Thou shalt see. [Exit MYRRHA.
'Tis most strange ! Myr. But not so rare, my Pania, as thou think'st it.
In the mean time, live thou.-Farewell! the pile
Is ready.
Pan. I should shame to leave my sovereign
With but a single female to partake
His death.
Sar.
Too many far have heralded
Me to the dust already. Get thee hence :
Enrich thee.
And live wretched!
Sar. [solus]. She's firm. My fathers! whom I
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 bequeath'd it, this bright part of it,
Your treasure, your abode, your sacred relics
Of arms and records, monuments, and spoils,
Think upon 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 form 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
Thy vow ;-'tis sacred and irrevocable.
Pan. Since it is so, farewell.
Sar.
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,-A people's records, and a hero's acts;
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.
Pan.
That royal hand!
Let me then once more press it to my lips;
And these poor soldiers who throng round you,
Would fain die with you!
[and
[The SOLDIERS and PANIA throng round him,
kissing his hand and the hem of his robe.
Sar.
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-fare-
well.
[Exeunt PANIA and SOLDIERS. Myr. These men were honest: it is comfort still
That our last looks should be on loving faces.
Sar. And lovely ones, my beautiful!-but hear
If at this moment-for we now are on [me!
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.
Myr.
Shall I light
One of the torches which lie heap'd beneath
The ever-burning lamp that burns without,
Before Baal's shrine in the adjoining hall?
Sar. Do so. Is that thy answer?
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.
MYRRHA returns with a lighted torch in one
hand, and a cup in the other.
Myr.
Lo!
I've lit the lamp which lights us to the stars.
Sar. And the cup?
Myr.
'Tis my country's custom to Make a libation to the gods.
To make libations amongst men.
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 fails, exclaims-
Is for the excellent Beleses.
Myr.
Why
Dwells thy mind rather upon that man's name
Than on his mate's in villany?
The one
Is a mere soldier, a mere tool, a kind
Of human sword in a friend's hand; the other
Is a 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?
Myr.
And dost thou think
A Greek girl dare not do for love, that which
An Indian widow braves for custom?
Then
We but await the signal.
Myr.
In sounding.
Sar. Now, farewell; one last embrace.
Myr. Embrace, but not the last; there is one
Their very record!
Myr.
Then farewell, thou earth!
And loveliest spot of earth! farewell, Ionia !
[ashes. Be thou still free and beautiful, and far
Aloof from desolation! my last prayer [thee!
Was for thee, my last thoughts, save one, were of
Sar. And that?
Is yours.
Sar. True, the commingling fire will mix our
Myr. And pure as is my love to thee, shall
they,
[sion,
Purged from the dross of earth, and earthly pas-
Mix pale with thine. A single thought yet irks
Sar. Say it.
[me.
Myr. It is that no kind hand will gather
The dust of both into one urn.
Sar.
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 kine, for none know whether those proud piles
Be for their monarch or their ox-god Apis:
So much for monuments that have forgotten
[The trumpet of PANIA sounds without.
Adieu, Assyria !
I loved thee well, my own, my fathers' land,
And better as my country than my kingdom.
I sated thee with peace and joys; and this
Is my reward; and now I owe thee nothing.
Not even a grave.
[He mounts the pile.
Sar. As the torch in thy grasp.
[MYRRHA fires the pile. 'Tis fired! I come. [As MYRRHA springs forward to throw herself into the flames, the Curtain falls.
When the Doge declared that he Should never deem himself a sovereign till The death of Peter Loredano, both The brothers sicken'd shortly :-he is sovereign. Bar. A wretched one.
What should they be who make
Bar. But did the Doge make you so?
Lor.
Yes.
Bar. What solid proofs ?
Lor.
When princes set themselves
To work in secret, proofs and process are
Alike made difficult; but I have such
Of the first, as shall make the second needless.
Bar. But you will move by law?
Lor.
By all the laws Bar. They are such in this Our state as render retribution easier Than 'mongst remoter nations. Is it true That you have written in your books of commerce (The wealthy practice of our highest nobles), Doge Foscari, my debtor for the deaths Of Marco and Pietro Loredano,
Which he would leave us.
[Two SENATORS pass over the stage, as in their way to the Hall of the Council of Ten.' Lor.
You see the number is complete. [Exit LOREDANO. Bar. [solus]. Follow thee! I have follow'd long Thy path of desolation, as the wave
Sweeps after that before it, alike whelming
The wreck that creaks to the wild winds, and
wretch
Who shrieks within its riven ribs, as gush
The waters through them; but this son and sire
Might move the elements to pause, and yet
Must I on hardily like them--Oh! would
I could as blindly and remorselessly!- [are
Lo, where he comes !-Be still, my heart! they
Thy foes, must be thy victims: wilt thou beat
For those who almost broke thee?
Enter Guards with young FOSCARI as prisoner,
Guard. Signor, take time. Jac. Fos.
I thank thee, friend, I'm feeble;
But thou may'st stand reproved.
Guard.
Jac. Fos. That's kind :-I meet some pity,
This is the first.
[but no mercy;
Guard. And might be the last, did they
Bar. [advancing to the Guard]. There is one
Yet fear not; I will neither be thy judge
Nor thy accuser; though the hour is past,
Wait their last summons-I am of 'the Ten,'
And waiting for that summons, sanction you
Even by my presence: when the last call sounds,
We'll in together.-Look well to the prisoner !
Fac. Fos. What voice is that? "Tis Barbarigo's! Ah!
Our house's foe, and one of my few judges.
Bar. To balance such a foe, if such there be,
Thy father sits amongst thy judges.
Jac. Fos.
He judges.
Bar. Then deem not the laws too harsh Which yield so much indulgence to a sire, As to allow his voice in such high matter As the state's safetyJac. Fos. And his son's. I'm faint; Let me approach, I pray you, for a breath Of air, yon window which o'erlooks the waters.
Enter an OFFICER, who whispers BARBARIGO.
Bar. [to the Guard]. Let him approach. I must not speak with him
Further than thus: I have transgress'd my duty In this brief parley, and must now redeem it Within the Council Chamber.
Jac. Fos. Limbs! how often have they borne
Bounding o'er yon blue tide, as I have skimm'd
The gondola along in childish race,
And, masqued as a young gondolier, amidst
My gay competitors, noble as I,
[lend me
The third time they have tortured me :-then
Thine arm.
[To the Guard.
Offi. Take mine, sir; 'tis my duty to
Be nearest to your person.
Jac. Fos.
Raced for our pleasure, in the pride of strength;
While the fair populace of crowding beauties,
Plebeian as patrician, cheer'd us on
With dazzling smiles, and wishes audible,
And waving kerchiefs, and applauding hands,Who
Even to the goal!-How many a time have I
Cloven with arm still lustier, breast more daring,
The wave all roughen'd; with a swimmer's
stroke
Flinging the billows back from my drench'd hair,
And laughing from my lip the audacious brine,
Which kiss'd it like a wine-cup, rising o'er
The waves as they arose, and prouder still
The loftier they uplifted me! and oft,
In my wantonness of spirit, plunging down
Into their green and glassy gulís, and making
My way to shells and sea-weed, all unseen
By those above, till they wax'd fearful; then
Returning with my grasp full of such tokens
As show'd that I had search'd the deep: exulting,
With a far-dashing stroke, and drawing deep
The long-suspended breath, again I spurn'd
The foam which broke around me, and pursued
My track like a sea-bird.-I was a boy then.
Guard. Be a man now: there never was more
Of manhood's strength.
[need
Jac. Fos. looking from the lattice.] My
beautiful, my own,
My only Venice-this is breath! Thy breeze,
Thine Adrian sea-breeze, how it fans my face!
Thy very winds feel native to my veins,
And cool them into calmness! How unlike
The hot gales of the horrid Cyclades,
Which howl'd about my Candiote dungeon,
Made my heart sick!
[and
Guard.
I see the colour comes
Back to your cheek: Heaven send you strength
to bear
[on't.
What more may be imposed !-I dread to think
Jac. Fos. They will not banish me again?-
No-no,
Let them wring on; I am strong yet.
Guard.
And the rack will be spared you.
Jac. Fos.
I confess'd
Once-twice before: both times they exiled me.
Guard. And the third time will slay you.
Jac. Fos.
Let them do so,
So I be buried in my birth-place: better
Be ashes here than aught that lives elsewhere.
Guard. And can you so much love the soil
which hates you?
[the soil
Jac. Fos. The soil !-Oh no, it is the seed of
You !-you are he
yesterday presided o'er my pangs-
Away!-I'll walk alone.
Offi.
As you please, signor;
The sentence was not of my signing, but
I dared not disobey the Council when
They--
Fac. Fos. Bade thee stretch me on their
horrid engine.
I pray thee touch me not-that is, just now;
The time will come they will renew that order,
But keep off from me till 'tis issued. As
I look upon thy hands my curdling limbs
Quiver with the anticipated wrenching, [if-
And the cold drops strain through my brow, as
But onward-I have borne it-I can bear it.—
How looks my father?
Offi.
With his wonted aspect.
Jac. Fos. So does the earth, and sky, the blue
of Ocean,
The brightness of our city and her domes,
The mirth of her Piazza, even now
Its merry hum of nations pierces here,
Even here, into these chambers of the unknown
Who govern, and the unknown and the un-
number'd
Judged and destroy'd in silence,-all things wear
The self-same aspect, to my very sire!
Nothing can sympathize with Foscari,
Not even a Foscari.-Sir, I attend you.
[Exeunt JACOPO FOSCARI, OFFICER, &c.
Enter MEMMO and another Senator.
Mem. He's gone-we are too late:-think
you the Ten'
Will sit for any length of time to-day?
Sen. They say the prisoner is most obdurate,
Persisting in his first avowal; but
More I know not.
Mem.
And that is much; the secrets
Of yon terrific chamber are as hidden
From us, the premier nobles of the state,
As from the people.
Sen.
Save the wonted rumours,
Which-like the tales of spectres, that are rife
Near ruin'd buildings-never have been proved,
Nor wholly disbelieved: men know as little
Of the state's real acts as of the grave's
Unfathom'd mysteries.
Mem.
Mar. [fiercely]. True--none dare answer here Though they sweep both the Doge and son from
save on the rack,
I have endured as much in giving life [life;
To those who will succeed them, as they can
Mem. [interrupting her]. High-born dame! In leaving it; but mine were joyful pangs: bethink thee
And yet they wrung me till I could have shriek'd. But did not; for my hope was to bring forth Where I now am !-It was Fieroes, and would not welcome them with tears.
My husband's father's palace.
Mem.
The Duke's palace. Mar. And his son's prison !-True, I have not forgot it;
And if there were no other nearer, bitterer
Remembrances, would thank the illustrious
Memmo
For pointing out the pleasures of the place.
Mem. Be calm!
Mar. [looking up towards heaven]. I am; but oh, thou eternal God!
Canst thou continue so, with such a world?
Mem. Thy husband yet may be absolved.
Mar.
In heaven. I pray you, signor senator,
Speak not of that; you are a man of office,
So is the Doge; he has a son at stake
Now, at this moment, and I have a husband,
Or had; they are there within, or were at least
An hour since, face to face, as judge and culprit:
Will he condemn him?
Mem. Mar. He does not, there are those will sentence both. Mem. They can.
Mem. All's silent now. Mar.
Perhaps all's over; but I will not deem it: he hath nerved himself, And now defies them.
Mar. And with them power and will are one Whose duty 'tis to do so.
In wickedness: -my husband's lost!
If it were so, There now would be no Venice. But let it Live on, so the good die not, till the hour Of nature's summons: but the Ten's' is quicker,
Mar. 'Tis their duty To trample on all human feelings, all Ties which bind man to man, to emulate The fiends who will one day requite them in Variety of torturing! Yet I'll pass. Men. It is impossible.
Mar. That shall be tried. Despair defies even despotism: there is
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