Chapter 6

MYRRHA _and_ BALEA.

_Myr._ (_at a window_)[28] The day at last has broken. What a night Hath ushered 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 10 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 Scattered along the eternal vault: and yet It dwells upon the soul, and soothes the soul, And blends itself into the soul, until 20 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[al] (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 30 The rest of common, heavy, human hours, And dream them through in placid sufferance, Though seemingly employed like all the rest Of toiling breathers in allotted tasks[am] 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.

_Bal._ You muse right calmly: and can you so watch The sunrise which may be our last?

_Myr._ It is 40 Therefore that I so watch it, and reproach Those eyes, which never may behold it more, For having looked 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, The Chaldee's God, which, when I gaze upon, I grow almost a convert to your Baal.

_Bal._ As now he reigns in heaven, so once on earth He swayed.

_Myr._ He sways it now far more, then; never 50 Had earthly monarch half the power and glory Which centres in a single ray of his.

_Bal._ Surely he is a God!

_Myr._ 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.

_Bal._ Hark! heard you not a sound?

_Myr._ No, 'twas mere fancy; They battle it beyond the wall, and not 60 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, We are as much shut in even from the sound Of peril as from glory.

_Bal._ But they reached Thus far before.

_Myr._ Yes, by surprise, and were 70 Beat back by valour: now at once we have Courage and vigilance to guard us.

_Bal._ May they Prosper!

_Myr._ 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!

_Bal._ It is said the King's demeanour In the late action scarcely more appalled The rebels than astonished his true subjects.

_Myr._ 'Tis easy to astonish or appal The vulgar mass which moulds a horde of slaves; 80 But he did bravely.

_Bal._ Slew he not Beleses? I heard the soldiers say he struck him down.

_Myr._ The wretch was overthrown, but rescued to Triumph, perhaps, o'er one who vanquished him In fight, as he had spared him in his peril; And by that heedless pity risked a crown.

_Bal._ Hark!

_Myr._ 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_.

_Myr._ Oh, Jove!

_Bal._ Then all is over.

_Sal._ That is false. Hew down the slave who says so, if a soldier.

_Myr._ Spare him--he's none: a mere court butterfly, 90 That flutter in the pageant of a monarch.

_Sal._ Let him live on, then.

_Myr._ So wilt thou, I trust.

_Sal._ I fain would live this hour out, and the event, But doubt it. Wherefore did ye bear me here?

_Sol._ By the King's order. When the javelin struck you, You fell and fainted: 'twas his strict command To bear you to this hall.

_Sal._ '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!

_Myr._ Let me see the wound; 100 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.[an]

_Sol._ Best extract The javelin.

_Myr._ Hold! no, no, it cannot be.

_Sal._ I am sped, then!

_Myr._ With the blood that fast must follow The extracted weapon, I do fear thy life.

_Sal._ And I _not_ death. Where was the King when you Conveyed me from the spot where I was stricken?

_Sol._ Upon the same ground, and encouraging With voice and gesture the dispirited troops 110 Who had seen you fall, and faltered back.

_Sal._ Whom heard ye Named next to the command?

_Sol._ I did not hear.

_Sal._ Fly, then, and tell him, 'twas my last request That Zames take my post until the junction, So hoped for, yet delayed, of Ofratanes, Satrap of Susa. Leave me here: our troops Are not so numerous as to spare your absence.

_Sol._ But Prince----

_Sal._ Hence, I say! Here's a courtier and A woman, the best chamber company. As you would not permit me to expire 120 Upon the field, I'll have no idle soldiers About my sick couch. Hence! and do my bidding! [_Exeunt the Soldiers_.

_Myr._ Gallant and glorious Spirit! must the earth So soon resign thee?

_Sal._ Gentle Myrrha, 'tis The end I would have chosen, had I saved The monarch or the monarchy by this; As 'tis, I have not outlived them.

_Myr._ You wax paler.

_Sal._ Your hand; this broken weapon but prolongs My pangs, without sustaining life enough To make me useful: I would draw it forth 130 And my life with it, could I but hear how The fight goes.

_Enter_ SARDANAPALUS _and Soldiers_.

_Sar._ My best brother!

_Sal._ And the battle Is lost?

_Sar._ (_despondingly_). You see _me here_.

_Sal._ I'd rather see you _thus!_ [_He draws out the weapon from the wound, and dies_.

_Sar._ And _thus_ I will be seen; unless the succour, The last frail reed of our beleagured hopes, Arrive with Ofratanes.

_Myr._ Did you not Receive a token from your dying brother, Appointing Zames chief?

_Sar._ I did.

_Myr._ Where's Zames?

_Sar._ Dead.

_Myr._ And Altada?

_Sar._ Dying.

_Myr._ Pania? Sfero?

_Sar._ Pania yet lives; but Sfero's fled or captive. 140 I am alone.

_Myr._ And is all lost?

_Sar._ Our walls, Though thinly manned, may still hold out against Their present force, or aught save treachery: But i' the field----

_Myr._ I thought 'twas the intent Of Salemenes not to risk a sally Till ye were strengthened by the expected succours.

_Sar._ _I_ over-ruled him.

_Myr._ Well, the _fault's_ a brave one.

_Sar._ But fatal. Oh, my brother! I would give These realms, of which thou wert the ornament, The sword and shield, the sole-redeeming honour, 150 To call back----But I will not weep for thee; Thou shall be mourned for as thou wouldst be mourned. 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, 160 And dost me justice now. Let me once clasp That yet warm hand, and fold that throbless heart [_Embraces the body_. To this which beats so bitterly. Now, bear The body hence.

_Sol._ Where?

_Sar._ 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 with the body of_ SALEMENES.

_Enter_ PANIA.

_Sar._ Well, Pania! have you placed the guards, and issued The orders fixed on?

_Pan._ Sire, I have obeyed.

_Sar._ And do the soldiers keep their hearts up?

_Pan._ Sire? 170

_Sar._ I am answered! When a king asks twice, and has A question as an answer to _his_ question, It is a portent. What! they are disheartened?

_Pan._ The death of Salemenes, and the shouts Of the exulting rebels on his fall, Have made them----

_Sar._ _Rage_--not droop--it should have been. We'll find the means to rouse them.

_Pan._ Such a loss Might sadden even a victory.

_Sar._ Alas! Who can so feel it as I feel? but yet, Though cooped within these walls, they are strong, and we 180 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_.

_Sar._ Thy face seems ominous. Speak!

_Offi._ I dare not.

_Sar._ 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.

_Pan._ Proceed--thou hearest.

_Offi._ The wall which skirted near the river's brink Is thrown down by the sudden inundation 190 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 destroyed the bulwark.

_Pan._ That's a black augury! it has been said For ages, "That the City ne'er should yield To man, until the River grew its foe."

_Sar._ I can forgive the omen, not the ravage. How much is swept down of the wall?

_Offi._ About Some twenty stadia.[29]

_Sar._ And all this is left 200 Pervious to the assailants?

_Offi._ For the present The River's fury must impede the assault; But when he shrinks into his wonted channel, And may be crossed by the accustomed barks, The palace is their own.

_Sar._ That shall be never. Though men, and gods, and elements, and omens, Have risen up 'gainst one who ne'er provoked them, My father's house shall never be a cave For wolves to horde and howl in.

_Pan._ With your sanction, I will proceed to the spot, and take such measures 210 For the assurance of the vacant space As time and means permit.

_Sar._ About it straight, And bring 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_.

_Myr._ Thus the very waves rise up Against you.

_Sar._ They are not my subjects, girl, And may be pardoned, since they can't be punished.

_Myr._ I joy to see this portent shakes you not.

_Sar._ I am past the fear of portents: they can tell me 220 Nothing I have not told myself since midnight: Despair anticipates such things.

_Myr._ Despair!

_Sar._ 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.

_Myr._ Save _one deed_--the last And greatest to all mortals; crowning act Of all that was, or is, or is to be-- 230 The only thing common to all mankind, So different in their births, tongues, sexes, natures, Hues, features, climes, times, feelings, intellects,[ao] Without one point of union save in this-- To which we tend, for which we're born, and thread The labyrinth of mystery, called life.

_Sar._ Our clue 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 appalled; As children at discovered bugbears.

_Re-enter_ PANIA.

_Pan._ 'Tis 240 As was reported: I have ordered there A double guard, withdrawing from the wall, Where it was strongest, the required addition To watch the breach occasioned by the waters.

_Sar._ 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 Pressed by a nobler weight than e'er it bore-- 250 Though a long line of sovereigns have lain down Along its golden frame--as bearing for A time what late was Salemenes.)--Search The secret covert to which this will lead you; 'Tis full of treasure;[30] take it for yourself And your companions:[ap] 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 formed for pleasure, 260 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!

_Pan._ Under your protection! So you accompany your faithful guard.

_Sar._ No, Pania! that must not be; get thee hence, And leave me to my fate.

_Pan._ 'Tis the first time I ever disobeyed: but now----

_Sar._ So all men Dare beard me now, and Insolence within Apes Treason from without. Question no further; 270 'Tis my command, my last command. Wilt _thou_ Oppose it? _thou!_

_Pan._ But yet--not yet.

_Sar._ Well, then, Swear that you will obey when I shall give The signal.

_Pan._ With a heavy but true heart, I promise.

_Sar._ 'Tis enough. Now order here Faggots, pine-nuts, and withered 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 280 For a great sacrifice I build the pyre! And heap them round yon throne.

_Pan._ My Lord!

_Sar._ I have said it, And _you_ have sworn.

_Pan._ And could keep my faith Without a vow. [_Exit_ PANIA.

_Myr._ What mean you?

_Sar._ You shall know Anon--what the whole earth shall ne'er forget.

PANIA, _returning with a Herald_.

_Pan._ My King, in going forth upon my duty, This herald has been brought before me, craving An audience.

_Sar._ Let him speak.

_Her._ The _King_ Arbaces----

_Sar._ What, crowned already?--But, proceed.

_Her._ Beleses, The anointed High-priest----

_Sar._ Of what god or demon? 290 With new kings rise new altars. But, proceed; You are sent to prate your master's will, and not Reply to mine.

_Her._ And Satrap Ofratanes----

_Sar._ Why, _he_ is _ours_.

_Her._ (_showing a ring_). Be sure that he is now In the camp of the conquerors; behold His signet ring.

_Sar._ 'Tis his. A worthy triad! 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.

_Her._ They offer thee thy life, and freedom 300 Of choice to single out a residence In any of the further provinces, Guarded and watched, 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.

_Sar._ (_ironically_). The generous Victors!

_Her._ I wait the answer.

_Sar._ Answer, slave! How long Have slaves decided on the doom of kings?

_Her._ Since they were free.

_Sar._ Mouthpiece of mutiny! Thou at the least shalt learn the penalty 310 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_.

_Pan._ I never yet obeyed 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.

_Her._ A single word: My office, King, is sacred.

_Sar._ And what's _mine_? That thou shouldst come and dare to ask of me 320 To lay it down?

_Her._ I but obeyed my orders, At the same peril if refused, as now Incurred by my obedience.

_Sar._ So there are New monarchs of an hour's growth as despotic As sovereigns swathed in purple, and enthroned From birth to manhood!

_Her._ 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 330 A peaceful herald, unarmed, in his office; And violate not only all that man Holds sacred between man and man--but that More holy tie which links us with the Gods?

_Sar._ 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.

_Her._ I thank you doubly for my life, and this 340 Most gorgeous gift, which renders it more precious. But must I bear no answer?

_Sar._ Yes,--I ask An hour's truce to consider.

_Her._ But an hour's?

_Sar._ 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.

_Her._ I shall not fail To be a faithful legate of your pleasure.

_Sar._ And hark! a word more.

_Her._ I shall not forget it, Whate'er it be.

_Sar._ Commend me to Beleses; 350 And tell him, ere a year expire, I summon Him hence to meet me.

_Her._ Where?

_Sar._ At Babylon. At least from thence he will depart to meet me.

_Her._ I shall obey you to the letter. [_Exit Herald_.

_Sar._ Pania!-- Now, my good Pania!--quick--with what I ordered.

_Pan._ My Lord,--the soldiers are already charged. And see! they enter.

_Soldiers enter, and form a Pile about the Throne, etc._[31]

_Sar._ 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 quenched 360 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 '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?

_Pan._ Aye, for a kingdom's. I understand you, now.

_Sar._ And blame me?

_Pan._ No-- Let me but fire the pile, and share it with you. 370

_Myr._ That _duty's_ mine.

_Pan._ A woman's!

_Myr._ 'Tis the soldier's Part to die _for_ his sovereign, and why not The woman's with her lover?

_Pan._ '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.

_Pan._ And live wretched!

_Sar._ Think upon 380 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,-- 390 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, and Would fain die with you!

[_The Soldiers and_ PANIA _throng round him, kissing his hand and the hem of his robe_.

_Sar._ My best! my last friends! 400 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_.

_Myr._ These men were honest: it is comfort still 410 That our last looks should be on loving faces.

_Sar._ 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.

_Myr._ Shall I light One of the torches which lie heaped beneath The ever-burning lamp that burns without, 420 Before Baal's shrine, in the adjoining hall?

_Sar._ Do so. Is that thy answer?

_Myr._ Thou shalt see. [_Exit_ MYRRHA.

_Sar._ (_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 430 Of arms, and records--monuments, and spoils, In which _they_ would have revelled, 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[aq] 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[ar] 440 To lesson ages, rebel nations, and Voluptuous princes. Time shall quench full many A people's records, and a hero's acts; 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. 450

_Sar._ And the cup?

_Myr._ 'Tis my country's custom to Make a libation to the Gods.

_Sar._ 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 falls, exclaims_--

And this libation Is for the excellent Beleses.

_Myr._ Why Dwells thy mind rather upon that man's name Than on his mate's in villany?

_Sar._ The other Is a mere soldier, a mere tool, a kind 460 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?

_Myr._ And dost thou think A Greek girl dare not do for love, that which An Indian widow braves for custom?[as]

_Sar._ Then We but await the signal.

_Myr._ It is long In sounding.

_Sar._ Now, farewell; one last embrace.

_Myr._ Embrace, but _not_ the last; there is one more. 470

_Sar._ True, the commingling fire will mix our ashes.

_Myr._ 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.

_Sar._ Say it.

_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 scattered into air, Than be polluted more by human hands Of slaves and traitors. In this blazing palace, 480 And its enormous walls of reeking ruin, We leave a nobler monument than Egypt Hath piled in her brick mountains, o'er dead kings,[32] 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 Their very record!

_Myr._ 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 490 Was for thee, my last thoughts, save _one_, were of thee!

_Sar._ And that?

_Myr._ Is yours. [_The trumpet of_ PANIA _sounds without_.

_Sar._ Hark!

_Myr._ _Now_!

_Sar._ 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_. Now, Myrrha!

_Myr._ Art thou ready?

_Sar._ As the torch in thy grasp. [MYRRHA _fires the pile_.

_Myr._ 'Tis fired! I come.

[_As_ MYRRHA _springs forward to throw herself into the flames, the Curtain falls_.[33]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] {4}[For a description of the fall of Nineveh, see _Nahum_ ii. 1, sqq.--"He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face.... The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are in scarlet.... The chariots shall rage in the streets, they shall justle one against another in the broad ways: they shall seem like torches, they shall run like the lightnings. He shall recount his worthies: they shall stumble in their walk; they shall make haste to the wall thereof, and the defence shall be prepared. The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace shall be dissolved," etc.]

[2] {7}["A manuscript dedication of _Sardanapalus_ ... was forwarded to him, with an obliging inquiry whether it might be prefixed to the tragedy. The German, who, at his advanced age, was conscious of his own powers, and of their effects, could only gratefully and modestly consider this Dedication as the expression of an inexhaustible intellect, deeply feeling and creating its own object. He was by no means dissatisfied when, after long delay, _Sardanapalus_ appeared without the Dedication; and was made happy by the possession of a facsimile of it, engraved on stone, which he considered a precious memorial."--_Lebensverhältnik zu Byron_, _Werke_, 1833, xlvi. 221-225. (See, too, for translation, _Life_, p. 593.)]

[3] {9}[_Sardanapalus_ originally appeared in the same volume with _The Two Foscari_ and _Cain_. The date of publication was December 19, 1821.]

[4] {10}["Sardanapalus, the Thirtieth from Ninus, and the last King of the Assyrians, exceeded all his Predecessors in Sloth and Luxury; for besides that he was seen of none out of his family, he led a most effeminate life: for wallowing in Pleasure and wanton Dalliances, he cloathed himself in Womens' attire, and spun fine Wool and Purple amongst the throngs of his Whores and Concubines. He painted likewise his Face, and decked his whole Body with other Allurements.... He imitated likewise a Woman's voice...; and proceeded to such a degree of voluptuousness that he composed verses for his Epitaph ... which were thus translated by a Grecian out of the Barbarian language--

[Greek: Tau~t' e)/chô o(/s' e)/phagon kai\ e)phy/brisa, kai\ met' e)/rôtos Te/rpn' e)/pathon' ta\ de\ polla\ kai\ o)/lbia kei~na le/leiptai.]

"What once I gorged I now enjoy, And wanton Lusts me still employ; All other things by Mortals prized Are left as dirt by me despised."

--_The Historical Library of Diodorus the Sicilian_, made English by G. Booth, of the City of Chester, Esquire, 1700, p. 65.

"Another king of the sort was Sardanapalus.... And so, when Arbaces, who was one of the generals under him, a Mede by birth, endeavoured to manage by the assistance of one of the eunuchs, whose name was Sparamizus, to see Sardanapalus: and when ... he saw him painted with vermilion, and adorned like a woman, sitting among his concubines, carding purple wool, and sitting among them with his feet up, wearing a woman's robe, and with his beard carefully scraped, and his face smoothed with pumice stone (for he was whiter than milk, and pencilled under his eyes and eyebrows; and when he saw Arbaces he was putting a little more white under his eyes). Most historians, of whom Duris is one, relate that Arbaces, being indignant at his countrymen being ruled over by such a monarch as that, stabbed him and slew him. But Ctesias says that he went to war with him, and collected a great army, and then that Sardanapalus, being dethroned by Arbaces, died, burning himself alive in his palace, having heaped up a funeral pile four plethra in extent, on which he placed 150 golden couches."--_The Deipnosophistæ_ ... of Athenæus, bk. xii. c. 38, translated by C. D. Yonge, 1854, iii. 847.]

[5] {13}[This prince surpassed all his predecessors in effeminacy, luxury, and cowardice. He never went out of his palace, but spent all his time among a company of women, dressed and painted like them, and employed like them at the distaff. He placed all his happiness and glory in the possession of immense treasures, in feasting and rioting, and indulging himself in all the most infamous and criminal pleasures. He ordered two verses to be put upon his tomb, signifying that he carried away with him all he had eaten, and all the pleasures he had enjoyed, but left everything else behind him,--_an epitaph_, says Aristotle, _fit for a hog_. Arbaces, governor of Media, having found means to get into the palace, and having with his own eyes seen Sardanapalus in the midst of his infamous seraglio, enraged at such a spectacle, and not able to endure that so many brave men should be subjected to a prince more soft and effeminate than the women themselves, immediately formed a conspiracy against him. Beleses, governor of Babylon, and several others, entered into it. On the first rumour of this revolt the king hid himself in the inmost part of his palace. Being afterwards obliged to take the field with some forces which he had assembled, he at first gained three successive victories over the enemy, but was afterwards overcome, and pursued to the gates of Nineveh; wherein he shut himself, in hopes the rebels would never be able to take a city so well fortified, and stored with provisions for a considerable time. The siege proved indeed of very great length. It had been declared by an ancient oracle that Nineveh could never be taken unless the river became an enemy to the city. These words buoyed up Sardanapalus, because he looked upon the thing as impossible. But when he saw that the Tigris, by a violent inundation, had thrown down twenty stadia (two miles and a half) of the city wall, and by that means opened a passage to the enemy, he understood the meaning of the oracle, and thought himself lost. He resolved, however, to die in such a manner as, according to his opinion, should cover the infamy of his scandalous and effeminate life. He ordered a pile of wood to be made in his palace, and, setting fire to it, burnt himself, his eunuchs, his women, and his treasures.--Diod. Sic., _Bibl. Hist_., lib. ii. pag. 78, sqq., ed. 1604, p. 109.]

[a] {14} _He sweats in dreary, dulled effeminacy_.--[MS. M. erased.]

[b] {15} _And see the gewgaws of the glittering girls_.--[MS. M. erased.]

[6] ["The words _Queen_ (_vide infra_, line 83) and _pavilion_ occur, but it is not an allusion to his Britannic Majesty, as you may tremulously (for the admiralty custom) imagine. This you will one day see (if I finish it), as I have made Sardanapalus _brave_ (though voluptuous, as history represents him), and also as _amiable_ as my poor powers could render him. So that it could neither be truth nor satire on any living monarch."--Letter to Murray, May 25, 1821, _Letters_, 1901, v. 299.

Byron pretended, or, perhaps, really thought, that such a phrase as the "Queen's wrongs" would be supposed to contain an allusion to the trial of Queen Caroline (August-November, 1820), and to the exclusion of her name from the State prayers, etc. Unquestionably if the play had been put on the stage at this time, the pit and gallery would have applauded the sentiment to the echo. There was, too, but one "pavilion" in 1821, and that was not on the banks of the Euphrates, but at Brighton. _Qui s'excuse s'accuse_. Byron was not above "paltering" with his readers "in a double sense."]

[7] {16} "The Ionian name had been still more comprehensive; having included the Achaians and the B[oe]otians, who, together 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_, 1818. i. 199.

[c] {17} _To Byblis_----.--[MS. M.]

[d] _I know each glance of those deep Greek-souled eyes_.--[MS. M. erased.]

[e] {19}

----_I have a mind_ _To curse the restless slaves with their own wishes_.--[MS. M. erased.]

[8] {21}[For the occupation of India by Dionysus, see Diod. Siculi _Bib. Hist_., lib. ii, pag. 87, c.]

[f] _He did, and thence was deemed a God in story_.--[MS. M. erased.]

[9] [Strabo (_Rerum Geog_., lib. iii. 1807, p. 235) throws some doubt on the existence of these columns, which he suggests were islands or "pillar" rocks. According to Plutarch (Langhorne's Translation, 1838, p. 490), Alexander built great altars on the banks of the Ganges, on which the native kings were wont to "offer sacrifices in the Grecian manner." Hence, perhaps, the legend of the columns erected by Dionysus.]

[10] "For this expedition he took only a small chosen body of the phalanx, but all his light troops. In the first day's march he reached Anchialus, a town said to have been founded by the king of Assyria, Sardanapalus. The fortifications, in their magnitude and extent, still in Arrian's time, bore the character of greatness, which the Assyrians appear singularly to have affected in works of the kind. A monument representing Sardanapalus was found there, warranted by an inscription in Assyrian characters, of course in the old Assyrian language, which the Greeks, whether well or ill, interpreted thus: 'Sardanapalus, son of Anacyndaraxes, in one day founded Anchialus and Tarsus. Eat, drink, play; all other human joys are not worth a fillip.' Supposing this version nearly exact (for Arrian says it was not quite so), whether the purpose has not been to invite to civil order a people disposed to turbulence, rather than to recommend immoderate luxury, may perhaps reasonably be questioned. What, indeed, could be the object of a king of Assyria in founding such towns in a country so distant from his capital, and so divided from it by an immense extent of sandy deserts and lofty mountains, and, still more, how the inhabitants could be at once in circumstances to abandon themselves to the intemperate joys which their prince has been supposed to have recommended, is not obvious. But it may deserve observation that, in that line of coast, the southern of Lesser Asia, ruins of cities, evidently of an age after Alexander, yet barely named in history, at this day astonish the adventurous traveller by their magnificence and elegance amid the desolation which, under a singularly barbarian government, has for so many centuries been daily spreading in the finest countries of the globe. Whether more from soil and climate, or from opportunities for commerce, extraordinary means must have been found for communities to flourish there; whence it may seem that the measures of Sardanapalus were directed by juster views than have been commonly ascribed to him. But that monarch having been the last of a dynasty ended by a revolution, obloquy on his memory would follow of course from the policy of his successors and their partisans. The inconsistency of traditions concerning Sardanapalus is striking in Diodorus's account of him."--MITFORD's _Greece_, 1820, ix. 311-313, and note 1.

[The story of the sepulchral monument with its cynical inscription rests on the authority of Aristobulus, who served under Alexander, and wrote his history. The passage is quoted by Strabo (lib. xiv. ed. 1808, p. 958), and as follows by Athenæus (lib. xii. cap. 40) in the _Deipnosophistæ_: "And Aristobulus says, 'In Anchiale, which was built by Sardanapalus, did Alexander, when he was on his expedition against the Persians, pitch his camp. And at no great distance was the monument of Sardanapalus, on which there is a marble figure putting together the fingers of its right hand, as if it were giving a fillip. And there was on it the following inscription in Assyrian characters:--

Sardanapalus The king, and son of Anacyndaraxes, In one day built Anchiale and Tarsus: Eat, drink, and love, the rest's not worth e'en this.'

By '_this_' meaning the fillip he was giving with his fingers."

"We may conjecture," says Canon Rawlinson, "that the monument was in reality a stele containing the king [Sennacherib] in an arched frame, with the right hand raised above the left, which is the ordinary attitude, and an inscription commemorating the occasion of its erection" [the conquest of Cilicia and settlement of Tarsus].--_The Five Great Monarchies, etc._, 1871, ii. 216.]

[11] {25}[Compare "Your worm is your only emperor for diet: we fat all creatures else to fat us; and we fat ourselves for maggots."--_Hamlet_.