George Granville

“ This Moment, now, the Murth'rer's in our Pow'r.
Leave Love in Cottages and Cells to reign,
With Nymphs obscure, and with the lowly Swain.
Who waste their Days and Strength in such short Joys,
Are Fools, that barter precious Life for Toys.
Arcab. They're Fools who preach we waste our Days and Strength;
What is a Life, whose only Charm is Length?
Give me a Life that's short, and wing'd with Joy,
A Life of Love, whose Minutes never cloy:
What is an Age in dull Renown drudg'd o'er?
One little single Hour of Love is more.
An Attendant enters hastily, and whispers Arcalaus. ”

“ Thy Heart, fond Lover, does thy Threats belie,
Canst thou hurt her, for whom thou yet wou'dst die?
Nor durst she thus thy just Resentment brave,
But that she knows how much thy Soul's her Slave.
But see! Aurora rising with the Sun
Dissolves my Charm, and frees th' enchanted Moon,
My Spells no longer bind at Sight of Day,
And young Endymion calls his Love away.
Love's the Reward of all, on Earth, in Heav'n,
And for a Plague, to me alone was giv'n.
Evils we cannot shun we must endure,
Death and a broken Heart's a ready Cure. ”

“ Myra is Venus, and Diana too;
All that was feign'd of them, apply'd to her, is true:
Then sing, my Muse, let Myra be our Theme.
As when the Shepherds wou'd a Garland make,
They search with Pains the fragrant Meadows round,
Plucking but here and there, and only take
The sweetest Flowers, with which some Nymph is crown'd:
In framing Myra so divinely fair,
Nature has taken the same Care,
All that is lovely, noble, good, we see,
All, beauteous Myra, all bound up in thee. ”

“ On things immortal all Attempts are vain,
Tyrant Disease, 'tis loss of Time and Pain;
Glut thy wild Rage, and load thee with rich Prize,
Torn from her Cheeks, her fragrant Lips and Eyes,
As much Vermillion, as much Lustre take,
As might a Hellen or a Venus make;
Like Thetis, she shall frustrate thy vain Rape,
And in variety of Charms escape.
The twinkling Stars drop numberless each Night,
Yet shines the radiant Firmament as bright;
So from the Ocean should we Rivers drain,
Still wou'd enough to drown the World remain. ”

“ Seeing, we love, and hearing, we grow wise:
So Rome, for Wisdom as for Conquest fam'd,
Improv'd with Arts whom she by Arms had tam'd.
Above the Clouds is plac'd this glorious Light,
Nothing lies hid from her enquiring Sight;
Athens and Rome for Arts restor'd rejoice,
Their Language takes new Musick from her Voice.
Learning and Love in the same Seat we find,
So bright her Form, and so adorn'd's her Mind. ”

“ Keep thy bright Theme within thy steady Sight, ⁠
The Clouds shall fly before the dazling Light,
And everlasting Day direct thy lofty Flight:
Thou who hast never yet put on Disguise
To flatter Folly, or descend to Vice,
Let no vain Fear thy gen'rous Ardour tame,
But stand erect, and sound as loud as Fame.
As when our Eye some Prospect would pursue,
Descending from a Hill, looks round to view,
Passes o’er Lawns and Meadows, till it gains
Some beauteous Spot, and fixing there remains:
With equal Rapture my transported Muse
Flies other Objects, this bright Theme to chuse. ”

“ What but her Death——When Amadis is free
From Hopes of her, there may be Hope for me.
Arcal. Thou Cloud to his bright Juno! Fool, shall lie
Who has lov'd her, ever descend to thee?
Arcab. Much vainer Fool art thou; where are those Charms
That are to tempt a Princess to thy Arms?
Thou Vulcan to Oriana's Mars.
Arcal. But yet,
This Vulcan has that Mars within his Net.
Your Counsel comes too late, for 'tis decreed,
To make the Woman sure, the Man shall bleed. ”

“ Weigh well their Actions, and their treacherous Ends,
How Greatness grows, and by what Steps ascends,
What Murders, Treasons, Perjuries, Deceit,
How many fall, to make one Monster great.
Wou'd you command? Have Fortune in you'r Pow'r?
Hug whom you stab, and smile when you devour:
Be bloody, false, flatter, forswear, and lie,
Turn Pander, Pathick, Parasite, or Spy;
Such thriving Arts may your wish’d Purpose bring,
At least a General be, perhaps a King. ”

“ Fifth Dance of Captives.
Florestan and Corisanda run into each other's Arms.
Flor. In this enchanting Circle let me be,
For ever and for ever bound with thee.
Cor. Life of my Life, and Charmer of my Heart;
From these Embraces let us never part.
Flor. Never, O never——In some safe Retreat,
Far from the Noise and Tumults of the Great,
Secure and happy on each other's Breast,
Within each other's Arms we'll ever rest ”

“ Whence sprang, and how began these Griefs, declare,
How much thy Love, how cruel thy Despair.
Ye Moon and Stars, by whose auspicious Light
I haunt these Groves, and waste the tedious Night,
Tell, for you know the Burthen of my Heart,
Its killing Anguish, and its secret Smart.
Too late for Hope, for my Repose too soon,
I saw, and lov'd: Her Heart engag'd, was gone:
A happier Man possess'd whom I adore ”

“ Oriana stands silent and weeping a-while, Constantius
looking concern'd. After a short Pause, Oriana speaks.
Ori. Your Stars and mine have chosen you, to prove
The noblest Way how gen'rous Men should love;
All boast their Flames, but yet no Woman found
A Passion, where Self-love was not the Ground. ”

“ Flourish of all the Musick, The Captives are set at
Liberty. Arcabon frees Amadis her self.
SONG.
Liberty! Liberty!
Ah how sweet is Liberty!
Arm, arm, the gen'rous Britons cry,
Let us live free, or let us die,
Trumpets sounding, Banners flying,
Braving Tyrants, Chains defying,
Arm, arm, the gen'rous Britons cry,
Let us live free, or let us die,
Liberty! Liberty! ”

“ Tho' in mean Lines they their vast Joys declare,
Yet for Sincerity and Truth, they dare
With your own Tasso's mighty self compare.
Then, bright and merciful as Heav’n, receive
From them such Praises, as to Heav’n they give,
Their Praises for that gentle Influence,
Which those auspicious Lights, your Eyes, dispense.
Those radiant Eyes, whose irresistless Fame
Strikes Envy dumb, and keeps Sedition tame:
They can to gazing Multitudes give Law,
Convert the Factious, and the Rebel awe:
They conquer for the Duke ”

“ Urganda takes Oriana's Hand leading her out. As
Amadis is following, Arcabon takes him by the Robe.
Arcab. What, not one Look! not one dissembling Smile,
To thank me for your Life! Or to beguile
Despair? Cold and ungrateful as thou art,
Hence from my Sight for ever, and my Heart. ”

“ Love's the Flame in which he's burning.
⁠See the Zephyrs kissing close,
On Flora's Breast their Wings repose.
Hail to Love! the softest Pleasure;
Love and Beauty reign for ever.
DANCE.
Dance of Shepherds and Shepherdesses.
Shepherdess to Amadis.
Now Mortal prepare,
⁠For thy Fate is at hand,
Now Mortal prepare
⁠And surrender.
For Love shall arise,
⁠Whom no Pow'r can withstand,
Who rules from the Skies
⁠To the Center. ”

“ Nor blush at Joys that only you can give.
Who with bold Eyes survey’d those matchless Charms,
Is punish’d, seeing in another’s Arms.
With greedy Looks he views each naked Part,
Joy feeds his Sight, but Envy tears his Heart. ”

“ All Hearts are yours, ev'n mine, that fierce and free
Ranging at large, disdain’d Captivity,
Caught by your Charms, the Savage trembling lies,
And prostrate in his Chain, for Mercy dies.
Ori. Respect is limited to Pow'r alone,
Beauty distrest, like Kings from Empire thrown,
Each Insolent invades, regardless of a Frown.
How art thou chang'd, ah wretched Princess! now,
When ev'ry Slave that loves, dares tell thee so!
Arcal. If I do love, the Fault is in your Eyes,
Blame them that wound, and not the Slave that dies:
If we may love, then sure we may declare ”

“ Like Persians to the Sun:
Even Life and Death and Fate are there,
For in the Rolls of ancient Destiny
Long since 'twas noted down,
The Dying shall revive, the Living die,
But as you Smile, or Frown. ”

“ Amadis addressing to Constantius. ⁠Amad. Were Fortune us'd to smile upon Desert,
Love had been yours; to die had been my Part:
Thus Fate divides the Prize; tho' Beauty's mine,
Yet Fame, our other Mistress, is more thine. ”

“ Greece was the Land where this bright Race begun,
And saw a thousand Rivals to the Sun;
Hence follow’d Arts, each studying with Care,
some new Production to delight the Fair.
To bright Egeria, Socrates retir’d;
His Wisdom grew; but as love inspir’d:
Those Rocks and Oaks that such Emotions felt,
Were cruel Maids, whom Orpheus taught to melt:
Musick and Songs, and ev’ry way to move
The ravisht Heart, were Seeds and Plants of Love.
The Gods entic’d by so divine a Birth,
Descend from Heav’n, to this New-Heav’n on Earth.
Thy Wit, o Mercury, ’s no Defence from Love ”

“ Nature is hush'd, the very Tempests sleep,
The drowzy Winds breathe gently thro' the Trees,
And silent on the Beach repose the Seas:
Love only wakes: The Storm that tears my Breast
For ever rages, and distracts my Rest:
O Love! Relentless Love! Tyrant accurst! ”

“ And now, my Muse, a nobler Song prepare,
And sing it loud, that Heav'n and Earth may hear.
Behold from Italy a wand'ring Ray
Of moving Light illuminates the Day,
Northward she bends, majestically bright,
And here she fixed her Imperial Light.
Be bold, be bold, my Muse, nor fear to raise
Thy Voice to her, who was thy earliest Praise:
What, tho' the sullen Fates refuse to shine,
Or frown severe, on thy audacious Line ”

“ Sick to the Heart, she breathes the nauseous Fume
Of odious Steams, that poison all the Room:
Weeping all Night the trembling Creature lyes,
And counts the tedious Hours when she may rise:
But most she fears, lest waking she shou'd fin,
To make amends, the Monster wou'd be kind:
Those matchless Beauties, worthy of a God,
Must bear, tho' much averse, the loathsome Load. ”

“ Which in soft Musick murm'ring thro' the Trees,
Salute us as we pass———
Cor. The Air we breathe sure is inchanted Air.
[They listen, looking about as surpriz'd.
Enter several of Arcalaus's Magicians, representing Shepherds
and Shepherdesses, singing and dancing.
A SHEPHERDESS.
⁠Follow ye Nymphs and Shepherds all,
Come celebrate this Festival,
And merrily sing, and sport, and play,
For 'tis Oriana's Nuptial Day.
To Oriana.] Queen of Britain, and of Love,
Be happy as the Blest above;
A joyful Day is in thy Power,
Seize, O seize the smiling Hour. ”

“ NOW fly, Discretion, to my Aid,
See haughty Myra, fair and bright,
In all the Pomp of Love array'd,
Ah now I tremble at her Sight!
She comes! She comes! Before her all
Mankind does prostrate fall. ”

“ Of Captives lost, and Love's invok'd in vain.
At her Appearance all their Brightness ends,
Those Stars of Beauty set, when she ascends.
Where Love presides, still may she bear the Prize,
But rigid Law has neither Ears nor Eyes ”

“ Say, Love, how came your Slave so dull
To read no better there?
Thus to our selves the greatest Foes,
Altho' the Nymph be well enclin'd,
For want of Courage to propose,
By our own Folly she's unkind. ”

“ This strict Embrace, to make my Joys run o'er:
The Sight of thee does such vast Transports breed,
That scarce the Ecstasies of Love exceed.
⁠Flor. If beyond Love or Glory is a Taste
Of Pleasure, it is sure in Friendship plac'd. ”

“ WHEN we behold her Angel Face,
Or when she sing with heav'nly Grace,
In what we hear, and what we see,
So ravishing's the Harmony,
The melting Soul, in Rapture lost,
Knows not which Charm enchants it most. ”

“ But conscious Shame, Remorse, and Piety.
Sire of all Arts, defend thy darling Son,
O save the Man, whose Life's so much our own,
On whom, like Atlas, the whole World's reclin'd,
And, by restoring Garth, preserve Mankind. ”

“ Our Love suspended, we neglect the Fair
For whom we burn’d, to gaze adoring here:
So sang the Syrens, with enchanting Sound,
Enticing all to listen and be drown’d,
’Till Orpheus ravish’d in a nobler Strain,
They ceas’d to sing, or singing charm’d in vain. ”

“ With the first Weather's changing;
The Lover, like the Swallow, flies
From Sun to Sun, still ranging.
Myra, let this Example move
Your foolish Heart to Reason:
Youth is the proper time for Love,
And Age is Virtue's Season. ”

“ Bore the disputed Prize from all the Youth of France.
In the first Tryals that are made for Fame,
Those to whom Fate Success denies,
If taking Counsel from their Shame,
They modestly retreat, are wise:
But why shou'd you? ”

“ Like the first Charmer fair, but not so frail,
Against whose Virtue all Temptations fail:
Beneath those Beams that scorch us from her Eyes,
Her snowy Bosom still unmelted lyes;
Love from her Lips spreads all his Odours round,
But bears on Ice, and springs from frozen Ground.
So cold the Clime that can such Wonders bear,
The Garden seem an Emblem of the Fair. ”

“ And swelling like a Torrent, drowns the rest.
Should this curst Wretch, whom most my Soul abhors,
Prove the dear Man whom most my Soul adores,
Love shou'd in vain defend him with his Dart,
Thro' all his Charms I'd stab him to the Heart. ”

“ Remove that mournful Object from the Sight.
Carry off the Body Ere yon' bright Beam is shadow'd o'er with Night,
The stubborn King shall license your Delight;
The Torch, already bright with nuptial Fire,
Shall bring you to the Bridegroom you desire;
And Honour, that so long has kept in doubt,
Be better pleas'd to yield, than to hold out. ”