Gycia: A Tragedy in Five Acts

_Gycia._ See, good Zetho, The proof that I have done my part to you. There are the master keys of all the doors Within the palace. When I closed the last, A few brief minutes si...

_Ire._ What! am I mad, or does some devilish power Possess me heart and soul? I once loved Gycia; I love Asander with o'ermastering love, And yet these frequent rumours of disse...

_Meg._ Well, my lords, two years have passed since we left our Bosphorus, and I see no sign of our returning there. If it were not for that delightful Lady Melissa, whose humble...

_Asan._ Come, Gycia, let us take the soft sweet air Beneath the star of love. The festive lights Still burn within the hall, where late we twain Troth-plighted sate, and I from...

_King._ Lysimachus, The load of empire lies a weary weight, On age-worn brains; tho' skies and seas may smile, And steadfast favouring Fortune sit serene, Guiding the helm of St...

_Ire._ Ah me! The heaviness of prisoned days! Heigho! 'Tis weary work in prison here. What though I know no loss but liberty, Have everything at will--food, service, all That I...

_Meg._ Oh, this has been a happy day. All has gone admirably. Not a hitch in all the arrangements. Precedence kept, rank observed, dresses all they should be. I do not, I really...

_Zet._ Most worthy brethren, Senators of Cherson, In great perplexity of mind and will I summon ye to-night. The Lady Gycia, Our Lamachus's daughter, sends request, Urgent as 't...

_Meg._ Well, my lords, and so this is the palace. A grand palace, forsooth, and a fine reception to match! Why, these people are worse than barbarians. They are worse than the s...

_Meg._ Well, my lords, and so it is all settled. We must all be on board in half an hour. His Altitude the Prince sails at once for Cherson, and with a view to his immediate mar...

_Gycia._ Sweetest Irene, What joy it is to see thee once again After so long an absence! We had grown Together on one stalk so long, since first Our girlish lives began to burst...

_Gycia._ Thou careless darling! I did not ask thee of the calendar. Dost think a merchant's daughter knows not that? Nay, nay; I only asked thee if thou knewest If aught upon th...

_Lys._ Well, good Megacles, I hope you are prepared to carry out your function. It will be a busy and anxious day to-morrow, no doubt, and most of us will be glad when midnight...

_Zetho._ I drink to him whose gracious memory We celebrate to-day. In all our Cherson, Which boasts descent from the Athenian race, Who one time swayed the world, there was no m...

_1st Court._ For a week past they have been arriving at the rate of fifty a day. The ships anchor in due course. At dead of night, when everything is still, the merchandise is l...

_Ire._ To think that once I loved that haughty woman! Ah, that was long ago, before love came To tear our lives asunder. Though her power Can pen me here a prisoner, yet I know...

_Megacles._ Well, it is time for the banquet. Somehow, this place improves on acquaintance, after all. Poor, of course, and rude to a degree. But truly the Lady Gycia is fair--a...

_Gycia._ I hear no sound within; the lights are gone, And all the hall is dark. These doors alone Of all the many outlets of the palace Remain unlocked. There is not now a momen...

The following Drama was written with a view to Stage representation, and it is therefore rather as an Acting Play than as a Dramatic Poem that it should be judged by its readers.