The Works of Lord Byron Volume V Part 27

_Sar._ Do so. Is that thy answer?

_Myr._ Thou shalt see.

[_Exit_ MYRRHA.

_Sar._ (_solus_). She's firm. My fathers! whom I will rejoin, It may be, purified by death from some Of the gross stains of too material being, I would not leave your ancient first abode To the defilement of usurping bondmen; If I have not kept your inheritance As ye bequeathed it, this bright part of it, Your treasure--your abode--your sacred relics 430 Of arms, and records--monuments, and spoils, In which _they_ would have revelled, I bear with me To you in that absorbing element, Which most personifies the soul as leaving The least of matter unconsumed before Its fiery workings:--and the light of this Most royal of funereal pyres shall be[aq]

Not a mere pillar formed of cloud and flame, A beacon in the horizon for a day, And then a mount of ashes--but a light[ar] 440 To lesson ages, rebel nations, and Voluptuous princes. Time shall quench full many A people's records, and a hero's acts; Sweep empire after empire, like this first Of empires, into nothing; but even then Shall spare this deed of mine, and hold it up A problem few dare imitate, and none Despise--but, it may be, avoid the life Which led to such a consummation.

MYRRHA _returns with a lighted Torch in one Hand, and a Cup in the other_.

_Myr._ Lo!

I've lit the lamp which lights us to the stars. 450

_Sar._ And the cup?

_Myr._ 'Tis my country's custom to Make a libation to the G.o.ds.

_Sar._ And mine To make libations amongst men. I've not Forgot the custom; and although alone, Will drain one draught in memory of many A joyous banquet past.

[SARDANAPALUS _takes the cup, and after drinking and tinkling the reversed cup, as a drop falls, exclaims_--

And this libation Is for the excellent Beleses.

_Myr._ Why Dwells thy mind rather upon that man's name Than on his mate's in villany?

_Sar._ The other Is a mere soldier, a mere tool, a kind 460 Of human sword in a friend's hand; the other Is master-mover of his warlike puppet; But I dismiss them from my mind.--Yet pause, My Myrrha! dost thou truly follow me, Freely and fearlessly?

_Myr._ And dost thou think A Greek girl dare not do for love, that which An Indian widow braves for custom?[as]

_Sar._ Then We but await the signal.

_Myr._ It is long In sounding.

_Sar._ Now, farewell; one last embrace.

_Myr._ Embrace, but _not_ the last; there is one more. 470

_Sar._ True, the commingling fire will mix our ashes.

_Myr._ And pure as is my love to thee, shall they, Purged from the dross of earth, and earthly pa.s.sion, Mix pale with thine. A single thought yet irks me.

_Sar._ Say it.

_Myr._ It is that no kind hand will gather The dust of both into one urn.

_Sar._ The better: Rather let them be borne abroad upon The winds of heaven, and scattered into air, Than be polluted more by human hands Of slaves and traitors. In this blazing palace, 480 And its enormous walls of reeking ruin, We leave a n.o.bler monument than Egypt Hath piled in her brick mountains, o'er dead kings,[32]

Or _kine_--for none know whether those proud piles Be for their monarch, or their ox-G.o.d Apis: So much for monuments that have forgotten Their very record!

_Myr._ Then farewell, thou earth!

And loveliest spot of earth! farewell, Ionia!

Be thou still free and beautiful, and far Aloof from desolation! My last prayer 490 Was for thee, my last thoughts, save _one_, were of thee!

_Sar._ And that?

_Myr._ Is yours.

[_The trumpet of_ PANIA _sounds without_.

_Sar._ Hark!

_Myr._ _Now_!

_Sar._ Adieu, a.s.syria!

I loved thee well, my own, my fathers' land, And better as my country than my kingdom.

I sated thee with peace and joys; and this Is my reward! and now I owe thee nothing, Not even a grave. [_He mounts the pile_.

Now, Myrrha!

_Myr._ Art thou ready?

_Sar._ As the torch in thy grasp.

[MYRRHA _fires the pile_.

_Myr._ 'Tis fired! I come.

[_As_ MYRRHA _springs forward to throw herself into the flames, the Curtain falls_.[33]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] {4}[For a description of the fall of Nineveh, see _Nahum_ ii. 1, sqq.--"He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face.... The s.h.i.+eld of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are in scarlet....

The chariots shall rage in the streets, they shall justle one against another in the broad ways: they shall seem like torches, they shall run like the lightnings. He shall recount his worthies: they shall stumble in their walk; they shall make haste to the wall thereof, and the defence shall be prepared. The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace shall be dissolved," etc.]

[2] {7}["A ma.n.u.script dedication of _Sardanapalus_ ... was forwarded to him, with an obliging inquiry whether it might be prefixed to the tragedy. The German, who, at his advanced age, was conscious of his own powers, and of their effects, could only gratefully and modestly consider this Dedication as the expression of an inexhaustible intellect, deeply feeling and creating its own object. He was by no means dissatisfied when, after long delay, _Sardanapalus_ appeared without the Dedication; and was made happy by the possession of a facsimile of it, engraved on stone, which he considered a precious memorial."--_Lebensverhaltnik zu Byron_, _Werke_, 1833, xlvi. 221-225.

(See, too, for translation, _Life_, p. 593.)]

[3] {9}[_Sardanapalus_ originally appeared in the same volume with _The Two Foscari_ and _Cain_. The date of publication was December 19, 1821.]

[4] {10}["Sardanapalus, the Thirtieth from Ninus, and the last King of the a.s.syrians, exceeded all his Predecessors in Sloth and Luxury; for besides that he was seen of none out of his family, he led a most effeminate life: for wallowing in Pleasure and wanton Dalliances, he cloathed himself in Womens' attire, and spun fine Wool and Purple amongst the throngs of his Wh.o.r.es and Concubines. He painted likewise his Face, and decked his whole Body with other Allurements.... He imitated likewise a Woman's voice...; and proceeded to such a degree of voluptuousness that he composed verses for his Epitaph ... which were thus translated by a Grecian out of the Barbarian language--

?a?t' ??? ?s' ?fa??? ?a? ?f???sa, ?a? et' ???t??

[Tau~t' e)/cho o(/s' e)/phagon kai e)phy/brisa, kai met' e)/rotos]

???p?' ?pa???' t? d? p???? ?a? ???a ?e??a ???e?pta?.

[Te/rpn' e)/pathon' ta de polla kai o)/lbia kei~na le/leiptai.]

"What once I gorged I now enjoy, And wanton l.u.s.ts me still employ; All other things by Mortals prized Are left as dirt by me despised."

--_The Historical Library of Diodorus the Sicilian_, made English by G.

Booth, of the City of Chester, Esquire, 1700, p. 65.

"Another king of the sort was Sardanapalus.... And so, when Arbaces, who was one of the generals under him, a Mede by birth, endeavoured to manage by the a.s.sistance of one of the eunuchs, whose name was Sparamizus, to see Sardanapalus: and when ... he saw him painted with vermilion, and adorned like a woman, sitting among his concubines, carding purple wool, and sitting among them with his feet up, wearing a woman's robe, and with his beard carefully sc.r.a.ped, and his face smoothed with pumice stone (for he was whiter than milk, and pencilled under his eyes and eyebrows; and when he saw Arbaces he was putting a little more white under his eyes). Most historians, of whom Duris is one, relate that Arbaces, being indignant at his countrymen being ruled over by such a monarch as that, stabbed him and slew him. But Ctesias says that he went to war with him, and collected a great army, and then that Sardanapalus, being dethroned by Arbaces, died, burning himself alive in his palace, having heaped up a funeral pile four plethra in extent, on which he placed 150 golden couches."--_The Deipnosophistae_ ... of Athenaeus, bk. xii. c. 38, translated by C. D. Yonge, 1854, iii.

847.]