_Phil._ Alas! this frantic grief can nought avail. Retire and seek the couch of balmy sleep, In this dead hour, this season of repose. _Eup._ And dost thou then, inhuman as thou art! Advise a wretch like me to know repose? This is my last abode:--these caves, these rocks, Shall ring for ever with Euphrasia's wrongs. Here will I dwell, and rave, and shriek, and give These scatter'd locks to all the passing winds; Call on Evander lost;-- And cruel gods, and cruel stars invoking, Stand on the cliff in madness and despair. _Phil._ By Heav'n, My heart in pity bleeds. No other fear assails this warlike breast. I pity your misfortunes; yes, by Heav'n, My heart bleeds for you.--Gods! you've touch'd my soul! The gen'rous impulse is not giv'n in vain. I feel thee, Nature, and I dare obey. Oh! thou hast conquer'd.--Go, Euphrasia, go, Behold thy father. _Eup._ Raise me, raise me up; I'll bathe thy hand with tears, thou gen'rous man! _Phil._ Yet, mark my words; if aught of nourishment Thou wouldst convey, my partners of the watch Will ne'er consent. _Eup._ I will observe your orders: On any terms, oh! let me, let me see him. _Phil._ Yon lamp will guide thee thro' the cavern'd way. _Eup._ My heart runs o'er in thanks; the pious act Timoleon shall reward; the bounteous gods, And thy own virtue shall reward the deed. [_Goes into the Cave._ _Phil._ Prevailing, powerful virtue!--Thou subdu'st The stubborn heart, and mould'st it to thy purpose. 'Would I could save them!--But tho' not for me The glorious pow'r to shelter innocence, Yet for a moment to assuage its woes, Is the best sympathy, the purest joy Nature intended for the heart of man, When thus she gave the social gen'rous tear. [_Exit._ SCENE II. _The Inside of the Cavern._ _Enter ARCAS and EUPHRASIA._ _Arcas._ No; on my life, I dare not. _Eup._ But a small, A wretched pittance; one poor cordial drop To renovate exhausted drooping age, I ask no more. _Arcas._ Not the smallest store Of scanty nourishment must pass these walls. Our lives were forfeit else: a moment's parley Is all I grant; in yonder cave he lies. _Eva._ [_Within the Cell._] Oh, struggling nature! let thy conflict end. Oh! give me, give me rest. _Eup._ My father's voice! It pierces here! it cleaves my very heart. I shall expire, and never see him more. _Arcas._ Repose thee, princess, here, [_Draws a Couch_] here rest thy limbs, Till the returning blood shall lend thee firmness. _Eup._ The caves, the rocks, re-echo to his groans! And is there no relief? _Arcas._ All I can grant, You shall command. I will unbar the dungeon, Unloose the chain that binds him to the rock, And leave your interview without restraint. [_Opens a Cell in the back Scene._ _Eup._ Hold, hold my heart! Oh! how shall I sustain The agonizing scene? [_Rises._] I must behold him; Nature, that drives me on, will lend me force. Is that my father?