The works of John Dryden, now first collected in eighteen volumes. Volume 07Dryden, John
General
The works of John Dryden, now first collected in eighteen volumes. Volume 07
Dryden, John
English literature
_Muf._ Yes, at our meeting in another world;
For thou hast drunk thy passport out of this.
Not the Nonacrian font, nor Lethe's lake,
Could sooner numb thy nimble faculties,
Than this, to sleep eternal. [_Aside._
_Emp._ Now farewell, Dorax; this was our first quarrel,
And, I dare prophecy, will prove our last.
[_Exeunt Emp._ BEND. _and the Mufti._
_Dor._ It may be so.--I'm strangely discomposed;
Quick shootings thro' my limbs, and pricking pains,
Qualms at my heart, convulsions in my nerves,
Shiverings of cold, and burnings of my entrails,
Within my little world make medley war,
Lose and regain, beat, and are beaten back,
As momentary victors quit their ground.--
Can it be poison! Poison's of one tenor,
Or hot, or cold; this neither, and yet both.
Some deadly draught, some enemy of life,
Boils in my bowels, and works out my soul.
Ingratitude's the growth of every clime;
Africk, the scene removed, is Portugal.
Of all court service, learn the common lot,--
To-day 'tis done, to-morrow 'tis forgot.
Oh, were that all! my honest corpse must lie
Exposed to scorn, and public infamy;
My shameful death will be divulged alone;
The worth and honour of my soul unknown. [_Exit._
SCENE II.--_A Night-Scene of the Mufti's Garden, where an Arbour is
discovered._
_Enter_ ANTONIO.
_Ant._ She names herself Morayma; the Mufti's only daughter, and a
virgin! This is the time and place that she appointed in her letter,
yet she comes not. Why, thou sweet delicious creature, why torture me
with thy delay! Dar'st thou be false to thy assignation? What, in the
cool and silence of the night, and to a new lover?--Pox on the
hypocrite, thy father, for instructing thee so little in the sweetest
point of his religion.--Hark, I hear the rustling of her silk mantle.
Now she comes, now she comes:--no, hang it, that was but the whistling
of the wind through the orange-trees.--Now, again, I hear the
pit-a-pat of a pretty foot through the dark alley:--No, 'tis the son
of a mare, that's broken loose, and munching upon the melons.--Oh, the
misery of an expecting lover! Well, I'll e'en despair, go into my
arbour, and try to sleep; in a dream I shall enjoy her, in despite of
her. [_Goes into the Arbour, and lies down._
_Enter_ JOHAYMA, _wrapt up in a Moorish mantle._
_Joh._ Thus far my love has carried me, almost without my knowledge
whither I was going. Shall I go on? shall I discover myself?--What an
injury am I doing to my old husband! Yet what injury, since he's old,
and has three wives, and six concubines, besides me! 'tis but stealing
my own tithe from him. [_She comes a little nearer the Arbour._
_Ant._ [_Raising himself a little, and looking._] At last 'tis she;
this is no illusion, I am sure; 'tis a true she-devil of flesh and
blood, and she could never have taken a fitter time to tempt me.
_Joh._ He's young and handsome--
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