Queen. Ay, he may love; but when he marries you,
Your bridal shall be kept in some dark dungeon.
Farewell, and think of that, too easy maid!
I blush, thou sharest my blood.
[Exeunt Queen and ASTERIA.
Cand. Inhuman queen! Thou canst not be more willing to resign Thy part in me, than I to give up mine.
Phil. Love, how few subjects do thy laws fulfil, And yet those few, like us, thou usest ill!
Cand. The greatest slaves, in monarchies, are they,
Whom birth sets nearest to imperial sway;
While jealous power does sullenly o'erspy,
We play, like deer, within the lion's eye.
'Would I for you some shepherdess had been,
And, but each May, ne'er heard the name of queen!
Phil. If you were so, might I some monarch be,
Then, you should gain what now you lose by me;
Then, you in all my glories should have part,
And rule my empire, as you rule my heart.
Cand. How much our golden wishes are in vain! When they are past, we are ourselves again.
Enter Queen and ASTERIA above.
Queen. Look, look, Asteria, yet they are not gone. Hence we may hear what they discourse alone.
Phil. My love inspires me with a generous thought,
Which you, unknowing in those wishes, taught.
Since happiness may out of courts be found,
Why stay we here on this enchanted ground;
And chuse not rather with content to dwell
(If love and joy can find it) in a cell?