University of Virginia Library

SCENE the thirteenth.

Venusia and Dumnorix with a bowl.
Dumnorix
aside, seeing Venusia on her knees.
Now resolution, now be doubly arm'd
[He gives her the bowl and she drinks.
Now stand awhile before the fanning breeze.
So with its subtle energy the potion,
Less rudely stealing on the pow'rs of life,
Will best perform its office to remove
Pain, fear and grief for ever from thy breast.
How dost thou fare, Venusia?

Venusia.
I perceive
No alteration. Every sense remains
Yet unimpair'd. Then while these moments last,
Let me on thee direct my eyes to gaze,
While unobstructed still their sight endures;
Let me receive thee to my faithful bosom,
Before my heart is motionless and cold:
Speak to me, Dumnorix! my lord! my husband!
Give one kind accent to thy dying wife,
Ere yet my ears be frozen, and thy voice
Be heard no longer; join thy lip to mine,
While I can feel thy last and tend'rest kisses.

Dumnorix.
Yes, I will utter to thy dying ear
All my fond heart, sustain thee on my bosom,
And cheer thy parting spirit in its flight.
Oh! wherefoe'er thy fleeting breath shall pass,
Whate'er new body, as the Druids sing,
Thou shalt inform hereafter, still thy soul,
Thou gentle, kind, and ever-pleasing creature;
Shall bear its own felicity along,
Still in its native sweetness shall be bless'd,
And in its virtue, which can thus subdue
The fear of death, still brave the pow'r of fortune.
But thou beginst to droop.

Venusia.
My eyes grow dizzy.

Dumnorix
aside.
Keep firm, my heart.

Venusia.
A heaviness, like sleep,
O'ercomes my senses—Every limb is faint—
Thy voice is scarce distinguish'd in my ears.

Dumnorix.
Indeed!

Venusia.
Alas! thou lookst so kindly on me!
My weak, and darken'd sight deceives me sure,
Or thy fond eye did never yet o'erflow
With tenderness, like this.

Dumnorix.
I never view'd thee
For the last time.

Venusia.
Look, look upon me still
Why dost thou turn thy face away?

Dumnorix.
For nothing.

Venusia.
Nay, thou art weeping, Dumnorix—and wherefore
Wouldst thou conceal thy tears?

Dumnorix.
I cannot hide them.

Venusia.
And dost thou weep?

Dnmnorix.
I do.

Venusia.
Then didst thou love me
With such excess of fondness.—For Venusia
Do these soft streams bedew that awful face?

Dumnorix.
Love thee! Behold, when Albion groans around me,
Yet thou these springs of tenderness canst open
To wet the cheeks of British Dumnorix.

Venusia.
Oh! extacy! which stops my parting soul,
And gives it vigour to enjoy these transports.
Once more receive me to thy breast.

Dumnorix.
Venusia!

Venusia.
Thy tenderness makes death delightful to me—
Oh! I would speak—would answer to thy kindness—
My fault'ring tongue—

Dumnorix.
What sayst thou?

Venusia.
Cease to grieve—
No pain molests me—ev'ry thought is calm—
Support my drowsy burthen to that couch—
Where death—serenely smiles.