University of Virginia Library

SCENE I.

A temple dedicated to the sun, with an altar and image of the Deity.
Cosroes, Siroes, Medarses.
Cos.
To you my sons, not more am I a father
Than father to the state: to you I owe
Paternal tenderness; but to the state
A successor, whom Persia shall confess
A worthy heir of our imperial seat.
This day, between you shall our choice decide;
And him, I choose, must share with me the throne,
And learn with me to guide the reins of empire.
O! happy Cosroes, could I live to see,
Ere lasting sleep has clos'd these aged eyes,
A son who, wise in peace and brave in arms,
Might shade the lustre of his father's fame.

Med.
On you my fate depends.

Sir.
And whom will Cosroes
Esteem the worthiest?

Cos.
Equal is your merit;
In Siroes I regard the gift of valour,
And praise the gentler virtues of Medarses:
Cosroes in thee dislikes thy haughty spirit;
[to Sir.
In him his inexperienc'd age; but time
Will cure the faults of both: meanwhile I fear
My choice proclaim'd may kindle in your bosoms
New flames of mutual strife. Behold the altar,
Behold the God: let each now swear in peace
To abide by our decree, and swear to obey,
Without a murmur, our appointed heir,
In loyalty and truth.

Sir.
[aside.]
Shall Siroes' lip
Pronounce an oath like this?—O! no.—

Med.
Behold
Medarses prompt to obey—the throne is mine,
[aside.
[advances to the altar.]
“Before thy presence, to whose fostering power
“Her blessings nature owes, Medarses bends,
“And swears to pay the new-elected king
“His earliest homage; if I fail in aught
“This oath exacts, O! let thy cheering beams
“Be chang'd for me to more than midnight darkness.”

Cos.
My dearest son! Now, Siroes, thou draw near,
And learn obedience from thy younger brother.

Med.
He thinks, but speaks not.

Cos.
Why dost thou delay
To ensure my peace? How are thy thoughts employ'd?

Sir.
And wherefore should I swear? Such causeless doubt
Offends your son? What are the merits, say,
By which Medarses now aspires to reign?
My father, well you know how far my claim
To elder birth; already was my heart
Inur'd to bear the wrongs of adverse fortune,
When first a father in the cradle heard
His infant cries: you know the hostile spoils
By Siroes added to your former triumphs.
You know the wounds your fame has cost a son,
I groan'd beneath the steely corselet's weight,
In fields of blood and in the face of death;
While he in sloth dragg'd on his days, 'midst all
A parent's fond endearment. This, my father,
You know, and wherefore then must Siroes swear?

Cos.
I know yet more—I know, in my despite,
Thou lov'dst Emira, daughter to Asbites,
My deadly foe: I heard thy sighs of anguish
The day I took from him his life and kingdom:
Then didst thou vow deep hatred to thy father;
And were Emira living still, who knows
To what, by love impell'd, thy rage might tend.

Sir.
Proceed: indulge at full the blind affection
That makes you, Cosroes, thus unjust to me.
Break, for Medarses, all the ties of nature,
And let him from the throne give Persia laws;
While Siroes, mingled with the ignoble herd,
Shall on his younger brother's hand (a hand
Unfit to wield the sceptre of dominion)
Imprint the kiss of base servility.
But Gods there are, whose justice ever wakes
To aid the oppress'd: the world confess Medarses
To Siroes yields in merit as in years.

Cos.
Rash boy! and dost thou threaten? Know, my will.—

Med.
Be calm, my father! and to him resign
The Persian throne, suffice for me your love.

Cos.

[Exit.