condemned to slaveryBy haughty Rome; and Mariamne, raised
To the high rank of her proud ancestors,
Would from the blood of our high-priests select
A king, to rule o’er conquered Palestine.
With grief I see, she is by all adored;
Her name the dear delight of every tongue;
Israel reveres the race from whence she sprang,
Even to idolatry: her birth, her beauty,
And, above all, her sorrows, melt the hearts
Of the rude rabble, who, thou knowest, detest
And rail at us. They call her their dear sovereign,
And seem to threaten thee with swift destruction.
I saw the fickle multitudes alarmed
With idle tales like these, but soon I taught them
Another lesson; soon I made them tremble:
Told them great Herod, fraught with double power,
And armed with vengeance, would ere long return:
His name alone struck terror to their souls,
They saw their folly then, and wept in silence.
salome.
Thou toldest them truth, for Herod comes, and soon
Shall make rebellious Sion bend beneath him.
Antony’s favorite is Cæsar’s friend;
Fortune attends him, at his chariot wheels
Submissive chained: his subtle policy
Is equal to his courage, and he rises
With added strength and glory from his fall:
The senate crown him.
mazael.
But when Mariamne
Shall see her husband, where will be thy power?
That haughty rival o’er the king had ever
A fatal influence that supplanted thee;
And her proud spirit, still inflexible,
And still revengeful, holds its enmity:
Her safety must depend on thy destruction,
And mutual injuries nourish mutual hate.
Dost thou not dread her all-subduing charms,
Those lordly tyrants o’er the vanquished Herod?
For five years past, ever since their fatal marriage,
Hath his strange passion for her still increased,
By hatred fixed, and nourished by disdain.
Oft have we seen the haughty monarch kneel
Before her feet, her eyes indignant turned
In fury from him, whilst in vain he sued
For softer looks than she would deign to give.
How have we seen him rage, and sigh, and weep,
Abuse, and flatter, threaten and implore!
Mean in his rage, and cruel in his love;
Abroad a hero, and a slave at home:
He punished an ungrateful barbarous race,
And, reeking with the father’s blood, adored
The daughter; raised the dagger to her breast,
Guided by thee, then dropped it at her feet.
At Rome indeed, whilst from her sight removed,
The chain was loosened; but ’twill re-unite
When he returns, and shall again behold
The fatal charms which he so long admired:
Those powerful eyes are ever sure to please,
And will resume their empire o’er his heart:
Her foes will soon be humbled, and if she
But gives the nod, must fall a sacrifice
To her resentment. Let us guard against it,
And court that power which we can never destroy:
Respect well-feigned may win her to our purpose.
salome.
No: there are better methods to remove
Our fears of Mariamne.
mazael.
Ha! what means?
salome.
Perhaps even now she dies.
mazael.
And wilt thou dare
To do a deed so desperate? If the king—
salome.
The king assists me in the work of vengeance,
And has consented: Zares is arrived
At Solyma; my instrument of wrath
Waits for his victim: know, the time, the place,
The hand to execute, are ready all:
To-day it must be done.
mazael.
Hast thou then gained
At last the victory? Could the king believe thee?
Spite of his passion, will he yield up all,
And act as thou commandest?
salome.
Not so: my power
Is more confined: scarce could I urge to vengeance,
With all my arts, his long-reluctant soul,
But I availed me of his absence from her:
Whilst Herod lived, exposed to all her charms,
Thou knowest I led a life of wretchedness,
