 | The Olympiad |  |
SCENE IX.
Enter Megacles, guarded.Lyc.
Come, great example of unsullied friendship,
Come, most belov'd, and dearest Megacles!
Mega.
Alas! my prince, and do I find thee thus?
Lyc.
To see thee living makes me bless'd in death.
Mega.
And what is life to me if I'm denied
To pay it for thy safety? Yet thou shalt not
Be long before me; no, my Lycidas,
Together shall our friendly manes cross
The dismal stream.
Lyc.
O! thou, while fate permitted,
The dear companion of my joys and sorrows!
Yes, we must part: since then we've reach'd at length
This fatal hour, give me thy faithful hand
And hear me; 'tis my prayer, my last command.
Still live, I charge thee live; and O! my friend,
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Sometimes remember me: return to Crete:
There to my father—most unhappy father!
All unprepar'd for such a cruel stroke,
There soften, while thou tell'st the bitter tale:
Comfort, assist his age oppress'd with grief,
I recommend him to thee—if he weep,
Dry up his tears, and if he ask a son;
Thou, in thyself, to him a son restore.
Mega.
Ah; hold—thy words distract me!
Clis.
No, Alcander,
I can resist no longer: mark those looks,
Observe that strict embrace, each tender sigh,
Those last adieus confus'd with frequent tears!
Unhappy state of frail mortality!
Alc.
My lord, the hour for sacrifice is past.
Clis.
'Tis true—Ye sacred ministers, receive
The victim to your charge, and you, ye guards,
Divide him from his hapless friend.
[the priests and guards part them.
Mega.
Barbarians!
O! from my breast, you rend my bleeding heart.
Lyc.
Alas! my friend!
Mega.
My dearest prince!
Both.
Farewell!
[looking on each other at a distance.
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Eternal Power! in Heaven rever'd,
Great Sire of Gods attend!
Thy vengeful bolts, by mortals fear'd,
Great God of kings suspend!
[While the Chorus is sung, Lycidas kneels at the altar by the side of the priest. The king receives the consecrated axe from one of the ministers of the temple; and as he is preparing to deliver it to the priest, the foregoing chorus is sung accompanied with solemn music.]
Clis.
O Sire of Gods and men! Almighty Jove!
At whose dread nod, earth, sea and Heaven are mov'd!
Thou, with whose power the universe is fill'd,
Thou, from whose hand depends the wondrous chain
Of causes and events! accept this victim
Now sacrific'd to thee; and may it wrest
The threatning thunder from thy awful hand!
[As Clisthenes is about to deliver the axe to the priest, he is interrupted by the sudden appearance of Argene.]
| The Olympiad | |