University of Virginia Library

SCENE III.

To Zaphna Hercides.
Hercid.
Soft, Zaphna!—I must cross thy haste—

Zaph.
What's toward?

Hercid.
That I would ask of thee—I do adjure thee,
By all my watchful cares, which, from thy infancy,
Have been matured into a father's fondness,
I do adjure thee, tell me—

Zaph.
What, Hercides?

Hercid.
Why hath an hour thus robb'd thee of thyself?
Honour, late blown, and open in thy aspect,
Shrinks like a famish'd wretch; while, from the light,
Thine eye turns inward, cleaving to the gloom,
That broods upon thy soul.

Zaph.
Oh—

Hercid.
Speak, my hero—
My son, my precious Zaphna!

Zaph.
Thou'lt be secret—

Hercid.
Close as the tomb, the marble seal of silence.—

Zaph.
The Prophet thus—Sopheian hath blasphemed
Heaven and the law—

Hercid.
Proceed.

Zaph.
And Heaven hath doom'd
His fall, dreadful, and sudden—

Hercid.
Ha! by what means?

Zaph.
Even of this hand, Hercides.

Hercid.
Merey, mercy!
O the eternal powers!—did Mahomet
Enjoin—what, Mahomet—thine arm for this?—
Most horrid!

Zaph.
Yes—thou seem'st amazed!

Hercid.
Beware—
He comes—be silent—O beware, my Zaphna!

[Exit Hercides.