John Suckling

“ You do redeem th' offence, or make it less;
And, on my life, yet his intents are fair;
And he will but besiege, not force affection:
So you gain time. If you refuse, there's but70
One way; you know his power and passion.
Ther. Into how strange a labyrinth am I
Now fall'n! what shall I do, Zorannes?
Zir. Do, sir, as seamen that have lost their light
And way: strike sail, and lie quiet a while.75
Your forces in the province are not yet
In readiness, nor is our friend Zephines
Arriv'd at Delphos; nothing is ripe. ”

“ Each man winds up and rectifies his own;
So in our very judgments. First there sits
A grave grand jury on it of town wits;
And they give up their verdict: then again10
The other jury of the court comes in:
And that's of life and death; for each man sees;
That oft condemns, what th' other jury frees. ”

“ Enter Pasithas, with the body of Ariaspes
Pas. Let me be like my burthen, if I had not here as
lieve kill two of the blood royal for him, as carry one of
them! these gentlemen of high actions are three times as
heavy after death, as your private retir'd ones: look if he
be not reduc'd to the state of a courtier of the second form5
now, and cannot stand upon his own legs, nor do anything
without help! Hum! and what's become of the great
prince in prison, as they call it now, the toy within us
that makes us talk and laugh and fight. ”

“ Fool thee into so dull a heresy:
Orbella is our quarrel,
And I have thought it fit that love should have50
A nobler way of justice than revenge
Or treason. If thou dar'st die handsomely,
Follow me. ”

“ You ne'er had been the judges of his wit;
And, when he had, did he but then intend
To please himself, he sure might have his end10
Without th' expense of hope; and that he had
That made this play, although the play be bad.
Then, gentlemen, be thrifty: save your dooms
For the next man or the next play that comes;
For smiles are nothing where men do not care,15
And frowns as little where they need not fear. ”

“ Sem. Ask how the flint can carry fire within!
'Tis the least miracle that love can do.
Iol. Thou art thyself the greatest miracle;30
For thou art fair to all perfection,
And yet dost want the greatest part of beauty—
Kindness. Thy cruelty (next to thyself)
Above all things on earth takes up my wonder.
Sem. Call not that cruelty, which is our fate.35
Believe me, Iolas, the honest swain,
That from the brow of some steep cliff far off
Beholds a ship labouring in vain against
The boisterous and unruly elements, ne'er had
Less power or more desire to help than I.40
At every sigh I die ”

“ Zir. Safely, I'm sure, my lord! you know 'tis not
Our custom, where the king's dislike once swells
To hate, there to engage ourselves. Court friendship
Is a cable, that in storms is ever cut;15
And I made bold with it. Here is the warrant seal'd;
And, for the execution of it, if
You think we are not strong enough, we may
Have Iolas; for him the king did name.
Ari. And him I would have nam'd.20
Zir. But is he not too much the prince's, sir? ”

“ She knocks, and raises the Court
Enter Orithie, Semanthe, with other Ladies and Courtiers, as out of their beds
Orb. Come, come! help me to weep myself away,
And melt into a grave! for life is but
Repentance' nurse, and will conspire with memory
To make my hours my tortures.160
Ori. What scene of sorrow's this? Both dead?
Orb. Dead? Ay,
And 'tis but half death's triumphs this: the king
And prince lie somewhere, just such empty trunks
As these.
Ori. The prince? Then in grief's burthen I
Must bear a part.
Sem. The noble Ariaspes!165
Valiant Ziriff, too! ”

“ She rises up weeping, and hanging down her head
Zir. So rises day, blushing at night's deformity;
And so the pretty flowers, blubber'd with dew,125
And overwash'd with rain, hang down their heads. ”

“ Aglaura undressing herself. Iolina
Agl. Undress me; is it not late, Iolina?
It was the longest day this——
Enter Thersames
Ther. Softly, as death
Itself comes on, when it does steal away
The sick man's breath, and standers-by perceive 't not.
Have I trod the way unto these lodgings. How wisely5
Do those powers, that give us happiness, order it,
Sending us still fears to bound our joys,
Which else would overflow and lose themselves.
See where she sits,
Like day retir'd into another world.10
Dear mine! where all the beauty man admires
In scattered pieces does united lie ”

“ Our sins, like to our shadows, when our day
Is in its glory, scarce appear'd: towards95
Our evening how great and monstrous they are! ”

“ Iolas stands musing
How now, planet-struck?
Iol. This Ziriff will grow great with all the world.60
Ari. Shallow man,
Short-sighteder than travellers in mists,
Or women that outlive themselves, dost thou
Not see that whilst he does prepare a tomb
With one hand for his friend, he digs a grave65
With th' other for himself?
Iol. How so?
Ari. Dost think he shall not feel the weight of this,
As well as poor Thersames?
Iol. Shall we then kill him, too, at the same instant?70
Ari. And say the prince made an unlucky thrust.
Iol. Right.
Ari. Dull, dull, he must not die so uselessly. ”

“ Where now Aglaura's prisoner, you shall find him.
Bring him along:
He yet doth stand untainted in my thoughts;
And to preserve him so, he shall not stir35
Out of my eyes' command, till this great cloud
Be over.
Iol. Sir, 'twas the prince, who first——
King. I know all that.
Urge it no more! I love the man; and 'tis with pain
We do suspect, where we do not dislike.40
Thou'rt sure he will have some, and that they will come
To-night?
Iol. As sure as night will come itself.
King. Get all your guards in readiness; we will ourself
Disperse them afterwards ”

“ Ari. Is the prince there?
Phi. They are both princes,
I think: they fought like princes, I am sure.
[Iolas pulls off the vizors
Iol. Stephines and Odiris.35
We trifle: which way took the rest?
Ors. Two of them are certainly hereabouts.
Ari. Upon my life, they swam the river.
Some, straight to horse, and follow o'er the bridge!
[To Iolas] You and I, my lord, will search this place a little better.40
Ors. Your highness will, I hope, remember who were the men were in——
Ari. O, fear not, your mistress shall know y'are valiant. ”

“ Zorannes turns away
The gods themselves,125
Whose greatness makes the greatness of our sins,
And heightens 'em above what we can do
Unto each other, accept of sacrifice
For what we do 'gainst them. Why should not you?
And 'tis much thriftier too. You cannot let130
Out life there, but my honour goes; and all
The life you can take here, posterity
Will give me back again. See, Aglaura weeps!
That would have been ill rhetoric in me;
But, where it is, it cannot but persuade.135
Zir. Th' have thaw'd the ice about my heart: I know
Not what to do.
King. Come down, come down! ”

“ As when the first course is of misery. ”

“ I did not think till now125
'Twas in the power of fortune to have robb'd
Thersames of himself. For pity, sir,
And reason, live: if you will die, die not:
Aglaura's murther'd: that's not so handsome ”

“ Aglaura without doubt this night expects
The prince; and why
You should not then supply his place by stealth,
And in disguise——
King. I apprehend thee, Ziriff;80
But there's difficulty.
Zir. Who trades in love must be an adventurer, sir;
But here
Is scarce enough to make the pleasure dearer:
I know the cave: your brother and myself85
With Iolas (for those, w'are sure, do hate him) ,
With some few chosen more, betimes will wait
The prince's passing through the vault: if he
Comes first, he's dead ”

“ Are thought to want, that find not want i' th' play.10
But, ladies, you who never lik'd a plot,
But where the servant had his mistress got,
And whom to see a lover die it grieves,
Although 'tis in worse language that he lives,
Will like't, w' are confident, since here will be15
That, your sex ever lik'd, variety!
PROLOGUE TO THE COURT
'Tis strange, perchance you'll think, that she, that died
At Christmas, should at Easter be a bride:
But 'tis a privilege the poets have,
To take the long-since dead out of the grave. ”

“ From thence 'tis but some few minutes' easy business
Unto a servant's house of mine, who, for125
His faith and honesty, hereafter must
Look big in story. There you are safe, however;
And, when this storm has met a little calm,
What wild desire dares whisper to itself
You may enjoy, and at the worst may steal.130
Ther. What shall become of thee, Aglaura, then?
Shall I leave thee their rage's sacrifice?
And, like dull seamen threaten'd with a storm,
Throw all away I have to save myself?
Agl. Can I be safe, when you are not, my lord?135
Knows love in us divided happiness? ”

“ Before heav'n calls, 'tis strongly to be feared,
We there should wander up and down for ever,
And be benighted to eternity.
Agl. Benighted to eternity? What's that?
Zir. Why, 'tis to be benighted to eternity,65
To sit i' th' dark, and do I know not what;
Unriddle at our own sad cost and charge
The doubts the learned here do only move.
Agl. What place have murtherers, brother, there? for, sure,
The murtherer of the prince must have a punishment70
That heav'n is yet to make.
Zir. How is religion fool'd betwixt our loves
And fears! ”

“ Than if I ne'er had known her! Privation is
A misery as much above bare wretchedness105
As that is short of happiness:
So, when the sun does not appear,
'Tis darker, 'cause it once was here.
Re-enter Ziriff. Speaks to Orsames and others half entered
Zir. Nay, gentlemen,
There needs no force where there is no resistance:110
I'll satisfy the king myself.
Ther. O! it is well y'are come. ”

“ Zir. Yes, and the prince's friend. [Discovers himself
D'you know this face?
King. Zorannes!
Zor. The very same, the wrong'd Zorannes! King,30
D'you stare? Away with them, where I appointed.
King. Traitors!
Let me go, villain, thou dar'st not do this.
Zor. Poor counterfeit,
How fain thou wouldst act a king, and art not!
[To Ariaspes] Stay you. [Whispers to the guard] Unhand him.
Leave us now.
[Exeunt all but Ariaspes and Ziriff
Ari. [aside] . What does this mean?35
Sure he does intend the crown to me!
Zor. We are alone. ”

“ Enter Thersames from the vaults; she stabs him, as he riseth
Ther. Unkindly done!
Agl. The prince's voice! defend it, goodness!
Ther. What art
Thou that thus poorly hast destroy'd a life?25
Agl. O sad mistake! 'tis he.
Ther. Hast thou no voice?
Agl. I would I had not, nor a being neither.
Ther. Aglaura? it cannot be.
Agl. O still believe so, sir!
For 'twas not I indeed, but fatal love.30
Ther. Love's wounds us'd to be gentler than these were;
The pains they give us have some pleasure in them,
And that these have not.
Enter Ziriff with a taper
O do not say 'twas you ”

“ As soon the sun may hide himself as I.70
The Prince of Persia hide himself!
Agl. O, talk not, sir; the sun does hide himself,
When night and blackness comes.
Ther. Never, sweet ignorance, he shines in th' other world then ”

“ Or leanness in thy mistress, scurvily!
'T does worse with handsomeness than strong desire
Could do with impotence—a mere trick30
To enhance the price of kisses!
Phi. Surely these silly women, when they feed
Our expectation so high, do but like
Ignorant conjurers, that raise a spirit,
Which handsomely they cannot lay again.35
Ors. True, 'tis like some that nourish up young lions,
till they grow so great they are afraid of themselves:
they dare not grant at last, for fear they should not
satisfy. ”

“ Opens the door. Enter Ziriff
Zorannes!
Agl. My brother!
If all the joy within me come not out,
To give a welcome to so dear an object,80
Excuse it, sir; sorrow locks up all doors.
Zir. If there be such a toy about you, sister,
Keep 't for yourself, or lend it to the prince:
There is a dearth of that commodity;
And you have made it, sir.85
Now,
What is the next mad thing you mean to do?
Will you stay here? when all the court's beset,
Like to a wood at a great hunt, and busy mischief hastes
To be in view, and have you in her power——90
Ther. To me all this? ”

“ But, as when an authentic watch is shown,
Each man winds up and rectifies his own;
So in our very judgments. ”

“ Not the next, I assure you: he's gallop'd15
away, as if all the spurs i' th' field were in his sides.
Ors. Why, there it is: the jade's in the fashion too:
now h'as done me an injury, he will not come near me!
Well, when I hunt next, may it be upon a starv'd cow,
without a saddle too; and may I fall into a sawpit, and20
not be taken up but with suspicion of having been private
with mine own beast there! Now I better consider on't
too, gentlemen, 'tis but the same thing we do at court:
here's every man striving who shall be foremost, and
hotly pursuing of what he seldom overtakes ”

“ She was in love long since with young Zorannes,
Aglaura's brother, and the now queen's betroth'd?
Iol. Some such slight tale I've heard.
Iolin. Slight! She yet does weep, when she but hears him nam'd,30
And tells the prettiest and the saddest stories
Of all those civil wars and those amours,
That, trust me, both my lady and myself
Turn weeping statues still.
Iol. Pish! 'tis not that.
'Tis Ziriff and his fresh glories here have robb'd35
Me of her: since he thus appear' d in court,
My love has languished worse than plants in drought.
But time's a good physician. ”