Bravely-and, won, wear it wisely, not as I
Have wasted down my royalty.

Zar.

They ne'er

Shall know from me of aught but what may honour
Their father's memory.

Sar.

Rather let them hear

The truth from you than from a trampling world.
If they be in adversity, they'll learn

Too soon the scorn of crowds for crownless Princes,
And find that all their father's sins are theirs.
My boys! I could have borne it were I childless.
Zar. Oh! do not say so-do not poison all
My peace left, by unwishing that thou wert
A father. If thou conquerest, they shall reign,
And honour him who saved the realm for them,
So little cared for as his own; and if-

Sar. 'Tis lost, all Earth will cry out,

father!"

And they will swell the echo with a curse.

280

"thank your

Zar. That they shall never do; but rather honour The name of him, who, dying like a king,

In his last hours did more for his own memory

Than many monarchs in a length of days,

Which date the flight of time, but make no annals.

Sar. Our annals draw perchance unto their close;

But at the least, whate'er the past, their end
Shall be like their beginning-memorable.

Zar. Yet, be not rash-be careful of your life,
Live but for those who love.

Sar.
And who are they?
A slave, who loves from passion-I'll not say
Ambition-she has seen thrones shake, and loves;

A few friends who have revelled till we are

As one, for they are nothing if I fall;

A brother I have injured-children whom
I have neglected, and a spouse-
Zar.

Who loves.

I have never thought of this,

And cannot pardon till I have condemned.

i. Bravely and won wear wisely-not as I.—MS. M. erased.]

290

300

Sar. My wife!
Zar.

Now blessings on thee for that word! I never thought to hear it more-from thee.

310

Sar. Oh! thou wilt hear it from my subjects. YesThese slaves whom I have nurtured, pampered, fed, And swoln with peace, and gorged with plenty, till They reign themselves-all monarchs in their mansionsNow swarm forth in rebellion, and demand His death, who made their lives a jubilee; While the few upon whom I have no claim Are faithful! This is true, yet monstrous. Zar.

Perhaps too natural; for benefits

Turn poison in bad minds.

Sar.

Good out of evil.

"Tis

And good ones make

320

Happier than the bee,

Then reap

Which hives not but from wholesome flowers.

Zar.

The honey, nor inquire whence 'tis derived.

Be satisfied-you are not all abandoned.

Sar. My life insures me that. How long, bethink you,

Were not I yet a king, should I be mortal;

That is, where mortals are, not where they must be?
Zar. I know not. But yet live for my—that is,
Your children's sake!

Sar.
My gentle, wronged Zarina !
\ I am the very slave of Circumstance

And Impulse-borne away with every breath!
Misplaced upon the throne-misplaced in life.
I know not what I could have been, but feel
I am not what I should be-let it end.
But take this with thee: if I was not formed
To prize a love like thine, a mind like thine,
Nor dote even on thy beauty-as I've doted
On lesser charms, for no cause save that such
Devotion was a duty, and I hated

330

All that looked like a chain for me or others
(This even Rebellion must avouch); yet hear
These words, perhaps among my last-that none
E'er valued more thy virtues, though he knew not
To profit by them-as the miner lights

340

Upon a vein of virgin ore, discovering

That which avails him nothing: he hath found it,
But 'tis not his-but some superior's, who
Placed him to dig, but not divide the wealth
Which sparkles at his feet; nor dare he lift
Nor poise it, but must grovel on, upturning
The sullen earth.

Zar.
Oh! if thou hast at length
Discovered that my love is worth esteem,
I ask no more-but let us hence together,
And I let me say we shall yet be happy.
Assyria is not all the earth-we'll find

A world out of our own-and be more blessed
Than I have ever been, or thou, with all
An empire to indulge thee.

Sal.

Enter SALEMENES.

I must part ye—

350

The moments, which must not be lost, are passing.
Zar. Inhuman brother! wilt thou thus weigh out 360
Instants so high and blest?

Sal.

Zar.

Blest!

So gentle with me, that I cannot think

Of quitting.

Sal.

He hath been

So this feminine farewell

Ends as such partings end, in no departure.
I thought as much, and yielded against all

My better bodings.

But it must not be.

My sister-all 's prepared to make your safety
Certain, and of the boys too, our last hopes;
'Tis not a single question of mere feeling,
Though that were much-but 'tis a point of state:
The rebels would do more to seize upon

370

The offspring of their sovereign, and so crush-
Zar. Ah! do not name it.
Sal.
Well, then, mark me: when
They are safe beyond the Median's grasp, the rebels
Have missed their chief aim-the extinction of
The line of Nimrod. Though the present King
Fall, his sons live-for victory and vengeance.
Zar. But could not I remain, alone?
Sal.

What! leave 380
Your children, with two parents and yet orphans-
In a strange land-so young, so distant?

Zar.

My heart will break.

Sal.

No

Now you know all-decide.

Sar. Zarina, he hath spoken well, and we

Must yield awhile to this necessity.

Remaining here, you may lose all; departing,

You save the better part of what is left,

To both of us, and to such loyal hearts
As yet beat in these kingdoms.

Sal.

The time presses.

Sar. Go, then. If e'er we meet again, perhaps
I may be worthier of you-and, if not,
Remember that my faults, though not atoned for,
Are ended. Yet, I dread thy nature will

Grieve more above the blighted name and ashes
Which once were mightiest in Assyria-than-
But I grow womanish again, and must not;
I must learn sternness now. My sins have all
Been of the softer order- -hide thy tears-
I do not bid thee not to shed them-'twere
Easier to stop Euphrates at its source
Than one tear of a true and tender heart-
But let me not behold them; they unman me

Here when I had remanned myself. My brother,

Lead her away.

Zar.

Oh, God! I never shall

Behold him more!

390

400

Sal. (striving to conduct her). Nay, sister, I must be obeyed,

Zar. I must remain-away! you shall not hold me.

What, shall he die alone ?—I live alone?
Sal. He shall not die alone; but lonely you
Have lived for years.

Zar.

That's false! I knew he lived,

And lived upon his image-let me go!

410

Sal. (conducting her off the stage). Nay, then, I must

use some fraternal force,

Which you will pardon.

Zar.

Sardanapalus, wilt thou thus behold me
Torn from thee?

Never. Help me! Oh!

Faintness of o'erwrought passion: in the air
She will recover. Pray, keep back.—[Aside.]
Avail myself of this sole moment to
Bear her to where her children are embarked,
I' the royal galley on the river.

Sar. (solus).

I must

420

[SALEMENES bears her off. This, too

And this too must I suffer-I, who never
Inflicted purposely on human hearts

A voluntary pang! But that is false

She loved me, and I loved her.-Fatal passion!
Why dost thou not expire at once in hearts
Which thou hast lighted up at once? Zarina ! i.
I must pay dearly for the desolation

Now brought upon thee. Had I never loved
But thee, I should have been an unopposed
Monarch of honouring nations. To what gulfs
A single deviation from the track

Of human duties leads even those who claim
The homage of mankind as their born due,
And find it, till they forfeit it themselves!

i. Which thou hast lighted up at once? but leavest

430

One to grieve o'er the other's change-Zarina.—[MS. M. erased.]