University of Virginia Library

SCENE III.

—The Interior of the Temple of Diana—the Statue of the Goddess—a large Portal.
Licinia, kneeling by the Statue—Cornelia, Livia, Lucilla (with Gracchus's Child), Lucius, and numerous Females, who had fled for safety to the Temple, discovered.
Cor.
[To Lucius.]
Go, boy; look out, and tell me what thou see'st.
If all is quiet, run to the end of the street,
But venture not beyond—and listen if
Thou hear'st the sound of tumult. Use thy senses,
And hurry back; and, mind, keep bounds.

[Lucius goes out.
Livia.
[To one of the Females.]
Observe
Cornelia! Now what kind of soul is hers
That in this hour of trembling can be calm,
As nought but common things were passing round her?
But note her!

Cor.
Livia, you did say just now,
Your brother told you there had come a herald
Proposing terms of peace.

Livia.
He did; but thought
They would not be accepted.

Cor.
He thought right;
No more they will. Opimius hath the gust
Too strong for blood, when he hath snuff'd it, not
To taste. He'll lap it: matters not whose veins
'Twill cost the emptying of, so they belong
To honest men. Then will he offer sacrifice!
Oh, man! man! man!—most sacrilegious and
Profane!—that, with thy lips, dost laud the gods,
Whose ordinance thou tearest with thy hands!
The path to whom thou hast so thick beset
With peril, he who seeks may find it out
By many a grave which marks the spot, whereon
The truly noble fell! Why clasp you me,
My Livia?

Livia.
Do you hear the clash of swords?

Cor.
Indeed I do not. 'Tis your fancy, Livia.

Livia.
Nay, 'tis your talking of men's graves.

Cor.
Men's graves
Are but men's beds; whereon we lay them, not
For one hard day of toil to follow on
Another! Thankless labour, Livia—sweat,
To him expends it profitless—that goes
To nourish others, and they take, as though
The using were a boon! How fares it with
Licinia?

Livia.
All abstracted, as she were
Alive to naught without her. I can draw
No word nor sign from her. There kneels she to
The statue of the goddess, mute as silence,
And in so fix'd a stillness, you might ask,
Which is the marble?

A Soldier.
[Without.]
Way, there! Let me in!

Cor.
Open the gates, and let him in.

Livia.
Who is it?

Cor.
One is wounded from the fray. 'Tis going on!
I fear that Lucius has gone nearer to it
Than I commanded.

Livia.
And thou hast a son
Is in it.

Cor.
Livia! Livia! I'm a mother
Although I do not wail to let you know it!
Re-enter Lucius.
Now, sir, where have you been? Your face is flush'd;
Finely you've mark'd my orders! Tell me what
You've seen and heard?

Luc.
The battle is begun.

Cor.
I know it already. Can you tell which side
Is like to win?

Luc.
The citizens, they say,
Give ground.

Livia.
They do!

Cor.
I could have told it you,
Without the aid of augury. How learn'd
You this?

Luc.
From some that carried to his house
The young Valerius, wounded mortally.

Cor.
That's right; you speak not out of breath, as though
The house were on fire. Valerius, say you?

Luc.
Yes.
I scarcely knew him as they bore him by,
His face so gash'd.

Livia.
Oh!

Cor.
Hear you, sir! Now know
Yourself a man! You have been nearer to
The fray than you like to tell. You're a fine boy!
What rush of feet is that? Go see.

[Lucius goes out and returns.
Luc.
The citizens
Fly every way; and from the windows and
The houses' top, the women look and wring
Their hands, and wail, and clamour. Listen! you
Will hear them.

Cor.
I can hear them without ears.

Caius Gracchus.
[Without.]
Shut to the gates!

[Lucius goes out.
Lici.
[Starting up.]
'Tis Caius!

Caius.
[Without.]
Thankless hearts!
Not one presents himself to aid my sword,
Or lend a charger to assist my flight;
But as I were a racer in the games,
They cry “Make haste!” and shout as I pass by!
Enter Caius Gracchus.
May they remain the abject things they are,
Begging their daily pittance from the hands
Of tyrant lords that spurn them! May they crawl
Ever in bondage and in misery,
And never know the blesséd rights of freemen!
Here will I perish!

Lici.
[Rushing to him.]
Caius!

Caius.
My Licinia!
My mother, too!—My child, too!

Enter Vettius.
Vet.
Caius here!
Alas! my friend, you are lost! Pomponius and
Licinius, striving to keep back the consul,
And give you time for flight, have fallen beneath
His hirelings' blows. They have the scent of you:
Another minute, they're upon you!

Cor.
Caius, embrace me!
The gods do bare no sword 'gainst virtue!

Caius.
No!
My mother! My Licinia! give me my child.
[Aside to Cornelia.]
Mother, be you a parent to my wife,
A tutor to my boy. The lessons you
Did make me con, teach him—none else; he cannot
Learn better. [Places the child in Cornelia's arms.]
My Licinia, pardon me! [Embraces her.]


Cor.
She scarcely heeds thee! Son, what feel you for
Beneath your cloak?

Caius.
Nothing, will hurt me, mother;
But only balk our tyrants. Rome! O Rome!

[A dagger drops from beneath Caius's robe—he falls dead—Licinia, shrieking, throws herself on the body —Cornelia, with difficulty, supports herself—the Consul and his troops are heard approaching—she makes a violent effort to recover her self-possession. Enter Opimius and his party, with Guards, Lictors, &c. Cornelia holds up the child in one hand, and with the other points to the body of Caius—Opimius and the rest stand fixed in amazement—Flourish, and the curtain falls.