University of Virginia Library

SCENE II.

SOHEMUS, AMMON, ATTENDANTS ON SOHEMUS.
SOHEMUS.
But Herod is already here; the sound
Of the shrill brass re-echoing thro' the dome
Announces his return. Just Heaven! He comes
And strikes my soul with dread; perhaps at once
With sudden aim his cruelty will make
The work of vengeance sure. Ah! Would the queen
Had left for ever these abodes of guilt!
Why cannot I accompany her flight?
Yet, may I not by absence serve her more?
Nor, to preserve such charms, revenge the wrongs
Of suffering innocence, can malice dare
Reproach me with a crime. But Idamas
I see advances.