 | Telemachus ; or, The Island of Calypso |  |
Scene Second.
—A view in the Island.Enter Mercury, meeting Eucharis and Leucothoe.
Euch.
Law, Mr. Mercury, how do you do?
Mer.
Ladies, I kiss your hands and your lips too.
(salutes them)
Leuco.
It's quite an age since we have met together.
Euch.
Pray tell us, shan't we have a change of weather?
Men say when Mercury comes down so low,
It's a sure sign that it will rain or snow,
And when they see you rapidly ascending
They count upon the weather shortly mending.
Mer.
They are quite right, although in these gay bowers
I never even fall so low as “showers;”
My errand here, in fact, is to inform ye,
That out at sea I have been down to “stormy.”
But though it should rain cats and dogs elsewhere,
The glass you look in always points to “fair.”
Euch.
Oh, Mr. Hermes, you have such a knack
Of saying civil things—
Mer.
As I come back
I'll call and say some more; but where's the Queen?
Is she up yet, and willing to be seen?
Leuco.
Up? I believe you. As we passed her grot
She bolted out, and passed us like a shot;
183
From whence she last beheld the Grecian skiff
That bore Ulysses from this charmed Isle.
Mer.
Is it far off, pray?
Euch.
About half a mile.
Mer.
I bear despatches from the king o' the sky,
Say, will you take them to her or shall I?
Leuco.
We take 'em! If a word we dared to speak
She'd knock us into the middle of next week.
Air—Leucothoe—“Lieber Augustine.”
She'd knock us into the middle of next week.
With safety, so near her,
We can't shew our faces;
We've good cause to fear her,
When she's in her frowns.
An absolute Queen—she'd abolish our places,
Or else with her sceptre demolish our crowns.
We can't shew our faces;
We've good cause to fear her,
When she's in her frowns.
An absolute Queen—she'd abolish our places,
Or else with her sceptre demolish our crowns.
Air—Eucharis—“L'Amour.”
Anacreon Moore, with his numbers so charming,
Would fail to appease her when once she's enraged;
You'd better return, sir,—your duty's alarming,—
And say you have called here, and found her engaged.
Air—Mercury—“Merrily, oh.”
Mercury's spirit sometimes rises,
Mercury O! Mercury O!
Until it all the world surprises,
Mercury O! Mercury O!
In heat I mount up without fear, O,
In cold I plunge right down to zero;
Mercury's wings defy capsizes,
So here I go! So here I go!
(first in solos and then together, the airs harmonising)
(Exeunt)
| Telemachus ; or, The Island of Calypso | |