University of Virginia Library

SCENE IV.

To them Inguiomer.
Arminius.
What tidings, Inguiomer?

Inguiomer.
I've seen the posts,
The camp, the works, and numbers of the foe.
Where the Visurgis pours a shallower stream,
Join'd by a chosen band I forded over,
And watch'd the motions of Cæcina's army.
On a long narrow neck of solid ground,
With sens and marshes round him, close pent up,
Upon an isthmus in the wat'ry waste,
Their legions are inclos'd. I saw their soldiers
All busy at the works: entrenchments, ramparts,
And mounds of turf thrown up with sudden haste
Are now their only hope.

Arminius.
Cæcina there
Is insulated; there imprison'd close
By fens and marshes. By my special order
A chosen band already stand prepar'd
To issue forth, and gain by diff'rent roads
The summit of yon hills; there to unsluice
All the whole store of long collected waters,
And deluge all the vale.

Inguiomer.
The Romans then
May look aghast, and shudder at their fate.

Arminius.
The sun declining slopes his western wheels,
And deep'ning into gloom the lazy clouds
Promise a night to veil the face of things,
The troops design'd to circle round the hills,
And lie in ambush there; are they drawn up,
And ready for their enterprize?

Inguiomer.
They are, all eager for the march: yet ere they start,
They wish to hear your animating voice,
And from yourself receive their final orders.

Arminius.
My gallant friends shall hear me; Inguiomer,
I go with joy to see their warlike spirit.
I leave you now, Veleda: at the dawn,
A glorious scene of havoc and revenge,
A noble spectacle shall glad your eyes.
Trust to my care; you still shall live in freedom.

[Exit.