AMYNTAS.
139
With the frail human kind a common ill;
When right we cannot act, we rightly will.
Thus frequently the disobedient son,
The time to expiate his offences gone,
Regrets his impious treatment of his fire,
The parent's breath just ready to expire:
He, who in vice hath wasted all his youth,
Neglectful then of each important truth,
Wishes, in life mature, to grow more wise;
Feels virtue's charms, procrastinates, and—dies.
When right we cannot act, we rightly will.
Thus frequently the disobedient son,
The time to expiate his offences gone,
Regrets his impious treatment of his fire,
The parent's breath just ready to expire:
He, who in vice hath wasted all his youth,
Neglectful then of each important truth,
Wishes, in life mature, to grow more wise;
Feels virtue's charms, procrastinates, and—dies.
SCENE II.
MESSENGER, CHORUS, SYLVIA, DAPHNE.
MESSENGER, CHORUS, SYLVIA, DAPHNE.
MESSENGER.
Pity, and horrour so possefs my soul,
That of my senses I'm almost bereft;
Each object that I see, and hear, alarms me.
Pity, and horrour so possefs my soul,
That of my senses I'm almost bereft;
Each object that I see, and hear, alarms me.
CHORUS.
Thy countenance, and speech express dismay;
What tidings dost thou bring?
Thy countenance, and speech express dismay;
What tidings dost thou bring?
MES-
