University of Virginia Library

SCENE IV.

Arminius, Veleda,
Arminius.
Approach Veleda; in this awful moment,
Big with the fate of Germany, your presence
Brings joy and comfort. Sure some pow'r above
Watch'd over all your ways; some guardian god
From his religious grove sail'd through the air
To shelter innocence, and give you back
To a fond husband's arms.

Veleda.
And yet forgive me,
Though with your words you charm my list'ning ear,
And soothe each ravish'd sense to dear delight,
Forgive Veleda, if alarming fears
Come like the raven o'er some wretches' cottage,
Foreboding ill; this sad, this aching breast,
Ev'n in your presence, mingles grief with rapture.

Arminius.
Where now, Veleda, where thy wonted firmness?
Is this a time for weak dejected passions?
This night, you know, we storm the Roman camp,
And bury all in ruin.

Veleda.
In that rage
Of unrelenting slaughter, my poor father—
Ye gods, if possible, forgive his crimes!
My father there may undistinguish'd fall,
And add his body to the purple heap.

Arminius.
Waste not a thought on him: degen'rate man!
He has long since renounc'd the tender ties
That bind in union, parents, sons, and friends.
All moral rectitude, all virtue lost,
What hope remains? In a corrupted heart
Crimes grow on crimes; the mind debas'd engenders
Pride, faction, murder, stratagems, and treason.
Such is Segestes.

Veleda.
He's my father still.

Arminius.
He is a slave, a Roman slave; a vile
Deserter, dead to honour, and the love
He ow'd his country, that supreme of laws,
Nature's great edict in the human heart.

Veleda.
Yet for a father tears will foroe their way.

Arminius.
Restrain your tears: your sorrow is ill-tim'd.
Say, have you seen my squadrons? are they rang'd
In order for their march?

Veleda.
Drawn up in ranks
They wait the signal. Fires, as you directed,
Blaze through the camp, and as they dart around
Their sudden light'ning on the burnish'd arms,
I saw the soldiers' looks: Each ardent eye
Flashes with martial fire. In silence fix'd
Each warriour medidates his deeds of valour,
His brave exploits; in fancy, ere he starts,
His javelin quivers in a Roman's heart.

Arminius.
Brave warlike men! I go this moment
To let them know the order of their march.
But see where Inguiomer—

Veleda.
Our tunefull bards,
And all our German wives, resolv'd to urge
The grand assault, and animate the fray,
Are now assembled. I must hence with speed
To join the matrons, and their virgin train.

[Exit.