Amyntas

“ The water turned to a dazzling, translucent blue, so that Amyntas could see hundreds of feet down to the bottom, and the bottom was covered with golden sand. And the light grew and grew till it was more brilliant than the clearest day; gradually the skiff slowed down and it swam leisurely towards the light's source, threading its way beneath the horse-shoe arches among the columns, and these gathered themselves into two lines to form a huge avenue surmounted by a vast span, and at the end, in a splendour of light, Amyntas saw a wondrous palace, with steps leading down to the water. ”

“ Dost thou send down on this thy unbeliever.
Wretched Amyntas! like the bee art thou
Who pierces as he dies, and leaves his life
Within another's wound. Thy death at last
Has smitten the hard heart, which thou couldst never
Touch when alive. ”

“ Like it unfortunate Amyntas dies.
He, at his death, a cruel heart transfixes,
Which was impenetrable while he lived,
Unfeeling to a warm, yet virtuous passion.
And if thy amiable spirit, loth
To quit it's well known scenes for Pluto's gloom,
Yet hovers round it's melancholy friends;
Look down with pleasure on thy nymph's distress,
Enjoy her sighs, an incense due to thee;
Enjoy her plaintive words, thy well-earned vows;
Enjoy the copious streaming of her tears,
A fit libation to thy injured manes.
In life a lover, only loved in death ”

“ Say, do not rival nymphs bleed for Amyntas?
Yet can their fame, or can thy cruel scorn,
One moment turn his constant thoughts from thee;
Can'st thou pretend his birth discredits țhine?
The fair Cydippe was thy mother; she
Claimed for her sire our noble river-god;
And is not he Silvanus' son, of whom
Pan is the father, the great god of shepherds?
Look in the mirror of the chrystal stream,
And Sylvia, thou must own that Amaryllis
Possesses beauty not less rare than thine. ”

“ I know her well. 'Twas but shame-facedness
That made her fly, not cruelty.
AMYNTAS.
Ah me!
It is my safest business to despair.
Hope is my ruin. Even now, alas!
It tries to spring up in this heart of mine,
Solely because I live. What evil is there
Worse than the life of such a wretch as I am?
DAPHNE.
Live, live, unhappy one, in spite of wretchedness:
Endure thy state, to be at last made happy. ”

“ That speaks, in musick, to the lyrist's finger?
Kind heaven forbid that I should e'er offend her,
By any action on myself depending.
THYRSIS.
Amyntas, answer me ingenuously:
Supposing thou couldst quit thy passion for her;
Tell me, that passion wouldst thou quit to please her?
AMYNTAS.
No, though I could, I would not cease to love her;
Love will not let me harbour such an image;
Oh! 'tis a cold, and bleak one! to my mind
It makes the universe a dreary waste.
THYRSIS.
Then you confess in spight of her you'd love her;
Though in your power it were to cease your passion? ”

“ Slowly her lips broke into a smile, and her voice was soft and low.
'I am the Lady of Love,' she said. 'Look!' She raised her arms, and the thin, loose sleeves falling back displayed their roundness and exquisite shape; she lifted her head, and Amyntas thrilled to cover her neck with kisses. At last she loosened her girdle, and when the silken tunic fell to her feet she stood before him in perfect loveliness.
'I cannot give you fame, or riches, or wisdom; I can only give you Love, Love, Love.... Oh, what an eternity of delight shall we enjoy in one another's arms! ”

“ The schoolmaster had retired to his study to conceal his agitation; he was sitting like Agamemnon with a dishcloth over his head, because he felt his face unable to express his emotion. But the boy's mother stood at the cottage door, wiping her eyes with the corner of her apron, surrounded by her weeping children. She threw her arms about her son's neck, giving him a loud kiss on either cheek, and Amyntas went the round of his brothers and sisters, kissing them and bidding them not forget him. ”

“ Take comfort, Sylvia; for this accident
We should ascribe to fortune, not to thee.
The violence of grief that wrings thy soul
Would make tears flow from the most finty nature.
SYLVIA.
Shepherds, why weep you? do you weep for me?
You prostitute your pity, if you do;
For I had no compassion for Amyntas.
For him more justly if your tears you shed,
Wipe them away; they suit not the occasion;
Too trivial an effect from such a cause.
And thou, my Daphne, too, wipe thine away;
They wound me, Daphne, and they're unavailing. ”

“ He thanked his stars, for one's imagination is all very well for a while, and the thought of one's future prowess certainly shortens the time; but roads are hard and hills are steep, one's legs grow tired and one's feet grow sore; and things are not so rose-coloured at the end of a journey as at the beginning. Amyntas could not for ever keep thinking of beautiful princesses and feats of arms, and after the second day he had exhausted every possible adventure ”

“ He breathes again! 'Twas but a passing swoon;
He comes to himself.
AMYNTAS.
Oh Sorrow,
Why dost thou so contrive to torture me,
That death is spared me still. Thou art too merciful.
Or wouldst thou leave the task to mine own hands?
Content! Content! since thou wilt do it not,
Or cannot. Oh if this dire news be true,
And my great misery perfect, why stay longer?
What can I look for more? Oh Daphne, Daphne,
To this most bitter end 'twas thou didst keep me,
Even to this end most bitter.
A sweet and comely death might I have died,
Compared with dying now. Thou didst prevent me ”

“ But I do claim that the Amyntas is one of the most interesting and important of the experiments which English writers made in the pastoral drama, that it possesses dramatic qualities to which few of its kind can pretend, and that pervading and transforming the whole is the genial humour and the sparkling wit of its brilliant and short-lived author. ”

“ Sylvia her name: she was my young companion;
And she at present is my amorous theme.
Sylvia, the pride of woods, the flame of shepherds!
Amyntas with his Sylvia liv'd some time,
Exchanging such a pure, delightful friendship,
That the harmonious hearts of two chaste turtles
Did never beat in truer unison.
Near to each other were our cottages;
But nearer to each other were our souls;
Time had impressed us both with equal years:
But nature with more equal sentiments. ”

“ Ingratitude! that bold, licentious monster,
That tramples on the tenderest rights of man!
The fiend stalks impudently in the sunshine;
It plumes itself on it's unpunished treason;
It is not hunted down by human laws;
Therefore the heart's tribunal should arraign it:
It calls, at least, for virtue's detestation;
And nature's organ should distinctly tell it
It is the outcast of the great creator.
Excuse my feelings for my injured friend;
I now leave passion, and take up narration.
Amyntas knew that Sylvia was to go
To bathe with Daphne at Diana's fountain. ”

“ But sometimes the youth remains faithful, and goes through his life in the endless search; and at last, when his end has come, she comes down to the garret in which he lies cold and dead, and stooping down, kisses him gently—and lo! he is immortal.
But as for Amyntas, when the sisters had retired, he again took his bride in his arms, and covered her lips with kisses; and she, putting her arms round his neck, said with a smile,—
'I have waited for you so long, my love, so long!'
And here it is fit that we should follow the example of the three sisters, and retire also. ”

“ And Persians drink the Soane, and Gauls the Tigris.
DAPHNE.
Truly thou fliest high. Now please descend
A little to our work.
THYRSIS.
⁠The point is this;
That thou should'st go into the fountain with her,
And try to awake her tenderness. Meanwhile
I will persuade Amyntas to come after.
And I suspect my task is not less difficult
Than thine, so let us go.
DAPHNE.
⁠I will; but mind;
Forget not that we have a task besides. ”

“ Suddenly he gave a cry; he had come to the end of the forest, and before him he saw the opening of the cavern. He looked in; he saw black, stagnant water, motionless and heavy, and, as far as the eye could reach, sombre pillars, covered with green, moist slime; they stood half out of the water, supporting the roof, and from the roof oozed moisture which fell in heavy drops, in heavy drops continually. At the entrance was a little skiff with a paddle in it.
Amyntas stood at the edge. Dared he venture? What could there be behind that darkness? The darkness was blacker than the blackest night. ”

“ Jason was tagus of Thessaly, and Amyntas king of Macedonia. Amyntas was dependent on, if not tributary to, Jason, whose dominion, military force, and revenue, combined with extraordinary personal energy and ability, rendered him decidedly the first potentate in Greece, and whose aspirations were known to be unbounded; so that he inspired more or less alarm everywhere, especially to weaker neighbors like the Macedonian prince. Throughout a reign of twenty-three years, full of trouble and peril, Amyntas had cultivated the friendship both of Sparta and of Athens, [521] especially the former. ”

“ THYRSIS.
And never girl so shy as Sylvia found
A lover so respectful as Amyntas.
DAPHNE.
A lover too respectful, is a fool.
Tell him to quit the hardy trade of love,
Or lay aside that distant, timid homage.
He that would practise the true art of love,
Must quicken his respect with well timed courage.
Let him be bold; and if he wants a favour,
Sollicit, importune; and if he finds
Sollicitation, importunity,
Are feeble, ineffectual mediators;
Let him embrace a gay, unguarded moment,
To steal with dexterous theft the wished-for bliss. ”

“ Amyntas [the Greek mercenary general who had escaped from Issus] , it seems, conceived the bold project of making himself master of Egypt. Sabaces, the satrap of Egypt, had fallen in the battle; and Amyntas, pretending that he had a commission from Darius, gained admittance at Pelusium. He then dropped the mask, and calling on the Egyptians to shake off the hated yoke of Persia, marched against Memphis. Mazaces, the Persian commander of Memphis, was defeated, and forced to take shelter behind the walls. ”

“ The seven Persians went to Macedon, which, as will be seen from the map, was west of Thrace, and to the northward of the other Grecian countries. Amyntas, the king of Macedon, gave them a very honorable reception. At [Pg 236] length, one day, at a feast to which they were invited in the palace of Amyntas, they became somewhat excited with wine, and asked to have the ladies of the court brought into the apartment. ”

“ Venturous men have gone in to discover the terrible secret, but none has returned to tell it.'
Amyntas wandered slowly towards the village. Were his dreams to end in the herding of swine? What was this cavern of which the herdsman spoke? He felt a strange impulse to go back and look at the dark opening between the little trees from which blew the cold wind.... But perhaps the rich man had a beauteous daughter; history is full of the social successes of swine herds. Amyntas felt a strange thrill as the dark lake came before his mind ”

“ Judged in accordance with the intention of the author the Amyntas is no inconsiderable achievement for a young writer, and compared with other works belonging to the same tradition it occupies a highly respectable place. With Tasso's Aminta and Fletcher's Faithful Shepherdess it cannot, in point of poetic merit, for one moment compare, falling as far below them in this as it surpasses them in complexity and general suitability of dramatic construction. ”

“ The fifth 'Eclogue' is the 'Cytezen and the Uplondyshman.' Here the scene changes, and two shepherds, Faustus and Amyntas, discourse in a cottage while the snows of January whirl without. Amyntas has learned in London "to go so manerly." Not a wrinkle may be found in his clothes, not a hair on his cloak, and he wears a brooch of tin high on his bonnet. ”

“ Mine by the nymphs and swains shall be interred.
Amyntas' grave shall be made large enough
To hold the corpse of each; we have, in life,
Been, by my folly, kept too much asunder;
Then let us in the tomb repose together.
Pray, shepherd, show me where my lover lies.
MESSENGER.
Daphne will show thee; 'tis not far from hence.
DAPHNE.
Yes, I'll conduct thee; well I know the place.
SYLVIA.
Shepherds, farewell; the heavenly powers preserve you. ”

“ Yet, the fable of the Aminta, unnatural and undramatic, as it is, has the merit of simplicity. That of the Pastor Fido, equally unnatural and incredible, has the additional demerit of being complicated as well as absurd. The distress of Amyntas, arising from an adequate and natural cause—rejected love, excites our sympathy ”

“ Amyntas, Palaemon, Daphnis, Doris and Chloe were often able to make life down in the valley very unpleasant for one another. But lads courted and lasses consented and, taken all in all, they went through life quite comfortably, to which the fact that the necessaries of life were not unattainably dear, probably contributed. ”

“ He then died of sickness, and was succeeded by his son Pausanias; who, after a reign of only one year, was assassinated and succeeded by Amyntas. [117] This Amyntas (chiefly celebrated as the father of Philip and the grandfather of Alexander the Great) , though akin to the royal family, had been nothing more than an attendant of Æropus, [118] until he made himself king by putting to death Pausanias. [119] He reigned, though with interruptions, twenty-four years (393-369 B.C.) ; years, for the most part, of trouble and humiliation for Macedonia, and of occasional exile for himself. ”