 | Albion Restored, or Time turned Oculist |  |
5
SCENE I.
A rocky cliff with a view of the ocean. Albion discovered sitting in a melancholy posture. She rises.RECITATIVE.
ALBION.
How long shall I distrest with constant care,
Thus wonder, pensive, wretched and forlorn?
How long shall Gaul's proud sons my honours share,
And laugh my former glories into scorn?
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In arms ne'er tardy, nor to conquest slow;
Who chas'd injustice from her curs'd abode,
With deaf'ning thunder aw'd the trembling foe,
Bear witness now, oh see the fatal change!
Their laurels fade, their ancient spirits gone,
Whilst wild destruction takes her bloody range,
See me deserted, basely left alone!
Minerva descends.
RECITATIVE.
MINERVA.
Albion behold! Minerva now appears,
To sooth thy woes, and dry up all thy tears,
To point the way to happiness and peace,
Redress thy wrongs, and bid thy troubles cease.
ALBION.
Oh great Minerva! if thou canst restore
The ancient spirit of my sons once more,
Albion again her wretched head shall rear,
Again rejoice, and banish ev'ry fear.
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Almighty Jove will grant thy just desire,
Re-animate thy sons with martial fire!
But see the cause thy sons degen'rate prove,
The fatal source from whence thy sorrows move.
Enter Comus and his companions, and Bacchus attended by bacchanals.
AIR.
BACCHUS.
Comus kindly lead the way,
To joy and pleasure give the day:
The day's insipid robb'd of thee,
Thou soul of mirth and jollity.
Chorus of Bacchanals.
The day's insipid robb'd of thee, &c.
[Exeunt.
RECITATIVE.
MINERVA.
These are thy sons, and these their base desires,
Virtue is fled, extinguish'd all her fires!
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While thus to vice they give the willing rein.
ALBION.
Alas! I see, with grief and anger see,
My sons debas'd, and ripe for misery!
But thy fair promise sounds still in my ears,
MINERVA.
All-pitying Jove beholds thy flowing tears;
By his command I now point out to thee,
The only way to Peace and Victory:
By his command I now point out to thee,
The only way to Peace and Victory:
Long in a dull and dreary barren wild,
A Sage, by envy's fatal pow'r beguil'd,
Has been enchain'd, in her base fetters bound,
No friendly aid to raise him from the ground:
Jove has in him bestow'd superior skill,
He knows the fatal source of ev'ry ill;
He knows the way thy glory to regain,
And by his aid thou shalt be blest again.
A Sage, by envy's fatal pow'r beguil'd,
Has been enchain'd, in her base fetters bound,
No friendly aid to raise him from the ground:
Jove has in him bestow'd superior skill,
He knows the fatal source of ev'ry ill;
He knows the way thy glory to regain,
And by his aid thou shalt be blest again.
ALBION.
Oh! lead, with joy thy steps I will attend,
And to the Sage my best assistance lend:
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And guards his Albion with peculiar care.
[Exeunt.
| Albion Restored, or Time turned Oculist | |