University of Virginia Library

Scene IV

The same as Act I., Scene I
Cleopatra climbs up the steps to a higher terrace where Salome is standing
Cleopatra.
Salome, how I love him! I am parting
Sudden . . . for of this frenzy I shall die . . .
He must be loved back where he loves, Salome,
Or his great heart will wither on its sands . . .
I am troubled for him; he is deadly sick . . .
Princess, we must deliver him.

Salome.
Dear queen,
But can he be delivered?

Cleopatra.
And for ever.
[She whispers to Salome, then continues vehemently.
No, no!
We must not kill her—no!
But when she next offends him to the heart
So that he loathes her . . .
Oh, that we were walking
By Nilus' banks, with every instrument
Of bale beside us, bale in mud and beast,
Engulfing crocodile or asp that sucks,
Asp or the armèd basilisk! My Egypt! . . .
She must be found conspiring in her hatred
To take his life, in her possession venoms
From Egypt . . . and himself shall strike her dead.
But we must keep our passion in the dark,
And smile upon it to ourselves,
As on those gems that lustre in the dark.

Salome.
But how?

Cleopatra.
Salome, as migrating birds
Arrive, as Nilus swells, you will receive
Of me your vengeance: it will overwhelm.

Salome
(in terror).
You love my brother, Cleopatra, love him?

Cleopatra.
He must be loved back where he loves, Salome.
(Faintly.)
He is coming through the trees. He is beloved.

Salome.
No, not my brother, queen—
It is the Asmonean Alexandra
Who creeps down to the bathing-tanks alone.

Cleopatra.
Leave me; I have a word for her; and kiss me,
For I am bent on Mariamne's death.

[They kiss.
Salome.
But let me bring you to the water.

Cleopatra.
No.

[Salome climbs out of sight. Cleopatra redescends to where Alexandra, who has entered by the side of the tank, stands above the water, her arms crossed before her eyes.
Alexandra
(turning).
You could not watch down there to find the face
Of a dead child. You could not guard your patience.

Cleopatra
(sliding an arm round Alexandra's shoulders).
Gaze steadily, gaze down!
King Herod's face is washing with the reeds.

Alexandra.
You are King Herod's guest: your Anthony,
O Cleopatra,
Has pardoned Herod. How shall I believe?

Cleopatra.
There is within my blood such vast abhorrence
For him who killed your child, he interrupts
My further dreams, he shakes me in my sleep
As if I had a conscience. Alexandra,
By Nilus he shall die!

Alexandra.
Has he offended?
You have been very slow in taking vengeance.

Cleopatra.
My soul is fastened on this deed.
Now kiss me,
For I am bent upon King Herod's death.
[Alexandra receives her kiss coldly.
You misconceive; you should not misconceive.
We have these level natures, you and I,
Of grounded politicians; when we smile,
The honey is not of the honeycomb.
Friend, listen to your steersmate! Seize the courts
And the high turrets of Jerusalem
When Antony shall strike, and in the name
Of the Maccabeans; then
Let, as of yore, Judæa lie at rest
On Egypt's old protection. You had given
Your son into my breast that I might rear him,
As Egypt's Princess reared the Jewish babe.
It might not be. . . . Your daughter is foundation,
When this false corner-stone, this Edomite
Is shattered, for a kingdom of the Jews,
As sweet as aspalathus to our hearts.
(In a softer voice.)
Keep her, then, bitter with the tyranny
She bears from this injurious, winding stranger,
Whom all Jews hate; whom you, my Alexandra,
And I determine ill against, as surely
As goddesses hate from their potent altars.

Alexandra
(suddenly, in a broken voice).
I need you, Cleopatra . . .
My hopes are dying . . . Mariamne blind,
Stubborn of soul, impolitic . . . My days
Are as a prisoner's; every day a cell
Her husband keeps the key of: I am watched.

Cleopatra
(tenderly).
Your hand . . . for I must lead you from this water
That moves a little and exaggerates
What comes up through the water.
Ah, these balm-yards
Of Galahad—enchanted Jericho!
Are not my hands
Sweet with the sweet plants of the balustrade?
Smell them! See yonder
A horseman in a whirl-blast of white dust.
Who is it? He is carried like a god
By clouds . . .

Alexandra.
It is that murderer.

Cleopatra.
Not so!
His floating mantle fills the solitude.
It is some other . . .
[She moves away, then turns back to Alexandra, looking beyond her.
Pace!

[They ascend the terraces.