_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
This file uses _underscores_ to indicate italic text. In the original
printed text, the Argument and all verse passages were printed in italic
text, with upright text used for emphasis. For the sake of readability,
in those passages _underscores_ are used only for the emphasized
(upright) text. 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.”