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_ ACT III
SCENE I.
The Palace.
QUEEN and EDESSA.
QUEEN.
Talk not of sleep to me, the God of Rest
Disdains to visit where disorder reigns;
Not beds of down, nor music's softest strains,
Can charm him when 'tis anarchy within.
He flies with eager haste the mind disturb'd,
And sheds his blessings where the soul's in peace.
EDESSA.
Yet, hear me, Madam!
QUEEN.
Hence, away, Edessa,
For thou know'st not the pangs of jealousy.
Say, has he not forsook my bed, and left me
Like a lone widow mourning to the night?
This, with the injury his son has done me,
If I forgive, may heav'n in anger show'r
Its torments on me--Ha! isn't that the King!
EDESSA.
It is your Royal Lord, great Artabanus.
QUEEN.
Leave me, for I would meet him here alone,
Something is lab'ring in my breast--
SCENE II.
KING and QUEEN.
KING.
This leads
To fair Evanthe's chamber--Ha! the Queen.
QUEEN.
Why dost thou start? so starts the guilty wretch,
When, by some watchful eye, prevented from
His dark designs.
KING.
Prevented! how, what mean'st thou?
QUEEN.
Art thou then so dull? cannot thy heart,
Thy changeling heart, explain my meaning to thee,
Or must upbraiding 'wake thy apprehension?
Ah! faithless, tell me, have I lost those charms
Which thou so oft hast sworn could warm old age,
And tempt the frozen hermit from his cell,
To visit once again our gayer world?
This, thou hast sworn, perfidious as thou art,
A thousand times; as often hast thou sworn
Eternal constancy, and endless love,
Yet ev'ry time was perjur'd.
KING.
Sure, 'tis frenzy.
QUEEN.
Indeed, 'tis frenzy, 'tis the height of madness,
For I have wander'd long in sweet delusion.
At length the pleasing Phantom chang'd its form,
And left me in a wilderness of woe.
KING.
Prithee, no more, dismiss those jealous heats;
Love must decay, and soon disgust arise,
Where endless jarrings and upbraidings damp
The gentle flame, which warms the lover's breast.
QUEEN.
Oh! grant me patience heav'n! and dost thou think
By these reproaches to disguise thy guilt?
No, 'tis in vain, thy art's too thin to hide it.
KING.
Curse on the marriage chain!--the clog, a wife,
Who still will force and pall us with the joy,
Tho' pow'r is wanting, and the will is cloy'd,
Still urge the debt when Nothing's left to pay.
QUEEN.
Ha! dost thou own thy crime, nor feel the glow
Of conscious shame?
KING.
Why should I blush, if heav'n
Has made me as I am, and gave me passions?
Blest only in variety, then blame
The Gods, who form'd my nature thus, not me.
QUEEN.
Oh! Traitor! Villain!
KING.
Hence--away--
No more I'll wage a woman's war with words.
[Exit.]
QUEEN.
Down, down ye rising passions, give me ease,
Or break my heart, for I must yet be calm--
But, yet, revenge, our Sex's joy, is mine;
By all the Gods! he lives not till the morn.
Who slights my love, shall sink beneath my hate.
SCENE III.
QUEEN and VARDANES.
VARDANES.
What, raging to the tempest?
QUEEN.
Away!--away!--
Yes, I will rage--a tempest's here within,
Above the trifling of the noisy elements.
Blow ye loud winds, burst with your violence,
For ye but barely imitate the storm
That wildly rages in my tortur'd breast--
The King--the King--
VARDANES.
Ha! what?--the King?
QUEEN.
Evanthe!
VARDANES.
You talk like riddles, still obscure and short,
Give me some cue to guide me thro' this maze.
QUEEN.
Ye pitying pow'rs!--oh! for a poison, some
Curs'd deadly draught, that I might blast her beauties,
And rob her eyes of all their fatal lustre.
VARDANES.
What, blast her charms?--dare not to think of it--
Shocking impiety;--the num'rous systems
Which gay creation spreads, bright blazing suns,
With all th' attendant planets circling round,
Are not worth half the radiance of her eyes.
She's heav'n's peculiar care, good spir'ts hover
Round, a shining band, to guard her beauties.
QUEEN.
Be they watchful then: for should remissness
Taint the guard, I'll snatch the opportunity,
And hurl her to destruction.
VARDANES.
Dread Thermusa,
Say, what has rous'd this tumult in thy soul?
What dost thou rage with unabating fury,
Wild as the winds, loud as the troubl'd sea?
QUEEN.
Yes, I will tell thee--Evanthe--curse her--
With charms--Would that my curses had the pow'r
To kill, destroy, and blast where e'er I hate,
Then would I curse, still curse, till death should seize
The dying accents on my falt'ring tongue.
So should this world, and the false changeling man
Be buried in one universal ruin.
VARDANES.
Still err'st thou from the purpose.
QUEEN.
Ha! 'tis so--
Yes I will tell thee--for I know fond fool,
Deluded wretch, thou dotest on Evanthe--
Be that thy greatest curse, be curs'd like me,
With jealousy and rage, for know, the King,
Thy father, is thy rival.
SCENE IV.
VARDANES
[alone].
Ha! my rival!
How knew she that?--yet stay--she's gone--my rival,
What then? he is Arsaces' rival too.
Ha!--this may aid and ripen my designs--
Could I but fire the King with jealousy,
And then accuse my Brother of Intrigues
Against the state--ha!--join'd with Bethas, and
Confed'rate with th' Arabians--'tis most likely
That jealousy would urge him to belief.
I'll sink my claim until some fitter time,
'Til opportunity smiles on my purpose.
Lysias already has receiv'd the mandate
For Bethas' freedom: Let them still proceed,
This harmony shall change to discord soon.
Fortune methinks of late grows wond'rous kind,
She scarcely leaves me to employ myself.
SCENE V.
KING, ARSACES, VARDANES.
KING.
But where's Evanthe? Where's the lovely Maid?
ARSACES.
On the cold pavement, by her aged Sire,
The dear companion of his solitude,
She sits, nor can persuasion make her rise;
But in the wild extravagance of joy
She weeps, then smiles, like April's sun, thro' show'rs.
While with strain'd eyes he gazes on her face,
And cries, in ecstacy, "Ye gracious pow'rs!
It is too much, it is too much to bear!"
Then clasps her to his breast, while down his cheeks
Large drops each other trace, and mix with hers.
KING.
Thy tale is moving, for my eyes o'erflow--
How slow does Lysias with Evanthe creep!
So moves old time when bringing us to bliss.
Now war shall cease, no more of war I'll have,
Death knows satiety, and pale destruction
Turns loathing from his food, thus forc'd on him.
The triffling dust, the cause of all this ruin,
The trade of death shall urge no more.--
SCENE VI.
KING, ARSACES, VARDANES, EVANTHE, LYSIAS.
KING.
Evanthe!--
See pleasure's goddess deigns to dignify
The happy scene, and make our bliss complete.
So Venus, from her heav'nly seat, descends
To bless the gay Cythera with her presence;
A thousand smiling graces wait the goddess,
A thousand little loves are flutt'ring round,
And joy is mingl'd with the beauteous train.
EVANTHE.
O! Royal Sir, thus lowly to the ground
I bend, in humble gratitude, accept
My thanks, for this thy goodness, words are vile
T' express the image of my lively thought,
And speak the grateful fulness of my heart.
All I can say, is that I now am happy,
And that thy giving hand has made me blest.
KING.
O! rise, Evanthe rise, this lowly posture
Suits not with charms like thine, they should command,
And ev'ry heart exult in thy behests;--
But, where's thy aged Sire?
EVANTHE.
This sudden turn
Of fortune has so wrought upon his frame,
His limbs could not support him to thy presence.
ARSACES.
This, this is truly great, this is the Hero,
Like heav'n, to scatter blessings 'mong mankind
And e'er delight in making others happy.
Cold is the praise which waits the victor's triumph
(Who thro' a sea of blood has rush'd to glory),
To the o'erflowings of a grateful heart,
By obligations conquer'd: Yet, extend
Thy bounty unto me.
[Kneels.]
KING.
Ha! rise Arsaces.
ARSACES.
Not till you grant my boon.
KING.
Speak, and 'tis thine--
Wide thro' our kingdom let thy eager wishes
Search for some jewel worthy of thy seeing;
Something that's fit to show the donor's bounty,
And by the glorious sun, our worship'd God,
Thou shalt not have denial; e'en my crown
Shall gild thy brows with shining beams of Empire.
With pleasure I'll resign to thee my honours,
I long for calm retirement's softer joys.
ARSACES.
Long may you wear it, grant it bounteous heav'n,
And happiness attend it; 'tis my pray'r
That daily rises with the early sweets
Of nature's incense, and the lark's loud strain.
'Tis not the unruly transport of ambition
That urges my desires to ask your crown;
Let the vain wretch, who prides in gay dominion,
Who thinks not of the great ones' weighty cares,
Enjoy his lofty wish, wide spreading rule.
The treasure which I ask, put in the scale,
Would over-balance all that Kings can boast,
Empire and diadems.
KING.
Away, that thought--
Name it, haste--speak.
ARSACES.
For all the dang'rous toil,
Thirst, hunger, marches long that I've endur'd,
For all the blood I've in thy service spent,
Reward me with Evanthe.
KING.
Ha! what said'st thou?--
VARDANES.
The King is mov'd, and angry bites his lip.--
Thro' my benighted soul all-cheering hope
[Aside.]
Beams, like an orient sun, reviving joy.
ARSACES.
The stern Vonones ne'er could boast a merit
But loving her.
KING.
Ah! curse the hated name--
Yes, I remember when the fell ruffian
Directed all his fury at my life;
Then sent, by pitying heav'n, t' assert the right
Of injur'd Majesty, thou, Arsaces,
Taught him the duty he ne'er knew before,
And laid the Traitor dead.
ARSACES.
My Royal Sire!
LYSIAS.
My Liege, the Prince still kneels.
KING.
Ha!--rebel, off--
[Strikes him.]
What, Lysias, did I strike thee? forgive my rage--
The name of curs'd Vonones fires my blood,
And gives me up to wrath.--
LYSIAS.
I am your slave,
Sway'd by your pleasure--when I forget it,
May this keen dagger, which I mean to hide
Deep in his bosom, pierce my vitals thro'.
[Aside.]
KING.
Didst thou not name Evanthe?
ARSACES.
I did, my Lord!
And, say, whom should I name but her, in whom
My soul has center'd all her happiness?
Nor canst thou blame me, view her wond'rous charms,
She's all perfection; bounteous heav'n has form'd her
To be the joy, and wonder of mankind;
But language is too vile to speak her beauties.
Here ev'ry pow'r of glowing fancy's lost:
Rose blush secure, ye lilies still enjoy
Your silver whiteness, I'll not rob your charms
To deck the bright comparison; for here
It sure must fail.
KING.
He's wanton in her praise--
[Aside.]
I tell thee, Prince, hadst thou as many tongues,
As days have wasted since creation's birth,
They were too few to tell the mighty theme.
EVANTHE.
I'm lost! I'm lost!
[Aside.]
ARSACES.
Then I'll be dumb for ever.
KING.
O rash and fatal oath! is there no way,
No winding path to shun this precipice,
But must I fall and dash my hopes to atoms?
In vain I strive, thought but perplexes me,
Yet shews no hold to bear me up--now, hold
My heart a while--she's thine--'tis done.
ARSACES.
In deep
Prostration, I thank my Royal Father.
KING.
A sudden pain shoots thro' my trembling breast--
Lend me thy arm Vardanes--cruel pow'rs!
SCENE VII.
ARSACES and EVANTHE.
EVANTHE
[after a pause].
E'er since the dawn of my unhappy life
Joy never shone serenely on my soul;
Still something interven'd to cloud my day.
Tell me, ye pow'rs, unfold the hidden crime
For which I'm doom'd to this eternal woe,
Thus still to number o'er my hours with tears?
The Gods are just I know, nor are decrees
In hurry shuffl'd out, but where the bolt
Takes its direction justice points the mark.
Yet still in vain I search within my breast,
I find no sins are there to shudder at--
Nought but the common frailties of our natures.
Arsaces,--Oh!--
ARSACES.
Ha! why that look of anguish?
Why didst thou name me with that sound of sorrow?
Ah! say, why stream those gushing tears so fast
From their bright fountain? sparkling joy should now
Be lighten'd in thine eye, and pleasure glow
Upon thy rosy cheek;--ye sorrows hence--
'Tis love shall triumph now.
EVANTHE.
Oh!
[Sighs.]
ARSACES.
What means that sigh?
Tell me why heaves thy breast with such emotion?
Some dreadful thought is lab'ring for a vent,
Haste, give it loose, ere strengthen'd by confinement
It wrecks thy frame, and tears its snowy prison.
Is sorrow then so pleasing that you hoard it
With as much love, as misers do their gold?
Give me my share of sorrows.
EVANTHE.
Ah! too soon
You'll know what I would hide.
ARSACES.
Be it from thee--
The dreadful tale, when told by thee, shall please;
Haste, to produce it with its native terrors,
My steady soul shall still remain unshaken;
For who when bless'd with beauties like to thine
Would e'er permit a sorrow to intrude?
Far hence in darksome shades does sorrow dwell,
Where hapless wretches thro' the awful gloom,
Echo their woes, and sighing to the winds,
Augment with tears the gently murm'ring stream;
But ne'er disturbs such happiness as mine.
EVANTHE.
Oh! 'tis not all thy boasted happiness,
Can save thee from disquietude and care;
Then build not too securely on these joys,
For envious sorrow soon will undermine,
And let the goodly structure fall to ruin.
ARSACES.
I charge thee, by our mutual vows, Evanthe,
Tell me, nor longer keep me in suspense:
Give me to know the utmost rage of fate.
EVANTHE.
Then know--impossible!--
ARSACES.
Ha! dost thou fear
To shock me?--
EVANTHE.
Know, thy Father--loves Evanthe.--
ARSACES.
Loves thee?
EVANTHE.
Yea, e'en to distraction loves me.
Oft at my feet he's told the moving tale,
And woo'd me with the ardency of youth.
I pitied him indeed, but that was all,
Thou would'st have pitied too.
ARSACES.
I fear 'tis true;
A thousand crouding circumstances speak it.
Ye cruel Gods! I've wreck'd a Father's peace,
Oh! bitter thought!
EVANTHE.
Didst thou observe, Arsaces,
How reluctant he gave me to thy arms?
ARSACES.
Yes, I observ'd that when he gave thee up,
It seem'd as tho' he gave his precious life.
And who'd forego the heav'n of thy love?
To rest on thy soft swelling breast, and in
Sweet slumbers sooth each sharp intruding care?
Oh! it were bliss, such as immortals taste,
To press thy ruby lips distilling sweets,
Or circl'd in thy snowy arms to snatch
A joy, that Gods----
EVANTHE.
Come, then, my much-lov'd Prince,
Let's seek the shelter of some kind retreat.
Happy Arabia opens wide her arms,
There may we find some friendly solitude,
Far from the noise and hurry of the Court.
Ambitious views shall never blast our joys,
Or tyrant Fathers triumph o'er our wills:
There may we live like the first happy pair
Cloth'd in primeval innocence secure.
Our food untainted by luxurious arts,
Plain, simple, as our lives, shall not destroy
The health it should sustain; while the clear brook
Affords the cooling draught our thirsts to quench.
There, hand in hand, we'll trace the citron grove,
While with the songsters' round I join my voice,
To hush thy cares and calm thy ruffl'd soul:
Or, on some flow'ry bank reclin'd, my strains
Shall captivate the natives of the stream,
While on its crystal lap ourselves we view.
ARSACES.
I see before us a wide sea of sorrows,
Th' angry waves roll forward to o'erwhelm us,
Black clouds arise, and the wind whistles loud.
But yet, oh! could I save thee from the wreck,
Thou beauteous casket, where my joys are stor'd,
Let the storm rage with double violence,
Smiling I'd view its wide extended horrors.
EVANTHE.
'Tis not enough that we do know the ill,
Say, shall we calmly see the tempest rise,
And seek no shelter from th' inclement sky,
But bid it rage?--
ARSACES.
Ha! will he force thee from me?
What, tear thee from my fond and bleeding heart?
And must I lose thee ever? dreadful word!
Never to gaze upon thy beauties more?
Never to taste the sweetness of thy lips?
Never to know the joys of mutual love?
Never!--Oh! let me lose the pow'r of thinking,
For thought is near allied to desperation.
Why, cruel Sire--why did you give me life,
And load it with a weight of wretchedness?
Take back my being, or relieve my sorrows--
Ha! art thou not Evanthe?--Art thou not
The lovely Maid, who bless'd the fond Arsaces?--
[Raving.]
EVANTHE.
O, my lov'd Lord, recall your scatter'd spir'ts,
Alas! I fear your senses are unsettl'd.
ARSACES.
Yes, I would leave this dull and heavy sense.
Let me grow mad; perhaps, I then may gain
Some joy, by kind imagination form'd,
Beyond reality.--O! my Evanthe!
Why was I curs'd with empire? born to rule?--
Would I had been some humble Peasant's son,
And thou some Shepherd's daughter on the plain;
My throne some hillock, and my flock my subjects,
My crook my sceptre, and my faithful dog
My only guard; nor curs'd with dreams of greatness.
At early dawn I'd hail the coming day,
And join the lark the rival of his lay;
At sultry noon to some kind shade repair,
Thus joyful pass the hours, my only care,
To guard my flock, and please the yielding Fair.
SCENE VIII.
KING. --VARDANES behind the Scene.
KING.
I will not think, to think is torment--Ha!
See, how they twine! ye furies cut their hold.
Now their hot blood beats loud to love's alarms;
Sigh presses sigh, while from their sparkling eyes
Flashes desire--Oh! ye bright heav'nly beings,
Who pitying bend to suppliant Lovers' pray'rs,
And aid them in extremity, assist me!
VARDANES.
Thus, for the Trojan, mourn'd the Queen of Carthage;
So, on the shore she raving stood, and saw
His navy leave her hospitable shore.
In vain she curs'd the wind which fill'd their sails,
And bore the emblem of its change away.
[Comes forward.]
KING.
Vardanes--Ha!--come here, I know thou lov'st me.
VARDANES.
I do, my Lord; but, say, what busy villain
Durst e'er approach your ear, with coz'ning tales,
And urge you to a doubt?
KING.
None, none believe me.
I'll ne'er oppress thy love with fearful doubt--
A little nigher--let me lean upon thee--
And thou be my support--for now I mean
T' unbosom to thee free without restraint:
Search all the deep recesses of my soul,
And open ev'ry darling thought before thee,
Which long I've secreted with jealous care.
Pray, mark me well.
VARDANES.
I will, my Royal Sire.
KING.
On Anna thus reclin'd the love-sick Dido;
Thus to her cheek laid hers with gentle pressure,
And wet her sister with a pearly show'r,
Which fell from her sad eyes, then told her tale,
While gentle Anna gave a pitying tear,
And own'd 'twas moving--thou canst pity too,
I know thy nature tender and engaging.
VARDANES.
Tell me, my gracious Lord, what moves you thus?
Why is your breast distracted with these tumults?
Teach me some method how to sooth your sorrows,
And give your heart its former peace and joy;
Instruct thy lov'd Vardanes.--
KING.
Yes, I'll tell thee;
But listen with attention while I speak;
And yet I know 'twill shock thy gentle soul,
And horror o'er thee 'll spread his palsy hand.
O, my lov'd Son! thou fondness of my age!
Thou art the prop of my declining years,
In thee alone I find a Father's joy,
Of all my offspring: but Arsaces--
VARDANES.
Ha!
My Brother!--
KING.
Ay--why dost start?--thy Brother
Pursues me with his hate: and, while warm life
Rolls the red current thro' my veins, delights
To see me tortur'd; with an easy smile
He meets my suff'rings, and derides my pain.
VARDANES.
Oh!
KING.
What means that hollow groan?--Vardanes, speak,
Death's image fits upon thy pallid cheek,
While thy low voice sounds as when murmurs run
Thro' lengthen'd vaults--
VARDANES.
O! my foreboding thoughts.
[Aside.]
'Twas this disturb'd my rest; when sleep at night
Lock'd me in slumbers; in my dreams I saw
My Brother's crime--yet, death!--it cannot be--
KING.
Ha!--what was that?--
VARDANES.
O! my dread Lord, some Villain
Bred up in lies, and train'd to treach'ry,
Has injur'd you by vile reports, to stain
My Princely Brother's honour.
KING.
Thou know'st more,
Thy looks confess what thou in vain wouldst hide--
And hast thou then conspir'd against me too,
And sworn concealment to your practices?--
Thy guilt--
VARDANES.
Ha! guilt!--what guilt?--
KING.
Nay, start not so--
I'll know your purposes, spite of thy art.
VARDANES.
O! ye great Gods! and is it come to this?--
My Royal Father call your reason home,
Drive these loud passions hence, that thus deform you.
My Brother--Ah! what shall I say?--My Brother
Sure loves you as he ought.
KING.
Ha! as he ought?--
Hell blister thy evasive tongue--I'll know it--
I will; I'll search thy breast, thus will I open
A passage to your secrets--yet resolv'd--
Yet steady in your horrid villany--
'Tis fit that I from whom such monsters sprung
No more should burthen earth--Ye Parricides!--
Here plant your daggers in this hated bosom--
Here rive my heart, and end at once my sorrows,
I gave ye being, that's the mighty crime.
VARDANES.
I can no more--here let me bow in anguish--
Think not that I e'er join'd in his designs,
Because I have conceal'd my knowledge of them:
I meant, by pow'rful reason's friendly aid,
To turn him from destruction's dreadful path,
And bring him to a sense of what he ow'd
To you as King and Father.
KING.
Say on--I'll hear.
VARDANES.
He views thy sacred life with envious hate,
As 'tis a bar to his ambitious hopes.
On the bright throne of Empire his plum'd wishes
Seat him, while on his proud aspiring brows
He feels the pleasing weight of Royalty.
But when he wakes from these his airy dreams
(Delusions form'd by the deceiver hope,
To raise him to the glorious height of greatness),
Then hurl him from proud Empire to subjection.
Wild wrath will quickly swell his haughty breast,
Soon as he finds 'tis but a shadowy blessing.--
'Twas fav'ring accident discover'd to me
All that I know; this Evening as I stood
Alone, retir'd, in the still gallery,
That leads up to th' appartment of my Brother,
T' indulge my melancholy thoughts,--
KING.
Proceed--
VARDANES.
A wretch approach'd with wary step, his eye
Spoke half his tale, denoting villany.
In hollow murmurs thus he question'd me--
Was I the Prince?--I answer'd to content him--
Then in his hand he held this paper forth.
"Take this," says he, "this Bethas greets thee with,
Keep but your word our plot will meet success."
I snatch'd it with more rashness than discretion,
Which taught him his mistake. In haste he drew,
And aim'd his dagger at my breast, but paid
His life, a forfeit, for his bold presuming.
KING.
O Villain! Villain!
VARDANES.
Here, read this, my Lord--
I read it, and cold horror froze my blood.
And shook me like an ague.
KING.
Ha!--what's this?--
"Doubt not Arabia's aid, set me but free,
I'll easy pass on the old cred'lous King,
For fair Evanthe's Father."--Thus to atoms--
Oh! could I tear these cursed traitors thus.
[Tears the paper into pieces.
VARDANES.
Curses avail you nothing, he has pow'r,
And may abuse it to your prejudice.
KING.
I am resolv'd--
VARDANES.
Tho' Pris'ner in his camp,
Yet, Bethas was attended like a Prince,
As tho' he still commanded the Arabians.
'Tis true, when they approach'd the royal city,
He threw him into chains to blind our eyes,
A shallow artifice--
KING.
That is a Truth.
VARDANES.
And, yet, he is your Son.
KING.
Ah! that indeed--
VARDANES.
Why, that still heightens his impiety,
To rush to empire thro' his Father's blood,
And, in return of life, to give him death.
KING.
Oh! I am all on fire, yes I must tear
These folds of venom from me.
VARDANES.
Sure 'twas Lysias
That cross'd the passage now.
KING.
'Tis to my wish.
I'll in, and give him orders to arrest
My traitor Son and Bethas--Now Vardanes
Indulge thy Father in this one request--
Seize, with some horse, Evanthe, and bear her
To your command--Oh! I'll own my weakness--
I love with fondness mortal never knew--
Not Jove himself, when he forsook his heav'n,
And in a brutal shape disgrac'd the God,
E'er lov'd like me.
VARDANES.
I will obey you, Sir.
SCENE IX.
VARDANES
[alone].
I'll seize her, but I'll keep her for myself,
It were a sin to give her to his age--
To twine the blooming garland of the spring
Around the sapless trunks of wither'd oaks--
The night, methinks, grows ruder than it was,
Thus should it be, thus nature should be shock'd,
And Prodigies, affrighting all mankind,
Foretell the dreadful business I intend.
The earth should gape, and swallow cities up,
Shake from their haughty heights aspiring tow'rs,
And level mountains with the vales below;
The Sun amaz'd should frown in dark eclipse,
And light retire to its unclouded heav'n;
While darkness, bursting from her deep recess,
Should wrap all nature in eternal night.--
Ambition, glorious fever of the mind,
'Tis that which raises us above mankind;
The shining mark which bounteous heav'n has gave,
From vulgar souls distinguishing the brave. _
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