By these old wither'd limbs, and hoary hairs,

By all my tears-O heav'ns! she minds me not;
She hears not my complaints. O wretched Lycon !
To what art thou reserv'd?

Phad. Reserv'd to all

The sharpest, slowest pains that earth can furnish,
To all I wish-On Phædra-Guards, secure him.

Ha, Theseus!Gods! my freezing blood congeals,
And all my thoughts, designs, and words are lost.

THESEUS enters.

Thes. Dost thou at last repent? O lovely Phædra!
At last with equal ardor meet my vows?

"O dear-bought blessing!-Yet I'll not complain,
"Since now my sharpest grief is all o'er paid,
"And only heightens joy.-Then haste my charmer,
"Let's feast our famish'd souls with amorous riot,
"With fiercest bliss atone for our delay,

"And in a moment love the age we've lost."

Phad. Stand off; approach me, touch me not; fly

hence,

Far as the distant skies or deepest centre.

Thes. Amazement! death!-Ye gods who guide the
world,

What can this mean? "So fierce a detestation,
"So strong abhorrence !-Speak, exquisite tormentor!
"Was it for this your summons fill'd my soul

"With eager raptures, and tumultuous transports?

"Ev'n painful joys and agonies of bliss.”
Did I for this obey my Phædra's call,

And fly with trembling haste to meet her arms?
And am I thus receiv'd? O cruel Phædra!

"Was it for this you rouz'd my drowsy soul "From the dull lethargy of hopeless love? "And dost thou only shew those beauteous eyes "To wake despair, and blast me with their beams? "Phad. Oh, were that all to which the gods have doom'd me!

"But angry heav'n has laid in store for Theseus "Such perfect mischief, such transcendent woe, "That the black image shocks my frighted soul, "And the words die on my reluctant tongue.

Thes. Fear not to speak it; that harmonious voice "Will make the saddest tale of sorrow pleasing, "And charm the grief it brings. Thus let me hear it, "Thus in thy sight; thus gazing on those eyes "I can support the utmost spite of fate,

“And stand the rage of Heav'n.-Approach, my fair,” Phad. Off, or I fly for ever from thy sight: Shall I embrace the father of Hippolitus?

Thes. Forget the villain; drive him from your soul. "Phad. Can I forget, or drive him from my soul ? "Oh! he will still be present to my eyes;

"His words will ever echo in my ears; "Still will he be the torture of my days,

"Bane of my life, and ruin of my glory,

"Thes. And mine and all. O most abandon'd

villain!

"O lasting scandal to our godlike race!
"That could contrive a crime so foul as incest.
"Phad. Incest! Oh, name it not!

"The very mention shakes my inmost soul! "The gods are startled in their peaceful mansions ; "And nature sickens at the shocking sound. "Thou brutal wretch! thou execrable monster! "To break thro' all the laws that early flow "From untaught reason, and distinguish man; "Mix like the senseless herd with bestial lust, "Mother and son preposterously wicked; "To banish from thy soul the reverence due "To honour, nature, and the genial bed, "And injure one so great, so good as Theseus! "Thes. To injure one so great, so good as Phædra." O Slave! to wrong such purity as thine; Such dazzling brightness, such exalted virtue.

Phad. Virtue! all-seeing gods, ye know my virtue.
Must I support all this? O righteous Heav'n!
Can't I yet speak? Reproach I could have borne,
Pointed his satire's stings, and edg'd his rage:
But to be prais'd-Now, Minos, I defy thee;
Ev'n all thy dreadful magazines of pains,

Stones, furies, wheels, are slight to what I suffer,
And Hell itself's relief.

Thes. What's hell to thee?

"What crimes could'st thou commit? or what re

proaches

"Could innocence so pure as Phædra's fear ?
"Oh! thou'rt the chastest matron of thy sex,

"The fairest pattern of excelling virtue.
"Our latest annals shall record thy glory,
"The maid's example, and the matron's theme.
"Each skilful artist shall express thy form
"In animated gold. The threat'ning sword
"Shall hang for ever o'er thy snowy bosom;
"Such heav'nly beauty on thy face shall bloom
"As shall almost excuse the villain's crime;
"But yet that firmness, that unshaken virtue
"As still shall make the monster more detested.
"Where'er you pass, the crowded way shall sound
"With joyful cries, and endless acclamations.
"And when aspiring bards in daring strains
"Shall raise some heav'nly matron to the pow'rs,

"They'll say, she's great, she's true, she's chaste as Phædra.

"Phed. This might have been-But now, O cruel

stars!

"Now, as I pass, the crowded way shall sound
"With hissing scorn, and murm'ring detestation.
The latest annals shall record my shame;

"And when th' avenging muse with pointed rage
"Would sink some impious woman down to hell,
"She'll say, she's false, she's base, she's foul as Phædra.
"Thes." Hadst thou been foul, had horrid violation
Cast any stains on purity like thine,

They're wash'd already in the villain's blood:
The very sword, his instrument of horror,

"Ere this time drench'd in his incestuous heart,"
Hath done thee justice, "and aveng'd the crimes,
He us'd it to perform."

Messenger enters.

Mess. Alas! my lord,

Ere this the prince is dead. I saw Cratander
Give him a sword; I saw him boldly take it,
Rear it on high, and point it to his breast:
With steady hands, and with disdainful looks,
As one that fear'd not death, but scorn'd to die,
And not in battle- -A loud clamour follow'd;
And the surrounding soldiers hid from sight,
But all pronounc'd him dead.

Phad. Is he then dead?

Thes. Yes, yes, he's dead ; and dead by my command, And in this dreadful act of mournful justice

I'm more renown'd than in my dear-bought laurels.
Phad. Then thou'rt renown'd indeed.-

Theseus !

Oh, only worthy of the love of Phædra !

-O happy

Haste then, let's join our well-met hands together,
Unite for ever, and defy the gods

To shew a pair so eminently wretched.

Thes. Wretched! for what? for what the world must praise me;

For what the nations shall adore my justice,

A villain's death.

Phad. Hippolitus a villain!

Oh, he was all his godlike sire could wish,

The pride of Theseus, and the hopes of Crete.