IOLAS:
Married! and in Diana's grove!
IOLINA:
So was th' appointment, or my sense deceived me.
Now by those powers that tie those pretty knots,
Tis very fine: good faith, 'tis wondrous fine.
IOLINA:
What is, brother?
IOLAS:
Why, to marry, sister;
T' enjoy 'twixt lawful and unlawful thus
A happiness, steal as it were his own;
Diana's grove, sayest thou? [Scratcheth his head.
IOLINA:
That is the place; the hunt once up, and all
Engaged in the sport, they mean to leave
The company, and steal unto those thickets,
Where there's a priest attends them.
IOLAS:
And will they lie together, think'st thou?
IOLINA:
Is there distinction of sex, think you,
IOLAS:
True; but the king, sister!
IOLINA:
But love, brother!
IOLAS:
Thou sayest well; 'tis fine, 'tis wondrous fine!
IOLINA:
Yes, Diana's grove; but, brother,
If you should speak of this now.
A drowning man holds not a thing so fast:
[Enter Semanthe; she sees Iolas, and goes in again.
IOLINA:
The wound festered sure:
The hurt the boy gave her, when first
She looked abroad into the world, is not yet cured.
IOLINA:
Why, know you not
She was in love long since with young Zorannes
(Aglaura's brother), and the now queen's betrothed?
IOLAS:
Some such slight tale I've heard,
IOLINA:
Slight? she yet does weep, when she but hears him named,
And tells the prettiest and the saddest stories
Of all those civil wars, and those amours,
That, trust me, both my lady and myself
Turn weeping statues still.
IOLAS:
Pish! 'tis not that.
'Tis Ziriff and his fresh glories here
Since he thus appeared in court,
My love has languished worse than plants in drought.
But time's a good physician. Come, let's in.
The king and queen by this time are come forth.
Enter Serving-men to ZIRIFF.
1 Serv.:
Yonder's a crowd without, as if some
strange sight were to be seen to-day here.
2 Serv.:
Two or three with carbonadoes afore
instead of faces mistook the door for a breach,
and, at the opening of it, are striving still which
3 Serv.:
Is my lord busy? [Knocks.
Enter ZIRIFF, as in his study.
1 Serv.:
My lord, there are some soldiers without.
ZIRIFF:
Well, I will despatch them presently.
2 Serv.:
The ambassadors from the Cadusians too.
ZIRIFF:
Show them the gallery.
3 Serv.:
One from the king.
ZIRIFF:
Again? I come, I come.
Greatness, thou vainer shadow of the prince's beams,
Begot by mere reflection, nourished in extremes;
First taught to creep, and live upon the glance,
Poorly to fare, till thine own proper strength
Bring thee to surfeit of thyself at last:
How dull a pageant would this states-play seem
To me now, were not my love and my revenge
Three tedious winters have I waited here,
Like patient chemists blowing still the coals,
And still expecting, when the blessed hour
Would come, should make me master of
The Court Elixir Power; for that turns all.
'Tis in projection now; down, sorrow, down,
And swell my heart no more, and thou, wrong'd ghost
Of my dead father, to thy bed again,
It cannot be long, for sure fate must,
As it has been cruel, so [in] a while be just. [Exit.
Enter KING and Lords, the Lords entreating for prisoners.
KING:
I say they shall not live; our mercy
Would turn [to] sin, should we but use it e'er:
Pity and love the bosses only be
Of government merely for show and ornament.
Fear is the bit that man's proud will restrains,
And makes its vice its virtue. See it done.
Enter to them QUEEN, AGLAURA, Ladies. The KING
addresses himself to AGLAURA.
So early and so curious in your dress, fair mistress!
These pretty ambushes and traps for hearts,
Set with such care to-day, look like design:
Speak, lady, is't a massacre resolved?
Is conquering one by one grown tedious sport?
Or is the number of the taken such,
That for your safety you must kill outright?
AGLAURA:
Did none do greater mischief, sir, than I,
Heaven would not much be troubled with sad story,
Nor would the quarrel man has to the stars
Be kept alive so strongly.
KING:
When he does leave it,
Women must take it up, and justly too;
For robbing of the sex, and giving all to you.
AGLAURA:
Their weaknesses you mean, and I confess, sir.
KING:
The greatest subjects of their power or glory.
Such gentle rape thou act'st upon my soul,
And with such pleasing violence dost force it still,
That, when it should resist, it tamely yields,
Making a kind of haste to be undone,
As if the way to victory were loss,
And conquest came by overthrow.
Enter an Express, delivering a packet upon his knee.
QUEEN:
Pretty! [The Queen, looking upon a flower
in one of the Ladies' heads.
Is it the child of nature, or of some fair hand?
La.:
'Tis as the beauty, madam, of some faces,
This concerns you most; brought you her picture?
Exp.:
Something made up for her in haste I have.
KING:
If she does owe no part of this fair dower
Unto the painter, she is rich enough.
AGLAURA:
A kind of merry sadness in this face
KING:
There is indeed, Aglaura,
A pretty sullenness dress'd up in smiles,
That says this beauty can both kill and save.
How like you her, Thersames?
THERSAMES:
As well as any man can do a house
By seeing of the portal; here's but a face;
And faces, sir, are things I have not studied;
I have my duty, and may boldly swear,
What you like best will ever please me most.
KING:
Spoke like Thersames and my son!
Come: the day holds fair.
Let all the huntsmen meet us in the vale;
We will uncouple there. [Exeunt.
ARIASPES:
How odd a thing a crowd is unto me!
Sure nature intended I should be alone.
Had not that old doting man-midwife Time
Slept when he should have brought me forth, I had
Been so to. [Studies and scratches his head.
To be born near, and only near a crown!
What, walking o' th' tops of pyramids?
Like a denied lover? come, to horse, to horse!
And I will show you straight a sight shall please you,
More than kind looks from her you dote upon
ARIASPES:
Prithee, what is't?
IOLAS:
I'll tell you as I go. [Exeunt.
Enter Huntsmen hallooing and whooping.
Hunts.:
Which way, which way?
Enter THERSAMES, with AGLAURA muffled.
THERSAMES:
This is the grove, 'tis somewhere here
Enter, dogging of them, ARIASPES, IOLAS.
Enter ORSAMES, PHILAN, a Huntsman, two Courtiers.
Hunts.:
No hurt, my lord, I hope?
Thou wouldst have warranted it to another,
What! dost think my horse and I show tricks?
That which way soever he throws me,
Like a tumbler's boy I must fall safe?
Was there a bed of roses there? would I were eunuch,
if I had not as lief have fallen in the state as where I did!
the ground was as hard as if it had been paved
with Platonic ladies' hearts, and this unconscionable fellow
asks whether I have no hurt!
1 Court.:
Making love to the next mare, I think.
2 Court.:
Not the next, I assure you;
He 's gallop'd away, as if all the spurs i' th' field
ORSAMES:
Why, there it is: the jade's in the fashion too.
Now he's done me an injury, he will not come near me!
Well, when I hunt next, may I be upon a starv'd cow,
Without a saddle too. And may I fall into a sawpit,
And not be taken up, but with suspicion
Of having been private with mine own beast there.
Now I better consider on't too, gentlemen,
'Tis but the same thing we do at court;
Here's every man striving who shall be foremost, and
Hotly pursuing of what he seldom overtakes,
Or if he does, it's no great matter.
PHILAN:
He that's best hors'd, that is, best friended,
Gets in soonest, and then all he has to do
Is to laugh at those that are behind. Shall we
ORSAMES:
Prithee, do. Stay!
To be in view's to be in favour, is it not?
And he that has a strong faction against him,
hunts upon a cold scent, and may in time come to a loss.
ORSAMES:
Here's one rides two miles about,
while another leaps a ditch, and is in before him.
PHILAN:
Where note, the indirect way's the nearest!
PHILAN:
And here's another puts on, and falls into a quagmire,
that is, follows the court, till he has spent all;
for your court quagmire is want of money—
there a man is sure to stick, and then not one
helps him out, if they do not laugh at him.
1 Court.:
What think you of him that hunts after my rate,
2 Court.:
Why, he is like some young fellow that follows
The court and never sees the king.
ORSAMES:
To spur a horse, till he is tired, is——
PHILAN:
To importune a friend till he weary of you.
ORSAMES:
For then, upon the first occasion, you're thrown off,
PHILAN:
This is nothing to the catching of your horse,
ORSAMES:
Thou sayest true: I think he is no transmigrated
Philosopher, and therefore not likely to be taken with mortals.
Gentlemen, your help; the next, I hope, will be yours,
And then 'twill be my turn. [Exeunt.
Enter again, married, THERSAMES and AGLAURA,
THERSAMES:
Fear not, my dear; if, when love's diet
Was bare looks, and those stol'n too,
He yet did thrive, what then
Will he do now? when every night must be
A feast, and every day fresh revelry!
Ang.:
Will he not surfeit when he once shall come
To grosser fare, my lord, and so grow sick?
And love once sick, how quickly it will die!
THERSAMES:
Ours cannot; 'tis as immortal as the things
That elemented it, which were our souls:
Nor can they e'er impair in health, for what
These holy rites do warrant us to do,
More than our bodies would for quenching thirst,
Come, let's to horse; we shall be miss'd;
For we are envy's mark, and court eyes carry far.
Your prayers and silence, sir. [To the Priest.
ARIASPES:
If it succeed, I wear thee here, my Iolas.
IOLAS:
If it succeed? will night succeed the day,
Or hours one to another? is not his lust
The idol of his soul, and was not she
The idol of his lust? As safely he might
Have stol'n the diadem from off his head,
And he would less have miss'd it.
You now, my lord, must raise his jealousy:
Teach it to look through the false optic, fear,
And make it see all double. Tell him, the prince
Would not have thus presumed, but that he does
Intend worse yet; and that his crown and life
Will be the next attempt.
ARIASPES:
Right, and I will urge,
How dangerous it is unto the present state
To have the creatures and the followers
Of the next prince, whom all now strive to please,
IOLAS:
What, if the malcontents, that use
To come unto him, were discovered?
ARIASPES:
By no means; for it were in vain to give
Him discontent (which, too, must needs be done),
If they within him gave it not nourishment.
IOLAS:
Well, I'll away first, for the print's too big,
If we be seen together. [Exit.
ARIASPES:
I have so fraught this bark with hope, that it
Dares venture now in any storm or weather;
And if he sinks or splits, all's one to me.
"Ambition seems all things, and yet is none,
But in disguise stalks to opinion,
And fools it into faith for everything."
'Tis not with the ascending to a throne
As 'tis with stairs and steps that are the same;
For to a crown each humour's a degree;
And as men change and differ, so must we.
The name of virtue doth the people please,
Not for their love to virtue, but their ease.
And parrot-rumour I that tale have taught,
By making love I hold the woman's grace;
'Tis the court's double key, and entrance gets
To all the little plots. The fiery spirits
My love to arms hath drawn into my faction;
All but the minion of the time is mine,
And he shall be, or shall not be at all.
He that beholds a wing in pieces torn,
And knows not that to heav'n it once did bear
The high-flown and self-lessening bird, will think
And call them idle subjects of the wind:
When he that has the skill to imp and bind
These in right places, will this truth discover,
That borrowed instruments do oft convey
The soul to her propos'd intents, and where
Our stars deny, art may supply. [Exit.
Enter SEMANTHE, ORITHIE, ORSAMES, PHILAN.
SEMANTHE:
Think you it is not then
The little jealousies, my lord, and fears:
Joy mix'd with doubt, and doubt reviv'd with hope,
That crowns all love with pleasure? these are lost,
When once we come to full fruition:
Like waking in the morning, when all night
Our fancy has been fed with some new strange delight.
ORSAMES:
I grant you, madam, that the fears and joys,
Hopes and desires, mix'd with despairs and doubts,
Do make the sport in love; [and] that they are
The very dogs by which we hunt the hare;
But as the dogs would stop, and straight give o'er,
Were it not for the little thing before;
So would our passions; both alike must be
ORITHIE:
Will you, then, place the happiness but there,
Where the dull ploughman and the ploughman's horse
Can find it out? Shall souls refin'd not know
How to preserve alive a noble flame,
But let it die—burn out to appetite?
SEMANTHE:
Love's a chameleon, and would live on air,
Physic for agues; starving is his food.
ORSAMES:
Why, there it is now! a greater epicure
Lives not on earth. My lord and I have been
In's privy kitchen, seen his bills of fare.
SEMANTHE:
And how, and how, my lord?
ORSAMES:
A mighty prince, and full of curiosity!
Hearts newly slain serv'd up entire,
And stuck with little arrows instead of cloves.
PHILAN:
Sometimes a cheek plump'd up
With broth, with cream and claret mingled
For sauce, and round about the dish
Pomegranate kernels, strew'd on leaves of lilies!
ORSAMES:
Then will he have black eyes, for those of late
He feeds on much, and for variety the grey.
PHILAN:
You forget his cover'd dishes
Of jenestrays, and marmalade of lips,
Perfum'd by breath sweet as the bean's first blossoms.
And what's the drink to all this meat, my lord?
ORSAMES:
Nothing but pearl dissolv'd, tears still fresh fetch'd
From lovers' eyes, which, if they come to be
Warm in the carriage, are straight cool'd with sighs.
SEMANTHE:
And all this rich proportion perchance
ORSAMES:
True! but therefore this is but his common diet:
Only serves when his chief cooks,
Liking and Opportunity, are out of the way.
For when he feasts indeed,
'Tis there where the wise people of the world
Did place the virtues—i' th' middle, madam.
ORITHIE:
My lord, there is so little hope we should convert you;
And if we should, so little got by it,
That we'll not lose so much upon't as sleep.
Your lordship's servants. [Prepare to go.
ORSAMES:
Nay, ladies, we will wait upon you to your chambers.
PHILAN:
Prithee, let's spare the compliment, we shall
ORSAMES:
By this hand, I'll try;
They keep me fasting, and I must be praying.
AGLAURA undressing herself. IOLINA.
AGLAURA:
Undress me; is it not late, Iolina?
It was the longest day this——
THERSAMES:
Softly, as death itself comes on,
When it does steal away the sick man's breath,
And standers-by perceive it not,
Have I trod the way unto these lodgings.
How wisely do those powers
That give us happiness, order it!
Sending us still fears to bound our joys,
Which else would overflow and lose themselves:
Like day retir'd into another world.
Dear mine! where all the beauty man admires
In scattered pieces does united lie.
Where sense does feast, and yet where sweet desire
Lives in its longing, like a miser's eye,
That never knew nor saw satiety:
Tell me, by what approaches must I come
To take in what remains of my felicity?
AGLAURA:
Needs there any new ones, where the breach
Is made already? you are enter'd here,
Long since, sir, here, and I have giv'n up all.
THERSAMES:
All but the fort; and in such wars as these,
Till that be yielded up, there is no peace
Nor triumph to be made. Come, undo, undo;
And from these envious clouds slide quick
Into love's proper sphere, thy bed.
The weary traveller, whom the busy sun
Hath vex'd all day, and scorch'd almost to tinder,
Ne'er long'd for night as I have long'd for this.
[One knocks hastily. Iolina goes to the door.
Go, Iolina, see, but let none enter——
IOLINA:
'Tis Ziriff, sir.
THERSAMES:
O, something of weight hath fallen out, it seems,
Which in his zeal he could not keep till morning.
But one short minute, dear, into that chamber.
How now? thou start'st as if thy sins had met thee,
Or thy father's ghost; what news, man?
ZIRIFF:
Such as will send the blood of hasty messages
Unto the heart, and make it call
All that is man about you into council:
Where is the princess, sir?
THERSAMES:
Why, what of her?
ZIRIFF:
The king must have her.
ZIRIFF:
The king must have her, sir.
THERSAMES:
Though fear of worse makes ill still relish better;
And this look handsome in our friendship, Ziriff,
Yet so severe a preparation
There needed not. Come, come, what is't?
[Ziriff leads him to the door, and shows him a guard.
Thersames, thou art lost; betray'd
By faithless and ungrateful man, out of a happiness.
[He steps between the door and him, and draws.
Will lend my anger so much noble justice
That, wert thou master of as much fresh life
As thou'st been of villainy, it should not serve
Nor stock thee out to glory or repent
ZIRIFF:
Put up, put up! such unbecoming anger
I have not seen you wear before.
What, draw upon your friend! [Discovers himself.
Do you believe me right now?
THERSAMES:
I scarce believe mine eyes! Zorannes?
ZIRIFF:
The same, but how preserv'd, or why
Thus long disguis'd, to you a freer hour must speak.
That you're betray'd, is certain; but by whom,
Unless the priest himself, I cannot guess,
More than the marriage though he knows not of.
If you now send her on this early summons,
Before the sparks are grown into a flame,
You do redeem th' offence, or make it less;
And, on my life, his intents are fair,
And he will but besiege, not force affection.
So you gain time. If you refuse, there's but
One way; you know his power and passion.
THERSAMES:
Into how strange a labyrinth am I
Now fall'n! what shall I do, Zorannes?
ZIRIFF:
Do, sir, as seamen that have lost their light
And way: strike sail, and lie quiet a while.
Your forces in the province are not yet
In readiness, nor is our friend Zephines
Arriv'd at Delphos; nothing is ripe. Besides——
THERSAMES:
Good heavens! did I but dream that she was mine?
Upon imagination did I climb up to
This height? Let me then wake and die:
Some courteous hand snatch me from what's to come,
And, ere my wrongs have being, give them end.
ZIRIFF:
How poor and how unlike the prince is this!
This trifle woman does unman us all:
Robs us so much, it makes us things of pity.
Is this a time to lose our anger in,
And vainly breathe it out, when all we have
Will hardly fill the sail of Resolution,
And make us bear up high enough for action?
THERSAMES:
I have done, sir; pray chide no more;
The slave, whom tedious custom has inur'd,
And taught to think of misery as of food,
Counting it but a necessary of life,
And so digesting it, shall not so much as once
Be nam'd to patience, when I am spoken of.
Mark me; for I will now undo myself
As willingly as virgins all give up
First nights to them they love. [Offers to go out.
ZIRIFF:
Stay, sir, 'twere fit Aglaura yet were kept
In ignorance. I will dismiss the guard,
And be myself again. [Exit.
THERSAMES:
In how much worse estate am I in now,
Than if I ne'er had known her! Privation
Is a misery as much above bare wretchedness
As that is short of happiness:
So when the sun does not appear,
'Tis darker, 'cause it once was here.
Enter ZIRIFF, speaks to ORSAMES and others half entered.
There needs no force where there is no resistance:
I'll satisfy the king myself.
THERSAMES:
O, it is well ye are come.
There was within me fresh rebellion,
And reason was almost unking'd again.
But you shall have her, sir.
[Goes out to fetch Aglaura.
ZIRIFF:
What doubtful combats in this noble youth
Enter THERSAMES, leading AGLAURA.
THERSAMES:
Here, sir. [Gives her and goes out.
AGLAURA:
What means the prince, my lord?
ZIRIFF:
Madam, his wiser fear has taught him to disguise
His love, and make it look a little rude at parting.
Affairs, that do concern all that you hope
From happiness, this night force him away;
And lest you should have tempted him to stay,
Which he did doubt you would, and would prevail—
He left you thus; he does desire by me
Yon would this night lodge in the little tower,
Which is in my command; the reasons why
Himself will shortly tell you.
AGLAURA:
'Tis strange, but I am all obedience. [Exeunt.