The Works of Aphra Behn, Volume II

Sir _Sig_. Belonging to a monstrous Giant; who having spirited away the King of _Tropicipopican’s_ Daughter, keeps her here inclos’d, and that I a wandring Knight am by fickle F...

_Jul_. I know’t, are on the _Corso_; a Curtezan? and a Zittella too? a pretty contradiction; but I’ll bate her the last, so I might enjoy her as the first: whate’er the price be...

Sir _Tim_. Good Lord! Ay, ay, ‘tis so; the plaguy Rogue my Nephew has got her. That Heaven shou’d drop such Blessings in the Mouths of the wicked! Well, _Jervice_, what Company...

L. _Gal_. Sirrah, run to my Lord Mayor’s, and require some of his Officers to assist me instantly; and d’ye hear, Rascal, bar up my Doors, and let none of his mad Crew enter. [_...

_Phil_. Oh, all ye cruel Powers! is’t not enough I am depriv’d of Empire, and of Honour? Have my bright Name stol’n from me, with my Crown! Divested of all Power! all Liberty! A...

_Oct_. By Heaven, I will not eat, nor sleep, nor pray for any thing but swift and sure Revenge, till I have found _Marcella_, that false deceiving Beauty, or her Lover, my hated...

Sir _Tim_. No, I have heard you out too often, Sir, till you have talkt me out of many a fair Thousand; have had ye out of all the Bayliffs, Serjeants, and Constables Clutches a...

_Cleo. Thersander_, I am come to beg thy pardon, If thou art innocent, as I must believe thee, And here before the King to make confession Of what I did refuse the Queen my Moth...

_Qu. Elvira_, hast thou drest my Lodgings up, Fit to receive my Moor? Are they all gay, as Altars, when some Monarch Is there to offer up rich Sacrifices? Hast thou strew’d all...

_Fil_. How splendidly these common Women live! How rich is all we meet with in this Palace; And rather seems the Apartment of some Prince, Than a Receptacle for Lust and Shame.

L. _Gal_. Hold thy fluent Tattle, thou hast Tongue Enough to talk an Oyster-Woman deaf: I say it cannot be. --What means the panting of my troubled Heart! Oh, my presaging Fears...

_Pet_. Well, Signior, of a bad turn it was a good one, that he took you for Sir _Signal_! the Scandal lies at his door now Sir,--so the Ladder’s fast, you may now mount and away.--

_Pet_. Ah che Bella! Bella! I swear by these sparkling Eyes and these soft plump dimpled Cheeks, there’s not a Signiora in all _Rome_, cou’d she behold ‘em, were able to stand t...

Sir _Anth_. To her Coach! to her Coach! Did not I put her into your Hand, follow’d you out, wink’d, smil’d and nodded; cry’d ‘bye _Charles_, ‘bye Rogue; which was as much as to...

_Pet_. Now, Signior, you’re safe and happy in the Bedchamber of your Mistress--who will be here immediately, I’m sure; I’ll fetch a Light, and put you to Bed in the mean time--

_Enter the_ King _crown’d_, Philip, Mendozo, Queen, Leonora, Florella, Elvira, Alonzo, Roderigo, Ordonio, Sebastian, Antonio, _Officers and Guards; met by_ Abdelazer _follow’d b...

_Ther_. Urge it no more, _Lysander_,’.is in vain, My Liberty past all retrieve is lost; But they’re such glorious Fetters that confine me, I wou’d not quit them to preserve that...

_Cleo_. I do not use to leave the Game unvanquish’d, Yet now by what strange inclination led I know not, The Sport growing dull, I wish to meet a place Far from the noise and bu...

_Qu_. What doleful Cry was that, which like the Voice Of angry Heav’n struck thro my trembling Soul? Nothing but horrid Shrieks, nothing but Death; Whilst I, bowing my Knees to...

_Flor_. Ah, Sir, the Gods and you would be more merciful, If by a Death less cruel than my Fears, You would preserve my Honour; begin it quickly, And after that I will retain my...

_Wild_. Yes, of both: Had you a grain of Honesty, or intended ever to be thought so, wou’d you have the impudence to marry an old Coxcomb, a Fellow that will not so much as serv...

_Sil_. Madam, you need not make such haste away, the Stranger that follow’d us from St. _Peter’s_ Church pursues us no longer, and we have now lost sight of him: Lord, who wou’d...

_Charl_. Enough, I’ve heard enough of _Wilding’s_ Vices, to know I am undone. [_Weeps_. --_Galliard_ his Mistress too? I never saw her, but I have heard her fam’d for Beauty, Wi...

_Wild_. The Day to come! Death, who cou’d be so dull in such dear Joys, To think of Time to come, or ought beyond ‘em! And had I not been interrupted by _Charles Meriwill_, who,...

_Ors_. I do not like this Musick; It pleases me at first, But every Touch thou giv’st that’s soft and low Makes such Impressions here, As puzzles me beyond Philosophy To find th...

_Dres_. Pox on ‘em all; prithee turn out those petty Tyrants of thy Heart, and fit it for a Monarch, Love, dear _Wilding_, of which them never knew’st the Pleasure yet or not ab...

Enter_ Abdelazer, Cardinal, Alonzo, Ordonio, Roderigo, _and other Lords, one bearing the Crown, which is laid on the Table on a Cushion; the_ Queen, Leonora, _and Ladies. They a...

_Lau_. Now for a Power that never yet was known To charm this Stranger quickly into Love. Assist my Eyes, thou God of kind Desires; Inspire my Language with a moving Force, That...

_Abd. Osmin_! Thy ominous Looks presage an ill Success; Thy Eyes no joyful News of Murders tell: I thought I shou’d have seen thee drest in Blood-- Speak! Speak thy News-- Say t...

_Love _in fantastick Triumph sat, Whilst bleeding Hearts around him flow’d, For whom fresh Pains he did create, And strange Tyrannick Pow’r he shewed; From thy bright Eyes he to...

_Val_. They must be wondrous pressing that made thee venture; but the Fighting’s past, and all the Noise over; every Man of Fame gone to receive what’s due to his Merit; and the...

_The Curtain is let down--being drawn up, discovers_ Orsames _seated on a Throne asleep, drest in Royal Robes, the Crown and Sctpter lying by on a Table_. Geron _near the Throne...

_King_. My Lords, you’re sad to Night; give us loud Musick-- I have a double Cause to mourn; And Grief has taken up his dwelling here-- Beyond the Art of Love, or Wine to conque...

_Ther_. Remain within the Covert of this Wood, Until the Sign be given for the Combat, And then appear upon the Place appointed, Where I will meet and fight with thee; But so I’...

_Cleo_. I am not the first Person of my Sex Has drawn a Sword upon an Enemy; Do you not say he is my Father’s Murderer? And does he not deprive me of that Crown, You say the Go...

_Ors_. Nor wou’d I now, knew I but how to tell thee; Oh, _Geron_, thou hast hitherto so frighted me With thoughts of Death, by Stories which thou tell’st Of future Punishment i’...

_Abd_. I can--and must--in spite of Fate: The Wheel of War shall turn about again, And dash the Current of his Victories.-- This is the Tent I’ve pitched, at distance from the A...

_Jul_. Now by this breaking Day-light I cou’d rave: I knew she mistook me last night, which made me so eager to improve my lucky Minutes. Sure, _Galliard_ is not the Man, I long...

_Ura_. Why was I made a Woman? or being so, Why had I not a masculine Courage given me? That side by side I might have shar’d thy Glory, Or have expir’d together?

_Qu_. Is’t possible, my Brother, you can have So great a Passion for the publick good, As willingly to sacrifice your Child to its Repose, And make her Arms the soft and easy Ch...

_Cleo_. That Peace I have not been acquainted with Since my _Clemanthis’. Death; Yet now methinks my Heart’s more calm and still, And I perhaps may thus expire in silence-- Prit...

_Qu_. Thou grateful Night, to whom all happy Lovers Make their devout and humble Invocations; Thou Court of Silence, where the God of Love, Lays by the awful Terror of a Deity,...

_Cleo_. ‘Twas strangely lost, and yet I dare affirm, The Victory had been ours but for _Thersander_, Who like the impetuous Sea oppos’d by Land, Made Breaches, and o’erflow’d al...

_Phil_. Eternal Plagues consume ‘em in their flight; Oh, this damn’d coward Cardinal has betray’d us! When all our Swords were nobly dy’d in Blood, When with red Sweat that tric...

_Qu_. By all thy Love, by all thy Languishments, By all those Sighs and Tears paid to my Cruelty, By all thy Vows, thy passionate Letters sent, I do conjure thee, go not forth t...

_Char_. Oh, no; they lookt and lov’d and vow’d and lov’d, and swore eternal Friendship--Haste, haste, and lead me to the Church, the Altar; I’ll put it past my Power to love him...

_Ors_. Am I indeed a King? And is there such a thing as fair _Olympia_? Hadst thou not been the first had told me this, By Heaven, thou’dst dy’d for thus concealing it; Not all...

_Bet_. I know not that, Madam; but I verily believe the way to keep your young Lover, is to marry this old one: for what Youth and Beauty cannot purchase, oney and Quality may.

_Cleo_. Thy Silence seems to license me to speak, And tell thee, King, that now our Faults are equal; My Father thou hast kill’d, and I thy Son; This will suffice to tell thee w...

_Amin_. My gallant Maid! this Generosity, Above thy Sex, and much above my Merit, I never can repay: my dear _Urania_, Thou did’st outdo thy Sex before in Beauty, In all the Cha...

_Val_. And why a King? why should you be thus earnest for a King? what good will a King do you? he’s but a single Man, cannot redeem the lost Victory, cannot raise up your dead...

_Druid_. Sir, I’m afraid you have made too bold a venture; And though your Wounds were more numerous than dangerous, I am not willing you should trust ‘em to the Air.

_Ther_. Be gone, I’ll read the Letter o’er again, [_Exeunt Attendants_. And here impress thy Cruelty, and see what that will do To set me free. _Ther_. reads the Letter-- _Findi...

_Ther_. Leave me, I will be calm, [_Exit_ Lysander. For this same change of _Cleomena’s_ Habit Has but increas’d my Love--and all my Softness-- ’.was in that Habit that I left _...

_Abd_. Your Fears are idle,--blow ‘em into Air. I rush’d amongst the thickest of their Crouds, And with the awful Splendor of my Eyes, Like the imperious Sun, dispers’d the Clou...

_Wild_. It is my Custom, Sir, to pray an Hour or two in my Chamber, before I go to Bed; and having pray’d that drousy Slave asleep, the Thieves broke in upon us unawares, I havi...

_As_ Philip _is going off, he is overtook by_ Alonzo, Antonio, Sebastian, _and other Officers: At the other side some Moors, and other of_ Abdelazer’s _Party, enter and fall on_...

_Sem_. As Persons innocent and full of Health Receive unlookt-for Sentences of Death; He sigh’d, and said he wou’d obey your Will: And, Madam, had you seen his silent Grief, You...

_Cleo_. Do not disturb me with thy Grief, _Semiris_: Go leave me to my self, and Thoughts of Vengeance: And thou, base Traitor-Prince, shalt buy thy Life At such a Rate shall ru...

_Phil_. ‘Tis a sad Story thou hast told, _Alonzo_; Yet ‘twill not make me shed one single Tear: They must be all of Blood that I will offer To my dear Brother’s Ghost-- But, gal...

_After a Noise of Trumpets at some distance and fighting, the Scene draws, and discovers_ Cleomena _and_ Thersander _fighting_: Lysander. _On one side stands the_ King of Scythi...

_Alon_. The Moor--a Devil--never did Fiend of Hell, Compell’d by some Magician’s Charms, Break thro the Prison of the folded Earth With more swift Horrour, than this Prince of F...