O Peace of Mind, angelic guest!
Thou soft companion of the breast!
Dispense thy balmy store;
Wing all our thoughts to reach the skies,
Till earth, receding from our eyes,
Shall vanish as we soar.
FIRST PRIEST.
Recitative.
No more! Too long has justice been delay’d—
The king’s commands must fully be obey’d;
Compliance with his will your peace secures—
Praise but our gods, and every good is yours.
But if, rebellious to his high command,
You spurn the favours offer’d at his hand—
Think, timely think, what ills remain behind;
Reflect, nor tempt to rage the royal mind.
SECOND PRIEST.
Fierce is the tempest rolling
Along the furrow’d main,
And fierce the whirlwind howling,
O’er Afric’s sandy plain:
But storms that fly
To rend the sky,
Every ill presaging—
Less dreadful show
To world’s below,
Than angry monarch’s raging.
ISRAELITISH WOMAN.
Recitative.