Octavia :: :: University of Virginia Library

Nero, Tigellinus.
Ti.
Great emperor, why didst thou not come before?
Thou wouldst have heard the sobbings of a lady,
Who loves thee too intensely. In the bosom,
The true and tender bosom of Poppæa,
A conflict fierce, doubt, fear, and love, have waged.
A lady who adores thee so, canst thou
Thus cruelly afflict?

Ne.
She will not see,
Blinded by unjust jealousy, the truth.
I love her only ...

Ti.
This I've said to her;
But who could better calm the bitter pangs

Of jealous fear than a beloved lover?
From her, ah hide, in pity to her sex,
That terrible majesty, that in thy face
Conspicuous shines. Thou with a word, a smile,
A look, couldst calm the tempest that assails
Her trembling heart. I, in thy name, have dared
To swear to her, that in thyself the thought
Hath never entered to abandon her.
That, though I know them not, for mighty reasons,
Thou summonedest Octavia to Rome;
But never to Poppæa's detriment.

Ne.
My faithfullest interpreter, for me
The truth thou swaredst. This I also swore
To her: but deaf she stood. What avail words?
The day that rises, will, perchance, scarce be
Completed, ere Octavia's destiny
Shall be, and irrecoverably, seal'd.

Ti.
May all thy cares be wound up in her fate,
Provided thou wouldst condescend to prove
How criminal she is to Rome.

Ne.
To Rome?
As guilty as 'tis possible to be
Is she, since I abhor her. Is it needful
That I by proofs legitimate my will?

Ti.
'Tis but too needful. Thou canst not yet hold
The impious multitude in the contempt
Which it deserves. 'Tis true, it held its peace
At Agrippina's and at Claudius' pyres:
That of Britannicus it saw in silence:
Yet at Octavia's fate it dares to-day
Murmur and weep. Reveal Octavia's crimes,
And all men will be mute.

Ne.
I never loved her;

She evermore displeased and wearied me;
She had the boldness to lament her brother;
I saw her too implicitly obey
The turbulent Agrippina: oft to me
I heard her name her sceptred ancestors:
These are atrocious crimes, and they suffice.
On her already have I sentence passed:
To execute it there is nothing wanting
Except her presence. That she is no more
Rome shall discover: this is the account
Which of my purpose I shall give to Rome.

Ti.
Emperor, thou mak'st me tremble for thyself.
It is not prudent in thee thus to brave
The boisterous people. If thou canst on her
With justice death inflict, why wouldst thou now
That she of thy despotic will alone
Should seem the victim? Were it not more wise
Of her authentic crimes to drag to light
The most enormous? As she is, in fact,
To prove her guilty, while she is esteemed
Reproachless?

Ne.
Other ... more enormous ... crimes?

Ti.
No man presumed to mention them to thee:
But should they be concealed from thee, since now
She is, by her legitimate divorce,
No more thy consort? The unworthy lady
Yet held her station in thy court; with thee
Yet shared thy bed and throne; and yet usurp'd
The homage due to an imperial princess;
When lower than the most abandon'd woman
She had herself degraded; when, alas!
She had conceived the thought to prostitute
To a vile minstrel, that had caught her eye,

Her noble blood, her honour, and herself,
And her imperial ancestors ...

Ne.
Oh infamy!

Ti.
The slave Eucerus pleased her: hence she bore
Her banishment from Rome, and her divorce,
With so much resignation. He sufficed
Amply to compensate for Nero's loss;
Companion, and inseparable solace,
He, of her exile was; ... why call it exile?
The soft Campania, exquisite retreat,
In their voluptuous wallowings shelter'd them.
There on the flowery turf, or on the brink
Of crystal stream, she listened to the notes
Now drawn in symphony from the sweet lyre
By his effeminate hand, in concert now
To his melodious voice: hence she resign'd
The dazzling splendour of her former state
Without regretful thoughts.

Ne.
Could she belie
The blood of Messalina, who her birth
From her derived?—Now say; could proofs be brought
To certify the deed?

Ti.
Yes; to this fact
Are more than one of her attendants privy;
And, if appeal'd to, would depose the truth.
If e'er Octavia had possess'd thy love,
I ne'er had spoken thus. What do I say?
Had she possess'd, had she deserved thy heart,
Such an offence she ne'er could have imagined,
Much less have perpetrated. To thy arms,
Reasons of state, in spite of thy dislike,

At first consigned her. Well she knew herself
Of thee unworthy; hence her abject heart
Thus abjectly she fix'd.

Ne.
But yet I fear
That were I now to opprobrious light to drag
This obscure crime ...

Ti.
Their's is the infamy
Who did the crime.

Ne.
'Tis true.

Ti.
Thus their deserts
Will all obtain: she that of culpable;
Thou that of just; and so thou mayest be
Without incurring risk.

Ne.
Thou speakest wisely.
Be bold in deeds as thou art wise in words.