Streets I run Who to his Grave attends her only Son Expos'd to all the World my self I see Forgetting Vertue Fame and all but thee So ill alas do Love and Shame agree 'T is thou alone that art my constant care In pleasing Dreams thou comfort'st my Despair And mak'st the night that does thy form convey Welcome to me above the fairest day Then ' spight of absence I thy Love enjoy In close embraces lockt methinks we lye Thy tender words I hear thy Kisses feel With all the Joys that shame forbids to tell But when I waking miss thee from my bed And all my pleasing Images are fled The dear deluding Vision to retain I lay me down and try to sleep again Soon as I rise I haunt the Caves and Groves Those conscious scenes of our once happy loves There like some frantick Bacchanal I walk And to my self with sad distraction talk Then big with grief I throw me on the ground And view the melancholy Grotto round Whose hanging roof of Moss and craggy Stone Delights my eyes above the brightest Throne But when I spy the bank whose grassy bed Retains the print our weary bodies made On thy forsaken side I lay me down And with a shower of tears the place I drown The Trees are wither'd all since thou art gone As if for thee they put their Mourning on No warbling Bird does now with Musick fill The Woods except the mournful Philomel With hers my dismal Notes all night agree Of Tereus she complains and I of thee Ungentle Youth did'st thou but see me mourn Hard as thou art thou would'st thou would'st return My constant falling tears the Paper stain And my weak hand can scarce direct my Pen. Oh could thy eyes but reach my dreadful slate As now I stand prepar'd for sudden Fate Thou couldst not see this naked breast of mine Dasht against Rocks rather than joyn'd to thine Peace Sapho peace thou send'st thy fruitless crys To one more hard than rocks more deaf than seas The flying Winds bear thy Complaints away But none will ever back his Sails convey No longer then thy hopeless Love attend But let thy Life here with thy Letter end CANACE to MACAREUS BY M r. DRYDEN The ARGUMENT Macareus and Canace Son and Daughter to Aeolus God of the Winds lov'd each other Incestuously Canace was delivered of a Son and committed him to her Nurse to be secretly convey'd away The Infant crying out by that means was discover'd to Aeolus who inrag'd at the wickedness of his Children commanded the Babe to be expos'd to Wild Beasts on the Mountains and withal sent a Sword to Canace with this Message That her Crimes would instruct her how to use it With this Sword she slew her self but before she died she writ the following Letter to her Brother Macareus who had taken Sanctuary in the Temple of Apollo IF streaming blood my fatal Letter stain Imagine er'e you read the Writer slain One hand the Sword and one the Pen employs And in my lap the ready paper lyes Think in this posture thou behold'st me Write In this my cruel Father wou'd delight O were he present that his eyes and hands Might see urge the death which he commands Than all his raging Winds more dreadful he Unmov'd without a tear my wounds wou'd see iove justly plac'd him on a stormy Throne His Peoples temper is so like his own The North and South and each contending blast Are underneath his wide Dominion cast Those he can rule but his tempestuous mind Is like his airy Kingdom unconfin'd Ah! what avail my Kindred Gods above That in their number I can reckon iove What help will all my heav'nly friends afford When to my breast I lift the pointed Sword That hour which joyn'd us came before its time In death we had been one without a crime Why did thy flames beyond a Brothers move Why lov'd I thee with more than Sisters love For I lov'd too and knowing not my wound A secret pleasure in thy Kisses found My Cheeks no longer did their colour boast My Food grew loathsom and my strength I lost Still er'e I spoke a sigh wou'd stop my tongue Short were my slumbers my nights were long I knew not from my love these griefs did grow Yet was alas the thing I did not know My wily Nurse by long experience found And first discover'd to my Soul its wound 'T is Love said she and then my down-cast eyes And guilty dumbness witness'd my surprize Forc'd at the last my shameful pain I tell And oh what follow'd we both know too well ' When half denying more than half content ' Embraces warm'd me to a full consent Then with Tumultuous Joyes my Heart did beat And guilt that made them anxious made them great But now my swelling womb heav'd up my breast And rising weight my sinking Limbs opprest What Herbs what Plants did not my Nurse produce To make Abortion by their pow'rful Juice What Medicines try'd we not to thee unknown Our first crime common this was mine alone But the strong Child secure in his dark Cell With Natures vigour did our arts repell And now the pale-fac'd Empress of the Night Nine times had fill'd her Orb with borrow'd light Not knowing 't was my Labour I complain Of sudden shootings and of grinding pain My throws came thicker and my cryes increast Which with her hand the conscious Nurse supprest To that unhappy fortune was I come Pain urg'd my clamours but fear kept me dumb With inward struggling I restrain'd my cries And drunk the tears that trickled from my eyes Death was in sight Lucina gave no aid And ev'n my dying had my guilt betray'd Thou cam'st and in thy Count'nance sate Despair Rent were thy Garments all and torn thy Hair Yet feigning comfort which thou cou'dst not give Prest in thy Arms and whisp'ring me to live For both our sakes said'st thou preserve thy life Live my dear Sister and my dearer Wife Rais'd by that name with my last pangs I strove Such pow'r have words when spoke by those we love The Babe as if he heard what thou hadst sworn With hasty joy sprung forward to be born What helps it to have weather'd out one Storm Fear of our Father does another form High in his Hall rock'd in a Chair of State The King with his tempestuous Council sate Through this large Room our only passage lay By which we cou'd the new-born Babe convey Swath'd in her lap the bold Nurse bore him out With Olive branches cover'd round about And mutt'ring pray'rs as holy Rites she meant Through the divided Crowd unquestion'd went Just at the door th' unhappy Infant cry'd The Grandsire heard him and the theft he spy'd Swift as a Whirl-wind to the Nurse he flyes And deafs his stormy Subjects with his cries With one fierce puff he blows the leaves away Expos'd the self-discover'd Infant lay â—he noise reach'd me and my presaging mind â—oo soon it s own
can write How er'e I 'le try With Ceremony gay Just at the fall of Night and rise of Day The wicked Sisters were in triumph led And I among 'em to the Nuptial Bed The Marriage Lights as funeral Lamps appear And threatning Omens met us every where Hymen they call Hymen neglects their Cryes Nay Iuno too from her own Argos flyes Now come the Bridegrooms high with wine to find Something with us more lov'd than Wine behind â—ull of impatient Love careless and brave â—hey seize the Bed not seeing there a Grave What follow'd shame forbids me to express â—ut who so ignorant as not to guess â—ow their tyr'd Senses they to sleep commit â— sleep as still as Death ah too like it â—â—was then methought I heard their groans that dyed â—las 't was more than thought I terrified â—ay trembling cold and without power to move 〈◊〉 that dear Bed which you had made me love While you in the soft Bonds of Sleep lay fast Charmâ—d with the joys of love then newly past Fearing to disobey I rise at last Witness sweet heavens how tender was the strife Betwixt the name of Daughter and a Wife Thrice o're your breast which did so lately joyn In such an Extasie of love to mine I rais'd the pointed Steel to pierce that part But ah th' attempt strook nearer my own heart My Soul divided thus these words among A thousand sighs fell softly from my tongue ' Dost thou not heed a Fathers awful will ' Dost thou not fear his power On then and kill ' How can I kill when I consider who ' Can I think death against a Lover too ' What has my Sex with Blood and Arms to do ' Fye thou art now by Love to Shame betray'd ' Thy Sister-Brides by this have all obey'd ' With Shame their Courage and their Duty see ' If not a Daughter yet a Sister be ' No I will never strike If one must dye ' Linus shall live and my death his supply ' What has he done or I what greater ill ' For him to dye and I much worse to kill ' Were he as guilty as my Father wou'd ' Present him why must I be stain'd with bloud ' Poinards and Swords ill with my Sex agree ' Soft Looks and Sighs of Love our weapons be As I lamented thus the tears apace Dropt from my pitying eyes on thy lov'd face While you with kind amorous Dreams possest Threw carelesly your dear arm o're my breast There thinking to repeat Joys lately known Your hand upon my Sword was almost thrown 'T was time to call nor longer I forbore Dreading the Days approach my Fathers more Wake Linus wake I cry'd O quickly wake Or sleep for ever here Th' alarm you take Start up ask twenty questions in one breath To all I answer thus Delay is death Fly while 't is dark and scape eternal night While it was dark you made a happy flight I stay'd to meet the terrors of the Light With day my Father comes the dead to view And finds the dismal Sum one short by you Enrag'd to see his treachery betray'd By his command I 'me thus in Fetters laid Is this reward due to my Love from Fate Ah wretched flame Passion unfortunate Since Iö suffer'd under Iuno's Rage Nothing that Rival'd Goddess can asswage Th' unhappy Mistress of the mighty Iove Chang'd to a Cow a form unâ—pt for Love Views in her Fathers streams her heads array Sees her own horns and frighted starts away When she wou'd speak she lows and equal â—ears From her own self surprize her eyes and ears In vain to loose the frightful shape she tries For Iö follows still where Iö flies In vain she wanders over Lands and Sâ—as Can she find Cure whose self is the Disease Sadly severe the change in her appear'd Whose Beauty Iove and lov'd and Iuno fear'd Grass and the Springs her food and drink supply Her only Lodging 's the unsheltring Sky What need I urge Antiquity my fate Is a fresh instance of the Goddess hate A double stock of Tears by me are spilt Both for my Brothers death and Sisâ—ers guilt Yet as if that were small these Chains arrive 'Cause I alone am guiltless you alive But my dear Lord if any thought you have Or of the Love or of the life I gave If any memory with you does last Or of the Pleasures or the Dangers past Now Linus now some help to her afford Who wants the Liberty she gave her Lord. If life forsake me e're I you can see And death before my Linus set me free Yet my unhappy Earth from hence remove And give those Obsequies are due to Love When I 'me inter'd I know some tears will fall Then let this little Epitaph be all Here lies a Love Compleat tho hapless wife Who catch't the Death aim'd at her husbands life Here I must rest my hand tho much remains 'T is quite disabled with the weight of Chains ARIADNE TO THESEUS The ARGUMENT Minos King of Creet by a sharp Warr compell'd the Athenians who had treacherously slain his Son Androgeos to send yearly seaven young men and as many Virgins to be devour'd by the Minotaure a Monster begotten by a Bull upon his wife Pasiphae while he was engaged in that Warr. The Chance at last fell up on Theseus to be sent among those youths who by the Instructions of Ariadne escaped out of the Labyrinth after he had kill'd the Minotaure and together with her fled to the Isle of Naxos But being commanded by Bacchus he forsook her while she slept When she awaked and found herself deserted she writes this Letter THan savage Beasts more fierce more to be feard Expos'd by Thee by Them I yet am spar'd These Lines from that unhappy Shore I write Where you forsook me in your faithless flight And the most tender Lover did betray While lock'd in sleep and in your Arms she lay When Morning-dew on all the Fields did fall And Birds with early Songs for day did call Then I half sleeping stretch'd me tow'rds your place And sought to press you with a new embrace Oft sought to press you close but still in vain My folding Arms came empty back again Startled I rose and found that you were gone Then on my widow'd Bed fell raging down Beat the fond Breast where spight of me you dwell And tore that hair whâ—ch you once lik'd so well â—y the Moons light I the wide Shore did view 〈◊〉 â—ll was Desart and no sight of you Then every way with Loves mad hast I fly But ill my feet with my desires comply Weary they sink in the deep yielding Sands Refusing to obey such wild Commands To all the shore of Theseus I complain The Hills and Rocks send back that Name again Oft they repeat aloud the mournful noise And kindly aid a hoarse and dying voice Tho faint yet still impatient next I try To climb a rough steep Mountain which was nigh My
his Youth what have thy Gods deserv'd To sink in Seas who were from fires preserv'd But neither Gods nor Parent didst thou bear Smooth stories all to please a Womans ear False was the tale of thy Romantick life Nor yet am I thy first deluded wife Left to pursuing Foes Crëusa stai'd By thee base man forsaken and betray'd This whenthou told'st me struck my tender heart That such requital follow'd such desert Nor doubt I but the Gods for crimes like these Sev'n Winters kept thee wandring on the Seas Thy starv'd Companions cast a Shore I fed Thy self admitted to my Crown and Bed To harbour Strangers succour the distrest Was kind enough but oh too kind the rest Curst be the Cave which first my ruin brought Where from the storm we common shelter sought A dreadful howling eccho'd round the place The Mountain Nymphs thought I my Nuptials grace I thought so then but now too late I know The Furies yell'd my Funerals from below O Chastity and violated Fame Exact your dues to my dead Husbands name By Death redeem my reputation lost And to his Arms restore my guilty Ghost Close by my Palace in a Gloomy Grove Is rais'dâ—a Chappel to my murder'd Love There wreath'd with boughs and wool his Statue stands The pious Monument of Artful hands Last night methought he call'd me from the dome And thrice with hollow voice cry'd Dido come She comes thy Wife thy lawful summons hears But comes more slowly clogg'd with conscious fears Forgive the wrong I offer'd to thy bed Strong were his charms who my weak faith misled His Goddess Mother and his aged Sire Born on his back did to my Fall conspire O such he was and is that were he true Without a blush I might his Love pursue But cruel Stars my birth day did attend And as my Fortune open'd it must end My plighted Lord was at the Altar slain Whose wealth was made my bloody Brothers gain Friendless and follow'd by the Murd'rers hate To forein Countrey 's I remov'd my Fate And here a suppliant from the Natives hands I bought the ground on which my City stands With all the Coast that stretches to the Sea Ev'n to the friendly Port that sheltred Thee Then rais'd these Walls which mount into the Air At once my Neighbours wonder and their fear For now they Arm and round me Leagues are made My scarce Establisht Empire to invade To Man my new built Walls I must prepare An helpless Woman and unskill'd in War Yet thousand Rivals to my Love pretend And for my Person would my Crown Defend Whose jarring Votes in one complaint agree That each unjustly is disdain'd for Thee To proud Hyarbas give me up a prey For that must follow if thou go'st away Or to my Husbands Murd'rer leave my life That to the Husband he may add the Wife Go then since no complaints can move thy mind Go perjur'd man but leave thy Gods behind Touch not those Gods by whom thou art for sworn Who will in impious hands no more be born Thy Sacrilegious worship they disdain And rather wou'd the Grecian fires sustain Perhaps my greatest shame is still to come And part of thee lies hid within my womb The Babe unborn must perish by thy hate And perish guiltless in his Mothers Fate Some God thou say'st thy Voyage does command Wou'd the same God had barr'd thee from my Land The same I doubt not thy departure Steers Who kept thee out at Sea so many years Where thy long labours were a price so great As thou to purchase Troy wouldst not repeat But Tyber now thou seek'st to be at best When there arriv'd a poor precarious Ghest Yet it deludes thy search perhaps it will To thy Old Age lie undiscover'd still A ready Crown and Wealth in Dow'r I bring And without Conqu'ring here thou art a King Here thou to Carthage may'st transfer thy Troy Here young Ascanius may his Arms emply And while we live secure in soft repose Bring many Laurells home from Conquer'd Foes By Cupids Arrows I adjure thee stay By all the Gods Companions of thy way So may they Trojans who are yet alive Live still and with no future Fortune strive So may thy Youthful Son old age attain And thy dead Fathers Bones in peace remain As thou hast pity on unhappy me Who know no Crime but too much Love of thee I am not born from fierce Achilles ' Line Nor did my Parents against Troy combine To be thy Wife if I unworthy prove By some inferiour name admit my Love To be secur'd of still possessing thee What wou'dâ— do and what wou'd I not be 〈◊〉 Coasts their certain seasons know 〈◊〉 free from Tempests Passengers may go But now with Northern Blasts the Billows roar And drive the floating Sea-weed to the Shore Leave to my care the time to Sail away When safe I will not suffer thee to stay Thy weary Men wou'd be with ease content Their Sails are tatter'd and their Masts are spent If by no merit I thy mind can move What thou deny'st my merit give my Love Stay till I learn my loss to undergo And give me time to struggle with my woe If not know this I will not suffer long My life 's too loathsome and my love too strong Death holds my pen and dictates what I say While cross my lap thy Trojan Sword I lay My tears flow down the sharp edge cuts their flood And drinks my sorrows that must drink my blood How wellthy gift does with my Fate agree My Funeral pomp is cheaply made by thee To no new wounds my bosom I display The Sword but enters where Love made the way But thou dear Sister and yet dearer friend Shalt my cold Ashesto their Urn attend Sichaeus Wife let not the Marble boast I lost that Title when my Fame I lost This short Inscription only let it bear Unhappy Dido lies in quiet here The cause of death Sword by which she dy'd Aeneas gave the rest her arm supply'd The foregoing EPISTLE OF DIDO TO AENEAS By Sir C. S. SO in unwonted Notes when sure to die The mournful Swan sings her own Elegy I do not hope by this to change my Fate Since Heaven and You are both resolv'd to Hate Rob'd of my Honour 't is no wonder now That you disdain me when I meanly sue Deaf to my Prayr's that you resolve to go And leave th' unhappy you have rendred so You and your Love the Winds away must bear Forgot is all that you so oft did swear With cruel hast to distant Lands you Fly Yet know not whose they are nor where they lie On Carthage and its rising Walls you frown And shun a Scepter which is now your own All you have gain'd you proudly do contemn And fondly seek a fancied Diadem And should you reach at last this promis'd Land who 'l give its Power into a Strangers hand Another easie Dido do you seek And new Occasions new made Vows
is that I basely strove T' increase your welcom by a Nuptial Love That night that usher'd in th' unhappy day Which did me to your guilty Love betray I wish that fatal Night had been my last Then I had died but then I had been Chast. â— hop'd you were 'cause I deserv'd you True â—s it a Crime to wish what is our due T is sure no mighty Glory to deceive â— tender Maid so willing to believe â—y weakness does but heighten your offencâ— â—ou kindly should have spar'd my innocence â—ou've gain'd a Maid that lov'd you and may 't be â—our greatest Prise and only Victory May your proud Statue rais'd by this success Shame your great Father 'cause his Crimes were less And when late story shall of Tyrants tell And by whom Scyron and Procrustes fell The Centaurs flight the Thebans Over-throw Who 't was durst force the dismal Shades below Then for your Honour shall at last be said Here 's He who by a wretched wile betray'd A Loving Innocent Believing Maid Of all those Acts we in your Father knew His Treachery alone remains in you What only can excuse the Ills you do You both Inherit and Admire it too He Ariadne did betray but she Enjoys a Husband mightier far than He. But the scorn'd Thracians my Embraces shun 'Cause I from them into thy Arms did run Let her they cry to learned Greece be gone We 'll find a Monarch to supply the Throne Thus all we do depends on an ill Fate Which does for ever on th' unhappy wait But may that Fate all his best thoughts attend Who Judges others Actions by the end For should'st thou ever bless these Seas again They 'd praise that Love of which they now complain Then would they say What could she better do Both for her self and for her Kingdom too But I have err'd and thou' rt for ever fled Forget'st my Empire and forget'st my Bed Methinks I see thee still Demophoon Thy Sails all hoisted ready to be gone When boldly thou didst my soft Limbs embrace And with long Kisses dwelt'st upon my Face Drown'd in my Tears and in your own you lay And curs'd the Winds that hastn'd you away Then parting cry'd methinks I hear thee still Phillis I 'll come you may be sure I will Can I expect that thou 'lt er'e see this Shore Who leftst it that thou ne're mightst see me more And yet I beg you 'd come too that you may Be only guilty in too long a stay What do I ask thou by new Charms possess'd Forget'st my kindness on another Breast ' And better to compleat the Treachery ' Swear'st all those Oaths which thou hast broke to me And hast false Man perhaps forgot my Name And ask'st too who I am and whence I came But that thou better maist remember me Know thou ungrateful man that I am she Who when thou'dst wander'd all the Ocean or'e Harbour'd thy Ships and welcom'd thee to Shore Thy Coffers still replenish'd from my own And to that height a Prodigal was grown I gave thee all thou ask'dst and gave so fast I gave my self into thy power at last I gave my Scepter and my Crown to Thee A weight too heavy to be born by me Where Haemus does his shady head display And gentle Heber cuts his Sacred way So great 's the Empire and so wide the Land Scarce to be govern'd by a Womans hand She whom Fate would not suffer to be chast Whose Nupt'als with a Fun'ral Pomp were grac'd Shril cries disturb'd us midst our swiftest joyes And our drawn curtains trembled with the noise Then close to thee I clung all drown'd in tears And sought my shelter where I 'd found my fears And now while others drown their care in sleep â— run toth ' barren Shore and Rocks to weep And view with longing eyes the spac'ous Deep All Day and Night I the winds course survey Impatient till I find it blows this way And when afar a coming Sail I view I thank my Stars and I conclude 't is you Then with strange hast I run my Love to meet Nor can the flowing Waters stop my Feet When near I grow more fearful than before A suddain trembling seizes me all or'e And leaves my body breathless on the Shore Hard by where two huge Mountains guard the way There lies a fearful solitary Bay Oft I 've resolv'd while on this place I 've stood To throw my self into the raging Flood Wild with Despair and I will do it still Since you continue thus to use me ill And when the kinder Waves shall waft me or'e May'st thou behold my Body on the Shore Unburied lie and though thy Cruelty Harder than Stone or than thy self should be Yet shalt thou cry astonish'd with the show Phillis I was not to be follow'd so Raging with Poisons would I oft expire And quench my own by a much happier Fire Then to revenge the loss of all my Rest Would stab thy Image in my tortur'd Breast Or by a Knot more welcom far to me Than that false Man which I have tyed with thee Strangle that Neck where those false Arms of thine With treach'rous kindness us'd so oft to twine And as becomes a poor unhappy Wife Repair my ruin'd Honour with my Life When we can once with our hard Fate comply 'T is easie then to chuse the way to die Then on my Tomb shall the proud Cause be read And thy sad Crime still live when I am dead Poor Phillis dy'd by him she lov'd oppress'd The truest Mistriss by the falsest Guest He was the cruel cause of all her woe But her own hand perform'd the fatal Blow HYPERMNESTRA TO LINUS BY M r. WRIGHT The ARGUMENT Danaus King of Argos had by several Wives Fifty Daughters his Brother Aegiptus as many Sons Danaus refusing to Marry his Dâ—ughters to his Brothers Sons was at last compelled by an Army In revenge he commands his Daughters each to Murder her Husband on the Wedding Night All obeyd but Hypermnestra who assisted her Husband Linus to escape for which being afterwards imprisoned and put in Irons she writes this Epistle To that dear Brother who alone survives lives Of Fifty late whose love betray'd their Writes she that suffers in her Lords defence Unhappy Wife whose Crime 's her Innocence For saving him I lov'd I 'me guilty call'd Had I been truly so I 'de been extoll'd Let me be guilty still since this they say Is Guilt I glory thus to disobey Torments nor Death shall draw me to repent Though against me they use that Instrument From which I sav'd a Husbands dearer life And with one Sword kill Linus in his Wife Yet will I ne're repent for bâ—ing true Or blush t' have lov'd that let my Sisters do Such shame and such repentance is their due I 'm seiz'd with terror while I but relate And shun remembrance of a Crime I hate The frightful memory of that dire night Enâ—rvates so my hand I scarce
furious Love unusual strength supply'd From thence casting my eyes on every â—ide â—ar off the flying Vessel I espy'd â—n your swell'd Sayls the wanton winds did play They Court you since they see you false as they â— saw or fancy'd that I saw you there And my chill Veins froze up with cold despair Thus did I languish till returning Rage In new extreams did my fir'd Soul engage Theseus I cry perfidious Theseus stay But you are deaf deaf as the Winds or Sea Stay your false flight and let your Vessel bear Hence the whole number which she landed here In loud and doleful shrieks I tell the rest And with fresh Fury wound my hated Breast Then all my shining Ornaments I tear And with stretch'd Arms wave them in open Air That you might see her whom you could not hear But when out of my sight the Vessel flew And the Horizon shut me from the view From my sad eyes what floods of tears did fall Till then Rage would not let me weep at all Still let them weep for loosing sight of you 'T is the whole business which they ought to do Like Bacchus raving Priests sometimes I go With such wild hast with hair dishevel'd so Then on some craggy Rock sit silent down As cold unmov'd and sensless as the Stone To our once happy Bed I often fly No more the place of mutual Love and Joy See where my much lov'd Theseus once was laid And kiss the print which his dear Body made Here we both lay I cry false Bed restore My Theseus kind and faithful as before I brought him here here lost him while I slept How well false Bed you have my Lover kâ—pt Alone and helpless in this Desert place The steps of Man or Beast I cannot trace On every side the foaming Billows beat But no kind Ship does offer a retreat And should the Gods send me some lucky Sail â—alm Sâ—as good Pilots and a prosperous Gale Yet then my Native Soil I durst not see But a sad Exile must for ever be From all â—rete hundred Cities I am curst From that fam'd Isle where Infant Iove was nurst Crete I betray'd for you and what 's more dear Betray'd my Father who that Crown does wear When to your hands the fatal Clew I gave Which through the winding Lab'rinth led you safe Then how you lov'd how eagerly embrac'd How oâ—t you swore by all your dangers past That with my life your love should ever last Ah perjur'd Theseus I thy love survive If one forsaken and expos'd does live Had you slain me as you my Brother slew You'ad then absolv'd your self from ev'ry Vow Now both my present Grief denies me Rest And all that a wild Fancy can suggest 〈◊〉 â—â—eadâ—ul Ills to come distracts my Brâ—ast Before my eyes a thousand deaths appear I live yet suffer all the deaths I fear Sometimes I think that Lyons there do go And scarce dare trust my sight that 't is not so â—magine that fierce Wolves are howling there And at th' imagin'd Noise shrink up with fear â—hen think what Monsters from the Sea may rise Or fancy bloudy Swords before my eyes But most I dread to be a Captive made â—nd see these hands in servile works imploy'd Unworthy my Extraction from a Line On one side Royal and on both Divine â—nd which my Indignation more would move â—nworthy her whom Theseus once did love If tow'rds the Sea I look or tow'rds the Land â—bjects of horror still before me stand or dare I look tow'rds Heaven or hope to find â—â—d from those Gods who chang'd my Theseus's mind If Beasts alone within this Island stay Behold me left to them a helpless Prey If Men dwell here they must be Savage too This Soyl this Heaven made gentle Theseus so Would Athens never had my Brother slain Nor for his paid so many lives again Would thy strong Arm had never given the wound Which struck the doubtful Monster to the ground Nor I had given the guiding Thred to Thee Which to my own destruction set Thee free Let the unknowing World thy Conquest praise It does not Ariadâ—es wonder raise So hard a Heart unarm'd might safely scorn The strength and sharpness of the Monsters horn 〈◊〉 Flint or Steel could be secure of wound No room for fear could in that Breast be found Câ—rst be the sleep which seal'd these eyes so fast 〈◊〉 that begun it did not ever last For ever curst be that officious Wind Which fill'd thy Sayls and in my ruin joyn'd Curst hand which me and which my Brother kill'd With what Misfortunes our sad House 't has fill'd And curst the Tongue which with soft words betray'd And empty Vows a poor believing Maid Sleep and the Winds against me had combin'd In vain if perjur'd Theseus had not joyn'd Poor Ariadne thou must perish here Breath out thy Soul in strange and hated Air Nor see thy pittying Mother shed one Tear Want a kind hand which thy fix'd eyes may close And thy stiff Limbs may decently compose Thy Carcass to the Birds must be a Prey Thus Theseus all thy Kindness does repay Mean while to Athens your swift Ship does run There tell the wondring Crowd what you have done How the mix'd Prodigy you did subdue The Beast and Man how with one stroke you slew Describe the Labyrinth and how taught by me You scap'd from all those perplext Mazes free Tell in return what generous things you 've done Such Gratitude will all your Triumphs Crown Sprung sure from Rocks and not of human Race Thy Cruelty does thy great Line disgrace Yet couldst thou see as barbarous as thou art These dismal looks sure they would touch thy heart You cannot see yet think you saw me now Fix'd to some Rock as if I there did grow And trembling at the Waves which roul below Look on my torn and my disordred hairs Look on my Robâ— wet through with show'rs of tears With the cold blasts see my wole body shakes And my numm'd hand unequal Letters makes I do not urge my hated Merit now But yield this once that you do nothing ow. I neither sav'd your Life nor set you free Yet therefore must you force this death on Me Ah! see this wounded Breast worn out with sighs And these faint Arms stretch'd to the seas skiâ—s See these few hairs yet spar'd by Grief and Rage Some Pitty let these flowing Tears engage Turn back and if I 'me dead when you return Yet lay my Ashes in their peaceful Urn. HERMIONE TO ORESTES The ARGUMENT Hermione the Daughter of Menelaus and Helena was by Tyndarus her Grandfather to whom Menelaus had committed the government of his House when he went to Troy contracted to Orestes Her Father Menelaus not knowing thereof had betroth'd her to Pyrrhus the Son of Achilles who returning from the Trojan Wars stole her away Whereupon she writes to Orestes as follows THis dear Orestes this with health to you From her that was your
did mix with common Air Nor does thy tardy Fleet the fault repair Thy absence fully does my Crime reprove And seems design'd to pay so cheap a Love My only fault was loving easily And yet that fault claims gratitude in Thee Where 's now thy faith thy supplyant hands and where The God prophan'd by thy fallacious pray'r Where 's Hymen now that should our hearts unite Bless and secure our conjugal delight First by the Sea thou swor'st thy meaning just The Sea that then thou wert about to trust Thou swor'st by thy prentended Grandsire's name The God that does rebellious storms reclaim By Venus and by Love's Artillery The Instruments of mighty woes to me By Iuno who of marriage Vows takes care And Ceres who the hallow'd Torch does bear Shou'd these wrong'd Pow'rs be just cou'dst thou withstand The angry stroke of an Almighty hand Thy Ships I did repair thy Sails improve And strengthen'd the deserter of my Love I gave thee Oars as Instruments of speed And sharpen'd all the darts by which I bleed Thy Words Thy Kindred Gods whate're was fain'd With Joy I heard with Faith I entertain'd View'd with regard thy false commanded tears Thy artful sorrow and thy seeming fears Thy Arts of Love to me thou might'st have spar'd For I was too unhappily prepar'd Nor shou'd I grieve to have well treated Thee And limited my hospitality But to admit thee loosely to my breast Is Treason fatal to my present rest Ah! had I dy'd before that evening came I then had dy'd in peace secure of fame Yielding I hop'd thy gratitude might move And shewing mine deserve thy utmost love But 't is inglorious thus to have betray'd All pittiless a frail believing Maid A Maid that lov'd thee thou hast rob'd of fame And may no greater honour reach thy name In Athens when thy Statue shall be plac'd Near thy great Father with his Trophies grac'd When Scyron and Procrustes shall be read Scinis and Minotaure in triumph lead Thebes quite reduc'd the Centaure's overcome Hell storm'd the black King disturb'd at home Thy hated Image thus inscrib'd shall End He who betray'd his Mistress and his Friend Of all thy mighty Father has atchiev'd Thou lik'st that Ariadne was deceiv'd What he repented thou dost still admire And only to his treachery art Heir unenvy'd she enjoys a nobler Mate And drawn by harness'd Tygres rides in state The Thracian's whom I scorn'd now shun my bed As one by strange polluted hands misled Says one let learned Athens be her place Some nobler Hand shall govern warlike Thrace The End proves all and may he never hit His rash presage who dares condemn thee yet For shou'dst thou now return each will conclude I study'd with my own my Country's good I 've fail'd alas Thou no review dost make Or of my Palace or the Chrystal Lake My eyes retain thy graceful Image when With mournful Bowes thou bad'st me hope agen Thou did'st embrace me and with such delay That long breath'd kisses seem'd to mean thy stay Thou didst exchange and mix our tears swear The Wind was inauspicious when 't was fair When our divorce thou cou'dst no more decline Thou saidst Expect me Phillis I am thine Him I expect who meant to come no more And Ships no more design'd to touch this shore Yet still I hope ah come tho' past thy time That thy delay may be thy only Crime Some wanton Maid perhaps seduces Thee And buyes thy love with cheap discourse of me Thou can'st not be unmindful who I am Consult thy self for my neglected name Phillis thy Constant hospitable Friend Who did her harbour and assistance lend Love Empire All submitted to thy will Who gave thee much wish'd to give thee still Lycurgus's Land surrender'd to thy sway And to thy Hand its Scepter did convey As far as Rhodope and Haemus go And the soft streams of sacred Hebrus flow Thee my last blushes blest thy loves long toyles Rewarded with my conquer'd Virging Spoyles The howling Fiends and ominous Birds of Night With dismal notes perform'd each Nuptial Rite With her curl'd Snakes the fierce Alecto Came To light our Tapers with infernal flame On Rocks I walk and o're the barren Sand Far as my Eyes can reach the spacious Strand Look out all hours to see what Wind stands fair By Earths cold damp untir'd or Heav'ns bleake air When any distant Sayl I chance to spy I fancy thy loose Streamers drawing nigh Launch'd into Sea the tardy Gales I chide And to meet thee I stem th' impetuous Tide When their approach declares my hopes are vain I fainting crave th' assistance of my Train Above the Bay which the spent Billows blocks And form 's a Precipice of pendent Rocks Thence my despair presented me a grave And nought but thy return my life shall save May some kind Wave to thy own Shore convey And at thy feet thy floating Phillis lay Thy melting heart this dismal sound will groan In these Embraces joyn'd we meet too soon Oft have I thirsted for a pois'nous draught As oft a death from some kind Ponyard sought Oft round that neck a silken Twine I cast Which once thy dear perâ—idious Arms embrac'd By death I 'le heal my present Infamy But stay to choose the speediest way to dye This sad â—hort Epitaph shall speak my doom And fix my mournful story on my Tomb This Monument did false Demophoon build With the cold Ashes of his Mistress fill'd He was the cause and hers the hand that kill'd A PARAPHRASE ON OENONE to PARIS BY M rs A. BEHN The ARGUMENT Hecuba being with Child of Paris dreamt she was delivered of a Firebrand Priam consulting the Prophets was answer'd the Child shou'd be the Cause of the Destruction of Troy wherefore Priam commanded it should be deliver'd to wild Beasts as soon as born but Hecuba conveys it secretly to Mount Ida there to be foster'd by the Shepherds where he falls in love with the Nymph Oenone but at length being known and own'd he sayls into Greece and carries Helen to Troy which Oenone hearing writes him this Epistle TO thee dear Paris Lord of my Desires Once tender Partner of my softest Fires To thee I write mine whilst a Shepherds Swain But now a Prince that Title you disdain Oh fatal pomp that cou'd so soon divide What Love and all our Vows so firmly ty'd What God our Loves industrious to prevent Curst thee with power and ruin'd my Content Greatness which does at best but ill agree With Love such Distance sets 'twixt Thee Me. Whilst thou a Prince and I a Shepherdess My raging Passion can have no redress Wou'd God when first I saw thee thou hadst been This Great this Cruel Celebrated thing That without hope I might have gaz'd bow'd And mixt my Adoration with the Crowd Unwounded then I had escap'd those Eyes Those lovely Authors of my Miseries Not that less Charms their fatal pow'r had drest But Fear and Awe my
So with his Years may your Sons hopes encrease So may Aâ—chises Ashes rest in Peace Some Pity let a suppliant Princess move Whose only fault was an Excess of Love I am not sprung from any Grecian Race None of my Blood did your Lov'd Troy deface Yet if your Pride think such a Wife a shame I 'le Sacrifice my Honour to my Flame And meet your Love by a less Glorious name I know the dangers of this stormy Coast How many Ships have on our Shelves been lost These winds have driv'n the floating Sea weed so That your entangled Vessel cannot go Do not attempt to put to Sea in vain Till happier Gales have clear'd your way again Trust Me to watch the Calming of the Sea You shall not then tho you desir'd it stay Besides your weary Seamen rest desire And your torn Fleet now rigging does require By all I suffer all I 've done for you Some little respite to my Love allow Time and calm Thoughts may teach me how to bear That loss which now alas 't is death to hear But you resolve to force me to my Grave And are not far from all that you would have Your Sword before me whilst I write does lie And by it if I write in vain I die Already stain'd with many a falling Tear It shortly shall another Colour wear You never could an apter present make 'T will soon the Life you 've made uneasie take But this poor Breast has felt your Wounds before Slain by your Love your Steel has now no Power Dear Guilty Sister do not you deny The last kind Office to my Memory But do not on my Funeral Marble Joyn Much wrong'd Sichaeus Sacred Name with mine Of false Aeneas let the Stone complain That Dido could not bear his fierce Disdain But by his Sword and her own hand was slain BRISEIS to ACHILLES BY IOHN CARYL Esq The ARGUMENT In the War of Troy Achilles having taken and Sackt Chrynesium a Town in the Lyrnesian Country amongst his other Booty he took two very fair Women Chryseis and Briseis Chryseis he Presented to King Agamemnon and Briseis he reserved for himself Agamemnon after some time was forced by the Oracle to restore Chryseis to her Father who was one of the Priests of Apollo whereupon the King by violence took away Briseis from Achilles at which Achilles incenst left the Camp of the Grecians and prepared to Sail home in whose absence the Trojans prevailing upon the Grecians Agamemnon was compell'd to send Ulysses and others to offer him rich Presents and Briseis that he would return again to the Army But Achilles with disdain rejected them all This Letter therefore is writen by Briseis to move him that he would receive her and return to the Grecian Camp CAptive Brisëis in a aforaign Tongue More by her blots than words set's forth her wrong And yet these blots which by my tears are made Above all words or writing should perswade Subjects I know must not their Lords accuse Yet prayers and tears we lawfully may use When ravisht from your Arms I was the prey Of Agamemnons arbitrary sway 〈…〉 you must at last have left the Field 〈…〉 you too soon did yield 〈…〉 Glory it must needs disgrace 〈…〉 Summons to yield up the place 〈◊〉 Enemies themselves no less than I â—tood wondring at their easy Victory I saw their lips in whispers softly move Is this the Man so fam'd for Arms and Love Alas Aâ—hilles 't is not so we part From what we love and what is near our heart No healing kisses to my grief you gave You turn'd me off an unregarded Slave Was it your Rage that did your Love suppress Ah love Briseis more and hate Aâ—rides less He is not born of a true Hero's Race Who lets his Fury of his Love take place Tygers and Wolves can fight Love is the Test Distinguishing the Hero from the Beast Alas when I was from your bosom forc'd I felt my body from my soul divorc'd A deadly paleness overspread my face Sleep left my eyes and to my tears gave place I tore my hair and did my death decree Ah! learn to part with what you love from me A bold escape I often did essay But Greeks and Trojans too block'd up the way Yet tho a tender Maid could not break thrôw Methinks Achilles should not be so slow Achilles once the Thunderbolt of War The hope of Conquering Greece Troy's despair Me in his Rivals Arms can he behold And is his Courage with his Love grown cold But I confess that my neglected Charms Did not deserve the Conquest of your Arms Therefore the Gods did by an easier way Our wrongs attone and Dammages repay Ajax with Phoenix and Vlysses bring Humble submissions from their haughty King The Royal Penitent rich Presents sends The strongest Cement to piece broken Friends When Pray'rs well seconded with Gifts are sent Both Mortal and Immortal Powers relent Twenty bright Vessels of Corinthian Brass Their Sculpture did the costly Mine surpass Seven Chairs of State of the same Art and Mould And twice five Talents of perswasive Gold Twelve fiery Steeds of the Epirian breed Matchless they are for beauty and for speed Six Lesbian Maids but these I well could spare Their Island Sackt these were the General 's share And last a Bride ah telle'm I am thine At your own choice out of the Royal Line With these they offer me But might I chuse You should take me and all their gifts refuse But me and those you sullenly reject What have I done to merit this neglect Is it that You and Fortune jointly vow Whom you make wretched still to keep them so Your Arms my Country did in ashes lay My House destroy Brothers and Husband slay It had been kindness to have kill'd me too Rather than kill me with unkindness now With Vows as faithless as your Mother Sea You loudly promis'd that you would to me Country and Brothers and a Husband be And is it thus that you perform your Vow Even with a Dowry to reject me too Nay Fame reports that with the next fair wind Leaving your Honour Faith and me behind You quit our Coasts Before that fatal hour May Thunder strike me or kind Earth devour I all things but your absence can endure That 's a disease which Death must only cure If to Achaia you will needs return Leaving all Greece your sullen rage to mourn Place me but in the number of your train And I no servile Office will disdain If I 'm deny'd the Honour of your Bed Let me at least be as your Captive led Rather than banisht from your Familie I will endure another Wife to see A Wife to make the great Aeacian Line Like Starry Heaven as numerously shine That so your spreading Progeny may prove Worthy of Thetis and their Grandsire Iove Let me on her an humble hand-Maid wait On her because to you she does relate I fear I know not why that she may
Yet Omphâ—le does now enrage me more Than all the Beauties you admir'd before Meanders Streams have seen those shoulders wear Rich Chains that Heav'n as a small weight did bear But were you not ashamed to bâ—hold Those Arms weigh'd down with Jewels and with Gold That made the firce Nemean Lyon die And wore his Skin to shew the Victory When like a Woman you did dress your hair Lawrel had been for you a fitter wear As Wanton Maids you thought it was no shame To wear a Sash to please your haughty Dame Fierce Dâ—omedes was not in your mind That fed his bloody Horses with mankind Did but Busiris see this strange disguise The conquer'd would the Conquerour despise Antëus would retreive his Captive State And scorn a Victor so Effeminate Among the Grecian Virgins you sit down And spin and tremble at a Womans â—rown A Distaffe not a Scepter fills that Hand That Conquer'd all things and did all Command Then in her presence you do trembling stand And fear a blow as death from her fair hand And to regaiâ— her Favour you reveal Those glorioous Actions you should then conceal How you that strange and fruitful Serpent slew That by his wounds more fierce stronger grew How when you fought you never lost the field But made great Kings and cruel Monsters yield And can you boast or think of things so great Now you wear Silks and are with Jewels set These Actions and that Garb do disagree So soft a dress do's give your tongue the lie Your Mistress too puts on your Conqu'ring Arms And makes you stoop to her more pow'rful Charms She wears your Robes to shew her Victory And is what you once thought your self to be Your glorious Conquest and Illustrious Fame Give her Renown but you Eternal Shame All is to her by whom you 'r conquer'd due Go now and brag of what remains to you Is 't not a shame that her soft Arms should bear The Lyons rugged Skin you once did wear These Spoils are not the Lyons but your own The Beast you Conquer'd you she Overcome She takes your Club up in her feeble hand And in her Glass she learns how to Command All this I heard yet I could not believe The sad report which causes me to grievâ— Your Iole is brought before my face I must be Witness of my own disgrace Whil'st I reflect on my unhappy Fate She makes her Entry in the Town in State Not as a Captive with her hair unbound Nor her dejected Eyes â—ixt on the Ground But cover'd o're with Jewels and with Gold As Phrygia once did Hercules behold And salutes all with as much Majesty As if her Father had the Victory Perhaps to leave me is design'd by you True to your Mistress to your Wife untrue You 'l be Divorc't from me and Marry her The Conquer'd must obey the Conquerour This fear torments me more than all the rest And as a Dagger wounds my troubled Breast â— knâ—w the time when you did love me more Than any she whom you do now adore But oh as I am writing the news flies That by a poison'd Shirt my Husband dies What have I done whither has Love drove me Is Love the Authour of such crueltie Shall my dear Hercules endure this pain And I the unhappy Cause alive remain My Title to him by my Death I 'le prove And surely Death 's an Argument of Love Meleager will a Sister find in me Shall Deianira be afraid to die Unhappy House Usurpers fill the Throne Whil'st the true Soveraign is esteem'd by none One Brother wasts his Life in foreign Lands The other perish'd by his Mothers hands Who on her self reveng'd the Crime Then why Should Deianira be afraid to die Only this thing I beg with my last breath Not to believe that I design'd your death As soon as you struck Nessus with your Dart His blood he said would Charm a straying heart In it I dipt the Shirt 't was but to try O Deianira make make hast to die Adieu my Father Sister too adieu Adieu my Country and my Brother too Farewel this light the last that I shall see Hyllus farewel my Dear I come to Thee ACONTIUS TO CYDIPPE BY M r. R. DVKE The ARGUMENT Acontius in the Temple of Diana at Delos famous for there sort of the most Beautiful Virgins of all Greece fell in Love with Cydippe a Lady of Quality much above his own not daring therefore to Court her openly he found this device to obtain her He writes upon the fairest Apple that could be procured a couple of Verses to this effect I swear by chast Diana I will be In Sacred Wedlock ever Joyn'd to Thee and throws it at the feet of the young Ladie She suspecting not the deceit takes it up and reads it and therein promises her self in Marriage to Acontius there being a Law there in force that whatever any person should swear in the Temple of Diana of Delos should stand good and be inviolably observed But her Father not knowing what had past and having not long after promised her to another just as the Solemnities of Marriage were to be perform'd she was taken with a suddain and violent Feavour which Acontius endeavours to perswade her was sent from Diana as a punishment of the breach of the Vow made in her presence And this with the rest of the Arguments which on such an occasion would occur to a Lover is the Subject of the following Epistle REad boldly this here you shall Swear no more For that 's enough which you have Sworn before Read it so may that violent Disease Which thy dear body but my soul doth seise Forget its too long practis'd Crueltie And health to you restore and you to me Why do you blush for blush you do I fear As when you first did in the Temple Swear Truth to your plighted Faith is all I claim And truth can never be the cause of shame Shame lives with guilt but you your virtue prove In favouring mine for mine 's a Husbands love Ah! to your self those binding words repeat That once your wishing Eyes ev'nlong'd to meet When th'Apple brought 'em dancing to your feet There you will find the Solemn Vow you made Which if your health or mine can ought perswade You to perform should rather mindful be Than great Diana to revâ—â—ge on Thee My fears for you encrease with my desire And Hope blows that already raging fire For hope you gave nor can you this deny For the great Goddess of the Fane was by She was and heard from her hallowed Shrine A suddain kind Auspicious light did shine Her Statue seem'd to nod its awful head And give its glad consent to what you said Now if you please accuse my prosperous cheat Yet still confess 't was Love that taught me it In that deceit what did I else design But with your own consent to make you mine What you my Crime I call my Innocence Since