Think not to speak unto the people; they Are now by thousands swarming at the gates, But these are closed: the Ten, the Avogadori, The Giunta, and the chief men of the Forty, Ben. Yes, Doge, thou hast lived and thou shalt die A sovereign; till the moment which precedes The separation of that head and trunk, 559 That ducal crown and head shall be united. Thou hast forgot thy dignity in deigning To plot with petty traitors; not so we, Who in the very punishment acknowledge The prince. Thy vile accomplices have died The dog's death, and the wolf's; but thou shalt fall As falls the lion by the hunters, girt anger, By those who feel a proud compassion for By strange delay and arrogant reply thee, To my reproof; I raised my hand and smote In other men, or mellow into virtues; But prove to thee the heralds of destruction, come. Ang. And with this warning couldst thou not have striven To avert the fatal moment, and atone done? 620 SCENE III The Court of the Ducal Palace: the outer gates are shut against the people. The DOGE enters in his ducal robes, in procession with the Council of Ten and other Patricians, attended by the Guards, till they arrive at the top of the Giants' Staircase' (where the Doges took the oaths); the Executioner is stationed there with his sword. On arriving, a Chief of the Ten takes off the ducal cap from the Doge's head. Doge. So now the Doge is nothing, and at last I am again Marino Faliero: 'Tis well to be so, though but for a moment. Here was I crown'd, and here, bear witness, Heaven! 700 With how much more contentment I resign Compatible with justice, to the senate ? Doge. I would commend my nephew to their mercy, My consort to their justice; for methinks My death, and such a death, might settle all Between the state and me. Ben. They shall be cared for, Even notwithstanding thine unheard-of crime. 711 Of this proud city, and I leave my curse Shedding so much blood in her last defence As these old veins, oft drain'd in shielding her, Shall pour in sacrifice. She shall be bought And sold, and be an appanage to those Who shall despise her!-She shall stoop to be 750 In publishing the following Tragedies1 I have only to repeat, that they were not composed with the most remote view to the stage. On the attempt made by the Managers in a former instance, the public opinion has been already expressed. With regard to my own private feelings, as it seems that they are to stand for nothing, I shall say nothing. For the historical foundation of the following compositions the reader is referred to the Notes. The Author has in one instance attempted to preserve, and in the other to approach, the unities;' conceiving that with any very distant departure from them, there may be poetry, but can be no drama. He is aware of the unpopularity of this notion in present English literature; but it is not a system of his own, being merely an opinion, which, not very long ago, was the law of literature throughout the world, and is still so in the more civilised part of it. But nous avons changé tout cela,' and are reaping the advantages of the change. The writer is far from conceiving that any thing he can adduce by personal precept or example can at all approach his regular, or even irregular predecessors; he is merely giving a reason why he preferred the more regular formation of a structure, however feeble, to an entire abandonment of all rules whatsoever. Where he has failed, the failure is in the architect, and not in the art. -- 1 [Sardanapalus originally appeared in the same volame with The Two Foscari and Cain.] |