 | Henry and Emma |  |
1
SCENE.
A moon light view of an extensive forest.Eugenius
entering alone.
—Night silent reigns: the world in sleep is laid,
Save Henry, tortur'd for his Nut Brown Maid.
He, wretched slave to love's corroding fears,
Greets solemn midnight with his manly tears;
And clad in false attire, with borrow'd name
Now meets the lovely object of his flame.
Save Henry, tortur'd for his Nut Brown Maid.
He, wretched slave to love's corroding fears,
Greets solemn midnight with his manly tears;
And clad in false attire, with borrow'd name
Now meets the lovely object of his flame.
2
From prattling infancy I train'd his mind
To honor's call, and virtues most refin'd.
Now soft repose his troubled breast forsakes,
Of every pang my sympathy partakes.
Tho' full of years I watch his sorrowing way,
And strive to guide him by calm reason's ray.
To honor's call, and virtues most refin'd.
Now soft repose his troubled breast forsakes,
Of every pang my sympathy partakes.
Tho' full of years I watch his sorrowing way,
And strive to guide him by calm reason's ray.
Led by the moon's pale lamp, thro' yonder glade
The anxious lovers seek this beachen shade;
Their converse trying to fair Emma's heart:
A fiction plann'd by Love's, and Henry's art.
The anxious lovers seek this beachen shade;
Their converse trying to fair Emma's heart:
A fiction plann'd by Love's, and Henry's art.
With wishes rais'd, with jealousies opprest,
(Alternate tyrants of the human breast)
By one great trial he resolves to prove
The faith of woman, and the force of love,
If scanning Emma's virtues, he shall find,
That beauteous frame enclose a steady mind,
He'll fix his hope, of future joy secure,
And live a slave to Hymen's happy pow'r.
But if the fair one, as he fears is frail,
Light fly her merits, and her faults prevail,
His mind he vows to free from am'rous care,
Resume his arms, and shine again in war.
(Alternate tyrants of the human breast)
By one great trial he resolves to prove
The faith of woman, and the force of love,
If scanning Emma's virtues, he shall find,
That beauteous frame enclose a steady mind,
He'll fix his hope, of future joy secure,
And live a slave to Hymen's happy pow'r.
But if the fair one, as he fears is frail,
Light fly her merits, and her faults prevail,
His mind he vows to free from am'rous care,
Resume his arms, and shine again in war.
But soft—their mournful accents speak them nigh:
In spight of fond affection, I must fly.
May no curs'd dæmon o'er their mind prevail,
But every thought, be weigh'd in virtue's scale!
In spight of fond affection, I must fly.
May no curs'd dæmon o'er their mind prevail,
But every thought, be weigh'd in virtue's scale!
[Exit.
3
Henry.
Sincere, O tell me, hast thou felt a pain,
Emma, beyond what woman knows to feign?
Has thy uncertain bosom ever strove
With the first tumults of a real love?
If so, with pity view my wretched state;
At least deplore, and then forget my fate:
To some more happy knight reserve thy charms,
By fortune favour'd, and successful arms:
For lo! these hands in murther are imbru'd;
These trembling feet by justice are pursu'd:
And I this night must fly from thee and love,
Condemn'd in lonely woods a banish'd man to rove.
Emma.
What is true passion, if unblest it dies?
And where is Emma's joy, if Henry flies?
If love, alas! be pain, the pain I bear,
No thought can figure, and no tongue declare.
Oh cease then coldly to suspect my love;
And let my deed at least my faith approve.
Alas! no youth shall my endearments share;
Nor day, nor night shall interrupt my care:
Nor to hard banishment shall Henry run;
While careless Emma sleeps on beds of down.
4
Friend to thy pain and partner of thy woe;
Blest when my dangers and my toils have shewn,
That I of all mankind, could love but thee alone.
Henry.
Let prudence yet obstruct thy vent'rous way;
And take good heed, what men will think, and say:
That full of youthful blood, and fond of man,
You to the woodland with an exile ran.
Reflect, that lessen'd fame is ne'er regain'd;
And virgin honour once, is always stain'd.
Timely advis'd, the coming evil shun;
Better not do the deed, than weep it done.
No penance can absolve our guilty fame;
Nor tears, that wash out sin, can wash out shame.
Emma.
Let Emma's hapless case be falsely told
By the rash young, or the ill-natur'd old:
Let ev'ry tongue its various censure chuse,
Absolve with coldness, or with spight accuse.
Fair truth at last her radiant beams will raise;
And malice vanquish'd heighten virtue's praise.
Let then thy favour but indulge my flight;
O let my presence make thy travels light.
5
But canst thou wield the sword, and bend the bow?
With active force repel the sturdy foe?
When the loud tumult speaks the battle nigh;
And winged deaths in whistling arrows fly;
Wilt thou, tho' wounded, yet undaunted stay;
Perform thy part and share the dang'rous day?
Emma.
Near thee, mistrust not, constant I'll abide,
And share each danger fearless by thy side.
Tho' my inferior strength may not allow,
That I should bear, or draw the warrior bow,
With ready hand I will the shaft supply;
And joy to see thy victor arrows fly:
Touch'd in the battle by the hostile reed,
Should'st thou (but heav'n avert it!) should'st thou bleed;
To stop the wounds my finest lawn I'd tear;
Wash them with tears, and wipe them with my hair.
Henry.
But canst thou tender maid, canst thou sustain
Afflictive want, or hunger's pressing pain?
When with hard toil we seek our ev'ning food,
Berries and acorns, from the neighb'ring wood;
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But the thin covert of some gather'd boughs;
Wilt thou not then reluctant send thine eye
Around the dreary waste, and weeping try,
(Tho' then, alas! that trial be too late)
To find thy father's hospitable gate,
That gate, whence long excluded thou must mourn;
That gate, for ever barr'd to thy return?
Emma.
Did I but purpose to embark with thee,
On the smooth surface of a summer's sea,
While gentle Zephyrs play in prosp'rous gales,
And fortune's favour fills the swelling sails;
But would forsake the ship, and make the shoar,
When the winds whistle, and the tempests roar?
No, Henry, no: One sacred oath has ty'd
Our loves; one destiny our life shall guide.
Henry.
But e're thou goest, unhappy'st of thy kind,
Thy sex and habit thou must leave behind:
No longer shall thy comely tresses break
In flowing ringlets on thy snowy neck;
But with a bolder stride, and looser air,
Mingl'd with men, a man thou must appear.
Vagrants and out-laws shall offend thy view;
(For such must be my friends) a hideous crew!
With such must Emma hunt the tedious day;
Assist their violence, divide their prey:
With such she must return at setting light;
Tho' not partaker, witness of their night.
Thy sex and habit thou must leave behind:
No longer shall thy comely tresses break
In flowing ringlets on thy snowy neck;
But with a bolder stride, and looser air,
Mingl'd with men, a man thou must appear.
Vagrants and out-laws shall offend thy view;
(For such must be my friends) a hideous crew!
7
Assist their violence, divide their prey:
With such she must return at setting light;
Tho' not partaker, witness of their night.
Now, Emma, now the last reflection make,
What thou would'st follow, what thou must forsake:
What thou would'st follow, what thou must forsake:
Emma.
O Grief of heart; that our unhappy fates
Force thee to suffer, what thy honour hates:
Mix thee amongst the bad; or make thee run
Too near the paths, which virtue bids thee shun:
Yet with her Henry still let Emma go;
With him abhor the vice, but share the woe:
And sure my little heart can never err,
Amidst the worst, if Henry still be there.
Henry.
O wildest thought of an abandon'd mind!
Name, habit, parents, woman left behind;
Ev'n honour dubious, thou preferr'st to go
Wild to the woods with me; said Emma so?
Or did I dream what Emma never said?
O guilty error! and oh wretched maid!
8
With him, who next should tempt her easy fame.
Emma.
Are there not poisons, racks, and flames, and swords;
That Emma thus must die by Henry's words?
Yet what could swords, or poison, racks or flame
But mangle, and disjoint this brittle frame?
More fatal Henry's words; they murder Emma's fame.
Did e'er my tongue speak my unguarded heart
The least inclin'd to play the wanton's part?
Did e'er my eye one inward thought reveal,
Which angels might not hear, and virgins tell?
And hast thou, Henry, in my conduct known
One fault, but that which I must ever own
That I, of all mankind have lov'd but thee alone?
Henry.
Vainly thou talk'st of loving me alone;
Each man is man, and all the sex is one.
Nor in love's ritual can we ever find
Vows made to last, or promises to bind.
Be wise, and false; shun trouble, seek delight;
Change thou the first; nor wait: thy lovers flight.
Each man is man, and all the sex is one.
Nor in love's ritual can we ever find
Vows made to last, or promises to bind.
9
Change thou the first; nor wait: thy lovers flight.
Why shouldst thou weep? let Nature judge our case:
I saw thee young, and fair: pursu'd the chase
Of youth, and beauty; I another saw
Fairer, and younger; yielding to the law
Of our all-ruling mother, I pursu'd
More youth, more beauty: blest vicissitude!
I saw thee young, and fair: pursu'd the chase
Of youth, and beauty; I another saw
Fairer, and younger; yielding to the law
Of our all-ruling mother, I pursu'd
More youth, more beauty: blest vicissitude!
This younger, fairer, pleads her rightful charms,
With present power compels me to her arms.
And years may roll e'er, in her turn, the maid
Shall weep the ardor of my love decay'd:
With present power compels me to her arms.
And years may roll e'er, in her turn, the maid
Shall weep the ardor of my love decay'd:
Emma.
Are we in life thro' one great error led?
Is each man perjur'd, and each nymph betray'd?
Of the superior sex art thou the worst?
Am I of mine the most compleatly curst?
Yet let me go with thee, and going prove,
From what I will endure, how much I love.
Is each man perjur'd, and each nymph betray'd?
Of the superior sex art thou the worst?
Am I of mine the most compleatly curst?
Yet let me go with thee, and going prove,
From what I will endure, how much I love.
This potent beauty, ths triumphant fair,
This happy object of our diff'rent care,
Her let me follow; her let me attend,
A servant: (She may scorn the name of friend)
This happy object of our diff'rent care,
10
A servant: (She may scorn the name of friend)
Yet when encreasing grief brings slow disease;
And ebbing life, on terms severe as these
Will have its little lamp no longer fed;
When Henry's mistress shows him Emma dead,
Rescue my poor remains from vile neglect,
With virgin honours let my herse be deck'd;
Oh let my Henry then at least persuade
This happy nymph, that Emma may be laid,
Where thou, dear author of my death, where she,
With frequent eye my sepulchre may see.
See the sad fate which she may one day prove,
Who hopes from Henry's vows eternal love.
And ebbing life, on terms severe as these
Will have its little lamp no longer fed;
When Henry's mistress shows him Emma dead,
Rescue my poor remains from vile neglect,
With virgin honours let my herse be deck'd;
Oh let my Henry then at least persuade
This happy nymph, that Emma may be laid,
Where thou, dear author of my death, where she,
With frequent eye my sepulchre may see.
See the sad fate which she may one day prove,
Who hopes from Henry's vows eternal love.
Henry.
Hear, solmn Jove! and conscious Venus hear!
And thou, bright maid, believe me, whilst I swear;
No time, no change, no future flame shall move
The well-plac'd basis of my lasting love:
O powerful virtue! O victorious fair!
At least excuse a trial too severe;
No banish'd man condemn'd in woods to rove
Intreats thy pardon, and implores thy love:
In me behold the potent Edgar's heir
Belov'd in peace, and terrible in war:
Crown of my love, and honour of my youth,
Henry, thy Henry with eternal truth,
As thou may'st wish, shall all his life employ,
And sound his glory in his Emma's joy.
And thou, bright maid, believe me, whilst I swear;
No time, no change, no future flame shall move
The well-plac'd basis of my lasting love:
O powerful virtue! O victorious fair!
At least excuse a trial too severe;
11
Intreats thy pardon, and implores thy love:
In me behold the potent Edgar's heir
Belov'd in peace, and terrible in war:
Crown of my love, and honour of my youth,
Henry, thy Henry with eternal truth,
As thou may'st wish, shall all his life employ,
And sound his glory in his Emma's joy.
Music and song shall wake the marriage-day;
And while the priests accuse the brides delay;
Myrtles and roses shall obstruct her way.
And while the priests accuse the brides delay;
Myrtles and roses shall obstruct her way.
Hence then for ever from my Emma's breast
(That heav'n of softness, and that seat of rest)
Ye doubts and fears, and all that know to move
Tormenting grief, and all that trouble love!
(That heav'n of softness, and that seat of rest)
Ye doubts and fears, and all that know to move
Tormenting grief, and all that trouble love!
Emma.
O Day the fairest sure that ever rose!
Period and end of anxious Emma's woes;
Sire of her joy, and source of her delight;
Now wing'd with pleasure take thy happy flight;
Yet tell thy vot'ry, potent queen of love,
Henry, my Henry, will he never rove?
12
And is there yet no mistress in the wood?
None, none there is: the thought was rash and vain;
A false idea, and a fancy'd pain.
Doubt shall for ever quit my strengthen'd heart,
And anxious jealousie's corroding smart;
Nor other inmate shall inhabit there,
But foft belief, young joy, and pleasing care!
But hark!—
Henry.
What sounds harmonious strike the ravish 'dear!
13
Recitative, Accompanied.
Venus.
[Henry and Emma kneeling.]
Descending from my sacred Paphian bow'r
Far hence I've chac'd suspicion and her train.
Hail happy pair! extatic bliss pursue,
And reap the harvest of your well try'd love.
AIR. Miss Brown.
To Henry.
Now thy trophies grac'd with beauty,
Henry's valor is repaid,
Love, and honor be thy duty,
Guardian of the Nut brown Maid.
To Emma.
Henry's valor is repaid,
Love, and honor be thy duty,
Guardian of the Nut brown Maid.
Tho' our slaves when most obeying
Are but captives of the mind,
Emma, beauty's sceptre swaying,
Will a constant empire find.
Are but captives of the mind,
Emma, beauty's sceptre swaying,
Will a constant empire find.
14
To Both.
Love's bondage shall charm ye,
No tumults alarm ye,
If anxious you fan the dear fire;
The flame once neglected,
Its rays back reflected,
By Time's icy fingers expire.
Chorus.
Hark the spheres with rapture swelling,
Ratify their vows above!
Fame with ready trumpet telling,
Henry's honor!—Emma's love!
| Henry and Emma | |