Chapter 3

_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 outwatched ye, reading ray by ray The edicts of your orbs, which make Time tremble[j] 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-- 10 A summer's sun discloses it. Yon disk, To the star-read Chaldean, bears upon Its everlasting page the end of what Seemed 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 20 A beam of hope athwart the future years, 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 bowed my head beneath thy mid-day beams, When my eye dared not meet thee. I have watched For thee, and after thee, and prayed to thee, And sacrificed to thee, and read, and feared thee, And asked of thee, and thou hast answered--but Only to thus much: while I speak, he sinks-- 30 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.

_Enter_ ARBACES _by an inner door_.

_Arb._ Beleses, why So wrapt in thy devotions? Dost thou stand Gazing to trace thy disappearing God Into some realm of undiscovered day? Our business is with night--'tis come.

_Bel._ But not 40 Gone.

_Arb._ Let it roll on--we are ready.

_Bel._ Yes. Would it were over!

_Arb._ Does the prophet doubt, To whom the very stars shine Victory?

_Bel._ I do not doubt of Victory--but the Victor.

_Arb._ 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 50 Is issued for the feast in the pavilion. The first cup which he drains will be the last Quaffed by the line of Nimrod.

_Bel._ 'Twas a brave one.

_Arb._ And is a weak one--'tis worn out--we'll mend it.

_Bel._ Art sure of that?

_Arb._ Its founder was a hunter-- I am a soldier--what is there to fear?

_Bel._ The soldier.

_Arb._ 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 60 No less than mine?

_Bel._ Look to the sky!

_Arb._ I look.

_Bel._ What seest thou?

_Arb._ A fair summer's twilight, and The gathering of the stars.

_Bel._ And midst them, mark Yon earliest, and the brightest, which so quivers, As it would quit its place in the blue ether.

_Arb._ Well?

_Bel._ 'Tis thy natal ruler--thy birth planet.

_Arb._ (_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, 70 They shall have temples--aye, and priests--and thou 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.

_Bel._ Aye, and the most devout for brave--thou hast not Seen me turn back from battle.

_Arb._ 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?

_Bel._ Why not both?

_Arb._ The better; 80 And yet it almost shames me, we shall have So little to effect. This woman's warfare Degrades the very conqueror. To have plucked 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,[15] And hear him whine, it may be----

_Bel._ 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, 90 And headed by the cool, stern Salemenes.

_Arb._ They'll not resist.

_Bel._ Why not? they are soldiers.

_Arb._ True, And therefore need a soldier to command them.

_Bel._ That Salemenes is.

_Arb._ 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?

_Bel._ But Not from the council--there he is ever constant.

_Arb._ And ever thwarted: what would you have more To make a rebel out of? A fool reigning, 100 His blood dishonoured, and himself disdained: Why, it is _his_ revenge we work for.

_Bel._ Could He but be brought to think so: this I doubt of.

_Arb._ What, if we sound him?

_Bel._ Yes--if the time served.

_Enter_ BALEA.

_Bal._ Satraps! The king commands your presence at The feast to-night.

_Bel._ To hear is to obey. In the pavilion?

_Bal._ No; here in the palace.

_Arb._ How! in the palace? it was not thus ordered.

_Bal._ It is so ordered now.

_Arb._ And why?

_Bal._ I know not. May I retire?

_Arb._ Stay.

_Bel._ (_to Arb. aside_). Hush! let him go his way. 110 (_Alternately to Bal._) Yes, Balea, thank the Monarch, kiss the hem Of his imperial robe, and say, his slaves Will take the crumbs he deigns to scatter from His royal table at the hour--was't midnight?

_Bal._ It was: the place, the hall of Nimrod. Lords, I humble me before you, and depart. [_Exit_ BALEA.

_Arb._ I like not this same sudden change of place; There is some mystery: wherefore should he change it?

_Bel._ Doth he not change a thousand times a day? Sloth is of all things the most fanciful-- 120 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?

_Arb._ He loved that gay pavilion,--it was ever His summer dotage.

_Bel._ And he loved his Queen-- And thrice a thousand harlotry besides-- And he has loved all things by turns, except Wisdom and Glory.

_Arb._ Still--I like it not. If he has changed--why, so must we: the attack Were easy in the isolated bower, 130 Beset with drowsy guards and drunken courtiers; But in the hall of Nimrod----

_Bel._ Is it so? Methought the haughty soldier feared to mount A throne too easily--does it disappoint thee To find there is a slipperier step or two Than what was counted on?

_Arb._ When the hour comes, Thou shall perceive how far I fear or no. Thou hast seen my life at stake--and gaily played for: But here is more upon the die--a kingdom.

_Bel._ I have foretold already--thou wilt win it: 140 Then on, and prosper.

_Arb._ Now were I a soothsayer, I would have boded so much to myself. But be the stars obeyed--I cannot quarrel With them, nor their interpreter. Who's here?

_Enter_ SALEMENES.

_Sal._ Satraps!

_Bel._ My Prince!

_Sal._ Well met--I sought ye both, But elsewhere than the palace.

_Arb._ Wherefore so?

_Sal._ 'Tis not the hour.

_Arb._ The hour!--what hour?

_Sal._ Of midnight.

_Bel._ Midnight, my Lord!

_Sal._ What, are you not invited?

_Bel._ Oh! yes--we had forgotten.

_Sal._ Is it usual Thus to forget a Sovereign's invitation?

_Arb._ Why--we but now received it. 150

_Sal._ Then why here?

_Arb._ On duty.

_Sal._ On what duty?

_Bel._ On the state's. We have the privilege to approach the presence; But found the Monarch absent.[k]

_Sal._ And I too Am upon duty.

_Arb._ May we crave its purport?

_Sal._ To arrest two traitors. Guards! Within there!

_Enter Guards_.

_Sal._ (_continuing_). Satraps, Your swords.

_Bel._ (_delivering his_). My lord, behold my scimitar.

_Arb._ (_drawing his sword_). Take mine.

_Sal._ (_advancing_). I will.

_Arb._ But in your heart the blade-- The hilt quits not this hand.[l]

_Sal._ (_drawing_). How! dost thou brave me? Tis well--this saves a trial, and false mercy. 160 Soldiers, hew down the rebel!

_Arb._ Soldiers! Aye-- _Alone, you_ dare not.

_Sal._ 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.

_Bel._ (_interposing_). Arbaces! Are you mad? Have I not rendered _My_ sword? Then trust like me our Sovereign's justice.

_Arb._ No--I will sooner trust the stars thou prat'st of, And this slight arm, and die a king at least 170 Of my own breath and body--so far that None else shall chain them.

_Sal._ (_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_.

_Sal._ 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_.

_Sar._ Hold your hands-- Upon your lives, I say. What, deaf or drunken? My sword! O fool, I wear no sword: here, fellow, Give me thy weapon. [_To a Guard_.

[SARDANAPALUS _snatches a sword from one of the soldiers, and rushes between the combatants--they separate_.

_Sar._ In my very palace! What hinders me from cleaving you in twain, Audacious brawlers?

_Bel._ Sire, your justice.

_Sal._ Or-- 180 Your weakness.

_Sar._ (_raising the sword_). How?

_Sal._ Strike! so the blow's repeated Upon yon traitor--whom you spare a moment, I trust, for torture--I'm content.

_Sar._ What--him! Who dares assail Arbaces?

_Sal._ I!

_Sar._ Indeed! Prince, you forget yourself. Upon what warrant?

_Sal._ (_showing the signet_). Thine.

_Arb._ (_confused_). The King's!

_Sal._ Yes! and let the King confirm it.

_Sar._ I parted not from this for such a purpose.

_Sal._ You parted with it for your safety--I Employed it for the best. Pronounce in person. Here I am but your slave--a moment past 190 I was your representative.

_Sar._ Then sheathe Your swords. [ARBACES _and_ SALEMENES _return their swords to the scabbards_.

_Sal._ Mine's sheathed: I pray you sheathe _not_ yours: Tis the sole sceptre left you now with safety.

_Sar._ A heavy one; the hilt, too, hurts my hand. (_To a Guard_.) Here, fellow, take thy weapon back. Well, sirs, What doth this mean?

_Bel._ The Prince must answer that.

_Sal._ Truth upon my part, treason upon theirs.

_Sar._ Treason--Arbaces! treachery and Beleses! That were an union I will not believe.

_Bel._ Where is the proof?

_Sal._ I'll answer that, if once 200 The king demands your fellow-traitor's sword.

_Arb._ (_to Sal._). A sword which hath been drawn as oft as thine Against his foes.

_Sal._ And now against his brother, And in an hour or so against himself.

_Sar._ That is not possible: he dared not; no-- No--I'll not hear of such things. These vain bickerings Are spawned in courts by base intrigues, and baser Hirelings, who live by lies on good men's lives. You must have been deceived, my brother.

_Sal._ First Let him deliver up his weapon, and 210 Proclaim himself your subject by that duty, And I will answer all.

_Sar._ 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.

_Sal._ (_delivering back the signet_). Monarch, take back your signet.

_Sar._ No, retain it; But use it with more moderation.

_Sal._ Sire, 200 I used it for your honour, and restore it Because I cannot keep it with my own. Bestow it on Arbaces.

_Sar._ So I should: He never asked it.

_Sal._ Doubt not, he will have it, Without that hollow semblance of respect.

_Bel._ I know not what hath prejudiced the Prince So strongly 'gainst two subjects, than whom none Have been more zealous for Assyria's weal.

_Sal._ Peace, factious priest, and faithless soldier! thou Unit'st in thy own person the worst vices 230 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 tempered By the tricks taught thee in Chaldea.

_Bel._ Hear him, My liege--the son of Belus! he blasphemes The worship of the land, which bows the knee Before your fathers.

_Sar._ Oh! for that I pray you Let him have absolution. I dispense with The worship of dead men; feeling that I 240 Am mortal, and believing that the race From whence I sprung are--what I see them--ashes.

_Bel._ King! Do not deem so: they are with the stars, And----

_Sar._ You shall join them ere they will rise, If you preach farther--Why, _this_ is rank treason.

_Sal._ My lord!

_Sar._ To school me in the worship of Assyria's idols! Let him be released-- Give him his sword.

_Sal._ My Lord, and King, and Brother, I pray ye pause.

_Sar._ Yes, and be sermonised, And dinned, and deafened with dead men and Baal, 250 And all Chaldea's starry mysteries.

_Bel._ Monarch! respect them.

_Sar._ 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 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, 260 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[m]-- When they shine on my grave I shall know neither.

_Bel._ For _neither_, Sire, say _better_.

_Sar._ I will wait, If it so please you, Pontiff, for that knowledge. 270 In the mean time receive your sword, and know That I prefer your service militant Unto your ministry--not loving either.

_Sal._ (_aside_). His lusts have made him mad. Then must I save him, Spite of himself.

_Sar._ 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'll not say pardon--which must be Earned by the guilty; this I'll not pronounce ye, 280 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 crowned to reign o'er--let that pass. As I have said, I will not _deem_ ye guilty, 290 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.

_Arb._ Sire, this clemency----

_Bel._ (_interrupting him_). Is worthy of yourself; and, although innocent, We thank----

_Sar._ Priest! keep your thanksgivings for Belus; His offspring needs none.

_Bel._ But being innocent----

_Sar._ Be silent.--Guilt is loud. If ye are loyal, 300 Ye are injured men, and should be sad, not grateful.

_Bel._ So we should be, were justice always done By earthly power omnipotent; but Innocence Must oft receive her right as a mere favour.

_Sar._ 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.

_Bel._ I trust there is no cause.

_Sar._ No _cause_, perhaps; But many causers:--if ye meet with such In the exercise of your inquisitive function 310 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 320 I have no call for either. Salemenes! Follow me.

[_Exeunt_ SARDANAPALUS, SALEMENES, _and the Train, etc., leaving_ ARBACES _and_ BELESES.

_Arb._ Beleses!

_Bel._ Now, what think you?

_Arb._ That we are lost.

_Bel._ That we have won the kingdom.

_Arb._ 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.

_Bel._ Seek not why; But let us profit by the interval.[n] The hour is still our own--our power the same-- The night the same we destined. He hath changed 330 Nothing except our ignorance of all Suspicion into such a certainty As must make madness of delay.

_Arb._ And yet--

_Bel._ What, doubting still?

_Arb._ He spared our lives, nay, more, Saved them from Salemenes.

_Bel._ And how long Will he so spare? till the first drunken minute.

_Arb._ Or sober, rather. Yet he did it nobly; Gave royally what we had forfeited Basely----

_Bel._ Say bravely.

_Arb._ Somewhat of both, perhaps-- But it has touched me, and, whate'er betide, 340 I will no further on.

_Bel._ And lose the world!

_Arb._ Lose any thing except my own esteem.

_Bel._ I blush that we should owe our lives to such A king of distaffs!

_Arb._ But no less we owe them; And I should blush far more to take the grantor's![16]

_Bel._ Thou may'st endure whate'er thou wilt--the stars Have written otherwise.

_Arb._ Though they came down, And marshalled me the way in all their brightness, I would not follow.

_Bel._ This is weakness--worse Than a scared beldam's dreaming of the dead, 350 And waking in the dark.--Go to--go to.

_Arb._ Methought he looked 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.

_Bel._ 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.

_Arb._ But we The meaner.--Would he had not spared us!

_Bel._ So-- Wouldst thou be sacrificed thus readily? 360

_Arb._ No--but it had been better to have died Than live ungrateful.

_Bel._ 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 Rash reveller steps, ostentatiously, 'Twixt thee and Salemenes, thou art turned Into--what shall I say?--Sardanapalus! I know no name more ignominious.

_Arb._ But An hour ago, who dared to term me such 370 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.

_Bel._ No--the Queen liked no sharers of the kingdom, Not even a husband.[17]

_Arb._ I must serve him truly----

_Bel._ And humbly?

_Arb._ 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 380 Right and wrong, which I lack for my direction, And must pursue but what a plain heart teaches. And now you know me.

_Bel._ Have you finished?

_Arb._ Yes-- With you.

_Bel._ And would, perhaps, betray as well As quit me?

_Arb._ That's a sacerdotal thought, And not a soldier's.

_Bel._ Be it what you will-- Truce with these wranglings, and but hear me.

_Arb._ No-- There is more peril in your subtle spirit Than in a phalanx.

_Bel._ If it must be so-- I'll on alone.

_Arb._ Alone!

_Bel._ Thrones hold but one. 390

_Arb._ But this is filled.

_Bel._ With worse than vacancy-- A despised monarch. Look to it, Arbaces: I have still aided, cherished, loved, and urged you; Was willing even to serve you, in the hope To serve and save Assyria. Heaven itself Seemed 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-- 400 Or one or both--for sometimes both are one; And if I win--Arbaces is my servant.

_Arb._ _Your_ servant!

_Bel._ Why not? better than be slave, The _pardoned_ slave of _she_ Sardanapalus!

_Enter_ PANIA.

_Pan._ My Lords, I bear an order from the king.

_Arb._ It is obeyed ere spoken.

_Bel._ Notwithstanding, Let's hear it.

_Pan._ Forthwith, on this very night, Repair to your respective satrapies Of Babylon and Media.

_Bel._ With our troops?

_Pan._ My order is unto the Satraps and 410 Their household train.

_Arb._ But----

_Bel._ It must be obeyed: Say, we depart.

_Pan._ My order is to see you Depart, and not to bear your answer.

_Bel._ (_aside_). Aye[o]! Well, Sir--we will accompany you hence.

_Pan._ 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.

_Bel._ Now then obey!

_Arb._ Doubtless.

_Bel._ Yes, to the gates That grate the palace, which is now our prison-- No further.

_Arb._ Thou hast harped the truth indeed! 420 The realm itself, in all its wide extension, Yawns dungeons at each step for thee and me.

_Bel._ Graves!

_Arb._ If I thought so, this good sword should dig One more than mine.

_Bel._ It shall have work enough. 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?

_Arb._ Why, what other Interpretation should it bear? it is The very policy of Orient monarchs-- 430 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--

_Bel._ But _will_ not--_can_ not be so now.

_Arb._ 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 sickened by the way, it was So long and heavy.

_Bel._ Let us but regain 440 The free air of the city, and we'll shorten The journey.

_Arb._ 'Twill be shortened at the gates, It may be.

_Bel._ No; they hardly will risk that. 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.

_Arb._ If I but thought he did not mean my life--

_Bel._ Fool! hence--what else should despotism alarmed 450 Mean? Let us but rejoin our troops, and march.

_Arb._ Towards our provinces?

_Bel._ 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!

_Arb._ And I even yet repenting must Relapse to guilt!

_Bel._ 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. 460 Our quick departure proves our civic zeal; Our quick departure hinders our good escort, The worthy Pania, from anticipating The orders of some parasangs from hence: Nay, there's no other choice, but----hence, I say[p]. [_Exit with_ ARBACES, _who follows reluctantly_.

_Enter_ SARDANAPALUS _and_ SALEMENES.

_Sar._ Well, all is remedied, and without bloodshed, That worst of mockeries of a remedy; We are now secure by these men's exile.

_Sal._ Yes, As he who treads on flowers is from the adder Twined round their roots.

_Sar._ Why, what wouldst have me do? 470

_Sal._ Undo what you have done.

_Sar._ Revoke my pardon?

_Sal._ Replace the crown now tottering on your temples.

_Sar._ That were tyrannical.

_Sal._ But sure.

_Sar._ We are so. What danger can they work upon the frontier?

_Sal._ They are not there yet--never should they be so, Were I well listened to.

_Sar._ Nay, I _have_ listened Impartially to thee--why not to them?

_Sal._ You may know that hereafter; as it is, I take my leave to order forth the guard.

_Sar._ And you will join us at the banquet?

_Sal._ Sire, 480 Dispense with me--I am no wassailer: Command me in all service save the Bacchant's.

_Sar._ Nay, but 'tis fit to revel now and then.

_Sal._ And fit that some should watch for those who revel Too oft. Am I permitted to depart?

_Sar._ 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 490 Thine honest wisdom, and thy rough yet kind, Though oft-reproving sufferance of my follies. If I have spared these men against thy counsel, 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.

_Sal._ Thus you run The risk to sleep for ever, to save traitors-- A moment's pang now changed for years of crime. 500 Still let them be made quiet.

_Sar._ Tempt me not; My word is past.

_Sal._ But it may be recalled.

_Sar._ 'Tis royal.

_Sal._ And should therefore be decisive. This half-indulgence of an exile serves But to provoke--a pardon should be full, Or it is none.

_Sar._ And who persuaded me After I had repealed them, or at least Only dismissed them from our presence, who Urged me to send them to their satrapies?

_Sal._ True; that I had forgotten; that is, Sire, 510 If they e'er reached their Satrapies--why, then, Reprove me more for my advice.

_Sar._ And if They do not reach them--look to it!--in safety, In safety, mark me--and security-- Look to thine own.

_Sal._ Permit me to depart; Their _safety_ shall be cared for.

_Sar._ Get thee hence, then; And, prithee, think more gently of thy brother.

_Sal._ Sire, I shall ever duly serve my sovereign. [_Exit_ SALEMENES.

_Sar._ (_solus_). That man is of a temper too severe; Hard but as lofty as the rock, and free 520 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 erred 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 count its throbs, not quicken them, and ask Questions which mortal never dared to ask me, 530 Nor Baal, though an oracular deity--[q] 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.

_Myr._ King! the sky Is overcast, and musters muttering thunder, In clouds that seem approaching fast, and show In forkéd flashes a commanding tempest.[r] 540 Will you then quit the palace?

_Sar._ Tempest, say'st thou?

_Myr._ Aye, my good lord.

_Sar._ 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?

_Myr._ In my own country we respect their voices As auguries of Jove.[s]

_Sar._ Jove!--aye, your Baal-- Ours also has a property in thunder, 550 And ever and anon some falling bolt Proves his divinity,--and yet sometimes Strikes his own altars.

_Myr._ That were a dread omen.

_Sar._ Yes--for the priests. Well, we will not go forth Beyond the palace walls to-night, but make Our feast within.

_Myr._ 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.

_Sar._ Child, if there be peril, 560 Methinks it is the same within these walls As on the river's brink.

_Myr._ 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.

_Sar._ No, nor in the palace, 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, 570 The steel will reach the earthly. But be calm; The men, or innocent or guilty, are Banished, and far upon their way.

_Myr._ They live, then?

_Sar._ So sanguinary? _Thou!_

_Myr._ I would not shrink From just infliction of due punishment On those who seek your life: were't otherwise, I should not merit mine. Besides, you heard The princely Salemenes.

_Sar._ This is strange; The gentle and the austere are both against me, And urge me to revenge.

_Myr._ 'Tis a Greek virtue. 580

_Sar._ But not a kingly one--I'll none on't; or If ever I indulge in't, it shall be With kings--my equals.

_Myr._ These men sought to be so.

_Sar._ Myrrha, this is too feminine, and springs From fear----

_Myr._ For you.

_Sar._ 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[t]. 590

_Myr._ 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[u], Which might not yield to any cares of mine.

_Sar._ Grief cannot come where perfect love exists, Except to heighten it, and vanish from 600 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_.