 | Poems, dramatic and miscellaneous |  |
SCENE II.
EDOXIA.solus.
Where shall I fly?—to what sequester'd shade
Where the world's distant din no more alarms,
Or warring passions burst through nature's tie
And make mankind creation's foulest stain.
Horror and guilt stare wild in every eye;
Freedom extinguish'd in the fumes of lust
Bleeds fresh beside Rome's long expiring fame;
Virtue's become the rude barbarian's jest,
Barter'd for gold, and floating down the tide
Of foreign vice, stain'd with domestick guilt:
Oh! could I hide in some dark hermitage,
Beneath some hollow, dismal, broken cliff,
I'd weep forlorn the miseries of Rome,
Till time's last billow broke, and left me quiet
On the naked strand.— Enter Leo.]
—Ah! Leo,
Durst thou be still the friend of sad Edoxia?
Hast thou the courage yet to visit grief.
And sooth a wretch by sympathetick tears;
And reconcile me to the name of man?
Can'st shew me one less cruel than the tyger
Nurs'd in the wilds, and feasting on the flesh
Of all but his own species?
This predilection's left to man alone,
To drink and riot on his brother's blood.
60
Fate has ordain'd—'tis thou must give us peace;
Thy lenient hand alone.
Edoxia.
Mock not my woe.
Leo.
'Tis thou my empress, who must stop the tide
That threats the deluge of the Roman world;
The jarring factions that tear up the state
Thyself must quell, and reconcile—
Edoxia.
Insult not my distress.
Leo.
The emperor Maximus—
Edoxia.
Whose name strikes daggers through my shivering soul!
Leo.
Demands an audience.
Edoxia.
Speak not a word my soul disdains to hear.
Leo.
The Roman people—
Edoxia.
Ah! what is Rome to me?
Leo.
All wish a union in the royal pair;
And Maximus adores Edoxia's virtues.
Edoxia.
What is the sanction that emboldens thee,
Thus to affront thy queen?
Leo.
Oh! pity Rome—the empire—and thy country—
Save thy noble house.
61
I have no country.
What's life, or empire, or the world to me?
Leo.
Yet hear—oh! hear—for Maximus resolves.
Edoxia.
And art thou come to sue for Maximus,
Whose blacken'd soul, blown up by fierce ambition,
Assumes the reins, and drives the courser on,
With furious passion and unbridled lust?
Leo
The emperor admits of no delay,
When once resolv'd.
Edoxia.
Remember, Leo,
The blood that flow'd from Poplicola's veins,
From breast to breast through the Horatian line,
And thence to me convey'd—a gen'rous stream
That animates and warms Edoxia's heart,
Shall ne'er be tainted by a base submission.
Leo.
Impatiently, he waits thy last reply.
Edoxia.
Tell him I'm not the coward fool he thinks,
That guilty greatness has no charms for grief;
I scorn his impious passion—detest his name.
Leo.
Yet save thyself—thus on my bended knee,
[Kneels.
Let me beseech from thee a mild reply.
Edoxia.
Tell him, a traitor's heart, though swell'd
By adulation's base perfume, has not a hand
To wield the imperial sceptre.
62
And therefore needs thy aid,
Both to secure and dignify the throne.
Edoxia.
This insolence from thee!—the pious Leo—
My former friend—the guardian of my youth;
I thought thy soul cast in a purer mould—
Above the servile line—not thus to court
And meanly grovel, for a tyrant's smile.
Leave me, base wretch—go fawn on thy new master;
Tell him at once, Edoxia dares to die.
Leo.
Forgive this boldness!—Alas! could I but save,
Or serve thy noble house, there's not a task
Edoxia could impose, this aged arm
Unnerv'd by time and grief, would not attempt.
Or serve thy noble house, there's not a task
Edoxia could impose, this aged arm
Unnerv'd by time and grief, would not attempt.
Yet might as well the breath of wisdom strive
To reason down the tempest of the north,
Or lull the maddening hurricane to rest,
As to persuade when Maximus resolves.
Oh! would kind Heaven, which sav'd thee from the sword,
Still find some way to bless and make thee happy.
To reason down the tempest of the north,
Or lull the maddening hurricane to rest,
As to persuade when Maximus resolves.
Oh! would kind Heaven, which sav'd thee from the sword,
Still find some way to bless and make thee happy.
[Weeps.
Edoxia.
Thy venerable grief, my aged friend,
Softens resentment, which thy zeal inflam'd:
In that kind tear the soul of Leo shines;
Yet say, is Rome so poor and abject grown—
So far debas'd, that when a ruffian dares
To stab his prince, and boldly challenge
To his impious bed, the wife of his
Assassinated lord—none dare oppose?
Has Rome for this so often fought and conquer'd?
Has the best blood the Roman name can boast,
Redden'd the Tyber with its purple streams,
To purchase freedom by the swift perdition
Of every bold invader, from Tarquin's reign,
To the more fatal day, when guilty Maximus
Assum'd the purple?—May thunders roll,
And streams irruptive, blast a wretch like him—
Or sheets of livid flame enwrap Edoxia
From his hated sight.
Go on and bear this answer to thy lord.
[Exit Leo.
Softens resentment, which thy zeal inflam'd:
In that kind tear the soul of Leo shines;
Yet say, is Rome so poor and abject grown—
So far debas'd, that when a ruffian dares
To stab his prince, and boldly challenge
To his impious bed, the wife of his
Assassinated lord—none dare oppose?
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Has the best blood the Roman name can boast,
Redden'd the Tyber with its purple streams,
To purchase freedom by the swift perdition
Of every bold invader, from Tarquin's reign,
To the more fatal day, when guilty Maximus
Assum'd the purple?—May thunders roll,
And streams irruptive, blast a wretch like him—
Or sheets of livid flame enwrap Edoxia
From his hated sight.
Go on and bear this answer to thy lord.
Thou great first cause, who bids the tempest rage,
And rends with mighty peals, the darken'd air,
Light up the skies and blaze from north to south,
Thy vengeance pour on complicated guilt.
And rends with mighty peals, the darken'd air,
Light up the skies and blaze from north to south,
Thy vengeance pour on complicated guilt.
[Exit.
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