Introductory matter
-- v --
ARGUMENT
Pyramus
and Thisbe were two celebrated
Lovers, bred up in Babylon, whose
Parents living in neighbouring Houses, they
kept a nightly correspondence, thro' a Hole
in a Wall, that parted their Gardens: They
determined, one Evening, to steal from home,
and meet, by Moon-light, at an appointed
Time, at the Tomb of Ninus, one of the
Assyrian Monarchs.
-- vi --
Thisbe came first to the Place of Assignation,
where, being unhappily scar'd by a
Lion, she fled; leaving her Mantle behind
her, in her Fright.
The Lion coming towards the Tomb, and
finding the Mantle, in rage, tore it to pieces,
leaving it stain'd with Gore; his Mouth being
still bloody, with some Prey he had met
with before.
The Lion was no sooner gone off, but
Pyramus came to the Tomb; seeing his Mistress's
Mantle torn and bloody, he concluded
she had been devour'd by some wild
Beast; and, in Despair, drew his Sword,
and kill'd himself.
-- vii --
Thisbe, after being recover'd from her
Fear, return'd to the Tomb; where, meeting
this miserable Spectacle of Blood and Horror,
in her dead Lover, with the same
Sword she put an End to her unhappy Life.
-- viii --
The Characters in the OPERA are
| Pyramus, | Mr. Beard. |
Thisbe [Thisby], | Mrs. Lampe. |
| Wall, | Mr. Laguerre. |
| Moonshine, | Mr. Roberts. |
| Lion, | Mr. Reinhold. |
The other Parts by the Comedians.
[Master], [Prompter], [Semibrief], [Gentleman 1], [Gentleman 2], [Prologue]
-- 1 --
PYRAMUS and THISBE: A MOCK-OPERA.
INTRODUCTION.
Enter MASTER and PROMPTER.
Master.
Are the Properties, and every Thing ready
for the Performance?
Prompter.
Every Thing, Sir.
-- 2 --
Master.
Have you order'd the Singers to dress themselves,
that the Practice may be in form?
Prompter.
All is ready, as you order'd—We only wait for
Mr. Semibrief.—Here he comes, Sir.
Enter Mr. Semibrief and Two Gentlemen.
Semibrief.
Sir, your most obedient: I hope, I have not made
you wait: But I was oblig'd to call on these two
Gentlemen, whom I have made bold to bring with
me, to hear the Musick.
Master.
Sir, there needs no Apology; the Gentlemen
are welcome.
1st Gentleman.
Sir, we are oblig'd to you.
Semibrief.
You must know, Sir, one of these Gentlemen
having made the Tour of Italy, has but little Taste for
our homespun, English, Entertainments—nor has
he yet got the better of his foreign Prejudice: But,
-- 3 --
between you and I, I don't doubt, when he has
heard a little of this Piece, I shall bring him over
to our Opinion; and let him see, the English Tongue
is as fit for Musick, as any foreign Language of 'em
all.
Master.
One of our greatest Composers has been of that
Mind; and I have long been of his Opinion.
1st Gentleman.
We shall be very well pleas'd to be convinc'd.
Master.
I'll go, and hasten the Performers.
[Exit.
2d Gentleman.
Pray, Mr. Semibrief, what Voices have you?
Semibrief.
Why I have collected a few with some Difficulty;
but, as I have taken no small Pains with 'em, I hope
you'll find they'll make a decent Figure; and if
the Town will be so good to bear with such English
Voices as we could now procure, I don't doubt
but, with proper Encouragement, we may, in time,
be enabled to give the Publick, Musical Entertainments,
without sending our Money to foreign
Parts, to purchase Performers at exorbitant Prices.
-- 4 --
1st Gentleman.
I wish you may succeed, Sir;—but I own I have
some Fears for you.
Semibrief.
I am confident in the good Nature of the Audience;
so shan't despair—But we lose Time; I see
the Performers are waiting.
Act 1
Enter PROLOGUE.
If we offend, it is with our good Will,
That you shou'd think, we come not to offend
But with good Will, to shew our simple Skill;
This is the true Beginning of our End.
Consider then, we come, but in despight:
We do not come, as minding to content you:
Our true Intent is all for your Delight,
We are not here that you shou'd here repent you.
The Singers are at hand, and, by their Show,
You shall know all, that you are like to know.
-- 5 --
1st Gentleman.
This Fellow does not stand upon his Points.
2d Gentleman.
He has rid his Prologue like a rough Colt; he
knows neither Stop nor Cadence.
1st Gentleman.
Indeed, he has play'd on his Prologue, like a Child
on the Recorder; in Sound, but not in Government.
The OVERTURE.
After the Overture the Curtain rises.
SCENE a Garden.
Wall discover'd.
1st Gentleman.
Who comes here?
Semibrief.
This Man, with Lime and Rough-cast, presents
the Wall that parted the Lovers—and thro' which,
poor Souls, they are to whisper.
Wall.
In this same Interlude, it doth befall,
That I (Starveling by Name) present a Wall:
And such a Wall, as I wou'd have you think,
That had in it a Cranny, Hole, or Chink;
-- 6 --
Through which, the Lovers, Pyramus and Thisbe,
Did whisper often very secretly.
This Loam, this Rough-cast, and this Stone doth shew
That I am that same Wall, the Truth is so:
And this the Cranny is, right and sinister;
Through which the fearful Lovers are to whisper.
AIR.
The wrethed Sighs and Groans,
The rueful Sobs and Moans,
With Pity I
Have seen, and now condole—
I'll now comply;
And give Assistance,
Without Resistance,
If they will hie
Unto my whisp'ring Hole.
2d Gentleman.
Who wou'd desire Lime and Hair to sing better?
1st Gentleman.
This is the most musical Partition I ever heard.
Semibrief.
My Friend, this is nothing to what they have
abroad; and, by degrees, I am in hopes to bring our
English to this polite Taste.
-- 7 --
But see!—Pyramus draws near the Wall.—
Silence.
Enter PYRAMUS.
Pyramus.
O grim-look'd Night! a Night with Hue so black!
O Night! which ever art, when Day is not!
O Night! O Night! alack! alack! alack!
I fear my Thisbe's Promise is forgot.
AIR.
And thou, O Wall!
Thou sweet and lovely Wall,
That stands between her Father's Ground and mine,
Shew me thy Chink,
That I may blink,
Through with mine Eyne.
Thanks, courteous Wall! Jove shield thee well for this.
But what see I? No Thisbe do I see.
AIR.
O wicked Wall! through whom no Bliss I see
Curst may you be, for thus deceiving me.
[Retires.
-- 8 --
1st Gentleman.
The Wall, methinks, being sensible, shou'd curse
again.
Semibrief.
There you are quite mistaken, for, deceiving me,
Is Thisbe's Cue; she is to enter, and he is to spy
Her through the Wall.
Pat as I told you. Yonder she comes.
Enter THISBE.
Thisbe.
The promis'd Joys that Lovers feel,
None but a Lover can reveal.
With Expectation here I move,
To crown my Wish, and meet my Love.
AIR.
Fly swift, good Time, with tripple Speed,
And bring the Moment on;
Love, wing the Hours for Hearts that bleed,
And for each other moan.
The secret Flame that warms my Breast,
And round my Heart does move,
Now gives me Hope I shall be blest,
And soon embrace my Love.
-- 9 --
O Wall! Full often hast thou heard my Moan,
For parting my dear Pyramus and me.
Enter PYRAMUS.
Pyramus.
I see a Voice. Now will I to the Chink,
To spy if I can hear my Thisbe's Face.—Thisbe!
Thisbe.
My Love, thou art; my Love, I think.
Pyramus.
Think what thou wilt; I am thy Lover's Grace;
And like * noteLimander am I constant still.
Thisbe.
And I, like † noteHelen, till the Fates me kill.
DUETTO.
Pyramus.
Not ‡ noteShafalus to &verbar2; noteProcrus was so true.
Thisbe.
As Shafalus to Procrus, I to you.
-- 10 --
Pyramus.
O kiss me thro' the Hole of this vile Wall.
Thisbe.
I kiss the Wall's Hole, not thy Lips at all.
Pyramus.
Wilt thou at Ninny's Tomb meet me straitway?
Thisbe.
Tide Life, tide Death, I come without delay.
DUETTO.
Thisbe.
I come, without Delay.
Pyramus.
I go, without Delay.
[Ex. Pyr. This.
Wall, solus.
Thus have I, Wall, my Part discharged so;
And, being done, thus Wall away does go.
[Exit.
1st Gentleman.
Now is the Mural down between the two Neighbours.
-- 11 --
2d Gentleman.
No Remedy, my Friend, when Walls are so
wilful to hear without Warning.
1st Gentleman.
This is the silliest Stuff that I e'er heard.
Semibrief.
The best in this Kind are but Shadows, and the
worst are no worse, if Imagination amend them.
1st Gentleman.
It must be your Imagination then, and not theirs.
2d Gentleman.
If we imagine no worse of them, than they of
themselves, they may pass for excellent Performers.
Semibrief.
Now here come two noble Beasts in; a Man, and
a Lion.
1st Gentleman.
I wonder whether the Lion be to sing.
Semibrief.
Never wonder at that; one Lion may, when
many Asses do. Beside, you that have seen the
-- 12 --
Italian Opera, have seen Things much more extravagant.
The Tomb of Ninus in a Wood near Babylon.
Enter LION.
Lion.
You Ladies, you (whose gentle Hearts do fear
The smallest monstrous Mouse that creeps on Floor)
May now, perchance, both quake and tremble here,
When Lion rough in wildest Rage doth roar:
Then know, that I, one Snug the Joiner am;
No Lion fell, nor eke no Lion's Dam:
For, if I shou'd, as Lion, come in Strife
Into this Place, 'twere pity of my Life.
AIR.
Ladies don't fright you,
I will delight you,
With gentle Roar!
Let not a Creature,
Tho' fierce in Nature,
Change any Feature,
I do implore.
Who can say, fie on
So tame a Lion?
-- 13 --
So full of Breeding;
So far exceeding
Lions before.
1st Gentleman.
A very gentle Beast; and of a good Conscience.
2d Gentleman.
The very best at a Beast that ever I saw.
1st Gentleman.
This Lion is a very Fox for his Valour.
2d Gentleman.
True: And a Goose for his Discretion.
Semibrief.
Not so, my Friend; for his Valour cannot carry
his Discretion; and the Fox carries the Goose.
2d Gentleman.
His Discretion, I am sure, cannot carry his Valour;
for the Goose carries not the Fox.
Semibrief.
It is well. Leave it to his Discretion, and let us
hearken to the Moon.
-- 14 --
Enter MOON.
Moon.
This Lanthorn doth the horned Moon present:
Myself, the Man i'th' Moon do seem to be.
2d Gentleman.
This is the greatest Error of all the rest. The
Man should be put into the Lanthorn. How is it
else the Man in the Moon?
1st Gentleman.
He dares not come there for the Candle; for
you see it is already in Snuff.
Moon.
AIR.
The Man in the Moon am I, Sir,
And hither come down from the Sky, Sir,
To tell how we People above,
Enjoy our Pleasures and Love.
Ever ranging,
Ever changing;
Bumpers drinking;
Never thinking;
Thus we riot, thus we rove.
-- 15 --
1st Gentleman.
I am weary of this Moon. Would he would
change.
2d Gentleman.
It appears, by his small Light of Discretion, that
he is in the Wane. But yet, in Courtesy, in all
Reason, we must stay the Time.—Proceed, Moon.
Moon.
All that I have to say, is, to tell you,
That the Lanthorn is the Moon;
I, the Man in the Moon;
This Thornbush, my Thornbush,
And this Bumper, my Bumper.
Enter THISBE.
Thisbe.
This is old Ninny's Tomb.—Where is my Love?
AIR.
Where is my Love, my Pyre dear?
The Wheel of Fortune guide thee,
With gentle Love beside thee.
Good Moon, sweet Moon,
Bright Moon, conduct him here.
-- 16 --
Lion.
O! O! O!
[Lion roars.
Thisbe.
Ah, ah!
[Thisbe drops her Veil, runs off.
1st Gentleman.
Well roar'd Lion.
2d Gentleman.
Well run Thisbe.
1st Gentleman.
Well mouth'd Lion!
2d Gentleman.
And then comes Pyramus.
1st Gentleman.
And so the Lion vanish'd.
Enter PYRAMUS.
Pyramus.
Sweet Moon, I thank thee for thy sunny Beams:
I thank thee, Moon, for shining now so bright.
For, by thy gracious, golden, glittering Streams,
I trust to taste of truest Thisbe's Sight.
-- 17 --
But stay.—O Spight!
But mark.—Poor Knight!
What dreadful Dole is here!
[Spies the Mantle.
Eyes, do you see?
How can it be?
O dainty Duck! O Deer!
Thy Mantle, good!—
What, stain'd with Blood
AIR.
Approach, you Furies fell!
O Fates! Come, come,
Cut Thread and Thrum,
Quail, crush, conclude, and quell.
1st Gentleman.
This Passion, and the Death of a dear Friend,
wou'd go near to make a Man look sad.
2d Gentleman.
Beshrew my Heart, but I pity the Man.
1st Gentleman.
If this won't move the Ladies, poor Pyramus
will take Pains to little Purpose.
Semibrief.
If this won't fetch a Subscription, I'll never pretend
to compose Opera or Masque again, while I live.
-- 18 --
Pyramus.
Oh, wherefore, Nature, didst thou Lions frame?
Since Lion wild hath here deflour'd my Dear!
Which is—No, no,—which was the fairest Dame,
That liv'd, that lov'd, that lik'd, that look'd with Chear.
Come, Tears, confound:
Out, Sword, and wound
The Pap of Pyramus.
Ay, that left Pap,
Where Heart doth hop
As Bird doth hop in Cage,
Thus die I, thus, thus, thus!
AIR.
Now am I dead:
Now am I fled.
My Soul is in the Sky!
Tongue, lose thy Light;
Moon, take thy Flight;
I die, die, die, die.
1st Gentleman.
So, there's an End of Pyramus.
2d Gentleman.
I'll assure you the Man dy'd well: like a Hero
in an Italian Opera, to very good Time and Tune.
-- 19 --
1st Gentleman.
But how chance the Moonshine is gone, before
Thisbe comes back, and finds her Lover?
Semibrief.
She will find him by Star-light.—Here she comes,
and her Passion ends the Masque.
2d Gentleman.
Methinks she shou'd not use a long One, for such
a Pyramus. I hope she'll be brief.
Semibrief.
A Moth will turn the Balance, which Pyramus,
which Thisbe, is the better.—Silence, she has spy'd
him already.
Enter THISBE.
Thisbe.
Asleep, my Love!
What, dead, my Dove!
O Pyramus, arise!
Speak, speak:—Quite dumb!
Dead! Dead!—A Tomb
Must cover thy sweet Eyes.
-- 20 --
AIR.
These Lilly Lips,
This Cherry Nose,
These yellow Cowslip Cheeks,
Are gone, are gone;
Lovers make moan,
His Eyes were green as Leeks.
O Sisters three,
Come, come, to me,
With Hands as pale as Milk:
Lay them in Gore,
Since you have Shore
With Sheers this Thread of Silk.
Tongue, not a Word!
Come, trusty Sword;
Come, Blade, my Breast embrue.
Now, farewel, Friends,
Thus Thisbe ends.
Adieu, adieu, adieu.
1st Gentleman.
Moonshine and Lion are left to bury the Dead.
2d Gentleman.
Ay, and Wall too.
-- 21 --
Semibrief.
No, I assure you. The Wall is down that parted
their Fathers Gardens. Now, will it please you, to
see the Epilogue, or a Dance.
2d Gentleman.
No Epilogue, I beseech you. The Masque needs
no Excuse: For when the Performers are all dead,
there need none to be blam'd. Yet, I think, if he
that wrote it, had done Pyramus, and hang'd himself,
in Thisbe's Garters, it wou'd have been a fine
Tragedy.
1st Gentleman.
And so it is, truly, and very notably discharg'd.
But pray, Mr. Semibrief, who is to perform the
Epilogue?
Semibrief.
Pyramus and Thisbe.
1st Gentleman.
Pyramus and Thisbe!—They are both dead.
Semibrief.
Pho, pho, not so dead, but they may revive without
the Help of a Surgeon.—So, d'ye hear, get up
and prepare for the Epilogue.—Is it not better that they
-- 22 --
shou'd get up themselves, than for two or three
dirty Scene-Men, to carry them off:—And whilst
they are preparing, we'll entertain you with a Dance.
DANCE.
Pyramus and Thisbe come forward, and address themselves to the Audience.
EPILOGUE.
Pyramus.
Gentlemen, and Ladies, we've a Boon to ask,
That you wou'd deign to like our Mask:
Thisbe.
And, in return, our Thanks we'll pay,
With Strife to please you Day by Day:
Pyramus.
And wish, all you in love—may be,
As I to Thisbe—she, to me,
DUETTO.
Thus folding,
Beholding,
Caressing,
Possessing
-- 23 --
My Pyre, my Dear,
We out-live the Year.
And, with its renewing,
Continue our wooing
Till Ages, when past, shall as Minutes appear.
And happy, my Pyre, each Minute shall prove,
Abounding with Pleasure o'erflowing with Love.
CHORUS.
Now, e'er you remove,
We hope you'll approve
This wonderful Story of wonderful Love.
