If Proserpine while she has lived in hell Has not polluted by Tartarian food Her heavenly essence, then she may return, And wander without fear on Enna's plain, Or take her seat among the Gods above. If she has touched the fruits of Erebus, She never may return to upper air, But doomed to dwell amidst the shades of death, The wife of Pluto and the Queen of Hell.

Cer. Joy treads upon the sluggish heels of care! The child of heaven disdains Tartarian food. Pluto[,] give up thy prey! restore my child!

Iris. Soon she will see again the sun of Heaven, By gloomy shapes, inhabitants of Hell, Attended, and again behold the field Of Enna, the fair flowers & the streams, Her late delight,--& more than all, her Mother.

Ino. Our much-loved, long-lost Mistress, do you come? And shall once more your nymphs attend your steps? [22] Will you again irradiate this isle-- That drooped when you were lost? [Footnote: MS. _this isle?--That drooped when you were lost_] & once again Trinacria smile beneath your Mother's eye?

(_Ceres and her companions are ranged on one side in eager expectation; from, the cave on the other, enter Proserpine, attended by various dark & gloomy shapes bearing torches; among which Ascalaphus. Ceres & Proserpine embrace;--her nymphs surround her._)

Cer. Welcome, dear Proserpine! Welcome to light, To this green earth and to your Mother's arms. You are too beautiful for Pluto's Queen; In the dark Stygian air your blooming cheeks Have lost their roseate tint, and your bright form Has faded in that night unfit for thee.

Pros. Then I again behold thee, Mother dear:-- Again I tread the flowery plain of Enna, And clasp thee, Arethuse, & you, my nymphs; I have escaped from hateful Tartarus, The abode of furies and all loathed shapes That thronged around me, making hell more black. Oh! I could worship thee, light giving Sun, Who spreadest warmth and radiance o'er the world. Look at [Footnote: MS. Look at--the branches.] the branches of those chesnut trees, That wave to the soft breezes, while their stems Are tinged with red by the sun's slanting rays. [23] And the soft clouds that float 'twixt earth and sky. How sweet are all these sights! There all is night! No God like that (pointing to the sun) smiles on the Elysian plains, The air [is] windless, and all shapes are still.

Iris. And must I interpose in this deep joy, And sternly cloud your hopes? Oh! answer me, Art thou still, Proserpine, a child of light? Or hast thou dimmed thy attributes of Heaven By such Tartarian food as must for ever Condemn thee to be Queen of Hell & Night?

Pros. No, Iris, no,--I still am pure as thee: Offspring of light and air, I have no stain Of Hell. I am for ever thine, oh, Mother!

Cer. (to the shades from Hell) Begone, foul visitants to upper air! Back to your dens! nor stain the sunny earth By shadows thrown from forms so foul--Crouch in! Proserpine, child of light, is not your Queen!

(to the nymphs)

Quick bring my car,--we will ascend to heaven, Deserting Earth, till by decree of Jove, Eternal laws shall bind the King of Hell To leave in peace the offspring of the sky.

Ascal. Stay, Ceres! By the dread decree of Jove Your child is doomed to be eternal Queen [24] Of Tartarus,--nor may she dare ascend The sunbright regions of Olympian Jove, Or tread the green Earth 'mid attendant nymphs. Proserpine, call to mind your walk last eve, When as you wandered in Elysian groves, Through bowers for ever green, and mossy walks, Where flowers never die, nor wind disturbs The sacred calm, whose silence soothes the dead, Nor interposing clouds, with dun wings, dim Its mild and silver light, you plucked its fruit, You ate of a pomegranate's seeds--

Cer. Be silent, Prophet of evil, hateful to the Gods! Sweet Proserpine, my child, look upon me. You shrink; your trembling form & pallid cheeks Would make his words seem true which are most false[.] Thou didst not taste the food of Erebus;-- Offspring of Gods art thou,--nor Hell, nor Jove Shall tear thee from thy Mother's clasping arms.

Pros. If fate decrees, can we resist? farewel! Oh! Mother, dearer to your child than light, Than all the forms of this sweet earth & sky, [25] Though dear are these, and dear are my poor nymphs, Whom I must leave;--oh! can immortals weep? And can a Goddess die as mortals do, Or live & reign where it is death to be? Ino, dear Arethuse, again you lose Your hapless Proserpine, lost to herself When she quits you for gloomy Tartarus.

Cer. Is there no help, great Jove? If she depart I will descend with her--the Earth shall lose Its proud fertility, and Erebus Shall bear my gifts throughout th' unchanging year. Valued till now by thee, tyrant of Gods! My harvests ripening by Tartarian fires Shall feed the dead with Heaven's ambrosial food. Wilt thou not then repent, brother unkind, Viewing the barren earth with vain regret, Thou didst not shew more mercy to my child?

Ino. We will all leave the light and go with thee, In Hell thou shalt be girt by Heaven-born nymphs, Elysium shall be Enna,--thou'lt not mourn Thy natal plain, which will have lost its worth Having lost thee, its nursling and its Queen.

Areth. I will sink down with thee;--my lily crown Shall bloom in Erebus, portentous loss [26] To Earth, which by degrees will fade & fall In envy of our happier lot in Hell;-- And the bright sun and the fresh winds of heaven Shall light its depths and fan its stagnant air.

(_They cling round Proserpine; the Shades of Hell seperate and stand between them._)

Ascal.