ACT TWO
No. 27 - Symphony
Scene 1
(A pleasant country, the prospect terminated by a beautiful mountain adorn'd with woods and waterfalls. Juno and Iris descend in different machines. Juno in a chariot drawn by peacocks; Iris on a rainbow; they alight and meet)
No. 28 - Recitative
JUNO
Iris, impatient of thy stay,
From Samos have I wing'd my way
To meet thy slow return.
IRIS
With all his speed not yet the sun
Through half his race has run,
Since I, to execute thy dread command,
Have thrice encompass'd sea and land.
JUNO
Say, where is Semele's abode?
IRIS
Look, where Cithaeron proudly stands,
Bœotia parting from Cecropian lands.
High on the summit of that hill,
Beyond the reach of mortal eyes,
By Jove's command and Vulcan's skill,
Behold a new-erected palace rise!
No. 29 - Air
There, from mortal cares retiring,
She resides in sweet retreat.
On her pleasure, Jove requiring,
All the Loves and Graces wait.
There...
No. 30 - Recitative
JUNO
No more, I'll hear no more!
No. 31 - Accompagnato
Awake, Saturnia, from thy lethargy!
Seize, destroy the cursed Semele!
Scale proud Cithaeron's top,
Snatch her, tear her in thy fury,
And down to the flood of Acheron
Let her fall, let her fall, fall, fall,
Rolling down the depths of night,
Never more to behold the light.
If I th'imperial scepter sway, I swear
By hell!
(Herself)
Tremble, thou universe, this oath to hear!
(To Iris)
Not one of curst Agenor's race to spare.
No. 32 - Recitative
IRIS
Hear, mighty queen, while I recount
What obstacles you must surmount.
No. 33 - Accompagnato
With adamant the gates are barr'd,
Whose entrance two fierce dragons guard.
At each approach they lash their forky stings
And clap their brazen wings;
And as their scaly horrors rise,
They all at once disclose
A thousand fiery eyes
Which never know repose.
No. 34 - Air
JUNO
Hence, Iris, hence away,
Far from the realms of day!
O'er Scythian hills to the Maeotian lake
A speedy flight we'll take!
There Somnus I'll compel
His downy bed to leave, and silent cell;
With noise and light I will his peace molest,
Nor shall he sink again to pleasing rest,
Till to my vow'd revenge he grants supplies,
And seals with sleep the wakeful dragons' eyes.
Hence...
(Exeunt)
Scene 2
(An apartment in the palace of Semele. She is sleeping, Loves and Zephyrs waiting)
Air
(probably cut before the first performance)
CUPID
Come, Zephyrs, come, while Cupid sings,
Fan her with your silky wings!
New desire I'll inspire,
And revive the dying flames.
Dance around her
While I wound her,
And with pleasure
Fill her dreams.
Come, Zephyrs, come …
(Semele awakes and rises)
No. 35 - Air
SEMELE
O sleep, why dost thou leave me,
Why thy visionary joys remove?
O sleep, again deceive me,
To my arms restore my wand'ring love!
Scene 3
(To them enter Jupiter)
No. 36 - Recitative
SEMELE
Let me not another moment
Bear the pangs of absence;
Since you have form'd my soul for loving,
No more afflict me
With doubts and fears and cruel jealousy!
No. 37 - Air
JUPITER
Lay your doubts and fears aside,
And for joys alone provide.
Though this human form I wear,
Think not I man's falsehood bear.
Lay your doubts …
No. 38 - Recitative
You are mortal and require
Time to rest and to repose.
I was not absent,
While Love was with thee
I was present:
Love and I are one.
No. 39 - Air
SEMELE
With fond desiring,
With bliss expiring,
Panting,
Fainting,
If this be Love, not you alone,
But Love and I are one.
Causeless doubting,
Or despairing,
Rashly trusting,
Idly fearing,
If this be Love, not you alone,
But Love and I are one
With fond …
No. 40 - Chorus
LOVES AND ZEPHYRS
How engaging, how endearing,
Is a lover's pain and care!
And what joy the nymph's appearing
After absence or despair!
How engaging …
No. 41 - Recitative
SEMELE
Ah me!
JUPITER
Why sighs my Semele?
What gentle sorrow
Swells thy soft bosom?
Why tremble those fair eyes
With interrupted light,
Where hov'ring for a vent,
Amidst their humid fires,
Some new-form'd wish appears?
Speak, and obtain!
SEMELE
At my own happiness
I sigh and tremble,
For I am mortal,
Still a woman;
And ever when you leave me,
Though compass'd round with deities
Of Loves and Graces,
A fear invades me,
And conscious of a nature
Far inferior,
I seek for solitude
And shun society.
JUPITER
(apart)
Too well I read her meaning,
But must not understand her:
Aiming at immortality
With dangerous ambition.
No. 42 - Air
I must with speed amuse her
Lest she too much explain.
It gives the lover double pain
Who hears his nymph complain,
And hearing, must refuse her.
I must...
No. 43 - Chorus
LOVES AND ZEPHYRS
Now Love that everlasting boy invites
To revel while you may in soft delights.
No. 44 - Recitative
JUPITER
By my command
Now at this instant
Two winged Zephyrs
From her downy bed
Thy much lov'd Ino bear,
And both together
Waft her hither,
Through the balmy air.
SEMELE
Shall I my sister see,
The dear companion
Of my tender years?
JUPITER
See, she appears,
But sees not me;
For I am visible
Alone to thee.
While I retire, rise and meet her,
And with welcomes greet her.
Now all this scene shall to Arcadia turn,
The seat of happy nymphs and swains;
There without the rage of jealousy they burn,
And taste the sweets of love without its pains.
No. 45 - Air
JUPITER
Where'er you walk, cool gales shall fan the glade;
Trees, where you sit, shall crowd into a shade.
Where'er you tread, the blushing flow'rs shall rise,
And all things flourish where'er you turn your eyes.
Where'er...
(Exit)
Scene 4
(Semele and Ino meet and embrace. Chorus of Nymphs and Swains)
No. 46 - Recitative
SEMELE
Dear sister, how was your passage hither?
INO
O'er many states and peopled towns we pass'd,
O'er hills and valleys, and o'er deserts waste;
O'er barren moors, and o'er unwholesome fens,
And woods where beasts inhabit dreadful dens.
Through all which pathless way our speed was such,
We stopp'd not once the face of earth to touch.
Meantime they told me, while through air we fled,
That Jove did thus ordain.
No. 47 - Air
But hark, the heav'nly sphere turns round,
And silence now is drown'd
In ecstasy of sound.
How on a sudden the still air is charm'd
As if all harmony were just alarm'd!
And ev'ry soul with transport fill'd,
Alternately is thaw'd and chill'd.
No. 48 - Duet
SEMELE, INO
Prepare then, ye immortal choir,
Each sacred minstrel tune his lyre,
And all in chorus join!
No. 49 - Chorus
NYMPHS AND SWAINS
Bless the glad earth with heav'nly lays,
And to that pitch th'eternal accents raise,
That all appear divine!
