 | Arminius |  |
SCENE THE LAST.
Arminius is led forward; Inguiomer, Officers, Women, and Soldiers round him.Arminius.
Assist me; lend your aid; conduct me forward;
A little onward;—here,—here set me down.
85
Arminius, speak; 'tis your Veleda calls.
How fare you now?
Arminius.
Oh! I am sick at heart;
My strength decays; fair day-light closes o'er me;
Approach; draw near; let me once more behold you.
Veleda.
My feeble frame gives way; my flutt'ring heart
Throbs wild with agony; it sinks within me.
Gods! is there no relief?—Compose your spirits;
Rest may restore you.
Arminius.
Oh! no rest for me;
The barbed arrow pierc'd too deep,—too deep.
They wrench'd it out; they made a breach in nature;
They tore my frame asunder.
Veleda.
To these wounds
The healing art may minister relief.
Arminius.
Nought can avail; the swift, the subtle poison—
Veleda.
Poison!
Arminius.
It burns,—it rankles in my veins.
Veleda.
Oh! let me with these lips draw forth the venom;
The deadly aconite let me imbibe,
That I may save all that my heart adores.
86
You are too good;—the poison is diffus'd
Through all my frame;—it burns; an inward fire
Consumes my veins; those pangs must end me soon.
Enter Egbert.
Egbert.
[In a low tone.
Inguiomer, our Herald is return'd.
The treach'rous Gaul he finds is in our camp.
His name is Dumnorix—
Gothmund.
That slave is seiz'd,
With his accomplices; they all shall suffer,
Whate'er the keenest torture can inflict.
Arminius.
Let not a thought of me, let no resentment
Inspire revenge and cruelty: proceed
As justice warrants, and the laws direct.
Egbert.
The Romans in despair have fled their camp;
Already they have cross'd the narrow isthmus,
And urge by rapid marches tow'rd the Rhine.
Arminius.
Assist me; raise me up: All gracious pow'rs!
Ye guardian gods of Germany! to you
I lift my hands; to you in gratitude
I bow thus lowly down; to you I offer
My humble adoration!—I have liv'd
To see my country free; once more to see
The Roman Eagles and their boasted legions
In terror wing their flight across the Rhine.
87
They've vanish'd from the land:—I die content.
[Falls back in his chair.
Veleda.
Is there no help to save so dear a life?
Bring ev'ry aid:—a pale, a livid hue
Spreads o'er his features;—see,—his eyes are fix'd.
Arminius.
Raise me once again: Now, mark my words;
Should the ambition of aspiring Rome
Muster her legions; should her arms prevail,
And leave no spot, where freedom can reside;
Bear to my Saxon friends my last advice.
Let them embark for Britain; there they'll find
A brave, a hardy race, who by their valour
Made Cæsar from their coast unfurl his sails,
And save his legions by inglorious flight.
Inguiomer.
Your orders shall be faithfully perform'd.
Arminius.
Yet more;—when landed on that happy shore,
Let my friends join in union with the natives.
Britons and Saxons there may form one people;
And from the woods of Germany import
A form of government, a plan of laws
Wise, just, and equitable; laws of force
To guard the gen'ral weal, and on the base
Of public liberty, of social order,
And equal justice, raise the noblest fabric
Of civil union, like their own proud cliffs
'Midst wild commotions still to stand unshaken,
And be in time the envy of the world.
88
My spirits sink; I faint; support me—
[Leans on a Woman's arm.
Inguiomer.
Ev'n now,
When flutt'ring life is on the wing to leave him,
The safety of his friends claims all his care.
Arminius.
[Raising himself.
Another word; it is my warning voice.
Let Britons guard their coast against the Gauls,
And never,—never let that treach'rous race,
Nor their descendants to the latest time,
Obtain a footing on their sea-girt isle.
Let Britons seize the trident of the main,
And plunge th'invaders in the roaring surge;
A band of slaves, who would reduce mankind
To their own level, and enslave the world:
An hoard of savages, freebooters, murderers,
Who trample on all laws; who own no gods;
Whom in a mass their country disembogues,
By depredations to lay waste their neighbours,
And spread rebellion, anarchy, and ruin.
Veleda.
Alas! these strong exertions are too much;
They waste his vital spirit:—See—behold him;
He faints; he dies; and oh! must I survive him?
Arminius.
I burn; I burn; that pang; 'tis past; and yet,
Thus ling'ring on the margin of both worlds,
A ray of light perhaps breaks in upon me.
—A time may come, when Germany shall send
A royal race, allied to Britain's kings,
To reign in glory o'er a willing people.
89
The great event, when in a distant age
A monarch sprung from that illustrious line
Shall guide the state, give energy to laws,
And guard the rights of man; his throne encircl'd,
Adorn'd, illumin'd by a train of virtues,
That win all hearts, and arm each honest hand
In the great cause of freedom, and the laws,
For which their ancestors in ev'ry age
Toil'd, fought, and bravely conquer'd; then bequeath'd
Seal'd with their blood a glorious legacy,
A sacred trust to all succeeding times.
[Sinks back in his chair.
Veleda.
Alas! he dies; is there no art to soften
These mortal pangs? Support him, Inguiomer;
Assuage his sorrows, lull him to repose.
Arminius.
Farewell, my friends;—farewell;—I can no more;
Life ebbs apace; my weary nature sinks;
Yet ere I die,—Veleda,—once again.
Veleda.
My feeble frame;—conduct me; lead me to him—
Arminius.
My eyes are dim—where are you? reach your hand.
[Offers his hand, falls back, and dies.
Inguiomer.
There fled the best, the purest, noblest spirit
That e'er inform'd the patriot breast.
Veleda.
To me
What now is life?—I will not linger here
In this bad world, a miserable wretch,
90
Give me this dagger; (snatches it)
now, Arminius, now,
I come;—I follow thee—
[Going to strike.
Inguiomer.
Restrain this rage, this frantic, wild despair.
[Holds her arm.
Veleda.
Off;—set me free;—you shall not chain me down
In agony of mind, in restless misery.
Oh! let me follow him;—Arminius, no,
No, nothing shall divorce us.
[Raising her arm.
A Female Attendant.
Horror! forbear; I must arrest your arm;
The blow that ends you, murders innocence.
A mother still should hear the voice of nature.
Veleda.
Why hold me thus?—and yet, those tender accents—
Female Attendant.
Think of the infant whom you still support;
The precious babe that waits to see the light.
Veleda.
My precious babe!
[Looking tenderly at her.
Female Attendant.
'Tis yours to rear and cherish it.
Veleda.
My unborn babe, that waits to see the light.
[Melts into tears, and her dagger falls.
Inguiomer.
This is thy triumph, pow'rful nature; this
Thy gen'rous instinct; thou prime source of virtue!
Veleda.
Oh! what a precipice of guilt and horror
Have I escap'd! My child destroy'd by me,
91
You choak all utt'rance; the bare image strikes,
It cleaves my very heart—Arminius, now
Farewell awhile; you point me back to life;
You bid me here endure the load of grief,
To rear the tender charge you have bequeath'd me.
That duty done, perhaps the gods may send
A son, to emulate your great example.
Grant me that pray'r, and then with joy, with transport,
From this sad dreary world I'll wing my flight,
To trace your path in yon empyreal skies.
[Lies by the body.
Inguiomer.
There died the friend of liberty and man,
The champion of his country!—O'er his relicks
A grand, a splendid monument shall rise,
Deck'd with the spoils of many a well-fought field,
With Roman Eagles, and Imperial banners,
The trophies of his wars. The hallow'd mould
The sons of Germany with pilgrim feet
Shall oft revisit; with their tears embalm
His clay-cold ashes, and then sighing say
At length Arminius rests from toil and danger,
With all his country's blessings on his head.
| Arminius | |