University of Virginia Library

SCENE III.

As Palmyra retires slowly, and looks back, Zaphna, enters.
Zaph.
Upon the rack, stretch'd to the utmost point,
That time allots mortality!—No respite—
A long, whole life of anguish!—'tis too much—
Thought will not bear it; and the fact commands
Dismission from above—Prophet accurs'd!—
But well the conscious fiend avoids this arm,
Train'd by himself to murder—Wretched Zaphna,
From what a height, to what a depth of guilt,
Hath the swift current of one headlong hour
Hurried thee past repeal—from parricide,
To incest!—'twas the price—my sister's bed,
Bought with my father's blood!—which unenjoy'd,
I lose my purchase, and damnation comes
Shorn of its profits—Soft—forget her!—that—
To plunge at once the deep Lethean gulph,
A thousand fathom from the sense of things—
A mercy, next to bliss!—Ha, there again!—
Heaven would not, to the very teeth of guilt,
Impel temptation thus;
But that the fates, as though already past,
Have laid the deed to come—Palmyra!

[While Palmyra advances slowly, and with diffidence, Zaphna speaks.
Pal.
My Zaphna!

Zaph.
O, Palmyra!—

Pal.
What would my love?

Zaph.
Didst thou hear aught?

Pal.
Of what?

Zaph.
Of something strange—

Pal.
No.

Zaph.
Of yawning earthquakes, and of deserts waste;
Of tempest-beaten gulphs, whose opening womb
Hath swallow'd all, nor left one mark behind
For fortune's future stroke.

Pal.
These are sad words—
Pity for whom they point at!

Zaph.
Wheresoe'er,
Heaven shield thy peace! for from this spot, Palmyra,
We part, to meet no more—

Pal.
Save me, ye powers!—
Ah, Zaphna, wild are all thy words—thy looks,
Unform'd as clouds—and, as the rushing winds,
Unknowing whence they rise, and why they sweep
To desolation!

Zaph.
No, Palmyra!—fix'd
As earth's foundations, are the words I utter,
And sure as misery and death to mortals!

Pal.
Yet sure as misery attends on man,
We must not part, my Zaphna!—where thou goest,
Thither will I; the ground that bears thy couch,
Shall be a watchful pillow for my head;
Thy joys shall be my joys, thy griefs my torture:
In death conjoin'd with what of thee is mortal,
There will I make my grave; and with thy spirit,
Whate'er the lot, demand my Heaven hereafter.

Zaph.
Why, of what kin art thou to me?

Pal.
Is love,
That sooths the warring elements, and tunes
The world to order, of no kindred then?
And am I not beloved?

Zaph.
Too well, too well!—

Pal.
Ah, tell me not. Man knows not how to love—
And but the blush of maidenhood forbids
The fond unfolding, I could tell thee, Zaphna—
That where thy sex adventures but a step,
We go a league in love, and I the farthest.

Zaph.
What wouldst thou do?—ha! wouldst thou dare—

Pal.
Yes—

Zaph.
Fearlessly?

Pal.
Without a limitation.

Zaph.
Fit those limbs for travel?

Pal.
Yes—with thee.

Zaph.
What—to the brink?

Pal.
And onward—

Zaph.
O ye powers?
Think—to forego dominion, pomp, all quality
And softness of thy sex!

Pal.
Slight obstacles—

Zaph.
O'er-journey'd then, or toil'd with such rude tasks
As penury enjoins—to lay thee down
On the cold healthless ground; the welkin wide
And dark, thy drizzly curtain—

Pal.
Hard, indeed—
If thou the sharer, Zaphna!

Zaph.
Hunger-clinch'd,
Or scant of such rude viands as do strive
With appetite—

Pal.
Yet, cherish'd at thy side,
This were a festival.

Zaph.
Resolved! determin'd!—
Thy hand then—come, at once—why dost thou linger?
E're this we should be wing'd upon the way,
To leave reflection and remorse far off,
The laggards of our journey.

Pal.
But Zaphna—

Zaph.
O trifler—fare thee well—

Pal.
I will—Come on—
Who lingers now? Away—but thou art so rash,
So full of starts, that sally up to frenzy—
'Tis this that frights me.

Zaph.
Take me to thee then,
And mould me as thou wilt.

Pal.
Yes—witness Heaven!
In lieu of all, I take thee—hence, and ever,
[Embrace.
My lord, my husband, father, brother!

Zaph.
Ha!
Off, hold thee off—Perdition on the name!

Pal.
The matter—what—why Zaphna—on my knee,
Wherein have I offended?

Zaph.
Who inform'd thee?

Pal.
Of what, my life?

Zaph.
Thy life!—O angel innocence—
Thy death, thy deep damnation!—Nay, hold off,
Nor touch pollution—Villain that I am,
Thy honour's grave, the gulph that would devour
The worth of thine eternal soul—Thy brother?—
I am—indeed—thy brother!—

Pal.
Shield me, Heaven!

Zaph.
Saidst thou not, father too?—Alas, Palmyra!
Thou hast no father—

[Weeps.
Pal.
What's befallen?

Zaph.
Just butcher'd—
Even by these hangman's hands.

Pal.
My father?—

Zaph.
Murder'd—

Pal.
It is too much—O Zaphna, cruel Zaphna!—

Zaph.
The good, the kind old man—the sacred source,
That lent us both a being—stopt for ever!—
The generous, great Sopheian!

Pal.
Ah, my Zaphna,
Thy health is shaken much, o'ersway'd by crosses—
I too have caught the malady—my brain
Begins to turn.

Zaph.
Omnipotent! whose pardon over guilt
Reaches a length immense, be near me now—
O save me from that presence!—Down, Palmyra,
Low as the earth, before the sacred shade
[Kneel.
Of thy great sire—'Tis just—I feel his vengeance,
Forerunning his approach—it bears upon me—
It whelms, it crushes me!—