ABDALLA. Hast thou grown old, amidst the crowd of courts, And turn'd th' instructive page of human life, To cant, at last, of reason to a lover? Such ill-tim'd gravity, such serious folly, Might well befit the solitary student, Th' unpractis'd dervis, or sequester'd faquir. Know'st thou not yet, when love invades the soul, That all her faculties receive his chains? That reason gives her sceptre to his hand, Or only struggles to be more enslav'd? Aspasia, who can look upon thy beauties? Who hear thee speak, and not abandon reason? Reason! the hoary dotard's dull directress, That loses all, because she hazards nothing! Reason! the tim'rous pilot, that, to shun The rocks of life, for ever flies the port! CALI. But why this sudden warmth? ABDALLA. Because I love: Because my slighted passion burns in vain! Why roars the lioness, distress'd by hunger? Why foam the swelling waves, when tempests rise? Why shakes the ground, when subterraneous fires Fierce through the bursting caverns rend their way? CALI. Not till this day, thou saw'st this fatal fair; Did ever passion make so swift a progress? Once more reflect; suppress this infant folly. ABDALLA. Gross fires, enkindled by a mortal hand, Spread, by degrees, and dread th' oppressing stream; The subtler flames, emitted from the sky, Flash out at once, with strength above resistance. CALI. How did Aspasia welcome your address? Did you proclaim this unexpected conquest? Or pay, with speaking eyes, a lover's homage? ABDALLA. Confounded, aw'd, and lost in admiration, I gaz'd, I trembled; but I could not speak; When e'en, as love was breaking off from wonder, And tender accents quiver'd on my lips, She mark'd my sparkling eyes, and heaving breast, And smiling, conscious of her charms, withdrew. [_Enter_ Demetrius _and_ Leontius. CALI. Now be, some moments, master of thyself; Nor let Demetrius know thee for a rival. Hence! or be calm--To disagree is ruin. SCENE II. CALI, DEMETRIUS, LEONTIUS, ABDALLA. DEMETRIUS. When will occasion smile upon our wishes, And give the tortures of suspense a period? Still must we linger in uncertain hope? Still languish in our chains, and dream of freedom, Like thirsty sailors gazing on the clouds, Till burning death shoots through their wither'd limbs? CALI. Deliverance is at hand; for Turkey's tyrant, Sunk in his pleasures, confident and gay, With all the hero's dull security, Trusts to my care his mistress and his life, And laughs, and wantons in the jaws of death. LEONTIUS. So weak is man, when destin'd to destruction!-- The watchful slumber, and the crafty trust. CALI. At my command, yon iron gates unfold; At my command, the sentinels retire; With all the license of authority, Through bowing slaves, I range the private rooms, And of to-morrow's action fix the scene.