I find whenever I provoke your tears,
I furnish you with arms against myself.

I thought my hatred fixt before I saw you.
Oh, turn your eyes upon me, while I speak!
And see, if you discover in my looks

An angry judge, or an obdurate foe.

Why will you force me to desert your cause? In your son's name I beg we may be friends; "Let me entreat you to secure his life!

"Must I turn suppliant for him?" Think, oh think, 'Tis the last time, you both may yet be happy! I know the ties I break; the foes I arm: I wrong Hermione; I send her hence; And with her diadem I bind your brows. Consider well; for 'tis of moment to you! Choose to be wretched, madam, or a queen. "My soul, consum'd with a whole year's despair, "Can bear no longer these perplexing doubts; "Enough of sighs, and tears, and threats I've try'd; "I know, if I'm depriv'd of you, I die: "But oh, I die, if I wait longer for you!" I leave you to your thoughts. When I return, We'll to the temple; there you'll find your son; And there be crown'd, or give him up for ever. [Exit Pyrrhus.

Ceph. I told you, madam, that, in spite of Greece, You would o'er-rule the malice of your fortune.

Andr. Alas! Cephisa, what have I obtain❜d ! Only a poor short respite for my son.

Ε

Ceph. You have enough approv'd your faith to

Hector;

To be reluctant still would be a crime.

He would himself persuade you to comply.

Andr. How wouldst thou give me Pyrrhus for a husband?

Ceph. Think you, 'twill please the ghost of your dead husband,

That you should sacrifice his son? Consider,
Pyrrhus once more invites you to a throne;
Turns all his power against the foes of Troy ;
Remembers not Achilles was his father;
Retracts his conquest, and forgets his hatred.

Andr. But how can I forget it! How can I
Forget my Hector treated with dishonour;
Depriv'd of funeral rites; and vilely dragg'd,
A bloody corse, about the walls of Troy?
Can I forget the good old king his father,
Slain in my presence; at the altar slain!
Which vainly, for protection, he embrac❜d ?
Hast thou forgot that dreadful night, Cephisa,
When a whole people fell? Methinks I see
Pyrrhus enrag'd, and breathing vengeance, enter
Amidst the glare of burning palaces:

I see him hew his passage through my brothers;
And, bath'd in blood, lay all my kindred waste.
Think in this scene of horror, what I suffer'd!
This is the courtship I receiv'd from Pyrrhus;
And this the husband thou wouldst give me! No,
We both will perish first! I'll ne'er consent.

Ceph. Since you resolve Astyanax shall die, Haste to the temple, bid your son farewell.

Thou hast awaken'd all the mother in me.

How can I bid farewell to the dear child,
The pledge, the image of my much-lov'd lord!
"Alas, I call to mind the fatal day,

"When his too-forward courage led him forth
"To seek Achilles.

"Ceph. Oh, the unhappy hour!

" 'Twas then Troy fell, and all her gods forsook her. "Andr. That morn, Cephisa, that ill-fated morn, "My husband bid thee bring Astyanax; "He took him in his arms; and, as I wept, "My wife, my dear Andromache, said he, "(Heaving with stifled sighs to see me weep) "What fortune may attend my arms, the gods "Alone can tell. To thee I give the boy; "Preserve him as the token of our loves; "If I should fall, let him not miss his sire "While thou surviv'st; but by thy tender care "Let the son see that thou didst love his father. "Ceph. And will you throw away a life so precious? "At once extirpate all the Trojan line?

“Andr. Inhuman king! What has he done to suffer?

"If I neglect your vows, is he to blame?

"Has he reproach'd you with his slaughter'd kindred? "Can he resent those ills he does not know ?"

But, oh! while I deliberate he dies.

No, no, thou must not die, while I can save thee;
Oh! let me find out Pyrrhus-Oh, Cephisa!
Do thou go find him.

Ceph. What must I say to him?

Andr. Tell him I love my son to such excessBut dost thou think he means the child shall die Can love rejected turn to so much rage?

Ceph. Madam, he'll soon be here Resolve on something.

Andr. Well then, assure him

Ceph. Madam, of your love?

Andr. Alas, thou know'st it is not in my power.

Oh, my dead lord! Oh, Priam's royal house!

Oh, my Astyanax! At what a price

Thy mother buys thee!-Let us go.
Ceph. But whither ?

And what does your unsettled heart resolve?
Andr. Come, my Cephisa, let us go together,
To the sad monument which I have rais'd
To Hector's shade; where in their sacred urn
The ashes of my hero lie inclos'd;

The dear remains, which I have sav'd from Troy;
There let me weep, there summon to my aid,
With pious rites, my Hector's awful shade;
Let him be witness to my doubts, my fears;
My agonizing heart, my flowing tears;
Oh! may he rise in pity from his tomb,
And fix his wretched son's uncertain doom.

ACT IV. Scene 1.

ANDROMACHE, CEPHISA.

Cephisa.

"BLEST be the tomb of Hector, that inspires

"These pious thoughts: or is it Hector's self, "That prompts you to preserve your son! 'Tis he "Who still presides o'er ruin'd Troy; 'tis he "Who urges Pyrrhus to restore Astyanax.

“ Andr. Pyrrhus has said he will; and thou hast heard him

"Just now renew the oft-repeated promise. "Ceph. Already in the transports of his heart, "He gives you up his kingdom, his allies, "And thinks himself o'er-paid for all in you. "Andr. I think I may rely upon his promise: "And yet my heart is over-charg'd with grief. "Ceph. Why should you grieve! You see he bids defiance

"To all the Greeks; and to protect your son "Against their rage, has plac'd his guards about him; "Leaving himself defenceless for his sake: "But, madam, think, the coronation pomp -"Will soon demand your presence in the temple: "'Tis time you lay aside these mourning weeds.

"Andr. I will be there; but first would see my son. "Ceph. Madam, you need not now be anxious for

him,