University of Virginia Library

ACT V.

SCENE I.

THE GARDENS OF SEMIRAMIS.
Statira discovered asleep.
Stat.
Bless me, ye pow'rs above, and guard my virtue!
Where are you fled, dear shades? Where are you fled?
'Twas but a dream; and yet I saw and heard
My royal parents, who, while pious care
Sat on their faded cheeks, pronounc'd with tears,
Tears such as angels weep, this hour my last.
But hence with fear—my Alexander comes,
And fear and danger ever fled from him.
My Alexander!—Wou'd that he were here!
For, Oh, I tremble, and a thousand terrors
Rush in upon me, and alarm my heart.
Flourish of Trumpets.
But hark, 'tis he, and all my fears are fled;
My life, my joy, my Alexander comes.

Rox.
[Within]
Make fast the gate with all its massy bars;
At length we've conquer'd this stupendous height,
And reach'd the grove.

Stat.
Ye guardian gods, defend me!
Roxana's voice! Then all the vision's true,
And die I must.

Enter Roxana.
Roxa.
Secure the brazen gate.
Where is my rival? 'tis Roxana calls.

Stat.
And what is she, who, with such tow'ring pride,
Wou'd awe a princess that is born above her?

Roxa.
Behold this dagger!—'Tis thy fate, Statira!
Behold, and meet it as becomes a queen.
Fain wou'd I find thee worthy of my vengeance;
Here, take my weapon then; and, if thou dar'st—

Stat.
How little know'st thou what Statira dares!
Yes, cruel woman! yes, I dare meet death
With a resolve, at which thy coward heart
Wou'd shrink; for terror haunts the guilty mind;
While conscious innocence, that knows no fear,
Can smiling pass, and scorn thy idle threats.

Roxa.
Return, fair insolent! return, I say.
Dar'st thou, presumptuous, to invade my rights?
Restore him quickly to my longing arms,
And with him give me back his broken vows,
For, perjur'd as he is, he still is mine,
Or I will rend him from thy bleeding heart.

Stat.
Alas, Roxana, 'tis not in my power;
I cannot if I would—And, oh, ye gods,
What were the world to Alexander's loss!

Roxa.
Oh, sorceress, to thy accursed charms
I owe the frenzy that distracts my soul;
To them I owe my Alexander's loss.
Too late thou tremblest at my just revenge,
My wrongs cry out, and vengeance will have way.

[Holds up the dagger.
Stat.
Hold, hold, thy threat'ning hand, advanc'd in air.
I read my sentence written in thy eyes:
Yet, Oh, Roxana, on thy black revenge
One kindly ray of female pity beam,
And give me death in Alexander's presence.

Roxa.
Not for the world's wide empire should'st thou see him.
Fool! but for him thou might'st unheeded live;
For his sake only art thou doom'd to die.
The sole remaining joy that glads my soul,
Is to deprive thee of the heart I've lost.

[Flourish of Trumpets.
Enter a Slave.
Slave.
Madam, the king and all his guards are come;
With frantic rage they thunder at the gate,
And must ere this have gain'd admittance.
[Exit Slave.

Roxa.
Ha!
Too long I've trifled; let me then redeem
The time mispent, and make great vengeance sure.

Stat.
Is Alexander, Oh, ye gods, so nigh,
And can he not preserve me from her fury?

Roxa.
Nor he, nor Heav'n, shall shield thee from my justice.
Die, sorc'ress, die, and all my wrongs die with thee.

[Stabs her
Alex.
[Without.]
[Flourish of Trumpets.
Enter Alexander, Lysimachus, Cassander, Perdiccas, Thessalus, Officers, and Guards.

Stat.
Alas!
My only love, my best and dearest blessing,
Wou'd I had died before you enter'd here;
For thus delighted, while I gaze upon thee,
Death grows more horrid, and I'm loth to leave thee.

Alex.
Thou shal't not leave me—Cruel, cruel stars!
Oh, where's the monster, where's the horrid fiend,
That struck at innocence, and murdered thee?

Roxa.
Behold the wretch, who, desperate of thy love,
In jealous madness gave the fatal blow.

Alex.
To dungeons, tortures, drag her from my sight.

Stat.
My soul is on the wing. Oh, come, my lord,
Haste to my arms, and take a last farewel.
Thus let me die. Oh! Oh!

Alex.
Look up my love.—
Oh, Heav'n! and will you, will you take her from me!

Stat.
Farewel, my most lov'd lord; Ah me, farewel.
Yet, ere I die, grant this request.

Alex.
Oh, speak,
That I may execute before I follow thee.

Stat.
Leave not the world, till Heav'n demands you.
Spare
Roxana's life.—'Twas love of you that caused
The death she gave me. And, Oh, sometimes think,
Amidst your revels, think on your poor queen;
And, ere the chearful bowl salute your lips,
Inrich it with a tear, and I am happy.

[Dies.
Alex.
Yet, ere thou tak'st thy flight—She's gone, she's gone!
All, all is hush'd; no music now is heard;
The roses wither; and the fragrant breath,
That wak'd their sweets, shall never wake 'em more.

Roxa.
Weep not, my lord! no sorrow can recal her.
Oh, turn your eyes, and, in Roxana's arms,
You'll find fond love and everlasting truth.

Alex.
Hence, from my sight, and thank my dear Statira,
That yet thou art alive.

Roxa.
Oh, take me to your arms.
In spight of all your cruelty, I love you:
Yes, thus I'll fasten on your sacred robe;
Thus, on my knees, for ever cling around you,
Till you forgive me, or till death divide us.

Alex.
Hence, fury, hence: there's not a glance of thine,
But, like a basilisk, comes wing'd with death.

Roxa.
Oh, speak not thus, to one who kneels for mercy.
Think, for whose sake it was I madly plung'd
Into a crime abhorrent to my nature.

Alex.
Off, murd'ress, off! for ever shun my sight!
My eyes detest thee, for thy soul is ruin.

Roxa.
Barbarian! yes, I will for ever shun thee.
Repeated injuries have steel'd my heart,
And I cou'd curse myself for being kind.
If there is any majesty above,
That has revenge in store for perjur'd love,
Send, Heav'n, the swiftest ruin on his head!
Strike the destroyer! lay the victor dead!
Kill the triumpher, and avenge my wrong!
In height of pomp, while he is warm and young,
Bolted with thunder, let him rush along!
But what are curses? Curses will not kill,
Nor ease the tortures I am doom'd to feel.
[Exit Roxana.

Alex.
Oh, my fair star. I shall be shortly with thee!
What means this deadly dew upon my forehead?
My heart too heaves!—

Cass.
The poison works!

Enter Eumenes.
Eume.
Pardon, dread Sir, a fatal messenger.
The royal Sysigambis is no more.
Struck with the horror of Statira's fate,
She soon expir'd, and, with her latest breath,
Left Parisatis to Lysimachus.
But what, I fear, most deeply will affect you,
Your lov'd Hephestion's—

Alex.
Dead! then he is bless'd!
But here, here lies my fate. Hephestion! Clytus!
My victories all for ever folded up
In this dear body. Here my banner's lost,
My standard's triumphs gone.—Oh, when, Oh, when,
Shall I be mad indeed!
Go, for the monument of this lov'd creature,
Root up these bowers, and pave 'em all with gold.
Draw dry the Ganges, make the Indies poor,
To deck her tomb: no shrine nor altar spare,
But strip the pomp from gods to place it there.

[Flourish of Trumpets.
[Exeunt all but Cassander and Thessalus.
Cass.
He's gone—but whither?—follow, Thessalus,
Attend his steps, and let me know what passes.

[Exeunt Thessalus and Cassander.

SCENE II.

AN ANTICHAMBER IN THE PALACE.
Enter Cassander.
Cass.
Vengeance, lie still, thy cravings shall be sated.
Death roams at large, the furies are unchain'd,
And murder plays her mighty master-piece.
Enter Polyperchon.
Saw you the King? He parted hence this moment.

Poly.
Yes; with disorder'd wildness in his looks,
He rush'd along, till, with a casual glance,
He saw me where I stood: then stopping short,
Draw near, he cry'd—and grasp'd my hand in his,
Where more than fevers rag'd in ev'ry vein.
Oh, Polyperchon! I have lost my queen!
Statira's dead!—and, as he spoke, the tears
Gush'd from his eyes—I more than felt his pains.

Enter Thessalus.
Thess.
Hence, hence, away!

Cass.
Where is he, Thessalus?

Thess.
I left him circled by a crowd of princes.
The poison tears him with that height of horror,
Ev'n I cou'd pity him—he call'd the chiefs;
Embrac'd 'em round—then, starting from amidst 'em,
Cried out, I come—'twas Ammon's voice; I know it—
Father, I come; but, let me, ere I go,
Dispatch the business of a kneeling world.

Poly.
No more; I hear him—we must meet anon.

Cass.
In Saturn's field—there give a loose to rapture,
Enjoy the tempest we ourselves have rais'd,
And triumph in the wreck which crowns our vengeance.

[Exeunt.

SCENE III.

THE PALACE.
Alexander, Lysimachus, Eumenes, Perdiccas, Officers, Guards, and Attendants, discovered.
Alex.
Search there; nay, probe me; search my wounded reins,—
Pull, draw it out.

Lysi.
We have search'd, but find no hurt.

Alex.
Oh, I am shot; a forked burning arrow
Sticks cross my shoulders; the sad venom flies,
Like light'ning, thro' my flesh, my blood, my marrow.

Lysi.
How fierce his fever!

Alex.
Ha! what a change of torments I endure!
A bolt of ice runs hissing through my bowels;
'Tis, sure, the arm of death. Give me a chair;
Cover me, for I freeze, and my teeth chatter,
And my knees knock together.

Eume.
Have mercy, Heav'n!

Alex.
Who talks of Heav'n?—
I burn, I burn again;—
The war grows wond'rous hot;—hey for the Tygris!
Bear me, Bucephalus, amongst the billows.
Oh, 'tis a noble beast; I wou'd not change him,
For the best horse the sun has in his stable;
For they are hot, their mangers full of coals,
Their manes are flakes of lightning, curls of fire,
And their red tails like meteors whisk about.

Lysi.
Help all; Eumenes, help.

Alex.
Ha, ha, ha, I shall die with laughter.
Parmenio, Clytus, do you see yon fellow,
That ragged soldier, that poor tatter'd Greek?
See, how he puts to flight the gaudy Persians,
With nothing but a rusty helmet on, through which
The grisly bristles of his pushing beard
Drive 'em like pikes—ha! ha! ha!

Perd.
How wild he talks!

Lysi.
Yet warring in his wildness.

Alex.
Sound, sound! keep your ranks close; ay, now they come.
Oh, the brave din, the noble clank of arms!—
Charge, charge apace; and let the phalanx move;
Darius comes—ay, 'tis Darius;
I see, I know him by the sparkling plumes,
And his gold chariot drawn by ten white horses:
But, like a tempest, thus I pour upon him—
He bleeds; with that last blow I brought him down;
He tumbles, take him, snatch the imperial crown.
They fly, they fly; follow, follow—Victoria,
Victoria, Victoria—

Perd.
Let's bear him softly to his bed.

Alex.
Hold; the least motion gives me sudden death;
My vital spirits are quite parch'd, burnt up,
And all my smoaky entrails turn'd to ashes.

Lysi.
When you, the brightest star that ever shone,
Shall set, it must be night with us for ever.

Alex.
Let me embrace you all, before I die.—
Weep not, my dear companions; the good gods
Shall send ye in my stead a nobler prince;
One that shall lead ye forth with matchless conduct.

Lysi.
Break not our hearts with such unkind expressions.

Perd.
We will not part with you, nor change for Mars.

Alex.
Perdiccas, take this ring,
And see me laid in the temple of Jupiter Ammon.

Lysi.
To whom does your dread majesty bequeath
The empire of the world?

Alex.
To him that is most worthy.

Perd.
When will you, sacred Sir, that we should give
To your great memory those divine honours
Which such exalted virtue does deserve?

Alex.
When you are all most happy, and in peace.
Your hands—Oh, father, if I have discharg'd
The duty of a man to empire born;
If, by unweary'd toil, I have deserv'd
The vast renown of thy adopted son,
Accept this soul which thou did'st first inspire,
And which this sigh thus gives thee back again.

[Dies.
Lysi.
There fell the pride and glory of the war.
If there be treason let us find it out;
Lysimachus stands forth to lead you on,
And swears, by these most honour'd dear remains,
He will not taste those joys which beauty brings,
Until he has reveng'd the best of kings.