From Davus at the Forum.
Char. Woe is me!
Then I’m a wretch indeed: till now my mind
Floated ’twixt hope and fear: now, hope remov’d,
Stunn’d, and o’erwhelm’d, it sinks beneath its cares.
Byr. Nay, prithee master, since the thing you wish
Can not be had, e’en wish for that which may!
Char. I wish for nothing but Philumena.
Byr. Ah, how much wiser were it, that you strove
To quench this passion, than, with words like these