University of Virginia Library

ACT V.

SCENE I.

Apartment of Vitellia.
Vitellia,
alone.
To Vitellia, Zanthia.

Zanthia.
Forgive my tears, the awful spectacle
Still shakes my very soul.—Think you beheld
The populous city pour forth all its swarms,
To cluster in the forum. The robed fathers
As if they sat not judges of the crime,
But pale and anxious were themselves arraign'd,
Even breathing seem'd suppress'd by expectation,
And every eyeball shot beyond its sphere.

Vitellia.
Shall I hear more, or bid thee spare the rest?
My boasted resolution dies within me,
And like an untrain'd soldier ere the sight
Shrinks at the distant sounding of the charge.
But tell me all—I wish, yet dread to hear thee.

Zanthia.
Soon was the unhappy youth, mournful, abash'd,
Remorse, not fear, stamp'd on his gracious visage,
(His pale cheek resting on his iron chain)
Led forth to judgment, while his stern accuser
With eyes all sire, tho' feeble from his wound,
Flung heavy treasons on him.

Vitellia.
Oh that tyger!
Rash incapacity! yet driving ever
The wiser who shou'd guide him to their ruin,
Name him no more,—but Sextus.

Zanthia.
Meek and sad,
He neither strove to palliate or deny,
But earnest beg'd, as all the guilt was his,
He, only he, might 'bide the punishment.

Vitellia.
O ancient honour! O true Roman heart,
Worthy thy firm forefather, Regulus!
Speak on, speak on! let every word you utter,
Strike daggers here, and frustrate this my hand,
Resolved to give him justice.

Zanthia.
When the consul
With faltering voice pronounced his dreadful doom.

Vitellia.
Be brief, and tell me what.

Zanthia.
Most horrible!
My blood runs cold to name it. On the Arena
By ravenous lions to be torn alive.

Vitellia.
Barbarians! monsters! why revile the senate?
They sentence but the crime, I made him guilty.
Hast thou more torture for me?

Zanthia.
Thus condemn'd,
A general groan, as if the mingled throng
Had but one breast, shook all the spacious dome.
In copious streams tears gush'd from every eye,
He only unappall'd, with modest grace
In reverent silence bow'd to own their justice.
The assembly rising, his attendant guard
Led him to Cæsar, who has since confirmed
The sentence of the fathers, and this hour
Ill-fated Sextus dies.

Vitellia.
Led him to Cæsar!
Then Hope's last ray is quench'd, my shame reveal'd,
His fate inevitable. Bastard conscience!
That dreading the detection, urged the deed.
Repentance for a child!—enough, retire!

Zanthia.
Pardon your faithful slave, I dare not leave you.
There is a deadly fixture in your eye,
Bespeaks some fatal purpose.

Vitellia.
[Exit Zanthia.
Vitellia, alone.

To her, Zanthia.
Zanthia.
My gracious mistress?
Do I again behold thee, safe, unhurt?

Vitellia.
Zanthia, there are unnumber'd ways to death,
And I have chosen a sure one.—Hush, no tears.
Wonder, not grief, must grace my obsequies.

[Exeunt.
Scene Changes.
Cornelia, Annius following.
Cornelia.
Support me, save me! Oh eternal powers
What have my eyes beheld?

Annius.
Heart thou art stone,
Else thou wou'd'st burst at this.

Cornelia.
Is this their love?
O thou vile city, that but yesterday
Cast forth thy tribes to shout him to the sky,
Deaf'ning the ears of Jove, now to the Circus
To see him mangled, his poor heart torn out,
They fly as volleying fires pursued their speed,
Nor cast one look behind.

Annius.
His blood this hour
Will glut their savage curiosity.
The surly keepers by the senate's order
From the gaunt lions hold their wonted food
To whet their fierceness for the barbarous meal.
I saw their glaring eyes, heard the deep growl
Portentous of the carnage they expected.

Cornelia.
I am most miserable. My exulting heart
Beat high with joy to find thee innocent,
But oh I little thought, a husband's honour
Cou'd be redeem'd but by a brother's death.
Is no way left to save him?

Annius.
None but one,
And that he has rejected. I was present,
A weeping witness of the interview.
Soften'd almost to tears the gracious prince
By the dear memory of their early friendship,
By duty, faith and gratitude adjured him
To make a full confession of the cause
Which wrought him to the attempt. By such compliance
Deep in oblivion to entomb offence,
And give him back the wonted place he held,
First in his soul's affection.

Cornelia.
Cou'd my brother
Hear it unmoved?

Annius.
Oh no, his streaming eyes,
His breast convuls'd with passion, deep fetch'd groans,
Proclaim'd th'unutterable agony.
Prostrate to earth he fell, avow'd his crime,
And in the frantic vehemence of grief
Call'd blessings on his injured master's head,
And curses on his own. But to reveal
The cause of his revolt, nor threats, nor prayers,
Favor, nor life, nor fear of death could move him.

Cornelia.
Then what remains for me. I vainly hoped
A sister's tears might move him. From our infancy
The tenderest union twined our hearts in love.
Like blossoms from one parent stock we grew,
Put forth the opening buds of youth together,
And both at once must wither. Oh believe it!
So dear, so vital is my fondness for him
To save my brother's blood I'd meet pale death
And clasp him like a bridegroom. My next hope
Was in the emperor's pity, he alas
Forbids my intercession.

Annius.
Never saw I
Passion so shake him. His last wrathful words,
(I hear their thunder still) “hence to thy doom,
“Unnatural were thy deeds, thy end be dreadful.”

Cornelia.
I rack my thoughts in vain. Yet oh I know
Were he not bound by some delusive tie
Of spurious honour to this fatal silence,
His soul wou'd yield to friendship's sympathy,
Nor hide this secret canker which within
Consumes his life in silence.

Annius.
Thine too with it.
But when were crimes confined in consequence?
Yet leave me nought untried. Go seek the emperor,
Again embrace his knees, shew thy sad eyes.
There is in woman's tears a melting power,
Man's nature can't attain, nor man resist.
Perhaps he may relent.

Cornelia.
He must, he shall.
God of persuasion! with prevailing sounds
Endue thy suppliant's tongue, such as may wrest
The brandish'd bolt from this imperial Jove,
Quench the red lightning of his terrible eye,
And for the fiery shaft of ruthless ire,
Infuse sweet peace, and melting clemency.

[Exeunt.
Scene—The Circus.
Titus, Publius, Senators, Lictors, Guards, &c.— Lentulus and other Conspirators in Chains at the bottom of the Stage.—Annius and Cornelia following Titus.
Titus.
Before the games begin, lead Sextus hither.

Cornelia & Annius.
Oh thou, whose godlike nature ne'er in vain
[Kneeling together.
Affliction kneel'd to, at your feet behold—

Titus.
Cornelia rise. Think not the soul of Cæsar
Keeps one unshaken tenor, while thy breast
Is heav'd with anguish, or that thick rib'd ice
Surrounds a heart cold and insensible,
Not to be thaw'd but by the melting power
Of drops from woman's eyes.

Cornelia.
Oh for my brother
Let my tears stream for ever, the cold ground
Be channel'd by my knees, no accent heard
But my perpetual prayer.

Titus.
A soundless voice
Beyond the tongues of Rome's best orators,
Gesture, or Hybla periods, here within
Pleads for him deep, so trust me, all offence
'Gainst Titus is absolv'd.

Cornelia.
Why then with all
Is he absolv'd, for you and only you
Has he offended.—

Titus.
With the emperor,
The abstract of Rome's state and majesty,
Who chiefly stands responsive for her weal
Some commutation must be made for mercy.
Improvident to leave a noxious spring
To burst out on the general health, unsearch'd,
Would ill become my prudence, or my functions.
Observe him, pray be silent.

[Sextus brought forward by Publius.
Cornelia.
For a moment—
But for a little moment.—Oh my brother!
Seize now the trembling crisis of thy fate.
Cast from thy soul this obstinate disease,
This vice of honour, shameful in the extreme.
Oaths with the wicked, in themselves are void,
What's holy made unholy, heaven adjur'd
Against itself. It cannot be in reason,
In virtue less;—disclaim it, oh disclaim it,
Or reprobate at once both truth and wisdom.

Titus.
Once more we meet. The senate have condemn'd thee,
To a sore punishment. Rome's peace disturb'd,
Offended majesty, the laws infringed,
Friendship betray'd. Both earth and heaven cry out
For justice on thee.

Sextus.
Both shall be appeas'd.
Make my dire sentence still more horrible.
Oh had I lives unnumber'd as thy virtues,
And all paid down, how poor the expiation!

Titus.
Then hear my last award. Publius go thou
Pronounce to Lentulus, and his followers,
Forgiveness, life, and freedom. Romans mark:
I know, I pardon, and forget their crimes.

Cornelia.
How my heart throbs! O Gods look down on Sextus.

Titus.
I would not mix thee with the common herd
[To Sextus.
The subjects of the state, not Cæsar's friends,
But wishing to restore thee to my heart
Wou'd make thee worthy of it.

Sextus.
That vast treasure,
Lost in a sea of guilt, and sunk for ever,
No more must call me master.

Titus.
One condition
So oft proposed, even now accept from Titus,
And if in all our days of life to come
One semblance of enstrangement from my brow
Reprove thee by its coldness, call me loudly
Vindictive, base—ascribe the good I mean thee,
Not to my kindness, but my fear to punish.

Sextus.
New torture, new distraction! how determine
[Aside.
My silence will offend the generous prince,
And if I speak, I must destroy Vitellia.

Titus.
Have you a care more instant than your life?
Have you a bond more sacred than your duty?
Have you a friend more cordial than your prince?
What no reply? Is then my pity for thee
Not worth the stooping for? take heed rash man
Wake not again my anger.

Cornelia.
Sextus! brother!
Pull not the unwilling thunder on thy head,
But stop it yet suspended.

Sextus.
Extrication
[Aside.
Is most impossible. I cannot, 'tis in vain.

Titus.
Proceed!
What dost thou mean to tell me?

Sextus.
That the fates,
Avenging fates have hurl'd their curses on me.
That I no longer can sustain the load
Of my sad destiny, that I proclaim myself,
A traitor, villain, that I merit death,
And as the last, the greatest boon implore it.

Cornelia.
Not all the gods can save him.

Titus.
From this hour
All pressures of affection quit my breast,
Make it a plate of iron, no soft touch
To leave a print more than the reptile's trail
Wiped off with scorn and loathing. Armed files
Observant of my danger watch my steps,
Place them around my table and my couch,
My food be tasted, all my chambers search'd,
For kindness is a fool, dulleyed and dim,
Losing the dolt who trusts him.

Annius.
Emperor!

Titus.
Away, away! I shall mistrust myself,
Suspect my head may plot against my heart,
My hand be arm'd 'gainst both. My nature's frame
Is wrench'd by this convulsion.

Sextus.
Death's worst pang
[To Cornelia.
In his enkindled wrath I have proved already,
Then welcome all to come.

Titus.
Hear me ungrateful!
Tho' justice well might bid thy treacherous blood
Stream o'er these sands, and from her steady throne
Unshaken hear thee howling, yet for these
(Unworthy as thou art) who mourn thy folly,
I spare thy life, but from my sight for ever,
From the wide precincts of imperial Rome
I banish thee. Approach no more this city,
Nor me thy injured master, else thy life
With treble vengeance pays the disobedience.
Sue not in vain, for by Olympian Jove!
[To Cornelia.
This stands immutable.—Publius lead on!

Vitelia, entering attended by Zanthia.
Vitellia.
Stand off, and give me way. This is no time,
For forms and maiden coldness. View me Rome,
Behold the bridal of your destin'd empress
New pomp, new triumphs wait your new Augusta
No Hymen now shall wave his sprightly torch,
Nor choral virgins strew my paths with flowers
But the fell sisters wind the thin spun thread,
And death and horror deck my funeral couch.

Titus.
Whence is that voice, that makes my bosom's chords
[Turning.
Vibrate its mournful music? ha, our empress.

Vitellia.
Where is the senate that condemn'd young Sextus?
Where he, who durst accuse him? turn to me
Ye undiscerning judges. Saw ye not
A woman's rage, a woman's jealousy
Kindled this brand of discord.

Titus.
Do I wake?
Sure the red Sirius from his fiery orb
Scattering contagious frenzy thro' the air,
Has smote the general reason. All's infection.

Vitellia.
Oh Sextus, Sextus! groveling at thy feet,
Thus prostrate on the ground let me approach thee,
Pardon thy murdress, whose fleeting soul
Just hovers at her lips, to catch that sound,
And soon in night's eternal shade shall join thee.

Sextus.
Stop this wild frenzy, to the world proclaim not.—

Vitellia.
O glorious frenzy! wou'd this feeble voice,
Were loud as Jove in thunder, that the poles,
The high rais'd heaven might hear me. I proclaim
Your cruel sentence void. Can they condemn
The obedient hand, the senseless instrument,
And let the forming head, the prompting heart,
That instigate the crime pass by unpunish'd?
Such Sextus is, the hand of my device.
By love well feign'd, by Syren flattery,
By tears, by soothing, every wile I wrought him,
To plot his master's death. Is Sextus guilty?
No I, and only I. Revoke his doom.
If Roman blood must gorge your lions maws
Cast forth Vitellia to them.

Titus.
Both I look at,
Till wonder stifles anger.—Thou Vitellia
With rancorous hate to raise the assassin's arm
Against my life!

Vitellia.
Far dearer than my own.
Thy native inborn gentleness deceived me,
And heighten'd kindness to a warmer flame:
Oh 'tis the weakness of o'erweening love,
To think a passion mutual, where 'tis hoped.
I hoped thy hand, thy throne, but twice postponed
I cou'd not bear the affront, and sought thy ruin.
I had no sex, my heart was adamant.

Titus.
Then thus the long sought mystery's reveal'd,
And thou the cause of all. Restore his sword.
The guilt which sprung from love I pardon freely,
And thus embrace thee for that perilous honour
That nobly risk'd thy life, and braved my anger.

[Embracing Sextus.
Vitellia.
Then I have saved him! every bounteous God,
On that forgiving head send blessings down,
May laurel'd victory grace thy arms in war,
And peace in soft security enfold thee.
For me, a draught of deadly aconite
Winds its cold current thro my freezing veins.
Sextus farewell! this serpent drinks my blood.
Cæsar, I die.

Sextus.
What's this? her quivering lips
Grow pale, her gleaming eyes.

Vitellia.
Shoot their last fires,
Ere this I had been dust, but hope to save
Thy forfeit life, like a strong antidote
A little while kept in the strugg'ing soul.

Titus.
Poison'd?

Zanthia.
Too sure, and by her own rash hand.

Vitellia.
A father's gift, more dear than life he gave me.

Titus.
Unhappy fair one!

Vitellia.
Oh, let none lament me.
I was not form'd for happiness on earth.
Downy it rests on the soft textur'd mind,
Repelled from throbbing sensibility.
Passions too strong, a pride implacable,
Had kept me restless, even with all I wish'd.
One glance from thee to any other woman
(Had I once call'd thee mine) had fired my brain
To some mad act, to end like this, in ruin.
Light swims before me—Titus!—Oh farewell.

[Dies.
Titus.
Sextus, delusion's victim! this way turn!
My heart once more is open to receive thee.
Let friendship's gentler, steadier flame dispel
The sad remembrance of that fatal passion.

Sextus.
May the black hour when first my heart conceived it
Be blotted from the Roman calendar.
Or if it circles with the round of time,
Disasters mark it. All things thought or done
In that ill season, like my luckless love,
Find shame their issue, till the dire increase
Of multiplied distractions, end like this
In blindfold rage, and desperate self destruction.

[Stabs himself.
Cornelia.
Horror on horror! Annius! Publius, all!
Arrest his furious arm. He bleeds, he dies.

Titus.
All but this blow, I cou'd have pardon'd Sextus.
This deed was all thy own, it proudly spurns
The life my friendship gave, my heart rejoiced in.

Sextus.
My prince, my friend! my father! benefactor!
Most dear by every name, tho' wrong'd in all.
Ask thy great heart, cou'd I survive this shame?
Has not this gazing city seen me shackled,
Heard me pronounced a traitor, doom'd to die,
And worse than death, have not my deeds deserv'd it?
There was no way but this. I can no more.
Oh wou'd the darkness that invites my eyes
Might hide my name for ever. Oh.

[dies.
Annius.
He's gone!

[wringing his hands.
Titus.
Annius! I owe more tears to that pale corpse
Than Rome shall see me shed. Break off the games.
Let every sad and honourable rite
Hallow their urns. Farewell ill fated pair!
My sorrow shall embalm your memory,
And with your ashes, be your frailties buried.

[Curtain falls.