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Show i ix OEDIPUS. H e will be very Lajus. Creon. So he will. Mean time fhe ftands provided of a Lajus, More young and vigorous too , by twenty Springs. Thefe W o m e n are fuch cunning Purveyors: Mark where rheir Appetites have once been pleas'd, The fame refemblance in a younger Lover, Lies brooding in their Fancies the fame Pleafures And urges their remembrance to defire. Dioc. Had merit, not her dotage, been confider'd Then Creon had been King; but Oedipus, A Stranger I Creon. That word Stranger , I confefs Sounds harfhly in m y Ears. Dioc. W e are your Creatures : The People prone , as in all general Ills, T o fudden Change,- the King in Wars abroad; The Queen, a W o m a n weak and unregarded; Eurydice the Daughter of dead Lajus, A Princefs young and beauteous, and unmarried. Methinks from thefe disjointed Proportions Something might be produe'd. Creon. T h e Gods have done Their part, by fending this commodious Plague: But oh the Princefs ! her hard Heart is flint, By Adamantine Locks, againft m y Love. cJlc. Your claim to her is ftrong; you are betroth'd Pjyr. True! in her Nonage. ^Alc. But that lett's remov'd. Dioc. I heard the Prince o£^irgos} your ^draflusy W h e n he was Hoftagc here - * Creon.Oh name him not! the banc of all m y hopes; That hot-brain'd> head-long Warriour, has the Charms O f Youth, and fomewhat of a lucky rafhnefs, T o pleafe a W o m a n yet more Fool than he. That thoughtlefs Sex is caught by outward form And OEDIPUS. *5 And empty noife > and loves it felf in Man. t^ilc. But fince the W a r broke out about our He's now a Foe toThebesI (Frontiers Creon. But is not fohcr: fee, (he appears; Once more I'll prove m y Fortune: you infinuate Kind thoughts of m e into the multitude; Lay load upon the Court,- gull 'em with Freedom ; And you fhall fee 'em tofs their Tails > and gad, As if the Breeze had ftung 'cm. Dioc. We'll about it. [Exeunt Alcandcr , Diodes , Pyracmon Enter Eurydice. Creon. Hail, Royal Maid ; thou bright Eurydice I A la villi Planet reign'd when thou wert born; And made thee of fuch kindred-mold to Hearcn , Thou feem'it more Heaven's than ours. Eur. Caft round your Eyes; Where late the Streets were to thick fown with Men, Like Cadmus's Brood they juitlcd for the PaiTagc: N o w look for thofe erected Heads, and fee 'cm Like Pebbles paving all aur publickWays: W h e n you have thought on this, then anfwer m e, If thefe be hours of Courtfriip 1 Creon. Yes, they arc ; For when the Gods deftroy fb fait, 'tis time W e fhould renew the Race. Eur. What, in the midft of horror 1 Creon. W h y not then ? There's rhe more need of Comfort. Euryd. Impious Creon I Creon. Unjult Eurydice! can you accufc m c O f love , which is Heaven's Precept, and not feat That Vengeance, which you fay purfues our Crimes, Should reach your Perjuries? Eury. Still th* old Argument. i i |
