Written by FRANCIS BEAMONT Gent.
Enter Iris running, Mercury following, and catching hold of her.
Mercury.
Stay Light-[f]oot Iris, for thou striv'st in vain,
My wings are nimbler than thy feet.
Iris. Away,
Dissembling Mercury, my messages
Ask honest haste, not like those wanton ones,
Your thundering Father sends.
Mer. Stay foolish Maid,
Or I will take my rise upon a hill,
When I perceive thee seated in a cloud,
In all the painted glory that thou hast,
And never cease to clap my willing wing,
Till I catch hold o[f] thy discolour'd Bow,
And shiver it beyond the angry power
Of your [curst] Mistriss to make up again.
Iris. Hermes forbear, Juno will chide and strike;
Is great Jove jealous that I am imploy'd
On her Love-errands? she did never yet
Claspe weak mortality in her white arms,
As he has often done; I only come
To celebrate the long wish'd Nuptials
Here in Olympia, which are now perform'd
Betwixt two goodly Rivers, [which] have mixt
Their gentle [ris]ing waves, and are to grow
Into a thousand streams, great as themselves.
I need not name them, for the sound is loud
In Heaven and Earth, and I am sent from her
The Queen of marriage, that was present here,
And smil'd to see them joyn, and hath not chid
Since it was done. Good Hermes let me goe.
Merc. Nay, you must stay, Jove's message is the same;
Whose eyes are lightning, and whose voice is thunder,
Whose breath is a[n]y wind, he will, who knows
How to be first [o]n Earth, as well as Heaven.
Iris. But what hath he to do with Nuptial rites?
Let him [keepe state] upon his Starry throne,
And fright poor mortals with his Thunder-bolts,
Leaving to us the mutual darts of eyes.
Merc. Alas, when ever offer'd he t'abridge
Your Ladies power, but only now in these,
Whose match concerns [his] general government?
Hath not each God a part in these high joyes?
And shall not he the King of gods presume
Without proud Juno's licence? let her know,
That when enamour'd Jove fir[st] gave her power
To link soft hearts in undissolv[ed] b[o]nds,
He then foresaw, and to himself reserv'd
The honor of this marriage: thou shalt stand
Still as a Rock, while I to bless this Feast
Will summon up with mine all-charming rod
The Nymphs of Fountains, from whose watry locks,
(Hung with the dew of blessing and increase)
The greedy Rivers take their nourishment.
Y[ou] Nymphs, who bathing in your loved Springs,
Beheld these Rivers in their infancy.
And joy'd to see them, when their circled heads
Refresh'd the Air, and spread the ground with Flowers;
Rise from your Wells, and with your nimble feet
Perform that office to this happy pair,
Which in these Plains you to Alpheus did,
When passing hence, through many Seas unmixt,
He gain'd the favour of his Arethuse.
[The Nymphs rise, and dance a little, and then make a stand.