Plac. Shall I enjoy that beauty I adore?
Dam. She, suppliant-like, ere long, thy succour shall implore: And thou with her thou lovest in happiness may'st live, If she not dies before, who all thy joys can give.
Nig. Say, what does the Egyptian princess now?
Dam. A gentle slumber sits upon her brow.
Nig. Go, stand before her in a golden dream: Set all the pleasures of the world to shew, And in vain joys let her loose spirit flow.
Dam. Twice fifty tents remove her from your sight, But I'll cut through them all with rays of light; And covering other objects to your eyes, Shew where entranced in silent sleep she lies.
Damilcar stamps, and the bed arises with St Catharine in it.
Damilcar singing.
You pleasing dreams of love and sweet delight, Appear before this slumbering virgins sight: Soft visions set her free From mournful piety. Let her sad thoughts from heaven retire; And let the melancholy love Of those remoter joys above Give place to your more sprightly fire. Let purling streams be in her fancy seen; And flowery meads, and vales of chearful green: And in the midst of deathless groves Soft sighing wishes lie, And smiling hopes fast by, And just beyond them ever-laughing loves.
A Scene of a Paradise is discovered.