He hath wronged his people-still he is their sovereign— He must not perish thus. I will not see To have reached an empire: to an empire born, And saps his goodly strength, in toils which yield not ΙΟ 20 [Sound of soft music heard from within. To rouse him short of thunder. Hark! the lute The lyre-the timbrel; the lascivious tinklings While the great King of all we know of earth By the first manly hand which dares to snatch it. 30 i. He sweats in dreary, dulled effeminacy.—[MS. M. erased.] his opinion, should cover the infamy of his scandalous and effeminate life. He ordered a pile of wood to be made in his palace, and, setting fire to it, burnt himself, his eunuchs, his women, and his treasures.Diod. Sic., Bibl. Hist., lib. ii. pag. 78, sqq., ed. 1604, p. 109.] The reeking odours of the perfumed trains, 40 SCENE II. Enter SARDANAPALUS effeminately dressed, his Head crowned with Flowers, and his Robe negligently flowing, attended by a Train of Women and young Slaves. Sar. (speaking to some of his attendants). Let the pavilion over the Euphrates Be garlanded, and lit, and furnished forth For an especial banquet; at the hour Of midnight we will sup there: see nought wanting, A cooling breeze which crisps the broad clear river: i. And see the gewgaws of the glittering girls.—[MS. M. erased.] 1. ["The words Queen (vide infra, line 83) and pavilion occur, but it is not an allusion to his Britannic Majesty, as you may tremulously (for the admiralty custom) imagine. This you will one day see (if I finish it), as I have made Sardanapalus brave (though voluptuous, as history represents him), and also as amiable as my poor powers could render him. So that it could neither be truth nor satire on any living monarch."-Letter to Murray, May 25, 1821, Letters, 1901, v. 299. Byron pretended, or, perhaps, really thought, that such a phrase as the "Queen's wrongs" would be supposed to contain an allusion to the trial of Queen Caroline (August-November, 1820), and to the exclusion of her name from the State prayers, etc. Unquestionably if the play had been put on the stage at this time, the pit and gallery would have applauded the sentiment to the echo. There was, too, but one "pavilion" in 1821, and that was not on the banks of the Euphrates, but at Brighton. Qui s'excuse s'accuse. Byron was not above "paltering" with his readers "in a double sense."] To share the soft hours of Sardanapalus, Myr. My Lord ΙΟ Sar. My Lord!-my Life! why answerest thou so coldly? It is the curse of kings to be so answered. Rule thy own hours, thou rulest mine-say, wouldst thou Accompany our guests, or charm away The moments from me? Myr. The King's choice is mine. Sar. I pray thee say not so: my chiefest joy I do not dare to breathe my own desire, Sar. Yet! what YET? Thy own sweet will shall be the only barrier Myr. I think the present is the wonted hour 20 30 Sal. (comes forward and says) The Ionian slave says well let her retire. Sar. Who answers? How now, brother? Sal. The Queen's brother, And your most faithful vassal, royal Lord. Sar. (addressing his train). As I have said, let all dispose their hours Till midnight, when again we pray your presence. [The court retiring. I. "The Ionian name had been still more comprehensive; having included the Achaians and the Boeotians, who, together with those to whom it was afterwards confined, would make nearly the whole of the Greek nation; and among the Orientals it was always the general name for the Greeks."--MITFORD's Greece, 1818, i. 199. i. (To MYRRHA, who is going.) Myrrha! I thought thou I know each glance of those Ionic eyes,ii. Myr. Sar. 40 Not blush! Thou hast no more eyes than heart to make her crimson Like to the dying day on Caucasus, Where sunset tints the snow with rosy shadows, And then reproach her with thine own cold blindness, Which will not see it. What! in tears, my Myrrha ? Sal. Let them flow on; she weeps for more than one, And is herself the cause of bitterer tears. 50 Sar. Curséd be he who caused those tears to flow! Sal. Curse not thyself-millions do that already. Sar. Thou dost forget thee: make me not remember I am a monarch. Sal. Myr. Would thou couldst ! My sovereign, I pray, and thou, too, Prince, permit my absence. Thy gentle spirit, go; but recollect That we must forthwith meet: I had rather lose Thou wilt lose both-and both for ever! Sar. [Exit MYRRHA. It may be, Brother! 60 I can at least command myself, who listen Sal. 'Tis beyond That easy-far too easy-idle nature, Which I would urge thee. O that I could rouse thee! i. To Byblis -.—[MS. M.] ii. I know each glance of those deep Greek-souled eyes.—[MS. M. erased.] VOL. V. C Though 'twere against myself. Sar. The man would make me tyrant. By the god Baal! So thou art. Sal. Of sensual sloth-produce ten thousand tyrants, The worst acts of one energetic master, And those who should sustain it; so that whether Distract within, both will alike prove fatal: The first thy subjects have no heart to conquer; The last they rather would assist than vanquish. 70 80 Sar. Why, what makes thee the mouth-piece of the people? Sal. Forgiveness of the Queen, my sister wrongs; A natural love unto my infant nephews; Faith to the King, a faith he may need shortly, In more than words; respect for Nimrod's line; Never was word yet rung so in my ears Worse than the rabble's shout, or splitting trumpet: 90 Sal. To change the irksome theme, then, hear of vice. Sar. From whom? Sal. Even from the winds, if thou couldst listen Unto the echoes of the Nation's voice. Sar. Come, I'm indulgent, as thou knowest, patient, |