Page:The Amyntas of Tasso (1770) - Percival Stockdale.djvu/113

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AMYNTAS.
81
THYRSIS.
Amyntas, drop these idle lamentations;
They never gain a step: put on the man.
I bring thee tidings that should comfort thee.

AMYNTAS.
What are the tidings? Speak; I'm on the rack!
Art thou a messenger of life, or death?

THYRSS.
A messenger of life, and happiness;
Provided thou hast firmness to procure them.
In short, to gain the blessings I announce,
Thou must assume a dauntless resolution.
Reflect on providence's ways to man.
The goods best worth our acquisition are
The fruits of courage, toil, and perseverance.
These rugged avenues to life's first treasures,
Enhance our value of the great possessors,
Making their well-earned glory venerable.
If sacrilegiously they could be snatched
With hand profane, and yield to mere volition,
Then would the soul supine, by lavish nature

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