" Why did you take me from my Father's Hand
" To leave me, Theseus , in a Foreign Land?
" Could you so soon my plighted Faith despise,
" And, perjur'd, dare the Anger of the Skies?
" Did nothing in your Breast persuasive prove,
" No soft Compassion melt your Soul to Love?
" Ah me! far other Promises you made,
" Far other Prospects to my View you laid;
" The Nuptial Joys I hop'd and Bridal Day,
" But envious Winds have born my Hopes away.
" Let now no Woman trust in Man again!
" False is his Promise, and his Vows are vain.
" When the strong Passions riot unsupprest,
" Men promise largely with an open Breast;
" But soon as Love is with Possession cloy'd,
" Their Words they heed not, and their Oaths are void.
" I sav'd your Life and Honour when at Stake,
" And yielded up my Brother for your Sake.
" For this by Beasts I now must die unmourn'd,
" No Tomb to hide me, and no Rites perform'd.
" Surely your Race is not deriv'd from Men,
" Some Savage Monster whelpt you in her Den;
" Some raging Ocean in her Bosom bore,
" Some Scylla suckled on her cruel Shore;
" Who these Returns bestow; who thus repay
" Your Life defended in the fatal Day.
" If that your Father's Orders you revere,
" And hence a Foreign Contract justly fear,
" You might at least have carry'd me a Slave,
" A pleasing Servitude is all I'd have.
" Though Princess born, yet humbly at your Board
" I'd act th' officious Handmaid to my Lord.
" The Bath prepare against you homeward sped,
" Adorn with Purple the forbidden Bed.
" But why lament I to the empty Air?
" Can the Winds answer, or the Tempests hear?
" He that shou'd listen is for ever lost,
" And there's no Creature on the dreary Coast.
" For cruel Fate has plac'd me here alone,
" Nor left one Person to partake my Moan.
" O that all-knowing Heav'n had ne'er decreed
" The Cretan Bull by Theseus ' Arm to bleed!
" Happy, too happy, did I live, before
" The Grecian Gally touch'd my Native Shore.
" I little thought in such a Face was Guile,
" Nor saw the Michief lurking in his Smile.
" Now what's to do, what wretched Hopes remain?
" Shall I my Father's Kingdom seek again?
" No, there the Earth still reaks with Brother's Blood,
" Nor can I pass the intermediate Flood.
" Shall I then think my Theseus still is true?
" No, for the Traitor basely fled my View.
" Cruel Dilemma! could I get away,
" No Hopes are left me, Death is in my Stay:
" For neither Dwellings nor Companions here,
" No Object glads the Eye, nor Voice the Ear;
" But where I turn my wearied Sight, there reigns
" A Death-like Horror o'er the silent Plains.
" Yet I'll not tamely die without Relief,
" Nor let my just Resentment melt in Grief;
" But all the Heav'nly Pow'rs conjure in Death,
" And call down Vengeance with my latest Breath.
" Arise, ye Furies, from your Iron Beds,
" And rouse the Snaky Terrors of your Heads;
" Rear each her ghastly Front, wherein we find
" The baleful Index of the latent Mind;
" O list, attend to what my Pray'rs require,
" 'Tis Justice prompts me, and my Wrongs inspite
" Hear then Propitious, while I now impart
" The mournful Dictates of a broken Heart;
" Those Ills which I from Theseus ' Hand sustain
" Return on his devoted House again. "
" To leave me, Theseus , in a Foreign Land?
" Could you so soon my plighted Faith despise,
" And, perjur'd, dare the Anger of the Skies?
" Did nothing in your Breast persuasive prove,
" No soft Compassion melt your Soul to Love?
" Ah me! far other Promises you made,
" Far other Prospects to my View you laid;
" The Nuptial Joys I hop'd and Bridal Day,
" But envious Winds have born my Hopes away.
" Let now no Woman trust in Man again!
" False is his Promise, and his Vows are vain.
" When the strong Passions riot unsupprest,
" Men promise largely with an open Breast;
" But soon as Love is with Possession cloy'd,
" Their Words they heed not, and their Oaths are void.
" I sav'd your Life and Honour when at Stake,
" And yielded up my Brother for your Sake.
" For this by Beasts I now must die unmourn'd,
" No Tomb to hide me, and no Rites perform'd.
" Surely your Race is not deriv'd from Men,
" Some Savage Monster whelpt you in her Den;
" Some raging Ocean in her Bosom bore,
" Some Scylla suckled on her cruel Shore;
" Who these Returns bestow; who thus repay
" Your Life defended in the fatal Day.
" If that your Father's Orders you revere,
" And hence a Foreign Contract justly fear,
" You might at least have carry'd me a Slave,
" A pleasing Servitude is all I'd have.
" Though Princess born, yet humbly at your Board
" I'd act th' officious Handmaid to my Lord.
" The Bath prepare against you homeward sped,
" Adorn with Purple the forbidden Bed.
" But why lament I to the empty Air?
" Can the Winds answer, or the Tempests hear?
" He that shou'd listen is for ever lost,
" And there's no Creature on the dreary Coast.
" For cruel Fate has plac'd me here alone,
" Nor left one Person to partake my Moan.
" O that all-knowing Heav'n had ne'er decreed
" The Cretan Bull by Theseus ' Arm to bleed!
" Happy, too happy, did I live, before
" The Grecian Gally touch'd my Native Shore.
" I little thought in such a Face was Guile,
" Nor saw the Michief lurking in his Smile.
" Now what's to do, what wretched Hopes remain?
" Shall I my Father's Kingdom seek again?
" No, there the Earth still reaks with Brother's Blood,
" Nor can I pass the intermediate Flood.
" Shall I then think my Theseus still is true?
" No, for the Traitor basely fled my View.
" Cruel Dilemma! could I get away,
" No Hopes are left me, Death is in my Stay:
" For neither Dwellings nor Companions here,
" No Object glads the Eye, nor Voice the Ear;
" But where I turn my wearied Sight, there reigns
" A Death-like Horror o'er the silent Plains.
" Yet I'll not tamely die without Relief,
" Nor let my just Resentment melt in Grief;
" But all the Heav'nly Pow'rs conjure in Death,
" And call down Vengeance with my latest Breath.
" Arise, ye Furies, from your Iron Beds,
" And rouse the Snaky Terrors of your Heads;
" Rear each her ghastly Front, wherein we find
" The baleful Index of the latent Mind;
" O list, attend to what my Pray'rs require,
" 'Tis Justice prompts me, and my Wrongs inspite
" Hear then Propitious, while I now impart
" The mournful Dictates of a broken Heart;
" Those Ills which I from Theseus ' Hand sustain
" Return on his devoted House again. "