursue
Nature, a better guide than you.
SECOND PRIEST
Air
Every moment, as it flows,
Some peculiar pleasure owes;
Then let us, providently wise,
Seize the debtor as it flies.
Some peculiar pleasure owes;
Then let us, providently wise,
Seize the debtor as it flies.
Think not tomorrow can repay
The pleasures that we lose today;
Tomorrow's most unbounded store
Can but pay its proper score.
The pleasures that we lose today;
Tomorrow's most unbounded store
Can but pay its proper score.
FIRST PRIEST
Recitative
But hush! see, foremost of the captive choir,
The master-prophet grasps his full-toned lyre.
Mark where he sits, with executing art,
616
See, inspiration fills his rising form,
Awful as clouds that nurse the growing storm;
And now his voice, accordant to the string,
Prepares our monarch's victories to sing.
FIRST PROPHET
Air
From north, from south, from east, from west,
Conspiring foes shall come;
Tremble, thou vice-polluted breast;
Blasphemers, all be dumb.
Conspiring foes shall come;
Tremble, thou vice-polluted breast;
Blasphemers, all be dumb.
The tempest gathers all around,
On Babylon it lies;
Down with her! down, down to the ground;
She sinks, she groans, she dies.
On Babylon it lies;
Down with her! down, down to the ground;
She sinks, she groans, she dies.
SECOND PROPHET
Down with her, Lord, to lick the dust,
Ere yonder setting sun;
Serve her as she hath served the just.
'Tis fixed-it shall be done.
FIRST PRIEST
Recitative
Enough! when slaves thus insolent presume,
The king himself shall judge and fix their doom.
Short-sighted wretches, have not you, and all,
Beheld our power in Zedekiah's fall?
To yonder gloomy dungeon turn your eyes;
See where dethroned your captive monarch lies.
Deprived of sight and rankling in his chain,
He calls on death to terminate his pain.
Yet know, ye slaves, that still remain behind
More ponderous chains and dungeons more confined.
617
Arise, all-potent Ruler, rise,
And vindicate the people's cause;
Till every tongue in every land
Shall offer up unfeigned applause.
End of the Second Act
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