Presumptuous Love :: :: University of Virginia Library

ACT II.

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ACT II.

SCENE, The same: A Symphony of soft Musick, while Jupiter descends on an Eagle.
Momus and Mercury enter severally.
Jupiter.

Behold this Arrogance of Mortal Race,
That dares eternal Fate,

Ixion braves me to my Face,
And laughs at all my Hate:
No Pow'r shall save th'aspiring Wight:
Hither, ye Cyclops, hither bring
Bolts of Thunder to your King,
I will punish this Ambitious Thing.
The gnawing Vulture, Sisyphæan Stone,
And all the Pains that make the damn'd to Groan,
Shall to his Torment seem,
Soothing Ease and soft Delight.

Momus.
‘You long have enjoy'd
‘That load of your Life,
‘Sure now you are Cloy'd
‘Of a Scold for your Wife.

‘'Tis true you have got,
‘One limping poor Sot,
‘'Twixt you both, for a Son,
‘And a dainty fine Baggage your Daughter;
‘Now what wou'd it matter,
‘Shou'd your Spouse make Ixion's Mouth water:
‘Come, come, never mind,
‘Let her once to a Mortal be kind:
‘Her hated Embraces by that means you'll remove,
‘And then you may ramble, and as you please, love.

Jupiter.
Cease Momus, and have done,
Thou Carping God, be gone:
[Exit Momus.
‘Must Jove to a Mortal
‘His Pleasures resign,
‘And Man be as happy
‘In Love as in Wine?
‘Then to Reign as a God is no more
‘Then a meer empty Title of Pow'r:
Hear me, Hermes, Son of Jove,
Watch Ixion's dang'rous Love:

And when the proud Monarch wou'd Storm,
Observe thou subtile God,
That for Juno, he an Airy Form,
Compress, or fleeting Cloud.
[Exit Jupiter.]

Enter Ixion. A Symphony of Flutes.
Merc,
‘Hail, Ixion, happy Prince,
‘Under Hermes' Influence;
‘All Success and Bliss attend you,
‘Love and Juno both befriend you.
‘If you'd have the Blessing lasting,
‘Never ceasing, never wasting,
‘To yon private Bow'r repair,
‘And in Secret keep th'Affair.

The Form of Juno passes the Stage in a flying Chariot, drawn by Peacocks, and appears as behind a Cloud.
Ixion.

Oh ravishing Delight! transporting Bliss!
Hence, boding Thoughts, be gone,
Of the Tormenting Wheel,
Or Sisyphæan Stone,
Such real Joys I feel,
As makes this everlasting Happiness.

The Scene opens and discovers the Grove; wherein is fix'd the Wheel: The Form of Juno vanishes away, and Lightning succeeds Thunder.

What shiv'ring Darts strike thro' my freezing Blood!
I now too late perceive the jealous God
Has baffled my aspiring Love.
Rouze, rouze, Ixion, brave the Wheel and Jove.

Enter Jupiter and Momus.
Jupiter.
Behold, thou daring King, thy wretched Fate!
Just, tho' severe, is thy Decree,
This never-ending Misery;
And tho' you wou'd Repent, 'tis now too late.

Ixion.

‘Repent, thou proud God
‘Of what thou hast done,
‘To injure the Father,
‘And rake with the Son.

‘What for Læda thou wast made,
‘What fair Mortals thou Betray'd;
‘To Pleasure still thy base Amour,

‘And t'enjoy the present Hour;
‘Change thy Godship for a Whore.
Know then, cruel God, since my Sentence is past,
And I'm doom'd in this Torment for ever to last;
Since Freedom's given to my Will,
Jove in Thought's a Cuckold still.

Jupiter.

This Insolence afresh what God can bear,
Seize him, ye Spirits, drag him to despair,
And let him now my Mighty Vengeance share.

The Infernal Spirits rise, seize Ixion, and fix him to the Wheel.

‘All that Beauty's Flame adore,
‘Now shall feel my Godlike Pow'r;
‘Be enslav'd with ev'ry Fair,
‘Celia's Wit, and Cloe's Air.

‘They shall Laugh, Sing and Play,
‘And still have something to say;
‘To discover their Wit or their Folly,
‘But when the Nymph's gone,
‘For which all this is done;
‘Return to their old Melancholy.

Here Ixion being fix'd to the Wheel, all the Infernal Spirits descend, while the Chorus is Singing.
Chorus.
Thus Mortals false Delights pursuing,
Meet with real Ills from Fate:
All Men are their own Undoing;
Or procure their happy State.

FINIS.