 | Merope |  |
SCENE III.
Merope, Euricles, Ismene.MEROPE.
Fly, follow, Euricles; hold thy kind Eye
Fix'd, to this Tyrant's Motions. Fain would I dream,
He threatens, but to fright me.
EURICLES.
Willing Hope
So flatters, to deceive you. Too, too sure,
His Purpose! Ev'n by Nature, stern and bloody,
How more, when Power and Safety prompt his Cruelty!
[Exit Euricles.
MEROPE.
Find thy good Father, Haste, Ismene; call him.
Tell him, Distress grows headstrong, and my Soul
Sickens for want of Counsel.
ISMENE.
[Aside.
What a Blindness
Is Thirst of human Grandeur! Give me, Gods!
A Cottage, and Concealment. Save the Queen;
49
[Exit Ismene.
MEROPE
Alone.
No, there is none; no Ruler of the Stars,
Regardful of my Miseries.—
Oh, my lov'd Son! my Eyes have lost thee, ever.
I shall no more snatch Comfort, from thy Hopes,
Or wonder at thy Sweetness.—
Why have the Deities permitted this?
Why have they sported with a Mortal's Mind,
Unpitying it's Distraction? sent him to me
From a far distant Land? Sent him, for what!
To glut the Murd'rer's Sword, who kill'd his Father.
—Yet, you are just, ye Gods!—Amazing Darkness
Dwells o'er th' Eternal Will, and hides all Cause.
I must not dare to tax Almighty Power,
For what I suffer from it. Let it but pay me
With that curs'd Tyrant's Punishment attain'd:
Let me but see myself depriv'd of Him—
See him expell'd, from Light, from Earth, from Name,
Deep, as the chearless Voids below can plunge him!
And I will (kneeling)
kneel, a Wretch, and thank your Justice.
| Merope | |