To burning rage; [trumpets sound]" as soft Cydonian

oil,

"Whose balmy juice glides o'er th' untasting tongue, "Yet touch'd with fire, with hottest flames will blaze." But oh, ye pow'rs! I see his godlike form. O ecstacy of joy; he comes! he comes!

THESEUS, Officer, and Guards, enter.

Is it my lord! my father! " oh! 'tis he:

"I see him, touch him," feel his known embraces; See all the father in his joyful eyes.

Where have you been, my lord? what angry demon Hid you from Crete? from me? what god has sav'd you?

Did not Philotas see you fall? oh, answer me;
And then I'll ask a thousand questions more.
Thes. No;
but to save my life I feign'd my death;"
My horse and well-known arms confirm'd the tale,
And hinder'd farther search. 'This honest Greek
Conceal'd me in his house, and cur'd my wounds;
Procur'd a vessel, and, to bless me more,
Accompanied my flight

But this at leisure. Let me now indulge
A father's fondness; let me snatch thee thus,
Thus fold thee in my arms.

When first I saw thy mother,
And much she lov'd me.

With half that fondness!

Such, such, was I

[Embraces Hippolitus. chaste Camilla;

Oh! did Phædra view me

-But she's still unkind,

Else hasty joy had brought her to these arms,

To welcome me to liberty, to life,

And make that life a blessing. Come, my son,
Let us to Phædra.

Hip. Pardon me, my lord,

Thes. Forget her former treatment; she's too good Still to persist in hatred to my son.

Hip, Oh! let me fly from Crete,-from you, [Aside.]

and Phædra.

Thes. My son, what means this turn? this sudden

start?

Why would you fly from Crete, and from your father? Hip. Not from my father, but from lazy Crete; To follow danger, and acquire renown;

To quell the monsters that escap'd your sword,
And make the world confess me Theseus' son.
Thes. What can this coldness mean?-Retire, my son,
[Exit Hippolitus,
While I attend the queen.- -What shock is this?
Why tremble thus
my limbs? why faints my heart?
Why am I thrill'd with fear, 'till now unknown?
Where's now the joy, the ecstacy and transport,
That warm'd my soul, and urg'd me on to Phædra?
Oh, had I never lov'd her, I'd been blest.

Sorrow and joy in love alternate reign;
Sweet is the bliss, distracting is the pain,
"So when the Nile its fruitful deluge spreads,
"And genial heat informs its slimy beds;
"Here yellow harvests crowns the fertile plain,
"There monstrous serpents fright the lab'ring
swain:

"A various product fills the fatten'd sand,

"And the same floods enrich and curse the land.".

ACT IV. SCENE 1.

[Exit.

LYCON enters, solus.

Lycon.

THIS may gain time 'till all my wealth's embark'd,
To ward my foes revenge, and finish mine,
To shake that empire which I can't possess.
But then the Queen-she dies-why let her die;
Let wide destruction seize on all together,
So Lycon live-A safe triumphant exile,
Great in disgrace, and envied in his fall.

The queen! then try thy art, and work her passions.

PHEDRA and Ladies enter.

Draw her to act what most her soul abhors,
Possess her whole, and speak thyself in Phædra.

Phaed. Off, let me loose; why, cruel barb'rous maids, Why am I barr'd from death, the common refuge, That spreads its hospitable arms for all ? "Why must I drag the insufferable load "Of foul dishonour, and despairing love?" O length of pain! "am I so often dying, "And yet not dead?" feel I so oft death's pangs, Nor once can find its ease?

Lyc. Would you now die?

Now quit the field to your insulting foe?
Then shall he triumph o'er your blasted name:
Ages to come, the universe shall learn

The wide immortal infamy of Phædra:
And the poor babe, the idol of your soul,
The lovely image of your dear dead lord,
Shall be upbraided with his mother's crimes;
Shall bear your shame, shall sink beneath your faults,
Inherit your disgrace, but not your crown.

destruction,

Phaed. Must he too fall, involv'd in my
And only live to curse the name of Phædra?
O dear, unhappy babe! "must I bequeath thee
"Only a sad inheritance of woe ?"

Gods! cruel gods! can't all my pains atone,
Unless they reach my infant's guiltless head?
O lost estate! "when life's so sharp a torment,
"And death itself can't ease?"-Assist me, Lycon;
Advise, speak comfort to my troubled soul.

Lyc. 'Tis you must drive that trouble from your

soul;

"As streams when damm'd forget their ancient cur

rent,

"And wand'ring o'er their banks in other channels

flow;"

'Tis you must bend your thoughts from hopeless love, And turn their course to Theseus' happy bosom, "And crown his eager hopes with wish'd enjoyment:" Then with fresh charms adorn your troubled looks, Display the beauties first inspir'd his soul,

Sooth with your voice, and woo him with your eyes.

Phaed. Impossible! "what, woo him with these eyes, "Still wet with tears that flow'd-but not for Theseus ? "This tongue, so us'd to sound another name? "What, take him to my arms? O awful Juno! "Touch, love, caress him, while my wand'ring fancy "On other objects strays? a lewd adultress "In the chaste bed? and in the father's arms, "O horrid thought! O execrable incest!) "Ev'n in the father's arms, embrace the son ?”

Lyc. Yet you must see him, "lest impatient love "Should urge his temper to too nice a search, "And ill-tim'd absence should disclose your crime. "Phaed. Could I, when present to his awful eyes, "Conceal the wild disorders of my soul?

"Would not my groans, my looks, my speech betray

me?

"Betray thee, Phædra! then thou'rt not betray'd, "Live, live secure, adoring Crete conceals thee; "Thy pious love, and most endearing goodness "Will charm the kind Hippolitus to silence. "O wretched Phædra! O ill-guarded secret! "To foes alone disclos'd!

"Lyc. I needs must fear them,

"Spite of their vows, their oaths, their imprecations. "Phaed. Do imprecations, oaths, or vows avail? "I too have sworn, ev'n at the altar sworn, "Eternal love and endless faith to Theseus;

"And yet am false, forsworn: the hallow'd shrine "That heard me swear, is witness to my falsehood.