Selected quad for the lemma: death_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A36588
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Albion and Albanius an opera ... / written by Mr. Dryden.
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Dryden, John, 1631-1700.; Grabu, Louis, d. 1694.
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1685
(1685)
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Wing D2224; ESTC R19757
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20,090
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41
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neither cheers the VVorld nor lights the Skies 'T is fit a Common-wealth of Stars shou'd rise Asebia Each noble vice Shall bear a Price And Vertue shall a drug become An empty Name VVas all her Fame But now she shall be Dumb. Zelota If open Vice be what you drive at A Name so broad we 'll ne'er connive at Saints love Vice but more refin'dly Keep her close and use her kindly Tyran Fall on Dem. Fall on Ere Albion's death we 'll try If one or many shall his room supply The white Boys dance about the Saints The Saints draw out the Association and offer it to 'em They refuse it and quarrel about it Then the white Boys and Saints fall into a confus'd Dance imitating fighting The white Boys at the end of the Dance being driven out by the Sectaries with Protestant Flails Albion SEE the Gods my cause desending VVhen all humane help was past Acacia Factions mutually contending By each other fall at last Albion But is not yonder Proteus Cave Below that steep Which rising Billows brave Acacia It is And in it lies the God asleep And snorting by We may descry The Monsters of the deep Albion He knows the past And can resolve the future too Acacia 'T is true But hold him fast For he can change his hew The Cave of Proteus rises out of the Sea it consists of several Arches of Rock work adorn'd with mother of Pearl Coral and abundance of Shells of various kinds Thro' the Arches is seen the Sea and parts of Dover Peer In the middle of the Cave is Proteus a sleep on a Rock adorn'd with Shells c. Like the Cave Albion and Acacia seize on him and while a Symphony is playing he sinks as they are bringing him forward and changes himself into a Lyon a Crocodile a Dragon and then to his own shape again He comes toward the front of the Stage and Sings Symphony Proteus ALbion lov'd of Gods and Men Prince of Peace too mildly Reigning Cease thy sorrow and complaining Thou shalt be restor'd agen Albion lov'd of Gods and Men. 2. Still thou art the care of Heav'n In thy Youth to Exile driv'n Heav'n thy ruin then prevented Till the guilty Land repented In thy Age when none could aid Thee Foes conspir'd and Friends betray'd Thee To the brink of danger driv'n Still thou art the Care of Heav'n Albion To whom shall I my preservation owe Proteus Ask me no more for 't is by Neptune's Foe Proteus descends Democracy and Zelota return with their Faction Democ. Our seeming Friends who joyn'd alone To pull down one and build another Throne Are all disperst and gone We brave republick Souls remain Zelot And 't is by us that Albion must be Slain Say whom shall wee employ The Tyrant to destroy Democ. That Archer is by Fate design'd With one Eye clear and t'other blind Zelota He seems inspir'd to do 't Omnes Shoot Holy Cyclop shoot The one Ey'd Archer advances the rest follow A fire arises betwixt them and Albion Ritornel Democ. Lo Heav'n and Earth combine To blast our bold design What Miracles are shown Nature's alarm'd And Fires are arm'd To guard the Sacred Throne Zelota What help when jarring Elements conspire To punish our audacious Crimes Retreat betimes To shun th' avenging Fire Chor. To shun the avenging Fire Ritor As they are going back a Fire arises from behind They all sink together Albion Let our tuneful accents upwards move Till they reach the vaulted Arch of those above Let us adore 'em Let us fall before 'em Acacia Kings they made and Kings they love When they protect a rightful Monarch's Reign The Gods in Heav'n the Gods on Earth maintain Both. When they protect c. Albion But see what glories guild the main Acacia Bright Venus brings Albanius back again With all the loves and graces in her train A Machine rises out of the Sea It opens and discovers Venus and Albanius sitting in a great Scallop-shell richly adorn'd Venus is attended by the Loves and Graces Albanius by Hero's The Shell is drawn by Dolphins It moves forward while a Simphony of Fluts-Doux c. is playing till it Lands 'em on the Stage and then it closes and sinks Venus Sings ALbion Hail The Gods present Thee All the richest of their Treasures Peace and Pleasures To content Thee Dancing their eternal measures Graces and Loves Dance an Entry Venus But above all humane blessing Take a Warlike Loyal Brother Never Prince had such another Conduct Courage truth expressing All Heroick worth possessing Chor. of all But above all c. Here the Hero's Dance is perform'd Ritor Whilst a Simphony is playing a very large and a very glorious Machine descends The figure of it Oval all the Clouds shining with Gold abundance of Angels and Cherubins flying about 'em and playing in 'em in the midst of it sits Apollo on a Throne of Gold he comes from the Machine to Albion Phoeb. From Iove's Imperial Court Where all the Gods resort In awful Council met Surprizing news I bear Albion the Great Must change his Seat For Hee 's adopted there Ven. What Stars above shall we displace Where shall he fill a Room Divine Nept. Descended from the Sea Gods Race Let him by my Orion shine Phoeb. No Not by that tempestuous sign Betwixt the Balance and the Maid The Just August And peaceful shade Shall shine in Heav'n with Beams display'd While great Albanius is on Earth obey'd Ven. Albanius Lord of Land and Main Shall with fraternal vertues Reign And add his own To fill the Throne Ador'd and fear'd and lov'd no less In VVar Victorious mild in Peace The joy of men and Iove's increase Acacia O Thou Who mount'st th' AEthereal Throne Be kind and happy to thy own Now Albion is come The People of the Sky Run gazing and Cry Make Room make Room Make room for our new Deity Here Albion mounts the Machine which moves upward slowly A full Chorus of all that Acacia sung Ven. Behold what Triumphs are prepar'd to grace Thy glorious Race Where Love and Honour claim an equal place Already are they fixt by Fate And only ripening Ages wait The Scene changes to a walk of very high Trees At the end of the Walk is a view of that part of Windsor which faces Eaton In the midst of it is a row of small Trees which lead to the Castle-hill In the first Scene part of the Town and part of the Hill In the next the Terrace Walk the King's Lodgings and the upper part of St. George's Chappel then the Keep and lastly that part of the Castle beyond the Keep In the Air is a Vision of the Honors of the Garter the Knights in Procession and the King under a Canopy Beyond this the upper end of St. George's Hall Fame rises out of the middle of the Stage standing on a Globe on which is the Arms of England The Globe rests on a Pedestal On the Front of the Pedestal is drawn a Man with a long lean pale Face with Fiends Wings and Snakes twisted round his Body He is incompast by several Phanatical Rebellious Heads who suck poyson from him which runs out of a Tap in his Side Fame REnown assume thy Trumpet From Pole to Pole resounding Great Albion's Name Great Albion's Name shall be The Theme of Fame shall be great Albion's Name Great Albion's Name Great Albion's Name Record the Garters glory A Badge for Hero's and for Kings to bear For Kings to bear And swell th' Immortal Story With Songs of Gods and fit for Gods to hear And swell th' Immortal Story VVith Songs of Gods and fit for Gods to hear For Gods to hear A full Chorus of all the Voices and Instruments Trumpets and Ho-Boys make Returnello's of all Fame sings and Twenty four Dancers joyn all the time in a Chorus and Dance to the end of the Opera FINIS Advertisement THe History of the League Written in French by Monsieur Maimbourg Englished upon His Majestie 's Command by Mr. Dryden Miscellany Poems in Two Parts containing new Translations of Virgil's Eccloges Ovid's Love-Elegies several parts of Virgil's Eneids Lucretiùs Theocritus Horace c. With several Original Poems never before Printed By the most Eminent Hands Published by Mr. Dryden Threnodia Augustalis A Funeral Pindarick Poem Sacred to the Happy Memory of King Charles the 2d By Mr. Dryden Sold by Iacob Tonson at the Iudge's Head in Chancery-Lane near Fleet-street
seems indeed to have been invented for the sake of Poetry and Musick the Vowels are so abounding in all Words especially in the Terminations of them that excepting some few Monosyllables the whole Language ends in them Then the Pronunciation is so manly and so sonorous that their very speaking has more of Musick in it than Dutch Poetry and Song It has withal deriv'd so much Copiousness and Eloquence from the Greek and Latin in the composition of Words and the formation of them that if after all we must call it barbarous 't is the most beautiful and most learned of any Barbarism in Modern Tongues And we may at least as justly praise it as Pyrrhus did the Roman Discipline and Martial Order that it was of Barbarians for so the Greeks call'd all other Nations but had nothing in it of barbarity This Language has in a manner been refin'd and purified from the Gothick ever since the time of Dantè which is above four hundred Years ago and the French who now cast a longing Eye to their Country are not less ambitious to possess their Elegance in Poetry and Musick in both which they labour at Impossibilities 'T is true indeed they have reform'd their Tongue and brought both their Prose and Poetry to a Standard the Sweetness as well as the Purity is much improv'd by throwing off the unnecessary Consonants which made their Spelling tedious and their pronunciation harsh But after all as nothing can be improv'd beyond its own Species or farther than its original Nature will allow as an ill Voice though never so thoroughly instructed in the Rules of Musick can never be brought to sing harmoniously nor many an honest Critick ever arrive to be a good Poet so neither can the natural harshness of the French or their perpetual ill Accent be ever refin'd into perfect Harmony like the Italian The English has yet more natural disadvantage than the French our original Teutonique consisting most in Monosyllables and those incumber'd with Consonants cannot possibly be freed from those Inconveniences The rest of our Words which are deriv'd from the Latin chiefly and the French with some small sprinklings of Greek Italian and Spanish are some relief in Poetry and help us to soften our uncouth Numbers which together with our English Genius incomparably beyond the triffling of the French in all the nobler Parts of Verse will justly give us the Preheminenceâ— But on the other hand the Effeminacy of our pronunciation a defect common to us and to the Danes and our scarcity of female Rhymes have left the advantage of musical composition for Songs though not for recitative to our neighbors Through these Difficulties I have made a shift to struggle in my part of the performance of this Opera which as mean as it is deserves at least a Pardon because it has attempted a discovery beyond any former Undertaker of our Nation only remember that if there be no North-East Passage to be found the fault is in Nature and not in me Or as Ben. Iohnson tells us in the Alchymist when Projection had fail'd and the Glasses were all broken there was enough however in the Bottoms of them to cure the Itch so I may thus far be positive That if I have not succeeded as I desire yet there is somewhat still remaining to satisfy the Curiosity or Itch of Sight and Hearing so Wise as not to be impos'd upon and fool'd out of their satisfaction The newness of the undertaking is all the hazard When Opera's were first set up in France they were not follow'd over eagerly but they gain'd daily upon their Hearers till they grew to that heigth of Reputation which they now enjoy The English I confess are not altogether so Musical as the French and yet they have been pleas'd already with the Tempest and some pieces that follow'd which were neither much better Written nor so well Compos'd as this If it finds encouragement I dare promise my self to mend my hand by making a more pleasing Fable In the mean time every Loyal English-man cannot but be satisfy'd with the Moral of this which so plainly represents the double restoration of his Sacred Majesty POSTSCRIPT This Preface being wholly Written before the Death of my late Royal Master quem semper acerbum semper honoratum sic Dii voluistis habebo I have now lately review'd it as supposing I shou'd find many notions in it that wou'd require correction on cooler thoughts After four Months lying by me I look'd on it as no longer mine because I had wholly forgotten it but I confess with some satisfaction and perhaps a little vanity that I found my self entertain'd by it my own Iudgment was new to me and pleas'd me when I look'd on it as anothâ—r Man's I see no Opinion that I wou'd retract or alter unless it be that possibly the Italians went not so far as Spain for the Invention of their Opera's They might have it in their own Country and that by gathering up the Shipwrecks of the Athenian and Roman Theaters which we know were adorn'd with Scenes Musick Dances and Machines especially the Grecian But of this the Learned Monsieur Vossius who has made our Nation his second Country is the best and perhaps the only Iudge now living As for the Opera it self it was all compos'd and was just ready to have been perform'd when he in Honor of whom it was principally made was taken from us He had been pleas'd twice or thrice to command that it shou'd be practis'd before him especially the first and third Acts of it and publicâ—ly declar'd more than once That the compositio and Chorus ' s were more Iust and more Beautiful than any he had heard in England How nice an Ear he had in Musick is sufficiently known his praise therefore has establish'd the Reputation of it above censure and made it in a manner Sacred 'T is therefore humbly and Religiously dedicated to his Memory It might reasonably have been expected that his Death must have chang'd the whole Fabrick of the Opera or at least a great part of it But the design of it Originally was so happy that it needed no alteration properly so call'd for the addition of twenty or thirty lines in the Apotheosis of Albion has made it entirelâ— of a Piece This was the only way which cou'd have been invented to save it from a botch'd ending and it fell luckily into my imagination As if there were a kind of fatality even in the most trivial things concerning the Succession a change was made and not for the worse without the least confusion or disturbance And those very causes which seem'd to threaten us with troubles conspir'd to produce our lasting Happiness Names of the Persons Represented in the same Order as they appear first upon the STAGE Mercury Augusta London Thamesis Democracy Zelota Feign'd Zeal Archon The General Iuno Iris. Albion Albanius Pluto Alecto Apollo Neptune Nereids Acacia Innocence Tyranny