University of Virginia Library

1. PART I.

SCENE I.

The Land of Goshen; an Israelitish Man and Woman.
RECITATIVE.
Man.

Woman.

AIR, by the Man and Woman alternately.
Woman.

Man.

Woman.

RECITATIVE.
Man.
These Plagues are past, and now, tremendous Sight!
Where late the golden Spires of haughty Memphis
With dazzling Brightness sparkled to the Eye,
Darkness alone is visible; there seems
A Wall of Darkness rais'd from Earth to Heav'n!—
It looks like Nature's Limits, and beyond
Th'affrighted Fancy, feigns the waste Dominions
Of Chaos and of Night.

Woman.
Now let us fly;
What now forbids, that, careless of his Will
Whom Darkness binds, and Hunger must destroy,
We quit for ever this detested Land,
And seek the promis'd Heritage of Heav'n?

Man.
What can forbid! and lo! in happy Hour
The hoary Elders of our Tribes approach.

AIR by the Man.
Freedom's Charms alike engage,
Blooming Youth, and hoary Age;
Time itself can ne'er destroy
Freedom's pure and lasting Joy:
Love and Friendship never gave
Half their Blessings to the Slave;
None are happy but the Free,
Bliss is born of Liberty.

Enter the Elders of Israel.
RECITATIVE.
Man.
O! Fathers! wherefore should these golden Hours
Serve but like common Time to measure Life?
Why not improved to bless that Life with Freedom?

1st Elder.
Taught from above the Prophet is our Guide;
Him let us follow, patient and resign'd:
So shall the Simple, and the Weak, be found
Strong in his Strength, and in his Wisdom wise.

2d Elder.
Behold he comes: with Joy and Rev'rence greet
The Friend of Israel, and the Sent of Heav'n.

CHORUS.
Hail! belov'd of Man and God!
Born to sway the mystic Rod!
Born proud Tyrants to abase,
Still befriend thy kindred Race!
Glorious, where thy Life began,
Hail! belov'd of God and Man!
Moses.
Cease, or the Strains from Gratitude that flow
Direct to Heav'n, and give Jehovah Praise.

1st Elder.
For thee we praise him; in his chosen Hour,
And sure that Hour is come, we follow thee;
Wilt thou not lead us forth while now the Tyrant,
Involv'd in Darkness, knows not what we do?

Moses.
Not yet; this Hour the dreadful Glooms disperse,
And Light returns to Pharaoh.

Woman.
Ah! not so—
Revenge will then make Tyranny more dreadful;
Waste not the Lives one Day's Delay may cost,
Nor add one Day to Bondage worse than Death!
Though Time has crown'd thy hoary Brow with Wisdom,
Still let thy Pity feel for Youth and Beauty!

AIR.
RECITATIVE.
Man.
Think of our Youth who waste their early Strength
In sordid Labours, and scarce reach to Manhood:

Woman.
Think of the Babe whose Tears in vain require
The Hand that, driv'n to other Toils, fulfils
A Mother's Duty with Delight no more:

1st Elder.
Think of the hoary Heads that bow beneath
Opprobrious Burdens; think of wasted Egypt,
Her suff'ring Children, cruel by Compulsion,
Like us the Victims of a Tyrant's Crimes.

Moses.
What mean your Words? what would ye that I do?

2d Elder.
Prolong this Darkness till our Tribes escape.

Moses.
Forbear—Alas! ye know not what ye ask!
The stubborn Will of Egypt's haughty Prince
Must stand subdu'd, and his own Word dismiss ye:
This Land of Bondage shall ye quit with Glory,
And pass in Triumph by the Gates of Memphis.
I go to prove him; trust in Heav'n, and live.

CHORUS.

SCENE II.

The Palace at Memphis, during the Darkness. Pharaoh, Sephres, and Attendants.
RECITATIVE.
Pharaoh.
If there be any near me let him speak;

Sephres.
May Pharaoh live for ever!

Pharaoh.
O, my Son!
Ill suits such greeting with this dreadful Gloom;
This Gloom, impervious to the Noon-tide Beam,
If the blest Sun still rises on the World—
Speak yet again, that I may hear thy Voice,
And Darkness may be Solitude no more.

Sephres.
I speak, but yet my Voice almost affrights me,
Three Times the circling Hours have brought the Morn
To other Realms, if other Realms there are
Which yet the Morn revisits, since these Eyes
Were blest with chearful Light; nor yet has Sound
Divided once the long, deep, death-like Silence.

AIR, by Pharaoh.
O Darkness! dreaded not in vain,
My Sould admits thy awful Train;
With me thy kindred Terrors dwell,
And Joy, and Peace, and Hope expel.

AIR, by Sephres.
O chearing Light! of Life and Joy
Fair Emblem! wilt thou ne'er return!
No more thy golden Shafts employ!
No more with genial Radiance burn!

RECITATIVE.
Pharaoh.
This Darkness is to Death.—Great Nature dies,
And we but perish with her—Hark!
[A Symphony, a confused Expression of Joy, as of Shouts at a Distance.
Again—

Sephres.
It seem'd a distant Shout—behold the Cause!
Transporting Sight! a dim, but bright'ning Ray
Shoots Eastward hence, and struggles through the Gloom.

Pharaoh.
It does! increasing and prevailing still!

Sephres.
A wild tumultuous Joy throbs at my Heart,
From Terror scarce distinguish'd; still I tremble.

Pharaoh.
I am again myself, and scorn the Fears,
The vain fantastic Fears, that Darkness breeds;
Let the loud Trumpets sound, that if the Sun
Still combats with a Foe not yet subdu'd,
The Sound may lend him Aid, and let your Song
Conjure the Pow'rs of Darkness from the Sky.

SONG and CHORUS.
Hence! ye Pow'rs of Death and Night!
Hence! the Living claim the Light!
By your dreary Realm that lies
Stretch'd beneath infernal Skies,
By the Ghosts that own your Sway,
Ghosts that hate the chearful Day,
Hence! ye Pow'rs of Death and Night!
Hence! the Living claim the Light.

Enter Moses.
RECITATIVE.
Pharaoh.
Enter not here, thou Enemy of Man.

Moses.
Here I must enter, for again commission'd
By him whose Hand has been so oft upon thee,
I come to claim an injur'd Nation's Freedom.

Pharaoh.
Darest thou again, with that ill-omen'd Voice,
Urge thy Demand, and tempt again my Mercy!

Moses.
What shou'd I fear from thee! I trust in God.
Sever these Limbs in Fragments small as Dust,
And give them scatter'd to the Winds of Heav'n,
If he commands, united in a Moment,
Again, as now, they shall appear before thee,
To work his Pleasure, and denounce his Vengeance.

Enter Menytis.
Menytis.
O Friend! O Brother! wherefore are ye thus?
Change these fierce Looks of Anger and Defiance
For such as heretofore ye took and gave—
Remember, Pharaoh, he who stands before thee
Our Father's Sister cherish'd as her child;
Remember, Moses, what thou wast to Pharaoh,
His Friend, the favour'd Brother of his Choice—

AIR, by Menytis.

Pharaoh.
In vain you urge me, outrag'd and defy'd—
Henceforth the Wretch shall see my Face no more.

Moses.
Well hast thou said; this Object of thy Scorn
Henceforth indeed shall see thy Face no more.

DUET.
Pharaoh and Moses.
Phar.
Fly, and see my Face no more;

Moses.
I will see thy Face no more:

Phar.
Dread my Rage.

Moses.
Thy Rage I scorn,
Dread thyself the rising Morn:

Phar.
Vain thy Menace—hence! away—

Moses.
Tyrant, I disdain to stay.

CHORUS.
Hence! and try thy Arts again,
Vain the past, the future vain;
Pharaoh shall thy Pow'r defy,
And with Glory live, or die.