"Evad. Alas, I must have one To father children, and to bear the name "Amin. What a strange thing am I ! "Amin. Why, show it then in this: "Evad. I must have one To fill thy room again, if thou wert dead; "Amin. These strange and sudden injuries have fallen So thick upon me, that I lose all sense Of what they are. Methinks, I am not wrong'd; Nor is it aught, if from the censuring world I can but hide it. Reputation! Thou art a word, no more. But thou hast shown An impudence so high, that to the world, I fear, thou wilt betray or shame thyself. "Evad. To cover shame, I took thee; never fear That I would blaze myself. "Amin. Nor let the king Know I conceive he wrongs me; then mine honour To me in these extremes, that I knew this Be careful of thy credit, and sin close: There is vigour in the preceding verses. The feeling of outraged honour in Amintor is finely contrasted with the shameless depravity of Evadne. But surely the picture is overcharged. The next scene (the second of Act II.) contains an admirable picture of Aspatia's grief. She is in her father's house (he is governor of the citadel), with her two maids. Having demanded if they were ever in love, and received an answer in the negative, she proceeds : "Asp. Then, my good girls, be more than women, wise: At least be more than I was; and be sure You credit any thing the light gives light to, But man, Oh, that beast man! Come, let's be sad, my girls! Now, a tear ; And then thou are a piece expressing fully Though this may be somewhat exaggerated, it is founded in nature: it shows us a mind trembling on the verge of sorrow and madness. And the language is as poetical as the conception is just. The part which Amintor has to act with the two brothers of Evadne, both his friends, is a delicate one. That with the king is still more so. Seeing the affectation of cheerfulness, in the countenances of Amintor and Evadne, he becomes jealous; he suspects that the marriage has been consummated; that Amintor had confessed it; and he seems to be revenged. Evadne assures him that she has not. been faithless to him, and she calls her husband to confirm the fact. The remainder of this scene is very fine. Amintor, rendered furious by his dishonour, yet afraid to strike his king, such is the sacredness of majesty exhibits emotions of the most opposite nature. The most finished, though not, as we have already intimated, the most natural, feature of this strange picture, is the cool effrontery of the woman, who, for the sake of the lover, insulted the husband, who trampled on that very husband in the lover's presence: Must right themselves: What punishment is due From me to him that shall abuse my bed? Is it not death? Nor can that satisfy, Unless I send your limbs through all the land, To show how nobly I have freed myself. "King. Draw not thy sword; thou knowest I cannot fear A subject's hand; but thou shalt feel the weight Of this, if thou dost rage. "Amin. The weight of that! If you have any worth, for heaven's sake, think I fear not swords; for as you are mere man, I dare as easily kill you for this deed, I have to say), why did you chuse out me To make thus wretched? There were thousand fools Easy to work on, and of state enough Within the island. "Evad. I would not have a fool; It were no credit for me. "Amin. Worse and worse! Thou, that dar'st talk unto thy husband thus, Profess thyself a whore, and, more than so. |