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LEUCOTHOE.

ACT I.

SCENE I.
The theatre represents a plain, bordered with wood; several mountains, which rise one above another, till the highest seem lost in the clouds, making the point of view at the farther end.
CLYTIE is discovered in a melancholy posture.
1 OH! Jealousy, thy torments who can bear?
2 Forsaken, scorn'd, abandon'd to despair!
3 I rage, I burn, no kind assistance nigh!
4 Give, give me ease, ye gods, or let me die.
5 Farewel, ye streams! farewel, ye groves!
6 Farewel, ye shady bow'rs!
7 Soft scenes of blissful hours,
8 Of former conscious loves.
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9 Farewel, sweet peace of mind!
10 Fond wishes, pleasing pain,
11 With all the tender train,
12 The joy that happy lovers find.
13 Farewel! your halcyon days are o'er,
14 And I must never know you more.
The sun, which appears in the midst of the sky, moves slowly towards the summit of the mountains; where, opening by degrees, it shews Phoebus in his chariot. The horses are discovered, and a great glory.
15 But, see! he comes, the author of my woes:
16 He comes, ungrateful God; but not to me.
17 Another love within his bosom glows;
18 Another nymph! distracting misery!
19 Another nymph allures him to her arms.
20 I cannot bear the thought! confound her art,
21 Eternal light'nings blast her charms,
22 That robb'd me of the dear inconstant's heart.
23 Goddess of dire Revenge! may all her days
24 To peace be strangers, and her nights to rest;
25 May Hope ne'er sooth her with imagin'd ease,
26 Nor Patience still the tumults in her breast.
27 Since she has stoln possession of my joy,
28 Fulfil my pray'r, by pity, justice, led;
29 May turns alike our happiness destroy,
30 And all my griefs be doubled on her head.
She retires among the trees.
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SCENE II.
PHOEBUS descends the mountain, a symphony playing. The machine sinks.
31 "Hail! to love, delicious boy,
32 "Hail! to love, and welcome joy: "
33 Love, the best, the only treasure,
34 Love, that laughs at proud degree,
35 Love, that renders pain a pleasure,
36 And by enslaving makes us free.
37 When Heav'n to woman beauty did dispense,
38 It gave away its own omnipotence.
39 High 'mongst the pow'rs above, enthron'd I sit,
40 I'm stiled the God of Wisdom, and of Wit;
41 This arm alone Light's fiery steeds can rein.
42 Oh force, how impotent! oh boast, how vain!
43 Incapable to curb my own desires.
44 What's strength, or wisdom's use, when love inspires?
45 Unseen, resistless, it impels us on;
46 No force can tame it, nor can prescience shun,
47 And, ere we dread the danger, we're undone.
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SCENE III.
PHOEBUS, CLYTIE.
48 Hah! whence this boldness? now who dares intrude
49 Upon my peaceful, sacred solitude?
CLYTIE, kneeling.
50 Light of the world, great eye, and soul,
51 View at your feet a suppliant maid;
52 Behold my tears, for you they roll,
53 For you these sighs my breast invade.
54 Ah! turn your face; ah! cease to chide;
55 Nor let, while my distress you see,
56 What's warmth and life to all beside,
57 Be coldness, and be death to me.
PHOEBUS.
58 Have I not told you, CLYTIE, o'er and o'er,
59 That we must meet upon these terms no more?
60 Why then persist you thus to haunt me still,
61 And force me to be cruel 'gainst my will?
CLYTIE.
62 Because I love, 'tis therefore I pursue.
63 Oh need I say I love! you know I do.
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64 That answer for me: love, in spite of fear,
65 Brought me to meet your dread resentment here,
66 The resolution of my doom to know,
67 And die, if you, unkind, will have it so.
PHOEBUS.
68 Leave me, and live.
CLYTIE.
68 Inhuman! rather say,
69 Oh ten times rather, CLYTIE, Die, and stay.
70 To life with firmness I can bid adieu;
71 But 'tis impossible to part from you.
PHOEBUS.
72 Be gone.
CLYTIE.
72 I cannot. There was once a time,
73 When such a word would have been thought a crime.
74 Oh change, how great! my person to behold,
75 Am I deform'd, or suddenly grown old?
76 If ever I had charms your love to gain,
77 Methinks those charms their wonted bloom retain.
78 Say then in what, in what is't I offend?
79 Let me but know my fault, I'll strive to mend.
PHOEBUS.
80 Would you my languid appetite revive,
81 And keep the just expiring flames alive,
82 Mild and reserv'd you should at distance stand,
83 And gently feed it with a cautious hand:
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84 What sparingly applied, renews desire;
85 Pour'd on, extinguishes, and damps the fire.
86 Give me the nymph who charms with ease,
87 Whose greatest pleasure is to please;
88 Whose passion ne'er tyrannic grows,
89 But hand in hand with freedom goes;
90 Who ne'er feels transport in her breast,
91 But as she sees her lover blest:
92 'Tis such a nymph, and only she,
93 Must hope to gain a heart from me.
CLYTIE.
94 And can you then so soon those vows forget,
95 Which Eccho scarce has left repeating yet?
96 Those vows to me for ever fatal day,
97 When first they led my easy faith astray!
98 Which morns and eves have heard, thou base ingrate,
99 And promis'd love immortal as your state?
Phoebus traverses the stage, she following.
100 Think but how oft, unmindful of alarms,
101 You've lain encircled by those yielding arms,
102 Insatiate draining copious draughts of bliss,
103 And swearing heav'n was lodg'd in ev'ry kiss;
104 And then when cloy'd with the delicious feast,
105 And sunk unnerv'd on this still panting breast,
106 Think now, repeating the dear task, you've dy'd,
107 Yet cursed the day that forc'd you from my side.
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PHOEBUS.
108 That once your beauties did my soul subdue,
109 I frankly told you, and I told you true.
110 I lov'd, enjoy'd, and from enjoyment bless'd,
111 Thought for a while my appetite encreas'd;
112 But grown with frequent iteration tir'd,
113 At length I nauseate what I first desir'd.
CLYTIE.
114 I see you nauseate, ev'n this moment see
115 Your eyes regard me with antipathy.
116 Nor think me stranger to the cause; I know
117 What brings you, PHOEBUS, to this secret plain,
118 For whom my gentle bondage you forego,
119 And treat my love with insults and disdain.
PHOEBUS.
120 Hah!
CLYTIE.
120 For LEUCOTHÖe. You start; that name
121 Has struck you. Oh! more false than syren's song,
122 Was it for this I sold myself to shame?
123 For this
PHOEBUS.
123 Be wise in time, and stop your tongue,
124 Another word's destruction sure as hell.
125 Now hearken, and take care t'observe me well.
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126 By that irrevocable oath I swear,
127 Which even gods themselves with trembling take,
128 By the eternal, gloomy Flood, if e'er
129 You breathe again what you've presum'd to speak
130 This instant, life shall expiate the offence.
131 Reply not; make no answer: get you hence.
132 Oh where, too charming, cruel maid,
133 Unmindful dost thou rove?
134 Why is my bliss thus long delay'd?
135 Haste, haste thee quickly to my aid,
136 And tune my jarring soul to love.
CLYTIE.
137 Confusion! madness! hell! or yet what's worse!
138 Oh give me breath sufficiently to curse
139 The world, myself and all my feeble race.
140 What! boast your falsehood, own it to my face!
141 Go, tyrant, seek the idol you adore,
142 CLYTIE's weak claims shall trouble you no more:
143 Hence! stubborn weakness, hence! O tender fool!
144 My heart yet fain would hold him, could it be:
145 But tutor'd by example, I shall cool,
146 And him disdain, as he has slighted me.
147 No more let love with golden shafts be drawn,
148 Or downy mantled wing;
149 But arm'd his hands,
150 With flaming brands,
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151 And scorpion whips to sting,
152 The wretches by his fell distemper gnawn.
153 No more an infant heaven-design'd,
154 But a grim monster, fierce and blind,
155 The curse and scourge of human kind.
SCENE IV.
PHOEBUS.
156 Infernal Jealousy! thou foe to rest,
157 Despotic ruler in the female breast,
158 Of Love begot, unnatural, and dire,
159 Thou prey'st upon the vitals of thy fire.
160 But, see! she comes, whom no such pangs excite,
161 The harbinger of ev'ry dear delight;
162 She comes, like teeming Spring along the plain,
163 Youth, Plenty, Health, and Pleasure, in her train.
SCENE V.
PHOEBUS, LEUCOTHOE.
164 So in some ev'ning fair the feather'd male,
165 Expects his tuneful consort in the vale;
166 At sight of her, his heart exulting springs,
167 He rears his plume, and beats his little wings:
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168 They meet, they nestle to each other's breast,
169 And side by side pursue their way to rest.
LEUCOTHÖE.
170 My lord! my life!
PHOEBUS.
170 My best, my tend'rest part!
171 Thus let me clasp you to my panting heart.
172 Hence, ye prophane! each ruder guest be far,
173 The slaves of Business, and the sons of War;
174 Let none within these happy shades be seen,
175 But such as wait upon the Paphian Queen,
176 The sports, the pleasures, and the winged boys,
177 Foes to suspicion and domestic noise.
178 Passion may doubt, and quarrel in decay,
179 Ours still shall flourish Oh LEUCOTHÖE!
[Embracing, and gazing on her tenderly.
180 Was ever creature form'd so fair!
181 Sweets from ev'ry pore distilling,
182 Such a shape, and such an air,
183 Lips so soft, and eyes so killing.
184 Turn, oh turn these humid fires!
185 I cannot bear their wounding glances;
186 They fill my soul with fierce desires,
187 And plunge me in extatic trances.
LEUCOTHÖE.
188 Oh! welcome to my soul, as after show'rs
189 Your own enliv'ning beams to fruits and flow'rs,
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190 Welcome as cooling wind to lab'ring swains,
191 Or freedom to the wretch that groans in chains.
192 Might this for ever, ever be my place,
193 To live and die in thy ador'd embrace.
PHOEBUS.
194 Oh thrilling joy! oh more than charming she!
195 Was ever deity caress'd like me?
LEUCOTHÖE.
196 Oh height of bliss! oh greater than divine!
197 Was ever mortal happiness like mine?
PHOEBUS.
198 How shall I speak the dictates of my heart!
199 No language can express, no actions prove
200 My meeting joys.
LEUCOTHÖE.
200 My sorrows when we part!
PHOEBUS.
201 How tenderly I doat!
LEUCOTHÖE.
201 How much I love!
202 Who upon the oozy beach,
203 Can count the num'rous sands that lie?
204 Or distinctly reckon each
205 Transparent star that studs the sky?
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206 As their multitudes betray,
207 And frustrate all attempts to tell,
208 So 'tis impossible to say
209 How much we love, we love so well.
PHOEBUS.
210 Be hush'd, ye winds, and you, ye pow'rs, accord,
211 Who own the force of my superior word.
212 Hear, and obey! ye deities that reign
213 O'er the green woods, or haunt the dusky plain;
214 Hear, and obey! ye softer forms, that lave
215 In the cool font, or stem the lucid wave;
216 And ye that roll the rapid orbs on high.
[Soft music.
LEUCOTHÖE.
217 What sounds are these of melting melody,
218 Which steal so soft and sweet upon my ears?
PHOEBUS.
219 Hark! 'tis the music of the moving spheres;
220 Obedient to thy beauties, they advance
221 Th' harmonious measures of their tuneful dance.
222 Nature exults, affected by my joy;
223 And, see! the sisters, from their sacred height,
224 In concert mingling, all their art employ,
225 Proud to administer to your delight.
The music coming forward in a full symphony; the clouds, which obscured the head of the mountains, suddenly disperse, shewing Parnassus, the Muses with their proper symbols, &c.
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An entertainment is performed by them on their several instruments, consisting of three parts; the first very sonorous; the second a slow movement, to which a pastoral nymph dances; the third sprightly; when the lowest of the mountains opens, discovering Vulcan's cave. The Cyclops come out, and dance with a number of Dryads, who enter from the woods, then range themselves on each side of the stage. Phoebus and Leucothöe advance.
LEUCOTHÖE.
226 Methinks these scenes, such wonder they inspire,
227 I still could gaze upon, and still admire;
228 Yet for the present, prithee, let them cease,
229 Our revels may offend the neighb'ring peace:
230 And should they to my father's ears be brought
231 My blood runs cold, and curdles at the thought!
PHOEBUS.
232 Causeless the thought, and premature the fear!
233 What can your father do when I am here?
234 He, and th'extensive empire which he sways,
235 Struck by my word, shall vanish like a blaze.
236 Come thou, poor trembling turtle, seek thy mate,
237 And, safe beneath his pinion, laugh at fate.
PHOEBUS and LEUCOTHÖE.
238 Hark! Love summons us away;
239 Let's obey,
240 Come away;
241 Hark! Love summons us away:
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242 Just expiring,
243 With desiring,
244 Take, oh! take me while you may,
245 Else I shall dissolve away.
246 Stay my fleeting soul with kisses,
247 Till we feed on fiercer blisses,
248 Blisses Gods alone should share.
249 Oh! my life, my joy, my treasure,
250 Oh! the extasy, the pleasure;
251 'Tis too much, too much to bear.
The End of the First Act.
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ACT II.

SCENE I.
A night-prospect of a garden; a pavilion in view, beyond which appears the back part of a palace; a terrace adorned with statues, &c. &c.
PHOEBUS and LEUCOTHOE enter from the pavilion.
CLYTIE, with a black slave, listening behind.
LEUCOTHÖE.
1 THE winds are fast asleep, there's scarce a breeze
2 To rock the little birds upon the trees.
3 What grateful odours rise from ev'ry brake!
4 See how the moon-beams shine on yonder lake!
5 How softly sweet these waters fall to ground,
6 That break the silence with their murm'ring sound!
7 You will not, sure, so quickly bid farewel;
8 I've yet a thousand things to ask, and tell.
PHOEBUS.
9 And I could ever stay to talk and hear;
10 But look how faint those glimm'ring fires appear!
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11 I must be gone, by sad occasion prest:
12 The morning-star already lights the East;
13 Aurora now unbars the gates of day,
14 And from that mountain summons me away.
LEUCOTHÖE.
15 Yet stay. I know I've somewhat to impart;
16 If you are absent long, 'twill break my heart.
17 How soon will you return?
PHOEBUS.
17 With double speed
18 I'll lash my coursers to their western bed
19 At night. Believe me to my promise just;
20 I'll come on wings
LEUCOTHÖE.
20 Then must we part?
PHOEBUS.
20 We must,
21 But for a few short hours: restrain your tears;
22 Why thus incompass'd with unusual fears?
23 You droop!
LEUCOTHÖE.
23 Oh, PHOEBUS!
PHOEBUS.
23 Say'st thou? Prithee speak.
LEUCOTHÖE.
24 Forgive me; I'm a woman, fond, and weak,
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25 In terror often when no danger's nigh:
26 Perhaps I weep, and fear, I know not why.
27 Why with sighs my heart is swelling,
28 Why with tears my eyes o'erflow,
29 Ask me not, 'tis past the telling,
30 Mute, involuntary woe.
31 Prizing joys, we fear to lose 'em;
32 Can you then condemn my pain?
33 Something whispers to my bosom,
34 We shall never meet again.
PHOEBUS.
35 Oh! my dear love, quick, quickly drive away
36 Those boding thoughts which on your quiet prey;
37 The breed of Fancy, gender'd in the brain,
38 Nurs'd by the grosser spirits, light, and vain;
39 The vagrant visions of the sleeping mind,
40 Which vanish wak'd, nor leave a mark behind.
41 When two kind doves their nest desert,
42 A different passage to pursue,
43 With gentle murmurs thus they part.
LEUCOTHÖE.
44 My life, farewel!
PHOEBUS.
44 My love, adieu!
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SCENE II.
During this scene Clytie attempts coming forward several times, but is with-held by her slave.
LEUCOTHÖE.
45 He's gone, and left me: hah! what means this dread?
46 Save me! a sword hangs hov'ring o'er my head.
47 Th' earth yawns to swallow me: I sink, oh Fate!
48 Alas! I'm frighted with my own conceit:
49 Nor sword, nor yawning earth, is here, and now
50 A lazy languor creeps along my veins;
51 Dull, and more dull my heavy eyelids grow,
52 And ev'ry sense accepts the leaden chains.
53 Oh, God of Sleep! arise, and spread
54 Thy healing vapours round my head;
55 To thy friendly mansions take,
56 My soul that burns,
57 Till he returns,
58 For whom alone I wish to wake.
59 There yield my thoughts their fav'rite theme,
60 And bring my lover in a dream.
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SCENE III.
CLYTIE comes forward with the BLACK SLAVE. A short silence.
SLAVE.
61 Why stand you thus bemus'd, in silence lost?
62 Fiend-struck you seem, or frighted by some ghost.
63 Alas! she hears me not; within her mind,
64 As warring flames are in the earth confin'd,
65 So is her rage and indignation pent.
66 Dear Mistress!
CLYTIE.
66 Oh!
SLAVE.
66 There give your passion vent.
67 Behold of love the so much boasted bliss!
CLYTIE.
68 Why was I born, ye Gods, since doom'd to this?
69 Off, idle ornaments, detested glare
70 Of gold and jewels, wherefore are ye here?
71 Why am I dress'd in pompous robes like these?
72 There's no one now whom I would wish to please.
73 Let then my soul and body be a-kin,
74 Naked without, as desolate within.
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75 By various passions am I torn,
76 Now with anger, now with scorn;
77 Now with fear my heart's recoiling,
78 Now with rage my spirit's boiling:
79 As the diff'rent plagues infest,
80 To love or vengeance I incline;
81 Now I could stab his faithless breast,
82 Now press him close to mine.
SLAVE.
83 Assuage your transports, you augment the ill
84 By nourishing those thoughts you ought to kill.
CLYTIE.
85 Hence, paultry babbler! when the loud winds sweep,
86 Command the Nile's impetu'us surge to sleep;
87 When burning Aetna rages, bid it cease;
88 Go sooth the tortures of the damn'd to peace:
89 Their sieve, their stone, their vulture, and their wheel,
90 Are light, are nothing, to the pangs I feel.
SLAVE.
91 Take comfort.
CLYTIE.
91 Yes; 'tis fix'd, I'll die this hour;
92 That's all the comfort now within my pow'r:
93 A dagger ends at once my life and care.
SLAVE.
94 Oh! toss'd on seas of ruinous despair!
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95 Yet hear me e'er you split upon this shelf;
96 Revenge on those who wrong you not yourself.
CLYTIE.
97 Revenge on whom? a God!
SLAVE.
97 The best revenge.
98 Pay falsehood back with falsehood, change for change,
99 Try softer hearts, exert your charms, and show,
100 Indifferent, as he leaves, you let him go.
101 When unpity'd we languish,
102 And sigh for a swain,
103 Who feels not our anguish,
104 But laughs at our pain,
105 In vain we pursue his untractable mind,
106 With whining,
107 And crying,
108 And wishing,
109 And dying;
110 Then scorn the perplexer, and look out to find
111 Another as lovely another more kind.
CLYTIE.
112 Is this the mighty veng'ance you propose,
113 This the kind comfort then you yield my woes?
114 To sue to others, and from them obtain,
115 What all my love deserved from him in vain.
116 Returns I've had How sweet!
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SLAVE.
116 How quickly past!
117 Better ne'er tasted, since they could not last.
CLYTIE.
118 And shall I turn a beggar with my charms?
119 The thought with double strength my fury arms,
120 No! thus at once my farther pangs I save
[Drawing a dagger.
SLAVE.
121 Behold upon her knees your faithful slave!
122 Oh! let my tears, my services, prevail;
123 We've means of great revenge, which cannot fail.
CLYTIE.
124 Avaunt!
SLAVE.
124 Oh! hear me.
CLYTIE.
124 Yet again! beware,
125 Nor tempt the fury of my rage too far.
126 Come, thou last, only friend, thy work pursue.
[Looking at the dagger, as she holds it ready to strike.]
SLAVE.
127 By all my hopes of happiness, 'tis true;
128 The object of your jealousy shall die!
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CLYTIE, pausing from the stroke.
129 Go on.
SLAVE.
129 First lay that dreadful weapon by:
130 I cannot speak, your looks my words appal.
CLYTIE, throwing away the dagger.
131 Said'st thou not she, th' accursed she, should fall?
132 You held my arm, or she, ere this, had lain
133 Dead at my feet.
SLAVE.
133 And she shall still be slain,
134 But not by you; the God already cold,
135 What then should gain his love, his veng'ance hold?
CLYTIE.
136 Speak quick the means; my soul has ta'en alarm,
137 And all my flutt'ring senses round me arm.
138 Oh give me poison, racks, consuming fire,
139 Swift as my rage, and wild as my desire.
SLAVE.
140 Nor poison, racks, nor fire, we need to wait,
141 The King, her father, be our means of fate:
142 To him unfold in secret all you know,
143 You point the weapon, but he strikes the blow.
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CLYTIE.
144 I'll do't; each moment is a year's delay:
145 'Tis clear, 'tis obvious as the noontide-day;
146 By passion blinded, by despair misled,
147 I walk'd in clouds. She is already dead!
148 My rival's doom'd! I see her on the ground!
149 I hear her groans! There's music in the sound.
SLAVE.
150 Look where in shades those myrtle-branches throng,
151 The King appears, and this way moves along;
152 The time, th' occasion, both conspire to bless
153 Your great design, and crown it with success.
CLYTIE.
154 What sudden tremors seize upon my heart!
155 Cold dewy damps from ev'ry pore perspire!
156 No matter Injur'd Love, perform thy part,
157 The consequence be what it may. Retire.
SCENE IV.
CLYTIE.
158 Hence, weak remorse! hence, hence away!
159 In vain before my dazzl'd eyes,
160 In all your daunting shapes you rise,
161 To fill me with dismay.
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162 Your checks I defy,
163 My rival shall die;
164 And thou, whose false, ungrateful heart
165 Thy immortality secures,
166 Look down, while I revenge my smart,
167 And thro' her bosom strike at your's.
SCENE V.
ORCHAMUS, CLYTIE.
ORCHAMUS.
168 Hail! roseate dawn, at whose approaching light,
169 Spectres and birds ill-omen'd take their flight;
170 Thou, at whose rise Shame seeks Cimmerian shades,
171 And Lust and Murder hide their horrid heads;
172 Hope springs aloft, the mists of Grief exhale,
173 And Life and Joy renew their course all hail!
CLYTIE, kneeling.
174 May the King live for ever!
ORCHAMUS.
174 Rise, bright maid;
175 Thou shouldst not pay obeisance, but be paid:
176 Abroad thus early have you made your way,
177 To add new charms to, or outshine the day?
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CLYTIE.
178 To view the infant morning at its birth,
179 As first it rose upon the darken'd earth,
180 When great Jove utter'd the creative word,
181 And Nature all alive obey'd her Lord;
182 To hear the birds, observe the waking flow'r,
183 And wond'ring at Heav'n's works, adore its pow'r.
ORCHAMUS.
184 Exalted Wisdom! from those lips it broke!
185 Was it an angel, or fair CLYTIE spoke?
186 How much superior beauty awes,
187 The coldest bosoms find;
188 But with resistless force it draws,
189 To sense and virtue join'd.
190 The casket where to outward show
191 The artist's hand is seen,
192 Is doubly valu'd, when we know
193 It holds a gem within.
CLYTIE, aside.
194 Now tremble, ye inconstants, wheresoe'er,
195 Who cheat with fraudful vows th'unwary fair:
196 Fate is at work Love sits on Justice' throne,
197 And hastens to chastise you all in one.
[Going to speak to Orchamus, she corrects herself.
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ORCHAMUS.
198 What would'st thou? Speak. But now, there something sprung
199 Warm from your heart, which froze upon your tongue.
200 Give it free air lay chilling fears aside,
201 And on a Monarch's faith and pow'r confide.
CLYTIE.
202 Yet why should friendship force me to reveal,
203 And tell him that which pity should conceal!
ORCHAMUS.
204 Whate'er you would demand, my grant ensues;
205 When beauty asks, can ORCHAMUS refuse?
206 Say, then, what thoughts so cruel to molest
207 The peaceful tenour of that gentle breast?
CLYTIE.
208 Ask not the subject of my thoughts, which known,
209 Perhaps may spoil the quiet of your own.
ORCHAMUS.
210 Virtue unmov'd the thund'rer's voice can hear;
211 To guilt a stranger, we're unknown to fear.
CLYTIE.
212 Ay, but some ills there are of such a kind,
213 So black, so dreadful, ev'n the virtuous mind
214 Cannot support their shock, which leave a sting
215 Like vice behind. Oh ill requited King!
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216 Think, is there nothing could affect you more,
217 Than loss of state, dominion, wealth, and pow'r?
ORCHAMUS.
218 You deal in riddles!
CLYTIE.
218 Dreadful to expound!
219 Oh! be my tongue to silence ever bound!
220 Drive, drive me from you to the farthest pole
ORCHAMUS.
221 You mean to stagger my determin'd soul!
CLYTIE.
222 Your daughter!
ORCHAMUS.
222 What of her? I shake all o'er!
CLYTIE.
223 Yet send me hence in time, and seek no more.
224 Farewel!
[Going.
ORCHAMUS.
224 Return, I charge you; haste, come back:
[She returns.
225 You would not leave me thus upon the rack.
226 Say, is my daughter dead? I think I can
227 At least I'll try to bear it like a man.
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CLYTIE.
228 Was that the worst, how easy to be said,
229 For what's the loss of life? Her honour's dead.
230 Her virtue!
ORCHAMUS ..
230 Hah, beware!
CLYTIE.
230 But now these eyes
231 Beheld them rev'ling in their guilty joys;
232 Ev'n here they parted as you sought the place.
233 I could have stabb'd them in their last embrace.
ORCHAMUS.
234 O name the traitor, that he soon may bleed!
CLYTIE.
235 The God you worship, Sir, has done the deed:
236 The glorious SUN, inspir'd with lustful flame,
237 Has paid your incense with your daughter's shame.
ORCHAMUS.
238 'Tis well! Oh Kings, your boasted pow'r how small!
239 Where, when did he? Damnation! tell me all.
CLYTIE.
240 At a silent, secret hour,
241 Softly stealing to her bow'r,
[Page 38]
242 There he found the love-sick maid,
243 Wishing, warm, and unarray'd;
244 Fir'd with the charming sight,
245 Soon began the am'rous fight!
246 Their pulse beat high to love's alarms;
247 He strove and triumph'd o'er her charms.
ORCHAMUS.
248 What's to be done? Confusion! shame! and death!
249 This hand shall stop the wanton strumpet's breath.
250 I gave her being how then shall I take
251 That being from her? ORCHAMUS, awake!
252 'Tis dreams, chimera's all imperfect, wild,
253 Justice commands me to destroy my child!
254 At once a father, and a judge,
255 How shall I bid her die or live?
256 There one severely would condemn,
257 The other tenderly forgive.
[Walks about in great disorder.
CLYTIE, aside.
258 What a rough war contending Passion keeps!
259 Now the storm's up; now, hah! by Heav'n he weeps.
260 Oh may these drops, like those which fall from high,
261 Before the rapid thunder rends the sky,
[Page 39]
262 Be the fore-runners of approaching wrath,
263 And bode destruction, perils, rage, and death.
ORCHAMUS.
264 Ye furies that howl in the abyss profound,
265 Hither, hither repair,
266 From the wilds of Despair,
267 And encompass me round;
268 Each a torch in her hand,
269 Take your terrible stand!
270 From my breast keep all motions of pity away;
271 And when Nature speaks,
272 In your yellings and shrieks
273 Drown her soft'ning plea.
274 What honour demands, 'tis our duty to give;
275 Who merits to die, shall we suffer to live?
SCENE VI.
CLYTIE.
276 Oh glorious hearing! oh triumphant day!
277 Thus great Nemesis, thus my thanks I pay:
278 Now, now, false God, your recompence receive,
279 And in your turn confess the pangs you gave.
[Page 40]
280 Fly, care, to the wind,
281 My fate has been kind;
282 Oh! pleasure,
283 Past measure,
284 Transcendently great;
285 No more I complain
286 Of ungrateful disdain,
287 If I suffer in love, I triumph in hate.
The End of the Second Act.
[Page 41]

ACT III.

SCENE I.
The theatre represents a rocky shore, with a distant prospect of the sea; beyond which is seen still more faintly a city.
Several MEN and WOMEN in affliction.
A MAN.
1 BEhold, my friends, behold the dismal scene,
2 Where never summer treads, nor spring serene,
3 But everlasting winter low'ring o'er,
4 Deforms the bleak, uncomfortable shore.
A WOMAN.
5 Here, where the wild beast lurking in his den,
6 Avoids the haunts of no less savage men;
7 Among these rocks the horrid cavern lies,
8 Doom'd to receive the Royal sacrifice.
CHORUS.
9 Oh dreadful sentence! unrelenting fate!
10 Mourn, all ye sons of prostrate Persia, mourn;
11 From hence let sorrow take an endless date,
12 Tears follow tears, and sighs to sighs return;
[Page 42]
13 In an eternal course of piercing woe,
14 Such as from shame, despair, and grief, should flow.
A MAN and a WOMAN.
15 A nymph adorn'd with ev'ry grace,
16 So soft a form, so fair a face,
17 With Venus she may vie:
18 Like some sweet flow'r, untimely crop!
19 Ah, must she fade! ah, must she drop!
20 Ah! must she, must she die?
A MAN.
21 Soft! break ye quickly off! west o'er the beach,
22 Far as the eye its piercing beams can stretch:
23 Lo! where the victim, 'midst a mournful throng,
24 In solemn, slow procession, moves along.
A WOMAN.
25 She comes a living coarse; what eye but weeps
26 At the sad spectacle? Now, SUN eclipse!
27 At once the lover and the God assume,
28 And snatch her trembling from th' untimely tomb.
[Page 43]
SCENE II.
A procession appears at a considerable distance, consisting of priests, youths, virgins, &c. &c. Leucothöe in the centre, covered with a black veil; as it approaches the audience, the following semi-chorus is sung with frequent pauses.
SEMI-CHORUS.
29 Prepare! ye Stygian pow'rs, prepare!
30 In all your pomp of horrors dress'd;
31 Ye dreadful ministers of fate,
32 Set wide Death's adamantine gate,
33 For, lo! we bring a guest.
34 Prepare! prepare! prepare!
[The procession being come to the front of the stage.]
STROPHE.
35 Hear! injur'd chastity; pure essence, hear!
36 From yonder marble sphere;
37 Where-e'er thou hold'st thy mansion in the skies,
38 Look down, look down,
39 From thy exalted and star-spangled throne,
40 To thee we sacrifice.
[Page 44]
CHORUS.
41 To thee,
42 To thee we sacrifice.
ANTI-STROPHE.
43 Hear, Justice! awfulest of beings, hear!
44 Tremend'ous and severe,
45 Thou whose stern resolution never dies,
46 Look down, look down,
47 From thy immovable, immortal throne;
48 To thee we sacrifice.
CHORUS.
49 To thee,
50 To thee we sacrifice!
EPODE.
51 To her, to thee our voice we raise,
52 Avert your anger from the state;
53 Deign to accept a nation's praise,
54 And let the forfeiture she pays
55 Her crime expiate.
SEMI-CHORUS.
56 Prepare! ye Stygian pow'rs, prepare!
57 In all your pomp of horrors dress'd;
58 Ye dreadful ministers of fate,
59 Set wide Death's adamantine gate,
60 For, lo! we bring a guest.
61 Prepare! prepare! prepare!
[Page 45]
LEUCOTHÖE,
Putting aside the veil. She appears in white, with fillets, after the manner of a sacrifice.
62 Oh, mighty God! that guides the day,
63 A moment stop your rapid way;
64 Behold me in this dreadful strife,
65 Just tott'ring on the brink of life,
66 No help, no friendly comfort nigh,
67 To break my fall,
68 Beset with all
69 The terrors of eternity;
70 While doubts and fear
71 My bosom tear,
72 And with alternate passion vie;
73 Think when you see,
74 And pity me;
75 Oh! think it is for you I die.
A YOUTH.
76 Thy charms just rising to their noon,
77 Ah! must we see them set so soon?
A VIRGIN.
78 Those charms which distant princes woo'd,
79 And deities themselves pursu'd!
A YOUTH.
80 What heart that is not frozen quite,
81 But must in thy afflictions share?
[Page 46]
A VIRGIN.
82 To see, oh melancholy sight!
83 To see you plung'd in sudden night!
A YOUTH.
84 To be you know not what!
A VIRGIN.
85 To go you know not where!
LEUCOTHÖE.
86 Weep not, my dear companions!
CHORUS of Youths and Virgins.
87 Cruel stroke!
88 Can nothing then thy destiny revoke?
LEUCOTHÖE.
89 No! we must part; e'en now fate lifts the sheers,
90 To cut the thread of my scarce half-spun years.
91 Farewel! when poor LEUCOTHÖE's forgot,
92 Oh! may you find a more indulgent lot.
93 May each be happy in some nymph or youth,
94 Proud to repay your tenderness and truth.
95 Then, if between the transports of your bliss,
96 You should recount a piteous tale like this,
97 Of some poor creature by her love betray'd,
98 As the sad accidents your mem'ry strike,
99 Bestow a tear in pity to my shade,
100 And mourn at once two fates so much alike.
[Page 47]
YOUTH and VIRGIN.
101 Come, Sorrow, from thy gloomy cell,
102 Where in eternal rage you dwell;
103 From thy bed of raven's plumes,
104 Curtain'd round with dusky fumes.
CHORUS.
105 Come, and with you bring your groans,
106 Frantic gestures, sullen moans,
107 Fury of conflicting passions,
108 Sighs, and tears, and lamentations,
109 Join with us in doleful lay,
110 Rage and Death triumph to-day.
[The procession disperses, and the music strikes dead and solemn.]
SCENE III.
ORCHAMUS, LEUCOTHOE, &c. &c.
ORCHAMUS.
111 Hold yet a moment! ere the impervious skreen,
112 Which severs world from world, be drawn between;
113 Ere yet I am of all my hopes beguil'd,
114 Let me once more embrace my wretched child;
[Page 48]
115 The judge, the sov'reign, have their parts supply'd,
116 And now the parent will be satisfy'd.
LEUCOTHÖE.
117 My father! oh be quick to drive me down.
118 Gape wide, ye rocks, and save me from his frown!
ORCHAMUS.
119 Be not of thy fond father's frowns afraid,
120 Nor think he comes thy folly to upbraid;
121 No, rather to these sad proceedings loath,
122 He comes to mourn the cause which ruins both;
123 That rigid honour, whose stern voice demands
124 Thy forfeit life at his unwilling hands.
LEUCOTHÖE.
125 To death, without repining, I submit,
126 As to a thing which Heaven and you think fit;
127 Whate'er hath been my crime, while yet I live,
128 Let me but hear you pity and forgive.
ORCHAMUS.
129 Forgive you! pity you! oh that I do,
130 These tears be witness which my cheeks bedew.
131 Would any thing but death might purge our line
132 From your offence, or any death but thine;
133 For with thee all my joys will take their leave,
134 And I shall walk in sorrow to the grave.
[Page 49]
LEUCOTHÖE.
135 Stop! stop! those sacred show'rs, they must not fall
136 For me; I now indeed am criminal.
ORCHAMUS.
137 The mother-hind,
138 Distract in mind,
139 Her young one made the hunter's prey;
140 Wide o'er the lawn,
141 From rosy dawn
142 To dewy ev'ning takes her way;
143 Till quite o'ercome,
144 With fruitless pain,
145 Weary'd at length she lays her down,
146 In sad despair,
147 And fills the plain
148 All night with miserable moan.
149 'Tis thus, when thou art gone, thy Sire shall be;
150 So shall he wish by day, so mourn at night, for thee.
LEUCOTHÖE.
151 Behold thus low, your wretched, indiscreet,
152 Unhappy daughter, casts her at your feet.
153 Oh! wherefore did not my frail being end,
154 Ere I had pow'r such goodness to offend?
155 Before my crimes had stain'd my royal race,
156 Or drawn a tear along that sacred face.
[Page 50]
ORCHAMUS.
157 Good heav'n and earth! turn; Nature, turn aside;
158 Turn, nor behold this pious parricide,
159 Lest, blind to chance, and ign'rant of the cause,
160 You think mankind, like me, has left your laws.
To Leucothöe.
161 Farewel! the time calls on us, we must part.
162 This last embrace Down, down, my swelling heart.
LEUCOTHÖE.
163 Look on me.
ORCHAMUS.
163 You there who attend the rites,
164 Haste to perform the farther requisites.
165 Nature, lie still!
LEUCOTHÖE.
165 I come Oh why, my blood,
166 Why run'st thou to my heart a freezing flood?
167 Why trembl'st thou, my flesh? Limbs yet awhile
168 Support me but a few short moments past,
169 Dissolving Death shall free you from your toil,
170 And give ye up to everlasting rest.
A rock being removed, the mouth of the caverns appears. She starts, then advances towards it.
171 Thou dark abyss! whose womb obscene
172 Is fraught with ev'ry mortal pain,
[Page 51]
173 Whose horrid jaws, in dread display,
174 Gape to devour me take your prey!
175 Receive me, yet the vital lamps,
176 All burning with spiritu'us fire,
177 Among thy raw, unwholesome damps,
178 Unseen, unpity'd, to expire.
[The priest preparing to put her down.
ORCHAMUS.
179 Stay! yet again forbear an instant hold!
180 Ye Gods, regard me, I'm infirm, and old;
[Kneeling.
181 A load of grief unable to sustain!
182 Let not the weak and suppliant beg in vain.
183 If with mistaken piety I rate
184 This crime, if justice asks not what I give,
185 Arrest th' uplifted arm of vengeful fate;
186 Appear! and bid the destin'd victim live.
CHORUS.
187 Your blissful mansions leave!
188 Appear! and save!
STROPHE.
189 The pow'rs are silent to our pray'r.
ANTI-STROPHE.
190 Nor signs of mercy shew.
[Page 52]
STROPHE.
191 Whom Heav'n condemns, shall mortal spare?
SROPHE, ANTI-STROPHE.
192 No! no! no!
[They put her into a cavern.
ORCHAMUS.
[Turning about just as she disappears.]
193 Ye solid poles, give way; ye skies, roll back;
194 Earth, from your deep foundations, be disjoin'd:
195 Burst nature round me in a gen'ral wrack,
196 All horrible confusion, like my mind!
197 Oh me! unhappy father, where,
198 Where shall I go to seek relief?
199 Ev'ry object, ev'ry place,
200 Tends my sorrows to encrease;
201 Not one to blot away my care,
202 Not one to cure my grief.
[Page 53]
SCENE IV.
Enter CLYTIE in wild disorder, followed by her Slaves.
CLYTIE.
203 Oh! are you found, Sir? What is't you have done,
204 To raise the anger of th' immortal SUN?
205 Speak quickly; answer me, without delay:
206 Where is your daughter? where's LEUCOTHÖE?
ORCHAMUS.
207 I prithee ask me not; my heart-veins bleed
208 Each time I think of it. Oh! where indeed?
209 Where but dread consequence of jealous spleen!
210 For thy officiousness she ne'er had been.
CLYTIE.
211 For my officiousness! What, then you'd make
212 Me partner of your guilt! Perdition take
213 The execrable purpose! I disclaim
214 Whatever you have done. Look to't, the blame
215 On your own head. But, hark! it comes apace!
216 The thunder comes! Fly, instant fly this place!
[Page 54]
217 Would you their safety, or your own, consult?
[Pointing to those about him.
218 For my part, I shall stay to meet the bolt.
[Orchamus and his people withdraw.
SCENE V.
PHOEBUS with the HORAE, CLYTIE with her Slaves.
PHOEBUS, entring.
219 Oh most accursed King! inhuman Sire!
220 My life! my love! my only heart's desire!
221 LEUCOTHÖE! Oh murder'd! Hence, away
222 Like light'ning: help her ere 'tis yet too late.
[To the Hours.
223 If there's a spark of life unquench'd, we may
224 Redeem her still, and snatch her soul from fate
[Going off.
CLYTIE, kneeling.
225 Oh, PHOEBUS! hither turn your angry eyes!
[Exit Phoebus, Clytie looking after him.
226 What! gone without a word!
[Page 55]
SLAVE.
226 Dear Lady, rise:
227 Think where you are
CLYTIE.
227 Went he not frowning too?
228 What sudden horrors rush upon my view!
Rising, and casting round her eyes.
229 What desolate coast is this we tread,
230 So like the dreary nation of the dead?
231 Thus wretched Ariadne, left behind,
232 Wept on the shores of Argos, bleak and bare;
233 While cruel Theseus fled before the wind,
234 Nor listen'd to the voice of her despair.
SLAVE.
235 Laid her on gently.
CLYTIE.
235 Stay ye yet awhile;
236 My brain's on fire, my blood begins to boil:
237 What do you hold me for? Stand off.
SLAVE.
237 Alas!
238 What still I've fear'd at length is come to pass.
239 Her senses are disturb'd.
[Thunder.
CLYTIE.
239 What noise was that?
240 Jove talking all the Gods are in debate
[Page 56]
241 Upon my future welfare. Hark! hark! hark!
242 Not a word more 'tis grown exceeding dark:
243 See clouds on clouds above each other rise,
244 In sable mountains, to obscure the skies.
245 'Tis done! Where am I? Let me grope my way
246 Again thro' this black passage into day.
247 Ah, wretch! bewilder'd wretch!
248 In vain my arms I stretch,
249 In vain I feel about:
250 Will no kind star afford its light,
251 To guide my erring steps aright?
252 No friendly hand held out,
253 Conduct me thro' this gloom of night!
SLAVE.
254 Patience! sweet patience! all shall yet go well.
CLYTIE.
255 At length the vapours gradu'lly dispel;
256 Sure 'tis the dawn, from yonder point it breaks,
257 Bright'ning the front of heav'n with rosy streaks.
[Thunder again.
258 There leap'd th' eternal coursers with a bound
259 From the green flood and now 'tis light around.
260 Lo! where aloft immortal PHOEBUS stands,
261 Graceful the reins, depending from his hands:
262 He looks, he smiles, he beckons me from far;
263 I run, I fly, I mount the fiery car.
[Page 57]
264 Oh! Triumph, Triumph, seated by his side,
265 Sublime in splendor, thro' the air I ride.
266 We come! we come!
267 Make room! make room!
268 Now climbing heav'n's stupend'ous steep,
269 We view the Empyrean height;
270 Now o'er the smooth meridian sweep,
271 The earth below too small for sight;
272 Now down the blue concave descending again,
273 Impetu'us we drive to the western main:
274 While at every crash,
275 Of the thundering lash,
276 As we whirl along, the zodiac round
277 Replies to the stroke, and ecchoes the sound.
278 Bless me! oh, how am I oppress'd?
279 Soft, lay me gently down to rest.
CHORUS.
280 Her wits return; ye pow'rs! restore,
281 And yield her to herself once more.
CLYTIE, the slaves laying her on the ground.
282 At some tall mountain's hoary feet,
283 With shelving rocks and trees o'erhung,
284 Whose head incessant tempests beat,
285 And ravens pester all day long;
286 Let me where slow meander steers
287 Its course, upon the banks reclin'd,
288 Augment the water with my tears,
289 And with my sighs increase the wind.
[Page 58]
SCENE VI.
PHOEBUS, CLYTIE, &c. &c.
PHOEBUS.
290 Desist, desist; your pains are fruitless all,
291 The vital spirit's fled beyond recal,
292 Sunk to those shades from whence it ne'er must rise,
293 From whence grim Pluto never yields a prize.
294 Inexorable pow'r! Oh might we mix
295 Ev'n here, content from heav'n I would remove,
296 Upon thy ruthless sepulchre to fix
297 A monument of wretchedness and love.
One of the HORAE.
298 Far be such sorrows from the God of DAY,
299 Who next to Jove bears universal sway;
300 Suppose your mistress dead, exert your pow'r,
301 She still may glide a stream, expand a flow'r;
302 Or rising stately in the sylvan scene,
303 Stretch forth a leafy umbrage o'er the green.
PHOEBUS.
304 It shall be so; yes, dear unhappy maid,
305 Since thy sad lover can no farther aid:
306 Since stubborn Death denies to loose his hold,
307 And yield thy beauties in their proper mold,
[Page 59]
308 Thus I pronounce Grow fruitful, steril grave!
309 And strait do thou thy former species leave.
310 Exist tho' not as thou wert wont to be;
311 No more a woman, flourish in a tree!
312 So shall thy body changed, as heretofore,
313 Teach deities to bend, and mortals to adore.
CHORUS.
314 What sudden fragrance fills the air!
315 Lo! the blooming shoots appear!
316 Parent earth,
317 Assist the birth,
318 So shall her body, chang'd as heretofore,
319 Teach deities to bend, and mortals to adore.
The body of Leucothöe, supposed to be changed into a tree of frankincense, rises slowly out of the rock.
PHOEBUS.
320 Thrice sacred plant!
321 Thus Heav'n thy favour'd growth endows;
322 A spicy scent
323 Spring ever from thy teeming boughs,
324 While round thy root rich unguent flows.
325 The tears you shed,
326 To Gods a grateful sacrifice,
327 On altars laid,
328 In aromatic smoke shall rise,
329 And plead for mortals with the skies.
[Phoebus about to withdraw.
[Page 60]
CLYTIE starting up, catches hold of his robe.
330 By the breeze that passing sighs,
331 By the rocks that round us rise;
332 By the stars that dimly glow,
333 Witness of my present woe;
334 By the mountains, by the woods,
335 By the grotto's, by the floods,
336 By the dear transporting nights,
337 Witness of our past delights:
338 For love for former friendship's sake,
339 I charge you stay and hear me speak.
PHOEBUS.
340 Unhand me!
CLYTIE.
340 Mercy!
PHOEBUS.
340 Fury, let me go!
341 Or
CLYTIE.
341 Never, never will I loose you. Oh
342 Grant me a little strength! Do break my hands!
343 Destroy me! Dash me on those flinty sands!
344 Yet still persisting will I hold you fast,
345 And, striving to embrace you, breathe my last.
[Page 61]
PHOEBUS, dragging her out of sight.
346 Nay, then!
CLYTIE.
346 O stay Kind Venus, help afford!
347 Here let me grow a statue!
PHOEBUS, returning.
347 At your word
348 I take you. Be the thing that you desire,
349 A dread example of immortal ire:
350 Fix'd to that spot, remain to future times,
351 An instance of my veng'ance, and your crimes.
CLYTIE, behind the rocks.
352 What! What is this I feel? I'm bound,
353 My feet are rooted to the ground.
354 A sudden stupor o'er me comes,
355 That ev'ry faculty benumbs;
356 Cold, cold, I freeze!
357 My blood congeals,
358 My eye-sight fails,
359 Death invades me by degrees.
360 I stiffen upward Cruel so!
361 My heart my voice help help me oh!
PHOEBUS.
362 'Tis thus I have reveng'd, in one just hour,
363 My injur'd love, and my offended pow'r.
364 Expose that wretch!
[Page 62]
The Horae setting aside the rocks which obscured her, discover Clytie transformed to a statue. Her Slaves gather about it weeping.
364 Such ever be the end
365 Of those rash mortals who with Gods contend.
366 But first to finish what there yet remains!
367 Thou horrid prospect of dry, sandy plains,
368 Unfit, all rueful as ye now appear,
369 To nurse the precious reliques of my dear,
370 Smooth your rough face with instant verdure crown'd,
371 Let smiling Spring encompass ye around;
372 While we in decent sorrows mourn the dead,
373 And with due rites appease her injur'd shade.
The scene is totally changed to a delightful prospect of a champaign country, the Tree and Statue still in view. A dance is performed proper to the subject.
CHORUS.
374 Enough! enough! your games give o'er,
375 The well-pleas'd ghost demands no more:
376 Deep in the coverts of the grove,
377 Where helpless lovers joy to rove,
378 Secure she rests, nor farther heeds
379 The weak effects of earthly deeds.
FINIS.

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Title (in Source Edition): LEUCOTHOE.
Themes: mythology
Genres: drama

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Bickerstaff, Isaac, 1735-1812. Leucothoe. A dramatic poem. London: printed for R. and J. Dodsley; and sold by M. Cooper, and A. Brown, 1756, pp. []-62. xiii,[4],10-62p.; 8⁰. (ESTC T154633; OTA K116684.000) (Page images from microfilm in the Serials in Microform (SIM) collection.)

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The text has been typographically modernized, but without any silent modernization of spelling, capitalization, or punctuation. The source of the text is given and all editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. Based on the electronic text originally produced by the TCP project, this ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.