 | Demetrius |  |
SCENE XVII.
Enter Alcestes.Alc.
And is it given me
Without a blush, before my beauteous queen
To breathe my vows of constancy; to tell her
That absent from her sight I found no peace?
To tell her that my thoughts were only hers,
That she's my love, my glory, and my life?
Cleo.
Ah! speak not thus.
Alc.
Not speak! can then these fond,
These true professions of my heart's affection,
That once were wont to please, offend thee now?
And is it thus, O Heaven! I find again
The same in Cleonice? Or am I
The same Alcestes, that at length return'd,
344
Cleo.
O torture!
[aside.
Alc.
Yes, I see, I see it now;
A few short moons of absence have suffic'd
To freeze the hopes of ten years faithful love.
Cleo.
Ah! would to Heaven—
Alc.
What means that exclamation?
Tell me my crime; if ever I have wrong'd thee,
Let fate resume whate'er thy lavish hand
Has heap'd upon me: may those beauteous eyes,
Those eyes that rule my heart, that guide my life,
Still on Alcestes dart their angry beams.
Look on me—speak—
Cleo.
I can endure no more—
Farewell!—
[Exit.
| Demetrius | |