University of Virginia Library

SCENE II.

(without the Camp.)
Enter Silvia, disguised as an Etrurian officer.
SILVIA.
What mingled sweets and sorrows wait on love:
The wounded heart, like one that crops a rose,
Forgets the thorn while gazing on the flower,
And, pleas'd, ne'er heeds the sting. The giddy boy,
Who climbs from branch to branch the lofty tree,
Thinks not of danger, till the summit gain'd,
He bends his look below. So is't with love,
Whose smart yields pleasure, and whose pleasure's pain.
[Lentellus entering in the back ground, pauses on hearing Silvia sing.
SONG.
What will not Love defy?—The season's change,
The ocean's perils, and portending death,
All shrink before the majesty of Love.
Where'er it strikes, 'tis sole divinity,
And reigns unrivall'd here. Else why this guise,
This bold assumption of the manly port?
Why have I sought the rugged soldier's fare?
Why for a camp abandon'd is my home,
And, in the place of sweet domestic toils,
Do I the shield and massive weapon bear,
Nor shrink before the blood-smirch'd brow of Mars?
For whom but thee, lov'd Manlius, do I thus
My womanhood unsex, and, in despite
Of worldly custom and a virgin's shame,
The converse of the rude licentious tongue,
And revelry unbridled, hear?—'Tis Love,
'Tis Manlius that hath wrought this mighty change;
Who, by these outward robes deceiv'd, to me,
As to a friend, his secrets doth impart.
But soft! he comes.

Enter Furius Manlius.
MANLIUS.
My friend, my Junius, I have sought thee long—
Why wander'st thou alone without the camp,
When Manlius needs thy soothing voice to lull
The inward perturbation of his soul?
My love-distemper'd mind is link'd to thine
By Friendship's sacred bond: thine every word
Both calms and nourishes this inward fire:
Thy prudent counsels, breath'd into mine ear,
Like cooling zephyrs lull my raging breast;
But being absent, fiercer burns the flame;
Then all is madness, love, and Silvia.

SILVIA.
Becalm thy troubled mind; let Reason's hand
Still temper all thy thoughts: as dew from heaven,
The voice of Reason, whispering to thy soul,
Will all the feverish heat of Love allay,
And rock thee in the arms of gentle peace.
What would'st thou, Manlius? Is not Sylvia thine?
Did not her virgin heart proclaim its love,
When with Etruria's sons thou took'st the field?
Hast thou not dwelt with rapture on the thought?
Hast thou not told me how she wept, and sigh'd,
And the bless'd gods implored in thy behalf?
And would'st thou more from maiden coyness?

MANLIUS.
Yes, my Junius:
I would the sum of love were now complete;
That Sylvia by the nuptial bond were mine
For ever. How long will our conqu'ring troops,
Already sated with the blood of Rome,
Delay the wish'd-for peace? When shall we greet
Our native soil, our kindred, and our loves?

SILVIA.
Rely on fate, my friend; whose smiles till now
Have beam'd upon our arms; whose outstretch'd hand
Hath still preserv'd thee from the hostile steel
For scenes of future bliss? Think on the day
When, with a victor's emulation swell'd,
Thine arms will clasp a mistress' throbbing breast,
When tears of joy will grace a mother's eye,
And rapt'rous smiles to view a conquering son
Play on thine aged father's brow! Oh, think—
And let the contemplation cheer thy heart!

MANLIUS.
My Junius, fancy kindles at thy words:
E'en now methinks these arms ungirded lay,
And naught but sounds of peace and happiness
Swell on the passing wind: A father's praise,
A mother's and a virgin's joyful tears,
Enraptur'd do I picture to my sense:
Now 'fore the altars of our country's gods
In gratitude I seem to crouch the knee,
And offer up my soul in fervent pray'r.
Junius, thy words are inspiration fraught,
And as I look upon thy beardless mien,
In pleas'd amaze I'm lost—such youth, such sense,
And friendship tried, co-mingle in thy frame,
As almost make me bow with reverence.

SILVIA.
If friendship thus can act, to what extreme
Wou'd love and Sylvia urge thy fever'd mind?
I fear me, Manlius, thou'rt a truant grown,
And that esteem for one that wills thee well,
Slackens thy sum of love.

MANLIUS.
I prithee cease, my friend.
What is impossible to love? For love,
I'd hie me swifter than the posting wind;
This rugged voice I'd fashion to soft phrase;
These arms, forgetful of their nervy strength,
Should from the distaff twine the flaxen cord.
Alike can love with giant strength inspire.
Methinks from out the bowels of the earth
The rooted oak I could uprend, or tear
The flinty bosom of the rock. This voice
Should shame the constant roaring of the surge;
These eyes the lustre of the sun defy,
Dimming the source of light. Oh! I cou'd act
What words ne'er figur'd, nor conception thought,
So raging is the love wherewith I burn.

SILVIA.
If so, in peace thou wilt not heed thy friend,
But on the sweet remembrance of the past
Junius must live—by Manlius forgot.

MANLIUS.
Nay, nay; think not so meanly of thy friend—
Tho' love's a raging and a lasting fire,
Yet there's in friendship's voice a silv'ry sound,
That steals upon the soul, and fastens there:
Junius, I never shall forget thy faith.

SILVIA.
I do believe thy friendship and thy love;
And cou'd I breathe my thoughts in Silvia's ear,
My trumpet-tongue should echo forth thy praise,
Still kindling more the flame within her breast.
But come; we'll to the camp; for e'er this hour
Rome's final doom is fix'd.

MANLIUS.
Obedient to thy voice, my servile steps
Still follow thee. Thou art my faithful guide,
Whose prudent words recall my wand'ring thoughts,
Conducting them in Reason's sober tract.

[Exeunt.
LENTELLUS
(advancing).
It is the noble maid! the beauteous fair,
Whose haughtiness once scorn'd my proffer'd love,
I knew not why. The myst'ry is no more;
For in a Manlius I my rival view,
Alike the lover, and the well-beloved.
And shall I tamely be a looker on,
And yield without a blow the precious prize?
Such conduct suits but ill my daring thoughts.
Lentellus, if thou canst not gain her love,
Let hatred dictate thy revenge—Why so?
He knows her not; but link'd in friendship's bond,
With brotherly affection opes his soul.
This chain must straight be sever'd—Jealousy,
Thy blasting power shall work my soul's intent.
Should he not swallow treason's gilded bait,
And fall an easier prey? It is decreed:
My slighted love, my hatred both combine—
They fall the victims of my just revenge.

[Exit.