SCENE IV
SEID, PALMIRA, on the side; ZOPIR, standing near the altar.
ZOPIR.
Ye guardian god's
Of Mecca, threatened by an impious sect
Of vile imposters, now assert your power,
And let your Zopir's prayers, perhaps the last
He e'er shall make, be heard! The feeble bonds
Of our short peace are broken, and fierce war
Vindictive rages; O if ye support
The cause of this usurper—
SEID.
Aside to Palmira.
Hear, Palmira,
How he blasphemes!
ZOPIR.
May death be Zopir's lot!
I wish for naught on earth but to behold,
In my last hour, and to embrace my children,
To die in their loved arms, if yet they live,
If they are here, for something whispers me
That I shall see them still.
PALMIRA.
Aside to Seid.
His children, said he?
ZOPIR.
Or I should die with pleasure at the sight:
Watch over and protect them, ye kind gods,
O let them think like me, but not like me
Be wretched!
SEID.
See! He prays to his false gods:
This is the time to end him.
(draws his sword)
PALMIRA.
Do not, Seid.
SEID.
To serve my God, to please and merit thee,
This sword, devoted to the cause of heaven,
Is drawn, and shall destroy its deadliest foe;
Yon dreary walk invites me to the deed,
Methinks the path is bloody, wandering ghosts
Glide through the shade, and beckon me away.
PALMIRA.
What sayest thou, Seid?
SEID.
Ministers of death,
I follow you; conduct me to the altar,
And guide my trembling hand!
PALMIRA.
It must not be;
'tis horrible: O stop, my Seid.
SEID.
No:
The hour is come, and see! The altar shakes.
PALMIRA.
'Tis heaven's assent, and we must doubt no more.
SEID.
Means it to urge no me on, or to restrain?
Our prophet will reproach me for this weakness:
Palmira!
PALMIRA.
Well!
SEID.
Address thyself to heaven;
I go to do the deed.
(he goes behind the altar where Zopir is retired)
PALMIRA.
(alone)
O dreadful moment!
What do I feel within! My blood runs cold:
And yet if heaven demands the sacrifice,
Am I to judge, to ask, or to complain?
Where is the heart that knows itself, that knows
Its innocence or guilt? We must obey:
But hark! Methought I heard the plaintive voice
Of death; the deed is done—alas! My Seid.
SEID.
(returns looking wildly around)
What voice was that? Where am I? Where is Palmira?
I cannot see Palmira; O she's gone,
She's lost forever.
PALMIRA.
Art thou blind to her
Who only lives for thee?
SEID.
Where are we?
PALMIRA.
Speak,
My Seid, is the dreadful sacrifice
Performed, and thy sad promise fulfilled?
SEID.
What sayest thou?
PALMIRA.
Zopir? Is he dead?
SEID.
Who? Zopir?
PALMIRA.
Good heaven, preserve his sense!—Come, my Seid,
Let us be gone.
SEID.
How will these tottering limbs
Support me!—I recover—it is you,
Palmira?
PALMIRA.
Yes: what has thou done?
SEID.
Obeyed
The voice of heaven, seized with this desperate hand
His silver hairs, and dragged him to the earth:
'twas thy command: O God! Thou couldst not bid me
Commit a crime! Trembling and pale a while
I stood aghast, then drew this sacred sword,
And plunged it in his bosom: what a look
Of tenderness and love the poor old man
Cast on his murderer! A scene so mournful
Ne'er did these eyes behold: my heart retains
And will forever keep the sad idea:
Would I were dead like him!
PALMIRA.
Let us repair
To Mahomet, the prophet will protect us;
Here you're in danger; follow me.
SEID.
I cannot:
Palmira, pity me.
PALMIRA.
What mournful thought
Can thus depress thee?
SEID.
O if thou hadst seen
His tender looks, when from his bleeding side
He drew the fatal weapon forth, and cried:
“Dear Seid, poor unhappy Seid!” Oh,
That voice, those looks, and Zopir at my feet
Weltering in blood, are still before my eyes:
What have we done?
PALMIRA.