TREASURE ROOM DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY DURHAM, N. C. GIFT OF FRIENDS OF DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY BY E.tAn.k......C.. t ..JltQ..w.n DATE M**ch U,rf3L Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from Duke University Libraries http://archive.org/details/sardanapalustrag02byro SARDANAPALUS, A TRAGEDY. THE TWO FOSCARI, A TRAGEDY. CAIN, A MYSTERY. BY LORD BYRON. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE-STREET. 1821. Ml CONTENTS Page SARDANAPALUS, A Tragedy. . 1 Notes. . . ... 171 THE TWO FOSCARI, A Tragedy. 175 Appendix. .. . . • 305 CAIN, A Mystery. 331 285506 PREFACE. In publishing the following Tragedies I have only to repeat that they were not composed with the most remote view to the stage. On the attempt made by the Managers in a former instance, the public opinion has been already expressed. With regard to my own private feelings, as it seems that they are to stand for nothing, I shall say nothing. For the historical foundation of the following compositions, the reader is referred to the Notes. The Author has in one instance attempted to preserve, and in the other to approach the " unities ;" conceiving that with any very distant departure from them, there may be poetry, but can be no drama. He is aware of the unpopu- 285506 viii PREFACE. larity of this notion in present English literature ; but it is not a system of his own, being merely an opinion, which, not very long ago, was the law of literature throughout the world, and is still so in the more civilized parts of it. But " Nous avons change tout cela," and are reap- ing the advantages of the change. The writer is far from conceiving that any thing he can ad- duce by personal precept or example can at all approach his regular, or even irregular prede- cessors : he is merely giving a reason why he preferred the more regular formation of a struc- ture, however feeble, to an entire abandonment of all rules whatsoever. Where he has failed, the failure is in the architect, — and not in the art. SARDANAPALUS, A TRAGEDY. In this tragedy it has been my intention to follow the account of Diodorus Siculus, reducing it, however, to such dramatic regularity as I best could, and trying to approach the unities. I therefore suppose the rebellion to explode and succeed in one day by a sudden conspiracy, instead of the long war of the history. DRAMATIS PERSONS. MEN. Sardanapalus, King of Nineveh and Assyria, $c. Arbaces, the Mede who aspired to the Throne. Beleses, a Chaldean and Soothsayer. Salemenes, the King's Brother-in-law. Altada, an Assyrian Officer of the Palace. « Pania. Zames. Sfero. Bale a. WOMEN. Zarina, the Queen. Myrrha, an Ionian female Slave, and the Favourite of Sardanapalus. Women composing the Harem of Sardanapalus, Guards, Attendants, Chaldean Priests, Medes, fyc. fyc. Scene — a Hall in the Royal Palace of Nineveh. B 2 SARDANAPALUS. ACT I. SCENE I. A Hall in the Palace. SALEMENES (solus). He hath wrong'd his queen, but still he is her lord ; He hath wrong'd my sister, still he is my brother ; He hath wrong'd his people, still he is their sovereign, And I must be his friend as well as subject : He must not perish thus. I will not see The blood of Nimrod and Semiramis Sink in the earth, and thirteen hundred years Of empire ending like a shepherd's tale ; He must be roused. In his effeminate heart There is a careless courage which corruption Has not all quench'd, and latent energies, Repress'd by circumstance, but not destroy'd — Steep'd, but not drownM, in deep voluptuousness. If born a peasant, he had been a man To have reach'd an empire ; to an empire born, 6 SAItDANAPALUS, ACT i. He will bequeath none ; nothing but a name, Which his sons will not prize in heritage : — Yet, not all lost, even yet he may redeem His sloth and shame, by only being that Which he should be, as easily as the thing He should not be and is. Were it less toil To sway his nations than consume his life ? To head an army than to rule a harem ? He sweats in palling pleasures, dulls his soul, And saps his goodly strength, in toils which yield not Health like the chase, nor glory like the war — He must be roused. Alas ! there is no sound [Sound of soft music heard from within. To rouse him short of thunder. Hark ! the lute, The lyre, the timbrel ; the lascivious tinklings Of lulling instruments, the softening voices Of women, and of beings less than women, Must chime in to the echo of his revel, While the great king of all we know of earth Lolls crown'd with roses, and his diadem Lies negligently by to be caught up By the first manly hand which dares to snatch it. Lo, where they come ! already I perceive The reeking odours of the perfumed trains, And see the bright gems of the glittering girls, At once his chorus and his council, flash Along the gallery, and amidst the damsels, As femininely garfrd, and scarce less female, The grandson of Semiramis, the man-queen. — SC. II. A TRAGEDY. He comes ! Shall I await him ? yes, and front him, And tell him what all good men tell each other, Speaking of him and his. They come, the slaves, Led by the monarch subject to his slaves. SCENE II. Enter Sardanapalus effeminately dressed, his Head crowned with Flowers, and his Robe negligently flowing, attended by a Train of Women and young Slaves. sardanapalus (speaking to some of his attendants). Let the pavilion over the Euphrates Be garlanded, and lit, and furnish'd forth' For an especial banquet ; at the hour Of midnight we will sup there : see nought wanting, And bid the galley be prepared. There is A cooling breeze which crisps the broad clear river : We will embark anon. Fair nymphs, who deign To share the soft hours of Sardanapalus, Well meet againln that the sweetest hour, When we shall gather like the stars above us, And you will form a heaven as bright as theirs ; Till then, let each be mistress of her time, And thou, my own Ionian MyrrhaCO, choose, Wilt thou along with them or me ? 8 SARDANAPALUS, ACT I. MYRRHA. My lord SARDANAPALUS. My lord, my life ! why answerest thou so coldly ? It is the curse of kings to be so answer'd. Rule thy own hours, thou rulest mine — say, wouldst thou Accompany our guests, or charm away The moments from me ? MYRRHA. The king^ choice is mine. SARDANAPALUS. I pray thee say not so : my chief est joy Is to contribute to thine every wish. I do not dare to breathe my own desire, Lest it should clash with thine ; for thou art still Too prompt to sacrifice thy thoughts for others. MYRRHA. I would remain : I have no happiness Save in beholding thine ; yet— i — SARDANAPALUS. Yet! what yet? Thy own sweet will shall be the only barrier Which ever rises betwixt thee and me. MYRRHA. I think the present is the wonted hour Of council ; it were better I retire. salemenes {comes forward and says) The Ionian slave says well, let her retire. SARDANAPALUS. Who answers ? How now, brother ? SC. II. A TRAGEDY. 9 SALEMENES. The queens brother, And your most faithful vassal, royal lord. sardanapalus {addressing Ms train). As I have said, let all dispose their hours Till midnight, when again we pray your presence. \_The court retiring. (To Myrrh a, who is going). Myrrha! I thought thou wouldst remain. MFRRHA. Great king, Thou didst not say so. SARDANAPALUS. But thou lookedst it ; I know each glance of those Ionic eyes, Which said thou wouldst not leave me. MYRRHA. Sire ! your brother SALEMENES. His consort's brother, minion of Ionia ! How darest thou name me and not blush ? SARDANAPALUS. Not blush! Thou hast no more eyes than heart to make her crimson Like to the dying day on Caucasus, Where sunset tints the snow with rosy shadows, And then reproach her with thine own cold blind- ness, Which will not see it. What, in tears, my Myrrha ? 10 SARDANAPALUS, ACT I. SALEMENES. Let them flow on ; 3he weeps for more than one, And is herself the cause of bitterer tears. SARDANAPALUS. Cursed be he who caused those tears to flow! SALEMENES. Curse not thyself — millions do that already. SARDANAPALUS. Thou dost forget thee : make me not remember I am a monarch. SALEMENES. Would thou couldst ! MYRRHA. My sovereign, I pray, and thou too, prince, permit my absence. SARDANAPALUS. Since it must be so, and this churl has check'd Thy gentle spirit, go ; but recollect That we must forthwith meet : I had rather lose An empire than thy presence. [Exit Myrrha. SALEMENES. It may be, Thou wilt lose both, and both for ever ! SARDANAPALUS. Brother, I can at least command myself, who listen To language such as this ; yet urge me not Beyond my easy nature. SC. ii. A TRAGEDY. 11 SALEMENES. 'Tis beyond That easy, far too easy, idle nature, Which I would urge thee. Oh that I could rouse thee ! Though 'twere against myself. SARDANAPALUS. By the god Baal ! The man would make me tyrant. SALEMENES. So thou art. Think' st thou there is no tyranny but that Of blood and chains? The despotism of vice — The weakness and the wickedness of luxury — The negligence — the apathy — the evils Of sensual sloth — produce ten thousand tyrants, Whose delegated cruelty surpasses The worst acts of one energetic master, However harsh and hard in his own bearing. The false and fond examples of thy lusts Corrupt no less than they oppress, and sap In the same moment all thy pageant power And those who should sustain it ; so that whether A foreign foe invade, or civil broil Distract within, bath will alike prove fatal : The first thy subjects have no heart to conquer; The last they rather would assist than vanquish. SARDANAPALUS. Why what makes thee the mouth-piece of the people ? SALEMENES. Forgiveness of the queen, my sister's wrongs ; 12 SARDANAPALUS, ACT I A natural love unto my infant nephews ; Faith to the king, a faith he may need shortly, In more than words ; respect for Nimrod's line '; Also, another thing thou knowest not. SARDANAPALUS. What's that? SALEMENES. To thee an unknown word. SARDANAPALUS. Yet speak it ; I love to learn. SALEMENES. Virtue. SARDANAPALUS. Not know the word ! Never was word yet rung so in my ears — Worse than the rabble's shout, or splitting trumpet ; I've heard thy sister talk of nothing else. SALEMENES. To change the irksome theme, then, hear of vice. SARDANAPALUS. From whom ? SALEMENES. Even from the winds, if thou couldst listen Unto the echoes of the nation's voice. SARDANAPALUS. Come, I'm indulgent, as thou knowest, patient As thou hast often proved — speak out, what moves thee ? SALEMENES. Thy peril. SC. II. A TRAGEDY. - 13 SARDANAPALUS. Say on. . SALEMENES. Thus, then : all the nations, For they are many, whom thy father left In heritage, are loud in wrath against thee. SARDANAPALUS. 'Gainst me ! What would the slaves ? SALEMENES. SARDANAPALUS. A king. And what Am I then ? SALEMENES. In their eyes a nothing ; but In mine a man who might be something stilL SARDANAPALUS. The railing drunkards ! why, what would they have ? Have they not peace and plenty? SALEMENES. Of the first, More than is glorious ; of the last, far less Than the king recks of. SARDANAPALUS. Whose then is the crime, ' But the false satraps, who provide no better ? SALEMENES. And somewhat in the monarch who ne'er looks Beyond his palace walls, or if he stirs Beyond them, 'tis but to some mountain palace, 14 SARDANAPALUS, ACT I. Till summer heats wear down. O glorious Baal ! Who built up this vast empire, and wert made A god, or at the least shinest like a god Through the long centuries of thy renown, This, thy presumed descendant, ne'er beheld As king the kingdoms thou didst leave as hero, Won with thy blood, and toil, and time, and peril ! For what ? to furnish imposts for a revel, Or multiplied extortions for a minion. SARDANAPALUS. I understand thee — thou would st have me go Forth as a conqueror. By all the stars Which the Chaldeans read ! the restless slaves Deserve that I should curse them with their wishes, And lead them forth to glory. SALEMENES. Wherefore not ? Semiramis — a woman only — led These our Assyrians to the solar shores Of Ganges. SARDANAPALUS. "Tis most true. And how return'd ? SALEMENES. Why, like a man — a hero; baffled, but Not vanquish"^. With but twenty guards, she made Good her retreat to Bactria. SARDANAPALUS. And how many Left she behind in India to the vultures? SC. H. A TRAGEDY. - 15 SALEMENES. Our annals say not. SARDANAPALUS. Then I will say for them — That she had better woven within her palace Some twenty garments, than with twenty guards Have fled to Bactria, leaving to the ravens, And wolves, and men — the fiercer of the three, Her myriads of fond subjects. Is this glory? Then let me live in ignominy ever. SALEMENES. All warlike spirits have not the same fate. Semiramis, the glorious parent of A hundred kings, although she fail'd in India, Brought Persia, Media, Bactria, to the realm Which she once sway'tt — and thou mighfst sway. SARDANAPALUS. I sway them — - She but subdued them. SALEMENES. It may be ere long That, they will need her sword more than your sceptre. SARDANAPALUS. There was a certain Bacchus, was there not ? Fve heard my Greek girls speak of such — they say He was a god, that is, a Grecian god, An idol foreign to Assyria's worship, Who conquerd this same golden realm of Ind Thou pratst of, where Semiramis was vanquished. 16 SARDANAPALUS, ACT I. SALEMENES. I have heard of such a man ; and thou perceiv'st That he is deem'd a god for what he did. SARDANAPALUS. And in his godship I will honour him — Not much as man. What, ho ! my cupbearer ! SALEMENES. What means the king ? SARDANAPALUS. To worship your new god And ancient conqueror. Some wine, I say. Enter Cupbearer. sardanapalus {addressing the Cupbearer). Bring me the golden goblet thick with gems, Which bears the name of Nimrod's chalice. Hence, Fill full, and bear it quickly. {Exit Cupbearer. SALEMENES. Is this moment A fitting one for the resumption of Thy yet unslept-off revels ? , Re-enter Cupbearer, with wine. sardanapalus (taking the cup from him). Noble kinsman, If these barbarian Greeks of the far shores And skirts of these our realms lie not, this Bacchus Conquer'd the whole of India, did he not ? SC. II. A TRAGEDY. - 17 SALEMENES. He did, and thence was deem'd a deity. SARDANAPALUS. Not so : — of all his conquests a few columns, Which may be his, and might be mine, if I Thought them worth purchase and conveyance, are The landmarks of the seas of gore he shed, The realms he wasted, and the hearts he broke. But here, here in this goblet is his title To immortality — the immortal grape From which he first express'd the soul, and gave To gladden that of man, as some atonement For the victorious mischiefs he had done. Had it not been for this, he would have been A mortal still in name as in his grave ; And, like my ancestor Semiramis, A sort of semi-glorious human monster. Here's that which deified him — let it now Humanize thee ; my surly, chiding brother, Pledge me to the Greek god ! SALEMENES. For all thy realms I would not so blaspheme our country's creed. SARDANAPALUS. That is to say, thou thinkest him a hero, That he shed blood by oceans ; and no god, Because he turn'd a fruit to an enchantment, Which cheers the sad, revives the old, inspires The young, makes Weariness forget his toil, And Fear her danger ; opens a new world c 18 SARDANAPALUS, ACT I. When this, the present, palls. Well, then, / pledge thee And him as a true man, who did his utmost In good or evil to surprise mankind. [Drinks. SALEMENES. Wilt thou resume a revel at this hour ? SARDANAPALUS. And if I did, 'twere better than a trophy, Being bought without a tear. But that is not My present purpose : since thou wilt not pledge me, Continue what thou pleasest. (To the Cupbearer) Boy, retire. [Exit Cupbearer. SALEMENES. I would but have recall'd thee from thy dream : Better by me awaken'd than rebellion. SARDANAPALUS. Who should rebel ? or why ? what cause ? pretext ? I am the lawful king, descended from A race of kings who knew no predecessors. What have I done to thee, or to the people, That thou shouldst rail, or they rise up against me ? SALEMENES. Of what thou hast done to me, I speak not. SARDANAPALUS. But Thou think'st that I have wrong'd the queen : is't not so ? SALEMENES. Think! Thou hast wrong^ her ! SARDANAPALUS. Patience, prince, and hear me. SC. II. A TRAGEDY. 19 She has all power and splendour of her station, Respect, the tutelage of Assyria's heirs, The homage and the appanage of sovereignty. I married her as monarchs wed — for state, And loved her as most husbands love their wives. If she or thou supposedst I could link me Like a Chaldean peasant to his mate, Ye knew nor me, nor monarchs, nor mankind. SALEMENES. I pray thee, change the theme ; my blood disdains Complaint, and Salemenes 1 sister seeks not Reluctant love even from Assyria's lord ! Nor would she deign to accept divided passion With foreign strumpets and Ionian slaves. The queen is silent. SARDANAPALUS. And why not her brother? SALEMENES. I only echo thee the voice of empires, Which he who long neglects not long will govern. SARDANAPALUS. The ungrateful and ungracious slaves ! they murmur Because I have not shed their blood, nor led them To dry into the desert's dust by myriads, Or whiten with their bones the banks of Ganges; Nor decimated them with savage laws, Nor sweated them to build up pyramids, Or Babylonian walls. SALEMENES. Yet these are trophies c2 20 SARDANAPALUS, ACT I. More worthy of a people and their prince Than songs, and lutes, and feasts, and concubines And lavish'd treasures, and contemned virtues. SARDANAPALUS. Or for my trophies I have founded cities : There's Tarsus and Anchialus, both built In one day — what could that blood-loving beldame, My martial grandam, chaste Semiramis, Do more, except destroy them ? SALEMENES. 'Tis most true ; I own thy merit in those founded cities, Built for a whim, recorded with a verse Which shames both them and thee to coming ages. SARDANAPALUS. Shame me ! By Baal, the cities, though well built, Are not more goodly than the verse ! Say what Thou wilt 'gainst me, my mode of life or rule, But nothing 'gainst the truth of that brief record. Why, those few lines contain the history Of all things human; hear — " Sardanapalus " The king, and son of Anacyndaraxes, " In one day built Anchialus and Tarsus. " Eat, drink, and love; the rest's not worth a fillip." (2 > SALEMENES. A worthy moral, and a wise inscription, For a king to put up before his subjects ! SARDANAPALUS. Oh, thou wouldst have me doubtless set up edicts — " Obey the king — contribute to his treasure — SC. II. A TRAGEDY. 21 " Recruit his phalanx — spill your blood at bidding — " Fall down and worship, or get up and toil. 1 ' Or thus — " Sardanapalus on this spot " Slew fifty thousand of his enemies. " These are their sepulchres, and this his trophy. 11 I leave such things to conquerors; enough For me, if I can make my subjects feel The weight of human misery less, and glide Ungroaning to the tomb ; I take no licence Which I deny to them. We all are men. SALEMENES. Thy sires have been revered as gods SARDANAPALUS. In dust And death, where they are neither gods nor men. Talk not of such to me! the worms are gods ; At least they banqueted upon your gods, And died for lack of farther nutriment. Those gods were merely men ; look to their issue — I feel a thousand mortal things about me, But nothing godlike, unless it may be The thing which you condemn, a disposition To love and to be merciful, to pardon The follies of my species, and (that's human) To be indulgent to my own. SALEMENES. Alas! The doom of Nineveh is seal'd. — Woe — woe To the unrivalTd city ! 22 SARDANAPAI.US, ACT I. SARDANAPALUS. What dost dread ? SALEMENES. Thou art guarded by thy foes : in a few hours The tempest may break out which overwhelms thee, And thine and mine ; and in another day What is shall be the past of Belus' race. SARDANAPALUS. What must we dread ? SALEMENES. Ambitious treachery, Which has environ' d thee with snares ; but yet There is resource : empower me with thy signet To quell the machinations, and I lay The heads of thy chief foes before thy feet. SARDANAPALUS. The heads — how many ? SALEMENES. Must I stay to number When even thine own's in peril? Let me go; Give me thy signet— trust me with the rest. SARDANAPALUS. I will trust no man with unlimited lives. When we take those from others, we nor know What we have taken, nor the thing we give. SALEMENES. Wouldst thou not take their lives who seek for thine? SARDANAPALUS. That's a hard question.— But, I answer Yes. SC. II. A TRAGEDY. " 23 Cannot the thing be done without ? Who are they Whom thou suspectest ? — Let them be arrested. SALEMENES. I would thou wouldst not ask me ; the next moment Will send my answer through thy babbling troop Of paramours, and thence fly o^r the palace, Even to the city, and so baffle all. — Trust me. SARDANAPALUS. Thou knowest I have done so ever ; Take thou the signet. [Gives the signet. SALEMENES. I have one more request — SARDANAPALUS. Name it. SALEMENES. That thou this night forbear the banquet In the pavilion over the Euphrates. SARDANAPALUS. Forbear the banquet ! Not for all the plotters That ever shook a kingdom ! Let them come, And do their worst : I shall not blench for them ; Nor rise the sooner ; nor forbear the goblet ; Nor crown me wi$i a single rose the less ; Nor lose one joyous hour. — I fear them not. SALEMENES. But thou wouldst arm thee, wouldst thou not, if needful ? SARDANAPALUS. Perhaps. I have the goodliest armour, and A sword of such a temper ; and a bow 24 SARDANAPALUS, ACT I. And javelin, which might furnish Nimrod forth: A little heavy, but yet not unwieldy. And now I think on't, 'tis long since IVe used them, Even in the chase. Hast ever seen them, brother ? SALEMENES. Is this a time for such fantastic trifling ? — If need be, wilt thou wear them ? SARDANAPALUS. Will I not?— Oh ! if it must be so, and these rash slaves Will not be ruled with less, I '11 use the sword Till they shall wish it turn'd into a distaff. S^'.^MENES. They say, thy sceptre's turn'd to that already. SARDANAPALUS. That's false! but let them say so: the old Greeks, Of whom our captives often sing, related The same of their chief hero, Hercules, Because he loved a Lydian queen : thou seest The populace of all the nations seize Each calumny they can to sink their sovereigns. SALEMENES. They did not speak thus of thy fathers. SARDANAPALUS. No; They dared not. They were kept to toil and combat, And never changed their chains but for their armour: Now they have peace and pastime, and the licence To revel and to rail ; it irks me not. I would not give the smile of one fair girl sc. II. A TRAGEDY. 25 For all the popular breath that e'er divided A name from nothing. What are the rank tongues Of this vile herd, grown insolent with feeding, That I should prize their noisy praise, or dread Their noisome clamour? SALEMENES. You have said they are men ; As such their hearts are something. SARDANAPALUS. So my dogs' are; And better, as more faithful : — but, proceed ; Thou hast my signet : — since they are tumultuous, Let them be temper'd, yet not'f&tghly, till Necessity enforce it. I hate all pain, Given or received ; we have enough within us, The meanest vassal as the loftiest monarch, Not to add to each other's natural burthen Of mortal misery, but rather lessen, By mild reciprocal alleviation, The fatal penalties imposed on life ; But this they know not, or they will not know. I have, by Baal ! done all I could to soothe them : I made no wars, I added no new imposts, I interfered not with their civic lives, I let them pass their days as best might suit them, Passing my own as suited me. SALEMENES. Thou stopp'st Short of the duties of a king ; and therefore They say thou art unfit to be a monarch. 26 SARDANAPALUS, ACT I. SARDANAPALUS. They lie. — Unhappily, I am unfit To be aught save a monarch ; else for me, The meanest Mede might be the king instead. SALEMENES. There is one Mede, at least, who seeks to be so. SARDANAPALUS. What mean'st thou ? — 'tis thy secret ; thou desirest Few questions, and I 'm not of curious nature. Take the fit steps ; and, since necessity Requires, I sanction and support thee. Ne'er Was man who more desired to rule in peace The peaceful only ; if they rouse me, better They had conjured up stern Nimrod from his ashes, " The mighty hunter." I will turn these realms To one wide desert chase of brutes, who were, But would no more, by their own choice, be human. What they have found me, they belie ; that which They yet may find me — shall defy their wish To speak it worse ; and let them thank themselves. SALEMENES. Then thou at last canst feel ? SARDANAPALUS. Feel ! who feels not Ingratitude? SALEMENES. I will not pause to answer With words, but deeds. Keep thou awake that energy Which sleeps at times, but is not dead within thee, SC. II. A TRAGEDY. 27 And thou may'st yet be glorious in thy reign, As powerful in thy realm. Farewell ! [Exit Salemenes. SARDANAPALUS (solus). Farewell ! He's gone; and on his finger bears my signet, Which is to him a sceptre. He is stern As I am heedless ; and the slaves deserve To feel a master. What may be the danger, I know not: — he hath found it, let him quell it. Must I consume my life — this little life — In guarding against all may make it less ? It is not worth so much I It were to die Before my hour, to live in dread of death, Tracing revolt : suspecting all about me, Because they are near ; and all who are remote, Because they are far. But if it should be so— If they should sweep me off from earth and empire, Why, what is earth or empire of the earth ? I have loved, and lived, and multiplied my image ; To die is no less natural than those — Acts of this clay ! 'Tis true I have not shed Blood, as I might have done, in oceans, till My name became the^synonyme of death — A terror and a trophy. But for this. I feel no penitence ; my life is love : If I must shed blood, it shall be by force. Till now, no drop from an Assyrian vein Hath flWd for me, nor hath the smallest coin Of Nineveh's vast treasures e'er been lavish'd 28 SARDANAPALUS, ACT I. On objects which could cost her sons a tear r If then they hate me, 'tis because I hate not ; If they rebel, it is because I oppress not. Oh, men ! ye must be ruled with scythes not sceptres, And mow'd down like the grass, else all we reap Is rank abundance, and a rotten harvest Of discontents infecting the fair soil, Making a desert of fertility. — I "ll think no more. Within there, ho ! Enter an Attendant. SARDANAPALUS. Slave, tell The Ionian Myrrha we would crave her presence. ATTENDANT. King, she is here. Myrrha enters. sardanapalus (apart to Attendant). Away ! (Addressing Myrrha). Beautiful being ! Thou dost almost anticipate my heart; It throbb'd for thee, and here thou comest : let me Deem that some unknown influence, some sweet oracle, Communicates between us, though unseen, In absence, and attracts us to each other. MYRRHA. There doth. SC. II. A TRAGEDY. 29 SARDANAPALUS. I know there doth, but not its name ; What is it? MYRRHA. In my native land a God, And in my heart a feeling like a God's, Exalted ; yet I own "'tis only mortal ; For what I feel is humble, and yet happy — That is, it would be happy ; but [Myrrha pauses. SARDANAPALUS. There comes For ever something between us and what We deem our happiness : let me remove The barrier which that hesitating accent Proclaims to thine, and mine is seaTd. MYRRHA. My lord! — SARDANAPALUS. My lord — my king — sire — sovereign ! thus it is — For ever thus, address , d with awe. I ne'er Can see a smile, unless in some broad banquet's Intoxicating glare, when the buffoons Have gorged themselves up to equality, Or I have quaff'd me down to their,abasement Myrrha, I can hear all these things, these names, Lord — king — sire — monarch — nay, time was I prized them, That is, I suffer'd them — from slaves and nobles.; But when they falter from the lips I love, 30 SARDANAPALUS, ACT I. The lips which have been press'd to mine, a chill Comes o'er my heart, a cold sense of the falsehood Of this my station, which represses feeling In those for whom I have felt most, and makes me Wish that I could lay down the dull tiara, And share a cottage on the Caucasus With thee, and wear no crowns but those of flowers. MYRRHA. Would that we could ! SARDANAPALUS. And dost thou feel this? — Why ? MYRRHA. Then thou wouldst know what thou canst never know. SARDANAPALUS. And that is MYRRHA. The true value of a heart; At least, a woman's. SARDANAPALUS. I have proved a thousand — A thousand, and a thousand. MYRRHA. Hearts ? SARDANAPALUS. I think so. MYRRHA. Not one ! the time may come thou may'st. SARDANAPALUS. It will. Hear, Myrrha ; Salemenes has declared — SC. II. A TRAGEDY. 31 Or why or how he hath divined it, Belus, Who founded our great realm, knows more than I — But Salemenes hath declared my throne In peril. MYRRHA. He did well. SARDANAPALUS. And say'st tlwu so? Thou whom he spurn'd so harshly, and now dared Drive from our presence with his savage jeers, And made thee weep and blush ? MYRRHA. I should do both More frequently, and he did well to call me Back to my duty. But thou spakest of peril — Peril to thee SARDANAPALUS. Ay, from dark plots and snares From Medes — and discontented troops and nations. I know not what — a labyrinth of things — A maze of mutter'd threats and mysteries : Thou know'st the man — it is his usual custom. But he is honest. Come, we'll think no more on't — But of the midnight festival. MYRRHA. 'Tis time To think of aught save festivals. Thou hast not Spurn'd his sage cautions ? SARDANAPALUS. What ? — and dost thou fear ? 32 SARDANAPALUS, ACT I. MYRRHA. Fear! — I'm a Greek, and how should I fear death? A slave, and wherefore should I dread my freedom ? SARDANAPALUS. Then wherefore dost thou turn so pale ? MYRRHA. I love. SARDANAPALUS. And do not I ? I love thee far — far more Than either the brief life or the wide realm, Which, it may be, are menaced; — yet I blench not. MYRRHA. That means thou lovest nor thyself nor me ; For he who loves another loves himself, Even for that other's sake. This is too rash : Kingdoms and lives are not to be so lost. SARDANAPALUS. Lost ! — why, who is the aspiring chief who dared Assume to win them ? MYRRHA. Who is he should dread To try so much ? When he who is their ruler Forgets himself, will they remember him ? SARDANAPALUS. Myrrha ! MYRRHA. Frown not upon me : you have smiled Too often on me not to make those frowns Bitterer to bear than any punishment Which they may augur. — King, I am your subject ! SC. ir. A TRAGEDY. - 33 Master, I am your slave ! Man, I have loved you ! — Loved you, I know not by what fatal weakness, Although a Greek, and born a foe to monarchs — A slave, and hating fetters — an Ionian, And, therefore, when I love a stranger, more Degraded by that passion than by chains ! Still I have loved you. If that love were strong Enough to overcome all former nature, Shall it not claim the privilege to save you ? SARDANAPALUS. Save me, my beauty ! Thou art very fair, And what I seek of thee is love — not safety. MYRRHA. A nd without love where dwells security ? SARDANAPALUS. I speak of woman's love. MYRRHA. The very first Of human life must spring from woman's breast, Your first small words are taught you from her lips, Your first tears quench , d by her, and your last sighs Too often breathed out in a woman's hearing, When men have shrunk from the ignoble care Of watching the last hour of him who led them. SARDANAPALUS. My eloquent Ionian ! thou speak'st' music, The very chorus of the tragic song I have heard thee talk of as the favourite pastime Of thy far father-land. Nay, weep not — calm thee. 34 SARDANAPALUS, AC? I. MYRRHA. I weep not. — But I pray thee, do not speak About my fathers or their land. SARDANAPALUS. Yet oft Thou, speakest of them. MYRRHA. True — true : constant thought Will overflow in words unconsciously; But when another speaks of Greece, it wounds me. SARDANAPALUS. Well, then, how would st thou save me, as thou saidst ? MYRRHA. By teaching thee to save thyself, and not Thyself alone, but these vast realms, from all The rage of the worst war — the war of brethren. SARDANAPALUS. Why, child, I loathe all war, and warriors ; I live in peace and pleasure : what can man Do more ? MYRRHA. Alas ! my lord, with common men There needs too oft the show of war to keep The substance of sweet peace ; and for a king, 'Tis sometimes better to be fear'd than loved. SARDANAPALUS. And I have never sought but for the last. MYRRHA. And now art neither. SC. II. A TRAGEDY. 35 SARDANAPALUS. Dost thou say so, Myrrha ? MYRRHA. I speak of civic popular love, self love, Which means that men are kept in awe and law, Yet not oppress'd — at least they must not think so ; Or if they think so, deem it necessary, To ward off worse oppression, their own passions. A king of feasts, and flowers, and wine, and revel, And love, and mirth, was never king of glory. SARDANAPALUS. Glory! what's that? MYRRHA. Ask of the gods thy fathers. SARDANAPALUS. They cannot answer; when the priests speak for them, 'Tis for some small addition to the temple. MYRRHA. Look to the annals of thine empire's founders. SARDANAPALUS. They are so blotted o'er with blood, I cannot But what wouldst have ? the empire has been founded. I cannot go on multiplying empires. r MYRRHA. Preserve thine own. SARDANAPALUS. At least I will enjoy it. Come, Myrrha, let us on to the Euphrates ; The hour invites, the galley is prepared, d2 36 SABDANAPAJAJS, ACT I. And the pavilion, deck'd for our return, In fit adornment for the evening banquet, Shall blaze with beauty and with light, until It seems unto the stars which are above us Itself an opposite star; and we will sit Crown'd with fresh flowers like MYRRHA. Victims. SARDANAPALUS. No, like sovereign The shepherd kings of patriarchal times, Who knew no brighter gems than summer wreaths, And none but tearless triumphs. Let us on. Enter Pania. PANIA. May the king live for ever ! SARDANAPALUS. Not an hour Longer than he can love. How my soul hates This language, which makes life itself a lie, Flattering dust with eternity. Well, Pania ! Be brief. PANIA. I am charged by Salemenes to Reiterate his prayer unto the king$ That for this day, at least, he will not quit The palace : when the general returns, SC. ii, A TRAGEDY. 37 He will adduce such reasons as will warrant His daring, and perhaps obtain the pardon Of his presumption. SARDANAPALUS. What ! am I then coop'd ? Already captive ? can I not even breathe The breath of heaven ? Tell prince Salemenes, Were all Assyria raging round the walls In mutinous myriads, I would still go forth. PANIA. I must obey, and yet — MYRRHA. Oh, monarch, listen. — How many a day and moon thou hast reclined Within these palace walls in silken dalliance, And never shown thee to thy people's longing ; Leaving thy subjects' eyes ungratified, The satraps uncontroll'd, the gods unworshipp'd, And all things in the anarchy of sloth, 'Till all, save evil, slumber'd through the realm ! And wilt thou not now tarry for a day, A day which may redeem thee ? Wilt thou not Yield to the few still faithful a few hours, For them, for thee,rfor thy past fathers' race, And for thy sons' inheritance ? ; * PANIA. 'Tis true ! From the deep urgency with which the prince Despatched me to your sacred presence, I 38 SARDANAPALUS, ACT I. Must dare to add my feeble voice to that Which now has spoken. SARDANAPALUS. No, it must not be. MYRRHA. For the sake of thy realm. SARDANAPALUS. Away! PANIA. For that Of all thy faithful subjects, who will rally Round thee and thine. SARDANAPALUS, These are mere phantasies ; There is no peril c-^-'tis a sullen scheme Of Salemenes, to approve his zeal, And show himself more necessary to us. MYRRHA. By all that 's good and glorious take this counsel. SARDANAPALUS. Business to-morrow. MYRRHA. Ay, or death to-night. SARDANAPALUS. Why let it come then unexpectedly, 'Midst joy and gentleness, and mirth and love ; So let me fall like the pluck'd rose ! — far better Thus than be wither'd. MYRRHA. Then thou wilt not yield, SC. II. A TRAGEDY. 39 Even for the sake of all that ever stirr'd A monarch into action, to forego A trifling revel. SARDANAPALUS. No. MYRRHA. Then yield for mine; For my sake ! SARDANAPALUS. Thine, my Myrrha ? MYRRHA. 'Tis the first Boon which I e'er ask'd Assyria's king. SARDANAPALUS. That 's true, and wer 't my kingdom must be granted. Well, for thy sake, I yield me. Pania, hence ! Thou hear'st me. PANIA. And obey. [Exit Pania. SARDANAPALUS. I marvel at thee. What is thy motive, Myrrha, thus to urge me ? MYRRHA. Thy safety; and the^ certainty that nought Could urge the prince thy kinsman »to require Thus much from thee, but some impending danger. SARDANAPALUS. And if I do not dread it, why shouldst thou ? MYRRHA. Because thou dost not fear, I fear for thee. 40 SARDANAPALUS, ACT I. SARDANAPALUS. To-morrow thou wilt smile £t these vain fanciest. MYRRHA. If the worst come, I shall be where none weep, And that is better than the power to smile. And thou ? SARDANAPALUS. I shall be king, as heretofore. MYRRHA. Where ? SARDANAPALUS. 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. MYRRHA. Hadst thou felt Thus always, none would ever dare degrade thee. SARDANAPALUS. And who will do so now ? MYRRHA. Dost thou suspect none ? SARDANAPALUS. Suspect ! — that 's a spy's office. Oh ! we lose Ten thousand precious moments in vain words, And vainer fears. Within there ! — Ye slaves, deck The hall of Nimrod for the evening; revel : If I must make a prison of our palace, At least we '11 wear our fetters jocundly ; If the Euphrates be forbid us, and SC. II. A TRAGEDY. 41 The summer dwelling on its beauteous border, Here we are still unmenaced. Ho ! within there ! [Exit Sardanapalus. MYRRHA (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 ; And that 's the heaviest link of the long chain — - To love whom we esteem not. Be it so : The hour is coming when he '11 need all love, And find none. To fall from him now were baser Than to have stabb'd him on his throne when highest Would have been noble in my country's creed ; I was not made for either. Could I save him, I should not love him better, but myself; And I have need of the last, for I have fallen In my own thoughts, by loving this soft stranger : And yet methinks I love him more, perceiving That he is hated of his own barbarians, The natural foes of all the blood of Greece. Could I but wake a single thought like those 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. If not, I have a means of freedom still, And if I cannot teach him how to reign, May show him how alone a king can leave His throne. I must not lose him from my sight. [Exit. SARDANAPALUS, ACT II. 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, Like the blood he predicts. If not in vain, Thou sun that sinkest, and ye stars which rise, I have outwatclfd ye, reading ray by ray The edicts of your orbs, which make Time tremble For what he brings the nations, 'tis the furthest Hour of Assyria's years. And yet how calm ! An earthquake should announce so great a fall — A summer's sun discloses it. Yon disk, / To the star-read Chaldean, bears upon Its everlasting page the end of what SeemM everlasting ; but oh ! thou true sun ! The burning oracle of all that live, As fountain of all life, and symbol of Him who bestows it, wherefore dost thou limit Thy lore unto calamity? Why not Unfold the rise of days more worthy thine All-glorious burst from ocean ? why not dart A beam of hope athwart the future's years, SC. I. A TRAGEDY. 43 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, And bow'd my head beneath thy mid-day beams, When my eye dared not meet thee. I have watched For thee, and after thee, and pray'd to thee, And sacrificed to thee, and read, and fear'd thee, And ask'd of thee, and thou hast answer'd — but Only to thus much : while I speak, he sinks — Is gone — and leaves his beauty, not his knowledge, To the delighted west, which revels in Its hues of dying glory. Yet what is Death, so it be but glorious ? 'Tis a sunset; And mortals may be happy to resemble The gods but in decay. Euten Arbaces,- by an inner door. AltBACES. Beleses, why So rapt in thy devotions ? Dost thou stand Gazing to trace thy disappearing god Into some realm of undiscover'd day ? Our business is withrnight — 'tis come. beleses. , But not Gone. ARBACES. Let it roll on — we are ready. 44 SARDANAPALUS, ACT II. BELESES. Yes. Would it were over ! ARBACES. Does the Prophet doubt, To whom the very stars shine victory? BELESES. I do not doubt of victory — but the victor. ARBACES. Well, let thy science settle that. Meantime, I have prepared as many glittering spears As will out-sparkle our allies — your planets. There is no more to thwart us. The she-king, That less than woman, is even now upon The waters with his female mates. The order Is issued for the feast in the pavilion. The first cup which he drains will be the last Quaff'd by the line of Nimrod. BELESES. 'Twas a brave one. ARBACES. And is a weak one — 'tis worn out — we '11 mend it. BELESES. Art sure of that ? ARBACES. Its founder was a hunter — I am a soldier — what is there to fear ? BELESES. The soldier. SC I. A TRAGEDY. - 45 ARBACES. And the priest, it may be ; but If you thought thus, or think, why not retain Your king of concubines ? why stir me up ? Why spur me to this enterprise ? your own No less than mine ? BELESES. Look to the sky ! ARBACES. I look. BELESES. What seest thou ? AllBACES. A fair summer's twilight, and The gathering of the stars. BELESES. And midst them, mark Yon earliest, and the brightest, which so quivers, As it would quit its place in the blue ether. ARBACES. Well? BELESES. 'Tis thy natal ruler — thy birth planet. arbaces {touching his scabbard). My star is in this scabbard : when it shines, It shall out-dazzle comets. Let us think Of what is to be done to justify Thy planets and their portents. When we conquer, They shall have temples — ay, and priests —and thou 46 SARDANAPALUS, ACT II; Shalt be the pontiff of — what gods thou wilt ; For I observe that they are ever just, And own the bravest for the most devout. BELESES. Ay, and the most devout for brave — thou hast not Seen me turn back from battle. ARBACES. No ; I own thee As firm in fight as Babylonia's captain As skilful in Chaldea's worship ; now, Will it but please thee to forget the priest, And be the warrior ? BELESES. Why not both ? ARBACES. The better; And yet it almost shames me, we shall have So little to effect. This woman's warfare Degrades the very conqueror. To have pluck'd A bold and bloody despot from his throne, And grappled with him, clashing steel with steel, That were heroic or to win or fall ; But to upraise my sword against this silkworm, And hear him whine, it may be BELESES. Do not deem it : He has that in him which may make you strife yet ; And were he all you think, his guards are hardy, And headed by the cool, stem Salemenes. SC. I. A TRAGEDY. - 4*7 ARBACES. They '11 not resist. BELESES. Why not ? they are soldiers. ARBACES. True, And therefore need a soldier to command them. BELESES. That Salemenes is. ARBACES. But not their king. Besides, he hates the effeminate thing that governs, For the queen's sake, his sister. Mark you not He keeps aloof from all the revels ? BELESES. But Not from the council — there he is ever constant. ARBACES. And ever thwarted ; what would you have more To make a rebel out of ? A fool reigning, His blood dishonour'd, and himself disdain'd ; Why, it is his revenge we work for. BELESES. Could He but be brought to think so : this, I doubt of. ARBACES. What, if we sound him ? BELESES. Yes — if the time served. 48 SARDANAPALUS, ACT tt. Enter Balea. BALEA. Satraps ! The king commands your presence at The feast to-night. BELESES. To hear is to obey. In the pavilion ? BALEA. No ; here in the palace. ARBACES. How ! in the palace ? it was not thus order'cL BALEA. It is so order'd now. ABBACES. And why? BALEA. I know not. May I retire ? ABBACES. Stay. BELESES (to ARBACES aside). Hush ! let him go his way. (Alternately to Balea.) Yes, Balea, thank the monarch, kiss the hem Of his imperial robe, and say, his slaves Will take the crums he deigns to scatter from His royal table at the hour— was 1 t midnight? sc. I. A TRAGEDY. - 49 BALEA. It was^; the place, the Hall of Nimrod. Lords, I humble me before you, and depart. \_Exit Bale a. ARBACES. I like not this same sudden change of place, There is some mystery ; wherefore should he change it ? BELESES. Doth he not change a thousand times a day ? Sloth is of all things the most fanciful — And moves more parasangs in its intents Than generals in their marches when they seek To leave their foe at fault. — Why dost thou muse ? ARBACES. He loved that gay pavilion, — it was ever His summer dotage. BELESES. And he loved his queen— And thrice a thousand harlotry besides — And he has loved all things by turns, except Wisdom and glory. ARBACES. Still — I like it not. If he has changed — why so must we : the attack Were easy in the isolated bower, Beset with drowsy guards and drunken courtiers ; But in the Hall of Nimrod BELESES. Is it SO ? Methought the haughty soldier fear'd to mount A throne too easily— does it disappoint thee 50 SARDANAPALUS, ACT II. To find there is a slipperier step or two Than what was counted on? ARBACES. When the hour comes, Thou shalt perceive how far I fear or no. Thou hast seen my life at stake — and gaily play'd for — But here is more upon the dye — a kingdom. BELESES. I have foretold already — thou wilt win it : Then on, and prosper. ARBACES. Now were I a soothsayer, I would have boded so much to myself. But be the stars oheyM — I cannot quarrel With them, nor their interpreter. Who^s here? Enter Salemenes. SALEMENES. Satraps ! BELESES. My prince ! SALEMENES. Well met — I sought ye both, But elsewhere than the palace. ARBACES. Wherefore so? SALEMENES. 'Tis not the hour. SC. I. A TRAGEDY. - 51 ARBACES. The hour- — what hour ? SALEMENES. Of midnight. BELESES. Midnight, my lord ! SALEMENES. What, are you not invited ? BELESES. Oh ! yes — we had forgotten. SALEMENES. Is it usual Thus to forget a sovereign's invitation ? ARBACES. Why— we but now received it. SALEMENES. Then why here ? ARBACES. On duty. SALEMENES. On what duty ? BELESES. On the state's. We have the privilege to approach the presence ; But found the monarch absent. SALEMENES. And I too Am upon duty. ARBACES. May we crave its purport ? e2 52 SARDANAPALUS, ACT II. SALEMENES. To arrest two traitors. Guards ! Within there ! Enter Guards. salemenes {continuing). Satraps, Your swords. beleses {delivering his). My lord, behold my scimitar. arbaces {drawing his sword). Take mine. salemenes {advancing)- I wiU. ARBACES. But in your heart the blade — The hilt quits not this hand. salemenes (drawing). How ! dost thou brave me ? ' Tis well — this saves a trial, and false mercy. Soldiers, hew down the rebel ! ARBACES. Soldiers ! Ay — Alone you dare not. SALEMENES. Alone ! foolish slave — What is there in thee that a prince should shrink from Of open force ? We dread thy treason, not Thy strength : thy tooth is nought without its venom — The serpent's, not the lion's. Cut him down. sc. I. A TRAGEDY. . 53 beleses (interposing). Arbaces ! are you mad ? Have I not render'd My sword ? Then trust like me our sovereign's justice. ARBACES. No — I will sooner trust the stars thou prafst of And this slight arm, and die a king at least Of my own breath and body — so far that None else shall chain them. . salemenes (to the Guards). You hear him, and me. Take him not,-— kill. [ The Guards attack Arbaces, who defends himself valiantly and dexterously till they waver. salemenes. Is it even so ; and must I do the hangman's office ? Recreants ! see How you should fell a traitor. [Salemenes attacks Arbaces. Enter Sardanapalus and Train. SARDANAPALUS. Hold your hands — Upon your lives, I say. What, deaf or drunken ? My sword ! Oh fool, I wear no sword : here, fellow, Give me thy weapon. [To a Guard. [Sardanapalus snatches a sword from one of the soldiers, and makes between the combatants — they separate. sardanapalus. In my very palace ! 54 SARDANAPALUS, ACT II. What hinders me from cleaving you in twain, Audacious brawlers ? BELESES. Sire, your justice. SALEMENES, Or— Your weakness, sardanapalus (raising the szcord). How? SALEMENES. Strike ! so the blow's repeated Upon yon traitor — whom you spare a moment, I trust, for torture — I'm content, SARDANAPALUS. What— him .' Who dares assail Arbaces ? SALEMENES. I! SARDANAPALUS. Indeed ! Prince, you forget yourself. .^Upon what warrant ? salemenes (shotting the signet). Thine. arbaces {confused). The king's I SALEMENES. Yes ! and let the king confirm it. SARDANAPALUS. I parted not from this for such a purpose. SC. I. A TllAGEDY. 55 SALEMENES. You parted with it for your safety — I Employ'd it for the best. Pronounce in person. Here I am but your slave —a moment past I was your representative. SAEDANAPALUS. Then sheathe Your swords. [Arbaces and Salemenes return their swords to the scabbards. SALEMENES. Mine's sheath'd: I pray you sheathe not yours; 'Tis the sole sceptre left you now with safety. SARDANAPALUS. A heavy one ; the hilt, too, hurts my hand. (To a Guard). Here, fellow, take thy weapon back. Well, sirs, What doth this mean ? BELESES. The prince must answer that. SALEMENES. Truth upon my part, treason upon theirs. SARDANAPALUS. Treason — Arbaces ! treachery and Beleses ! That were an union Fwill not believe. BELESES. Where is the proof? SALEMENES. I '11 answer that, if once The king demands your fellow traitor's sword. 56 SARDANAPALUS, ACT II. ARBACES (to SALEMENES). A sword which hath been drawn as oft as thine Against his foes. SALEMENES. And now against his brother, And in an hour or so against himself. SARDANAPALUS. That is not possible : he dared not ; no — No — I '11 not hear of such things. These vain bickerings Are spawn'd in courts by base intrigues and baser Hirelings, who live by lies on good men's lives. You must have been deceived, my brother. SALEMENES. First Let him deliver up his weapon, and Proclaim himself your subject by that duty, And I will answer all. SARDANAPALUS. Why, if I thought so — But no, it cannot be ; the Mede Arbaces — The trusty, rough, true soldier — -the best captain Of all who discipline our nations No, I'll not insult him thus, to bid him render The scimitar to me he never yielded Unto our enemies. Chief, keep your weapon. salemenes (delivering back the signet). Monarch, take back your signet. SARDANAPALUS. No, retain it ; But use it with more moderation. St. i. A TRAGEDY. - 57 SALEMENES. Sire, I used it for your honour, and restore it Because I cannot keep it with my own. Bestow it on Arbaces. SARDANAPALTJS. So I should : He never ask'd it. SALEMENES. Doubt' not, he will have it Without that hollow semblance of respect. BELESES. I know not what hath prejudiced the prince So strongly 'gainst two subjects, than whom none Have been more zealous for Assyria's weal. SALEMENES. Peace, factious priest and faithless soldier ! thou Unit'st in thy own person the worst vices Of the most dangerous orders of mankind. Keep thy smooth words and juggling homilies For those who know thee not. Thy fellow's sin Is, at the least, a bold one, and not temper'd By the tricks taught thee in Chaldea. BELESES. Hear him, My liege — the son of Belus ! he blasphemes The worship of the land, which bows the knee Before your fathers. SARDANAPALTJS. Oh ! for that I pray you 58 SARDANAPALUS, ACT II. Let him have absolution. I dispense with The worship of dead men ; feeling that I Am mortal, and believing that the race From whence I sprung are — what I see them — ashes. BELESES. King ! Do not deem so : they are with the stars, And SARDANAPALUS. You shall join them there ere they will rise, If you preach farther. — Why, this is rank treason. SALEMENES. My lord ! SARDANAPALUS. To school me in the worship of Assyria's idols ! Let him be released — Give him his sword. SALEMENES. My lord, and king, and brother, I pray ye pause. SARDANAPALUS. Yes, and be sermonized, * And dinn'd, and deafen'd with ,dead men and Baal, And all Chaldea's starry mysteries. BELESES. Monarch ! respect them. SARDANAPALUS. Oh ! for that — I love them ; I love to watch them in the deep blue vault, And to compare them with my Myrrha's eyes ; I love to see their rays redoubled in sc. I. A TRAGEDY. - 59 The tremulous silver of Euphrates' wave, As the light breeze of midnight crisps the broad And rolling water, sighing through the sedges Which fringe his banks : but whether they may be Gods, as some say, or the abodes of gods, As others hold, or simply lamps of night, Worlds, or the lights of worlds, I know nor care not. There's something sweet in my uncertainty I would not change for your Chaldean lore ; Besides, I know of these all clay can know Of aught above it, or below it — nothing. I see their brilliancy and feel their beauty — When they shine on my grave I shall know neither. BELESES. I For neither, sire, say better. SARDANAPALUS. I will wait, If it so please you, pontiff, for that knowledge. In the mean time receive your sword, and know That I prefer your service militant Unto your ministry — not loving either. salemenes (aside). His lusts have made him mad. Then must I save him Spite of himself. sardanapalus. Please you to hear me, Satraps ! And chiefly thou, my priest, because I doubt thee More than the soldier; and would doubt thee all Wert thou not half a warrior : let us part In peace — I '11 not say pardon — which must be 60 SARDANAPALUS, ACT II. Earafd by the guilty ; this 1 11 not pronounce ye, Although upon this breath of mine depends Your own ; and, deadlier for ye, on my fears. But fear not — for that I am soft, not fearful — And so live on. Were I the thing some think me, Your heads would now be dripping the last drops Of their attainted gore from the high gates Of this our palace into the dry dust, Their only portion of the coveted kingdom They would be crown'd to reign o'er — let that pass. As I have said, I will not deem ye guilty, Nor doom ye guiltless. Albeit, better men Than ye or I stand ready to arraign you ; And should I leave your fate to sterner judges, And proofs of all kinds, I might sacrifice Two men, who, whatsoe'er they now are, were Once honest. Ye are free, sirs. ARBACES. Sire, this clemency beleses {interrupting him). Is worthy of yourself ; and, although innocent, | We thank SARDANAPALUS. Priest ! keep your thanksgivings for Belus ; His offspring needs none. BELESES. But, being innocent— SARDANAPALUS. Be silent — Guilt is loud. If ye are loyal, Ye are injured men, and should be sad, not grateful. sc. I. A TRAGEDY. - 61 BELESES. So we should be, were justice always done By earthly power omnipotent ; but innocence Must oft receive her right as a mere favour. . . SARD AN AP ALUS. That 's a good sentence for a homily, Though not for this occasion. Prithee keep it To plead thy sovereign's cause before his people. BELESES. I trust there is no cause. SARD AN AP ALUS. No cause, perhaps ; But many causers : — if ye meet with such In the exercise of your inquisitive function On earth, or should you read of it in heaven In some mysterious twinkle of the stars, Which are your chronicles, I pray you note, That there are worse things betwixt earth and heaven Than him who ruleth many and slays none ; And, hating not himself, yet loves his fellows Enough to spare even those who would not spare him Were they once masters — but that 's doubtful. Satraps ! Your swords and persons are at liberty To use them as ye will — but from this hour I have no call for either. Salemenes ! Follow me. [Exeunt Sardanapalus, Salemenes, and the Train, fyc. leaving Arbaces and Beleses. arbaces. Beleses ! 62 SARDANAPALUS, ACT II. BELESES. Now, what think you ? ARBACES. That we are lost. BELESES. That we have won the kingdom. ARBACES. What ? thus suspected — with the sword slung o'er us But by a single hair, and that still wavering To be blown down by his imperious breath, Which spared us — why, I know not. BELESES. Seek not why ; But let us profit by the interval. The hour is still our own — our power the same — The night the same we destined. He hath changed Nothing except our ignorance of all Suspicion into such a certainty As must make madness of delay. ARBACES. And yet BELESES. What, doubting still ? ARBACES. He spared our lives, nay, more, Saved them from Salemenes. BELESES. And how long Will he so spare ? till the first drunken minute. SC. I. A TRAGEDY. - 63 ARBACES. Or sober, rather. Yet he did it nobly; Gave royally what we had forfeited Basely BELESES. Say bravely. ARBACES. Somewhat of both, perhaps. But it has touch , d me, and, whate'er betide, I will no further on. BELESES. And lose the world ! ARBACES. Lose any thing except my own esteem. BELESES. I blush that we should owe our lives to such A king of distaffs ! ARBACES. But no less we owe them ; And I should blush far more to take the grantor's ! BELESES. Thou may'st endure whate'er thou wilt, the stars Have written otherwise. ARBACES. Though they came down, And marshalled me the way in all their brightness, I would not follow. BELESES. This is weakness — worse 64 SARDANArALUS, ACT II. Than a scared beldam's dreaming of the dead, And waking in the dark. — Go to — go to. ARBACES. Methought he look'd like Nimrod as he spoke, Even as the proud imperial statue stands Looking the monarch of the kings around it, And sways, while they but ornament, the temple. BELESES. I told you that you had too much despised him, And that there was some royalty within him — What then ? he is the nobler foe. ARBACES. But we The meaner : — Would he had not spared us ! BELESES. So— Wouldst thou be sacrificed thus readily? ARBACES. No — but it had been better to have died Than live ungrateful. BELESES. Oh, the souls of some men ! Thou wouldst digest what some call treason, and Fools treachery — and, behold, upon the sudden, Because for something or for nothing, this Bash reveller steps, ostentatiously, 'Twixt thee and Salemenes, thou art tumid Into — what shall I say ? — Sardanapalus ! I know no name more ignominious. SC. I. A TRAGEDY. - 65 ARBACES. But An hour ago, who dared to term me such Had held his life but lightly — as it is, I must forgive you, even as he forgave us — Semiramis herself would not have done it. BELESES. No — the queen liked no sharers of the kingdom, Not even a husband. ARBACES. I must serve him truly BELESES. And humbly? ARBACES. No, sir, proudly — being honest. I shall be nearer thrones than you to heaven ; And if not quite so haughty, yet more lofty. You may do your own deeming — you have codes, And mysteries, and corollaries of Right and wrong, which I lack for my direction, And must pursue but what a plain heart teaches. And now you know me. BELESES. Have you finish'd ? ARBACES. Yes— With you. BELESES. And would, perhaps, betray as well As quit me ? F 66 SARDANAPALUS, ACT II. AKBACES. That's a sacerdotal thought, And not a soldier's. BELESES. Be it what you will — Truce with these wranglings, and but hear me. ARBACES. No- There is more peril in your subtle spirit Than in a phalanx. BELESES. If it must be so — I '11 on alone. ARBACES. Alone ! BELESES. Thrones hold but one. ARBACES. But this is fill'd. BELESES. With worse than vacancy— A despised monarch. Look to it, Arbaces : I have still aided, cherish'd, loved, and urged you ; Was willing even to serve you, in the hope To serve and save Assyria. Heaven itself Seem'd to consent, and all events were friendly, Even to the last, till that your spirit shrunk Into a shallow softness ; but now, rather Than see my country languish, I will be Her saviour or the victim of her tyrant, sc. I. A TRAGEDY. " 67 Or one or both, for sometimes both are one ; And, if I win, Arbaces is my servant. ARBACES. Your servant ! BELESES. Why not ? better than be slave, The pardori'd slave of she Sardanapalus. Enter Pania. PANIA. My lords, I bear an order from the king. ARBACES. It is obey'd ere spoken. BELESES. Notwithstanding, Let 's hear it. PANIA. Forthwith, on this very night, Repair to your respective satrapies Of Babylon and Media. BELESES. With our troops ? PANIA. My order is unto the satraps and Their household train. ARBACES. But BELESES. It must be obey'd ; Say, we depart. v 2 68 SARDANAPALUS, ACT II. PANIA. My order is to see you Depart, and not to bear your answer. beleses {aside). Ay! Well, sir, we will accompany you hence. PANIA. I will retire to marshal forth the guard Of honour which befits your rank, and wait Your leisure, so that it the hour exceeds not. [Exit Pania. BELESES. Now then obey ! ARBACES. Doubtless. BELESES. Yes, to the gates That grate the palace, which is now our prison, No further. ARBACES. Thou hast harp'd the truth indeed ! The realm itself, in all its wide extension, Yawns dungeons at each step for thee and me. BELESES. Graves ! ARBACES. If I thought so, this good sword should dig One more than mine. BELESES. It shall have work enough : SC. I. A TRAGEDY. - 69 Let me hope better than thou augurest ; At present let us hence as best we may. Thou dost agree with me in understanding This order as a sentence? ARBACES. Why, what other Interpretation should it bear ? it is The very policy of orient monarchs — Pardon and poison — favours and a sword— A distant voyage, and an eternal sleep. How many satraps in his father's time — For he I own is, or at least was, bloodless — BELESES. But will not, can not be so now. ARBACES. I doubt it. How many satraps have I seen set out In his sire's day for mighty vice-royalties, Whose tombs are on their path ! I know not how, But they all sicken'd by the way, it was So long and heavy. BELESES. Let us but regain The free air of the city, and we '11 shorten The journey. ARBACES. 'Twill be shorten'd at the gates, It may be. BELESES. No ; they hardly will risk that. 70 SARDANAPALUS, ACT II. They mean us to die privately, but not Within the palace or the city walls, Where we are known and may have partisans : If they had meant to slay us here, we were No longer with the living. Let us hence. ARBACES. If I but thought he did not mean my life BELESES. Fool ! hence — what else should despotism alarm 'd Mean ? Let us but rejoin our troops, and march. ARBACES. Towards our provinces ? BELESES. No; towards your kingdom. There's time, there's heart, and hope, and power, and means, Which their half measures leave us in full scope.— Away! ARBACES. And I even yet repenting must Relapse to guilt ! BELESES. Self-defence is a virtue, Sole bulwark of all right. Away, I say ! Let 's leave this place, the air grows thick and choking, And the walls have a scent of night-shade — hence ! Let us not leave them time for further council. Our quick departure proves our civic zeal ; Our quick departure hinders our good escort, The worthy Pania, from anticipating SC. I. A TRAGEDY. . 71 The orders of some parasangs from hence ; Nay, there's no other choice but hence, I say. [Exit with Arbaces, who follows reluctantly. Enter Sardanapalus and Salemenes. SARDANAPALUS. Well, all is remedied and without bloodshed, That worst of mockeries of a remedy ; We are now secure by these men's exile. SALEMENES. Yes, As he who treads on flowers is from the adder Twined round their roots. SARDANAPALUS. Why, what wouldst have me do ? SALEMENES. Undo what you have done. SARDANAPALUS. Revoke my pardon ? SALEMENES. Replace the crown now tottering on your temples. SARDANAPALUS. That were tyrannical. SALEMENES. But sure. ' SARDANAPALUS. We are so. What danger can they work upon the frontier ? 72 SARDANAPALUS, ACT II. SALEMENES. They are not there yet — never should they be so, Were I well listeri'd to. SARDANAPALUS. Nay, I have listen 'd Impartially to thee — why not to them ? SALEMENES. You may know that hereafter ; as it is, I take my leave, to order forth the guard. SARDANAPALUS. And you will join us at the banquet ? SALEMENES. Sire, Dispense with me — I am no wassailer : Command me in all service save the Bacchant's. SARDANAPALUS. Nay, but 'tis fit to revel now and then. SALEMENES. And fit that some should watch for those who revel Too oft. Am I permitted to depart? SARDANAPALUS. Yes Stay a moment, my good Salemenes, My brother, my best subject, better .prince Than I am king. You should have been the monarch, And I — I know not what, and care not; but Think not I am insensible to all Thine honest wisdom, and thy rough yet kind, Though oft reproving, sufferance of my follies. If I have spared these men against thy counsel, SC. I. A TRAGEDY. - 73 That is, their lives — it is not that I doubt The advice was sound ; but, let them live : we will not Cavil about their lives — so let them mend them. Their banishment will leave me still sound sleep, Which their death had not left me. SALEMENES. Thus you run The risk to sleep for ever, to save traitors — A moment's pang now changed for years of crime. Still let them be made quiet. SARDANAPALUS. Tempt me not : My word is past. SALEMENES. But it may be recajl'd, SARDANAPALUS. 'Tis royal. SALEMENES. And should therefore be decisive. This half indulgence of an exile serves But to provoke — a pardon should be full, Or it is none. SARDANAPALUS. And who persuaded me After I had repeal'd them, or at least Only dismiss'd them from our presence, who Urged me to send them to their satrapies ? SALEMENES. True : that I had forgotten ; that is, sire, 74 SAltDANAPALUS, ACT II. If they e'er reach their satrapies — why, then, Reprove me more for my advice. SARDANAPALUS. And if They do not reach them — look to it ! — in safety, In safety, mark me — and security — Look to thine own. SALEMENES. Permit me to depart; Their safety shall be cared for. SARDANAPALUS. Get thee hence, then ; And, prithee, think more gently of thy brother. SALEMENES. Sire, I shall ever duly serve my sovereign. [Exit Salemenes. . SARDANAPALUS (solus). That man is of a temper too severe : Hard but as lofty as the rock, and free From all the taints of common earth — -while I Am softer clay, impregnated with flowers. But as our mould is, must the produce be. If I have err'd this time, 'tis on the side Where error sits most lightly on that sense, I know not what to call it ; but it reckons With me ofttimes for pain, and sometimes pleasure ; A spirit which seems placed about my heart To court its throbs, not quicken them, and ask Questions which mortal never dared to ask me, SC. I. A TRAGEDY. - 75 Nor Baal, though an oracular deity — Albeit his marble face majestical Frowns as the shadows of the evening dim His brows to changed expression, till at times I think the statue looks in act to speak. Away with these vain thoughts, I will be joyous — And here comes Joy's true herald. Enter Myrrha. MYRRHA. King! the sky Is overcast, and musters muttering thunder, In clouds that seem approaching fast, and show In forked flashes a commanding tempest. Will you then quit the palace ? SARDANAPALUS. Tempest, sayst thou ? MYRRHA. Ay, my good lord. SARD AN AP A L US. For my own part, I should be Not ill content to vary the smooth scene, And watch the warring elements ; but this Would little suit the silken garments and Smooth faces of our festive friends.' Say, Myrrha, Art thou of those who dread the roar of clouds ? MYRRHA. In my own country we respect their voices As auguries of Jove. 76 SARDANAPALUS, ACT II. SARDANAPALUS. Jove — ay, your Baal — Ours also has a property in thunder, And ever and anon some falling bolt Proves his divinity, and yet sometimes Strike his own altars. MYRRHA. That were a dread omen. SARDANAPALUS. Yes — for the priests. Well, we will not go forth Beyond the palace walls to-night, but make Our feast within. MYRRHA. Now, Jove be praised ! that he Hath heard the prayer thou wouldst not hear. The gods Are kinder to thee than thou to thyself, And flash this storm between thee and thy foes, To shield thee from them. SARDANAPALUS. Child, if there be peril, Methinks it is the same within these walls As on the river's brink. MYRRHA. Not so ; these walls Are high and strong, and guarded. Treason has To penetrate through many a winding way, And massy portal ; but in the pavilion There is no bulwark. SARDANAPALUS. No, nor in the palace, SC. I. A TRAGEDY. " 77 Nor in the fortress, nor upon the top Of cloud-fenced Caucasus, where the eagle sits Nested in pathless clefts, if treachery be : Even as the arrow finds the airy king, The steel will reach the earthly. But be calm : The men, or innocent or guilty, are Banish'd, and farupon their way. MYRRHA. They live, then ? SARDANAPALUS. So sanguinary ? Thou ! MYRRHA. I would not shrink From just infliction of due punishment Oh those who seek your life : wer 't otherwise, I should not merit mine. Besides, you heard The princely Salemenes. SARDANAPALUS. This is strange; The gentle and the austere are both against me, And urge me to revenge. MYRRHA. 'Tis a Greek virtue. SARDANAPALUS. But not a kingly one — I '11 none on 't ; or If ever I indulge in 't, it shall be With kings — my equals. MYRRHA. These men sought to be so. 78 SARDANAPALUS, ACT II. SARDANAPALUS. Myrrha, this is too feminine, and springs From fear MYRRHA. For you. SARDANAPALUS. No matter — still 'tis fear. I have observed your sex, once roused to wrath, Are timidly vindictive to a pitch Of perseverance, which I would not copy. I thought you were exempt from this, as from The childish helplessness of Asian women. MYRRHA. My lord, I am no boaster of my love, Nor of my attributes ; I have shared your splendour, And will partake your fortunes. You may live To find one slave more true than subject myriads; But this the gods avert ! I am content To be beloved on trust for what I feel, Rather than prove it to you in your griefs, Which might not yield to any cares of mine. SARDANAPALUS. Griefs cannot come where perfect, love exists, Except to heighten it, and vanish from That which it could not scare away. Let 's in — The hour approaches, and we must prepare To meet the invited guests, who grace our feast. [Exeunt. ACT III. A TRAGEDY. . 79 ACT III. SCENE I. The Hall of the Palace illuminated — Sardanapalus and his Guests at Table — A Storm without, and Thunder occasionally heard during the Banquet. SARDANAPALUS. Fill full ! Why this is as it should be : here Is my true realm, amidst bright eyes and faces Happy as fair! Here sorrow cannot reach. ZAMES. Nor elsewhere — where the king is, pleasure sparkles. SARDANAPALUS. Is not this better now than Nimrod's huntings, Or my wild grandam's chase in search of kingdoms She could not keep when conquer'd ? ALTADA. Mighty though They were, as all thy royal line have been, Yet none of those who went before have reached The acme of Sardanapalus, who Has placed his joy in peace — the sole true glory. SARDANAPALUS. And pleasure, good Altada, to which glory Is but the path. What is it that we seek ? Enjoyment ! We have cut the way short to it, 80 SARDANAPALUS, ACT ill. And not gone tracking it through human ashes, Making a grave with every footstep. ZAMES. No; All hearts are happy, and all voices bless The king of peace, who holds a world in jubilee. SARDANAPALUS. Art sure of that ? I have heard otherwise ; Some say that there be traitors. ZAMES. Traitors they Who dare to say so ! — 'Tis impossible. What cause? SARDANAPALUS. What cause ? true, — fill the goblet up ; We will not think, of them : there are none such, Or if there be, they are gone. ALTADA. Guests, to my pledge ! Down on your knees, and drink a measure to The safety of the king — the monarch, say I ? The god Sardanapalus ! [Zames and the Guests kneel, and exclaim — Mightier than His father Baal, the god Sardanapalus ! [It thunders as they kneel; some start up in con- fusion. ZAMES. Why do ye rise, my friends ? In that strong peal His father gods consented. sc. I. A TRAGEDY. 81 MYRRHA. Menaced, rather. King, wilt thou bear this mad impiety? SARDANAPALUS. Impiety ! — nay, if the sires who reign'd Before me can be gods, I '11 not disgrace Their lineage. But arise, my pious friends, Hoard your devotion for the thunderer there : I seek but to be loved, not worshipp'd. ALT AD A. Both— Both you must ever be by all true subjects. SARDANAPALUS. Methinks the thunders still increase : it is An awful night. MYRRHA. Oh yes, for those who have No palace to protect their worshippers. SARDANAPALUS. That 's true, my Myrrha ; and could I convert My realm to one wide shelter for the wretched, I 'd do it. MYRRHA. Thou 'rt no god, then, not to be Able to work a will sa good and general, As thy wish would imply. SARDANAPALUS. And your gods, then, Who can, and do not ? G 82 SAltDANAPALUS, ACT III. MYRRHA. Do not speak of that, Lest we provoke them. SARDANAPALUS. True, they love not censure Better than mortals. Friends, a thought has struck me : Were there no temples, would there, think ye, be Air worshippers ? that is, when it is angry, And pelting as even now. MYRRHA. The Persian prays Upon his mountain. SARDANAPALUS. Yes, when the sun shines. MYRRHA. And I would ask if this your palace were Unroof ""d and desolate, how many flatterers Would lick the dust in which the king lay low ? ALTADA. The fair Ionian is too sarcastic Upon a nation whom she knows not well ; The Assyrians know no pleasure but their king's, And homage is their pride. SARDANAPALUS. Nay, pardon, guests, The fair Greek's readiness of speech. ALTADA. Pardon! sire: We honour her of all things next to thee. Hark ! what was that ? SC. I. A TRAGEDY. 83 ZAMES. That ! nothing but the jar Of distant portals shaken by the wind. ALTADA. It sounded like the clash of — hark again ! ZAMES. The big rain pattering on the roof. SARDANAPALUS. No more. Myrrha, my love, hast thou thy shell in order ? Sing me a song of Sappho, her, thou know'st, Who in thy country threw Enter Pania, with his Sword and Garments bloody, and disordered. The Guests rise in confusion. pania (to the Guards). Look to the portals ; And with your best speed to the wall without. Your arms ! To arms ! The king 's in danger. Monarch ! Excuse this haste, — 'tis faith. SARDANAPALUS. Speak on. PANIA. It is As Salemenes fear'd ; the faithless satraps SARDANAPALUS. You are wounded— give some wine. Take breath, good Pania. g2 84 SAEDANAPALUS, ACT III. PANIA. 'Tis nothing — a mere flesh wound. I am worn More with my speed to warn my sovereign, Than hurt in his defence. MYRRHA. Well, sir, the rebels. PANIA. Soon as Arbaces and Beleses reach'd Their stations in the city, they refused To march ; and on my attempt to use the power Which I was delegated with, they calTd Upon their troops, who rose in fierce defiance. MYRRHA. All? PANIA. Too many. SARDANAPALUS. Spare not of thy free speech To spare mine ears the truth. PANIA. My own slight guard Were faithful — and what 's left of it is still so. MYRRHA. And are these all the force still faithful ? PANIA. Nc The Bactrians, now led on by Salemenes, Who even then was on his way, still urged By strong suspicion of the Median chiefs, sc. I. A TRAGEDY. 85 Are numerous, and make strong head against The rebels, fighting inch by inch, and forming An orb around the palace, where they mean To centre all their force, and save the king. [He hesitates.) I am charged to MYRRHA. 'Tis no time for hesitation. PANIA. Prince Salemenes doth implore the king To arm himself, although but for a moment, And show himself unto the soldiers : his Sole presence in this instant might do more Than hosts can do in his behalf. SARDANAPALUS. What, ho ! My armour there. MYRRHA. And wilt thou ? SARDANAPALUS. Will I not? Ho, there ! — But seek not for the buckler ; 'tis Too heavy : — a light cuirass and my sword. Where are the rebels ? PANIA. r Scarce a furlong's length From the outward wall, the fiercest conflict rages. SARDANAPALUS. Then I may charge on horseback. Sfero, ho ! Order my horse out. — There is space enough 86 SARDANAPALUS, ACT III. Even in our courts, and by the outer gate, To martial half the horsemen of Arabia. [Exit Sfeko for the armour. MYRRHA. How I do love thee ! SARDANAPALUS. I ne'er doubted it. ' MYRRHA. But now I know thee. sardanapalus (to his Attendant). Bring down my spear, too. — Where's Salemenes? pania. Where a soldier should be, In the thick of the fight. SARDANAPALUS. Then hasten to him Is The path still open, and communication Left 'twixt the palace and the phalanx ? PANIA. 'Twas When I late left him, and I have no fear : Our troops were steady, and the phalanx form'd. SARDANAPALUS. Tell him to spare his person for the present, And that I will not spare my own — and say, I come. PANIA. There 's victory in the very word. [Exit Pania. SC. I. A TRAGEDY. 87 SARDANAPALUS. Altada — Zames — forth, and arm ye ! There Is all in readiness in the armoury. See that the women are bestow'd in safety In the remote apartments : let a guard Be set before them, with strict charge to quit The post but with their lives — command it, Zames. Altada, arm yourself, and return here ; Your post is near our person. [Exeunt Zames, Altada, and all save Myrrha. Enter Sfero and others zoith the King's Arms, fyc. SFERO. King ! your armour. sardanapalus {arming himself). Give me the cuirass — so : my baldric ; now My sword : I had forgot the helm, where is it ? That 's well — no, 'tis too heavy : you mistake, too — It was not this I meant, but that which bears A diadem around it. SFERO. Sire, I deem'd That too conspicuous from the precious stones To risk your sacred brow beneath — and, trust me, This is of better metal, though less rich . SARDANAPALUS. You deem'd ! Are you too turn'd a rebel ? Fellow ! Your part is to obey: return, and — no— It is too late — I will so forth without it. 88 SARDANAPALUS, ACT III. SFERO. At least wear this. SARDANAPALUS. Wear Caucasus ! why, 'tis A mountain on my temples. SFERO. Sire, the meanest Soldier goes not forth thus exposed to battle. All men will recognize you — for the storm Has ceased, and the moon breaks forth in her brightness. SARDANAPALUS. I go forth to be recognized, and thus Shall be so sooner. Now — my spear ! I 'm arm'd. \_In going stops short, and turns to Sfero. Sfero — I had forgotten — bring the mirror # . SFERO. The mirror, sire ? SARDANAPALUS. Yes, sir, of polish'd brass, Brought from the spoils of India — but be speedy. [Exit Sfero. SARDANAPALUS. Myrrha, retire unto a place of safety. Why went you not forth with the other damsels ? MYRRHA. Because my place is here. * " Such the mirror Otho held In the Illyrian field." — See Juvenal. SC. I. A TRAGEDY. 89 SARDANAPALUS. And when I am gone- MYRRHA. I follow. SARDANAPALUS. You! to battle? MYRRHA. If it were so, 'Twere not the first Greek girl had trod the path. I will await here your return. SARDANAPALUS. The place Is spacious, and the first to be sought out, If they prevail ; and, rf it should be so, And I return not MYRRHA. Still, we meet again. SARDANAPALUS. How ? MYRRHA. In the spot where all must meet at last — In Hades ! if there be, as I believe, A shore beyond the Styx ; and if there be not, In ashes. SARDANAPALUS. Dar'st thou so much ? MYRRHA. I dare all things Except survive what I have loved, to be A rebel's booty : forth, and do your bravest. 90 SARDANAPALUS, ACT III. Re-enter Sfero with the mirror. sardanapalus (looking at himself). This cuirass fits me well, the baldric better, And the helm not at all. Methinks, I seem [Flings away the helmet after trying it again. Passing well in these toys ; and now to prove them. Altada ! Where 's Altada ? SFERO. Waiting, sire, Without : he has your shield in readiness. SARDANAPALUS. True ; I forgot he is my shield-bearer By right of blood, derived from age to age. Myrrha, embrace me ; yet once more — once more — Love me, whate'er betide. My chiefest glory Shall be to make me worthier of your love. MYRRHA. Go forth, and conquer ! [Exit Sardanapalus and Sfero. Now, I am alone. All are gone forth, and of that all how few Perhaps return. Let him but vanquish, and Me perish ! If he vanquish not, I perish ; For I will not outlive him. He has wound About my heart, I know not how nor why. Not for that he is king ; for now his kingdom Rocks underneath his throne, and the earth yawns To yield him no more of it than a grave ; SC. I. A TRAGEDY. 91 And yet I love him more. Oh, mighty Jove ! Forgive this monstrous love for a barbarian, Who knows not of Olympus : yes, I love him Now, now, far more than Hark — to the war shout ! Methinks it nears me. If it should be so, [She draws forth a small vial. This cunning Colchian poison, which my father Learn'd to compound on Euxine shores, and taught me How to preserve, shall free me ! It had freed me Long ere this hour, but that I loved, until I half forgot I was a slave : — where all Are slaves save one, and proud of servitude, So Uiey are served in turn by something lower In the degree of bondage, we forget That shackles worn like ornaments no less Are chains. Again that shout ! and now the clash Of arms — and now — and now — Enter Altada. ALTADA. Ho, Sfero, ho ! MYRRHA. He is not here ; what wouldst thou with him ? How Goes on the conflict ? r ALTADA. Dubiously and fiercely. MYRRHA. And the king ? 92 SARDANAPALUS, ACT III. ALTADA. Like a king. I must find Sfero, And bring him a new spear and his own helmet. He fights till now bare-headed, and by far Too much exposed. The soldiers knew his face, And the foe too ; and in the moon's broad light, His silk tiara and his flowing hair Make him a mark too royal. Every arrow Is pointed at the fair hair and fair features, And the broad fillet which crowns both. MYRRHA. Ye gods, Who fulmine o'er my father's land, protect him ! Were you sent by the king ? ALTADA. By Salemenes, Who sent me privily upon this charge, Without the knowledge of the careless sovereign. The king ! the king fights as he revels ! ho ! What, Sfero ! I will seek the armoury, He must be there. [Exit Altada. MYRRHA. 'Tis no dishonour — no — 'Tis no dishonour to have loved this man. I almost wish now, what I never wish'd Before, that he were Grecian. If Alcides Were shamed in wearing Lydian Omphale's She-garb, and wielding her vile distaff; surely He, who springs up a Hercules at once, SC. I. A TRAGEDY. 93 Nurs'd in effeminate arts from youth to manhood, And rushes from the banquet to the battle, As though it were a bed of love, deserves That a Greek girl should be his paramour, And a Greek bard his minstrel, a Greek tomb His monument. How goes the strife, sir ? Enter an Officer. OFFICER. Lost, Lost almost past recovery. Zames ! Where Is Zames ? MYRRHA. Posted with the guard appointed To watch before the apartment of the women. [Exit Officer. MYRRHA (solus). He 's gone ; and told no more than that all 's lost \ What need have I to know more ? In those words, Those little words, a kingdom and a king, A line of thirteen ages, and the lives Of thousands, and the fortune of all left With life, are merged ; and I, too, with the great, Like a small bubble breaking with the wave Which bore it, shall be nothing. At the least My fate is in my keeping : no proud victor Shall count me with his spoils. 94) SARDANAPALUS, ACT III. Enter Pania. PANIA. Away with me, Myrrha, without delay ; we must not lose A moment — all that 's left us now. MYRRHA. The king ? PANIA. Sent me here to conduct you hence, beyond The river, by a secret passage. MYRRHA. Then He lives PANIA. And charged me to secure your life, And beg you to live on for his sake, till He can rejoin you. MYRRHA. Will he then give way ? PANIA. Not till the last. Still, still he does whate'er Despair can do ; and step by step disputes The very palace. MYRRHA. They are here, then : — ay, Their shouts come ringing through the ancient halls, Never profaned by rebel echoes till SC. I. A TRAGEDY. 95 This fatal night. Farewell, Assyria's line ! Farewell to all of Nimrod ! Even the name Is now no more. PANIA. Away with me — away ! MYRRHA. No; I'll die here! — Away, and tell your king I loved him to the last. Enter Sardanapalus and Salemenes with Soldiers. Pania quits Myrrha, and ranges himself with them. sardanapalus. Since it is thus, We '11 die where we were born — in our own halls. Serry your ranks — stand firm. I have despatch'd A trusty satrap for the guard of Zames, All fresh and faithful ; they '11 be here anon. , All is not over. — Pania, look to Myrrha. [Pania returns towards Myrrha. SALEMENES. We have breathing time ; yet one more charge, my friends — One for Assyria ! SARDANAPALUS. Rather say for Bactria ! My faithful Bactrians, I will henceforth be King of your nation, and we '11 hold together This realm as province. 96 SARDANAPALUS, ACT III. SALEMENES. Hark ! they come — they come. Enter Beleses and Arbaces with the Rebels. ARBACES. Set on, we have them in the toil. Charge ! Charge ! BELESES. On ! on ! — Heaven fights for us and with us. — On ! [They charge the King and Salemenes with their Troops, who defend themselves till the Arrival of Zames, with the Guard before mentioned. The Rebels are then driven off, and pursued by Sale- menes, fyc. As the King is going to join the pursuit, Beleses crosses him. beleses. Ho ! tyrant — J will end this war. SARDANAPALUS. Even so, My warlike priest, and precious prophet, and Grateful and trusty subject : — yield, I pray thee. I would reserve thee for a fitter doom, Rather than dip my hands in holy blood. beleses. Thine hour is come. SARDANAPALUS. No, thine. — I, 've lately read, Though but a young astrologer, the stars ; And ranging round the zodiac, found thy fate SC. I. A TRAGEDY. . 97 In the sign of the Scorpion, which proclaims That thou wilt now be crush'd. BELESES. But not by thee. [They fight ; Beleses is wounded and disarmed. Sardanapalus (raising his sword to despatch him, ex- claims — ) Now call upon thy planets, will they shoot From the sky to preserve their seer and credit ? [A Party of Rebels enter and rescue Beleses. They assail the King, who, in turn, is rescued by a Party of his Soldiers, who drive the Rebels off. The villain was a prophet after all. Upon them — ho ! there — victory is ours. [Exit in pursuit, MYRRHA (tO PANIA). Pursue ! Why stand'st thou here, and leavest the ranks Of fellow-soldiers conquering without thee ? PANIA. The king's command was not to quit thee. MYRRHA. Me! Think not of me — a single soldier's arm Must not be wanting now. I ask no guard, I need no guard : what, with a world at stake, Keep watch upon a woman ? Hence, 1 say, Or thou art shamed ! Nay, then, / will go forth, A feeble female, 'midst their desperate strife, And bid thee guard me time — where thou shouldst shield Thy sovereign. . [Exit Myrrh a. ii 98 SAItDANAFALUS, ACT III. PANIA. Yet stay, damsel ! She is gone. If aught of ill betide her, better I Had lost my life. Sardanapalus holds her Far dearer than his kingdom, yet he fights For that too; and can I do less than him, Who never fleshM'a scimitar till now ? Myrrha, return, and I obey you, though In disobedience to the monarch. [Exit Pania. Enter Alt ad a and Sfero, by an opposite door. ' ALTADA. Myrrha ! What, gone? yet she was here when the fight raged, And Pania also. Can aught have befallen them ? SFERO. I saw both safe, when late the rebels fled : They probably are but retired to make Their way back to the harem. ALTADA. If the king Prove victor, as it seems even now he must, And miss his own Ionian, we are doom'd To worse than captive rebels. SFERO. Let us trace them ; She cannot be fled far; and, found, she makes A richer prize to our soft sovereign Than his recover'd kingdom. SC. I. A TRAGEDY. 99 ALTADA. Baal himself Ne'er fought more fiercely to win empire, than His silken son to save it : he defies All augury of foes or friends ; and like The close and sultry summer's day, which bodes A twilight tempest, bursts forth in such thunder As sweeps the air and deluges the earth. The man 's inscrutable. SFERO. Not more than others. All are the sons of circumstance ; away — Let 's seek the slave out, or prepare to be Tortured for his infatuation, and Condemn'd without a crime. [Exeunt. Enter Salemenes and Soldiers, fyc. SALEMENES. The triumph is Flattering : they are beaten backward from the palace, And we have open'd regular access To the troops station'd on the other side Euphrates, who may still be true ; nay, must be, When they hear of our victory. But where Is the chief victor ? where 's the king ? Enter Sardanapalus, cum suis, fyc. and Myrrh a. SARDANAPALUS. Here, brother. h2 100 SARDANAPALUS, ACT III. SALEMENES. Unhurt, I hope. SARDANAPALUS. Not quite ; but let it pass. We Ve clear' d the palace SALEMENES. And I trust the city. Our numbers gather ; and I have order'd onward A cloud of Parthians, hitherto reserved, All fresh and fiery, to be pour'd upon them In their retreat, which soon will be a flight. SARDANAPALUS. It is already, or at least they march'd Faster than I could follow with my Bactrians, Who spared no speed. I am spent ; give me a seat. SALEMENES. There stands the throne, sire. SARDANAPALUS. 'Tis no place to rest on, For mind nor body ; let me have a couch, {They place a seat. A peasant's stool, I care not what : so — now I breathe more freely. SALEMENES. This great hour has proved The brightest and most glorious of your life. SARDANAPALUS. And the most tiresome. Where 's my cup-bearer ? Bring me some water. SC. I. A TRAGEDY. . 101 salemenes (smiling). 'Tis the first time he Ever had such an order : even I, Your most austere of counsellors, would now Suggest a purpler beverage. SARDANAPALUS. Blood — doubtless. But there 's enough of that shed ; as for wine, I have learn'd to-night the price of the pure element : Thrice have I drank of it, and thrice renew'd, With greater strength than the grape ever gave me, My charge upon the rebels. Where 's the soldier Who gave me water in his helmet ? ONE OF THE GUARDS. Slain, sire ! An arrow pierced his brain, while, scattering The last drops from his helm, he stood in act To place it on his brows. SARDANAPALUS. Slain ! unrewarded ! And slain to serve my thirst : that 's hard, poor slave ! Had he but lived, I would have gorged him with Gold: all the gold of earth could ne'er repay The pleasure of that draught ; for I was parch'd As I am now. r {They bring water — he drinks. I live again — from henceforth The goblet I reserve for hours of love, But war on water. SALEMENES. And that bandage, sire, Which girds your arm ? 102 SARDANAPALUS, ACT III. SARDANAPALUS. A scratch from brave Beleses. MYRRHA. Oh ! he is wounded ! SARDANAPALUS. Not too much of that ; And yet it feels a little stiff and painful, Now I am cooler. MYRRHA. You have bound it with SARDANAPALUS. The fillet of my diadem : the first time That ornament was ever aught to me Save an incumbrance. myrrha (to the Attendants). Summon speedily A leech of the most skilful : pray, retire ; I will unbind your wound and tend it. SARDANAPALUS. Do so, For now it throbs sufficiently : but what Know'st thou of wounds ? yet wherefore do I ask. Know'st thou, my brother, where I lighted on This minion ? SALEMENES. Herding with the other females, Like frighten'd antelopes. SARDANAPALUS. No : like the dam Of the young lion, femininely raging, (And femininely meaneth furiously, sc. I. A TRAGEDY. - 103 Because all passions in excess are female,) Against the hunter flying with her cub, She urged on with her voice and gesture, and Her floating hair and flashing eyes, the soldiers In the pursuit. SALEMENES. Indeed ! SAHDANAPALUS. You see, this night Made warriors of more than me. I paused To look upon her, and her kindled cheek ; Her large black eyes, that flash'd through her long hair As it stream'd o'er her ; her blue veins that rose Along her most transparent brow ; her nostril Dilated from its symmetry ; her lips Apart ; her voice that clove through all the din, As a lutes pierceth through the cymbal's clash, Jarr'd but not drown' d by the loud brattling; her Waved arms, more dazzling with their own born whiteness Than the steel her hand held, which she caught up From a dead soldier's grasp ; all these things made Her seem unto the troops a prophetess Of victory, or Victory herself, Come down to hail us hers. salemenes {aside). This is too much. Again the love-fit 's on him, and all 's lost, Unless we turn his thoughts. {Aloud.) But pray thee, sire, Think of your wound — you said even now 'twas painful. 104 ' SARDANAPALUS, ACT III. SARDANAPALUS. That's true, too ; but I must not think of it. SALEMENES. I have look'd to all things needful, and will now Receive reports of progress made in such Orders as I had given, and then return To hear your further pleasure. SARDANAPALUS. Be it so. salemenes (in retiring). Myrrha ! • myrrha. Prince. SALEMENES. You have shown a soul to-night, Which, were he not my sister's lord But now I have no time : thou lov'st the king ? MYRRHA. I love Sardanapalus. SALEMENES. But wouldst have him king still ? MYRRHA. I would not have him less than what he should be. SALEMENES. Well, then, to have him king, and yours, and all He should, or should not be ; to have him live, Let him not sink back into luxury. You have more power upon his spirit than SC. I. A TRAGEDY. - 105 Wisdom within these walls, or fierce rebellion Raging without : look well that he relapse not. MYRRHA. There needed not the voice of Salemenes To urge me on to this : I will not fail. All that a woman's weakness can SALEMENES. Is power Omnipotent o'er such a heart as his ; Exert it wisely. [Exit Salemenes. SARDANAPALUS. Myrrha ! what, at whispers With my stern brother ? I shall soon be jealous. myrrha {smiling). You have cause, sire ; for on the earth there breathes not A man more worthy of a woman's love — A soldier's trust — a subject's reverence — A king's esteem — the whole world's admiration ! SARDANAPALUS. Praise him, but not so warmly. I must not Hear those sweet lips grow eloquent in aught That throws me into shade ; yet you speak truth. MYRRHA. And now retire, to have your wound look'd to. Pray, lean on me. SARDANAPALUS. Yes. love ! but not from pain. [Exeunt onirics. 106 SARDANAPALUS, ACT IV. ACT IV. SCENE I. Sardanapalus discovered sleeping upon a Couch and occasionally disturbed in his Slumbers, zvith Myrrha watching. myrrha {sola, gazing.) I have stolen upon his rest, if rest it be, Which thus convulses slumber : shall I wake him? No, he seems calmer. Oh, thou God of Quiet! Whose reign is o'er seal'd eyelids and soft dreams, Or deep, deep sleep, so as to be unfathom'd, Look like thy brother, Death — so still — so stirless — For then we are happiest, as it may be, we Are happiest of all within the realm Of thy stern, silent, and un wakening twin. Again he moves — again the play of pain Shoots o'er his features, as the sudden gust Crisps the reluctant lake that lay so calm Beneath the mountain shadow; or the blast Ruffles the autumn leaves, that drooping cling Faintly and motionless to their loved boughs. I must awake him — yet not yet : who knows From what I rouse him ? It seems pain ; but if I quicken him to heavier pain? The fever Of this tumultuous night, the grief too of SC. I. A TRAGEDY. 107 His wound, though slight, may cause all this, and shake Me more to see than him to suffer. No : Let Nature use her own maternal means, — And I await to second not disturb her. sardanapalus (awakening). Not so — although ye multiplied the stars, And gave them to me as a realm to share From you and with you ! I would not so purchase The empire of eternity. Hence — hence — Old hunter of the earliest brutes ! and ye, Who hunted fellow-creatures as if brutes ; Once bloody mortals — and now bloodier idols, If your priests lie not ! And thou, ghastly beldame ! Dripping with dusky gore, and trampling on The carcasses of Inde — away! away! Where am I ? Where the spectres ? Where No — that Is no false phantom : I should know it 'midst All that the dead dare gloomily raise up From their black gulf to daunt the living. Myrrha ! MYRRHA. Alas ! thou art pale, and on thy brow the drops Gather like night dew. My beloved, hush — Calm thee. Thy speech seems of another world, And thou art loved of this. Be of good cheer ; All will go well. SARDANAPALUS., Thy hand — so — 'tis thy hand; 'Tis flesh; grasp — clasp — yet closer, till I feel Myself that which I was. 108 SAItDANAPALUS, ACT IV. MYRRHA. At least know me For what I am, and ever must be — thine. SARDANAPALUS. I know it now. I know this life again. Ah, Myrrha ! I have been where we shall be. MYRRHA. My lord ! SARDANAPALUS. I 've been i' the grave — where worms are lords, And kings are But I did not deem it so ; I thought 'twas nothing. MYRRHA. So it is ; except Unto the timid, who anticipate That which may never be. SARDANAPALUS. Oh, Myrrha! if Sleep shows such things, what may not death disclose ? MYRRHA. I know no evil death can show, which life Has not already shown to those who live Embodied longest. If there be indeed A shore, where mind survives, 'twill be as mind, All unincorporate : or if there flits A shadow of this cumbrous clog of clay, Which stalks, methinks, between our souls and heaven, And fetters us to earth — at least the phantom, Whate'er it have to fear, will not fear death. SC. I. A TRAGEDY. 109 SARDANAPALUS. I fear it not ; but I have felt — have seen — A legion of the dead. MYRRHA. And so have I. The dust we tread upon was once alive, And wretched. But proceed : what hast thou seen ? Speak it, 'twill lighten thy dimm'd mind. SARDANAPALUS. Methought MYRRHA. Yet pause, thou art tired — in pain — exhausted ; all Which can impair both strength and spirit : seek Rather to sleep again. SARDANAPALUS. Not now — I would not Dream ; though I know it now to be a dream What I have dreamt : — and canst thou bear to hear it ? MYRRHA. I can bear all things, dreams of life or death, Which I participate with you, in semblance Or full reality. SARDANAPALUS. And this look'd real, I tell you : after that these eyes were open, I saw them in their flight — for then they fled. MYRRHA. Say on. SARDANAPALUS. I saw, that is, I dream'd myself 110 SARDANAPALUS, ACT IV. Here — here — even where we are, guests as we were, Myself a host that deenVd himself but guest, Willing to equal all in social freedom ; But, on my right hand and my left, instead Of thee and Zames, and our custom , d meeting, Was ranged on my left hand a haughty, dark, And deadly faee — I could not recognize it, Yet I had seen it, though I knew not where ; The features were a giant's, and the eye Was still, yet lighted; his long locks curl'd down On his vast bust, whence a huge quiver rose With shaft-heads feather'd from the eagle's wing, That peep'd up bristling through his serpent hair. I invited him to fill the cup which stood Between us, but he answer'd not — I fill'd it — He took it not, but stared upon me, till I trembled at the fix'd glare of his eye ; I frown'd upon him as a king should frown — He frown'd not in his turn, but look'd upon me With the same aspect, which appall'd me more, Because it changed not ; and I turn'd for refuge To milder guests, and sought them on the right, Where thou wert wont to be. But [He pauses MYRRHA. What instead ? SARDANAPALUS. In thy own chair — thy own place in the banquet — I sought thy sweet face in the circle — but Instead — a gray-hair'd, wither'd, bloody-eyed, And bloody-handed, ghastly, ghostly thing, sc. I. A TRAGEDY. Ill Female in garb, and crown'd upon the brow, Furrow'd with years, yet sneering with the passion Of vengeance, leering too with that of lust, Sate^ — my veins curdled. MYRRH A. Is this all ? SARDANAPALUS. Upon Her right hand — her lank, bird-like right hand — stood A goblet, bubbling o'er with blood ; and on Her left, another, fill'd with — what I saw not, But turn'd from it and her. But all along The table sate a range of crowned wretches, Of various aspects, but of one expression. MYRRHA. And felt you not this a mere vision ? SARDANAPALUS. No: - It was so palpable, I could have touclVd them. I turn'd from one face to another, in The hope to find at last one which I knew Ere I saw theirs : but no — all turn'd upon me, And stared, but neither ate nor drank, but stared, Till I grew stone, as they seem'd half to be, Yet breathing stone, for I felt life in them, And life in me : there was a horrid kind Of sympathy between us, as if they Had lost a part of death to come to me, And I the half of life to sit by them. We were in an existence all apart 112 SARDANAPALUS, ACT IV. From heaven or earth And rather let me see Death all than such a being ! MYRRH A. And the end ? SARDANAPALUS. At last I sate marble as they, when rose The hunter, and the crew ; and smiling on me — Yes, the enlarged but noble aspect of The hunter smiled upon me — I should say, His lips, for his eyes moved not — and the woman's Thin lips relax'd to something like a smile. Both rose, and the crown'd figures on each hand Rose also, as if aping their chief shades — Mere mimics even in death — but I sate still : A desperate courage crept through every limb, And at the last I fear'd them not, but laugh'd Full in their phantom faces. But then — then The hunter laid his hand on mine : I took it, And grasp'd it — but it melted from my own, While he too vanish'd, and left nothing but The memory of a hero, for he look'd so. MYRRHA. And was : the ancestors of heroes, too, And thine no less. SARDANAPALUS. Ay, Myrrha, but the woman, The female who remain'd, she flew upon me, And burnt my lips up with her noisome kisses, And, flinging down the goblets on each hand, Methought their poisons flow'd around us, till SC. I. A TRAGEDY, . 113 Each form'd a hideous river. Still she clung ; The other phantoms, like a row of statues, Stood dull as in our temples, but she still Embraced me, while I shrunk from her, as if, In lieu of her remote descendant, I Had been the son who slew her for her incest. Then — then — a chaos of all loathsome things Throng'd thick and shapeless : I was dead, yet feeling- Buried, and raised again — consumed by worms, Purged by the flames, and wither'd in the air ! I can fix nothing further of my thoughts, Save that I long'd for thee, and sought for thee, In all these agonies, and woke and found thee. MYRRHA. So shalt thou find me ever at thy side, Here and hereafter, if the last may be. But think not of these things — the mere creations Of late events acting upon a frame Unused to toil, yet over-wrought by toil Such as might try the sternest. SARDANAPALUS. I am better. Now that I see thee once more, what was seen Seems nothing. Enter Salemenes. SALEMENES. Is the king so soon awake ? 114 SARDANAPALUS, ACT IV. SARDANAPALUS. Yes, brother, and I would I had not slept ; For all the predecessors of our line Rose up, methought, to drag me down to them. My father was amongst them, too ; but he, I know not why, kept from me, leaving me Between the hunter-founder of our race, And her, the homicide and husband-killer, Whom you call glorious. SALEMENES. So I term you also, Now you have shown a spirit like to hers. By day-break I propose that we set forth, And charge once more the rebel crew, who still Keep gathering head, repulsed, but not quite quelTd. SARDANAPALUS. How wears the night ? SALEMENES. There yet remain some hours Of darkness : use them for your further rest. SARDANAPALUS. No, not to-night, if 'tis not gone : methought I pass'd hours in that vision. MYRRHA. Scarcely one ; I watch'd by you : it was a heavy hour, But an hour only. SARDANAPALUS. Let us then hold council ; To-morrow we set forth. SC. I. A TRAGEDY. 115 SALEMENES. But ere that time, I had a grace to seek. SARDANAPALUS. 'Tis granted. SALEMENES. Hear it Ere you reply too readily ; and 'tis For your ear only. MYRRHA. Prince, I take my leave. ' [Exit Myrrha. SALEMENES. That slave deserves her freedom. SARDANAPALUS. Freedom only ! That slave deserves to share a throne. SALEMENES. Your patience — 'Tis not yet vacant, and 'tis of its partner I come to speak with you. SARDANAPALUS. How ! of the queen ? SALEMENES. Even so. I judged it "fitting for their safety, That, ere the dawn, she sets forth with her children For Paphlagonia, where our kinsman Cotta Governs ; and there at all events secure My nephews and your sons their lives, and with them Their just pretensions to the crown in case i2 116 SARDANAPALUS, ACT IV. SARDANAPALUS. I perish — as is probable : well thought — Let them set forth with a sure escort. SALEMENES. That Is all provided, and the galley ready To drop down the Euphrates; but ere they Depart, will you not see SARDANAPALUS. My sons ? It may Unman my heart, and the poor boys will weep ; And what can I reply to comfort them, Save with some hollow hopes, and ill- worn smiles ?.' You know I cannot feign. SALEMENES. But you can feel ; At least, I trust so : in a word, the queen Requests to see you ere you part — for ever. SARDANAPALUS. Unto what end ? what purpose ? I will grant Aught — all that she can ask — but such a meeting- SALEMENES. You know, or ought to know, enough of women,. Since you have studied them so steadily, That what they ask in aught that touches on The heart, is dearer to their feelings or Their fancy, than the whole external world. I think as you do of my sister's wish ; But 'twas her wish — she is my sister — you Her husband — will you grant it ? sc. I. A TRAGEDY. 117 SARDANAPALUS. 'Twill be useless : But let her come. SALEMENES. I go. [Exit Salemenes. SARDANAPALUS. We have lived asunder Too long to meet again — and now to meet ! Have I not cares enow, and pangs enow, To bear alone, that we must mingle sorrows, Who have ceased to mingle love ? Re-enter Salemenes and Zarina. salemenes. My sister ! Courage : Shame not our blood with trembling, but remember From whence we sprung. The queen is present, sire. zarina. I pray thee, brother, leave me. salemenes. Since you ask it. [Exit Salemenes, zarina. Alone with him ! Hew many a year has past, Though we are still so young, since we have met, Which I have worn in widowhood of heart. He loved me not : yet he seems little changed — Changed to me only — would the change were mutual! 118 SARDANAPALUS, ACT IV. He speaks not — scarce regards me — not a word — Nor look — yet he was soft of voice and aspect, Indifferent, not austere. My lord ! SARDANAPALUS. Zarina ! ZARINA. No, not Zarina — do not say Zarina. That tone — that word — annihilate long years. And things which make them longer. SARDANAPALUS. 'Tis too late To think of these past dreams. Let 's not reproach—*- That is, reproach me not — for the last time— — ZARINA. And first. I ne'er reproach'd you. SARDANAPALUS. 'Tis most true ; And that reproof comes heavier on my heart Than But our hearts are not in our own power. ZARINA. Nor hands ; but I gave both. SARDANAPALUS. Your brother said, It was your will to see me, ere you went From Nineveh with {He hesitates). ZARINA. Our children : it is true. I wish'd to thank you that you have not divided My heart from all that 's left it now to love — SC I. A TRAGEDY. 119 Those who are yours and mine, who look like you, And look upon me as you look'd upon me Once But they have not changed. SARDANAPALUS. Nor ever will. I fain would have them dutiful. ZARINA. I cherish Those infants, not alone from the blind love Of a fond mother, but as a fond woman. They are now the only tie between us. SARDANAPALUS. Deem not I have not done you justice: rather make them liesemble your own line, than their own sire. I trust them with you — to you : fit them for A throne, or, if that be denied You have heard Of this night's tumults ? ZARINA. I had half forgotten, And could have welcomed any grief, save yours, Which gave me to behold your face again. SARDANAPALUS. The throne — I say it not in fear — but 'tis In peril ; they perhaps may never mount it : But let them not for this lose sight of it. I will dare all things to bequeath it them ; But if I fail, then they must win it back Bravely — and, won, wear it wisely, not as I Have wasted down my royalty. 120 SARDANAPALUS, . ACT IV ZARINA. They ne'er Shall know from me of aught but what may honour Their father's memory. SARDANAPALUS. Rather let them hear The truth from you than from a trampling world. If they be in adversity, they '11 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. ZARINA. 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 SARDANAPALUS. 'Tis lost, all earth will cry out thank your father ! And they will swell the echo with a curse. ZARINA. 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. SARDANAPALUS. Our annals draw perchance unto their close ; But at the least, whate'er the past, their end Shall be like their beginning — memorable. SC. I. A TRAGEDY. 121 ZARINA. Yet, be not rash — be careful of your life, Live but for those who love. SARDANAPALUS. And who are they ? A slave, who loves from passion — I '11 not say Ambition — she has seen thrones shake, and loves ; A few friends, who have revell'd 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 ZARINA. Who loves. SARDANAPALUS. And pardons ? ZARINA. I have never thought of this, And cannot pardon till I have condemn'd. SARDANAPALUS. My wife ! ZARINA. Now blessings on thee for that word ! I never thought to hear it more — from thee. SARDANAPALUS. Oh! thou wilt hear it from my subjects. Yes — These slaves, whom I have nurtured, pamper'd, fed, And swoln with peace, and gorged with plenty, till They reign themselves — all monarchs in their mansions — Now swarm forth in rebellion, and demand His death, who made their lives a jubilee ; 122 SARDANAPALUS, ACT IV. While the few upon whom I have no claim Are faithful! This is true, yet monstrous. ZARINA. 'Tis Perhaps too natural ; for benefits Turn poison in bad minds. SARDANAPALUS. And good ones make Good out of evil. Happier than the bee, Which hives not but from Avholesome flowers. ZARINA. Then reap The honey, nor inquire whence 'tis derived. B satisfied — you are not all abandon'd. SARDANAPALUS. 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 ? ZARINA. I know not. But yet live for my — that is, Your children's sake ! SARDANAPALUS. My gentle, wrong'd 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 form'd To prize a love like thine, a mind like thine, SC. I. A TRAGEDY. 123 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 All that look'd like a chain for me or others, (This even rebellion must avouch); yet hear These words, perhaps among my last — that none Ere valued more thy virtues, though he knew not To profit by them — as the miner lights 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. ZARINA. Oh ! if thou hast at length Discover'd 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 '11 find A world out of our own — and be more blest Than I have ever been, or thou, with all An empire to indulge thee. Enter Salemenes: SALEMENES. I must part ye — The moments, which must not be lost, are passing. 1^4 SARDANAPALUS, ACT IV. ZARINA. Inhuman brother ! wilt thou thus weigh out Instants so high and blest ? SALEMENES. Blest ! ZARINA. He hath been So gentle with me, that I cannot think Of quitting. SALEMENES. 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. ZARINA. Not be? SALEMENES. Remain, and perish ZARINA. With my husband SALEMENES. And children. ZARINA. Alas I SALEMENES. Hear me, sister, like 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 : SC. I. A TRAGEDY. 125 The rebels would do more to seize upon The offspring of their sovereign, and so crush ZARINA. Ah ! do not name it. SALEMENES. Well, then, mark me : when They are safe beyond the Median's grasp, the rebels Have miss'd their chief aim — the extinction of The line of Nimrod. Though the present king Fall, his sons live for victory and vengeance. ZARINA. But could not I remain, alone ? SALEMENES. What! leave Your children, with two parents and yet orphans — In a strange land — so young, so distant ? ZARINA. No— My heart will break. SALEMENES. Now you know all— decide. SARDANAPALUS. 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. SALEMENES. The time presses. 126 SARDANAPALUS, ACT IV. SARDANAPALUS. 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 remann'd myself. My brother, Lead her away. ZARINA. Oh, God ! I never shall Behold him more! salemenes (striving to conduct he?'). Nay, sister, I must be obey'd. ZARINA. I must remain — away ! you shall not hold me. What, shall he die alone ? — I live alone ? SALEMENES. He shall not die alone ; but lonely you Have lived for years. ZARINA. That's false! I knew he lived, And lived upon his image — let me go ! SC. I. A TRAGEDY. 127 salemenes [conducting her off the s^age). Nay, then, I must use some fraternal force, Which you will pardon. ZARINA. Never. Help me ! Oh ! Sardanapalus, wilt thou thus behold me Torn from thee? SALEMENES. Nay — then all is lost again, If that this moment is not gainM. ZARINA. My brain turns — My eyes fail — where is he ? [She faints. sardanapalus (advancing). No — set her down — She 's dead — and you have slain her. SALEMENES. 'Tis the mere Faintness of o'er-wrought passion : in the air She will recover. Pray, keep back. — [Aside.] I must Avail myself of this sole moment to Bear her to where her children are embark'd, I' the royal galley on the river. [Salemenes bears her off.. SARDANAPALUS (solus). This, too — And this too must I suffer — I, who never Inflicted purposely on human hearts A voluntary pang ! But that is false — 128 SAUDANAPALUS, ACT IV. 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 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 ! Enter Myrrha. SARDANAPALUS. You here ! Who calfd you ? MYRRHA. No one — but I heard Far off a voice of wail and lamentation, And thought SARDANAPALUS. It forms no portion of your duties To enter here till sought for. MYRRHA. Though I might, Perhaps, recal some softer words of yours (Although they too were chiding), which reproved me, Because I ever dreaded to intrude ; Resisting my own wish and your injunction SC. I. A TRAGEDY. 129 To heed no time nor presence, but approach you Uncall'd for : I retire. SARDANAPALUS. Yet, stay — being here. I pray you pardon me : events have sour'd me Till I wax peevish — heed it not : I shall Soon be myself again. MYRRHA. I wait with patience, What I shall see with pleasure. SARDANAPALUS. Scarce a moment Before your entrance in this hall, Zarina, Queen of Assyria, departed hence. MYRRHA. Ah! SARDANAPALUS. Wherefore do you start ? MYRRHA. Did I do so ? SARDANAPALUS. 'Twas well you enter'd by another portal, Else you had met. That pang at least is spared her! MYRRHA. I know to feel for her. r SARDANAPALUS. That is too much, And beyond nature — 'tis nor mutual Nor possible. You cannot pity her, Nor she aught but 130 SARDANAPALUS, ACT IV. MYRRHA. Despise the favourite slave ? Not more than I have ever scorn'd myself. SARDANAPALUS. Scorn'd ! what, to be the envy of your sex, And lord it o'er the heart of the world's lord ? MYRRHA. Were you the lord of twice ten thousand worlds — As you are like to lose the one you sway'd — I did abase myself as much in being Your paramour, as though you were a peasant — Nay, more, if that the peasant were a Greek. SARDANAPALUS. You talk it well MYRRHA. And truly. SARDANAPALUS. In the hour Of man's adversity all things grow daring Against the falling ; but as I am not Quite fall'n, nor now disposed to bear reproaches, Perhaps because I merit them too often, Let us then part while peace is still between us. MYRRHA. Part! SARDANAPALUS. Have not all past human beings parted, And must not all the present one day part ? MYRRHA. Why? SC. I. A TRAGEDY. 131 SARDANAPALUS. For your safety, which I will have look'd to, With a strong escort to your native land ; And such gifts, as, if you have not been all A queen, shall make your dowry worth a kingdom. MYRRHA. I pray you talk not thus. SARDANAPALUS. The queen is gone : You need not shame to follow. I would fall Alone — I seek no partners but in pleasure. MYRRHA. And I no pleasure but in parting not. You shall not force me from you. SARDANAPALTS. Think well of it- It soon may be too late. MYRRHA. So let it be ; For then you cannot separate me from you. SARDANAPALUS. And will not ; but I thought you wishM it. MYRRHA. I! SARDANAPALUS. You spoke of your abasement. MYRRHA. And I feel it Deeply — more deeply than all things but love. k 2 132 SAllDANAPALtJS, ACT IV. SARDANAPALUS. Then fly from it. MYRRHA. 'Twill not recal the past — 'Twill not restore my honour, nor my heart. No — here I stand or fall. If that you conquer, I live to joy in your great triumph ; should Your lot be different, I '11 not weep, but share it. You did not doubt me a few hours ago. SARDANAPALUS. Your courage never — nor your love till now ; And none could make me doubt it save yourself. Those words • MYRRHA. Were words. I pray you, let the proofs Be in the past acts you were pleased to praise This very night, and in my further bearing, Beside, wherever you are borne by fate. SARDANAPALUS. I am content ; and, trusting in my cause, Think Ave may yet be victors and return To peace — the only victory I covet. To me war is no glory — conquest no Renown. To be forced thus to uphold my right Sits heavier on my heart than all the wrongs These men would bow me down with. Never, never Can I forget this night, even should I live To add it to the memory of others. I thought to have made mine inoffensive rule SC. I. A TRAGEDY. 133 An era of sweet peace 'midst bloody annals, A green spot amidst desert centuries, On which the future would turn back and smile, And cultivate, or sigh when it could not Recal Sardanapalus' golden reign. I thought to have made my realm a paradise, And every moon an epoch of new pleasures. I took the rabble's shouts for love — the breath Of friends for truth — the lips of woman for My only guerdon — so they are, my Myrrha: \_He kisses her. Kiss me. Now let them take my realm and life 1 They shall have both, but never thee ! MYRRHA. No, never ! Man may despoil his brother man of all That 's great or glittering — kingdoms fall — hosts yield — Friends fail — slaves fly — and all betray — and, more Than all, the most indebted — but a heart That loves without self-love ! 'Tis here — now prove it. Enter Salemenes. SALEMENES. I sought you. — How ! she here again ? SARDANAPALUS. Return not Now to reproof: methinks your aspect speaks Of higher matter than a woman's presence. 134 SARDANAPALUS, ACT IV. SALEMENES. The only woman whom it much imports me At such a moment now is safe in absence — The queen 's embark'd. SARDANAPALUS. And well? say that much. SALEMENES. Yes. Her transient weakness has past o'er ; at least, It settled into tearless silence : her Pale face and glittering eye, after a glance Upon her sleeping children, were still fix'd Upon the palace towers as the swift galley Stole down the hurrying stream beneath the starJight ; But she said nothing. SARDANAPALUS. Would I felt no more Than she has said. SALEMENES. 'Tis now too late to feel ! Your feelings cannot cancel a sole pang; To change them, my advices bring sure tidings That the rebellious Medes and Chaldees, marshall'd By their two leaders, are already up In arms again ; and, serrying their ranks, Prepare to attack : they have apparently Been join'd by other satraps. SARDANAPALUS. What ! more rebels ? Let us be first, then. SC. I. A TRAGEDY. 135 SALEMENES. That were hardly prudent Now, though it was our first intention. If By noon to-morrow we are join'd by those I Ve sent for by sure messengers, we shall be In strength enough to venture an attack, Ay, and pursuit too ; but till then, my voice Is to await the onset. SARDANAPALUS. I detest That waiting; though it seems so safe to fight Behind high walls, and hurl down foes into Deep fosses, or behold them sprawl on spikes Strew'd to receive them, still I like it not — My soul seems lukewarm ; but when I set on them, Though they were piled on mountains, I would have A pluck at them, or perish in hot blood ! — Let me then charge ! SALEMENES. You talk like a young soldier. SARDANAPALUS. I am no soldier, but a man : speak not Of soldiership, I loathe the word, and those Who pride themselves upon it ; but direct me Where I may pour upon them. SALEMENES. « You must spare To expose your life too hastily ; 'tis not Like mine or any other subject's breath : 136 SARDANAPALUS, ACT IV. The whole war turns upon it — with it ; this Alone creates it, kindles, and may quench it — Prolong it — end it. SARDANAPALUS. Then let us end both ! 'Twere better thus, perhaps, than prolong either ; I'm sick of one, perchance of both. \_A trumpet sounds without. SALEMENES. Hark ! SARDANAPALUS. Let US Reply, not listen. SALEMENES. - And your wound ? SARDANAPALUS. 'Tis bound- 'Tis heal'd — I had forgotten it. Away ! A leech's lancet would have scratch 'd me deeper ; The slave that gave it might be well ashamed To have struck so weakly. SALEMENES. Now, may none this hour Strike with a better aim ! SARDANAPALUS. Ay, if we conquer; But if not, they will only leave to me A task they might have spared their king. Upon them ! [Trumpet sounds again. SC. I. A TRAGEDY. _ 137 SALEMENES. I am with you. SARDANAPALUS. Ho, my arms ! again, my arms ! . . [Exeunt. 138 SARDANAPALUS, ACT. v. ACT V. SCENE I. The same Hall of the Palace. MYRRHA and BALEA. myrrha (at a window). The day at last has broken. What a night Hath usher'd it ! How beautiful in heaven ! Though varied with a transitory storm, More beautiful in that variety ! How hideous upon earth ! where peace and hope, And, love and revel, in an hour were trampled By human passions to a human chaos, Not yet resolved to separate elements. — 'Tis warring still ! And can the sun so rise, So bright, so rolling back the clouds into Vapours more lovely than the unclouded sky With golden pinnacles, and snowy mountains, And billows purpler than the ocean's, making In heaven a glorious mockery of the earth, So like we almost deem it permanent ; So fleeting, we can scarcely call it aught Beyond a vision, 'tis so transiently Scatter'd along the eternal vault : and yet It dwells upon the soul, and soothes the soul, SC. I. A TRAGEDY. - 139 And blends itself into the soul, until Sunrise and sunset form the haunted epoch Of sorrow and of love ; which they who mark not, Know not the realms where those twin genii (Who chasten and who purify our hearts, So that we would not change their sweet rebukes For all the boisterous joys that ever shook The air with clamour), build the palaces Where their fond votaries repose and breathe Briefly ; — but in that brief cool calm inhale Enough of heaven to enable them to bear The rest of common, heavy, human hours, And dream them through in placid sufferance ; Though seemingly employ^ like all the rest Of toiling breathers in allotted tasks Of pain or pleasure, two names for one feeling, Which our internal, restless agony Would vary in the sound, although the sense Escapes our highest efforts to be happy. BALEA. You muse right calmly : and can you so watch The sunrise which may be our last ? MYRRHA. It is Therefore that I so watch it, and reproach Those eyes, which never may behold" it more, For having look'd upon it oft, too oft, Without the reverence and the rapture due To that which keeps all earth from being as fragile As I am in this form. Come, look upon it, 140 SARDANAPALUS, ACT v- The Chaldee's god, which, when I gaze upon, I grow almost a convert to your Baal. BALEA. As now he reigns in heaven, so once on earth He sway'd. MYRRHA. He sways it now far more, then ; never ' Had earthly monarch half the peace and glory Which centres in a single ray of his. BALEA. Surely he is a god ! MYRRHA. So we Greeks deem too ; And yet I sometimes think that gorgeous orb Must rather be the abode of gods than one Of the immortal sovereigns. Now he breaks Through all the clouds, and fills my eyes with light That shuts the world out. I can look no more. BALEA. Hark ! heard you not a sound ? MYRRHA. . No, 'twas mere fancy ; They battle it beyond the wall, and not As in late midnight conflict in the very Chambers : the palace has become a fortress Since that insidious hour ; and here within The very centre, girded by vast courts And regal halls of pyramid proportions, Which must be carried one by one before They penetrate to where they then arrived, SC. I. A TRAGEDY. 141 We are as much shut in even from the sound Of peril as from glory. BALEA. But they reach 'd Thus far before. MYRRHA. Yes, by surprise, and- were Beat back by valour ; now at once we have Courage and vigilance to guard us. BALEA. May they Prosper ! MYRRHA. That is the prayer of many, and The dread of more : it is an anxious hour ; I strive to keep it from my thoughts. Alas ! How vainly ! . BALEA. It is said the king's demeanour In the late action scarcely more appall'd The rebels than astonish 'd his true subjects. MYRRHA. « 'Tis easy to astonish or appal ' The vulgar mass which moulds a horde of slaves ; But he did bravely. r BALEA. Slew he not Beleses ? I heard the soldiers say he struck him down. MYRRHA. The wretch was overthrown, but rescued to 142 SARDANAPALUS, ACT V. Triumph, perhaps, o'er one who vanquish'd him In fight, as he had spared him in his peril ; And by that heedless pity risk'd a crown. BALEA. Hark ! MYRRHA. You are-right ; some steps approach, but slowly. Enter Soldiers, bearing in Salemenes wounded, with a broken Javelin in his Side ; they seat him upon one of the Couches which furnish the Apartment. MYRRHA. Oh, Jove! BALEA. Then all is over. SALEMENES. That is false. Hew down the slave who says so, if a soldier. MYRRHA. Spare him — he 's none : a mere court butterfly, That flutters in the pageant of a monarch. SALEMENES. Let him live on, then. MYRRHA. So wilt thou, I trust. SALEMENES. I fain would live this hour out, and the event, But doubt it. Wherefore did ye bear me here ? SC. I. A TRAGEDY. 143 SOLDIER. By the king's order. When the javelin struck you, You fell and fainted ; 'twas his strict command To bear you to this hall. SALEMENES. 'Twas not ill done : For seeming slain in that cold dizzy trance, The sight might shake our soldiers — but — 'tis vain, I feel it ebbing! MYRRHA. Let me see the wound ; I am not quite skilless : in my native land 'Tis part of our instruction. War being constant, We are nerved to look on such things. SOLDIER. Best extract The javelin. MYRRHA. Hold ! no, no, it cannot be. SALEMENES. I am sped, then ! MYRRHA. With the blood that fast must follow The extracted weapon, I do fear thy life. r SALEMENES. And I not death. Where was the king when you Convey'd me from the spot where I was stricken ? SOLDIER. Upon the same ground, and encouraging 144 SARDANAPALUS, ACT V. With voice and gesture the dispirited troops Who had seen you fall, and falter 'd back. SALEMENES. Whom heard ye Named next to the command ? SOLDIER. I did not hear. SALEMENES. Fly, then, and tell him, 'twas my last request That Zames take my post until the junction, . So hoped for, yet delay'd, of Ofratanes, Satrap of Susa. Leave me here : our troops Are not so numerous as to spare your absence. SOLDIER. But, prince SALEMENES. Hence, I say ! Here 's a courtier and A woman, the best chamber company. As you would not permit me to expire Upon the field, I '11 have no idle soldiers About my sick couch. Hence! and do my bidding! [Exeunt the Soldiers. MYRRHA. Gallant and glorious spirit ! must the earth So soon resign thee? SALEMENES. Gentle Myrrh a, 'tis The end I would have chosen, had I saved The monarch or the monarchy by this ; As 'tis, I have not outlived them. SC. I. A TRAGEDY. 145 « MYRRHA. You wax paler. SALEMENES. Your hand ; this broken weapon but prolongs My pangs, without sustaining life enough To make me useful : I would draw it forth And my life with it, could I but hear how The fight goes. Enter Sardanapalus and Soldiers. SARDANAPALUS. My best brother ! SALEMENES. And the battle Is lost? sardanapalus (despondingly) . You see me here. SALEMENES. I 'd rather see you thus ! [He draws out the weapon f mm the wound, and dies. SARDANAPALUS. And thus I will be seen ; unless the succour, The last frail reed of our beleaguer'd hopes, Arrive with Ofratanes. r MYRRHA. Did you not* Receive a token from your dying brother, Appointing Zames chief? 146 SAItDANArALUS, ACT V SARDAKAFALUS. I did. MYRRH A. Where 's Zames? SARDAKAPALUS, Dead. MYRRH A. And Altada ? SARDAKAPALUS. Dying. MYRRHA. Pania? Sfero? SARDAKAPALUS. Pania yet lives ; but Sfero "s fled, or captive. I am alone. MYRRHA, And is all lost ? SARDAKAPALUS. Our walls, Though thinly mann'dj may still hold out against Their present force, or aught save treachery : But r the field MYRRHA. I thought 'twas the intent Of Salemenes not to risk a sally Till ye were strengthen'd by the expected succours. SARDAKAPALUS. /overruled him. MYRRHA* Well, the fault 's a brave one. SC. I. A TRAGEDY. 147 SARDANAPALUS. But fatal. Oh, my brother ! I would give These realms, of which thou wert the ornament, The sword and shield, the sole-redeeming honour, To call back But I will not weep for thee ; Thou shalt be mourn'd for as thou wouldst be mourn 'd. It grieves me most that thou couldst quit this life Believing that I could survive what thou Hast died for — our long royalty of race. If I redeem it, I will give thee blood Of thousands, tears of millions, for atonement, (The tears of all the good are thine already.) If not, we meet again soon, if the spirit Within us lives beyond : — thou readest mine, And dost me justice now. Let me once clasp That yet warm hand, and fold that throbless heart [Embraces the bod$. To this which beats so bitterly. Now, bear The body hence. SOLDIER. Where ? SARDANAPALUS. To my proper chamber. Place it beneath my canopy, as though The king lay there : when this is done, we will Speak further of the rites due to such ashes. [Exeunt Soldiers zcUh the Itody of Salemenes. 148 SARDANAPALUS, ACT V. Enter Pania. SARDANAPALUS. Well, Pania ! have you placed the guards, and issued The orders fix'd on ? PANIA. Sire, I have obey'd. SARDANAPALUS. And do the soldiers keep their hearts up ? PANIA. Sire ? SARDANAPALUS. I 'm answer'd ! When a king asks twice, and has A question as an answer to his question, It is a portent. What ! they are dishearten'd ? PANIA. The death of Salemenes, and the shouts Of the exulting rebels on his fall, Have made them- SARDANAPALUS. Rage — not droop — it should have been. We'll find the means to rouse them. PANIA. Such a loss Might sadden even a victory. SARDANAPALUS. Alas! Who can so feel it as I feel ? but yet. SC. I. A TRAGEDY. 149 Though coop'd within these walls, they are strong, and we Have those without will break their way through hosts, To make their sovereign's dwelling what it was — A palace ; not a prison, nor a fortress. «■ Enter an Officer, hastily* SARDANAPALUS. Thy face seems ominous. Speak ! OFFICER. I dare not. SARDANAPALUS. Dare not ? While millions dare revolt with sword in hand ! That 's strange. I pray thee break that loyal silence Which loathes to shock its sovereign ; we can hear Worse than thou hast to tell. PANIA. Proceed,~thou hearest. OFFICER. The wall which skirted near the river's brink Is thrown down by the sudden inundation Of the Euphrates, which now rolling, swoln From the enormous mountains where it rises, By the late rains of that tempestuous region, O'erfloods its banks, and hath destroy'd the bulwark. PANIA. That 's a black augury ! it has been said 150 SARDANAPALUS, ACT V For ages, " That the city ne'er should yield " To man, until the river grew its foe." SARDANAPALUS. I can forgive the omen, not the ravage. How much is swept down of the wall? OFFICER. About Some twenty stadii. SARDANAPALUS. And all this is left Pervious to the assailants ? OFFICER. For the present The river's fury must impede the assault ; But when he shrinks into his wonted channel, And may be cross'd by the accustom'd barks, The palace is their own. SARDANAPALUS. That shall be never. Though men, and gods, and elements, and omens, Have risen up "gainst one who ne'er provoked them, My fathers' house shall never be a cave For wolves to horde and howl in. PANIA. With your sanction I will proceed to the spot, and take such measures For the assurance of the vacant space As time and means permit. SARDANAPALUS. About it straight. SC. I. A TRAGEDY. 151 And bi ing me back as speedily as full And fair investigation may permit Report of the true state of this irruption Of waters. [Exeunt Pania and the Officer. MYRRH A. Thus the very waves rise up Against you. SARDANAPALUS. They are not my subjects, girl, And may. be pardon'd, since they can't be punish'd. MYRRHA. I joy to see this portent shakes you not. SARDANAPALUS. I am past the fear of portents : they can tell me Nothing I have not told myself since midnight : Despair anticipates such things. MYRRHA. v Despair ! SARDANAPALUS. No ; not despair precisely. When we know All that can come, and how to meet it, our Resolves, if firm, may merit a more noble Word than this is to give it utterance. But what are words to us ? we have well nigh done With them and all things. MYRRHA. Save due deed — the last And greatest to all mortals ; crowning act Of all that was — or is — or is to be — The only thing common to all mankind, 152 SARDANAPALUS, ACT V. So different in their births, tongues, sexes, natures, Hues, features, climes, times, feelings, intellects, Without one point of union save in this, To which we tend, for which we 're born, and thread The labyrinth of mystery, call'd life. SARDANAPALUS. Our clew being well nigh wound out, let 's be cheerful. They who have nothing more to fear may well Indulge a smile at that which once appall'd ; As children at discover'd bugbears. Re-enter Pania. pania. 'Tis As was reported : I have order 'd there A double guard, withdrawing from the wall Where it was strongest the required addition To watch the breach occasion'd by the waters. SARDANAPALUS. You have done your duty faithfully, and as My worthy Pania ! further ties between us Draw near a close. I pray you take this key : [Gives a key. It opens to a secret chamber, placed Behind the couch in my own chamber. (Now Press'd by a nobler weight than e'er it bore — Though a long line of sovereigns have lain, down Along its golden frame — as bearing for A time what late was Salemenes). Search SC. I. A TRAGEDY. 153 The secret covert to which this will lead you ; 'Tis full of treasure; take it for yourself And your companions : there 's enough to load ye, Though ye be many. Let the slaves be freed, too ; And all the inmates of the palace, of Whatever sex, now quit it in an hour. Thence launch the regal barks, once form'd for pleasure, And now to serve for safety, and embark. The river 's broad and swoln, and uncommanded (More potent than a king) by these besiegers. Fly ! and be happy ! PANIA. Under your protection ! So you accompany your faithful guard. SARDANAPALUS. No, Pania ! that must not be ; get thee hence, And leave me to my fate. PANIA. 'Tis the first time I ever disobey'd : but now SARDANAPALUS. So all men Dare beard me now, and Insolence within Apes Treason from without. Question no further ; 'Tis my command, my last command. Wilt thou Oppose it ? thou ! PANIA. But yet — not yet. SARDANAPALUS. Well, then, 154 SARDANAPALUS, ACT V. Swear that you will obey when I shall give The signal. PANIA. With a heavy but true heart, I promise. SARDANAPALUS. 'Tis enough. Now order here Faggots, pine-nuts, and wither 'd leaves, and such Things as catch fire and blaze with one sole spark ; Bring cedar, too, and precious drugs, and spices, And mighty planks, to nourish a tall pile ; Bring frankincense and myrrh, too, for it is For a great sacrifice I build the pyre ; \ And heap them round yon throne. PANIA. My lord ! SARDANAPALUS. I have said it. And you have sworn. PANIA. And could keep my faith Without a vow. {Exit Pania. MYRRH A. What mean you ? SARDANAPALUS. You shall know Anon— what the whole earth shall ne'er forget. SC. I. A TRAGEDY. 155 Pania, returning with a Herald. PANIA. My king, in going forth upon my duty, This herald has been brought before me, craving An audience. SARDANAPALUS. Let him speak. HERALD. The King Arbaces- SARDANAPALUS. What, crownYl already? — But, proceed. HERALD. Beleses, The anointed high-priest SARDANAPALUS. Of what god, or demon ? With new kings rise new altars. But, proceed; You are sent to prate your master's will, and not Reply to mine. HERALD. And Satrap Ofratanes ' SARDANAPALUS. Why, he is ours. herald (showing a ring). Be sure that he is, now In the camp of the conquerors ; behold His signet ring. SARDANAPALUS. 'Tjs hi?. A worthy triad ! 156 SARDANAPALUS, ACT v.. Poor Salemenes ! thou hast died in time To see one treachery the less : this man Was thy true friend and my most trusted subject. Proceed. HERALD. They offer thee thy life, and freedom Of choice to single out a residence In any of the further provinces, Guarded and watch'd, but not confined in person, Where thou shalt pass thy days in peace ; but on Condition that the three young princes are Given up as hostages. sardanapalus (ironically) The generous victors ! herald. I wait the answer. SARDANAPALUS Answer, slave ! How long Have slaves decided on the doom of kings ? HERALD. Since they were free. SARDANAPALUS. Mouthpiece of mutiny ! Thou at the least shalt learn the penalty Of treason, though its proxy only. Pania ! Let his head be thrown from our walls within The rebels' lines, his carcass down the river. Away with him ! [Pania and the Guards seizing him. SC. I. A TRAGEDY. 157 PANIA. I never yet obey'd Your orders with more pleasure than the present. Hence with him, soldiers ! do not soil this hall Of royalty with treasonable gore ; Put him to rest without. HERALD. A single word : My office, king, is sacred. SARDANAPALUS. And what 's mine ? That thou shouldst come and dare to ask of me To lay it down ? HERALD. I but obey'd my orders, At the same peril if refused, as now Incurr'd by my obedience. SARDANAPALUS. So there are New monarchs of an hour's growth as despotic As sovereigns swathed in purple, and enthroned From birth to manhood ! HERALD. My life waits your breath. Yours (I speak humbly) — but it may be — yours May also be in danger scarce less imminent : Would it then suit the last hours of a line Such as is that of Nimrod, to destroy A peaceful herald, unarm'd, in his office ; 158 SARDANAPALUS, ACT v. And violate not only all that man Holds sacred between man and man — but that More holy tie which links us with the gods ? SARDANAPALUS. He's right. — Let him go free. — My life's last act Shall not be one of wrath. Here, fellow, take {Gives him a golden cup from a table near. This golden goblet, let it hold your wine, And think of me; or melt it into ingots, And think of nothing but their weight and value. HERALD. I thank you doubly for my life, and this Most gorgeous gift, which renders it more precious. But must I bear no answer ? SARDANAPALUS. Yes, — I ask An hour's truce to consider. HERALD. But an hour's? SARDANAPALUS. An hour's : if at the expiration of That time your masters hear no further from me, They are to deem that I reject their terms, And act befittingly. HERALD. I shall not fail To be a faithful legate of your pleasure. SARDANAPALUS. And, hark ! a word more. SC. I. A TRAGEDY. 159 HERALD. I shall not forget it* Whate'er it be. SARDANAPALUS. Commend me to Beleses ; And tell him, ere a year expire, I summon Him hence to meet me. HERALD. Where! ? SARDANAPALUS. At Babylon. At least from thence he will depart to meet me. HERALD. I shall obey you to the letter. [Exit Herald-* SARDANAPALUS. Pania !— Now, my good Pania! — quick — with what I order'd. PANIA. My lord, — the soldiers are already charged. And, see ! they enter. [Soldiers enter, and form a Pile about the Throne, fya SARDANAPALUS. Higher, my good soldiers, And thicker yet ; and see that the foundation Be such as will not speedily exhaust Its own too subtle flame ; nor yet be quench 'd With aught officious aid would bring to quell it. Let the throne form the core of it; I would not Leave that, save fraught with fire unquenchable, To the new comers. Frame the whole as if 160 SARDANAPALUS, ACT v. 'Twere to enkindle the strong tower of our Inveterate enemies. Now it bears an aspect ! How say you, Pania, will this pile suffice For a king's obsequies ? pania. . Ay, for a kingdom's. I understand you, now. SARDANAPALUS. And blame me ? PANIA. No— Let me but fire the pile, and share it with you. MYRRHA. That duty 's mine. PANIA. A woman's ! MYRRHA. 'Tis the soldier's Part to die for his sovereign, and why not The woman's with her lover ? PANIA. 'Tis most strange ! MYRRHA. But not so rare, my Pania, as thou think 'st it. In the mean time, live thou. — Farewell ! the pile Is ready. PANIA. I should shame to leave my sovereign With but a single female to partake His death. SC. I. A TRAGEDY. 161 SARDANAPALUS. Too many far have heralded Me to the dust, already. Get thee hence ; Enrich thee. PANIA. And live wretched ! SARDANAPALUS. Think upon Thy vow ; — 'tis sacred and irrevocable. PANIA. Since it is so, farewell SARBANAPALUS". Search well my chamber, Feel no remorse at bearing off the gold ; Remember, what you leave you leave the slaves Who slew me : and when you have borne away All safe off to your boats, blow one long blast Upon the trumpet as you quit the palace. The river's brink is too remote, its stream Too loud at present to permit the echo To reach distinctly from its banks. Then fly, — And as you sail, turn back; but still keep on Your way along the Euphrates : if you reach The land of Paphlagonia, where the queen Is safe with my three sons in Cotta's court, Say what you saw at parting, and request That she remember what I said at one Parting more mournful still. PANIA. That royal hand ! 162 SARDANAPALUS, ACT V. Let me then once more press it to my lips ; And these poor soldiers who throng round you, and Would fain die with you! [The Soldiers and Pania throng round him, kiss- ing his hand and the hem of his robe. SARDANAPALUS. My best ! my last friends ! Let 's not unman each other — part at once : All farewells should be sudden, when for ever, Else they make an eternity of moments, And clog the last sad sands of life with tears. Hence, and be happy : trust me, I am not Now to be pitied ; or far more for what Is past than present ; — for the future, 'tis In the hands of the deities, if such There be : I shall know soon. Farewell — farewell. [Exeunt Pania and Soldiers. MYEEHA. These men were honest : it is comfort still That our last looks should be on loving faces. SARDANAPALUS. And lovely ones, my beautiful ! — but hear me ! If at this moment, for we now are on The brink, thou feel'st an inward shrinking from This leap through flame into the future, say it : I shall not love thee less ; nay, perhaps more, For yielding to thy nature : and there 's time Yet for thee to escape hence. MYRRH A. Shall I light SC. r. A TRAGEDY. 163 One of the torches which lie heap'd beneath The ever-burning lamp that burns without, Before Baal's shrine, in the adjoining hall? SARDANAPALUS. Do so. Is that thy answer ? MYRRHA. Thou shalt see. [Exit Myrrha. SARDANAPALUS (solus). She 's firm. My fathers ! whom I will rejoin, It may be, purified by death from some Of the gross stains of too material being, I would not leave your ancient first abode To the defilement of usurping bondmen ; If I have not kept your inheritance As ye bequeathed it, this bright part of it, Your treasure, your abode, your sacred relics Of arms, and records, monuments, and spoils, , In which they would have revell'd, I bear with me To you in that absorbing element, Which most personifies the soul as leaving The least of matter unconsumed before Its fiery workings : — and the light of this Most royal of funereal pyres shall be Not a mere pillar formed of cloud and flame, A beacon in the horizon for a day, And then a mount of ashes, but a light To lesson ages, rebel nations, and Voluptuous princes. Time shall quench full many A people's records, and a hero's acts ; m2 164 SAIIDANAPALUS, ACT V. Sweep empire after empire, like this first Of empires, into nothing ; but even then Shall spare this deed of mine, and hold it up A problem few dare imitate, and none Despise — but, it may be, avoid the life Which led to such a consummation. Myeeha returns with a lighted Torch in her Hand, and a Cup in the oilier. MYEEHA. Lo! I 've lit the lamp which lights us to the stars. SABDANAPALUS. And the cup ? MYEEHA. 'Trs my country's custom to Make a libation to the gods, SABDANAPALUS. And mine To make libations amongst men. I 've not Forgot the custom ; and although alone, Will drain one draught in memory of many A joyous banquet past. [Sardanapalus takes the cup, and after drinking and tinkling the reversed cup, as a drop Jails, exclaims — And this libation Is for the excellent Beleses. MYEEHA. Why SC. I. A TRAGEDY. m 165 Dwells thy mind rather upon that man's name Than on his mate's in villany? SARDANAPALUS. The other Is a mere soldier, a mere tool, a kind Of human sword in a friend's hand ; the other Is master-mover of his warlike puppet : But I dismiss them from my mind.— Yet pause, My Myrrha ! dost thou truly follow me, Freely and fearlessly ? MYRRHA. And dost thou think A Greek girl dare not do for love, that which An Indian widow braves for custom ? SARDANAPALUS. Then We but await the signal. MYRRHA. It is long In sounding. SARDANAPALUS. Now, farewell ; one last embrace. MYRRHA. Embrace, but not the last ; there is one more. SARDANAPALUS. True, the commingling fire will mix our ashes. MYRRHA. And pure as is my love to thee, 'shall they, Purged from the dross of earth, and earthly passion, Mix pale with thine. A single thought yet irks me. 166 SARDANAPALUS, ACT V. SARDANAPALUS. Say it. MYRBHA. It is that no kind hand will gather The dust of both into one urn. SARDANAPALUS. The better: Rather let them be borne abroad upon The winds of heaven, and scatter'd into air, Than be polluted more by human hands Of slaves and traitors ; in this blazing palace, And its enormous walls of reeking ruin, We leave a nobler monument than Egypt Hath piled in her brick mountains, o'er dead kings, Or Mne, for none know whether those proud piles Be for their monarch, or their ox-god Apis : So much for monuments that have forgotten Their very record ! MYRRHA. Then farewell, thou earth ! And loveliest spot of earth ! farewell Ionia ! Be thou still free and beautiful, and far Aloof from desolation ! My last prayer Was for thee, my last thoughts, save one, were of thee ! SARDANAPALUS. And that? MYRRHA. Is yours. [The trumpet o/Tania sounds without. SC. I. A TRAGEDY. 167 SARDANAPALUS. Hark! MYEEHA. Now! SARDANAPALUS. Adieu, Assyria ! I loved thee well, my own, my fathers' land, And better as my country than my kingdom. I satiated thee with peace and joys; and this Is my reward ! and now I owe thee nothing, Not even a grave. [He mounts the pile. Now, Myrrha ! MYEEHA. Art thou ready ? SARDANAPALUS. As the torch in thy grasp. [Myrrha Jires the pile. MYRRHA. 'Tis fired ! I come. \As Myrrha springs forward to throw herself into thejlames, the Curtain Jails. NOTES. NOTE S. Note 1, page 7, line 2 from bottom. And thou, my own Ionian Myrrha. " The Ionian name had been still more comprehensive, having included the Achaians and the Boeotians, who, to- gether with those to whom it was afterwards confined, would make nearly the whole of the Greek nation, and among the orientals it was always the general name for the Greeks." — Mitford's Greece, vol. i. p. 199. Note 2, page 20, lines 21 to 24. ■