550 But what wouldst have? the Empire has been founded. Myr. Preserve thine own. Myr. Victims. No, like sovereigns, 560 The Shepherd Kings of patriarchal times, Enter PANIA. Pan. May the King live for ever! Sar. Pan. I am charged by Salemenes to Sar. What am I then cooped? Already captive? can I not even breathe i. Who loved no gems so well as those of nature. -[MS. M.] 570 Oh, Monarch, listen. Myr. Till all, save evil, slumbered through the realm! A day which may redeem thee? Wilt thou not 'Tis true! Pan. Sar. Myr. For the sake of thy realm! Sar. Pan. 580 590 No, it must not be. Away! For that Of all thy faithful subjects, who will rally Sar. There is no peril :-'tis a sullen scheme These are mere fantasies: Of Salemenes, to approve his zeal, And show himself more necessary to us. 600 Myr. By all that's good and glorious take this counsel. Sar. Business to-morrow. Myr. Aye-or death to-night. Sar. Why let it come then unexpectedly, 'Midst joy and gentleness, and mirth and love; So let me fall like the plucked rose !-far better Thus than be withered. Myr. Then thou wilt not yield, Even for the sake of all that ever stirred A monarch into action, to forego A trifling revel. Sar. Myr. No. Then yield for mine; Myr. 'Tis the first 610 Boon which I ever asked Assyria's king. Sar. That's true, and, wer't my kingdom, must be granted. Well, for thy sake, I yield me. Thou hear'st me. Pan. And obey. Pania, hence! [Exit PANIA. I marvel at thee. What is thy motive, Myrrha, thus to urge me? Myr. Thy safety; and the certainty that nought Could urge the Prince thy kinsman to require Thus much from thee, but some impending danger. Sar. And if I do not dread it, why shouldst thou? Myr. Because thou dost not fear, I fear for thee. 620 Sar. To-morrow thou wilt smile at these vain fancies. Myr. If the worst come, I shall be where none weep, And that is better than the power to smile. And thou? Sar. I shall be King, as heretofore. Myr. Where? Sar. With Baal, Nimrod, and Semiramis, Sole in Assyria, or with them elsewhere. Fate made me what I am-may make me nothing But either that or nothing must I be: I will not live degraded. Myr. Hadst thou felt Thus always, none would ever dare degrade thee. 630 Sar. And who will do so now? Myr. And vainer fears. Within there !-ye slaves, deck If I must make a prison of our palace, At least we'll wear our fetters jocundly; If the Euphrates be forbid us, and The summer-dwelling on its beauteous border, 640 [Exit SARDANAPALUS. Myr. (solus). Why do I love this man? My country's daughters Love none but heroes. But I have no country! The slave hath lost all save her bonds. I love him; To love whom we esteem not. Be it so : The hour is coming when he'll need all love, 650 And find none. To fall from him now were baser The natural foes of all the blood of Greece. Which even the Phrygians felt when battling long "Twixt Ilion and the sea, within his heart, He would tread down the barbarous crowds, and triumph. He loves me, and I love him; the slave loves Her master, and would free him from his vices. And if I cannot teach him how to reign, May show him how alone a King can leave 661 His throne. I must not lose him from my sight. [Exit. ACT II. SCENE I.-The Portal of the same Hall of the Palace. Beleses (solus). The Sun goes down: methinks he sets more slowly, Taking his last look of Assyria's Empire. How red he glares amongst those deepening clouds, Thou Sun that sinkest, and ye stars which rise, I have outwatched ye, reading ray by ray The edicts of your orbs, which make Time tremblei An earthquake should announce so great a fall— To the star-read Chaldean, bears upon Him who bestows it, wherefore dost thou limit Unfold the rise of days more worthy thine As of wrath to its days? Hear me ! oh, hear me ! I am thy worshipper, thy priest, thy servant I have gazed on thee at thy rise and fall, Its hues of dying glory. Yet what is Death, so it be but glorious? 'Tis a sunset; The Gods but in decay. Arb. Enter ARBACES by an inner door. Beleses, why So wrapt in thy devotions? Dost thou stand i. Each twinkle unto which Time trembles, and 10 20 30 |