 | Themistocles |  |
SCENE XV.
Roxana, Sebastes.Seb.
[aside.]
Take courage, heart, and hope, since jealousy
Has touch'd Roxana's breast.
Rox.
What means, Sebastes,
The impatience shewn by Xerxes now to seek
The converse of Aspasia?
Seb.
What suspicion
His thoughts suggest, Sebastes fears to speak.
Rox.
And wherefore? Freely speak.
Seb.
To me it seems
That Xerxes loves her: when he heard her birth,
A sudden pleasure brighten'd in his features,
And told the secret workings of his heart.
Rox.
O! no—it cannot be—'tis but a dream
Thy fancy shapes.
Seb.
Heaven grant it prove no other!
But yet 'tis ever well to fear the worst.
Rox.
Ye powers! Should this be true what course befits
102
Seb.
What course? To seek revenge.
What may not beauty such as yours achieve?
'Tis joy to punish a perfidious lover.
Rox.
Revenge at first may yield a short relief,
But ne'er can recompense our hopes destroy'd.
But ne'er can recompense our hopes destroy'd.
Amidst a thousand hearts to choose
A heart in whom our hopes repose;
Yet there betray'd, our peace to lose,
Is sure the worst of human woes.
A heart in whom our hopes repose;
Yet there betray'd, our peace to lose,
Is sure the worst of human woes.
You best can tell, whose bosoms know
The pangs from faithless lovers found:
Of all afflictions felt below,
Misfortune gives no deeper wound.
The pangs from faithless lovers found:
Of all afflictions felt below,
Misfortune gives no deeper wound.
[Exit.
| Themistocles | |