University of Virginia Library

SCENE XIII.

Segestes, Veleda.
Segestes.
Alas! my daughter, can you leave me thus?

Veleda.
And will you linger in this hostile camp?

Segestes.
The duty that a daughter owes her parent—

Veleda.
Our country is our parent: 'tis to her
Our love, our duty, all our faculties,
Our wealth, our pow'r, our very lives are due.
She is the common mother of us all.
To you she calls; to you she lifts her hands;
She tears her hair; implores you not to plunge
A Roman Javelin in her matron breast.

Enter an Officer
Officer.
A chosen band is ready to conduct you
To the Visurgi's banks.

Veleda.
Alas! my father,
Here must I leave you?

Segestes.
Go, farewell, my child.

Veleda.
Yet, ere we part, should the embattled armies
Meet in fierce conflict, let my warning voice
Withhold you from the field; whether you fall,
Or conquer, friends in a fierce civil war
Die by the hands of friends; remember still,
'Tis kindred blood that stains the crimson plain.

Segestes.
Farewell, my child.

[Exit.
Veleda.
[Looking after him.
Farewell; perhaps for ever.
May all the Gods of Germany direct him.

[Exit.