The Works of Aphra Behn, Volume III

_Fran_. Now am I afraid to walk in this Garden, lest I shou’d spy my own natural Wife lying with the Great _Turk_ in Fresco, upon some of these fine fiowry Banks, and learning h...

_Doct_. Let not thy female Ignorance profane the highest Mysteries of natural Philosophy: To Fools it seems Inchantment--but I’ve a Sense can reach it--sit and expect the Event....

L. _Ful_. You are at leisure now, I thank you, Sir. Last Night when I with all Love’s Rhetorick pleaded, And Heaven knows what last Night might have produced, You were engag’d!...

Sir _Cau_. Now cannot I sleep, but am as restless as a Merchant in stormy Weather, that has ventur’d all his Wealth in one Bottom.--Woman is a leaky Vessel.--if she should like...

_Bel_. One sent from Hell to punish Perjury! --Where’s this perfidious Fair? this blushless Maid, That has by my Example broke her Vows? A Precedent that Fiends wou’d shame to f...

_Enter_ Scaramouch _in a Chair, which is set down and open’d on all sides, and on the top represents an Apothecary’s Shop, the Inside being painted with Shelves, and rows of Pot...

_Jul_. And can you blame me, _Jacinta_? have I not many Reasons to be sad? first have I not lost the only Man on earth in Don _Carlos_, that I cou’d love? and worse than that, a...

_Alcip_. Oh _Isillia_, Thou knowest not what vast Treasure this incloses, This sacred Pile; is there no Sorrow due to it? Alas, I bad her not farewel at parting. Nor did receive...

Health, and to the _Haunse in Kelder_, or rather Haddock in Kelder, for I guess it will be half Fish’. and also Dryden’s _Amboyna_ (1673), Act iv, sc. I, where Harman senior rem...

interviews the applicant. Gherardi also gives a scene between Isabella (Elaria) and Colombine (Mopsophil); a scene where Harlequin arrives tricked out as an Apothecary to win Co...

_Jac_. Nay, I knew he would be civil, Madam, or I would have borne you Company; but neither my Mistress nor I, cou’d sleep one wink all Night, for fear of a Discovery in the Mor...

_Lord_. Here, Nephew, I resign that Trust, which was repos’d in me by your dead Father; which was, that on your Wedding-Day I should thus-- make you Master of your whole Fortune...

_Lop_. The Captain, Sir, design’d it so, and at the Harbour gave it out those two Galleys were purposely prepared to entertain the Count and the Ladies with the representation o...

that as the drama was staged Smith and Mrs. Jennings advanced and the curtain fell behind them hiding the rest of the characters, only to rise again upon Scene II, ‘The Court Ga...

_Nur_. Ay, so methinks; if I had the hopes of enjoying so sweet a Gentleman as Mr. _Bellmour_, I shou’d be so too--But I am past it--Well, I have had my Pantings, and Heavings,...

_King_. Brave Youth, whose Infant years did bring us Conquests; And as thou grew’st to Man, thou grew’st in Glory, And hast arriv’d to such a pitch of it, As all the slothful Yo...

_Bel_. I’m for any thing that’s out of the common Road of Sin; I love a Man that will be damn’d for something: to creep by slow degrees to Hell, as if he were afraid the World s...

_Let_. Where were you, all ye pitying Gods of Love? That once seem’d pleas’d at _Bellmour’s_ Flame and mine, And smiling join’d our Hearts, our sacred Vows, And spread your Wing...

_Bel_. Sure ‘tis the day that gleams in yonder East, The day that all but Lovers blest by Shade Pay chearful Homage to: Lovers! and those pursu’d like guilty me By rigid Laws, w...

_Guz_. To whom I civilly addrest my self--told him, you presented your Service to him,--sent to know how his Lady and he did. Which word Lady I no sooner named, but I thought he...

_Doct_. Uncivil! it were flat Treason if it should be known; but thus unseen, and as wise Politicians shou’d, I take survey of all: This is the Statesman’s Peeping-hole, thorow...

_Scar_. So, I have got rid of my Rival, and shall here get an Opportunity to speak with _Mopsophil_; for hither she must come anon, to lay the young Lady’s Night-things in order...

p. 332, l. 32 _Fal. That’s too much_. Following the 4tos I have arranged all the speeches of Falatius, which 1724 gives as prose, metrically. The result is, it must be confessed...

_Bell_. You have no cause to doubt, you can so easily acquit your self; but I, what shall I do? who can no more imagine who shou’d write those Boremes, than who I shall love nex...

Celinda, _who did Love disdain, For whom had languished many a Swain, Leading her bleating Flocks to drink, She spy’d upon the River’s brink A Youth, whose Eyes did well declare...

_Char_. I’m glad on’t; my Uncle began to be impatient that he came not, you saying you left him but a day’s Journey behind you yesterday. My Uncle has something of importance to...

_Gay_. Curse on my Birth! Curse on my faithless Fortune! Curse on my Stars, and curst be all--but Love! That dear, that charming Sin, though t’have pull’d Innumerable Mischiefs...

_Scar_. Though I am come off _en Cavalier_ with my Master, I am not with my Mistress, whom I promised to console this Night, and ‘tis but just I shou’d make good this Morning; ‘...

p. 186 _City Politicks_. This comedy by Crowne is a mordant satire upon the Whigs. It was produced with great success at the Theatre Royal and printed quarto 1683. A certain Flo...

Sir _Cau_. This last Night’s misfortune of mine, _Dick_, has kept me waking, and methought all night, I heard a kind of a silent Noise. I am still afraid of Thieves; mercy upon...

Sir _Tim_. Hereabouts is the House wherein dwells the Mistress of my Heart; for she has Money, Boys, mind me, Money in abundance, or she were not for me--The Wench her self is g...

_Lord_. In a Baudy-house, with Whores, Hectors, and Dice! Oh, that I should be so deceiv’d in Mankind, he whom I thought all Virtue and Sobriety! But go some of you immediately,...

_Fal_. Faith, very suddenly, for I think it will not be Hard to find men of your trade, Men that will fight as long as you can do, And Men that love it much better than I, Men t...

_But when bright_ Phoebus _does retire, To_ Thetis’ _Bed to quench his fire. And do the thing we need not name, We Mortals by his influence do the same. Then then the blushing M...

_A Curse upon that faithless Maid, Who first her Sex’s Liberty betray’d; Born free as Man to Love and Range, Till nobler Nature did to Custom change, Custom, that dull excuse fo...

_Guil_. Ladies and Gentlemen, you are very welcome aboard--Come, put off to Sea, Rogues, Scoundrels, Tarpaulins, to your Business, and then, every man his Bottle,--hey, Page, Ro...

_Alcip_. I cannot sleep, my Soul is so unfurnish’d Of all that Sweetness which allow’d it rest. --’Tis flown, ‘tis flown, for ever from my breast, And in its room eternal discor...

_Car_. By all that’s good, I’m mad, stark raving mad, To have a Woman young, rich, beautiful, Just on the point of yielding to my Love, Snatcht from my Arms by such a Beast as t...

_Gal. Erminia_, e’er you boast of what you are, Since you’re so high I’ll tell you what you were: Your Father was our General ‘tis true, That Title justly to his Sword was due;...

this Tour too brown?’ During the reign of Mary II and particularly in the time of Anne a Tower meant almost exclusively the high starched head-dress in vogue at that period.

_Bel_. Oh, no, to morrow would have been too late, Too late to make returns to all my Pain. --What disagreeing thing offends your Eyes? I’ve no Deformity about my Person; I’m yo...

In Post-Restoration days a ballad sung in the streets by two persons was frequently called a Jig, presumably because it was a ‘song in dialogue’. Numerous examples are to be fou...

_Alcip_. The truth, _Erminia_, ‘twould become you best. Do you think I take these things to be your Father’s? No, treacherous Woman, I have seen this Sword, [_Draws the Sword_....

_Cle_. I do not think it, Sir. He’s too brave to justify an Action Which was the Outrage only of his Passion, That soon will toil it self into a Calm, And then will grow conside...

_Er_. You ought in Justice, Sir, t’excuse me here, Prisoners when first committed are less gay, Than when they’re us’d to Fetters every day, But yet in time they will more easy...

_Ant_. For some part of my Virtue, Sir, I owe to you; in midst of all my Love, even in the kindest moments of Delight, my Joys were broken by concern for you.--_Julia_ this day,...

_Alcip_. Friendship’s too near a-kin to Love, _Pisaro_, To leave me any Peace, whilst in your Eyes I read Reserves, which ‘tis not kind to hide; --Come, prithee tell me what the...

_Oli_. Madam, my Judgment’s naught. Love I have treated as a stranger Guest, Receiv’d him well, not lodg’d him in my Breast. I ne’er durst give the unknown Tyrant room; Lest he...

_Flaunt_. Sure I rose the wrong way to day, I have had such damn’d ill luck every way: First, to be sent for to such a Man as this _Bellmour_, and, as the Devil wou’d have it, t...

_Did my_ Julia _know how I languish in this cruel Separation, she would afford me her pity, and write oftner. If only the Expectation of two thousand a year kept me from you, ah...

Sir _Tim_. A new Wench, I warrant--But prithee, _Sham_, I have other matters in hand; ‘Sheart, I am so mortify’d with this same thought of Fighting, that I shall hardly think of...

_Cel_. Not one kind Wound to send me to my Grave, And yet between their angry Swords I ran, Expecting it from _Bellmour_, or my Brother’s: Oh, my hard Fate! that gave me so much...

Sir _Cau_. I doubt you’ll find it to my Grief-- [_Aside_. --But I think ‘tis all one to thee, thou car’st not for my Complement; no, thou’dst rather have a young Fellow.

_Hang Love, for I will never pine For any Man alive; Nor shall this jolly Heart of mine The thoughts of it receive; I will not purchase Slavery At such a dangerous rate; But glo...

_No more, Lucinda, ah! expose no more To the admiring World those conquering Charms: In vain all day unhappy Men adore, What the kind Night gives to my longing Arms. Their vain...

_Phi_. ‘Tis done, ‘tis done, the fatal knot is ty’d, _Erminia_ to _Alcippus_ is a Bride; Methinks I see the Motions of her Eyes, And how her Virgin Breasts do fall and rise: Her...

_Phi_. I do not think it, ‘tis impossible; _Erminia_, if it could have been, were she, But she has broke her Vows, which I held sacred, And plays the wanton in another’s arms.

_Gay_. Set down the Chest behind yon hedge of Roses--and then put on those Shapes I have appointed you--and be sure you well-favour’dly bang both _Bearjest_ and _Noisey_, since...

_Er_. Now, Sir, you are much to blame; I could have borne the rest, but this concerns me: I fear I have but too well kept my Vows with you, Since you are grown but to suspect I...

Sir _Feeb_. No whispering, Gentlewoman--and putting Tricks into her head; that shall not cheat me of another Night--Look on that silly little round Chitty-face--look on those sm...

_Org_. Away, away, you are a foolish Girl, And look with too much pride upon your Beauty; Which like a gaudy flower that springs too soon, Withers e’er fully blown. Your very Te...

_Fal_. By _Jove_, I do not, Sir, I saw her dead: Alas, I ran as I was wont to do, Without demanding licence, to her Chamber, But found her not, as I was wont to do, [_The Women...

_Jul_. No, nor is it possible I shou’d, this Devil haunts me so from room to room, like my evil Genius to prevent that Good; oh, for an opportunity of one kind Minute to return...

_Jac_. He has seen Don _Carlos_, and they have been in great discourse together, I cou’d not hear one word, but you’ll have it at both ears anon, I’ll warrant you. Ha, he’s coming.

_Bel_. Oh, haste, the Minutes fly--leave all behind. And bring _Leticia_ only to my Arms. [_A noise of People_. --Hah, what noise is that? ‘Tis coming this way, I tremble with m...

_Pis_. A strange wild thing, a Lover without reason; I once have prov’d the torture on’t, But as unlike to thine as good from evil; Like fire in Limbecks, mine was soft and gent...

Sir _Tim_. Now, _Sham_, art not thou a damn’d lying Rogue, to make me saunter up and down the _Mall_ all this Morning, after a Woman that thou know’st in thy Conscience was not...

_Am_. My Lord! _Erminia_ yet is hardly brought to yield; She wants but some encouragement from you, That may assist her weakness to subdue, And ‘twas but faintly she deny’d to s...

_Friend_. I find _Diana_ knows me not; and this Year’s absence, since I first made my Addresses to her, has alter’d me much, or she has lost the remembrance of a Man, whom she e...

Sir _Feeb_. Ods bobs, here’s a Compact amongst the Women--High Treason against the Bridegroom--therefore, Ladies, withdraw, or, adod, I’ll lock you all in. [_Throws open his Gow...

_Oh! Love, that stronger art than Wine, Pleasing Delusion, Witchery divine, Want to be prized above all Wealth, Disease that has more Joys than Health; Though we blaspheme thee...

_Off_. Hey Day! here’s a fine Cheat upon the Vice-Roy: Sir, pay me, or I’ll seize your Horse. [Har. _strikes him. They scuffle a little_. --Nay, and you be so brisk, I’ll call t...

_Flaunt_. _Driver_, prithee call for a Glass, that I may set my self in order, before I go up; for really my Knight has not been at home all this Night, and I am so confus’d--

_Pis_. I have, and done as you commanded me. I found him sitting by a Fountain side, Whose Tears had power to swell the little tide, Which from the Marble Statues breasts still...

Amintas _that true-hearted Swain Upon a River’s bank was laid, Where to the pitying streams he did complain Of_ Sylvia _that false charming Maid, But she was still regardless of...

_Bell_. But since you are of a celestial Race, And easily can penetrate Into the utmost limits of the Thought, Why shou’d I fear to tell you of your Conquest? --And thus implore...

_Phil_. Urge it no more, your Reasons do displease me; I offer’d her a Crown with her _Philander_, And she was once pleas’d to accept of it. She lov’d me too, yes, and repaid my...

_Char. Elaria_ false! take heed, sure her nice Virtue Is proof against the Vices of her Sex. Say rather _Bellemante_, She who by Nature’s light and wavering. The Town contains n...

_Am_. Methinks, _Alcander_, you should shun that Maid, Of whose too much of kindness you’re afraid. ’.was not long since you parted in such feud, And swore my treatment of you w...

_Pis_. Ha! who’s that? a Lover, on my life, This amorous malady reigns every where; Nor can my Sister be an ignorant Of what I saw this night in _Galatea_: I’ll question her--Si...

_Alcip_. The Night is calm and silent as my Thoughts, Where nothing now but Love’s soft whispers dwell; Who in as gentle terms upbraids my Rage, Which strove to dispossess the M...

_Bell_. Fatigu’d with the most disagreeable Affair, for a Person of my Humour, in the World. Oh, how I hate Business, which I do no more mind, than a Spark does the Sermon, who...

_Gay_. Kind Light, a little of your aid--now must I be peeping, though my Curiosity should lose me all--hah--Zouns, what here--a Hovel or a Hog-sty? hum, see the Wickedness of M...

_Bel_. The Night is come, oh my _Leticia_! The longing Bridegroom hastens to his Bed; Whilst she with all the languishment of Love, And sad Despair, casts her fair Eyes on me, W...

_Fal_. Ay, the Devil when a body’s angry, but that’s Not the Valour in mode; Men fight now a-days Without that, and even embrace whilst they draw Their Swords on one another.

_Phi_. Permit me, dear _Erminia_--to remain thus. ’.is only by these signs I can express What my Confusion will not let me utter. I know not what strange power thou bear’st abou...

_King_. Thou’st entertain’d me with a pretty Story, And call’d up so much Nature to thy Cause, That I am half subjected to its Laws; I find thy lovely Mother plead within too, A...

_Dia_. I’ll swear, Mrs. _Pert_, you look very prettily in my Clothes; and since you, Sir, have convinc’d me that this innocent Deceit is not unlawful, I am glad to be the Instru...

_Nur_. Well, ‘tis an endless trouble to have the Tuition of a Maid in love, here is such Wishing and Longing.--And yet one must force them to what they most desire, before they...

_The Curtain must be let down, and soft Musick must play: The Curtain being drawn up, discovers a scene of a Temple: The_ King _sitting on a Throne, bowing down to join the hand...

saw: I mean not for words, for those I do not value; but for state, shew, and magnificence. In fine I’ll justifie it to be as grand to the eye every whit, I gad, as that great S...