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AMYNTAS.
So hard, they only find relief in death.
Perhaps he calls his friend Amyntas happy,
Concluding he excites his Sylvia's pity,
Now dead, which living he could ne'er obtain.
Perhaps he calls the grave love's paradise;
And hopes that paradise will soon receive him.
Cupid, thou art a parsimonious master,
Thy zealous votaries have but poor rewards.
Or rather thou art a despotick tyrant,
And stiflest in the most exalted minds,
The bright idea, and the throb for virtue—
—And is the sage Elpinus then so wretched,
And so forgetful of his manly tenets,
As rashly to pronounce Amyntas happy?
Art thou desirous of a fate like his?
Perhaps he calls his friend Amyntas happy,
Concluding he excites his Sylvia's pity,
Now dead, which living he could ne'er obtain.
Perhaps he calls the grave love's paradise;
And hopes that paradise will soon receive him.
Cupid, thou art a parsimonious master,
Thy zealous votaries have but poor rewards.
Or rather thou art a despotick tyrant,
And stiflest in the most exalted minds,
The bright idea, and the throb for virtue—
—And is the sage Elpinus then so wretched,
And so forgetful of his manly tenets,
As rashly to pronounce Amyntas happy?
Art thou desirous of a fate like his?
ELPINUS.
No, my mistaken friends—I give you joy;
Amyntas is not dead, as you have heard.
No, my mistaken friends—I give you joy;
Amyntas is not dead, as you have heard.
CHORUS.
What heart-felt consolation dost thou bring us!
But from the rock did he not throw himself?
What heart-felt consolation dost thou bring us!
But from the rock did he not throw himself?
ELPI-
