SCENE V.
Enter the Ghost of Hercules.
Her. O Son of Pæan, move not hence, before
You hear my Words, and you yourself shall own
You do not only hear, but see me too;
’Tis for your sake I leave my Heav’nly Mansion,
Here to impart Jove’s Will; ’tis on his Errand
I come, to stop the Journey you intend;
Thy Bus’ness is my Counsel to obey.
Then first I shall of my own Fate inform thee;
How many Labours, Toils, and Pains, I pass’d,
Immortal Glory to obtain; which now
You may behold in me; ’tis destin’d too
That you thro’ Danger’s Path arrive at Fame.
With this Prince, going to the Town of Troy,
The first Advantage you shall find, will be
A Freedom from Disease; and next, the Greeks
Shall well distinguish you the first in Valour,
Paris to slay, the Author of their Woes,
With these my fatal never-failing Arrows.
And Troy shall sink by them; the richest Spoils
Be thine, by full Consent of all the Greeks;
These to thy Native Oeta thou shalt send
Unto thy Father Pæan. All the Spoils,
Which from the Grecian Army you shall take,
Bear them unto my Pile, and there erect
A Monument to this my faithful Bow.
Son of Achilles, this Advice be thine—
You must not think to conquer Troy without
His Help; or Philoctetes without your’s;
But, like two Lyon’s Whelps, each other’s Aid
Engage; one Moment don’t ye part asunder.
To cure thy Wounds, I’ll Æsculapius bring
To Troy, which must a second time submit
To these my Arrows; But remember this—
When you the Conquest gain, return your Thanks
To Heav’n for your Success; for Jove regards
Religious Rites above all human Acts.
Religion, which attends departing Souls,
Whether we live or die, is still immortal.
Phil. O Voice desirable to me, tho’ long
Unheard! I shall not disobedient be.
Neop. To the same Counsel I with Joy subscribe.
Her. Haste then and hoist your Sails; the Winds are fair.
Phil. Off then I go; but let me thus express
My last farewel, it is a Debt I owe.
My little Cave, wherein I dwelt so long;
Ye wat’ry Nymphs, which tread the verdant Meads;
Ye stormy Sounds that break upon the Shore,
Which often did convey your frothy Dews
Upon my Head, as in my Cave I lay,
And loudly of the Tempest’s Rage complain’d,
’Till the Hermean Promontory rung.
Ye Springs, from whose delicious Streams I drank,
I leave ye all; beyond my Hopes I leave you;
To thee, dear Lemnos, I must bid farewel,
Which in the Ocean’s swelling Bosom liest;
Grant us a lucky Voyage hence; and land
Our Ship in Safety where the Fates decree;
And where our Friends direct; where Heav’ns great King,
Who conquers all, commands that we shou’d go.
Chorus.
Then let us leave the Lemnian Shore,
And all together sail;
The Nymphs who guide the Seas implore
To send a prosp’rous Gale.
FINIS.
Transcriber’s Notes
New original cover art included with this ebook is granted to the public domain.
In some cases, two short lines of dialogue were printed on the same line in the printed play; each of these has been moved to its own line. The following changes and corrections have been made:
- Dedication: Supplied missing period after phrase “some Traces of the Author’s Genius.”
- p. 6: Capitalized and formatted heading “Strophe” to match other occurrences.
- p. 13: Added comma after “Sigeum” in note 11.
- p. 21: Supplied missing period after speaker “Neop.” before phrase “Do they intend / By Force of Arms.”
- p. 40: Replaced “Friendip” with “Friendship” in phrase “To shew my Friendship for thee still.”
- p. 43: Supplied missing period after speaker “Neop.” before phrase “Tho’ you be wise you talk like one that’s mad.”
- p. 47: Replaced “Souls” with “Soul” in phrase “’Tis not the past that frets my anxious Soul.”