THE PERSONS. FIRST JEWISH PROPHET. SECOND JEWISH PROPHET. ISRAELITISH WOMAN. FIRST CHALDEAN PRIEST. SECOND CHALDEAN PRIEST. CHALDEAN WOMAN. CHORUS OF YOUTHS AND VIRGINS. SCENE.-The Banks of the River Euphrates, near Babylon. THE CAPTIVITY. ACT I-SCENE I. ISRAELITES sitting on the Banks of the Euphrates. First PROPHET. Recitative. Ye captive tribes, that hourly work and weep, That strain once more: it bids remembrance rise, Ye hills of Lebanon, with cedars crown'd; Air. O Memory, thou fond deceiver! To former joys recurring ever, And turning all the past to pain: Hence, intruder, most distressing, First PROPHET. Recitative. Yet, why complain? What, though by bonds confin'd, And as our fortune sinks, our wishes soar. Air. The triumphs that on vice attend The good man suffers but to gain, As aromatic plants bestow No spicy fragrance while they grow, Second PROPHET. Recitative. But hush, my sons! our tyrant lords are near; The sound of barbarous mirth offends mine ear; Triumphant music floats along the vale; Near, nearer still, it gathers on the gale; The growing sound their swift approach declares ;- Enter CHALDEAN PRIESTS, attended. First PRIEST. Air. Come on, my companions, the triumph display; The sun calls us out on this festival day, Second PRIEST. Like the sun, our great monarch all rapture supplies, The sun with his splendor illumines the skies, A Chaldean WOMAN. Air. Haste, ye sprightly sons of pleasure; A Chaldean ATTENDANT. Or rather Love's delights despising, Wine shall bless the brave and free. |