SARDANAPALUS.

Like tlie blood he predicts! If not in vain,

Thou sun that sinkest, and ye stars which rise,

I have outwatch’d yc, reading ray by rayThe edicts of your orbs, which make Timetremble

For what he brings the nations, ’tis the furthestHour of Assyria ’s years. And yet how calm •

An earthquake should announce so great a fall—A summer’s sun discloses it. Yon disk,

To the star-read Chaldean, bears uponIts everlasting page the end of whatSeem’d everlasting; but, oh! thou true sun!

The burning oracle of all that live,

As fountain of all life, and symbol ofHim who bestows it, wherefore dost thou limitThy lore unto calamity ? Why notUnfold the rise of days more worthy thineAll-glorious hurst from ocean ? why not dartA beam of hope athwart the future years,

As of wrath to its days P Hear me! oh, hearme!

I am thy worshipper, thy priest, thy servant—

I have gazed on thee at thy rise and fall,

And bow’d my head beneath thy midday beams,When my eye dared not meet thee. I havewatch’d

For thee, and after thee, and pray’d to thee.

And sacrificed to thee, and read, and fear’d thee,And asked of thee, and thou hast answer’d—butOnly to thus much : while I si>eak, lie sinks—

Is gone—and leaves liis beauty, not his know-ledge,

To the delighted west, which revels inIts hues of dying glory. Yet what isDeath , so it be but glorious ? ’Tis a sunset;

And mortals may be happy to resembleThe gods hut in decay.

Enter ARBACES, by an inner door.

Arb. Beleses, why

So rapt in thy devotions ? Dost thou standGazing to trace thy disappearing godInto some realm, of undiscover’d day ?

Our business is with night—’tis come.

Bel. But not

Gone.

Art. Let it roll on—we are ready.

Bel. Yes.

Would it were over!

Arb. Does the prophet doubt,

To whom the very stars shine victory ?

Bel. I do not doubt of victory—but the victor.Arb. Well, let thy science settle that. Mean-time

I have prepared as many glittering spearsAs will out-sparkle our allies—your planets.

There is no more to thwart us. The slie-King,That less than woman, is even now uponThe water with his female mates. The orderIs issued for the feast in the pavilion.

The first cup which he drains will be the lastQuaff'd by the line of Nimrod.

Bel. ’Twas a brave one.

Arb. And is a weak one—’tis worn out—we’llmend it.

Bel. Art sure of that ?

Arb. Its founder was a hunter—

I am a soldier—what is there to fear PBel. The soldier.

Arb. And the priest, it may be : but

If you thought thus, or think, why not retainYour King of concubines ? why stir me up ? <

503

Why spur me to this enterprise ? your ownNo less than mine PBe'. Look to the sky!

Arb. Hook.

Bel . What seest thou P

Arb. A fair summer’s twilight, and

The gathering of the stars.

Eel. And midst them, mark

Yon earliest, and the brightest, which so quivers.As it would quit its place in the blue ether.

Arb. Well!

Bel. ’Tis thy natal ruler—thy birth planet.

Ar6. {touching his scabbard). My star is in thisscabbard; when it shines,

It shall out-dazzle comets. Let us thinkOf what is to be done to justifyThy planets and their portents. When we con-quer,

They shall have temples—ay, and priests—and.thou

Shall be tbe pontiff of—what gods thou wilt;

For I observe that they are ever just,

And own the bravest for the most devout.

Bel. Ay, and the most devout for brave—thouhast not

Seen me turn back from battle.

Arb. Ho ; I own thee

As firm in fight as Babylonia ’s captain,

As skilful in Chaldea’s worship: nowWill it but please thee to forget the priest,

And be the warrior ?

Bel. Why not both ?

Arb. The better ;

And yet it almost shames md, we shall haveSo little to effect. This woman’s warfareDegrades the very conqueror. To have pluck TlA bold and bloody despot from his throne,

And grappled with him, clashing steel with stee 1 .That were heroic or to win or fall;

But to upraise my sword against this silkworm,

And hear him whine, it may be-

Bel. Do not deem it;

He has that in him which may make you strifeyet;

And were he all you think, his guards are hardy.And headed by the cool, stem Salemenes.

Arb. They’ll not resist.

Bel. Why not ? they are soldiers.

Arb. True,

And therefore need a soldier to command them.Bel. That Salemenes is,

Arb. But not their King.

Besides, he hates the effeminate thing that go-verns,

For the Queen’s sake, his sister. Mark you no fHe keeps aloof from all the revels ?

Bel. .

Not from the council—there he is ever constant.Art. And ever thwarted—what would you havemore

To make a rebel out of ? A fool reigning,

His blood dishonour’d, and himself disdain’d:Why, it is his revenge we work for.

Bel. Could

He but be brought to think so : this I doubt of.Arb. What if we sound him ?

Bel. Yes—if the time served.

Enter BALEA.

Bal. Satraps! The King commands your pre-sence atThe feast to-night.