 | Poems, dramatic and miscellaneous |  |
SCENE I.
MAXIMUS,solus.
Now what am I? ---an emperor—
------ a splendid wretch—
Perch'd on the blood stain'd summit of the world.
Search through each horrid wild of dreary woe,
From Tyber's stream to Danube's frozen banks,
From fair Hetruria to the Hvrcanian wood,
Or blacker forests of Carpathian gloom,
There's not a culprit so completely curs'd—
Tortur'd in pomp—in tenfold misery plung'd,
And torn with guilty greatness, as myself.
Happy Damocles—only envy'd king,
Whose reign began and ended in a day!
------ a splendid wretch—
Perch'd on the blood stain'd summit of the world.
Search through each horrid wild of dreary woe,
From Tyber's stream to Danube's frozen banks,
From fair Hetruria to the Hvrcanian wood,
Or blacker forests of Carpathian gloom,
There's not a culprit so completely curs'd—
Tortur'd in pomp—in tenfold misery plung'd,
And torn with guilty greatness, as myself.
Happy Damocles—only envy'd king,
Whose reign began and ended in a day!
My vengeance now's complete; but where's my peace?
Oh! could I leave the world of Roman slaves,
Exil'd to Italy's most distant bounds,
Resume that life of innocence and ease
Which bless'd the noontide of my happier days,
When my Ardelia's smile crown'd all my bliss!
But ah! her name—
Wakes all the baleful passions of my soul.
Oh! could I leave the world of Roman slaves,
Exil'd to Italy's most distant bounds,
Resume that life of innocence and ease
Which bless'd the noontide of my happier days,
When my Ardelia's smile crown'd all my bliss!
But ah! her name—
Wakes all the baleful passions of my soul.
If Valentinian's grim and ghastly shade
Still wanders here, and can be more accurs'd,
Let mad Alecto's furious sisters join
To make his woes complete—and doubly damn'd,
Let him look through the dank and dismal shades,
Of night and death—in anguish let him see
His rival riot in Edoxia's arms.
Still wanders here, and can be more accurs'd,
Let mad Alecto's furious sisters join
To make his woes complete—and doubly damn'd,
Let him look through the dank and dismal shades,
Of night and death—in anguish let him see
His rival riot in Edoxia's arms.
57
My friend—my faithful Leo.
Leo.
I am the friend of Rome, and of Petronius—
Of law—of justice—and the rights of man—
The senators of Rome—and of Edoxia.
Maximus.
Is the imperial family secure?
Let not the smallest disrespect be shewn
Or to the empress, or her royal house.
Leo.
Edoxia sits like some majestick oak,
Or fairer cedar, that o'ertops the hills,
Strip'd of its leafy robes—shook to the root,
By the rude tempest, or autumnal blasts;
The storm subsides, the naked branches hush'd,
Silent and still, demand a pitying tear
From ev'ry way worn traveller's weeping eye,
Who us'd to rest beneath its friendly shade.
Maximus.
The wheel of fortune, rapid in its flight,
Lags not for man, when on its swift routine;
Nor does the goddess ponder unresolv'd:
She wafts at once, and on her lofty car,
Lifts up her puppet—mounts him to the skies,
Or from the pinnacle, hurls headlong down,
The steep abyss of disappointed hope.
Lags not for man, when on its swift routine;
Nor does the goddess ponder unresolv'd:
She wafts at once, and on her lofty car,
Lifts up her puppet—mounts him to the skies,
Or from the pinnacle, hurls headlong down,
The steep abyss of disappointed hope.
Thus the first stroke successful—
A beardless Goth huzza'd, “Petronius reigns!”
The factious legions caught the feeble sound;
And the same moment saw the imperial robes
Torn from one emperor, and another made,
Without a murmur from the servile throng:
Borne through the crowd—till to the palace brought,
I've not yet heard Heraclius's fate.
A beardless Goth huzza'd, “Petronius reigns!”
The factious legions caught the feeble sound;
And the same moment saw the imperial robes
Torn from one emperor, and another made,
Without a murmur from the servile throng:
58
I've not yet heard Heraclius's fate.
Leo.
The faithful minion caught a thousand wounds,
Aim'd at his master by Traulista's band,
He curs'd alternate, heaven, himself and thee,
And di'd an hero, though he'd liv'd a slave.
Maximus.
Then bid a truce to slaughter;
Let not a drop of Roman blood be spilt:
And now, I have another game to play;
Edoxia must be mine—her hand I'll seize—
Her heart I leave till time may do its work.
By a long line of ancestry, a queen,
Her regal title to the imperial crown
Must bind it fast on Maximus's brow.
Leo.
She stands superiour to life's roughen'd storms;
Looks calmly down, and bids the waves roll on
Till the last surge ingulphs her weary head.
Yet this new scene may shake her firm resolve,
And raise a tempest in her tranquil breast.
Maximus.
Repair to her—if possible persuade—
Yet fix'd as fate is Maximus's will;
Though keen resentment agitates her breast,
Or her indignant soul should burst with rage,
Yet ere tomorrow's sun descends the vale,
And hides behind yon western burnish'd hill,
Our hands are join'd by wedlock's sacred tie;
It must be so, or I'm but half aveng'd.
[Exit Leo.
Yet fix'd as fate is Maximus's will;
Though keen resentment agitates her breast,
Or her indignant soul should burst with rage,
Yet ere tomorrow's sun descends the vale,
And hides behind yon western burnish'd hill,
Our hands are join'd by wedlock's sacred tie;
It must be so, or I'm but half aveng'd.
'Tis done—the envy'd master of the world conceals
A thousand pangs beneath a purple robe;
Yet furies lurk, and vipers gnaw within.
And give the lie to splendid pomp without.
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Yet furies lurk, and vipers gnaw within.
And give the lie to splendid pomp without.
[Exit.
| Poems, dramatic and miscellaneous | |