136
AMYNTAS.
DAPHNE.
That's well;—thou now approachest Cupid's precincts;
For pity is the harbinger of love,
Sure as the lightning's flash announces thunder.
That's well;—thou now approachest Cupid's precincts;
For pity is the harbinger of love,
Sure as the lightning's flash announces thunder.
CHORUS.
Nay oft the subtle God, to spread his empire,
Afraid left undisguised he should alarm
The virgin's tender, timid breast, puts on
The unsuspected garb of innocence;
And often this luxurious deity,
The more effectually to work his plot,
Is metamorphosed into rigid virtue,
Or takes the milder dress of soft compassion.
Thus he by slow, and unperceived approaches
Secures a lodgment in the coldest bosom;
And soon it's citadel, the heart, he makes
His own, and breathes into it all his flame.
Nay oft the subtle God, to spread his empire,
Afraid left undisguised he should alarm
The virgin's tender, timid breast, puts on
The unsuspected garb of innocence;
And often this luxurious deity,
The more effectually to work his plot,
Is metamorphosed into rigid virtue,
Or takes the milder dress of soft compassion.
Thus he by slow, and unperceived approaches
Secures a lodgment in the coldest bosom;
And soon it's citadel, the heart, he makes
His own, and breathes into it all his flame.
DAPHNE.
Her grief refuses utterance to her voice.
Her grief refuses utterance to her voice.
Sylvia,
