University of Virginia Library

SCENE II.

A room in Clelia's house.
Enter Clelia and Attendant.
CLELIA.
The dire necessities which press the state
Should rouze the Roman soul to energy.
Distinction is no more: The great in deeds,
The rich and low plebeian are as one—
All nurtur'd by the self-same soil; all own
The stock from which they sprung; and all alike
Submissive bend before their country's gods.

ATTENDANT.
Porsenna's answer hath not tam'd their pride:
E'en now our matrons pace the streets of Rome,
And with their words re-animate our youth
To face th'unequal numbers of the foe.

CLELIA.
Give orders that the portals of my house
Be thrown wide open, to receive the throngs
Of hungry and necessitous;—that all
Partake alike the stores my father's gain'd.
Who but the wealthy, in a time like this,
Should yield their stock to save the public weal?
To what but agriculture do we owe
Those riches we possess? My granaries
No more shall groan beneath the weight they bear:
Distribute all I have: it sprung from earth,
And cannot better be employ'd than now,
To feed the hungry and distress'd.

ATTENDANT.
Borne on the wings of charity, I fly
To make your gen'rous orders known.

[Exit.
CLELIA.
But where's brave Mutius, conq'ror of my soul,
Our senate's pride, the boast of Roman youths?
Ah, why this weighty pressure at my heart?
Is it derogatory to this breast
To own itself enslav'd by such a man
As noble Mutius? He hath confess'd,
My virgin charms and dauntlessness of soul
Have made him captive—Then love is noble;
Or never wou'd its flame within his breast
Have found a sanctuary!—What is love?
In souls ignoble, a voluptuous fire;
But in the virtuous heart, a glow as pure
As that which graces Dian's frosty cheek,
But never thaws her snowy chastity.
Love is all virtue, honour, tenderness—
A passion, when congenial, that exalts
And rouses every dormant faculty
To deeds that merit the bless'd gods applause.
But see the hero comes.

[Enter Mutius.
MUTIUS.
Clelia, thou wou'dst the wreath of honor crop,
And leave no spray for Mutius.

CLELIA.
What means the valiant guardian of our state?

MUTIUS.
Each time I view thee, some new bud of fame
Adorns the wreath of virgin modesty
Wherewith thy brows are deck'd. The city rings,
And Clelia's name swells on each passing breeze.
For who but thou hast stay'd awhile the pangs
Of threaten'd famine? Who but our Clelia
Hath minister'd alike to every want,
And rais'd in Rome the cry unanimous—
Of laws, religion, liberty, or death.

CLELIA.
I merit no such praise—I give but that
Which in prosperity were justly mine;
But in a time like this, by right devolves,
And is the common property of all.

MUTIUS.
'Tis nobly said: e'en life is not our own,
When Rome demands it. To save Rome's freedom,
Thou'dst kiss the hostile hand that grasp'd the steel,
And smiling, bare thy bosom to its point.

CLELIA.
I wou'd do all my country did demand,
Or peril picture to my sense. I'd do
What even Mutius wou'd not blush to own:
I'd act as doth befit a Roman soul:—
Mutius could do no more.

MUTIUS.
Thy words have sanction'd all my soul desires.
Twin spirits animate alike our breasts—
They burn with love of Rome and liberty.
Thou know'st, my Clelia, how this heart adores
Those radiant beauties which adorn thy mind:
Thou know'st the ardour and the love I bear
The altars of our gods—my country's rights.
Then, first to merit Clelia's love, I'll act
A deed that shall proclaim my love of Rome:
I've sworn, and with the senate's sanction go,
To slay this bold invader of our rights—
To compass great Porsenna's death.

CLELIA.
The deed is hazardous, and death awaits
Alike its failure or success.

MUTIUS.
Who but expects his death that doth attempt
A mighty enterprise? Virtue consists
In glory compass'd in the arms of death.
I were indeed most covetous' of men,
If, seeking fame, I wou'd attain my end,
Without so small a sacrifice as life.

CLELIA.
Brave Mutius, I've a soul as proud as thine;
A mind contemning all th'assaults of fate;
A breast that's fir'd with all that love of fame,
Which blazes forth in thee. I too possess
A soul for pity, and a heart for love:
Yes; coyness no more shall teach my tongue deceit;
Clelia avows she hath a heart for thee.

MUTIUS.
Gods! have I merited this bounteous gift?
Has any deed of Mutius gain'd him thus
A bliss that gives him a foretaste of heav'n?

CLELIA.
Yes:
Thine ev'ry act hath pav'd the way to fame;
And such alone would have engraven love
Upon the heart of Clelia. But, Mutius,
Thou shalt be judge; yes, thou thyself confess,
That I'm no selfish lover, nor would bar
Thy way to glory and immortal praise.—
Go:—Clelia bids thee seek for fame in death:
Clelia, whose bosom owns love's ardent fire,
Shall not retard thy course, nor stain her cheek
With one disgraceful tear. Rather my heart
Shall burst with aching, than confess its pangs:
Rather I'd die a thousand, thousand deaths,
Than make thy fame subservient to my love.

MUTIUS.
I stand amaz'd—a reverential awe
More urges me to view thee as divine,
Than being of this sublunary earth.

CLELIA.
Dispel the thought!—Remember that I love
As well my country, Mutius, as thyself.
Success or failure will alike augment
My love of virtue and my love of thee.
What if thou fall'st—we part but for a time,
A transitory period—which expired,
Shall waft me to those plains, where love like ours
Will undiminish'd glow, when stars shall fade,
And worlds and death itself shall be no more.

MUTIUS.
Be such our surety that we meet again,
And meet to taste that everlasting joy,
Which is the recompense of virtue here.

CLELIA.
Mutius, I seal my faith upon my heart.

MUTIUS.
And I seal mine in death. Clelia, thy hand;
That I may press it with a soldier's lip,
And thus attest a Roman's oath, and love.

(Clelia giving her hand, Mutius kisses it.)
CLELIA.
Thus link'd in honor's bond, I'll lead thee forth,
Till thro' Rome's portal thou hast safely past:
Then with a blessing and a last adieu,
I'll yield thee to that fate the gods ordain.

[Exeunt.