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Chorus.

Love's purer flames the Gods approve;
The Gods, and Brutus bend to love:
Brutus for absent Portia fighs,

And fterner Caffius melts at Junia's eyes..
What is loofe love? a tranfient gust,
Spent in a fudden ftorm of luft;
A vapour fed from wild defire,
A wandring, felf-consuming fire.
But Hymen's flames like ftars unite;
And burn for ever one;
Chafte as cold Cynthia's virgin light,
Productive as the fun.

Semichorus.

Oh fource of ev'ry focial tye,

United wish, and mutual joy!

What various joys on one attend,

As fon, as father, brother, husband, friend?
Whether his hoary fire he fpies,

While thousand grateful thoughts arife;
Or meets his fpoufe's fonder eye;
Or views his smiling progeny;

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What tender paffions take their turns,

What home-felt raptures move?

His heart now melts, now leaps, now burns,
With rev'rence, hope, and love.

Chorus:

Hence guilty joys, diftaftes, furmizes,
False oaths, false tears, deceits, disguises,
Dangers, doubts, delays, furprizes;

Fires that scorch, yet dare not shine:
Pureft love's unwafting treasure,
Constant faith, fair hope, long leifure,
Days of eafe, and nights of pleasure;
Sacred Hymen! these are thine.

FOUR

FOUR SONGS

Written in 1683.

By his Grace the Duke of BUCKINGHAM.

In order to be fung as Chorus's between the Acts of a Play of Shakespear's that was altered.

First SONG after the end of the first Act.

Chorus of free Citizens of Rome.

W

Hither is ancient virtue gone?

What is become of juftice now?

That valour, which fo bright has fhone,

And with the wings of conqueft flown,

Muft to a haughty mafter bow:

Who

Who with our toil, our blood, and all we have befide. Gorges his ill-got pow'r, his humour, or his pride.

He frankly does his life expofe:
So will a lyon or a bear.

What comfort can that be to thofe,

Who more his vain ambition fear?

How ftupid wretches we appear;

Who round the world, for wealth and empire roam; And never, never think what flaves we are at home?

Did men for this together join,

Quitting the free wild life of nature? What beaft but man did e'er combine

For setting up his fellow-creature,

And of two mischiefs chufe the greater?

Oh! rather than be flaves to falfe and worthless men !

Give us our wildness and our woods, our hutts and caves again.

There fecure from lawless fway,
Out of pride, or envy's way;

Living up to nature's rules,

Not deprav'd by knaves and fools,

Happily we all might live, and harmless as our sheep; Then at length as calmly die, as infants fall asleep.

Second SONG after the fecond Act.

L

The Genius of Rome.

O, to prevent this awful empire's doom,
From bright unknown abodes of blifs I come,

The mighty genius of majestick Rome.

*

Her fate approaches! yet, I will engage

Some few, the mafter fouls of all this age,
To do an act of just heroic rage.

Tis hard fo brave a man fhould fall fo low;
But worse to let fo great a people bow

To one themselves haye rais'd, who fcorns them now.

Yet oh! I grieve that Brutus fhould be ftain'd,
Whofe life, excepting this one, act, remain'd
So pure, that future times will think it feign'd.

The fall of the Commonwealth when it was chang'd into Tyranny.

But

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