Conqueft and triumph, now, are mine no more;
Nor will I victory in camps adore :

For, lingring there, in long fufpence she stands,
Shifting the prize in unrefolving hands,
Unus'd to wait, I broke thro' her delay,
Fix'd her by force, and fnatch'd the doubtful day.
Now, late I find that war is but her sport;
In love the goddess keeps her awful court:
Fickle in fields, unfteadily fhe flies,

But rules with fettled fway in Zara's eyes.

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ACT II. SCENE I.

Representing the Ile of a Temple.

GARCIA, HELI, PEREZ.

GARCIA.

His way, we're told, Ofmyn was seen to walk;
Chufing this lonely manfion of the dead,

To mourn, brave Heli, thy mistaken fate.

Heli. Let heav'n with thunder to the centre ftrike me, If to arise in very deed from death,

And to re-vifit, with my long clos'd eyes
This living light, cou'd to my foul, or sense,
Afford a thought, or fhew a glimpse of joy,
In leaft proportion to the vast delight
I feel, to hear of Ofmyn's name; to hear
That Ofmyn lives, and I again fhall fee him.

Gar. I've heard, with admiration, of your friendship.
Per. Yonder, my Lord, behold the noble Moor.
Heli. Where? Where?

Gar. I faw him not, nor any like him

Per. I faw him when I fpoke, thwarting my view, And striding with diftemper'd haste; his eyes

Seem'd

Seem'd flame, and flash'd upon me with a glance;
Then forward fhot their fires, which he purfu'd,
As to fome object frightful, yet not fear'd.

Gar. Let's hafte to follow him, and know the cause.
Heli. My lord, let me entreat you to forbear:
Leave me alone, to find and cure the cause.
I know his melancholy, and fuch starts
Are ufual to his temper. It might raife him
To act fome violence upon himself,
So to be caught in an unguarded hour,
And when his foul gives all her paffions way,
Secure and loofe in friendly folitude,

I know his noble heart wou'd burft with fhame,
To be furpris'd by ftrangers in its frailty.

Gar. Go, gen'rous Heli, and relieve your friend,
Far be it from me, officiously to pry

Or prefs upon the privacies of others.

SCENE II.

GARCIA, PEREZ.

Gar. Perex, the king expects from our return
To have his jealoufie, confirm'd, or clear'd,
Of that appearing love which Zara bears
To Ofmyn; but fome other opportunity
Muft make that plain.

Per. To me 'twas long fince plain,

And ev'ry look from him and her confirms it.
Gar. If fo, unhappiness attends their love,
And I cou'd pity 'em. I hear fome coming.
The friends perhaps are met; let us avoid 'em.

SCENE III.

ALMERIA, LEONORA.

Alm. It was a fancy'd noise, for all is hush'd.
Leo. It bore the accent of a human voice.

Alm. It was thy fear, or else some tranfient wind
Whistling thro' hollows of this vaulted Isle.

We'll liften

Leo. Hark!

Alm.

Alm. No, all is hufh'd, and ftill as death-Tis

dreadful!

How rev'rend is the face of this tall pile,

Whofe ancient pillars rear their marble heads,
To bear aloft its arch'd and pond'rous roof,
By its own weight made stedfast and immoveable,
Looking tranquility. It ftrikes an awe
And terror on my aking fight; the tombs
And monumental caves of death look cold,
And shoot a chilness to my trembling heart.
Give me thy hand, and let me hear thy voice;
Nay, quickly fpeak to me, and let me hear
Thy voice-

-my own affrights me with its echo's. Leo. Let us return; the horror of this place And filence will encrease your melancholy.

Alm. It may my fears, but cannot add to that.
No, I will on; fhew me Anfelmo's tomb,

Lead me o'er bones and skulls and mouldering earth
Of human bodies; for I'll mix with them,
Or wind me in the shroud of some pale coarse
Yet green in earth, rather than be the bride
Of Garcia's more detested bed: that thought
Exerts my spirits; and my prefent fears
Are loft in dread of greater ill. Then fhew me,
Lead me for I am bolder grown; lead on
Where I may kneel, and pay my vows again
To him, to heav'n, and my Alphonfo's foul.
Leo. I go; but heav'n can tell with what regret.

SCENE IV.

The Scene opening discovers a place of tombs: One Monument fronting the view greater than the reft.

SCENE V.

ALMERIA, LEONORA.

Leo. Behold the facred vault, within whose womb The poor remains of good Anfelmo reft; Yet fresh and unconfum'd by time or worms. What do I fee? O heav'n! either my eyes Are falfe, or ftill the marble door remains Unclos'd; the iron gates that lead to death Beneath, are ftill wide itretch'd upon their hinge, And ftaring on us with unfolded leaves.

Alm. Sure 'tis the friendly yawn of death for me; And that dumb mouth fignificant in show,

Invites me to the bed where I alone

Shall reft; fhews me the grave, where nature, weary,
And long opprefs'd with woes and bending cares,
May lay the burden down, and fink in flumbers
Of peace eternal. Death, grim death, will fold
Me in his leaden arms, and press me close
To his cold clayie breaft. My father then
Will cease his tyranny; and Garcia too
Will fly my pale deformity with loathing.
My foul, enlarg'd from its vile bonds, will mount
And range the ftarry orbs and milky ways,
Of that refulgent world, where I fhall fwim
In liquid light, and float on feas of blifs
To my Alphonfo's foul O joy too great!
O extafie of thought, Help me, Anfelmo;
Help me, Alphonfo; take me, reach thy hand;
To thee, to thee I call, to thee, Alphonfo:
O Alphonfe!

SCENE VI.

ALMERIA, LEONORA, OSMYN afcending from he tomb.

Ofm. Who calls that wretched thing that was Alphonfo? Alm. Angels and all the host of heav'n fupport me! Ofm. Whence is that voice, whose shrilnefs from the

grave,

And

And growing to his father's fhrowd, roots up
Alphonfo?

Alm. Mercy! Providence! O fpeak,

Speak to it quickly, quickly; fpeak to me,

Comfort me, help me, hold me, hide me, hide me Leonora, in thy bofom, from the light,

And from my eyes.

Ofm. Amazement and illufion!

Rivet and nail me where I stand, ye pow'rs;

(Coming forward. That motionless I may be ftill dec iv'd. Let me not ftir, nor breathe, left I diffolve That tender, lovely form of painted air, So like Almeria. Ha! it finks, it falls; I'll catch it e'er it goes, and grasp her fhade. 'Tis life! 'tis warm! 'tis fhe! 'tis fhe herfelf! Nor dead, nor fhade, but breathing and alive! It is Almeria, 'tis, it is my wife!

SCENE VII.

ALMERIA, LEONORA, OSMYN, HELI.
Leo. Alas, the stirs not yet, nor lifts her eyes;
He too is fainting- -Help me, help me, stranger,

Who-e'er thou art, and lend thy hand to raise
These bodies.

Heli, Ha! 'tis he! and with

O miracle of happiness! O joy
Unhop'd for! does Almeria live!

Ofm. Where is the?

-Almeria!

Let me behold and touch her, and be sure 'Tis fhe, fhew me her face, and let me feel

Her lips with mine

'Tis fhe, I'm not deceiv'd;

I tafte her breath, I warm'd her and am warm'd,
Look up, Almeria, blefs me with thy eyes;

Look on thy love, thy lover, and thy husband.

Alm. I've fworn I'll not wed Garcia; why d'ye force me?

Is this a father?

Ofm. Look on thy Alphonfo.

Thy father is not here, my love, nor Garcia: