 | Themistocles |  |
SCENE VI.
Aspasiaalone.
Then shall my brother bear a firmer mind
Than I, alas! can boast?—Does not the blood
His father gave him warm Aspasia's veins?
Like his my birth was from Themistocles.
Yes, we will pay him every pious duty:
And let him, when he breathes his last, repose
On this sad breast, while on his clay-cold hand
An orphan daughter prints the farewell kiss,
And closes with her hand his dying eyes.
—O Heaven! what cruel image!—Ah! what chillness
Through every fibre creeps—I fain would go,
And yet I still remain—I freeze with horror,
And glow with fear and shame: at once I'm urg'd,
At once repuls'd—I lose the time in tears,
Resolve on nothing, while my father's lost.
Than I, alas! can boast?—Does not the blood
His father gave him warm Aspasia's veins?
Like his my birth was from Themistocles.
141
And let him, when he breathes his last, repose
On this sad breast, while on his clay-cold hand
An orphan daughter prints the farewell kiss,
And closes with her hand his dying eyes.
—O Heaven! what cruel image!—Ah! what chillness
Through every fibre creeps—I fain would go,
And yet I still remain—I freeze with horror,
And glow with fear and shame: at once I'm urg'd,
At once repuls'd—I lose the time in tears,
Resolve on nothing, while my father's lost.
While honour bids me hence remove
My trembling feet detain me here;
And still distressful change I prove,
By courage rais'd, depress'd by fear.
My trembling feet detain me here;
And still distressful change I prove,
By courage rais'd, depress'd by fear.
Ye Gods! from this unhappy breast
Bid wearied life at length depart:
Enough, alas! by woes depress'd,
That long have rent my bleeding heart.
Bid wearied life at length depart:
Enough, alas! by woes depress'd,
That long have rent my bleeding heart.
[Exit.
| Themistocles | |