CVPID AND DEATH A Private Entertainment, represented WITH SCENES, VARIETY OF DANCING, AND MUSICK, BOTH VOCALL & INSTRUMENTALL.
Writen By J. S.
LONDON, Printed for John Crooke and John Playford, and to be sold at their Shops in St. Paul's Churchyard and in the Inner Temple
THE SCENE
A Forest, on the side of a Hill a faire house representing an Inne or Taverne, out of which cometh an Host, being a jolly sprightly old man; his Cap turn'd up with Crimson; his Doublet Fustian, with Jerkin and hanging sleeves, Trunk Hose of Russet, Stockings yellow, cross gartered; after him a Chamberlain.
FIRST ENTRY.
HO.
Are all things in their preparation
For my immortall guests?
Ch.
Nothing is wanting
That doth concern my Province sir, I am
Your Officer above staires. The great Chamber
With the two wooden Monuments to sleep in
(That weigh six load of Timber, sir) are ready.
I have trimm'd artificially with Roses,
And his Mother's Mirtle. But I have
Committed Sacriledge to please the other,
Death does delight in Ew, and I have rob'd
A Church-yard for him. Are you sure they'l come
To night? I would fain see this Dwarfe call'd
Cupid,
For t'other I look on him in my fancy,
Like a starv'd Goblin.
Ho.
Death. I must confesse,
Cuts not so many inches in the Say
As our last Venison, 'tis a thin-chap'd hound,
And yet the Cormorant is ever feeding.
Ch.
But good sir resolve me,
Are they good spirited Guests? will they tipple
To elevation? do they scatter metall
Upon the VVaiters? will they rore, and fancy
The Drawers, and the Fiddles, till their pockets
Are empty as our neighbours drone? and after
Drop by degrees their wardrobe? and in the morning,
VVhen they have day-light to behold their nakedness,
VVill they with confidence amaze the streets?
And in their shirts, to save their pickel'd credits,
Pretend a Race, and trip it like fell footmen?
These rantings were the Badges of our Gentry,
But all their dancing daies are done I fear.
Ho.
These were the garbs, and motions late in fashion
With humorous mortalls; but these guests are of
No humane race.
Ch.
[Page 3]
Pray what attendance have they?
Ho.
Love has two
Gentlemen, that wait on him in his Chamber,
Of speciall trust, he cannot act without them.
Ch.
Their names sir, I beseech you?
Ho.
Folly and Madness.
Ch.
A pair of precious instruments,
Sure they are well descended sir.
Ho.
The fool
Could ride a hundred mile in his own Pedegree,
And give as many Coats—
Ch.
Fooles coats, there are
Enough to weare them.
Ho.
As he had acres in
Eleven fat Lordships,
And plaid at duck and drake with Gold, like Pibbles.
Ch.
Was this man born a fool?
Ho.
No, but his keeping
Company with Philosophers undid him,
Who found him out a Mistris they call'd
Fame,
And made him spend halfe his estate in Libraries,
Which he bestowed on Colledges, tooke the toy
Of building Quadrangles, kept open house,
And fell at last most desperately in love
VVith a poor dairy maid, for which he was beg'd—
Ch.
A Foole?
Ho.
And leads the the Van in Cupid's Regiment.
Ch.
VVhat was the Mad-man sir?
Ho.
[Page 4]
A Thing was born to a very fair
per annum,
And spent it all in Looking-glasses.
Ch.
How?
That's a project I never heard on, Looking-glasses?
How many did he break sir in a day?
Ho.
They broke him rather, in the right understanding,
For Nature having given him a good face,
The man grew wilde with his own admirations,
And spent his full means upon Flatterers,
That represented him next to an Angell.
Thus blown up, he tooke confidence to court
A Lady of noble blood, and swelling fortune;
Within three daies fell sick of the small Pox,
And on the fourth run mad, with the conceit
His face, when he recover'd, would be like
A countrey Cake, from which some Children had
New pick'd the plumms.
Ch.
A brace of pretty Beagles.
Ho.
They are here.
Ch.
I see not Death.
Ho.
He's the last thing we look for.
[Page 5]Enter
Cupid, Folly, Madness; the Hoste joynes with them in a Dance.
SONG.
THough little be the God of Love,
Yet his Arrows mighty are,
And his Victories above
What the valiant reach by War,
Nor are his limits with the skie,
O're the milky way he'll fly,
And somtimes wound a Diety.
Apollo once the
Python slew,
But a keener Arrow flew
From
Daphne's eye, and made a wound
For which the God no Balsome found;
One smile of
Venus too did more
On
Mars, than Armies could before;
If a warme fit thus pull him down,
How will she ague-shake him with a frown;
Thus Love can fiery spirits tame,
And when he please cold Rocks inflame.
Enter Death, he danceth the second Entrie, after which he speakes.
De.
Holla! within!
Enter Chamberlain.
Ch.
You are welcome Gentlemen; ha?
[Page 6]Quarter, oh quarter, I am a friend sir,
A moveable belonging to this Tenement
Where you are expected,
Gupid is come already,
And supp'd, and almost drunk, We ha' reserv'd
According to order, for your palate, sir,
The Cockatrices Eggs, the cold Toad-Pie,
Ten dozen of Spiders and Adders tongues
Your servant
Famine, sir, bespoke.
De.
Live, live.
Exit.
Ch.
I thanke you sir; a curse upon his Physnomy;
How was I surpriz'd? twas high time to comfort me,
I felt my life was melting downward.
Death, oh Death.
within.
Ch.
Who's that? I do not like the voice. What art?
Enter Despair with a Halter.
Des.
A miserable thing.
Ch.
I, so thou seem'st;
Ha'st not a name?
Des.
My name, sir, is Despair.
Ch.
Despair, my time's not come yet, what have I
To do with thee? what com'st thou hither for?
Des.
To find out
Death; Life is a burthen to me;
I have pursu'd all Paths to find him out,
And here ith' Forrest had a glimpse on him,
But could not reach him with my feet, or voice;
I would fain dye, but
Death flies from me, sir.
Ch.
I wonder you should travell in the Forest,
[Page 7]And among so many Trees find none convenient,
Having the tackling ready, 'bout your neck too.
Some great affairs take up the Devills time,
He cannot sure attend these low employments,
Hee's busie 'bout Leviathans. I know not,
Ther's somthing in't; you have not made your VVill sure.
Des.
Yes sir, I carry it wo'me, it wants nothing
But his name, and my subscription.
Ch.
VVhose name?
Des.
His name I mean to make my Heir.
Ch.
VVhose that?
Des.
That charitable man
VVill bring
Death to me, there's a blank left for him,
And if you please to do me, sir, the office,
Even you shall be the man; I have profest
An Usurerer this fifty years, and upwards,
The VVidows and sad Orphans, whose estates
I have devoured, are croaking in my Conscience.
Ch.
And shall he be your Heir that does this feat?
To make you acquainted with this Canniball
You talk of?
Des.
Oh my happiness.
Ch.
I'le do it.
But I believe you are sorry for your baseness,
Your Rapines and Extortions—
Des.
Mistake not,
am sorry for no mischief I have done,
That would come neer Repentance, which you know
[Page 8]Cures all the akings of the Soul. If I
Could but be sorry,
Death were of no use to me.
Ch.
Keep ye of that mind, you say very right sir,
I'le try what I can do
With
Death, to do your Conscience a courtesy,
He's now within our house; I'le bring you pen
And ink to write my name too, honest Father.
Des.
Thou art my dearest child, take all my blessings.
Ch.
Here's like to be a Fortune.
Exit.
Des.
I want strength
To climb, I see a very pretty twig else
He climbs
And space for a most comfortable swing,
'Tis a hard case the Devill will not help
At a dead lift.
He falls.
O my
Sciatica.
I have broke my spectacles, and both my hips
Are out of joint, help—
Enter Chamberlain with abottle of Wine.
Ch.
Death will be with you presently, the last course
Is now on the Table that you may not think
The time long, I have brought you▪ ha? rise up sir.
Des.
Alas, I have had a fall, I was indeavouring
To do the meritorious work, and hang
My self, for
Death me thought was long a coming,
But my foot slipt.
Ch.
Alas what pitty 'twas?
If I had thought your Soul had been in such
Haste, I would have given you a lift before
I went.
Des.
[Page 9]
It was my zeal.
Ch.
Alas it seemed so,
You might have tooke the River with more ease,
The stream would have convey'd you down so gently,
You should not feel which way your soul was going.
But against the frights,
Death might bring with him,
I have brought you a bottle of wine. I'le begin sir.
He drinks,
Des.
Would it were poyson.
Ch.
So would not I, I thank you,
'Tis pure blood of the Grape.
Des.
Wine?
Ch.
A
[...] my charge, I know you do not use
To pay for Nectar,
I bestow it sir.
Des.
That's kindly said, I care not if I taste—
Ch.
I'th' mean time please you, I'le peruse the Will,
I can put in my own name, and make it fit
For your subscription—what's here?—
Reads.
Ha? a thousand pound in Jewells—in ready money
Ten thousand more—Land—ha' preserve my senses.
I'le write my name and thank Heaven afterwards.
—Here sir, before you can subscribe, the Gentleman
Will come and kill you to your hearts content.
Des.
Hum! this foolish wine has warm'd me, what d'ee
Call the name on't?
Ch.
Sack.
Des.
Sack, my truly son—
Ch.
Nay sir make hast, for Death will be here instantly.
Des.
[Page 10]
At his own leisure,
I would not be troublesome▪
Now I do know his lodging, I can come
Another time.
Ch.
But the VVill Father, you may write now—
Des.
Deeds are not vigorous without legall witnesses;
My Scrivener lives at the next Town, and I
Do find my body in a disposition
To walk a mile or two. Sack d'ee call it?
How strangely it does alter my opinion?
Ch.
VVhy? have you no mind to hang your self?
Des.
I thank you,
I find no inclination.
Ch.
Sha'not I be your Heir then?
Des.
In the humour
And spirit I now feel in Brain and Body,
I may live—to see you hang'd; I thank you heartily.
Ch.
But you will have the conscience, I hope,
To pay me for the wine, has wrought this miracle.
Des.
Your free gift I remember, you know, I use not
To pay for Nectar, as you call it. Yet
I am not without purpose to be gratefull,
Some things shall be corrected in my VVill,
In the mean time, if you'l accept of a
Gives him the Halter.
Small Legacy, this Hemp is at your service,
And it shall cost you nothing, I bestow it.
VVe men of money, worn w
[...]nd cares,
Drink in new life, from VVin
[...] costs us nothing.
[Page 11]Farewell, and learn this Lesson from
Despair,
Give not your Father Sack to be his Heir.
Ch.
Not a tear left? would's brains were in the bottle.
Exit.
SONG.
VIctorious men of Earth, no more
Proclaime how wide your Empires are;
Though you bind in every shore,
And your triumphs reach as far
as Night or Day,
Yet you proud Monarchs must obey,
And mingle with forgotten ashes, when
Death calls ye to the croud of common men.
Devouring Famine, Plague, and War,
Each able to undo Man-kind,
Death's servile Emissaries are,
Nor to these alone confin'd,
He hath at will
More quaint and subtle waies to kill.
A smile or kiss, as he will use the art,
Shall have the cunning skill to break a heart.
[Page 12]Enter Chamberlain.
Ch:
Ho Master, Master.
Enter Hoste.
Ho.
What's the mátter?
Ch.
Nothing but to ask you, whether you be
Alive or no, or whether I am not
My own ghost, that thus walk and haunt your house.
Ho.
Thou lookest frighted.
Ch.
Death and his train are gone,
I thank Heaven he's departed; I slept not
One wink to Night, nor durst I pray aloud,
For fear of waking
Death; but he, at Midnight,
Calls for a Cup to quench his thirst, a Bowl
Of Blood I gave him for a mornings draught,
And had and Ague all the while he drank it.
At parting, in my own defence, and hope
To please him, I desired to kisse his hand,
VVhich was so cold, o'th' sudden sir, my mouth
Was frozen up, which as the Case stood
Then with my Teeth, did me a benefit,
And kept the dancing bones from leaping out,
At length, fearing for ever to be speechless,
I us'd the strength of both my hands to open
My lips, and now feel'd eve
[...] I spake
Drop from it like an Icycl
[...]
Ho.
This cold
Fit will be over; what said
Cupid?
Ch.
[Page 13]
He
Was fast asleep.
Ho.
The Boy went drunk to bed,
Death did not wake him?
Ch.
It was not necessary in point of reckoning.
Death was as free as any Emperour,
And payes all where he comes,
Death quits all scores.
I have the
summa totalis in my pocket.
But he without more ceremony left
The house at morning twilight.
Ho.
Ha? they knock—
Get thee a cup of Wine to warm thy intralls.
Exit Chamb.
Though
Love himself be but a water-drinker,
His train allow themselves rich Wines. Your Fool
And Madman is your onely guests to Taverns,
And to Excesse; this Licence time affords,
When Masters pay, their servants drink like lords.
Enter Chamberlin.
Ch.
Sir, they call for you,
Cupid's up, and ready.
And looks as fresh, as if he had known no surfeit
Of Virgins tears, for whose fair satisfaction,
He broke his Leaden shafts, and vows hereafter
To shoot all flames of love into their servants.
There are some Musick come, to give his godship
Good morrow, so he means to hear one Song,
And then he takes his Progress.
Ho.
I attend him.
Exit.
Ch.
But I have made my own revenge upon him,
For the hard-hearted baggage that he sent me;
And
Death I have serv'd a trick for all his huffing.
They think not what Artillery they carry
Along with them, I have chang'd their Arrows.
[Page 14]How
Death will fret to see his fury cozen'd?
But how will
Love look pale, when he shall find
What a Mortality his Arrows make
Among the Lovers? let the God look to't,
I have put it past my care, and not expect
To see them agen, or should I meet with
Death,
I shall not fear him now; for
Cupid, if
Lovers must onely by his Arrows fall,
I'm safe, for Ladies I defie you all.
SONG.
STay
Cupid, whither art thou flying?
Pitty the pale Lovers dying.
They that honour'd thee before, Will no more
At thy Altar pay their vowes.
O let the weeping Virgins strow,
In stead of Rose, and Myrtle boughs,
Sad Ew, and funeral Cypress now.
Unkind
Cupid leave thy killing,
These are all thy Mothers Doves,
Oh do not wound such noble Loves,
And make them bleed that should be billing.
The Scene is changed into a pleasant Garden, a Fountain in the midst of it. Walks and Arbours, delightfully exprest, in divers places, Ladies lamenting over their Lovers slain by
Cupid, who is discover'd flying in the Aire.
Enter a Lover playing upon a Lute, Courting his Mistris; they dance.
Enter
Nature in a white Robe, a Chaplet of Flowers, a green Mantle fringed with Gold, her hair loose they start and seem troubled at her Entrance.
Na.
Flie, slie my Children, love that should preserve
And warm your hearts, with kind and active
Is now become your enemy, a murderer.
This Garden that was once your entertainment
[Page 16]VVith all the beauty of the Spring is now
By some strange curse upon the shafts of
Cupid,
Design'd to be a Grave; look every where
The noble Lovers on the ground lie bleeding,
By frantick
Cupid slain; into whose wounds,
Distracted Virgins pour their tears so fast,
That having drein'd their fountains, they present
Their own pale Monuments; while I but relate
This story, see, more added to the dead.
Oh slie and save your selves, I am your Parent
Nature, that thus advise you to your safeties.
Enter
Cupid, he strikes the Lover.
He's come already.
Lover.
Ha? what Winter creeps
Into my heart?
Na.
He faints, 'tis now too late,
Some kinder God call back the winged Boy,
And give him eyes to look upon his murders.
Nature grows stiff with horrour of this spectacle;
If it be Death to love, what will it be
When
Death it self must act his cruelty?
Enter
Death.
And here he comes, what Tragedies are next?
[Page 17]Enter old Men and Women with Crutches.
Na.
Two aged pair, these will be fit for death,
They can expect but a few minutes more
To wear the heavy burden of their lives.
Death strikes them with his Arrow, they admiring one another, let fall their Crutches, and embrace.
Exit
Death.
Na.
Astonishment to
Nature, they throw off
All their infirmities, as young men do
Their aery upper garments. These were the
Effects of
Cupids Shafts; prodigious change!
I have not patience to behold 'em longer.
Exit.
They dance with Antique postures, expressing▪ Rurall Courtship.
SONG.
VVHat will it
Death advance thy name
Upon cold Rocks to waste a flame,
Or by mistake to throw
Bright Torches into pits of Snow?
Thy rage is lost,
And thy old killing Frost▪
[Page 18]With thy Arrows thou maist try
To make the young or aged bleed, But indeed
Not compell one heart to die.
CHORUS.
O
Love! oh
Death! be it your fate
Before you both repent too late to meet and trie
Upon your selves, your sad Artillerie.
So
Death may make
Love kind again,
Or cruell
Death by
Love be slain.
Enter six Gentlemen armed as in the field to fight three against three; To them
Death, He strikes them with his Arrow, and they preparing to charge, meet one another, and embrace.
They dance.
SONG.
CHange, oh change your fatall bows,
Since neither knows
The vertue of each others Darts;
Alas, what will become of hearts
[Page 19]If it prove
A Death to Love,
We shall find
Death will be cruell to be kind:
For when he shall to Armies fly,
Where men think blood too cheap to buy
Themselves a name,
He reconciles them, and deprives
The valiant men of more then lives,
A Victory, and Fame.
Whilst
Love deceiv'd by these cold shafts, in steed,
Of curing wounded hearts, must kill indeed.
CHORUS.
Take pitty Gods, some ease the world will find,
To give young
Cupid eyes, or strike
Death blind.
Death should not then have his own will.
And
Love, by seeing men bleed, leave off to kill.
Enter
Chamberlin leading two Apes.
Ch.
Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes,
All you that delight to be merry come see
My brace of Court Apes, for a need we be three;
I have left my old trade of up and down stairs
And now live by leading my Apes unto Fairs.
Will you have any sport? draw your money, be quick sir,
And then come aloft Jack, they shall shew you a trick sir.
Now▪ am I in my Naturall Condition,
For I was born under a wandring Planet;
I durst no longer stay with my old Master,
To their own Arrows, and so renew with me
Some precious acquaintance.
Enter
Death, He strikes the
Chamberlin.
Ch.
Oh, my heart,
'Twas Death
I fear, I am paid then with a vengeance;
My dear Apes do not leave me, ha? come neer—
What goodly shapes they have, what lovely faces!
Ye Twins of beauty, where were all those graces
Obscur'd so long? what Cloud did interpose
I could not see before this Lip, this Nose?
These eyes? that do invite all hearts to wooe, them,
Brighter then Stars; Ladies are nothing to them,
Oh let me here pay down a Lovers duty;
Who is so mad to dote on Womans beauty?
Nature doth here her own complexion spread,
No borrow'd Ornaments of white and red;
These cheeks were no adulterate mixtures on them,
To make them blush as some do, fie upon them!
Look what fair cheries on their Lips do grow?
Black cherries, such as none of you can shew,
That boast your beauties, let me kiss your a—
[Page 21]Enter a Satyr, that strikes him on the shoulder, and takes away his Apes.
What's that? a shot i'th' shoulder too? ha.
What will become of me now? oh my Apes!
The Darlings of my heart are ravish'd from me.
He beckons, and courts them back with passionate postures.
No? not yet? nor yet hard-hearted Apes?
I must despair for ever to enjoy them.
Despair? that name puts me in mind,
He looks in his pocket, and pulls out the halter.
'Tis here;
VVelcome dear Legacy, I see he was
A Prophet that bestowed it; how it fits me?
As well as if the Hangman had took measure.
'Tis honour in some men to fight and die
In their fair Ladies quarrel, and shall I
Be 'fraid to hang my self in such a cause?
Farewell my pretty Apes, when Hemp is ti'd
Drop tears apace, and I am satisfi'd.
[Page 22]A Dance of the Satyre and Apes.
Upon the sudden a solemn Musick is heapd, and
Mercury seen descending upon a Cloud, at whose approach, the other creep in amazed. In a part of the Scene within a Bower,
Nature discover'd sleeping.
Mer.
Hence ye prophane, and take your dwellings up
Within some Cave, that never saw the Sun,
Whose Beams grow pale, and sick to look upon you;
This place be sacred to more noble Objects,
And see where
Nature tir'd with her Complaints
To Heaven for
Death and
Cupid's Tyranny
Upon a bank of smiling Flowers lies sleeping,
Cares that devour the peace of other bosomes,
Have by an over charge of sorrow wrought
Her heart into a calm, where every sense
Is bound up in a soft repose, and silence;
Be her Dreams all of me. But to my Embassie.
Cupid, wheresoe'r thou be,
The Gods lay their commands on thee,
In pain of being banish'd to
The unfrequented shades below
At my first summons to appear.
Cupid, Cupid.
[Page 23]Enter
Cupid.
Cup.
I am here,
What send the Gods by
Mercury?
Mer.
Thy shame and horrour. I remove
This mist.
He unblinds him.
Now see in every Grove
What slaughter thou hast made, all these
Fond
Cupid were thy Votaries,
Does not their blood make thine look pale?
All slain by thee, 'two▪ not prevail
To urge mistakes, thy fact appears;
Jove, and the Gods have bow'd their ears
To groning
Nature, and sent me
From their high Christall Thrones to see
What blood, like a dire Vapour rise,
Doth spread his wings to blind the eyes
Of Heaven and Day; and to declare
Their Justice and Immortall care
Over the lower world, but stay
Another must his fate obey.
Death heretofore, the look'd-for close
To tedious life, the long repose
To wearied
Nature, and the gate
That leads to Mans eternall fate,
I in the name of every God,
Command thee from thy dark aboad,
As thou wilt fly their wrath, appear
At my first Summon—
[Page 24]Enter
Death.
De.
I am here.
Mer.
Nature awake, and with thy sleep
Shake off the heavy Chains that keep
Thy Soul a Captive.
Nat.
Mercury?
Or am I still in Dreams?
Mer.
Thy Eye
Take truce with tears, see much abus'd
Nature, whom thou hast long accus'd,
Leave thy wonder, and attend
VVhat the Gods by
Hermes send.
But first I charge you to resign
Your fatall Shafts.
Cup.
I, these are mine.
They change.
Mer.
Cupid, the Gods do banish thee
From every palace, thou must be
Confin'd to Cottages, to poor,
And humble Cells,
Love must no more,
Appear in Princes Courts, their heart
Impenetrable by thy Dart,
And from softer influence free
By their own wills must guided be.
Cup.
I shall obey.
Mer.
Death, thou maist still
Exercise thy power to kill,
With this limit, that thy rage
Presume not henceforth to engage
On Persons, in whose brest, divine
Marks of Art, or Honour shine;
[Page 25]Upon these, if thy malice trie,
They may bleed, but never die;
These are not to be overcome,
Above the force of Age or Tomb.
Is Nature pleas'd?
Na.
The Gods are just.
Mer.
To this you both submit?
C. D.
We must.
Mer.
Ye are dismist.
Exeunt.
Nat.
But
Mercury,
What satisfaction shall I have
For noble Children in the Grave
By
Cupid slain?
Mer.
They cannot be
Reduc'd to live again with thee,
And could thy fancy entertain
In what blest seats they now remain,
Thou wouldst not wish them here.
Na.
Might I
With some knowledge bless my eye,
Nature would put on Youth.
Mer.
Then see
Their blest condition.
The Scene is changed into
Elizium, where the grand Masquers, the slain Lovers appear in glorious Seats and Habits.
Na.
Where am I?
The World no such Perfection yields.
Mer.
These are the fair Elizian fields.
SONG.
OPen blest
Elizium Grove,
Where an eternall Spring of
Love
Keeps each beauty fair, these shades
No chill Dew or Frost invades;
Look how the Flowers, and every Tree
Pregnant with
Ambrosia be;
Neer banks of Violet Springs appear,
Weeping out
Nectar every tear;
While the once harmonious Sphears,
(turn'd all to ears)
Now listen to the Birds, whose Quire
Sing every charming Accent higher.
CHORUS.
If this place be not Heaven, one thought can make it,
And Gods by their own wonder led, mistake it.
Na.
[Page 27]
Oh, who shall guide me hence? old
Natures sight
Grows feeble at the brightnesse of this glory.
Mer.
I will be Natures conduct.
Na.
Mercury—be ever honour'd.
Exeunt.
The Grand Dance.
Enter
Mercury.
Mer.
Return, return you happy men
To your own blessed Shades agen,
Lest staying long, some new desire
In your calm bosomes raise a fire;
Here are some Eyes, whose every beam
May your wandring hearts inflame,
And make you forfeit your cool Groves,
By being false to your first Loves.
Like a Perfuming gale o'r Flowers,
Now glide again to your own Bowers.
The Curtain falls.
FINIS.