When Hymen joins your hands, and mufic's voice
Makes the glad echoes of thy domes rejoice,
Then shall Dione force the crowded hall,
Kneel at thy feet, and loud for juftice call:
Could you behold her weltering on the ground,
The purple dagger reeking from the wound;
Could you, unmov'd, this dreadful sight survey?
Such fatal scenes shall stain the bridal day.
Lycidas.

The horrid thought finks deep into my foul,
And down my cheek unwilling forrows roll.
Diane

From this new flame you may as yet recede,
Or have you doom'd that guiltless maid fhall
bleed?

Lycidas.

Name her no more.-Hafte, feek the fylvan fair.
Dione.

Should the rich proffer tempt her liftening ear,
Bid all your piece adieu. O barbarous youth,
Can you forego your honour, love, and truth?
Yet fhould Parthenia wealth and title flight,
Would juftice then restore Dione's right?
Would you then dry her ever-falling tears;
And blefs with honeft love your future years?
Lycidas.

I'll in yon fhade thy with'd return attend;
Come, quickly come, and cheer thy fighing friend.
[Exit Lycidas.

Dione.

Should her proud soul resist the tempting bait,
Should the contemn his proffer'd wealth and ftate;
Then I once more his perjur'd heart may move,
And in his bofom wake the dying love.

As the pale wretch involv'd in doubts and fears,
All trembling in the judgment-hall appears;
So fhall I stand before Parthenia's eyes,
For as the dooms, Dione lives or dies.

ACT IV. SCENE I.

LYCIDAS, PARTHENIA, afleep in a Bower.

Lycidas.

MAY no rude wind the rustling branches move;
Breathe foft, ye filent gales, nor wake my love.
Ye thepherds, piping homeward on the way,
Let not the diftant echoes learn your lay;
Strain not, ye nightingales, your warbling throat,
May no loud fhake prolong the fhriller note,
Left she awake; O fleep, fecure her eyes,
That I may gaze; for, if the wake, fhe flies.
While eafy dreams compofe her peaceful foul,
What anxious cares within my befom roll!
If tir'd with fighs beneath the beech I lie,
And languid flumber clofe my weeping eye,
Her lovely vifion rifes to my view,'

Swift flies the nymph, and (wift would I purfue;
I ftrive to call, my tongue has loft its found;
Like rooted oaks, my feet benumb'd are bound;
Struggling I wake. Again my forrows flow,
And not one flattering dream deludes my woe.
What innocence! how meek is every grace!

-What voice alarms my ear? Away. Approach not. Hah! Alexis there! Let us together to the vales descend, And to the folds our bleating charge attend; But let me hear no more that fhepherd's name,

Dione.

Can I behold him gasping on the ground,
And feek no healing herb to ftaunch the wound?
For thee continual fighs confume his heart,
'Tis you alone can cure the bleeding smart.
Once more I come the moving caufe to plead,
If ftill his fufferings cannot intercede,
Yet let my friendship do his paffion right,
And show thy lover in his native light.
Parthenia.

Why in dark mystery are thy words involv'd?
If Lycidas you mean; know, I'm refolv'd.

Dione.

Let not thy kindling rage my words restrain.
Know then, Parthenia flights no vulgar fwain.
For thee he bears the fcrip and sylvan crook,
For thee the glories of a court forfook.
May not thy heart the wealthy flame decline!
His honours, his poffeffions, all are thine.
Parthenia.

If he's a courtier, O ye nymphs, beware;
Those who most promise are the leaft fincere.
The quick-ey'd hawk fhoots headlong from above,
And in his pounces bears the trembling dove;
The pilfering wolf o'erleaps the fold's defence.
But the falfe courtier preys on innocence.
If he's a courtier, O ye nymphs, beware :
Those who moft promife are the least sincere.
Dione.

Alas! thou ne'er haft prov'd the sweets of state,
Nor known that female pleasure, to be great.
'Tis for the town ripe clusters load the poles,
And all our autumn crowns the courtier's bowls;
For him our woods the red-ey'd pheasant breed,
And annual coveys in our harvest feed;
For him with fruit the bending branch is for'd,
Plenty pours all her bleffings on his board.
If (when the market to the city calls)
We chance to pass befide his palace-walls,
Does not his hall with mufic's voice refound,

And the floor tremble with the dancer's bound?
Such are the pleasures Lycidas fhall give,
When thy relenting bosom bids him live.

Parthenia.

See yon gay goldfinch hop from spray to spray,
Who fings a farewell to the parting day;
At large he flies o'er hill and dale and down;
Is not each bush, each spreading tree his own?
And canst thou think he'll quit his native brier,
For the bright cage o'er-arch'd with golden wire?
What then are honours, pomp and gold to me?
Are those a price to purchase liberty?

Dione.

Think, when the Hymeneal torch shall blaze,
And on the folemn rites the virgins gaze;
When thy fair locks with glittering gems are
grac'd,

And the bright zone shall sparkle round thy waift;
How will their hearts with envious forrow pine,
When Lycidas fhall join his hand to thine!

Parthenia.

And yet, Alexis, all that pomp and show
Are oft the varnish of internal woe.
When the chafte lamb is from her fifters led,

The gazing flock, all envious of her pride,
Behold her skipping by the priestefs' fide;
Each hopes the flowery wreath with longing eyes;
While the, alas! is led to facrifice!

Thus walks the bride in all her state array'd,
The gaze and envy of each thoughtless maid.
Dione.

As yet her tongue refifts the tempting fnare,
And guards my panting bosom from despair.

[Afide

Can thy ftrong foul this noble flame forego?
Muft fuch a lover wafte his life in woe?
Parthenia.

Tell him, his gifts I fcorn; not all his art,
Not all his flattery fhall feduce my heart.
Courtiers, I know, are difciplin'd to cheat,
Their infant lips are taught to lifp deceit;
To prey on eafy nymphs they range the shade,
And vainly boaft of innocence betray'd;
Chafte hearts, unlearn'd in falfehood, they affail,
And think our car will drink the grateful tale.
No. Lycidas fhall ne'er my peace destroy,
I'll guard my virtue, and content enjoy.
Dione.

So ftrong a paffion in my bofom burns,
Whene'er his foul is griev'd, Alexis mourns!
Canft thou this importuning ardor blame? [fame?
Would not thy tongue for friendship urge the

Parthenia.

Yes, blooming fwain. You fhow an honest mind;
1 fee it, with the purest flame refin’d.
Who fhall compare love's mean and grofs defire
To the chafte zeal of friendship's facred fire?
By whining love our weakness is confest!
But ftronger friendship shows a virtuous breast.
In folly's heart the short-liy'd blaze may glow,
Wisdom alone can purer friendship know.
Love is a fudden blaze which foon decays,
Friendship is like the fun's eternal rays;
Not daily benefits exhauft the flame,

It fill is giving, and ftill burns the fame;
And could Alexis from his foul remove
All the low images of groffer love;

Such mild, fuch gentle looks thy heart declare,
Fain would my breast thy faithful friendship share.
Dione.

How dare you in the different fex confide?
And feek a friendship which you ne'er have try'd?
Parthenia.

Yes, I to thee could give up all my heart.
From thy chafte eye no wanton glances dart;
Thy modeft lips convey no thought impure,
With thee may strictest virtue walk fecure.
Dione.

Yet can I fafely on the nymph depend,
Whofe unrelenting fcorn can kill my friend!

Parthenia.

Accuse me not, who act a generous part;
Had I, like city maids, a fraudful heart,
Then had his proffers taught my foul te feign,
Then had I vilely floopt to fordid gain,
Then had I figh'd for honours, pomp and gold,
And for unhappy chains my freedom fold.
If you would fave him, bid him leave the plais,

There, thall his paffion find a ready cure, There not one dame refifts the glittering lure.

Dione.

All this I frequent urg'd, but urg'd in vain. Alas! thou only canft affuage his pain!

SCENE IV.

DIONE, Parthenia, Lycidas.

Lycidas.

[Listening.

Why ftays Alexis? can my bofom bear
Thus long alternate storms of hope and fear?
Yonder they walk; no frowns her brow disguise,
But love-confenting sparkles in her eyes;
Here will I listen, here, impatient wait.
Spare me, Parthenia, and refign thy hate.

Parthenia.

When Lycidas fhall to the court repair, Still let Alexis love his fleecy care;

Parthenia,

[Afide.

With thee, where bearded goats defcend the fteep,
Or where, like winter's fnow, the nibbling sheep
Clothe the flope hills; I'll pass the cheerful day,
And from thy reed my voice fhall catch the lay.
But fee, still evening spreads her dusky wings,
The flock, flow-moving from the misty springs,
Now feek their fold. Come, fhepherd, let's away,
To clofe the latest labours of the day.
[Exeunt hand in hand
SCENE V.
LYCIDAS.

My troubled heart what dire difafters rend?
A fcornful mistress, and a treacherous friend!
Would ye be cozen'd, more than woman can,
Unlock your bofom to perfidious man.
One faithful woman have these eyes beheld,
And against her this perjur'd heart rebell'd:
But fearch as far as earth's wide bounds extend,
Where fhall the wretched find one faithful friend?

-She ftraight my call obey'd And downy flumber left the lovely maid; As in the morn awakes the folded rofe, And all around her breathing odour throws;

Dione.

As fparkling diamonds to the feather'd train,
Who fcrape the winnow'd chaff in search of grain;
Such to the shepherdefs the court appears:
Content she feeks, and fpurns thofe glittering cares
Lycidas.

'Tis not in woman grandeur to despise,
'Tis not from courts, from me alone fhe flies.
Did not my paflion fuffer like difgrace,
While the believ'd me born of sylvan race?
Doft thou not think, this proudeft of her kind
Has to fome rival fwain her heart resign'd?
Dione.

No rival fhepherd her disdain can move;
Her frozen bofom is averfe to love.

Lycidas.
Say, art theu fure, that this ungrateful fair
Scorns all alike, bids all alike despair?
Dione.
How can I know the fecrets of her heart?
Lycidas,
Answer fincere, nor from the question start,
Say, in her glance was never love confeft,
And is no fwain diftinguish'd from the reft?
Digne.

O Lycidas, bid all thy troubles cease;
Let not a thought on her disturb thy peace.
May justice bid thy former paffion wake;
Think how Dione fuffers for thy fake:
Let not a broken oath thy honour stain,
Recal thy yows, and seek the town again.
Lycidas.

What means Alexis? where's thy friendship flown?
Why am I banish'd to the hateful town?
Hath fome new fhepherd warm'd Parthenia's

breaft?

Was not thy bofom fraught with false defign?

Let not thy kindling rage my words reftrain.
Know then, Parthenia flights no vulgar swain.
For thee he bears the fcrip and sylvan crook,
For thee the glories of a court forfook.
May not thy heart the wealthy flame decline!
His honours, his poffeffions, all are thine.
Parthenia.

If he's a courtier, O ye nymphs, beware;
Those who most promife are the leaft fincere.
The quick-ey'd hawk fhoots headlong from above,
And in his pounces bears the trembling dove;
The pilfering wolf o'erleaps the fold's defence.
But the falle courtier preys on innocence.
If he's a courtier, O ye nymphs, beware:
Those who moft promise are the least fincere.
Dione.

Alas! thou ne'er haft prov'd the sweets of state,
Nor known that female pleasure, to be great.
'Tis for the town ripe clusters load the poles,
And all our autumn crowns the courtier's bowls;
For him our woods the red-ey'd pheasant breed,
And annual coveys in our harvest feed;
For him with fruit the bending branch is for'd,
Plenty pours all her bleflings on his board.
If (when the market to the city calls)
We chance to pass befide his palace-walls,
Does not his hall with mufic's voice refound,
And the floor tremble with the dancer's bound?
Such are the pleasures Lycidas shall give,
When thy relenting bofom bids him live.

Parthenia.

See yon gay goldfinch hop from spray to spray,
Who fings a farewell to the parting day;
At large he flies o'er hill and dale and down;
Is not each bush, each spreading tree his own?
And canst thou think he'll quit his native brier,
For the bright cage o'er-arch'd with golden wire?
What then are honours, pomp and gold to me?
Are those a price to purchase liberty?
Dione.

Think, when the Hymeneal torch shall blaze,
And on the folemn rites the virgins gaze;
When thy fair locks with glittering gems are
grac'd,

And the bright zone fhall sparkle round thy waift;
How will their hearts with envious forrow pine,
When Lycidas fhall join his hand to thine!

Parthenia.

And yet, Alexis, all that pomp and show
Are oft the varnish of internal woe.
When the chafte lamb is from her fifters led,

The gazing flock, all envious of her pride,
Behold her skipping by the priestefs' fide;
Each hopes the flowery wreath with longing eyes;
While the, alas! is led to facrifice!

Thus walks the bride in all her state array'd,
The gaze and envy of each thoughtless maid.
Dione.

As yet her tongue refifts the tempting fnare,
And guards my panting bofom from despair.

[Afide.
Can thy ftrong foul this noble flame forego?
Muft fuch a lover wafte his life in woe?
Parthenia.

Tell him, his gifts I fcorn; not all his art,
Not all his flattery fhall feduce my heart.
Courtiers, I know, are difciplin❜d to cheat,
Their infant lips are taught to lifp deceit;
To prey on ealy nymphs they range the shade,
And vainly boaft of innocence betray'd;
Chafte hearts, unlearn'd in falfehood, they affail,
And think our car will drink the grateful tale.
No. Lycidas fhall ne'er my peace destroy,
I'll guard my virtue, and content enjoy.

Dione.

Yes, blooming fwain. You show an honest mind;
1 fee it, with the purest flame refin'd.
Who fhall compare love's mean and gross defire
To the chafte zeal of friendship's facred fire?
By whining love our weakness is confeft!
But ftronger friendship fhows a virtuous breast.
In folly's heart the short-liv'd blaze may glow,
Wisdom alone can purer friendship know.
Love is a fudden blaze which foon decays,
Friendship is like the fun's eternal rays;
Not daily benefits exhaust the flame,

It ftill is giving, and still burns the fame;
And could Alexis from his foul remove
All the low images of groffer love;

Such mild, fuch gentle looks thy heart declare,
Fain would my breast thy faithful friendship share.
Dione.

How dare you in the different fex confide?
And feek a friendship which you ne'er have try'd?
Parthenia.

Yes, I to thee could give up all my heart.
From thy chafte eye no wanton glances dart;
Thy modeft lips convey no thought impure,
With thee may stricteft virtue walk fecure.
Dione.

Yet can I fafely on the nymph depend,
Whofe unrelenting fcorn can kill my friend!

Parthenia.

Accufe me not, who act a generous part ;
Had I, like city maids, a fraudful heart,
Then had his proffers taught my foul to feign,
Then had I vilely floopt to fordid gain,
Then had I figh'd for honours, pomp and gold,
And for unhappy chains my freedom fold.
If you would fave him, bid him leave the plais,

-She ftraight my call obey'd, And downy flumber left the lovely maid; As in the morn awakes the folded rofe, And all around her breathing odour throws;

Lycidas.

-Could thy guarded heart,

When her full beauty glow'd, put by the dart ?
Yet on Alexis let my foul depend;

'Tis most ungenerous to fufpect a friend.
And thou, I hope, hast well that name profest,
Dione.

O could thy piercing eye discern my breast!
Could't thou the secrets of my bofom fee,
There every thought is fill'd with cares for thee.
Lycidas.

Is there, against hypocrify, defence.
Who clothes her words and looks with innocence !
[Afide

Say, fhepherd, when you proffer'd wealth and ftate,

Did not her fcorn and fuppled pride abate?

Dione.

As fparkling diamonds to the feather'd train,
Who scrape the winnow'd chaff in search of grain ;
Such to the shepherdefs the court appears:
Content she seeks, and spurns those glittering cares
Lycidas,

'Tis not in woman grandeur to defpife,
'Tis not from courts, from me alone fhe flies.

Did not my paflion fuffer like difgrace,
While the believ'd me born of sylvan race?
Doft thou not think, this proudest of her kind,
Has to fome rival fwain her heart resign'd?
Dione.

No rival fhepherd her disdain can move;
Her frozen bofom is averfe to love.
Lycidas.
Say, art theu fure, that this ungrateful fair
Scorns all alike, bids all alike despair?
Dione.
How can I know the fecrets of her heart?
Lycidas,
Answer fincere, nor from the question start,
Say, in her glance was never love confeft,
And is no fwain distinguish'd from the rest?
Dione.

O Lycidas, bid all thy troubles cease;
Let not a thought on her disturb thy peace.
May justice bid thy former paffion wake;
Think how Dione fuffers for thy fake:
Let not a broken oath thy honour stain,
Recal thy vows, and seek the town again.
Lycidas.

What means Alexis? where's thy friendship flown?
Why am I banish'd to the hateful town?
Hath fome new shepherd warm'd Parthenia's

Was not thy bofom fraught with false design?