Proserpine and Midas Part 5

(_to the nymphs_)

Quick bring my car,--we will ascend to heaven, Deserting Earth, till by decree of Jove, Eternal laws shall bind the King of h.e.l.l To leave in peace the offspring of the sky.

_Ascal._ Stay, Ceres! By the dread decree of Jove Your child is doomed to be eternal Queen [24]

Of Tartarus,--nor may she dare ascend The sunbright regions of Olympian Jove, Or tread the green Earth 'mid attendant nymphs.

Proserpine, call to mind your walk last eve, When as you wandered in Elysian groves, Through bowers for ever green, and mossy walks, Where flowers never die, nor wind disturbs The sacred calm, whose silence soothes the dead, Nor interposing clouds, with dun wings, dim Its mild and silver light, you plucked its fruit, You ate of a pomegranate's seeds--

_Cer._ Be silent, Prophet of evil, hateful to the G.o.ds!

Sweet Proserpine, my child, look upon me.

You shrink; your trembling form & pallid cheeks Would make his words seem true which are most false[.]

Thou didst not taste the food of Erebus;-- Offspring of G.o.ds art thou,--nor h.e.l.l, nor Jove Shall tear thee from thy Mother's clasping arms.

_Pros._ If fate decrees, can we resist? farewel!

Oh! Mother, dearer to your child than light, Than all the forms of this sweet earth & sky, [25]

Though dear are these, and dear are my poor nymphs, Whom I must leave;--oh! can immortals weep?

And can a G.o.ddess die as mortals do, Or live & reign where it is death to be?

Ino, dear Arethuse, again you lose Your hapless Proserpine, lost to herself When she quits you for gloomy Tartarus.

_Cer._ Is there no help, great Jove? If she depart I will descend with her--the Earth shall lose Its proud fertility, and Erebus Shall bear my gifts throughout th' unchanging year.

Valued till now by thee, tyrant of G.o.ds!

My harvests ripening by Tartarian fires Shall feed the dead with Heaven's ambrosial food.

Wilt thou not then repent, brother unkind, Viewing the barren earth with vain regret, Thou didst not shew more mercy to my child?

_Ino._ We will all leave the light and go with thee, In h.e.l.l thou shalt be girt by Heaven-born nymphs, Elysium shall be Enna,--thou'lt not mourn Thy natal plain, which will have lost its worth Having lost thee, its nursling and its Queen.

_Areth._ I will sink down with thee;--my lily crown Shall bloom in Erebus, portentous loss [26]

To Earth, which by degrees will fade & fall In envy of our happier lot in h.e.l.l;-- And the bright sun and the fresh winds of heaven Shall light its depths and fan its stagnant air.

(_They cling round Proserpine; the Shades of h.e.l.l seperate and stand between them._)

_Ascal._ Depart! She is our Queen! Ye may not come!

Hark to Jove's thunder! shrink away in fear From unknown forms, whose tyranny ye'll feel In groans and tears if ye insult their power.

_Iris._ Behold Jove's balance hung in upper sky; There are ye weighed,--to that ye must submit.

_Cer._ Oh! Jove, have mercy on a Mother's prayer!

Shall it be nought to be akin to thee?

And shall thy sister, Queen of fertile Earth, Derided be by these foul shapes of h.e.l.l?

Look at the scales, they're poized with equal weights!

What can this mean? Leave me not[,] Proserpine[,]

Cling to thy Mother's side! He shall not dare Divide the sucker from the parent stem.

(_embraces her_)

_Ascal._ He is almighty! who shall set the bounds [27]

To his high will? let him decide our plea!

Fate is with us, & Proserpine is ours!

(_He endeavours to part Ceres & Proserpine, the nymphs prevent him._)

_Cer._ Peace, ominous bird of h.e.l.l & Night! Depart!

Nor with thy skriech disturb a Mother's grief, Avaunt! It is to Jove we pray, not thee.

_Iris._ Thy fate, sweet Proserpine, is sealed by Jove, When Enna is starred by flowers, and the sun Shoots his hot rays strait on the gladsome land, When Summer reigns, then thou shalt live on Earth, And tread these plains, or sporting with your nymphs, Or at your Mother's side, in peaceful joy.

But when hard frost congeals the bare, black ground, The trees have lost their leaves, & painted birds Wailing for food sail through the piercing air; Then you descend to deepest night and reign Great Queen of Tartarus, 'mid [Footnote: MS. _mid_]

shadows dire, Offspring of h.e.l.l,--or in the silent groves Of, fair Elysium through which Lethe runs, The sleepy river; where the windless air Is never struck by flight or song of bird,-- But all is calm and clear, bestowing rest, [28]

After the toil of life, to wretched men, Whom thus the G.o.ds reward for sufferings G.o.ds cannot know; a throng of empty shades!

The endless circle of the year will bring Joy in its turn, and seperation sad; Six months to light and Earth,--six months to h.e.l.l.

_Pros._ Dear Mother, let me kiss that tear which steals Down your pale cheek altered by care and grief.

This is not misery; 'tis but a slight change Prom our late happy lot. Six months with thee, Each moment freighted with an age of love: And the six short months in saddest Tartarus Shall pa.s.s in dreams of swift returning joy.

Six months together we shall dwell on earth, Six months in dreams we shall companions be, Jove's doom is void; we are forever joined.

_Cer._ Oh, fairest child! sweet summer visitor!

Thy looks cheer me, so shall they cheer this land Which I will fly, thou gone. Nor seed of gra.s.s, Or corn shall grow, thou absent from the earth; But all shall lie beneath in hateful night Until at thy return, the fresh green springs, [29]

The fields are covered o'er with summer plants.

And when thou goest the heavy grain will droop And die under my frown, scattering the seeds, That will not reappear till your return.

Farewel, sweet child, Queen of the nether world, There s.h.i.+ne as chaste Diana's silver car Islanded in the deep circ.u.mfluous night.

Giver of fruits! for such thou shalt be styled, Sweet Prophetess of Summer, coming forth From the slant shadow of the wintry earth, In thy car drawn by snowy-breasted swallows!

Another kiss, & then again farewel!

Winter in losing thee has lost its all, And will be doubly bare, & h.o.a.r, & drear, Its bleak winds whistling o'er the cold pinched ground Which neither flower or gra.s.s will decorate.

And as my tears fall first, so shall the trees Shed their changed leaves upon your six months tomb: The clouded air will hide from Phoebus' eye The dreadful change your absence operates.

Thus has black Pluto changed the reign of Jove, He seizes half the Earth when he takes thee.

THE END

MIDAS.

MIDAS.

A DRAMA IN TWO ACTS.

DRAMATIS PERSONAE.

_Immortals._ APOLLO.

BACCHUS.

PAN.

SILENUS.

TMOLUS, G.o.d of a Hill.

FAUNS, &c.