 | Poems, dramatic and miscellaneous |  |
SCENE III.
EDOXIA and LEO in the Imperial Palace.Leo.
Fortune ingulphs thy family and throne,
Beneath her shifting tide they're floating down,
And for thine house my soul in anguish bleeds;
The capitol—thy crown—and freedom lost—
Thy daughters seiz'd, Placidia borne away,
And made the mistress of a Gothic lord,
And Genseric himself is near the palace,
With hosts of Vandals crowding in the rear.
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No more—death to my eyes—the tyrant comes—
The chains prepar'd—I hear the shackles clank.
Arise ye furies, from Tartarus' gulf,
And drag him peace meal, to the infernal shades.
Enter Genseric.
The chains prepar'd—I hear the shackles clank.
Arise ye furies, from Tartarus' gulf,
And drag him peace meal, to the infernal shades.
Hah! traitor, is it thus thou meet'st Edoxia?
Rob'd of her crown—a homager to thee—
Strip'd of her robes—her diadem and wealth,
And rudely bid to quit my native clime,
Still mere to swell thy fierce and savage pomp:
The princesses insulted—and enslav'd—
By vulgar hands drag'd to the Vandal tent.
Rob'd of her crown—a homager to thee—
Strip'd of her robes—her diadem and wealth,
And rudely bid to quit my native clime,
Still mere to swell thy fierce and savage pomp:
The princesses insulted—and enslav'd—
By vulgar hands drag'd to the Vandal tent.
Oh! burst my heart—and let my eye strings break,
Let furious billows swallow up his fleet,
And darkness cover nature in the wreck,
Ere I obey, and see my househould train,
Lag at the feet of his triumphal car.
Let furious billows swallow up his fleet,
And darkness cover nature in the wreck,
Ere I obey, and see my househould train,
Lag at the feet of his triumphal car.
Genseric.
A milder tone becomes a captive queen,
At whose request invaded and subdu'd,
Rome prostrate lies beneath her conquering lord.
Edoxia.
Ah! what a contrast to the splendid tale
Of Roman greatness—her illustrious fame.—
Genseric.
Empire decays when virtue's not the base,
And doom'd to perish when the parts corrupt.
Edoxia.
My soul's as hot with rage, remorse, revenge,
As are the Lybian sands when Sirius reigns,
Or the thrice heated summer solstice burns.
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Then, to console and mitigate thy rage,
I'll haste to Tunis with the illustrious throng,
Where Hunneric, my son, shall wed Eudocia.
Edoxia.
Oh! dreadful threat—severer far than death.
Where are the sacred, celebrated shades,
Who wash'd the stains from chaste Lucretia's fame
In red libations from a tyrant's heart—
Oh! shield Eudocia—snatch her from despair.
Rescue a hapless, chaste, and friendless maid
From base, abandon'd, prostituted slaves!—
Genseric.
Fix'd as the fates that roll th' etherial orbs,
I now forbid a murmur, or a sigh.
Edoxia.
Thou may'st forbid the morning sun to rise;
Bid ocean cease to lave the pebbled shore,
Or Roman souls to mix with Vandal slaves,
And be obey'd—ere sighs are hush'd,
Or execrations cease.—
Genseric.
Each chief has seiz'd a princely Roman dame,
The booty's safe, and prosperous gales invite;
And now my guards escort the empress on.
Edoxia.
What! thus commanded in imperious strains,
To haste from Rome to Africk's scorching realms,
Where Tophet gapes and slaughter'd infants cry,
By thousands offer'd their infernal gods:—
Jehovah! why do all thy thunders sleep—
While each black crime the demons perpetrate,
Is acted o'er by this infernal race.
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Slaves, hasten on, and seize your royal charge,
And guard her safe to Carthagena's coast.
Edoxia.
Down on my head th' avenging gods have pour'd
Each curse the house of Hannibal could frame,
Or vanquish'd Carthage utter in despair,
For all the wrongs, oppression, and disgrace,
By haughty Rome, inflicted on her sons.
Each curse the house of Hannibal could frame,
Or vanquish'd Carthage utter in despair,
For all the wrongs, oppression, and disgrace,
By haughty Rome, inflicted on her sons.
Now ye stern souls, ye venerated shades,
Heroes who fell on Zama's routed plains—
Look down and triumph, vengeance is compleat.
Behold the last of the Horatian line,
Sent to the margin of the burning plains,
The tawny front of Afric's blacken'd tribes,
To stand an exil'd slave—to rave and weep
The loss of empire and the fall of Rome,
Amidst Numidia's sands and sooty sons
Heroes who fell on Zama's routed plains—
Look down and triumph, vengeance is compleat.
Behold the last of the Horatian line,
Sent to the margin of the burning plains,
The tawny front of Afric's blacken'd tribes,
To stand an exil'd slave—to rave and weep
The loss of empire and the fall of Rome,
Amidst Numidia's sands and sooty sons
But thanks to Heav'n, the empress of the west
Has yet the means, and will an empress die.
Has yet the means, and will an empress die.
[Draws a conceal'd poignard, and attempts to stab herself.
Genseric.
Slaves, seize her hand—she must not die—
'Twill half defeat the triumph of the day.
Edoxia.
Enough of life and all life's idle pomp—
Nor by a tyrant's fiat will I live—
I leave the busy, vain, ambitious world
To cheat itself anew, and o'er and o'er
Tread the same ground their ancestors have trod,
In chace of thrones, of sceptres, or of crowns,
'Till all these bubbles break in empty air,
Nor leave a trace of happiness behind.
[Edoxia is led off in golden chains.
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from the Palace Gates, gives Orders to the Vandal Troops.
Down with the Roman eagles, statues, temples,
Monuments of fame—their trophies tear:—
Strip all the vestments from their ancient gods—
Their pageant heroes level with the dust,
And rase their names from memory and time.
The golden shrines and saintly relicks seize;
Both gilded busts and roofs of bronze destroy;
The branches, tables, candlesticks of gold,
In ostentation shewn by Jewish priests,
And in triumphal pomp transfer'd to Rome,
With all the treasures of Zenobia's house,
Palmyra's wealth, and Asia's spoils, secure—
And teach the naked capital to weep,
Her long arrearages to all mankind,
For plunder'd nations, cities, kingdoms, climes.
Monuments of fame—their trophies tear:—
Strip all the vestments from their ancient gods—
Their pageant heroes level with the dust,
And rase their names from memory and time.
The golden shrines and saintly relicks seize;
Both gilded busts and roofs of bronze destroy;
The branches, tables, candlesticks of gold,
In ostentation shewn by Jewish priests,
And in triumphal pomp transfer'd to Rome,
With all the treasures of Zenobia's house,
Palmyra's wealth, and Asia's spoils, secure—
And teach the naked capital to weep,
Her long arrearages to all mankind,
For plunder'd nations, cities, kingdoms, climes.
What has this mighty Roman name to boast?
'Tis time to rase her from the list of nations,
And blast the world no more by Roman crimes—
Then plead prescription, as 'twas done by Rome.
'Tis time to rase her from the list of nations,
And blast the world no more by Roman crimes—
Then plead prescription, as 'twas done by Rome.
Break up their fountains, poison all their baths,
Ere they contaminate the Vandal troops
With soft, effeminate, luxurious sloth?
Ransack each church, and pillage all the city,
Nor leave a drachma round the seven hills.
Ere they contaminate the Vandal troops
With soft, effeminate, luxurious sloth?
Ransack each church, and pillage all the city,
Nor leave a drachma round the seven hills.
[Exeunt.
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