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How are thy honours and thy fame betray'd,
The property of defp'rate villains made!
Loft power and confcious fears their crimes create,
And guilt in them was little lefs than fate;
But why shouldft thou, from ev'ry grievance free,
Forfake thy vineyards for their ftormy sea ?
For thee did Canaan's milk and honey flow;
Love drefs'd thy bowers, and laurels fought thy
brow;

Preferment, wealth, and power, thy vaffals were,
And of a monarch all things but the care.
Oh fhould our crimes again that curfe draw down,
And rebel-arms once more attempt the crown,
Sure ruin waits unhappy Abfalom,
Alike by conqueft or defeat undone;
Who could relentless fee fuch youth and charms
Expire with wretched fate in impious arms?
A prince fo form'd with earth's and Heaven's
applaufe,

To triumph o'er crown'd heads in David's caufe:
Or grant him victor, ftill his hopes must fail,
Who conquering would not for himself prevail;
The faction whom he trufts for future fway,
Him and the public would alike betray;
Amongst themselves divide the captive state,
And found their hydra-empire in his fate!
Thus having beat the clouds with painful flight,
The pity'd youth, with fceptres in his fight,
So have their cruel politics decreed,
Muft, by that crea that made him guilty, bleed!
For could their pride brook any prince's fway,
Whom but mild David would they chufe t'obey?
Who once at fuch a gentle reign repine,
The fall of monarchy itself defign;
From hate to that their reformations fpring,
And David not their grievance, but the king.
Seiz'd now with panic fear, the faction lies,
Left this clear truth strike Abfalom's charm'd eyes;
Left he perceive, from long enchantment free,
What all befide the flatter'd youth muft fee.
But whate'er doubts his troubled bofom fwell,
Fair carriage ftill became Achitophel.
Who now an envious festival enstals,
And to furvey their strength the faction calls,
Which fraud, religious worship too muft gild;
But oh how weakly does fedition build!
For lo the royal mandate iffues forth,
Dashing at once their treafon, zeal, and mirth!
So have I feen difaftrous chance invade,
Where careful emmets had their forage laid,
Whether fierce Vulcan's rage the furzy plain
Had feiz'd, engender'd by fome carclefs fwain;
Or fwelling Neptune lawless inroads made,
And to their cell of ftore his flood convey'd ;
The commonwealth broke up, diftracted go,
And in wild hafte their loaded mates o'erthrow;
Ev'n fo our scatter'd guests confus'dly meet,
With boil'd, bak'd, roaft, all juftling in the ftreet;
Dejecting all, and ruefully dismay'd,
For fhekel without treat or treafon paid.

Sedition's dark eclipfe now fainter shows;
More bright each hour the royal planet grows,
Of force the clouds of envy to difperfe,
In kind conjunction of aflifting ftars.

Here, lab'ring Mufe, thofe glorious chiefs relate
That turn'd the doubtful scale of David's fate;
The reft of that illuftrious band rehearse,
Immortaliz'd in laurel'd Afaph's verfe :
Hard task! yet will not I thy flight recal;
View heav'n, and then enjoy thy glorious fall,
Firft write Bezaliel, whofe illustrious name
Foreftalls our praise, and gives his poet fame,
The Kenites rocky province his command,
A barren limb of fertile Canaan's land;
Which for its generous natives yet could be
Held worthy fuch a prefident as he !
Bezaliel with each grace and virtue fraught,
Serene his looks; ferene his life and thought;
On whom fo largely nature heap'd her store,
There fcarce remain'd for arts to give him more?
To aid the crown and ftate his greatest zeal,
His fecond care that fervice to conceal :
Of dues obfervant, firm to ev'ry truft,
And to the needy always more than juft.
Who truth from fpecious falfhood can divide,
Has all the gownfmens fkill without their pride;
Thus crown'd with worth from heights of honour
Sees all his glories copy'd in his fon;
Whofe forward fame should ev'ry Mufe engage:
Whose youth boafts fkill deny'd to others age.
Men, manners, language, books of noblest kind,
Already are the conqueft of his mind.
Whofe loyalty before its date was prime;
Nor waited the dull courfe of rolling time:
The monster Faction early he dismay'd,
And David's caufe long fince confefs'd his aid.
Brave Abdael o'er the prophet's school was
plac'd;

[won,

Abdael with all his father's virtue grac'd;
A hero, who, while stars look'd wond'ring down,
Without one Hebrew's blood restor❜d the crown.
That praife was his; what therefore did remain
For following chiefs, but boldly to maintain
That crown reftor'd; and in this rank of fame,
Brave Abdael with the firft a place muft clain.
Proceed, illuftrious, happy chief! proceed,
Forefeize the garlands for thy brow decreed,
While th'infpir'd tribe attend with noblest strain
To register the glories thou fhalt gain :
For fure the dew fhall Gilboah's hills forfake,
And Jordan mix his ftream with Sodom's lake;
Or feas retir'd their secret stores disclose,
And to the fun their fcaly brood expofe;
Or fwell'd above the clifts their billows raife,
Before the Mufes leave their patron's praise.
Eliab our next labour does invite,
And hard the task to do Eliab right:
Long with the royal wanderer he rov'd,
And firm in all the turns of fortune prov'd!
Such ancient fervice, and desert so large,
Well claim'd the royal houfhold for his charge.
His age with only one mild heirefs bleft,
In all the bloom of fmiling nature dreft,
And bleft again to fee his flow'r ally'd
To David's ftock, and made young Othniel's
bride!

The bright reftorer of his father's youth,`
Devoted to a fon's and subject's truth:

Refolv'd

Refolv'd to bear that prize of duty home,
So bravely fought, while fought by Abfalom.
Ah prince! th'illuftrious planet of thy birth,
And thy more pow'rful virtue guard thy worth,
That no Achitophel thy ruin boaft;
Ifrael too much in one fuch wreck has loft.

Ev'n envy must confent to Helon's worth,
Whofe foul, tho' Egypt glories in his birth,
Could for our captive-ark its zeal retain,
And Pharaoh's altars in their pomp difdain :
To flight his gods was finall; with nobler pride,
He all th'allurements of his court defy'd.
Whom profit nor example could betray,
But Ifrael's friend, and true to David's fway.
What acts of favour in his province fall,
On merit he confers, and freely all.

Our lift of nobles next let Amri grace, Whofe merits claim'd the Abethdin's high place; Who with a lovalty that did excel, Brought all th'endowments of Achitophel. Sincere was Amri, and not only knew, . But Ifrael's fan&tions into practice drew; Our laws, that did a boundlefs ocean feem, Were coafted all, and fathom'd all by him. No rabbin speaks like him their mystic sense, So juft, and with fuch charms of eloquence: To whom the double bleffing does belong, With Mofes' infpiration, Aaron's tongue. Than Shava none more loyal zeal have fhown, Wakeful as Judah's lion for the crown, Who for that caufe ftill combats in his age, For which his youth with danger did engage. In vain our factious priests the cant revive; In vain feditious fcribes with libel strive T'enflame the crowd; while he with watchful eye Obferves, and shoots their treafons as they fly: Their weekly frauds his keen replies detect; He undeceives more faft than they infect. So Mofes, when the peft on legions prey'd, Advanc'd his fignal, and the plague was ftay'd. Once more, my fainting Mufe, thy pinions try, And ftrength's exhaufted ftore let love fupply. What tribute, Afaph, fhail we render thee? We'll crown thee with a wreath from thy own tree! Thy laurel grove no envy's flash can blast; The fong of Afaph fhall for ever last. With wonder late pofterity fhall dwell On Abfalom and falfe Achitophel : Thy trains fhall be our flumb'ring prophets dream, And when our Sion virgins fing their theine, Our jubilees thall with thy verte be grac'd; The fong of Afaph fhall for ever laft.

[tame; How fierce his fatyr loos'd; reftrain'd, how How tender of th’ođending young man's fame ! How well his worth, and brave adventures ftil'd; Just to his virtues, to his errors mild.

No page of thine, that fears the strictest view,
But teems with juft reproof, or praife as true :
Not Eden could a fairer profpect yield;
All paradife without one barren field :
Whofe wit the cenfure of his focs has paft;
The fong of Afaph thall for ever laft.

What praife for fuch rich trains fhall we allow? What juft rewards the grateful crown beltow?

While bees in flow'rs rejoice, and flow'rs in dew, While stars and fountains to their courfe are true; While Judah's throne and Sion's rock stand fast; The fong of Afaph and the fame shall laft.

Still Hebron's honour'd happy foil retains
Our royal hero's beauteous dear remains;
Who now fails off with winds nor withies flack,
To bring his fuff'rings bright companion back.
But ere fuch tranfport can our fenfe employ,
A bitter grief muft poifon half our joy;
Nor can our coafts reftor'd those bleffings fee
Without a bribe to envious deftiny!

Curs'd Sodom's doom for ever fix the tide
Where, by inglorious chance, the valiant dy'd !
Give not infulting Afkalon to know,
Nor let Gath's daughters triumph in our woe!
No failor with the news fwell Egypt's pride,
By what inglorious fate our valiant dy'd!
Weep, Arnon! Jordan, weep thy fountains dry,
While Sion's rock diffolves for a fupply.

Calm were the elements, night's filence deep,
The waves fcarce murm'ring, and the winds afleep;
Yet fate for ruin takes fo ftill an hour,
And treach'rous fands the princely bark devour;
Then death unworthy feiz'd a gen'rous race,
To virtue's fcandal, and the stars difgrace!
Oh! had th'indulgent pow'rs vouchfaf'd to yield,
Inftead of faithlefs fhelves, a lifted field;

A lifted field of Heav'n's and David's foes,
Fierce as the troops that did his youth oppofe,
Each life had on his flaughter'd heap retir'd,
Not tamely, and unconquering thus expir'd;
But deftiny is now their only foe,

And dying ev'n o'er that they triumph too;
With loud laft breaths their mafter's fcape applaud,
Of whom kind force could fcarce the fates defraud;
Who for fuch followers loft, O matchlefs mind!
At his own fafety now almost repin'd!
Say, royal Sir, by all your fame in arms,
Your praife in peace, and by Urania's charms,
If all your fuff'rings paft fo nearly preft,
Or pierc'd with half fo painful grief your breaft?

Thus fome diviner Mufe her hero forms,
Not footh'd with foft delights, but toft in storins.
Nor stretch'd on rofes in the myrtle grove,
Nor crowns his days with mirth, his nights with

love.

But far remov'd in thund'ring camps is found,
His flumbers fhort, his bed the herblefs ground:
In tasks of danger always feen the first,
Feeds from the hedge, and flakes with ice his thirst.
Long muft his patience firive with fortune's rage,
And long oppofing gods themselves engage;
Muft fee his country flame, his friends destroy'd,
Before the promis'd empire be enjoy'd:
Such toil of fate must build a man of fame,
And fuch, to Ifrael's crown, the god-like David

came.

What fudden beams difpel the clouds so fast, Whofe drenching rains laid all our vineyardswafte! The fpring fo far behind her course delay'd, On th'inftant is in all her bloom array'd; The winds breathe low, the clement ferene; Yet mark what motion in the waves is feen!

Thronging

Thronging and bufy as Hyblæan fwarms,
Or ftraggled foldiers fummon'd to their arms.
See where the princely bark, in loosest pride,
With all her guardian fleet adorns the tide !
High on her deck the royal lovers ftand,
Our crimes to pardon ere they touch'd our land.
Welcome to Ifrael and to David's breast!
Here all your toils, here all your fuff'rings reft.
This year did Ziloah rule Jerufalem,
And boldly all fedition's Syrtes stem,
Howe'er incumber'd with a viler pair
Than Ziph or Shimei to affift the chair;
Yet Ziloah's loyal labours fo prevail'd;
That faction at the next election fail'd;
When ev'n the common cry did juftice found,
And merit by the multitude was crown'd:
With David then was Ifrael's peace reftor'd;
Crowds mourn'd their error, and obey'd their lord,

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Duke of Monmouth.

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Zadoc,

Adriel,

Earl of Mulgrave.

Zaken,

Agag,

Sir Edmundbury Godfrey.

Zimri,

Abfalom,

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Mr. Seymour, Speaker of

the House of Commons. Ziloah,
Sir Heneage Finch, Earl
of Winchelfea, and
Lord-Chancellor.

Duchefs of Monmouth.

Sir William Waller.
A Character drawn by
Tate for Dryden, in the
fecond part of this Poem.
Earl of Huntingdon.
Barnet.

Duke of Ormond.
Duchefs of Portfimouth.
General Sackville.

Rev. Mr. Sam. Johnson.
Duke of Beaufort.

Lord Grey.

Dr. Oates.

Charles II.

Elkanah Settle.

France.

English.
Sir William Jones.
Dever.

Marquis of Halifax.
Lord Dartmouth.
Richard Cromwell.
England.

Thomas Thynne, Efq.
Mr. Fergufon, a canting

Teacher.

Sir Robert Clayton.
Pordage.

Queen Catharine.

Lord Howard of Efcriek.
Shadwell.

Forbes.

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§ 27. Palamon and Arcite; or, the Knight's
Tale. DRYDEN.
BOOK I.

IN days of old, there liv'd, of mighty fame,

A valiant prince, and Thefeus was his name:
A chief who more in feats of arms excell'd,
The rifing nor the fetting fun beheld.
Of Athens he was lord; much land he won,
And added foreign countries to his crown.
In Scythia with the warrior queen he strove,
Whom first by force he conquer'd, then by love;
He brought in triumph back the beauteous dame,
With whom her fifter, fair Emilia, came.
With honour to his home let Thefeus ride
With love to friend, and fortune for his guide,
And his victorious army at his fide.

I pafs their warlike pomp, their proud array,

Sir Hen, Bennet, Earl of Their fhouts, their fongs, their welcome on the

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But, were it not too long, I would recite
The feats of Amazons, the fatal fight
Betwixt the hardy queen and hero knight;
The town befieg'd, and how much blood it coft
The female army and th’Athenian hoft;
The 'fpoufals of Hippolita, the queen;
What tilts and turneys at the feaft were seen;
The ftorm at their return, the ladies fear:
But thefe, and other things, I must forbear.
The field is fpacious I design to fow,
With oxen far unfit to draw the plow:

The

1

The remnant of my tale is of a length
To tire your patience, and to waste my ftrength;
And trivial accidents fhall be forborn,
That others may have time to take their turn;
As was at firft enjoin'd us by mine hoft,
That he whofe tale is beft, and pleases most,
Should win his fupper at our common cost.

And, therefore, where I left, I will pursue,
This ancient ftory, whether falfe or true,
In hope it may be mended with a new.
The prince I inention'd, full of high renown,
In this array drew near th'Athenian town;
When in his pomp and utmost of his pride,
Marching he chanc'd to caft his eye afide,
And faw a choir of mourning dames, who lay
By two and two across the common way:
At his approach they rais'd a rueful cry, [high,
And beat their breafts, and held their hands on
Creeping and crying, till they feiz'd at last
His courfer's bridle, and his feet embrac'd.
Tell me, faid Thefeus, what and whence you

are,

And why this fun'ral pageant you prepare?
Is this the welcome of my worthy deeds,
To meet my triumph in ill-omen'd weeds?
Or envy you my praife, and would deftroy
With grief my pleafures, and pollute my joy?
Or are you injur'd, and demand relief?
Name your request, and I will ease your grief.

The most in years of all the mourning train
Began (but fwooned first away for pain);
Then, fcarce recover'd, fpoke: Nor envy we
Thy great renown, nor grudge thy victory;
'Tis thine, O king, th'aflicted to redrefs,
And fame has fill'd the world with thy fuccefs:
We, wretched women, fue for that alone,
Which of thy goodness is refus'd to none;
Let fall fome drops of pity on our grief,
If what we beg be juft, and we deferve relief:
For none of us, who now thy grace implore,
But held the rank of fov'reign queen before;
Till, thanks to giddy chance, which never bears,
That mortal blifs fhould laft for length of years,
She caft us headlong from our high eftate,
And here, in hope of thy return, we wait:
And long have waited in the temple nigh,
Built to the gracious goddefs Clemency.
But rev'rence thou the Pow'r whofe name it bears,
Relieve th'opprefs'd, and wipe the widow's tears;
I, wretched I, have other fortune feen,
The wife of Capancus, and once a queen.
At Thebes he fell; curs'd be the fatal day!
And all the rest thou feeft in this array,
To make their moan, their lords in battle lost,
Beforethat town beficg'd by our confed'rate host:
But Creon, old and impious, who commands
The Theban city, and ufurps the lands,
Denies the rites of fun'ral fires to thofe
Whote breathlefs bodies yet he calls his focs.
Unburn'd, unbury'd, on a heap they lic;
Such is their fate, and fuch his tyranny;
No friend has leave to bear away the dead,
But with their lifelefs limbs his hounds are fed !
At this the fhrick'd aloud; the mournful train
Echo'd her grief, and, grov'ling on the plain,

With groans, and hands upheld,to move his mind,
Befought his pity to their helplefs kind!

The prince was touch'd, his tears began to flow,
And, as his tender heart would break in two,
He figh'd; and could not but their fate deplore,
So wretched now, fo fortunate before.
Then lightly from his lofty steed he flew,
And railing, one by one, the fuppliant crew,
To comfort each, full folemnly he fwore,
That by the faith which knights to knighthood
bore,

And whate'er elfe to chivalry belongs,
He would not ceafe till he reveng'd their wrongs:
That Greece thould fee perform'd what he de-
And cruel Creon find his juft reward. [clar'd,
He said no more; but, fhunning all delay,
Rode on: nor enter'd Athens on his way:
But left his sister and his queen behind,
And wav'd his royal banner in the wind:
Where in an argent field the God of War
Was drawn triumphant on his iron car:
Red was his fword, and fhield, and whole attire:
And all the godhead feem'd to glow with fire;
Ev'n the ground glitter'd where the standard flew,
And the green grafs was dy'd to fanguine huc.
High on his pointed lance his pennon bore
His Cretan fight, the conquer'd Minotaur :
The foldiers fhout around with gen'rous rage,
And in that victory their own prefage.
He prais'd their ardour, inly pleas'd to fee
His hoft the flow'r of Grecian chivalry.
All day he march'd, and all th'enfuing night,
And faw the city with returning light.
How Thefeus conquer'd, and how Creon fell:
The process of the war I need not tell,
Or after, how by ftorm the walls were won,
Or how the victor fack'd and burn'd the town:
How to the ladies he reftor'd again
The bodies of their lords in battle flain :
And with what ancient rites they were interr'd;
All these to fitter tines fhall be deferr'd.
I fpare the widow's tears, their woeful cries,
And howling at their husband's obfequies;
How Thefeus at these fun'rals did affift,
And with what gifts the mourning dames dif-
mifs'd.

Thus, when the victor chief had Creon fiain,
And conquer'd Thebes, he pitch'd upon the plain
His mighty camp, and, when the day return'd,
The country wafted, and the hamlets burn'd,
And left the pillagers, to rapine bred,
Without controul to ftrip and spoil the dead.
There, in a heap of flain, among the reft
Two youthful knights they found, beneath a
load oppreft

Of flaughter'd focs, whom first to death they fent,
The trophies of their strength, a bloody monument.
Both fair, and both of royal blood they feem'd,
Whom kinfimen to the crown the heralds deem'd;
That day in equal arms they fought for fame;
Their fwords, their fhields, their furcoats, were
the fame.

Clofe by each other laid, they prefs'd the ground,
Their manly bofoms pierc'd with many a griefly

wound;

Nor

1

Nor well alive, nor wholly dead they were,
But fome faint figns of feeble life appear:
The wand'ring breath was on the wing to part,
Weak was the pulfe, and hardly heav'd the heart.
Thefe two were fifters fons; and Arcite onc,
Much fam'd in fields, with valiant Palamon.
From these their coftly arms the fpoilers rent,
And foftly both convey'd to Thefeus' tent:
Whon known of Crcon's line,and cur'd with care,
He to his city fent as pris'ners of the war,
Hopeless of ranfom, and condemn'd to lie
In durance, doom'd a ling'ring death to die.
This done,he march'd away with warlike found,
And to his Athens turn'd with laurels crown'd,
Where happy long he liv'd, much lov'd, and
imore renown'd.

But in a tow'r, and never to be loos'd,
The woeful captive kinfinen are inclos'd:

Thus year by year they pafs, and day by day;
Till once, 'twas on the morn of cheerful May,
The young Emilia, fairer to be seen
Than the fair lily on the flow'ry green,
More fresh than May herself in blossoms new
(For with the rofy colour ftrove her hue,)
Wak'd, as her custom was, before the day,
To do th'obfervance due to fprightly May:
For fprightly May commands our youth to keep
The vigils of her night, and breaks their flug-
gard fleep:

Each gentle breaft with kindly warmth fhe moves;
Infpires new flames, revives extinguish'd loves,
In this remembrance, Emily ere day
Arofe, and drefs'd herself in rich array:
Fresh as the month, and as the morning fair;
Adown her shoulders fell her length of hair :
A ribband did the braided treffes bind,
The reft was loose, and wanton'd in the wind:
Aurora had but newly chac'd the night,
And purpl'd o'er the sky with blushing light,
When to the garden-walk fhe took her way,
To fport and trip along in cool of day,
And offer maiden vows in honour of the May.
At ev'ry turn fhe made a little stand,
And thruft among the thorns her lily hand
To draw the rofe; and ev'ry rose she drew
She shook the stalk, and brush'd away the dew:
Then party-colour'd flow'rs of white and red
She wove, to make a garland for her head:
This done, the fung, and carol'd out fo clear,
That men and angels might rejoice to hear!
Ev'n wond'ring Philomel forgot to fing,
And learn'd from her to welcome-in the fpring!
The tow'r, of which before was mention made,
Within whofe keep the captive knights were laid,
Built of a large extent, and strong withal,
Was one partition of the palace wall:
The garden was inclos'd within the fquare,
Where young Emilia took the morning-air.

It happen'd Palamon, the pris'ner knight,
Reftless for woc, arofe before the light,
And, with his jailor's leave, defir'd to breathe
An air more wholesome than the damps beneath.
This granted, to the tow'r he took his way,
Cheer'd with the promife of a glorious day:

Then caft a languishing regard around,
And faw with hateful eyes the temples crown'd

He figh'd, and turn'd his eyes, becaufe he knew
'Twas but a larger gaol he had in view :
Then look'd below, and from the castle's height
Beheld a nearer and more pleafing fight:
The garden, which before he had not seen,
In fpring's new liv'ry clad of white and green,
Freth flow'rs in wide parterres, and thady
walks between.

This view'd, but not enjoy'd, with arms across
He stood, reflecting on his country's loss;
Himself an object of the public fcorn,
And often with'd he never had been born.
At laft, for fo his destiny requir'd,
With walking giddy, and with thinking tir'd,
He thro' a little window caft his fight,
Tho' thick of bars, that gave a scanty light:
But ev❜n that glimmʼring ferv'd him to defery
Th'inevitable charms of Emily.

Scarce had he feen, but, feiz'd with fudden
finart,

Stung to the quick, he felt it at his heart;
Struck blind with overpow'ring light he food,
Then started back amaz'd, and cry'd aloud.

Young Arcite heard; and up he ran with hafte, To help his friend, and in his arms embrac'd, And afk'd him why he look'd fo deadly wan, And whence and how his change of cheer began? Or who had done th'offence? But if, faid he, Your grief alone is hard captivity,

For love of heav'n, with patience undergo
A curelefs ill, fince fate will have it fo:
So ftood our horofcope in chains to lie,
And Saturn in the dungeon of the sky,
Or other baleful aspect, rul'd our birth,
When all the friendly ftars were under earth:
Whate'er betides, by destiny 'tis done;

And better bear, like men, than vainly feek to fhun.

Nor of my bonds, faid Palamon again,
Nor of unhappy planets I complain;
But when my mortal anguish caus'd my cry,
That moment I was hurt thro' either eye;
Pierc'd with a random fhaft I faint away,
And perish with infenfible decay:

A glance of fome new goddefs gave the wound,
Whom, like Acteon, unaware I found.
Look how the walks along yon fhady space,
Not Juno moves with more majestic grace;
And all the Cyprian queen is in her face.
If thou art Venus (for thy charms confefs
That face was form'd in heav'n, nor art thou lefs;
Difquis'd in habit, undifguis'd in fhape)
Or help us captives from our chains to 'scape;
But if our doom be past in bonds to lie
For life, and in a loathfome dungeon die,
Then be thy wrath appeas'd with our difgrace,
And fhew compaffion to the Theban race,
Opprefs'd by tyrant pow'r! While yet he spoke,
Arcite on Emily had fix'd his look';
The fatal dart a ready paffage found,
And deep within his heart infix'd the wound:

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