Obrázky stránek
PDF
ePub
[blocks in formation]

Hip. We could wish you better fortune, lady;

But dare not help you.

Aminta. Be your own friends; I think ye!
[Exeunt.

Now, only my last audit, and my greatest!
Oh, Heav'n! be kind unto me;
And, if it he thy will, preserve→
Enter Raymond.

Raym. Who's this?

Sure 'tis a woman.

I have trod this place, And found much footing; now I know 'tis peopled.

Ha! let me see! it is her face! Oh, Heav'n!
Turn this way, maid!

Aminta. Oh, Raymond, oh, brother!
Raym. Her tongue too! 'tis my sister!
What rude hand-

Nay, kiss me first; oh, joy!

Aminta. Fly, fly, dear brother!
You are lost else.

Jul. A man, a man, a new man;
Raym. What are these?

Enter Juletta, Crocale, and Clarinda.
Croc. An enemy, an enemy!

Clar. Dispatch him;

Take him off; shoot him straight!
Raym. I dare not use my sword, ladies,
Against such comely foes.

Aminta. Oh, brother, brother!

Clar. Away with 'em, and in dark prisons bind 'em!

[mother, One word replied, ye die both. Now, brave Follow thy noble anger, and I'll help thee! [Excunt.

ACT V.

[blocks in formation]

For pity or compassion to these pirates, Digs up her father's, or her brother's tomb, And spurns about their ashes.

Couldst thou remember what a father thou Hadst once, 'twould steel thy heart 'gainst foolish pity:

By his memory, and the remembrance of
His dear embraces, I am taught, that in
A noble cause revenge is noble: and they
Shall fall the sacrifices, to appease
His wandring ghost and my incensed fury.
Clar. The new-come prisoner too?

Ros. He too:-Yet, that we may learn Whether they are the same, or near allied To those that forc'd me to this cruel course, Better their poor allowance, and permit 'em

To meet together, and confer,
Within the distance of your ear! Perhaps
They may discover something that may kill
Despair in me, and be a means to save 'em
From certain ruin.

Croc. That shall be my charge.
Ros. Yet, to prevent

All hope of rescue (for this new-come captain
Hath both a ship and men not far off from us,
Tho' ignorant to find the only port
That can yield entrance to our happy island)
Guard the place strongly; and, ere the next

sun

Ends his diurnal progress, I will be
Happy in my revenge, or set 'em free.

[Exeunt.
Enter Crocale, Juletta, and Hippolita.
A table furnished.

Croc. So, serve it plentifully, and lose not time Ten

[blocks in formation]

Which tortures cannot open: open the doors O'th' several prisons, and give all free en

trance

fall. Into this room! Undiscover'd I can here mark

Enter Tibalt and Master.

Here's captain Careless, and the tough ship-
master;
[they look!
The slaves are nos'd like vultures: how wild
Tib. Ha!

The mystery of this some good hobgoblin
Rise and reveal!

Master. I am amaz'd at it;

Nor can I sound th' intent.
Tib. Is not this bread?

Substantial bread, not painted?
Muster. But take beed!

You may be poison'd.

Tib. I am sure I'm famish'd;

Tib. Do:

[guts

And famine, as the wise man says, gripes the
As much as any mineral. This may be treacle
Sent to preserve me after a long fast;
Or, be it viper's spittle, I'll run the hazard.
Master. We're past all fear; I'll take part
[with you.
And now, i'faith, how do you feel yourself?
I find great ease in't. What's here? wine,
an't be
[fools may talk
Thy will! strong lusty wine! [drinks.] Well,
Of Mithridate, cordials, and elixirs;
But from my youth this was my only physic.
Here's a colour!

What lady's cheek, tho' cerus'd o'er, comes near it?

It sparkles too, hangs out diamonds: Oh, My sweetheart, how I will hug thee! again, and again! [favours, They are poor drunkards, and not worth thy That number thy moist kisses in these crystals. Master. But, monsieur,

Here are suckets, and sweet dishes.

Tib. Tush! boy's-meat!

I'm past it: here is strong food, fit for men, Nectar, old lad! Mistress of merry hearts, Once more I am bold with you.

Master. Take heed, man! Too much will breed distemper.

Tib. Hast thou liv'd at sea

The most part of thy life, where to be sober, While we have wine aboard, is capital treason, And dost thou preach sobriety?

Master. Prithee, forbear;

We may offend in it; we know not for whom It was provided.

[hang me;

Tib. I am sure for me; Therefore, footra! when I am full, let 'em I care not!

Enter Albert, Aminta, Raymond, Lamure, Morillat, and Franville, severally. Master. This has been his temper ever.

See, provoking dishes; candied eringoes, And potatoes!

Tib. I'll not touch 'em; I will drink;
But not a bit on a march;
I'll be an eunuch rather.

Master. Who are these?
Tib. Marry, who you will;
I keep my text here.
Alb. Raymond?

Raym. Albert?

Tib. Away! I'll be drunk alone; Keep off, rogues, or I'll belch ye into air; Not a drop here! [such anger! Aminta. Dear brother, put not in your eyes Those looks, poison'd with fury, shot at him, Reflect on me. Oh, brother, look inilder, or The crystal of his temperance will turn Them on yourself.

us

Alb. Sir, I have sought you long focean To find your pardon; you have plough'd the To wreak your vengeance on me, for the rape Of this fair virgin. Now our fortune guides [rather To meet on such hard terms, that we need A mutual pity of our present state, Than to expostulate of breaches past, Which cannot be made up. And tho' it be Far from your power to force me to confess That I have done you wrong, or, such submission

[ger, Failing to make my peace, to vent your anYou being yourself slav'd, as I, to others; Yet for your sister's sake, her blessed sake, In part of recompense of what sh' has suffer'd For my rash folly, the contagion

Of my black actions catching hold upon
Her purer innocence, I crave your mercy;
And wish, however several motives kept us
From being friends while we had hope to live,
Let death, which we expect, and cannot fly
End all contention!

Tib. Drink upon it; it

Is a good motion! ratify't in wine,
And 'tis authentical!

Raym. When I consider

[from,

fon

The ground of our long difference, and look Our not-to-be-avoided miseries,

It doth beget in me, I know not how,

A soft religious tenderness; which tells me, Tho' we have many faults to answer for Upon our own account, our father's crimes Are in us punish'd. Oh, Albert, the course They took to leave us rich was not honest; Nor can that friendship last which virtue joins not. [gals When first they forc'd th' industrious PortuFrom their plantations in the Happy IslandsCroc. This is that I watch for. [men, Raym. And did omit no tyranny which Inur'd to spoil and mischief could inflict On the griev'd sufferers; when by lawless rapine [sow'd; They reap'd the harvest which their labours And not content to force 'em from their dwelling,

But

Act 5.]

But laid for 'em at sea, to ravish from 'em The last remainder of their wealth; then, then,

After a long pursuit, each doubting other,
As guilty of the Portugals' escape,
They did begin to quarrel, like ill men:
(Forgive me, piety, that I call 'em so!)
No longer love or correspondence holds
Than it is cemented with prey or profit:
Then did they turn those swords they oft
[selves,
had bloodied

With innocent gore, upon their wretched
And paid the forfeit of their cruelty
Shewn to Sebastian and his colony,
By being fatal enemies to each other.
Thence grew Aminta's rape, and my desire
To be reveng'd. And now observe the issue!
As they for spoil forgot compassion
To women (who should ever be exempted
From the extremities of a lawful war),
We now, young able men, are fall'n into
The hands of women; that, against the soft,
Soft tenderness familiar to their sex,
Will shew no mercy.

Enter Crocale.

Croc. None, unless you shew us
Our long-lost husbands.

We are those Portugals you talk'd of.
Raym. Stay!

I met upon the sea in a tall ship,
Two Portugals, famish'd almost to death.
Tib. Our ship, by this wine,
And those the rogues that stole her,
Left us to famish in the Barren Islands!

Raym. Some such tale they told me;
And something of a woman, which I find
To be my sister.

Croc. Where are these inen?
Raym. I

Left 'em, supposing they'd deluded me
With forg'd tales, in the island, where they
said
[owners
They had liv'd many years, the wretched
Of a huge mass of treasure.

Alb. The same men,
And that the fatal muck we quarrell'd for.
Croc. They were Portugals, you say?

Raym. So they profess'd. [save your lives: Croc. They may prove such men as may And so much I am taken with fair hope, That I will hazard life to be resolv'd on't. How came you hither?

Ray My ship lies by the river's mouth; That can convey ye to these wretched men Which desire to see.

you

Croc. Back to your prisons,

And pray for the success! If they be those Which I desire to find, you're safe; if not, Prepare to die to-morrow! for the world Cannot redeem ye.

Alb. Howe'er, we are arm'd

Tib. What must become of me now,

For either fortune.

That I am not dismiss'd?

VOL. III.

[Exit.

Croc. Oh, sir, I purpose To have your company.

Tib. Take heed, wicked woman! I'm apt to mischief now.

Croc. You can't be so

Unkind to her that gives you liberty. Tib. No,

249

I shall be too kind, that's the devil on't!
I've had store of good wine; and, when I'm
drunk,

Joan is a lady to me, and I shall lay
About me like a lord. I feel strange motions!
Avoid me, temptation!

Croc. Come, sir; I'll help you in. [Exeunt.
Enter Sebastian and Nicusa,
Nicusa. What may that be
That moves upon the lake?
Seb. Still it draws nearer;
And now I plainly can discern it:
It is the French ship.

Nicusa. In it a woman,

Who seems t'invite us to her.
Seb. Still she calls

With signs of love to hasten to her:
So lovely hope doth still appcar,
I feel nor age, nor weakness.

Nicusa. Tho' it bring death,

To us 'tis comfort, and deserves a meeting: Or else fortune, tir'd with what we've suffer'd,

And in it overcome, as it may be,
Now sets a period to our misery. [Exeunt.
[Horrid Music.
Enter severally Raymond, Albert, and Aminta.
Raym. What dreadful sounds are these?
Aminta. Infernal music,

Fit for a bloody feast.

Alb. It seems prepar'd

To kill our courages, ere they divorce
Our souls and bodies.

Raym. But they that fearless fall,
Deprive them of their triumph.

An Altar prepar'd. Enter Rosellia, Clarindu, Juletta, Hippolita, &c. Aminta. See the furies,

In their full trim of cruelty!

Ros. "Tis the last

Duty that I can pay to my dead lord.
Set out the altar! I myself will be

The priest, and boldly do those horrid rites
You shake to think on. Lead these captains

[blocks in formation]

Sebastian and Nicusa: we are they

That groan'd beneath your fathers' wrongs! Those wretched women

[We are

Their injuries pursu'd and overtook,
And from the sad remembrance of our losses
We are taught to be cruel. When we were
forc'd
[rapine,
From that sweet air we breath'd in, by their
And sought a place of being, as the seas
And winds conspir'd with their ill purposes,
To load us with afflictions, in a storm fus,
That fell upon us, the two ships that brought
To seek new fortunes in an unknown world,
Were sever'd; th' one bore all the able men,
Our treasure and our jewels; in the other
We women were embark'd, and fell upon,
After long tossing in the troubled main,
This pleasant island; but in few months
The men that did conduct us hither died:
We long before had given our husbands lost.
Remembring what we'd suffer'd by the French,
We took a solemn oath, ne'er to admit
The curs'd society of men. Necessity
Taught us those arts, not usual to our sex;
Andthe fertile earth yielding abundance to us,
We did resolve, thus shap'd like Amazons
To end our lives: but when you arriv'd here,
And brought as presents to us our own jewels,
Those which were borne in the other ship—
How can ye hope to 'scape our vengeance?
Aminta. It boots not then to swear our
innocence?
[owners?

Alb. Or that we never forc'd it from the
Raym. Or that there are a remnant of that
And not far off?
[wreck,

Ros. All you affirm, I know, is [throats; But to win time; therefore prepare your The world shall not redeem ye! And, that your cries

May find no entrance to our ears, to move
Pity in any, bid loud music sound
['em
Their fatal knells! If ye have prayers, use
Quickly, to any power will own ye: but-
Enter Crocale, Sebastian, Nicusa, and Tibalt.
Ha! who are these? what spectacles of mis-
fortune?

[der?

Why are their looks so full of joy and wonCroc. Oh, lay by

These instruments of death, and welcome to Your arms what you durst never hope t' embrace!

This is Sebastian; this Nicusa, madam; Preserv'd by miracle. Look up, dear sir, And know your own Rosellia! be not lost In wonder and amazement; or if nature Can, by instinct, instruct you what it is

28 Sir, in your looks,

To be bless'd with the name of father, freely Enjoy't in this fair virgin!

Seb. Tho' my miseries,

And many years of wants I have endur'd,
May well deprive me of the memory

Of all joys past; yet, looking on this building,
This ruin'd building of a heav'nly form
In my Rosellia, I must remeinber
I am Sebastian.
Ros. Oh, my joys!
Seb. And here,

I see a perfect model of thyself,
As thou wert when thy choice first made
thee raine:
[with time,
These cheeks and fronts, tho' wrinkled now
Which art cannot restore, had equal pureness
Of natural white and red, and as much
ravishing:

Which, by fair order and succession, I see
Descend on her; and may thy virtues wind
Into her form, and make her a perfect dower,
No part of thy sweet goodness wanting to her!
I will not now, Rosellia, ask thy fortunes,
Nor trouble thee with hearing mine;
Those shall hereafter serve to make glad hours
In their relation. All past wrongs forgot,
I'm glad to see you, gentlemen; but most,
That it is in my power to save your lives;
You sav'd ours, when we were near starv'd at
sea,

And I despair not-for, if she be mine,
Rosellia can deny Sebastian nothing.

Ros. She does give up herself,

Her power and joys, and all, to you, to be
Discharged of 'em as too burdensome;
Welcome in any shape!

Seb. Sir, in your looks 28, I read
Your suit of my Clarinda; she is yours.
And, lady, if't be in me to confirm
Your hopes in this brave gentleman, presume
I am your servant.

Alb. We thank you, sir. Aminta. Oh, happy hour! Alb. Oh, my dear Aminta, Now all our fears are ended. Tib. Here I fix;

She's mettle, steel to the back, and will cut My leaden dagger, if not us'd with discretion. Croc. You're still no changeling.

Sch Nay, all look chearfully; for none

shall be

Denied their lawful wishes. When a while We've here refresh'd ourselves, we will return To our sev'ral homes: and well that Voyage ends,

That makes of deadly enemies, faithful friends! [Exeunt omnes.

I read your suit of my Clarinda;-] Perhaps the reader would wish to know whom the old gentleman means here. I can think of no one but Nicusa his nephew. Yet this s but a guess, and if the reader imagines any one of the company (Albert and Tibalt excepted, deserves Clarinda better than her cousin, let him reject mine, and enjoy his own opinion. Sympson. When Aminta depreciates Albert, in her conversation with Clarinda, she recommends Raymond to her: it is most likely, therefore, he is the person intended by the poet to possess her.

THE

A COMEDY.

The Commendatory Verses by Gardiner and Hills, speak of this Comedy as the production of Fletcher alone; but the Prologue mentions it as the joint performance of both Authors. It was first printed in the folio of 1647; and appears to have been revived at the Theatre Royal about the end of the last century, when a Prologue was spoken by Joe Haines. We do not know of any performance of it since that time.

[blocks in formation]
[ocr errors]

The work itself too, when it first came forth,"
In the opinion of men of worth, [rude
Was well receiv'd and favour'd, tho' some
And harsh among th' ignorant multitude,
(That relish gross food better than a dish
That's cook'd with care, and serv'd in to the
wish

Of curious palates) wanting wit and strength-
Truly to judge, condemn'd it for the length2:

That

1 England, France.] As the scene never changes from England through the whole play, and, as I remember, the word France does not occur above once in this piece, I have made no scruple to expel and explode what never possibly could have stood in the author's manuscript.

2

Sympson.
condemn'd it for the length;

That fault's reform'd.] In the Stationers' Preface to the edition of 1647, we have those words: When these Comedies and Tragedies were presented on the stage, the actors omit

Kk 2

ted

« PředchozíPokračovat »