 | Themistocles |  |
100
SCENE XIV.
Enter Sebastes.Seb.
Aspasia, hasten; Xerxes now
Requires your presence; for Themistocles
Has own'd you for his daughter: never yet
The king appear'd to hear more grateful tidings.
Rox.
[aside.]
Death to my hopes!
Asp.
[aside.]
O Heaven!—Is then his hatred
Rooted so deep in Xerxes?
Seb.
Hatred? No:
Themistocles is now his only joy.
Asp.
What do I hear, Sebastes! 'Twas but now
He sought his death.
Seb.
And now, with all the warmth
A friend can feel, he clasps him to his breast;
Calls him his life; directs all eyes to him,
And only speaks of his Themistocles.
Asp.
Farewell Roxana—O! the heart-felt rapture!
Th' excess of joy which now I find
Becomes a pleasing pain;
A joy like this my suffering mind
Might long have hop'd in vain.
Becomes a pleasing pain;
A joy like this my suffering mind
Might long have hop'd in vain.
101
With Fortune's smiles my soul appears
So rapt in bliss extreme;
I tremble still with anxious fears
Lest all should prove a dream.
So rapt in bliss extreme;
I tremble still with anxious fears
Lest all should prove a dream.
[Exit.
| Themistocles | |