ABSTRACT
The play was composed in spring 1674, probably to provide an opera to compete with the operatic Tempest and other spectacular productions at the Duke's Theatre. It was not performed, probably because of the expense of the staging. Though it was not published in 1674 by being performed, and was not printed until 1677, it appears at this point in the chronological sequence because MS copies circulated, 'many hundred' according to D. in his Preface to 1677. A vision, where a tree rises loaden with fruit; four spirits rise with it, and draw a canopy out of the tree; other spirits dance about the tree in deformed shapes; after the dance an angel enters with a woman habited like Eve. The loaded branches downward bend, willing they stoop, and thy fair hand attend; Fair mother of mankind, make haste and bless, and bless thy senses with the taste.
