You wish it fo, poor good old man, you wish it.
The fertile province of Cydonia's thine :
Is there aught elfe? Has happy Phædra aught,
In the wide circle of her far-ftretch'd empire?
Afk, take, my friend, fecure of no repulfe:
Let fpacious Crete through all her hundred cities
Refound her Phædra's joy: let altars fmoke,
And richest guns, and fpice, and incenfe, roll
Their fragrant wreaths to heaven, to pitying hea-
Which gives Hippolitus to Phædra's arms. [ven,
Set all at large, and bid the loathiome dungeons
Give up the meagre flaves that pine in darkness,
And wafte in grief, as did defpairing Phædra:
Let them be cheer'd; let the starv'd prisoners riot,
And glow with generous wine.-Let forrow cease,
Let none be wretched, none, fince Phædra's happy.
But now he comes, and with an equal paffion'
Rewards my flame, and fprings into my arms!
Enter MESSENGER.

PHEDRA.

With fair Ifnen!

Curs'd be her cruel beauty, curs'd her charms, Curs'd all her foothing, fatal, false endearments That heavenly virgin, that exalted goodness Could fee me tortur'd with defpairing love, With artful tears could mourn my monstrouss ferings,

While her bafe malice plotted my deftruction

LYCON.

A thousand reafons crowd upon my foul, That evidence their love.

PHÆDRA.

Yes, yes, they love; Why elfe fhould he refufe my proffer'd bed Why fhould one warm'd with youth, and th of glory,

Difdain a foul, a form, a crown like mine?

LYCON.

Where, Lycon, where was then thy bo cunning? Dull, thoughtless wretch!

PHEDRA.

O pains unfelt before' The grief, defpair, the agonies, and pangs, All the wild fury of diftracted love, Are nought to this.-Say, famous politician, Where, when, and how, did their first pabarik Where did they breathe their fighs? What hany

groves,

What gloomy woods, conceal'd their hidden loves
Alas! they hid it not: the well-pleas'd fun
With all his beams furvey'd their quil·les flame
Glad zephyrs wafted their untainted fighs,
And Ida echo'd their endearing accents.
While I, the fhame of nature, hid in darkne
Far from the balmy air and cheering light,
Preft down my fighs, and dry'd my falling tears,
Search'd a retreat to mourn, and watch'd =
grieve.

LYCON.

Now ceafe that grief, and let your injar'd lov Contrive due vengeance; let majestic Præda, That lov'd the hero, facrifice the villain. Then hafte, fend forth your minitters of ve

geance,

To fnatch the traitor from your rival's arms, And force him trembling to your awful prefente.

PHÆDRA.

O rightly thought!-Difpatch th' attending guards;

Bid them bring forth their inftruments of death, Darts, engines, flames, and launch into the deep, And huri fwift vengeance on the perjur'd flave. Where am I, gods? What is't my rage c

mands?

Ev'n now he's gone! Ev'n now the welist ad
With founding ftrokes divide the sparkling warts,
And happy gales aflift their speedy flight.
Now they embrace; and ardent love enflames
Their flufhing cheeks, and trembles in the

eyes.

Now they expofe my weakness and my crimes: Now to the forting crowd they tell my felles

[it;

As ravenous vultures watch the dying lion,
To tear his heart, and riot in his blood.
Hark Hark, my little infant cries for justice!
Oh! be appeas'd my babe, thou fhalt have justice.
Now all the fpirits of my god-like race
Enflame my foul, and urge me on to vengeance.
Arfamnes, Minos, Jove, th' avenging fun,
Infpire my fury, and demand my justice.
Oh! ye shall have it; thou, Minos, fhalt applaud
Yes, thou fhalt copy it in their pains below.
Gods of revenge, arife.-He comes! He comes!.
And fhoots himself through all my kindling blood.
I have it here.-Now bafe, perfidious wretch,
Now figh, and weep, and tremble in thy turn.
Yes, your Ifmena fhall appease my vengeance.
Ifmena dies; and thou, her pitying lover,
Doom'dit her to death.-Thou too fhalt fee her
bleed,
[groans:
See her convulfive pangs, and hear her dying
Go, glur thy eyes with thy ador'd lsmena,
And laugh at dying Phædra!

HIPPOLITUS,
Oh limena!
ISMENA.

Alas! My tender foul would fhrink at death, Shake with is fears, and fink beneath its pains, In any caufe but this.. But now I'm fteel'd, And the near danger leffens to my fight. Now, if I live, 'tis only for Hippolitus;

And with an equal joy I'll die to fave him.
Yes, for his fake I'll go a willing fhade,
And wait his coming in th' Elyfian fields,
And there enquire of each defcending ghoft
Of my lov'd hero's welfare, life, and honour.
That dear remembrance will improve the bliss,
Add to th' Elyfian joys, and niake that Heaven
more happy.

HIPPOLITUS.

Could I have doom'd thy death?--Could these fat eyes,

That lov'd thee living, e'er behold thes dead?
Yet thou couldst fee me die without concern,
Rather than fave a wretched queen from ruin.
Elfe could you choose to trust the warring winds,
The fwelling waves, the rocks, the faithlefs fands,
And all the raging monsters of the deep!
Oh think you fee me on the naked fhore;

dra,

you;

Let your rage fall on this devoted head;
But fpare, oh fpare a guiltlefs virgin's life:
Think of her youth, her innocence, her virtue;
Think, with what warm compaffion she bemoan'd
[fickness!
Think, how the ferv'd and watch'd you in your
How every rifing and defcending fun
Saw kind Ifmena watching o'er the queen.
I only promis'd, I alone deceiv'd you;
And I, and only I, should feel your justice.
ISMENA.

Oh by thofe Powers to whom 1 foon must anfwer

For all my faults, by that bright arch of Heaven
I now laft fee, I wrought him by my wiles,
By tears, by threats, by every female art,
Wrought his difdaining foul to falfe compliance.
The fon of Thefeus could not think of fraud:
'Twas woman all.

PHEDRA.

I fee 'twas woman all: And woman's fraud fhould meet with woman's vengeance.

But yet thy courage, truth, and virtue fhock me.
A love fo warm, fo firm, fo like my own.
Oh

had the gods fo pleas'd; had bounteous
Heaven

Beftow'd Hippolitus on Phædra's arms,
So had I ftood the fhock of angry Fate,
So had I given my life with joy to fave him.

HIPPOLITUS.

And can you doom her death? Can Minos' daughter

Condemn the virtue which her foul admires? Are not you Phædra? Once the boaft of Fame, Shame of our fex, and pattern of your own.

PHEDRA.

Am I that Phædra? No.-Another foul Informs my alter'd franie. Could elfe lfmena Provoke my hatred, yet deferve my love? Aid me, ye gods, fupport my finking glory, Reftore my reafon, and confirm my virtue. Yet, is my rage unjuft? Then why was Phædra Refcu'd for torment, and preferv'd for pain? Why did you raife me to the heighth of joy, Above the wreck of clouds and storms below, To dash and break me on the ground for ever?

ISMENA.

Was it not time to urge him to compliance ? At least to feign it, when perfidious Lycon Confin'd his perfon, and confpir'd his death.

PHEDRA.

Confin'd, and doom'd to death.-O cruel Ly

con!

Break from the embraces of my fhrieking maids, And harrow on the fand my bleeding bofom; Then catch, with wide-ftretch'd arms, the empty billows,

And headlong plunge into the gaping deep.

To one whofe humble thoughts can only rife To be your flave, not lord?

PHEDRA.

And is that all?

Gods Does he deign to force an artful groan?
Or call a tear from his unwilling eyes,
Hard as his native rocks, cold as his fword,
Fierce as the wolves that howl'd around his birth?
He hates the tyrant, and the suppliant scorns.
O Heaven! O Minos! O imperial Jove!
Do ye not blush at my degenerate weakness!
Hence lazy, mean, ignoble paffion, fly;
Hence from my foul-'Tis gone, 'tis fled for ever,
And Heaven infpires my thoughts with righteous
vengeance.

Thou shalt no more despise my offer'd love;
No more Ifmena shall upbraid my weakness.
[Catches Hipp. fword to ftab berfelf.
Now all you kindred gods look down and fee,
How I'll revenge you, and myself, on Phædra.

THESEUS.

No: But to fave my life I feign'd my death; My horfe and well-known arms confirm'd the tale, And hinder'd farther fearch. This honeft Greek Conceal'd me in his house, and cur'd my wounds; Procur'd a veffel; and, to bless me more, Accompany'd my flight

But this at leifure. Let me now indulge
A father's fondness; let me fnatch thee thus ;
Thus fold thee in my arms. Such, such, was I
[Embraces Hippolitus.

When first I saw thy mother, chafte Camilla;
And much she lov'd me.-Oh! Did Phædra view

What can this coldness mean? Retire, my fon, [Exit Hippolitus. While I attend the queen.-What shock is this? Why tremble thus my limbs? why faints my heart? Why am I thrill'd with fear, till now unknown? Where's now the joy, the ecftafy, and tranfport, That warm'd my foul, and urg'd me on to Phædra? O had I never lov'd her, I'd been bleft.

Sorrow and joy, in love, alternate reign; Sweet is the blifs, diftracting is the pain. So when the Nile its fruitful deluge spreads, And genial heat informs its flimy beds; Here yellow harvefts crown the fertile plain, There monstrous ferpents fright the labouring fwain:

A various product fills the fatten'd fand,

And the fame floods enrich and curfe the land.

ACT IV.

Enter LYCON folus.

LYCON.

This may gain time till all my wealth's embark'd, To ward my foes revenge, and finish mine,

Oh he will tell it all!-Destruction feize hiz-
With feeming grief, and aggravating pity,
And more to blacken, will excufe your folly;
Falfe tears fhall wet his unrelenting eyes,
And his glad heart with artful fighs fhall teave
Then Thefeus-How will indignation (well
His mighty heart! How his majestic frame
Will fhake with rage too fierce, too fwift for v
How he'll expofe you to the public fcorn,
And loathing crowds fall murmur out
horror!

Then the fierce Scythian-New methinks if
His fiery eyes with fullen pleasures glow,
Survey your tortures, and infult your pangs;
I fee him, fmiling on the pleas'd limena,
Point out with fcorn the once proud t
Phædra.