In the dialogue of "Alcestis" we have such quips as these:—
E'en like a detonator down he goes
To pay the debt o' natur which he owes.
To curb my rising love I idly tries,
I eyes the idol that I idolise!
I may be captivating; but Death, stronger,
Will not be kept-a-vaiting any longer.
I'd no time to aggravate Mamma,
Or make my Pa my foe by a faux pas!
In one place Alcestis, apropos of the marriage which is being forced upon her, cries bitterly:—
Why was I ever saddled with this bridal?
Phædra sings a parody on "I'm afloat, I'm afloat!":—
I'm a flirt, I'm a flirt, yet on thirty's bright side,
And numbers have offer'd to make me their bride;
Yet, though suitors don't flag in attention to me,
I'm a flirt, I'm a flirt, and my hand is yet free!