 | Sejanus |  |
ACT II.
SCENE I.
Sejanus, Livia and Eudemus.Seja.
Physician, thou art worthy of an Empire,
For the great Service done unto our Loves,
And but that fairest Livia, bears a Part
In the Requital of thy Faith and Care,
I should despair of having Means or Pow'r,
To make thy Friendship ample Recompence.
14
Eudemus, I will see it, shall receive
A fit and full Reward, for his large Merit,
In gaining me the great Sejanus Love.
Which more than tributary Worlds I prize.
Seja.
Thou brightest Object of my panting Heart,
Thou Joy and Source of ev'ry pleasing Thought;
Not Glory, Fame, or ought on Earth to me,
Can hold a Balance equal to thy Love.
By Heav'n I ne'er knew Transport till this Hour;
My Days have all been idly spent till now.
Like one without the Use of precious Sight,
Long have I stumbled thro' a gloomy Shade;
But now thy Day breaks in upon my Soul,
The Clouds disperse and all around is bright.
Livi.
How pleasing is the Sound of soothing Words,
From the dear Object of one's tender Love.
But will this ardent Passion ne'er expire;
Can'st thou transgress the Rule of all thy Sex,
So constant prove to keep thy promis'd Faith,
Nor slight Possession of a doating Fool?
Oh! should'st thou negligently fly my Arms,
Should in thy Breast the Flame of Love expire,
Life would no longer then be worth my Care.
Seja.
Do not my Eyes unfold my inmost Thoughts,
Do they not speak thee Empress of my Soul?
Oh! beauteous Princess, whose transcendent Form
Strikes with Astonishment each wond'ring Eye.
And like the Sun great Nature's Source of Life,
Indulgent Beams to gladden all around.
How dark is all, when thou art from my Eyes?
How tedious Time when thou art from my Arms?
With thee he leaves his Instruments of Flight,
Nor seems to move, when uninspir'd by thee.
Then if in Absence I do ever mourn,
Nor taste of Comfort but when thou art nigh,
Thou need'st not sure suspect declining Love?
Livi.
Think if I fear 'tis only for thy Sake,
So much thou art the God of my Desires,
15
So much the Object of my hourly Thoughts,
That I would grudge ev'n Heav'n it's Part of thee,
And have thee hail no other Shrine but Love.
Seja.
It is too much, by all the Pow'rs I swear,
Empires are poor to such Expence of Love,
Nor can a Mortal the large Boon repay.
Nay it would task the mighty Pow'r of Gods,
To give a Blessing of an equal Worth.
Livi.
Had lov'd Sejanus been my wedded Lord,
Then had my Hours in Joys transporting pass'd.
But cruel Fate ran counter to my Will,
Join'd me to one, who never shar'd my Heart,
For it has ever waited upon thee.
Seja.
Why here thou speak'st the Malice of our Fate;
Oh! Gentle Love, were but one Bar remov'd,
The Road to perfect Happiness is plain.
Livi.
Drusus I know thou mean'st, and much I wish,
For thy dear Sake, he now surviv'd no more.
He is thy Enemy, a deadly Foe.
Yet more; should he e'er note our secret Loves,
What sure Destruction must that Period bring?
Heav'ns how I tremble at the rising Thought,
It strikes a Terror to my shiv'ring Heart.
Seja.
One Way there is quite open to Repose;
If thou dost hold Sejanus in thy Love,
Nay if thy Life or Peace be worth thy Care,
Thou wilt adventure what I shall propose.
Thou hast the Pow'r, the Means to fix our Peace,
And bid Defiance to the Frowns of Fate.
Livi.
If I have Pow'r, then Safety is our own.
Seja.
List then to what Precaution does advise.
In Drusus' Death alone our Fears can end.
Eudemus shall prepare a potent Draught,
Which thou with Care must mix in Drusus Cup:
'Twill give quick Passage to his fleeting Soul,
And we shall taste uninterrupted Joys.
Livi.
Yet think a little, I'm his wedded Wife,
16
I should not be the Minister of Fate.
'Tis barbarous, nay terrible to think,
And makes my Blood run chilly thro' my Veins.
Is there no gentler Means of Safety left,
But must I perpetrate the horrid Act?
Seja.
Nature commands us to protect ourselves,
Undaunted then th'important Task perform,
Nor let such pallid Fears assail thy Breast,
Think, if once done, 'twill fix thee safely mine.
Livi.
Thy Arguments o'er Nature have prevail'd,
Nor will I live with Happiness in View,
And thro' vain Fears reject the hop'd for Bliss.
Fate shall not bar me from my Wish's Lord.
So to preserve Sejanus wholly mine,
I will administer the fatal Draught,
The Potion which Eudemus shall prepare.
Seja.
Thou bright and reigning Mistress of my Heart,
So much thy Beauty had enflam'd my Soul,
I thought no Pow'r could have enhanc'd my Zeal.
But now I see your Readiness and Will
To execute the sure and only Means
Will fix thy future Happiness and mine,
I own the Constancy inspires my Breast,
And fires my Heart with yet more ardent Love.
A Spirit so aspiring great as thine,
Was ne'er created for an idle Second,
To Drusus' languid Flame,—'twas form'd to shine,
Bright as the Moon among the lesser Lights,
And share the Sov'reignty of all the World.
Then Livia triumphs in her proper Sphere,
When she and her Sejanus, shall divide
The Name of Cæsar, and Augusta's Star
Be dim'd with Glory of a brighter Flame.
When Agrippina's Fires are quite extinct,
And the scarce seen Tiberius borrows all
His Light from us, whose folded Arms
Shall make one perfect Orb.
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My noble Lord,
To fix our Safety calls for utmost Speed;
Therefore we'll haste to banish anxious Fears:
For since it must be done, it should be soon;
While now the total Softness of my Sex,
Is fled far off, on thy Persuasion's Wing.
Farewell, when next we meet, expect with Joy to hear,
That he who bars thy Way to Empire is no more,
Then judge how far I venture for your Sake.
Seja.
This one embrace and then, farewell my Love,
Till that blest Hour that makes thee wholly mine,
No perfect Joy can dwell within my Breast.
Livi.
I will but change your Words, my Lord farewell.
(Exeunt Livi. and Eudem.)
Sej.
If this be not Revenge, when it is done,
And made quite perfect; let Ægyptian slaves,
Parthians and barefoot Hebrews brand my Face,
And mark my Body full of Injuries.
Thou lost'st thyself, Boy Drusus, for to think
Thou could'st outstrip my Vengeance, or withstand
The Pow'r I have to crush thee into Air.
Thy Follies now shall feel what kind of Man
They have provok'd, and thy fond Father's House
Crack in the Flame of my incensed Rage;
Whose Fury shall admit no Shame or Mean.
Adultery?—It is the lightest Ill
I will commit. A Race of wicked Acts
(Such as are stil'd so by your virtuous Fools)
Shall flow out of my Anger, and o'erspread
The World's wide Face; which to Posterity
Shall thunder out the mighty Deeds and Daring,
Of great Sejanus, Fortune's darling Son.
On then my Soul, nor stop thou in thy Course,
Tho' Heav'n drop Sulphur, and Hell belch out Fire;
Laugh at their idle Terrors; tell proud Jove,
Between thy Pow'r and his, there are no Odds,
'Twas only Fear, that first created Gods.
(Exit Sejanus.)
18
Sil.
Mark ye how the Beagles of Sejanus,
Keep beating round the House of Agrippina?
There is some Game here lodg'd, which they must rouse
To make their Master sport.
Sab.
I note them well.
Did you perceive how much they rail'd at Cæsar?
Sil.
Meer Gudgeon Baits for us to take the Hook;
If on the Tide of Vice one Virtue floats
Th'industrious Crew catch quickly the Alarm,
And angle for it with their utmost Skill.
Afer their Orator I well observ'd,
He that hath Phrases, Figures and fine Flow'rs
To strew his Rhetoric with, he who flies,
And ever is the foremost to get Note
Where Blood and Gain be Objects, steeps his Words,
(When he would kill) in artificial Tears,
Deceitful as the Crocodile of Nile.
Sab.
And yet this Man's a Senator of Rome,
And holds a Place among the foremost Rank.
Sil.
The foremost, now, is a disgraceful Rank,
The very Title Senator a Shame.
By Heav'n 'twere better be a Peasant Drudge,
To toil and labour in the Summer Sun,
Or freeze and shiver 'midst the Winter's Cold,
Than share the Grandeur of our wicked Court.
If I but thought we might not hope a Change,
A Reformation in the State of Things:
I wear a friendly Weapon by my Side,
Should rip out Life, and ease me of the Pain.
Sab.
A Pain indeed to every noble Mind,
But Hopes must give us Patience to endure.
Sil.
And they alone can shew the Way to rest.
Say who would suffer the tormenting Pangs,
Which oft attend on bodily Disease,
But thro' the Hopes of fresh returning Health,
To heal their Pains and give them Life anew?
19
Behold the noble Agrippina comes.
(Enter Agrippina.)
Agr.
Whither, my Friends, oh whither shall I fly?
No longer can I find Repose at home;
The Slaves of Power cluster all around,
And watch with haggard Eyes each Step I take.
I fear my Children stand on slipp'ry Ground,
For them a thousand anxious Thoughts crowd in.
I fear those Fiends who boldly dar'd to strike
At so exampless and unblam'd a Life,
As that of the renown'd Germanicus,
Will not sit easy with his Death alone.
Sil.
If, righteous Heav'n, pure Virtue be thy Care,
Why fell Germanicus a Villain's Prey?
Who was a Man of ever spotless Fame,
In ev'ry Action nearer to the Gods,
Than Men in Nature by their outward Forms.
The crowding Virtues mingled all in him
So perfect, that he seem'd design'd by Heav'n,
A bright Example for th'admiring World.
Agr.
And yet this great, and Godlike Hero fell,
A Prey to Treason, and the Foes of Rome.
Oh! that my Eyes had shut out Light with him,
Nor liv'd to shed so many widow'd Tears;
Nor to behold such harsh Oppressions rise,
As now weigh heavy on each Roman Breast.
Dark lurking Daggers wait for honest Hearts,
Nor can we claim a certain Day of Life:
Like poor despairing Mariners we roll,
Amidst the Surges of an angry Sea,
And view around a Group of horrid Rocks,
Which, low'ring, fright our Tempest-shaken Souls.
I could with Ease shake off the Load of Life,
And hush my Sorrows in the friendly Grave.
Death has no Terror, in its Sting, to me.
But then, my Sons, they summon all my Care,
Those dearest Pledges of my much lov'd Lord.
The rav'nous Vultures hover o'er their Heads,
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Sil.
First perish all, each Traitor piece-meal die.
By all the Love I ever bore Germanicus,
By his great Soul, and all we hold most dear,
Long as the Tide of Life shall swell my Veins,
My ev'ry Care shall wait your Royal Race.
Nor shall the last Remains of Roman Virtue,
Be sacrific'd, while I have Pow'r to save.
Agr.
Much am I bound to thank your friendly Zeal,
Thou ha'st a Soul, unfit for modern Days,
And 'spite of Powr ar't Virtue's stedfast Friend.
Sil.
Such let me ever be, or be no more.
I swerve not so from Honour's rugged Path,
To loll supine upon the Down of Vice,
Or smoothly glide upon her icy Way.
Whene'er I fall to such an abject State.
Let Shame and Poverty o'ertake my Steps.
Sab.
Such likewise be the Lot mark'd out for me,
When I prefer not Honesty to Gain,
Empire, or ought that Greatness can bestow.
Most gracious Princess, here I offer up
My Life, my Fortune, all I can command,
To save the sacred Lives of you and yours.
Agr.
Alas, I fear, my Friends, our Strength must fail,
Before the great Sejanus' Giant Pow'r.
He with his Grasp can crush the State of Rome,
And all our Lives depend upon his Nod.
Sil.
'Tis true, great Princess, he o'ertops us all,
They only flourish who enjoy his Smiles.
Gods! that Tiberius can be so misled,
To let this Minion lord it o'er the State.
Nay o'er himself, and Royal Kindred too.
With Patience see him undermine his Throne,
And subtly steal its chief Supports away.
Agr.
Then have I not just Cause to fear, my Friends,
That he, who views me with an envious Eye,
And knows my Children lie across his Way,
The Bars to Empire; will by direst Means,
21
There is no Safety where Ambition rules.
Sil.
Ambition is indeed an hellish Fiend;
Where that insatiate savage Fury dwells,
A Train of Vices bear unrival'd Sway,
And such we see presiding now at Rome.
Yet in one Place you have some Safety left.
The noble Drusus with sincerest Love
Espouses still the Interest of your Sons.
Therefore be comforted, nor doubt but Heav'n
Will keep them safe from cruel Violation,
As some Attonement for their Father's Death.
Agr.
When will my niggard Fortune pay your Loves?
Oh! gentle Friends, may those just Powers above,
That read the Hearts of Men, reward your Faith.
Your Words have much compos'd my lab'ring Soul,
And Comfort's Smiles dispel the Gloom of Woe.
Still then remain the Pillars of my Hope,
To you I trust the Safety of my Sons.
Each with an Argus Care observe his Charge,
For Tyranny is watchful o'er its Prey.
Sil.
We will not fail in Duty, or in Love,
Our Loyalty let future Actions prove;
We'll guard 'em safely on the hostile Shore,
And Freedom to this suff'ring Land restore,
Or drag the galling Chain of Life no more.
(Exeunt.)
SCENE Changes, enter Tiberius and Sejanus.
Tib.
When Fears assail the Monarch of the World,
Sejanus, Is't not fatal?
Sej.
Yes, to those fear'd.
Tib.
And not to him?
Sej.
That is impossible,
If, royal Sir, he wisely turns on them
That Part of Fate which in his Pow'r he holds.
Tib.
That, Nature, Blood, and Laws of kind forbid.
Seja.
Do Policy and State forbid it?
Tib.
No.
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Then ought beside is quite unworthy Note,
They must be criminal, if once your Foes.
Tib.
Think but the Hate which on such Acts attends.
Sej.
If Hatred frights, think not of sov'reign Pow'r.
All sickly Qualms of Conscience must give Way,
To him that, safely, would possess a Crown.
God's! should the World's great Master be confin'd,
By pedant Rules of Piety and Love,
Nor stop the Progress of aspiring Foes,
Because forbidden by a soft Remorse?
Consider why the Gods have giv'n you Pow'r,
Why plac'd you high on an Imperial Throne,
And made the World dependant on your Nod,
But for your Pow'r to make that World obey?
Tib.
Know'st thou, Sejanus, where our Fears arise?
Sej.
If my Suspicions but accord with yours,
From Agrippina?
Tib.
Her, and her proud Race.
Sej.
Proud—nay, Cæsar full of Danger and Distrust,
For full in them Germanicus appears.
The same seditious and repining Spirit,
Dwells in their Breasts, and cankers in their Hearts.
They live t'upbraid us with their Father's Death,
And (if Prevention waits not on our Councils)
My Fears interpret to revenge the same.
Tib.
There I think thy Fears are without Grounds,
The Act's not known.
Sej.
Not prov'd, as yet, I grant,
But bab'ling Fame, that busy, meddling Fiend,
Knowledge and Proof does to the Jealous give.
It is not fit the Children long remain,
Who suck in Fury from a Parent's Death.
The latent Sparks may lurk a while unseen,
But once inkindled by seditious Breath,
Bursting to Flame they'll rage destructive round,
And dart at all, nay, Cæsar's sacred Head.
Tib.
Ha!—Think'st thou, my Sejanus, they will dare?
Sej.
The Thunderbolt is never seen till felt,
23
Be not secure; none sooner are undone,
Than those whom Confidence betrays to Rest;
Let not your daring make your Danger such;
All Pow'r is fearful once it grows too great:
Cæsar, 'tis Age in all Things breeds Neglect,
And Princes that would keep old Dignity,
Must not admit too youthful Heirs stand by,
Not their own Issue,—but so darkly set,
As Shadows are in Pictures—to give Height
And advantageous Lustre to the rest.
Tib.
Thou hast convinc'd me of the lurking Danger.
And to prevent the Stroke of ambush'd Fate,
I will command their rank Thoughts lower down,
And with a stricter Hand than yet put forth,
Will bate their Titles, Feasts and Factions.
Sej.
How thinks your Highness to proceed therein,
The Point is critical, and Care requires?
Tib.
Confinement shall impending Ills remove.
Their close Cabals, Sedition's Nursery,
Shall be dissolv'd, to frustrate all their Hopes.
Sej.
They are too great, and that too faint a Blow,
To give them now; it would have serv'd at first,
When with the weakest Blow their Knot had loos'd:
But now your Care must be to keep conceal'd,
Your just Suspicions, from their wary Eyes;
For such who know the Weight of Prince's Pow'r,
If once the least Discovery they note,
Like the seen Snakes will raise their Stings to wound,
Who else had folded in their Circles lain.
The Course must be to let them still swell more,
Riot and surfeit on blind Fortune's Cup.
Give them more Place, more Dignity, more Stile,
A Shew of Friendship is the surest Snare.
Then by some Means take off their strongest Friends;
The Lyon once of Teeth and Fangs bereft,
May roar and rage, to feel th'indignant Lash,
But has no longer Pow'r to oppose.
24
We would not kill, could we with Safety spare;
But yet 'tis better give a Grave than Throne.
Is there no Way to bind them by Deserts?
Sej.
Wolves change their Hair but never change their Hearts.
While a relenting Weakness sways your Mind,
Your erring Reason Safety does oppose:
Self Preservation is the first of Laws.
Tib.
Sejanus, thou art still my better Angel,
And I'll no longer mask my Thoughts from thee.
Thy Sentiments accord with mine in all,
And we but prove their Voice in our Designs.
Which by assenting thou hast more confirm'd,
Than if great Jove, to countenance the Deed,
Had from his hundred Statues bid us strike.—
But say, thou Guide of all our dearest Councils,
Who of the List shall first become our Prey?
Sej.
If I may rule, 'tis Caius Silius first;
He is our surest Mark, most full of Danger.
First hurl him down the Precipice of Fate.
By how much his Fall does give the louder Crack,
'Twill send more wounding Terror to the rest:
Command them stand aloof, and make more way
To our surprizing of the Principals.
Tib.
Were it not well to lop Sabinus off?
Sej.
Let him grow awhile—he's but a weakly Branch,
He is not ripe for Fate, we must not pluck
At all together; lest we crush ourselves.
Tib.
Have we the Ground for Silius' Accusation?
Sej.
Trust that to me; let Cæsar by his Pow'r
Command a formal Meeting of the Senate;
I will have Matters and Accusers there.
Tib.
But how? Were it not better we should consult?
Sej.
We shall by such Delay (needless to our End)
Lose the Time of Action. Councils are unfit,
In Deeds, where Rest may prove pernicious.
Actions of this close Kind, if once propos'd,
Thrive more by Execution than Advice.
25
Do thou prepare the Subject of Conviction,
The Senate shall be summon'd strait to meet.
(Exit. Tiberius.)
Sej.
Thus far each subtle Artifice prevails,
And Fortune's Current in my Favour flows:
Like an indulgent Mother still she smiles,
And guards me from the Outrages of Fate.—
The surest Way to set a Prince in Blood,
Is to make Dangers greater than they are,
By huge Description and the Pomp of Words;
As setting Suns protract the Evening Shades.
Fears are the surest Spur to Cruelty.
Work then my Arts on Cæsar's Fears, till they,
Who stop my Way to Greatness are—remov'd,
Enter Eudemus.
Now my Eudemus, what's the News thou bear'st?
Sure 'tis important, for thy eager Eyes,
Seem striving to anticipate thy Tongue.
Eud.
The fatal Draught which I with Care prepar'd,
Was secretly convey'd to Drusus' Cup,
Which when receiv'd began to operate.
To countenance the Deed, I strove to help,
And seem'd to wonder at the deadly Fit:
But such the forceful Poison I'd prepar'd,
No human Art the Torments could remove.
So 'spite of all my seeming earnest Care,
His Pain-rack'd Soul burst from its earthly Cage,
And fleeting left the breathless Coarse behind.
Sej.
Then the chief Pillar of my Fear is fallen.
Now my Eudemus think of a Reward,
And task Sejanus' utmost Means and Pow'r.
Observe that thou in Public mourn his Fate,
And frame by Art some probable Excuse,
To make the People think 'twas Nature's Act;
So dissipate Suspicion of our Guilt.
Eud.
Doubt not, my Lord, my utmost Art shall work,
To blind Suspicion's penetrating Eye.
(Exit Eudemus.)
26
Away then, to be seen with me may cause Distrust,
The lordly Oak has felt the biting Axe,
Whose tow'ring Branches kept me in their Shade.
My Soul disburthen'd of a cumb'rous Weight,
Now lightly bounds, and soars to regal Sway.
Oh! great Ambition (thirst of noble Souls,
Th'inspiring Parent of heroic Deeds)
Do'st thou not smile upon thy awful Throne,
To see the glorious Sacrifice I make,
In adoration of thy Pow'r divine?
If then thy Votary deserves thy Grace,
If I have ever waited on thy Nod,
And bent obedient to thy pow'rful Sway,
Now aid me to the glorious End propos'd.
With Eagle's Wings assist my tow'ring Flight,
Let subject Worlds derive from me their Light;
To fill my Coffers Nature's Riches drain,
Make tributary Kings compose my Train,
And let Sejanus Lord of Mankind reign.
(Exit Sejanus.)
End of the second ACT.
| Sejanus | |