Ast. Dear madam, recollect yourself; alas!
How much distracted are your thoughts; and how
Disjointed all your words!
The sibyl's leaves more orderly were laid.
Where is that harmony of mind, that prudence,
Which guided all you did? that sense of glory,
Which raised you high above the rest of kings,
As kings are o'er the level of mankind?
Queen. Gone, gone, Asteria; all is gone,
Or lost within me, far from any use.
Sometimes I struggle, like the sun in clouds,
But straight I am o'ercast.
Ast. I grieve to see it.
Queen. Then thou hast yet the goodness To pardon what I said? Alas! I use myself much worse than thee. Love rages in great souls, For there his power most opposition finds; High trees are shook, because they dare the winds. [Exeunt.
ACT III.
SCENE I.—The Court Gallery.
PHILOCLES solus.
'Tis true, she banished me but for a day;
But favourites, once declining, sink apace.
Yet fortune, stop—this is the likeliest place
To meet Asteria, and by her convey
My humble vows to my offended queen.
Ha! She comes herself; unhappy man,
Where shall I hide?—[Is going out.
Enter Queen and ASTERIA.
Queen. Is not that Philocles, Who makes such haste away? Philocles, Philocles!—