 | Eurydice |  |
61
SCENE VI.
Periander, Leonidas, Ariston.Periander.
Leonidas, my father and preserver,
Rise to my arms. By heaven the joy that smiles
Upon thy brow adds brightness to the morn.
This wonderous revolution of my fate,
This change that gives me back my crown and name,
Rejoices me yet less, than that I owe
The gift to thee.
Leonidas.
O sacred Sir, forbear.
The transport to behold you thus again
Is great reward. Now your old man can say
He has not liv'd in vain. Ye bounteous Powers!
Dismiss me now in peace; for I have seen
My Master blest!
Periander.
No recompence can equal
Such matchless goodness. But I will repay thee
A way more pleasing to a soul like thine,
By running still in debt to all thy vertues.
Thou know'st th'unhappy, envy'd state of kings;
How perilous the height so near to heaven,
Ten thousand ways expos'd: here to the lust
Of lawless will; there to the darker ruine
Of venal flattery. Be near me still.
Thy life has roll'd thro' all the various round
Of human chance: and years of hoary thought,
Cool and unpassionate, have taught thee wisdom.
Be still my guide, and save me from the snares
That thus beset me; save me from myself.
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My heart can only answer to this goodness
By silent gratitude and joy—But, Sir,
Forgive me if I say, another care
Demands your present thought.
Periander
aside.
Fatal remembrance!
At once inflam'd my smother'd rage burns up
With fiercer blaze. He must not know the purpose
With which my bosom labours.
[to him.
Yes, my friend,
Of that we'll talk anon; but now I wish
An hour of privacy.—Ariston, stay,
| Eurydice | |