University of Virginia Library

ACT II.

SCENE I.

The Scene the Country. Enter Shepherds and Shepherdesses, who dance, while another Shepherd addresses himself to a Shepherdess sitting by him on a Bank: after the Dance is over the Shepherd and Shepherdess sing: another Shepherd pipes while they dance and sing.
[The Shepherds and Shepherdesses go, when Philander and Dion appear.

SCENE II.

Philander and Dion.
Philander.
How happyer, Dion, are my Vassals here
Than is their Lord! They never felt the Pangs
Which the ambitious feel, when their proud Hopes
Are vanish'd like a morning Dream away;
They never, ne'er like me, unwisely left
Their Beds of Vi'lets, and their Shades of Lime,
For the vain Glory of the Camp or Court.
O! righteous Heav'n, you've heap'd Afflictions on me,
And I deserve them all: you gave this Wretch
A goodly Heritage, a Land of Plenty,
That pays the Lab'rer's Toil, who smiling comes,
And gives his first and fairest Fruits to me;
Yet I ingrateful left the Scene of Bliss
To range about the World and gather Woe.

Dion.
Cease your Complaints, and, as a brave Man shou'd,
Bear your Misfortunes with an equal Mind.
You know not what is in the Womb of Time
Reserv'd for you.

Philander.
Urania's lost to me;
And that's a Loss which Time cannot repair:
That is the poyson'd Arrow which adheres
Close to my Heart, and preys upon my Life.

Dion.
From this bright Eminence, where Nature smiles
Untainted by the Luxurys of Art,
Philander, cast thine Eyes on yonder Spires,
Which proudly rise to speak the Wealth of Cyprus,
Cast thine Eyes on them with Contempt and Pity:
Beneath those golden Roofs Ambition waits
To tempt the heedless Youth; there Falsehood lys,
And Envy there, with damn'd Ingratitude.
Here Nature with a lavish Hand adorns
The Scene with Objects to delight the Eye;
Here rising Hills, and here the flow'ry Vales,
And silver Brooks, invite to Meditation:
Here may the philosophic Soul indulge
Her Thirst for Knowledge undisturb'd by Noise;
And here, by reas'ning, may the love-sick Mind
Find out a Cure.

Philander.
Indeed you talk, my Friend,
Like one that never groan'd beneath the Pangs
Of disappointed Love. O! flatt'ring Hope!
I once had treasur'd all my Views of Joy
In my Urania; still I call her mine,
So ready speaks my Tongue the usual Words:
In her I center'd ev'ry Wish: I fram'd
In my fond Mind no Scheme of future Pleasure,
Propos'd no Comfort in my Days to come,
Without consulting what I thought wou'd please
My dear Urania most: she was the Soul
Of ev'ry Act, of ev'ry Wish; and when,
Invited by the Mistress of the Feast,
I was prepar'd to taste the luscious Banquet,
An unkind Hand repell'd me, flung me down
Upon Despair, and shatter'd all my Hopes.
Perhaps beneath the Roofs we now behold,
The Prince of Rhodes is rifling all the Sweets,
Which with a thousand thousand Sighs I sought,
Which with my Blood thro armed Bands I courted.

[A Woman sings near them, but is not seen by them.
To me in vain
The Suns arise,
And deck the Plain
With various Dys,
While my belov'd's away.

Philander.
This, Dion, is a wretched Maid, whose Case
Is not unlike my own. Whoe'er thou art,
Approach me, mournful fair one, and improve
This Scene of Lamentation, and Despair.

[She sings again.
[Woman]
Ye Minutes run,
Bring on the Hour,
That gives my Sun,
That has the Pow'r
To make the Midnight Day.

Philander.
Again, thou charming Minister of Sorrow!
This is a rich Repast for wretched Lovers.

[She sings again.
[Woman]
To me in vain
The Suns arise,
And deck the Plain
With various Dys,
While my belov'd's away.

Philander.
'Tis she, 'tis she, or a Delusion sent
To mock my Griefs, and to compleat my Ruin!

[He runs out, and Dion follows him.

SCENE III.

Urania and Thalia enter, both dressed like Shepherdesses, Urania singing as she goes forwards.
Which-way-e'er I turn my Eyes,
Lo! the gilded Prospects rise;
Flow'rs the Hills and Vales adorning,
Giving Fragrance to the Morning,
Music warbling from the Mountains,
And the sweetly murm'ring Fountains,
All delighting,
All inviting,
Here to feast the ravish'd Senses.

SCENE IV.

Philander and Dion enter.
Philander.
The Voice of my belov'd, but not the Form!

Urania.
But in vain the Prospects rise
To my sadly weeping Eyes,
Till Philander comes to chear me;
All is Bliss when he is near me;
He can make the warbling Mountains,
And the sweetly murm'ring Fountains,
All delighting,
All inviting;
He alone true Joy dispenses.

[Philander hastens to her, and embraces her; and while they are speaking Dion addresses himself to Thalia.
Philander.
Thou Wonder of thy Sex, Life of my Life,
Speak, answer me, for my Heart pants to know,
By what supprising Chance I see thee here?

Urania.
A Flood of Joy breaks in upon my Soul,
Too strong for me to bear. Thalia speak;
Inform thy Brother how I shun'd the Snare
Lay'd for my virgin Heart.

Philander.
My Sister too!
Welcome thou friendly Maid! O! quickly tell me
To what I owe that I am now redeem'd,
From all the Miserys of black Despair,
To Joys unspeakable?

Thalia.
Soon as the Priest
Began the nuptial Rites, Urania droop'd
Like a fair Flow'r beneath a Storm; the Blood
Forsak'd her Cheeks: Life seem'd a-while retir'd;
And all was suddenly one Face of Sadness.
No Care was wanted, and no Art untry'd,
To bring her to herself: to me the King
Committed her in Trust, and cry'd the Hand
That saves my Child from Death preserves my Age
From Woes incurable: before the Morn
Arose to glad the Swains, we fled from Court,
Attir'd as you behold.

Philander.
O! my Urania,
I gaze upon thee like a Wretch exil'd
From the fair Mansions of eternal Bliss,
Shut out from Day to blackest Scenes of Horror,
And in an unexpected Moment call'd
Again to revel in the Fields of Light:
A fairer Prospect meets his ravish'd Eyes
Than he before beheld; each Beauty seems
Doubly improv'd, and dazzles ev'ry Sense.

[Dion, holding the Hand of Thalia.
Amidst the Joys which now surround my Friend,
Dion with great Humility prefers
This one Request. Long has this heav'nly Maid,
Press'd by repeated Vows of Love from me,
Plighted her virgin Heart; my Friend's Consent
Alone is wanted to compleat our Joy.

Philander.
You ask no more than I rejoice to give.

Dion.
Bless'd be the Hour that to your Eyes restores
The Object of your Wishes, who alone
Can reconcile you to yourself, and make
Life worth preserving, bless'd the Voice that gave
A Sanction to my Love. Thalia, now
The Glory of the Camp, and Pomp of Courts,
Cease to allure me; all my future Pride
Shall be to wear out Life in pleasing thee.

Thalia.
And all my Days to come shall be employ'd
In striving, Dion, to deserve thy Love.

Philander.
Still, my divine Urania, I've my Fears;
Methinks I now behold the aged King
Extravagant in Grief; and soon perhaps
Thou may'st again be torn from thy Philander.
So often, Dion, I have try'd thy Friendship,
That I despair not of thy kind Assistance
In what I ask of thee. While I remain
In this Retirement with thy lov'd Thalia,
And with the Fair whose Presence gives me Life,
Return to Court, and there awhile reside,
That your Intelligence from thence may aid us.

Dion.
I go, and may th' Event not cross our Wishes.

[Dion goes.

SCENE V.

Philander.
My lov'd Urania, ever constant Fair,
Whose Presence wou'd adorn the Desart wild,
Since you have grac'd these Plains, and bless'd my Eyes
With thy dear Form, the Lilly fairer blooms,
The Rose now blushes with a lovelyer Red,
And a more chearful Verdure glads the Sight;
The gentle Gales with richer Odours fly
To feast the Scent; from ev'ry Hill and Vale,
From ev'ry Grove, a sweeter Melody
Dys on the ravish'd Ear: the Soul, before
Employ'd in grieving for an absent Love,
Senseless to all that courted her to Pleasure,
Exults, and grows luxurious in Delight.

Urania.
Now mutual is our Joy: e'en Paradise,
Where all Things fairer bloom, as Sages say,
Without Philander, cou'd afford no Bliss.

Philander.
Was I, Urania, doom'd from thee to stay,
Tho in Elysium's fairest, sweetest, Bow'rs,
Each Hour to me wou'd seem a tedious Day;
And with thee Ages I shou'd count but Hours.