 | Agis |  |
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ACT III.
SCENE I.
Enter Euanthe.Athenian Pallas! O my native Gods!
Protect your suppliant in a foreign land,
Where shall I fly? O Agis! O Lysander!
Enter Sandane.
O Queen! a stranger thy protection claims,
Altho' thy lord, thy friends, are foes to mine,
Yet thou wilt sympathize with thy own sex,
And save me from the violence I fear.
Sandane.
Where is thy lover to defend thee now?
Where is the conquering valour of Lysander?
And virtuous Agis? the reforming king
Whom thou wast wont to praise. Let me advise thee,
On brave Amphares try thy boasted charms;
So young, so fair a captive may subdue
The victor's heart.
Euanthe.
Are these a woman's words?
Sandane.
They are, and suited to a light adventurer,
Who left her parents, and her native land,
To seek a lover. Sure her roving mind,
True to its passion, may the object change,
And, pleas'd, accept Amphares for Lysander.
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Thou speak'st thy thoughts, and judgest of Euanthe
By the deceitful standard of thy heart.
Too soon thou hast betray'd thy secret soul.
I am not yet a captive; I may live
To shew thee, Queen, that pity thou deny'st me.
Lysander comes to rescue, or revenge.
Sandane.
Lysander soon shall be as Agis is.
Thy wretched arrogance my soul contemns.
An enemy I have, the Spartan Queen,
Whose bitter tongue has often wrong'd my fame;
Her will I seek, and triumph o'er the ruin
Of her, and of her peace.
Euanthe.
Had'st thou e'er felt
Sincere affection, thou would'st not insult me;
And hadst thou ever known a mother's pains,
Thou could'st not bear to grieve a mother's heart.
Sandane.
Minion, for this expect! thou pageant! thou!
That dar'st to brave, exasperate a Queen.
Thou shalt repent thy pride, and kneel in vain.
[Exit Sandane.
Euanthe.
The anger that supported me is gone.
I feel my weakness, and her threatnings fear.—
Enter Lysander in a Helot's garb.
Helot, if pity, or if gold—
Lysander.
Euanthe!
Euanthe.
O Heav'n and earth! Lysander!
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Yes, my love!
Thou see'st Lysander, miserable man!
Does Agis live?
Euanthe.
Amidst the clash of arms,
And cries of fighting men, I heard them shout
The name of Agis. By-and-by a Spartan,
Flying and wounded, as he pass'd call'd out,
“The king is safe; the king has gain'd the temple.”
Lysander.
Then all is safe; for Sparta lives in him.
Euanthe.
But the good Queen!
Lysander.
Her sex, her age protects her.
Euanthe.
Heaven grant they may; an impious band in arms
Pursu'd the holy train. Fear gave me speed,
For I outstript them all. But now, Lysander,
Betray'd, encompass'd, now what shall we do?
Lysander.
Wert thou but safely plac'd, Lysander knows
What he should do, I must not tarry here.
There is a temple in this spacious city,
For sanctity above all others fam'd,
To Juno sacred, the avenging Queen!
Thither a trusty slave of Agis' house
Will guide thy steps; by my command he waits
Without the palace.
Euanthe.
Whither dost thou go?
Lysander.
In this inglorious garb disguis'd, I wait
Till night and darkness come; then I attempt
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What mortal arm shall then oppose my way,
Urg'd as I am? Alas, my lov'd Euanthe!
From my compliance with thy fond request
Springs the worst evil of this dreadful hour.
I have betray'd the confidence of Agis:
But I'll repair my fault.
Euanthe.
What dost thou mean?
Lysander.
Agis commanded me to leave the city,
And thinks, would to the Gods he thought aright!
That his Lysander heads the Spartan troops,
In whom his only hope of safety lies.
But I, Euanthe! partial to thy will,
Sought thee in vain. In that unhappy time
They seiz'd the gates, and shut me up in Sparta.
Fate punishes with too severe a doom
The human weakness of indulgent love.
Agis! I come!—For the deep voices now
Of duty, friendship, gratitude, and glory,
Sound thro' my breast, and from my beating heart
Their echo rings. Farewel! my love, farewel!
Euanthe.
Not yet, Lysander! Agis is opprest,
And Sparta too. Does duty, or does honour,
Require Lysander, like an eastern slave,
To fall attendant on the royal pile?
What can you do? The army will betray you:
So with the few, the faithful few that love you,
You'll do some desperate action, and be slain.
If you despise your life, yet think of me,
The prey of curst Amphares.
Lysander.
Infernal Gods!
Let me not think of that. Retire, Euanthe,
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This night I'll force ill-guarded Sparta's gates,
And save my prince, my country, and Euanthe.
Euanthe.
Thy prince, thy country are already lost.
O listen, and preserve thyself and me:
The ship that bore me to the Spartan shore
Rides still at anchor: leave this wretched land.
Where'er thou goest I will attend thy steps;
Thy gods shall be my gods; thy people, mine.
Lysander.
Alas! Euanthe does not see the shame,
The ruin of that counsel love inspires.
Th'eternal gods repose this hour in me
No common trust: Upon my deeds depend
The fate of Agis, and the fate of Sparta.
My soldiers too, my brave, my faithful soldiers,
The meanest warrior of the royal band
Freely devotes his life to godlike Agis.
And shall their leader, shall the friend of Agis,
Forsake his prince? I will forget thy words;
Repeat them not.
Euanthe.
Is this Lysander's love?
Must I not speak? Is my reward reproach?
For you I left my friends and native land,
Defy'd all danger, and all censure scorn'd;
Now in my sore distress I call on thee
For whom I suffer, to protect my honour,
And in my sore distress dost thou upbraid me?
If ever maid, like credulous Euanthe,
Bursts all the bonds of nature for one man,
Let her beware that he be not a Spartan!
O wretched maid! O Athens lost in vain!
[Ready to faint.
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All-ruling powers! why am I thus distrest?
Why come calamities so thick upon me?
Euanthe, hear me; you shall be obey'd.
I'll bear thee hence, and go with thee to Athens,
Restore thee to thy country and thy friends,
Of whom thou dost complain I have bereft thee.
Lysander will acquit himself to thee,
And to mankind—
Euanthe.
Delude me not. Alas!
Thy tongue speaks comfort; but thy voice, thy looks,
Wild and unsettled, drive me to despair:
For thou, methinks, art desperate, Lysander.
Those lips that quiver, and those eyes that roll
Like dragon's eyes, those are not signs of love!
Thou say'st that thou wilt bear me back to Athens;
Will that acquit thee, if thou leav'st me there?
Is that thy purpose?
Lysander.
Yes. I'll leave the world,
And death shall wipe dishonour from my name;
Agis and Sparta shall forgive me then,
And every debt be paid.
Euanthe.
Lysander, no.
Love's victims are not of your sterner sex.
It is the destiny of womankind
Constant to live, and desolate to die.
To strong necessity Euanthe yields.
If I should tear you from the side of Agis,
I see my fate; you ne'er would love me more:
Tho' you should live, yet you would die to me.
But I will rather stay and perish here
Than live without thee. Go, and fight for Agis;
But in the hour of danger think of me!
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The dreadful van let other warriors lead,
In whom nor Agis nor Euanthe lives.
Lysander.
These words become my idoliz'd Euanthe!
And honour now approves the voice of love.
O thou first object of my young desires,
And thro' each period of my ripening years
Still more maturely and intensely lov'd,
Hear and believe my words.—Beware—Beware.
Enter Amphares. [To his people.]
'Tis she, by Venus! halt. Fear not, my fair;
Nor meditate escape from your Amphares.
Euanthe.
My Amphares!
Amphares.
Thine, and thine alone!
Thou low'ring slave, begone! Haste! urge me not
To stain my sword with thy ignoble blood.
[Exit Lysander.
Euanthe.
Is this thy love? Imperious, and in arms,
Recent from blood and treason, dost thou come
To take by force and violence my heart?
Amphares.
The love of thee, more powerful than ambition;
Inflam'd me to attempt the Spartan throne.
Thy beauty is the torch that lights the war:
For thee I conquer—Smile not thus in scorn;
Deign to accept my hand and Sparta's crown:
Euanthe.
Dost thou bestow the diadem of Sparta?
Where is thy lawful prince?
Amphares.
Leonidas?
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Agis.
Amphares.
That Agis is no more a king;
A suppliant, surrounded by my troops,
In Juno's temple, with the priests he dwells.
Leonidas, by me restor'd to power,
Will gladly share with me divided empire.
Or, if I please to reign alone, I may.
Thro' dark conspiracy and open strife,
For thee I strove; thou wilt reward my love.
Beauty, like thine, pertains not to the vanquish'd,
But still triumphant reigns the victors' queen.
Euanthe.
Thinkst thou there is no truth in human breasts,
No faithful loyalty, no constant love?
Soon shalt thou learn thine error. I begin
To teach thee first. Thee and thy love I scorn!
And may the gods reward thy base ambition
As I reward thy love.
Amphares.
O womankind!
How well your passions teach us to be just!
You love Lysander still; a little time
Will from your mind erase the memory
Of that vain-glorious, lost, and ruin'd man,
Who was my rival.
Euanthe.
Was! whate'er he was
He is, and more. Thou and thy crimes contribute
To make him more illustrious, more belov'd,
Thou giv'st him scope and vantage to his virtue.
Speak'st thou of crowns whilst royal Agis reigns?
Of power in Sparta whilst Lysander lives?
The short dominion of this day is thine,
But vengeance and Lysander come tomorrow.
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Thou do'st instruct me. If my time is short
We should not part. I'll see thee safely placed
Where I command.
Euanthe.
I will not go with thee.
Amphares.
Yield to necessity; for on my call
Compulsion waits. No other hand than mine
Should touch Euanthe.
[Seizes her hand.]
Euanthe.
Help, Spartans! help!
If any hear me who regard Lysander.
Enter Lysander with a dagger, and runs at Amphares, who retires.
Amphares.
Assist me, friends. Surround him—'Tis Lysander.
Take him alive.
[To his people who enter.]
Lysander.
No. That they cannot, traitor!
[Snatches a sword from one of the soldiers.
Now I am better arm'd.
Amphares.
Kill him, Euxus,
Unless he yield his sword.
Lysander.
Come, brave Amphares!
Come to the front, and there direct my fate.
Amphares.
Kill him!
Euanthe.
That would dishonour me for ever.
Advance on all sides, and close in upon him.
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Strangers, give way, and let the Spartan chiefs
Fight their own quarrels. I will give you all
The wealth of Sparta.
Amphares.
Ha! he grows upon them!
Throw down your weapons, or I'll pierce her heart!
[Points his sword to Euanthe's breast.
Euxus.
Renown'd Lysander! give thy sword to Euxus.
Euanthe.
Defend thy noble life! Regard not mine.
[Amphares lifts his arm.
Lysander.
Hold, hold.
Amphares.
Thou know'st me.—Choose.
Lysander.
I cannot bear to see Euanthe die!
[Throws down his sword.
O Agis! O my prince!
Amphares.
Victorious chief,
Statesman and soldier, learned Athens' boast,
Where are thy glories now?
Lysander.
The strife of tongues
I shun, as thou didst shun the strife of arms.
Amphares.
Yet let thy haughtiness grant one request.
Tell me what brought the great Lysander hither?
Some stratagem profound; which none but he
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And add disgrace and ridicule to ruin.
Lysander.
Hadst thou not fled, thou coward, from my sword,
And shriek'd for help, this arm, this single arm,
Had baffled all the craft of false Amphares.
Amphares.
This pride becomes thee, and thy lost condition.
Lysander.
In this condition it becomes me best
To brave Amphares. Had he been a captive
I should have pitied him.
Amphares.
Plead'st thou for pity?
Lysander.
For none that thou can'st give. Hear me, then judge,
If what I speak is meant to win thy favour.
I should have pitied thee by fate subdued:
Opprest with crimes, thy spirit would have shrunk
Under calamity, and guilt have marr'd
The noble vigor and the port of manhood.
Amidst thy triumph, does it not confound thee,
To think thou ow'st it to excess of baseness?
Thou hast prevail'd, because the generous Agis
Would not believe there could be such a traitor.
Amphares.
Oft have I heard, and often seen thy folly,
But now to rail is madness. With one word
I could impose on thee eternal silence.
Lysander.
And would—I know thee—if thou thought'st it wife.
Even then, as now, I should contemn thy power:
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And his victorious troops at break of day
Will thunder in thine ears: thou and thy band
Will ill sustain the shock of such an host.
My life is in thy hands, but yet beware,
Thy fate depends on mine. In Lacedæmon
A prince like Agis soon will find Lysanders.
Amphares.
Uncertain thy predictions of the future:
Small is thy prescience, witness thy condition.
Euxus, conduct him to yon corner tower.
Euanthe.
Lysander!
Lysander.
Oh! I have withdrawn mine eyes
From thee, and to contention turn'd my heart.
Euanthe.
Yet look on me before we part for ever.
Lysander.
At looks or words of tenderness, he'll smile,
And o'er the sorrows of our love rejoice:
Forgive me still, I must not, cannot speak.
Euanthe.
But I will speak, and earth and heaven shall hear me.
Amphares too shall hear; for it will gaul him,
To hear Euanthe now avow her love
And faith to her Lysander. Powerful words,
Emblems and figures of firm constancy,
Such as fond lovers lavishly employ
To sooth the pangs of parting and of absence.
Such music vows accord not with our state,
Our dreadful state: yet do not grieve thy heart,
Thy noble heart, too full of other sorrows,
With thoughts of what may happen to Euanthe.
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The bondage and the shame that women suffer,
Who live the slave of those who slew their lords,
I ne'er shall know, I never will endure.
If cruel destiny decrees thy fall,
Unspotted to the shades I'll follow thee,
For whom alone on earth I'd wish to live.
Lysander.
Lead on. Farewel, Euanthe.
Euanthe.
Gods above!
Amphares.
Conduct her to the tower where late you lodg'd
The captive queen.
Euanthe.
Alas! no guarded tower,
Or vaulted dungeon, ever yet contain'd
Two more unhappy, or more helpless captives!
[Exeunt guarded.
Amphares.
Lysander's fierce demeanour and his threats,
Proud as he is, spring not from pride alone;
I must stretch forth my arms to shelter'd Agis.
If I accomplish not this night his ruin,
Tomorrow's rising sun may see my fall.
Curst be the temples! curst the priests of Sparta!
Now I am like a man who has adventur'd
To cross the flats forsaken by the main,
And looking back sees not the shore he left;
Thro' deeps and shallows, rocks, and quaking sands
On he must go. To stop is sure perdition.
Enter Sandane.
Hail to the queen of Sparta!
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Yes, Amphares!
Now fortune seems to smile upon Sandane.
I saw the sullen captive led along,
His gloomy eye-balls fix'd upon the earth.
Amphares.
This night, O queen! must see the bold conclusion
Of a design, thus far so bravely borne.
On hollow and deceitful ground we tread,
Whilst Agis lives.
Sandane.
Thou speakst my very thoughts.
Seasons there are, Amphares, which suspend
All sanctimonious reverence and respect.
Amphares.
Temples, and priests, and altars shall not save him,
If fate should drive us to the last extreme.
Meanwhile, I will employ more gentle means
To gain our ends: For sacrilege would rouse
The zealous multitude to rage and arms.
The temple is begirt with Thracian bands,
Who all access forbid; and Agis knows not
What has befallen Lysander. I will send
A subtle Spartan in Lysander's name,
Who may by specious arguments persuade him
To quit the sanctuary; and then, O queen!
With all solemnity of pomp and form,
Th'assembled Ephori shall pass his doom,
And in the same decree include Lysander.
Sandane.
Think'st thou the Ephori will give the sanction
Of their authority to Agis death?
Amphares.
They will. At midnight the stern judges meet
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With orders to the troops not to advance
On pain of treason. The astonish'd people
Will crouch and tremble at that awful power,
Which draws the sword of justice on a king.
Then shall your lord's authority revive;
And like the sun, when bursting from a cloud,
With greater power and brighter splendor shine.
[Exeunt.
End of the third Act.
| Agis | |