Treason has
To penetrate through many a winding way,
And massy portal; but in the pavilion
There is no bulwark.
To penetrate through many a winding way,
And massy portal; but in the pavilion
There is no bulwark.
Byron
_ 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 forked 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_.
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_.
_Sar. _ 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.
_Zam. _ Nor elsewhere--where the King is, pleasure sparkles.
_Sar. _ Is not this better now than Nimrod's huntings,
Or my wild Grandam's chase in search of kingdoms
She could not keep when conquered?
_Alt. _ 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 10
Has placed his joy in peace--the sole true glory.
_Sar. _ 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,
And not gone tracking it through human ashes,
Making a grave with every footstep.
_Zam. _ No;
All hearts are happy, and all voices bless
The King of peace--who holds a world in jubilee.
_Sar. _ Art sure of that? I have heard otherwise;
Some say that there be traitors.
_Zam. _ Traitors they 20
Who dare to say so! --'Tis impossible.
What cause?
_Sar. _ What cause? true,--fill the goblet up;
We will not think of them: there are none such,
Or if there be, they are gone.
_Alt. _ 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 confusion_.
_Zam. _ Why do you rise, my friends? in that strong peal
His father gods consented.
_Myr. _ Menaced, rather. 30
King, wilt thou bear this mad impiety?
_Sar. _ Impiety! --nay, if the sires who reigned
Before me can be Gods, I'll not disgrace
Their lineage. But arise, my pious friends;
Hoard your devotion for the Thunderer there:
I seek but to be loved, not worshipped.
_Alt. _ Both--
Both you must ever be by all true subjects.
_Sar. _ Methinks the thunders still increase: it is
An awful night.
_Myr. _ Oh yes, for those who have
No palace to protect their worshippers. 40
_Sar. _ That's true, my Myrrha; and could I convert
My realm to one wide shelter for the wretched,
I'd do it.
_Myr. _ Thou'rt no God, then--not to be
Able to work a will so good and general,
As thy wish would imply.
_Sar. _ And your Gods, then,
Who can, and do not?
_Myr. _ Do not speak of that,
Lest we provoke them.
_Sar. _ 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? [v] that is, when it is angry, 50
And pelting as even now.
_Myr. _ The Persian prays
Upon his mountain.
_Sar. _ Yes, when the Sun shines.
_Myr. _ And I would ask if this your palace were
Unroofed and desolate, how many flatterers
Would lick the dust in which the King lay low?
_Alt. _ 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.
_Sar. _ Nay, pardon, guests,
The fair Greek's readiness of speech.
_Alt. _ _Pardon! _ sire: 60
We honour her of all things next to thee.
Hark! what was that?
_Zam. _ That! nothing but the jar
Of distant portals shaken by the wind.
_Alt. _ It sounded like the clash of--hark again!
_Zam. _ The big rain pattering on the roof.
_Sar. _ No more.
Myrrha, my love, hast thou thy shell in order?
Sing me a song of Sappho[18]; her, thou know'st,
Who in thy country threw----
_Enter_ PANIA, _with his sword and garments bloody,
and disordered. The guests rise in confusion_.
_Pan. _ (_to the Guards_). Look to the portals;
And with your best speed to the walls without.
Your arms! To arms! The King's in danger. Monarch 70
Excuse this haste,--'tis faith.
_Sar. _ Speak on.
_Pan. _ It is
As Salemenes feared; the faithless Satraps----
_Sar. _ You are wounded--give some wine. Take breath, good Pania.
_Pan. _ 'Tis nothing--a mere flesh wound. I am worn
More with my speed to warn my sovereign,
Than hurt in his defence.
_Myr. _ Well, Sir, the rebels?
_Pan. _ Soon as Arbaces and Beleses reached
Their stations in the city, they refused
To march; and on my attempt to use the power
Which I was delegated with, they called 80
Upon their troops, who rose in fierce defiance.
_Myr. _ All?
_Pan. _ Too many.
_Sar. _ Spare not of thy free speech,
To spare mine ears--the truth.
_Pan. _ My own slight guard
Were faithful, and what's left of it is still so.
_Myr. _ And are these all the force still faithful?
_Pan. _ No--
The Bactrians, now led on by Salemenes,
Who even then was on his way, still urged
By strong suspicion of the Median chiefs,
Are numerous, and make strong head against
The rebels, fighting inch by inch, and forming 90
An orb around the palace, where they mean
To centre all their force, and save the King.
(_He hesitates_. ) I am charged to----
_Myr. _ 'Tis no time for hesitation.
_Pan. _ 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.
_Sar. _ What, ho!
My armour there.
_Myr. _ And wilt thou?
_Sar. _ Will I not?
Ho, there! --but seek not for the buckler: 'tis 100
Too heavy:--a light cuirass and my sword.
Where are the rebels?
_Pan. _ Scarce a furlong's length
From the outward wall the fiercest conflict rages.
_Sar. _ Then I may charge on horseback. Sfero, ho!
Order my horse out. --There is space enough
Even in our courts, and by the outer gate,
To marshal half the horsemen of Arabia.
[_Exit_ SFERO _for the armour_.
_Myr. _ How I do love thee!
_Sar. _ I ne'er doubted it.
_Myr. _ But now I know thee.
_Sar. _ (_to his Attendant_). Bring down my spear too--
Where's Salemenes?
_Pan. _ Where a soldier should be, 110
In the thick of the fight.
_Sar. _ Then hasten to him----Is
The path still open, and communication
Left 'twixt the palace and the phalanx?
_Pan. _ 'Twas
When I late left him, and I have no fear;
Our troops were steady, and the phalanx formed.
_Sar. _ Tell him to spare his person for the present,
And that I will not spare my own--and say,
I come.
_Pan. _ There's victory in the very word.
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 forked 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_.
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_.
_Sar. _ 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.
_Zam. _ Nor elsewhere--where the King is, pleasure sparkles.
_Sar. _ Is not this better now than Nimrod's huntings,
Or my wild Grandam's chase in search of kingdoms
She could not keep when conquered?
_Alt. _ 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 10
Has placed his joy in peace--the sole true glory.
_Sar. _ 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,
And not gone tracking it through human ashes,
Making a grave with every footstep.
_Zam. _ No;
All hearts are happy, and all voices bless
The King of peace--who holds a world in jubilee.
_Sar. _ Art sure of that? I have heard otherwise;
Some say that there be traitors.
_Zam. _ Traitors they 20
Who dare to say so! --'Tis impossible.
What cause?
_Sar. _ What cause? true,--fill the goblet up;
We will not think of them: there are none such,
Or if there be, they are gone.
_Alt. _ 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 confusion_.
_Zam. _ Why do you rise, my friends? in that strong peal
His father gods consented.
_Myr. _ Menaced, rather. 30
King, wilt thou bear this mad impiety?
_Sar. _ Impiety! --nay, if the sires who reigned
Before me can be Gods, I'll not disgrace
Their lineage. But arise, my pious friends;
Hoard your devotion for the Thunderer there:
I seek but to be loved, not worshipped.
_Alt. _ Both--
Both you must ever be by all true subjects.
_Sar. _ Methinks the thunders still increase: it is
An awful night.
_Myr. _ Oh yes, for those who have
No palace to protect their worshippers. 40
_Sar. _ That's true, my Myrrha; and could I convert
My realm to one wide shelter for the wretched,
I'd do it.
_Myr. _ Thou'rt no God, then--not to be
Able to work a will so good and general,
As thy wish would imply.
_Sar. _ And your Gods, then,
Who can, and do not?
_Myr. _ Do not speak of that,
Lest we provoke them.
_Sar. _ 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? [v] that is, when it is angry, 50
And pelting as even now.
_Myr. _ The Persian prays
Upon his mountain.
_Sar. _ Yes, when the Sun shines.
_Myr. _ And I would ask if this your palace were
Unroofed and desolate, how many flatterers
Would lick the dust in which the King lay low?
_Alt. _ 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.
_Sar. _ Nay, pardon, guests,
The fair Greek's readiness of speech.
_Alt. _ _Pardon! _ sire: 60
We honour her of all things next to thee.
Hark! what was that?
_Zam. _ That! nothing but the jar
Of distant portals shaken by the wind.
_Alt. _ It sounded like the clash of--hark again!
_Zam. _ The big rain pattering on the roof.
_Sar. _ No more.
Myrrha, my love, hast thou thy shell in order?
Sing me a song of Sappho[18]; her, thou know'st,
Who in thy country threw----
_Enter_ PANIA, _with his sword and garments bloody,
and disordered. The guests rise in confusion_.
_Pan. _ (_to the Guards_). Look to the portals;
And with your best speed to the walls without.
Your arms! To arms! The King's in danger. Monarch 70
Excuse this haste,--'tis faith.
_Sar. _ Speak on.
_Pan. _ It is
As Salemenes feared; the faithless Satraps----
_Sar. _ You are wounded--give some wine. Take breath, good Pania.
_Pan. _ 'Tis nothing--a mere flesh wound. I am worn
More with my speed to warn my sovereign,
Than hurt in his defence.
_Myr. _ Well, Sir, the rebels?
_Pan. _ Soon as Arbaces and Beleses reached
Their stations in the city, they refused
To march; and on my attempt to use the power
Which I was delegated with, they called 80
Upon their troops, who rose in fierce defiance.
_Myr. _ All?
_Pan. _ Too many.
_Sar. _ Spare not of thy free speech,
To spare mine ears--the truth.
_Pan. _ My own slight guard
Were faithful, and what's left of it is still so.
_Myr. _ And are these all the force still faithful?
_Pan. _ No--
The Bactrians, now led on by Salemenes,
Who even then was on his way, still urged
By strong suspicion of the Median chiefs,
Are numerous, and make strong head against
The rebels, fighting inch by inch, and forming 90
An orb around the palace, where they mean
To centre all their force, and save the King.
(_He hesitates_. ) I am charged to----
_Myr. _ 'Tis no time for hesitation.
_Pan. _ 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.
_Sar. _ What, ho!
My armour there.
_Myr. _ And wilt thou?
_Sar. _ Will I not?
Ho, there! --but seek not for the buckler: 'tis 100
Too heavy:--a light cuirass and my sword.
Where are the rebels?
_Pan. _ Scarce a furlong's length
From the outward wall the fiercest conflict rages.
_Sar. _ Then I may charge on horseback. Sfero, ho!
Order my horse out. --There is space enough
Even in our courts, and by the outer gate,
To marshal half the horsemen of Arabia.
[_Exit_ SFERO _for the armour_.
_Myr. _ How I do love thee!
_Sar. _ I ne'er doubted it.
_Myr. _ But now I know thee.
_Sar. _ (_to his Attendant_). Bring down my spear too--
Where's Salemenes?
_Pan. _ Where a soldier should be, 110
In the thick of the fight.
_Sar. _ Then hasten to him----Is
The path still open, and communication
Left 'twixt the palace and the phalanx?
_Pan. _ 'Twas
When I late left him, and I have no fear;
Our troops were steady, and the phalanx formed.
_Sar. _ Tell him to spare his person for the present,
And that I will not spare my own--and say,
I come.
_Pan. _ There's victory in the very word.
