The works of John Dryden, now first collected in eighteen volumes. Volume 04Dryden, John
General
The works of John Dryden, now first collected in eighteen volumes. Volume 04
Dryden, John
English literature
_Benz._ Your father, whom, since yours, I grieve to blame,
Has lost, or quite forgot, a parent's name;
And, when at once possessed of him and you,
Instead of freeing one, will murder two.
_Ozm._ Fear not my life; but suffer me to go:
What cannot only sons with parents do!
'Tis not my death my father does pursue;
He only would withdraw my love from you.
_Benz._ Now, Ozmyn, now your want of love I see;
For would you go, and hazard losing me?
_Ozm._ I rather would ten thousand lives forsake;
Nor can you e'er believe the doubt you make.
This night I with a chosen band will go,
And, by surprise, will free him from the foe.
_Benz._ What foe! ah whither would your virtue fall!
It is your father whom the foe you call.
Darkness and rage will no distinction make,
And yours may perish for my father's sake.
_Ozm._ Thus, when my weaker virtue goes astray.
Yours pulls it back, and guides me in the way:
I'll send him word, my being shall depend
On Selin's life, and with his death shall end.
_Benz._ 'Tis that, indeed, would glut your father's rage:
Revenge on Ozmyn's youth, and Selin's age.
_Ozm._ Whate'er I plot, like Sysiphus, in vain
I heave a stone, that tumbles down again.
_Benz._ This glorious work is then reserved for me:
He is my father, and I'll set him free.
These chains my father for my sake does wear:
I made the fault; and I the pains will bear.
_Ozm._ Yes; you no doubt have merited these pains;
Those hands, those tender limbs, were made for chains!
Did I not love you, yet it were too base
To let a lady suffer in my place.
Those proofs of virtue you before did show,
I did admire; but I must envy now.
Your vast ambition leaves no fame for me,
But grasps at universal monarchy.
_Benz._ Yes, Ozmyn, I shall still this palm pursue;
I will not yield my glory even to you.
I'll break those bonds in which my father's tied,
Or, if I cannot break them, I'll divide.
What, though my limbs a woman's weakness show,
I have a soul as masculine as you;
And when these limbs want strength my chains to wear,
My mind shall teach my body how to bear. [_Exit_ BENZ.
_Ozm._ What I resolve, I must not let her know;
But honour has decreed she must not go.
What she resolves, I must prevent with care;
She shall not in my fame or danger share.
I'll give strict order to the guards which wait,
That, when she comes, she shall not pass the gate.
Fortune, at last, has run me out of breath;
I have no refuge but the arms of death:
To that dark sanctuary I will go;
She cannot reach me when I lie so low. [_Exit._
SCENE III.--_The Albayzyn._
_Enter, on one side_, ALMANZOR, ABDALLA, ABDELMELECH, ZULEMA, HAMET.
_On the other side, the Duke of_ ARCOS, BOABDELIN, LYNDARAXA, _and
their Party. After which the bars are opened; and at the same time_
BOABDELIN _and_ ABDALLA _pass by each other, each to his Party;
when_ ABDALLA _is passed on the other side, the Duke of_ ARCOS
_approaches the bars, and calls to_ ALMANZOR.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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