University of Virginia Library

ACT the FOURTH.

Enter Rhadamistus, and Teribazus.
Teribazus.
Thou ar't a friend indeed, thou gen'rous man!
The best of friends, to save such innocence,
That lovely virgin bloom!—the pious act
Shall to remotest time transmit thy name,
Ennobled by humanity and virtue.

Rhadamistus.
Alas! no praise I merit;—'tis a deed
That loses virtue's name—

Teribazus.
Flamminius, no!
Thou shalt not derogate from worth like thine.
But oh! beware, my friend, and steel thy heart
Against the sweet illapse of gentler passions.
—To love her were such treachery!—by heav'n!
It were a fraud of a more damned hue—
A fraud to sacred friendship!—but my soul
Rejects the mean suspicion—thou ar't just,
And Ariana shall be mine again!—

Rhadamistus.
If when the tumult of the war is pass'd,
You then persist to claim her—

Teribazus.
Then persist!
—When I do not persist,—whene'er my heart
Forgets the fond idea—ha!—take heed—
Your colour dies by fits,—and now again
It flushes o'er your cheek—if beauty's pow'r
Can waken soft desire,—and sure such beauty
May warm the breast of stoic apathy,—
If thou can'st love,—resign the trust at once.
For oh! to lose her, to behold those charms,
That all-perfection yielded to another,
Were the worst agony, the keenest stab
That ever pierc'd a lover to the soul.—
The thought,—the very thought inflames to madness!—

Rhadamistus.
(Aside)
Not till the fever of his mind subsides,
Must I reveal me—the disclosure now
Would to his phrenzy give a whirlwind's wing,
And bury all in ruin—let her then,
Yes, Teribazus, let the blooming maid
Still in this camp, a voluntary captive,
—Since you will have it so—since weak mistrust
Can taint a noble spirit,—let her here
Teach that rare beauty to display its charms,
Its various graces;—bid those radiant eyes
Dart their quick glances to the tyrant's soul,
Inflame his hot desires, and half absolve them.

Teribazus.
Madness and horror!—no!—haste, fly, begone,
And give her hence safe conduct—I can trust
To Roman continence—your Scipio's praise
Shall be the theme of fame's eternal lip!—

Rhadamistus.
Thou too attend her steps;—watch all her ways;
When we have reach'd the Roman sanctuary,
Then shall such wonders to thy list'ning ear,—
The web which fate has wove—beware my friend—
Tigranes comes—what would'st thou Sir?

Enter Tigranes.
Tigranes.
The king
Grants you one parley more—ev'n now this way
He bends his steps—remote from all he means
To hold a private conf'rence—

Rhadamistus.
Rome's ambassador
Attends his pleasure.—

[Exit Tigranes.
Teribazus.
I must hence, Flamminius—
Farewel!—yet e're thou go'st,—I still must crave
Another interview—farewel!—remember,
My love, my life, my all depend on thee.—

[Exit.
Rhadamistus.
Ah! luckless prince!—how lost in error's maze
Blindly he wanders, and love's sweet delusion
Infuses it's enchantment through his heart!
But when remov'd from Pharasmanes' pow'r
He learns my prior claim,—his gen'rous friendship
Will bound with transport at a brother's joys,
And with a warmth of sympathy partake 'em.
But ha!—my father!—grant me strength, ye pow'rs!
To meet the dread encounter.—

Enter Pharasmanes.
Pharasmanes.
Once again
E're you depart, if Pharasmanes deign
To treat, and thus expostulate with Rome,
'Tis to thy pray'rs I grant it.

Rhadamistus.
Rome had rather
Persuade than conquer—her well-ballanc'd justice—

Pharasmanes.
No more of Roman justice—blazon not
Virtues you ne'er have practis'd—with the name,
The specious name of love for human kind
You sanctify th' insatiate rage of conquest,
And where the sword has made a solitude,
That you proclaim a peace.—Ev'n now your views
Stand manifest to sight—To thee 'tis known
That Rhadamistus lives!—

Rhadamistus.
How Sir!—can he—
Does that unhappy prince—

Pharasmanes.
Thou false dissembler!—
Yes in thy heart the fatal secret's lodg'd!—

Rhadamistus.
Sir if your son—if you will search his heart—

Pharasmanes.
From certain fugitives I've learn'd it all—
In yonder camp, conceal'd from vulgar eyes,
To war against his father still he lives!—
Why dost thou droop dejected?—something lurks
Beneath that burning blush—

Rhadamistus.
That burning blush
Glows on my cheek for thee—I know your son,
And know him unsusceptible of guilt.

Pharasmanes.
Then, Roman, mark my words—would'st thou prevent
The carnage fate prepares on yonder plains?—
Go tell Paulinus I will treat of terms
With him, who brings me Rhadamistus' head.

Rhadamistus.
Your own son's head!—

Pharasmanes.
Why dost thou gaze so earnest?
Why those emotions struggling for a vent?

Rhadamistus.
Amazement checks my voice, and lost in wonder
I view the unnatural father, who would bathe
His hands in blood,—in a son's blood—a son
Who pants,—with ardor pants,—on terms of peace
To sheathe the sword, and with a filial hand
To throw a veil over a father's crimes.

Pharasmanes.
By heav'n 'tis false—has he not dar'd to league
With my determin'd foes?—ev'n to the senate,
To ev'ry region, where his voice could pierce,
Has he not fled with the delusive story?
With grief and loud complaints inflam'd the world?
And even now, does not the stripling come
To the Araxes' banks with Rome in arms?

Rhadamistus.
Tho' urg'd by dire constraint, yet heav'n can witness
His strong reluctance.—

Pharasmanes.
Let the rebel know
He never shall ascend Armenia's throne.

Rhadamistus.
And shall destruction with her horrid train
Stalk o'er the land?—

Pharasmanes.
Yes—let destruction loose—
'Tis Pharasmanes' glory—

Rhadamistus.
Can the rage,
And the wild tumult of destructive havoc
Administer delight?—alas!—the day
That deluges the land with human blood,
Is that a day of glory?—
I, Sir, have travers'd o'er the field of death,
Where war had spent its rage—hadst thou beheld
That scene of horror,—where unnumber'd wretches
In mangled heaps lay welt'ring in their gore;
Where the fond father in the gasp of death
Wept for his children,—where the lover sigh'd
For her, whom never more his eyes could view;
Where various misery sent forth its groans;—
Had'st thou beheld that scene,—the touch of nature
Had stirr'd within thee, and the virtuous drop
Of pity gush'd unbidden from thy eye.—

Pharasmanes.
Enervate slave!—here ends all further parley—
Go tell your gen'ral, tell your Roman chiefs,
The father claims his son.—Have we not heard
How your own Brutus to the lictor's sword
Condemn'd his children?—and would Rome dispute
A king's paternal pow'r?—let 'em yield up
The treach'rous boy, or terrible in arms
Shall Pharasmanes overwhelm their legions,
Mow down their cohorts, and their mangled limbs
Give to the vulture's beak.

Rhadamistus.
And yet reflect—

Pharasmanes.
Roman no more.—

Rhadamistus.
Unwilling I withdraw;—
A father's stern resolve the son shall mourn,
And with a pang of nature shall behold
The Roman eagle dart like thunder on thee.

[Exit.
Pharasmanes,
alone.
Away, and leave me slave!—to-morrow's sun
Shall see my great revenge—mean time I give
The gentle hours to love and Ariana.—
What ho! Tigranes!

Enter Tigranes.
Pharasmanes.
Does the stubborn fair
Yield to my ardent vows?

Tigranes.
She mocks your passion,
And gives to Teribazus all her smiles.

Pharasmanes.
By heav'n! ev'n love itself shall be my slave!—
—Yet love like mine requires her soft consent,
And will not riot o'er her plunder'd charms.—
—Quick, bring her father to me—

Tigranes.
By your orders
At hand Megistus waits your sov'reign will.

[Exit.
Pharasmanes.
Bring him before us—wise and prudent age
Will plead my cause, and second my desires.

Enter Megistus.
Megistus.
Dread Sir—a blameless,—a distress'd old man,
Of guilt unconscious—

Pharasmanes.
Whatsoe'er thy guilt
A smile from Ariana expiates all.

Megistus.
Believe me, Sir, I never have offended—
She was my sole delight; my age's comfort;—
For her I felt more than a parent's love—
But 'midst the troubles that distract the land
I lost her—in despair—with yearning heart
I rang'd the country round in fond pursuit—
This is my crime—sure 'tis no crime to love
Such blooming innocence!—

Pharasmanes.
Dispel thy fears—
Thy love for Ariana speaks thy virtue—
That graceful form, that symmetry of shape,
That bloom, those features, those love-darting eyes,
All, all attract, that there each fond admirer
Could ever gaze, enamour'd of her charms.

Megistus.
Alas! whate'er the symmetry of shape,
Whate'er the grace that revels in her feature,
Glows in her bloom, or sparkles in her eye,
They all are transient beauties, soon to fade,
And leave inanimate that decent form.
Inward affliction saps the vital frame,
Incurable affliction!—fix'd in woe
Her eyes for ever motionless and dim
Gaze on the fancied image of her husband.

Pharasmanes.
Her husband!

Megistus.
Yes; a husband sever'd from her
By fatal chance!—him she for ever sees
With fancy's gushing eye, and seeks him still
In fond excursions of delusive thought.
She pines each hour, and ev'n in blooming dies,
As drooping roses,—while the worm unseen
Preys on their fragrant sweets, still beauteous look,
And waste their aromatic lives in air.

Pharasmanes.
The rose transplanted to a warmer sky.
Shall raise its languid head, and all be well.

Megistus.
Her husband still survives, and far remote
He wanders in Armenia's realm—

Pharasmanes.
No more
To call her his!—by all my promis'd joys
His doom is fix'd!—do thou streight seek thy daughter,
My loveliest Ariana—in her ear
Breathe the mild accents of a father's voice,
And reconcile her heart to love and me.

Megistus.
Your pardon, Sir,—it were not fit my voice
Should teach her to betray her holy vows.

Pharasmanes.
When Pharasmanes speaks—

Megistus.
My life is his,—
An when he wills it, 'tis devoted to him—
But, Sir, tho' poor,—my honour still is mine,
'Tis all that heav'n has giv'n me,—and that gift
The gods expect I never should resign.

Pharasmanes.
And do'st thou hesitate?—what, when a crown
Invites thy daughter to imperial splendor?

Megistus.
Oh! not for me such splendor!—I have liv'd
My humble days in virtuous poverty.
To tend my flock, to watch each rising flow'r,
Each herb, each plant that drinks the morning dew,
And lift my praise to the just gods on high!—
These were my habits, these my only cares;—
—These hands suffic'd to answer my desires,
And having naught,—yet naught was wanting to me.

Pharasmanes.
Away, thou slave!—I would not quite despise thee—
Or yield your daughter, or my swiftest vengeance
Falls on thy hoary head—a monarch's love
Shall seize her trembling to his eager arms,
Then spurn her back a prey to wan despair,
Till bitter anguish blast each wither'd charm,
And rave in vain for love and empire scorn'd!—

[Exit.
Megistus,
alone.
Fell monster go!—inexorable tyrant!—
Perhaps I should have sooth'd his lion rage
With feign'd compliance—ha!—why sudden thus—

Enter Zenobia.
Zenobia.
Th' important hour, Megistus, now approaches—
Lo! the last blushes of departing day
But feebly streak yon dim horizon's verge.
My Rhadamistus comes to guide my steps—
Thro' devious paths seek thou Zopiron's tent—
Thus we shall lull suspicion—

Megistus.
I obey;—
May guardian angels spread their wings around thee!—

[Exit.
Zenobia,
alone:
Yes, the bless'd gods, who thro' the maze of fate
Have led us once again to meet in life,
Will prove the friends of virtue to the last.
—Ha!—Teribazus comes!—

Zenobia, Teribazus.
Teribazus.
And is it giv'n
Once more to see thee here?—do'st thou avoid me?
Do'st thou despise me in this tender moment
When my soul bleeds with anguish at the thought
Of parting with thee?—Ariana!—

Zenobia.
Oh!—
Unhappy prince!—oh! fly me; shun me; death
And ruin follow—one short moment's stay
Will rouze your father's rage—

Teribazus.
My father's rage
Already has undone me—ah! in tears!—
—And do they fall for me?—does that soft sigh
Heave for the lost, afflicted Teribazus?—

Zenobia.
Yes the tear falls, and the sigh heaves for thee—
Thy elegance of mind—the various graces
That bloom around thee, and adorn the hero,—
Nay, other ties there are which strongly plead,
And bid me tremble for thee.—
And yet,—sad recompense for all thy friendship,
To warn thee hence,—to bid the shun my ways,
Is all the gratitude I now can offer.—

Teribazus.
Thus must we part?—

Zenobia.
A rival is at hand,—
Here in the camp,—an unexpected rival,—
Sent by the gods,—the idol of my soul!

Teribazus.
What say'st thou, Ariana?—has another
Usurp'd thy heart?—unkind, relentless maid!—
Since first thy beauty dawn'd upon my sight,
How have I lov'd,—repented,—yet lov'd on!—
Ev'n against you,—against myself I struggled—
Present I fled you—absent I ador'd—
I fled for refuge to the forest's gloom,—
But in the forest's gloom thy image met me!—
The shades of night, the lustre of the day,
All, all retrac'd my Ariana's form.—
Thy form pursued me in the battle's rage,
'Midst shouts, and all the clangor of the war.
—It stole me from myself!—my lonely tent
Re-ecchoes with my groans, and in the ranks
The wond'ring soldier hears my voice no more.

Zenobia.
Yet leave me Teribazus—gen'rous youth!
Remembrance oft shall dwell upon thy praise,
But for my love 'tis all another's claim.

Teribazus.
Another's claim!—why wilt thou torture thus
A fond despairing wretch?—oh! not for me
Those sorrows fall—they are another's tears;—
—Another claims them from me—name this rival
That my swift fury—tell me has Flamminius,
Has the base Roman broke his promis'd faith?
Will not the barb'rous man afford you shelter?

Zenobia.
Why wilt thou force me speak?—the fate of all,
Thine Teribazus,—mine,—the fate of one,
Whom, were he known,—thy heart holds ever dear,
Is now concern'd—Flamminius claims my love—
Long since he won my heart—

Teribazus.
Vindictive gods!
Flamminius claims thy love!—not Cæsar's self
Shall dare to wrest thee from me—Ariana!—
Thus on my knees,—would I could perish here—
That ev'n in death I still might gaze upon thee,
Till the last pang divide thee from my heart.

Enter Rhadamistus.
Rhadamistus.
It was the voice of anguish and despair!
Why thus illustrious prince—

Teribazus.
(Starting up)
Thou treach'rous Roman!—
Who com'st to violate each sacred tie,
The laws of honour, and the laws of love!
Who com'st beneath the mask of public faith
To do a robber's work!—

Rhadamistus.
When to your camp
I bring a heart that longs to serve you, prince,
Why this intemp'rate rage?—

Teribazus.
To do the work
Of perfidy and fraud!—but first by rapine,
By violated maids your city grew;—
And do you come to emulate your sires?
Unwilling to degenerate in vice.—

Rhadamistus.
Mistaken youth!—oh! if you did but know me!
If you but knew the justice Rome intends—

Teribazus.
Justice and Rome!—and dost thou dare to join
Two names so opposite?—have we not heard
Of frugal consuls, and of stoic chiefs,
Who soon forgetting here their sabine farms,
Made war a trade, and then return'd to Rome
Rich with the plunder of the rifled east?
Again some new Lucullus leads them on,
Fir'd with the love of rapine.—

Rhadamistus.
Fir'd with zeal
To break a nation's chains—would'st thou but hear me—
—It is a friend implores—

Zenobia.
A gen'rous friend!—
Then listen to him—let these streaming eyes,
These earnest pray'rs—this supplicating form—

Teribazus.
Leagu'd with my foe behold her!—mighty gods!—
Have I deserv'd it of her?—

Rhadamistus.
Yet be calm—
Yet listen to me—Oh! I could unfold—
Yet stay—I'll prove myself a brother to thee.

Teribazus.
Roman expect me in the battle's front—
Instant depart,—but leave thy prey behind;—
Dare not,—I charge thee dare not, tempt her hence—
To-morrow's sun shall see me cloath'd in terror
Pursue thy steps thro' all the ranks of war,
Till my spear fix thee quiv'ring to the ground.

[Exit.
Rhadamistus, Zenobia.
Zenobia.
Yet, Rhadamistus, call him—let him know—

Rhadamistus.
Thou lovely trembler!—banish ev'ry fear—
The time now bids us hence—and lo! the moon
Streams her mild radiance on the rustling grove.—
—I will conduct thee—ha! Zopiron—

Enter Zopiron.
Rhadamistus.
Come
Thou best of men, let me once more embrace thee.—

Zopiron.
Oh! speed thee hence—each moment's big with death—

Rhadamistus.
Farewel! farewel! when I've escap'd your camp
Seek thou my brother; soothe his troubled spirit,
Explain these wonders;—tell him Rhadamistus
Esteems and loves, and honours all his virtues.—
Farewel Zopiron!—in Armenia's court
Thy king shall thank thy goodness—my Zenobia,
Oh! let me guide thee from this place of danger
To life, to love, to liberty and joy.

[Exit with Zenobia.
Zopiron.
Lo! the heav'ns smile with gentlest aspect on them!—
This calm serene that ev'ry planet sheds
To light their steps,—this glad ætherial mildness
Is sure the token of incircling gods
That hover anxious o'er the solemn scene!—

Enter Pharasmanes, Tigranes following.
Pharasmanes.
Let Teribazus streight attend our presence—

Tigranes.
But now with glaring eye and fierce demeanour
He enter'd yonder tent—

Pharasmanes.
Bid him approach us.—
Then do thou round the midnight watch, and see
That Rome's ambassador has left my camp.
[Exit Tigranes.
This war, Zopiron, shall be soon extinguish'd
In Roman blood, and yield Armenia to me.

Zopiron.
Armenia, Sir, still obstinately mourns
Lost Mithridates, father of his people.
Her hardy sons with one consenting voice
Demand a king from Rome;—all leagu'd and sworn
Never to crouch beneath the conqu'ror's yoke.

Pharasmanes.
But when the Roman eagle bites the ground,
They'll shrink aghast, and own my sov'reign sway.

Enter Teribazus.
Pharasmanes.
Thou base confed'rate with thy father's foes!

Teribazus.
The accusation, Sir,—if proof support it,
Gives you my forfeit life, and I resign it,
Freely resign—if destitute of proof,
It is a stab to honour,—and the charge
Should not be lightly urg'd.—

Pharasmanes.
This arrogance
That dictates to a father—

Teribazus.
'Tis the spirit
Of injur'd innocence—if Pharasmanes
Suspect my truth,—send me where danger calls;—
Bid me this moment carry death and slaughter
To rage in yonder camp;—yes, then your son
Shall mark his hatred of the Roman name.

Pharasmanes.
Hast thou not dar'd to thwart my tend'rest passion,
And to seduce my Ariana's love?

Teribazus.
And if this youthful heart, too prone to melt
At beauty's ray, receiv'd the gentle flame,
'Tis past—the charm is o'er—no longer now
I walk a captive in her haughty triumph!—
In vain she now may call forth all her graces,
Instruct her eyes to roll with bidden fires,
And practice all the wonders of her face.
Ambition calls, and lights a nobler flame.

Enter Tigranes.
Tigranes.
Th' ambassador of Rome, and that old traitor
The false Megistus—

Pharasmanes.
Speak; unfold thy purpose.—

Tigranes.
Together left the camp, and in their train
Bear Ariana with them—

Teribazus.
Ariana!—
Have the slaves dar'd—detested treachery!
Now, now, my father, now approve my zeal.

Pharasmanes.
Haste, fly, pursue her; bring the trait'ress back!—

Teribazus.
My rapid vengeance shall o'ertake their flight;
And bring the Roman plund'rer bound in chains.

[Exit.
Pharasmanes.
Do thou, Tigranes, with a chosen band
Circle yon hills, and intercept their march.
And thou, Zopiron, send my swiftest horse
To range the wood, and sweep along the vale.

[Exit Tigranes.
Zopiron.
Ye guardian deities, now lend your aid.

[Exit.
Pharasmanes,
alone.
Has the perfidious,—yet ador'd deceiver,
Thus has she left me?—from a monarch's smile
Fled with a lawless ravager from Rome?—
Oh! give me vengeance; give Flamminius to me,
That he may die in agony unheard of.—
The trait'ress then,—spite of each winning art,—
Spite of her guilt—she triumphs in my heart.