Aid only from my enemies expect,
And look for vengeance in my misery
From the usurpers of your father’s throne;
From my own subjects who with jealous rage
Contend for states of which I was possessed!
They’re now my masters; once they were my slaves.
Oh noble race of Cyrus the renowned,
How from thy ancient glory art thou fallen!
So vain is greatness, thou art known no more.
olympia.
Mother, I follow you, in this sad day
Render me worthy of your glorious name;
To do my duty’s all I hope for now.
statira.
Sprung from a king who over kings has reigned,
Do that and equal glory thou hast gained.
End of the Second Act.
ACT III.
SCENE I.
(The Temple is shut.)
cassander, sosthenes.
cassander.
[Within the porch.
The truth prevails, no more can I suppress
The fatal secret by my sire concealed:
Forced to the public voice at length to yield
To a king’s daughter I have justice done;
Should I then longer injure royal blood
By cruel silence keeping it concealed?
Already I’ve incurred enough of guilt.
sosthenes.
A jealous rival of Olympia’s name
Avails himself intent upon your ruin;
The people he excites, the town’s alarmed.
Antigones religious zeal contemns,
And yet has blown its fire to tenfold rage.
’Tis thought a shocking crime in you to wed
The daughter, you who had the mother slain.
cassander.
Ye gods, the keen reproaches of my heart
Torture me more than all the Ephesians say.
The hearts of all the citizens I’ve calmed,
Yet still my own is by the furies torn
Victim of love and of my cruelty.
I would have had her all things owe to me,
Not know a fate replete with horrors dire.
Her sire’s dominions to her I restored.
Transmitted from Antipater to me.
Blest in the favors on my love conferred,
I was to calm tranquillity restored,
I had repaired all wrongs, and justice done.
My heart indeed was conscious of no crime;
I killed Statira by the chance of war,
Even whilst I strove to save a father’s life.
’Twas in the heat of slaughter and of rage
When duty to excess my valor drove;
’Twas in the blindness which a sable cloud
Of horror shed upon my darkened eyes;
I shuddered to think on it e’er I felt
The fatal passion which enslaved my soul,
I thought myself acquitted in the sight
Of God and of the world, not in my own.
Nor in Olympia’s, that’s what racks my soul:
Despair lies that way: she must either choose
To seal my pardon or to pierce my heart,
This heart that burns with love’s consuming fire.
sosthenes.
’Tis said, Olympia to this temple brought
Can here retract the faith which she has sworn.
cassander.
I know it, Sosthenes, and if this law
Should be abused by her my soul adores,
Woe to my rival and the temple too;
Though I am here a model of true zeal,
The temple I’d a scene of vengeance make.
But let me banish far this terror vain;
I am beloved, her heart was ever mine;
The god of love shall undertake my cause:
To her upon the wings of love I fly.
SCENE II.
cassander, sosthenes, the hierophants.
Coming out of the Temple.
cassander.
Interpreter of heaven and minister
Of clemency, I in this solemn day
Have from your temple banished war’s alarms:
I have not fought against Antigones.
Days to peace consecrated I revered;
That peace to my distracted soul restore.
My rites are numerous, I’ll defend them all;
Let us conclude this marriage. But first say
What does the daughter of the conqueror?
the hierophants.
My lord, Olympia duties now fulfils,
Duties most sacred, to her heart most dear.
cassander.
Mine shares them. Where’s the priestess whose kind hand
Is to present the bride and bless our loves?
the hierophants.
She’ll bring her quickly, may such glorious ties
Not end in the destruction of you both.
cassander.
Alas! upon this very day the woes
I long groaned under seemed to have an end.
For the first time a moment of repose
Seemed to becalm the troubles of my soul
the hierophants.
Perhaps Olympia’s woe surpasses yours.
cassander.
What do you say? can she have aught to fear?
the hierophantes.
[Going.
Too soon you’ll know it—
cassander.
Stay, explain yourself.
Do you espouse Antigones’s cause?
the hierophantes.
Forbid it, Heaven, that I should pass the bounds