Classic Poem

ACT II. S CEN. VI.

Eudemus, Leucasia, Euthalpe.

Eud. Ne'r murmur Girl, 't's a Service to thy Country.
Leu. There was this only wanting to my evils,
That you too should approve; that, that good name
(Father) should yet inserted be in this
My vile disgrace. Call 't you a service to
My Country, to turn Whore? What Brand will 't be
Unto your Liberty, when 't shall be said
'Twas purchas'd by a Strumpet?
Eud. 'Tis not thou
Offend'st, but thine ill fortune, and the City:
Rejoice that thou canst make the heavens guilty.
Come, thou must love him Girl.
Leu. Can I love him
That thus will rob me of mine Honour?
Eud. 'Tis
His tenderness unto thee.
Leu. If he be
Thus tender, how's he cruell? sure his Hate
Is something beyond Death, if he Love thus.
Eud. Alas! thou know'st not how to value Fortune;
What ever Nature of her own Accord,
Or Art by force can yeeld, will all be thine.
Leuc. But I shall lose mine Honour.
Eud. Thou shalt have
Th' Inventions of his Kingdome toyl to please thee;
A strife of Wits and Fancies to content thee;
And thou reward them amply by one smile:
The Silkworm shall spin only to thy Wardrobe;
The Sea yield Pearls unto thy Caskinet;
Thou shalt come forth loaded with Jewels, like
That Body with an hundred Eyes, Thou shalt
Take Coach to the next door, and as it were
An Expedition, not a Visit, be
Bound for an house but ten strides off, still carry'd
Aloof in indignation of the Earth,
Five hundred Asses shall be daily milk'd
To make a Bath for thee, which shall maintain
Thy skin in an unblemish'd tendernesse,
And make thine Age, in spight of Time, run back.
Nature her self shall joy to be thy Slave.
Leuc. But I shall lose mine Honour.
Eud. Hast a mind
To redeem that thou seem'st so tender of?
Leuc. I am so far engag'd to my disgrace,
That there's no means left for me to escape it;
Shew me but any except Death, and I
Will hearken to you with as much Religion,
As to some Reverend Auncestor, when he
In a shape more than Humane doth appear,
And dictate holy Oracles in Dreams.
Eud. The way, I'l shew thee, will preserve thy Life,
And that Life of thy Country, Liberty.
But thou'lt not do't I know.
Leuc. Think not so ill
Of your good Daughter.
Eud. Thou shalt kill this Tyrant.
Leuc. Heavens forbid!
Eud. I did suppose as much.
Goe, flye to his Embraces, there produce
Monsters, and Plagues: from him and thee there cannot
Spring any thing that's ord'nary in Nature.
Leuc. Indeed I cannot kill him.
Eud. When that he
Shall loath thy foul embraces, and avoid
Thy sight, as somthing that doth exprobrate
His sins unto him: When thou shalt be so
Unhappy, as to become fruitfull, and
Discarded from his Bed, walk despicable,
Loaded with spurious Brats, one in thy Bosome,
Another on thy Back, the third i' thine Hand,
Just like the Picture of Charity, thou'lt wish
Too late, thou'dst took the Counsell of thy Father.
Leuc. Indeed I'l kill my self, if that you will.
Eud. O! nourish no such thought my good Leucasia .
Take not to heart what I have said; my Passion
Carry'd my Tongue beyond my thoughts — — But — — Girle — —
Come, thou shalt kill him, and be famous for't.
Leuc. But will you help me then?
Eud. Why I'm thy Father.
Intreat that thou mayst come alone 'bout Midnight:
Pretend thy Modesty wo'nt suffer thee
To goe with solemn Pomp to thy disgrace:
And when thou'st opportunity strike home.
I will be ready when thou'st struck the blow
To rescue thee from danger. Fear no stain:
A Tyrant's Bloud doth wash the hand that spils it.
Leuc. Alas, Euthalpe , how am I distracted!
Either I must turn Homicide, or Whore;
And if I kill him, twill be said I did
Kindle the Flame, and then put out the Man;
If not, I kill my self; Shame waits on both;
And I (O cruell!) have this only Freedome
To choose the lesse offence.
Euth. The straight is this,
Either you must ruine th' Effect, or else
Destroy the Cause; punish his Love, or lose
Your Beauty by consenting. But Love is
A strong desire of being united to
That which is fair, by the most perfect means
That Nature yeelds, or Reason teacheth. Hee's
Deficient in the way then: Love is good
Still in the Fountain, but offends i'th' stream.
But this will not be weigh'd by Common thoughts;
So that you will be said to punish him,
Because your self were fair, and he had Eyes.
Leuc. True, good Euthalpe ; but yet put mine Honour
Into the other Scale, which o'rweighs then?
Euth. Love's common unto all the masse of Creatures,
As Life and Breath; Honour to Man alone:
And amongst Men ('yet narrower) to the Prudent.
Honor being then 'bove Life, Dishonor must
Be worse than Death: For Fate can strike but one,
Reproach doth reach whole Families; and in
Our Sex especiall, the chast Sphere of Vertue
Being to us as proper as the Aire
To winged Creatures. Yet I cannot bid you
Strike to avoid a blow. Some Virgins Daggers
Have been deliver'd up to Fame by Penns;
But yet there goes a stain along, in that
Beauty could be so cruell.
Leuc. Some good God
Direct me in my Dreams! But heark! I hear
The Musick sounds sad Accents, and the Virgins
Are ready to conduct me; and I must
Depart without thy wonted Resolution.
Let me embrace thee yet; thou art no Tyrant.
Farwell, Euthalpe , and when e'r thou shalt
Hear mention of me, pay a sigh, and say,
The Fate, if Bad, was not deserv'd.
Euth. The Gods
Leave me when e'r I dare be so ungratefull
As to leave you. Some Pow'r may look down yet
And help in pitty; we will tread one Path,
Obey one Counsell, undergoe one Fate;
And resolutely in this mutuall Tye.
Either preserve our Honor, or else dye.