 | Aetius |  |
SCENE XIII.
Maximus, Fulvia.Max.
At length he's gone. By thee I live, my daughter,
By thee I breathe—How did I struggle late
To hide my tender feelings! Let me now,
O let me clasp thee to my eager bosom,
My hope, my dear support, my life's preserver!
[would embrace her.
Fulv.
Away, inhuman father!
[drawing back.
Max.
Why, my daughter,
Why dost thou shun me thus?
Fulv.
All, all my sufferings
I date from thee—Suffice it, that to save thee
I have accus'd myself: O! hence, nor call
To my remembrance what for thee I've lost,
What by thy guilt I am, and what thou art.
384
And would'st thou still forbid a grateful father
To pay love's faithful tribute—come—
[would embrace her.
Fulv.
In pity
Leave me at peace—If thou would'st prove thee grateful,
Unsheath thy sword, my father, kill me, kill me:
With tears a daughter begs this recompense,
Begs from a parent whom she has preserv'd.
Max.
No more with causeless anguish grieve,
Those gushing drops restrain;
By thee secur'd I life receive,
And thou by me shalt reign.
Those gushing drops restrain;
By thee secur'd I life receive,
And thou by me shalt reign.
For thee a tyrant's blood shall flow;
A kingdom shall return
The great reward for every woe
We unreveng'd have borne.
A kingdom shall return
The great reward for every woe
We unreveng'd have borne.
[Exit.
| Aetius | |