University of Virginia Library

SCENE THE FIFTH.

Saul.
Sa.
Oh my children! ...
I was a father.—See thyself alone,
Oh king; of thy so many friends and servants
Not one remains.—Inexorable God,
Is thy retributory wrath appeased?
But thou remain'st to me, oh sword: now come
My faithful servant in extremity.—
Hark, hark! the howlings of the insolent victors;
The lightening of their burning torches glares

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Before my eyes already; and I see
Their swords by thousands ... —Impious Philistine,
Thou shalt find me, but like a king, here ... dead.

 

As he falls transfixed on his own sword, the victorious Philistines come up to him in a crowd with blazing torches and bloody swords. While these rush with loud cries towards Saul, the curtain falls.