 | Mustapha |  |
172
SCENE X.
To them Roxolana.Ah—Zanger!
Solyman.
Look!
See, sorceress—woman, see—the curst effects
Of thy dire arts!
Roxolana.
Recall not to my thought
What I have done—O give me instant death!
Solyman.
Death—were reward and mercy. Thou shalt live
To prove the pangs, the heart-destroying horrors,
Even all that love betray'd and chang'd to gall
Can pour upon thee. Yes, we both shall live,
Two demons, hourly to upbraid and curse
Each other's crime—Ha! drag her from the corpse.
She shall not breathe a sigh, or drop a tear,
O'er my unhappy sons— [thunder is heard.]
Hark! righteous heaven
Rolls deep th' avenging thunder o'er our heads.
Justice divine! discharge it here—on me—
On her. It cannot err: we both are guilty.
O dire example, known and felt too late,
Of amorous weakness, and of woman's hate!
O curs'd prerogative of boundless sway!
That gives the deadly passions scope to play;
Hate, anger, rage, to coward-fear succeed:
And worth must perish, tho' a son should bleed.
Of amorous weakness, and of woman's hate!
O curs'd prerogative of boundless sway!
That gives the deadly passions scope to play;
Hate, anger, rage, to coward-fear succeed:
And worth must perish, tho' a son should bleed.
| Mustapha | |