 | Sylla |  |
75
SCENE VII.
CLAUDIUS, VALERIA.CLAUDIUS.
I then again behold thee, dear Valeria!
But to what place has hostile fortune led thee?
'Tis the Dictator's palace!
VALERIA.
And what then?
I see thee, and am sure of dying with thee.
CLAUDIUS.
Bring not that fearful image to afflict me.
VALERIA.
It should sustain, should animate thy courage.
Oh! if the Gods have fixed thy term of life,
Tell me where 'tis on earth I must seek succour?
Of which of thy fell murderers must I ask
With suppliant voice thy blood-stain'd corse; and in
76
The honours of a solitary pyre?
CLAUDIUS.
Ah! can I, without shudd'ring, think that Hymen
Has with his silken bonds imposed on thee
A proscript's destiny: thou, whom thy name,
Thy virtues, ancestry—had called to such
Exalted greatness, were we now, as once,
In our bright days of glory!
VALERIA.
'Tis my wish,
Tiberius' sister, and Cornelia's daughter,
T'adore my country in my spouse. And Claudius,
When Rome loud clanks the chains of slavery,
Seems in my eyes, though proscript, greater far
Than Sylla, lord of the whole universe.
Nothing remains to wish for; I have found
In thee the ardour that hath roused, the hate
That hath inflamed me. Let us cease all vain
Debates 'bout life and death; has fate but left
This one last day? then by a term so short,
77
In it the hour of vengeance.
CLAUDIUS.
I've revolved
Within my breast the noble thought: and oh!
Were I but free a day, success were certain.
VALERIA.
Nor are we without friends, who, like ourselves,
In the same cause devote their lives: Aufidius
And Lænas follow in my footsteps; dress'd
As slaves they wait the moment...But I see them.
| Sylla | |