The Poetical Works of John Dryden, Vol II: Song of a Scholar and his Mistress

Song of a Scholar and his Mistress

WHO, BEING CROSSED BY THEIR FRIENDS, FELL MAD FOR ONE ANOTHER; AND NOW FIRST MEET IN BEDLAM.

[Music within.]
_The Lovers enter at opposite doors, each held by a keeper._

  _Phillis_. Look, look I see--I see my love appear!
  'Tis he--'Tis he alone;
  For, like him, there is none:
  'Tis the dear, dear man, 'tis thee, dear.
  _Amyntas_. Hark! the winds war;
  The foamy waves roar;
  I see a ship afar:
  Tossing and tossing, and making to the shore:
      But what's that I view,
      So radiant of hue,
  St Hermo, St Hermo, that sits upon the sails?
      Ah! No, no, no.
  St Hermo never, never shone so bright;
  'Tis Phillis, only Phillis, can shoot so fair a light;
  'Tis Phillis, 'tis Phillis, that saves the ship alone,
  For all the winds are hush'd, and the storm is overblown.
  _Phillis_. Let me go, let me run, let me fly to his arms.
  _Amyntas_. If all the fates combine,
  And all the furies join,
  I'll force my way to Phillis, and break through the charm.
  [_Here they break from their keepers, run to each other,
  and embrace_.]
  _Phillis_. Shall I marry the man I love?
      And shall I conclude my pains?
  Now bless'd be the powers above,
  I feel the blood bound in my veins;
  With a lively leap it began to move,
      And the vapours leave my brains.
  _Amyntas_. Body join'd to body, and heart join'd to heart,
  To make sure of the cure,
  Go call the man in black, to mumble o'er his part.
  _Phillis_. But suppose he should stay--
  _Amyntas_. At worst if he delay,
  'Tis a work must be done,
  We'll borrow but a day,
    And the better, the sooner begun.
  _Cho. of both_. At worst if he delay, &c.

[_They run out together hand in hand._]

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