 | Fatal Constancy |  |
ACT V.
The Area before the Palace.The Hero,
and Soldiers.
I thank ye, friends, I thank ye, fellow soldiers,
You gave me liberty, you gave me life.
Yet what are those? alas, ye cannot give
My Lindamira to my longing arms.
O I have search'd in vain the palace round
Explor'd each room, and trac'd my steps again,
Like good Æneas thro' the streets of Troy
When lost Creusa, &c.—
Ha! by heaven! she comes,
'Tis she, 'tis she, and we shall still be blest.
We shall, we shall.—But why that heaving breast?
Why floats that hair dishevell'd to the wind?
Why burst the tears in torrents from her eyes?
Speak, Lindamira, speak!—
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He could not dare it. What, this dreadful night,
When the dire thunder rattled o'er his head.
Marry thee! bed thee! force thee to be his!
Defile that heaven of charms!—What means thy rage?
Thou shalt not die; O wrest the dagger from her.
Thou still art mine, still still to me art pure
As the soft fleecy snow on Alpine hills
Ere the warm breath of Spring pollutes its whiteness.
—O gods, she dies! And dost thou bear me, Earth?
Thus, thus, I follow my adventurous love,
And we shall rest together.
Ha! the king!
But let him come; I am beyond his reach,
He cannot curse me more. See, tyrant, see,
And triumph in the mischiefs thou hast caus'd.
—By heaven he weeps! O, if humanity
Can touch thy flinty heart, hear my last prayer;
Be kind and lay me in the same cold grave
Thus with my love; one winding sheet shall hold
Our wretched reliques, and one marble tomb
Tell our sad story to the weeping world.
—One kiss—'tis very dark—good night—heaven—Oh!
[Dies.
| Fatal Constancy | |