ACT I.

      SCENE I.

       Table of Contents

      salome, mazael.

      mazael.

       It is enough: the power of Salome,

       By all acknowledged, and by all obeyed,

       On its firm basis stands immovable:

       I fled to Azor, with the lightning’s speed,

       Even from Samaria’s plain to Jordan’s spring,

       And quick returned: my presence there indeed

       Was needful, to cut off the aspiring hopes

       Of Israel’s moody race: thy brother Herod,

       So long detained at Rome, was almost grown

       A stranger in his kingdom; and the people,

       Ever capricious, turbulent, and bold,

       Still to their kings unjust, aloud proclaimed,

       That Herod was condemned to slavery

       By 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.