No More Learning

_Sar. _ You spoke of your abasement.

_Myr. _ And I feel it
Deeply--more deeply than all things but love.

_Sar. _ Then fly from it.

_Myr. _ 'Twill not recall the past-- 490
'Twill not restore my honour, nor my heart.
No--here I stand or fall. If that you conquer,
I live to joy in your great triumph: should
Your lot be different, I'll not weep, but share it.
You did not doubt me a few hours ago.

_Sar. _ Your courage never--nor your love till now;
And none could make me doubt it save yourself.
Those words----

_Myr. _ Were words.
I pray you, let the proofs
Be in the past acts you were pleased to praise
This very night, and in my further bearing, 500
Beside, wherever you are borne by fate.

_Sar. _ I am content: and, trusting in my cause,
Think we may yet be victors and return
To peace--the only victory I covet.
To me war is no glory--conquest no
Renown. To be forced thus to uphold my right
Sits heavier on my heart than all the wrongs[aj]
These men would bow me down with. Never, never
Can I forget this night, even should I live
To add it to the memory of others. 510
I thought to have made mine inoffensive rule
An era of sweet peace 'midst bloody annals,
A green spot amidst desert centuries,
On which the Future would turn back and smile,
And cultivate, or sigh when it could not
Recall Sardanapalus' golden reign.
I thought to have made my realm a paradise,
And every moon an epoch of new pleasures.
I took the rabble's shouts for love--the breath
Of friends for truth--the lips of woman for 520
My only guerdon--so they are, my Myrrha: [_He kisses her_.
Kiss me. Now let them take my realm and life!
They shall have both, but never _thee! _

_Myr. _ No, never!
Man may despoil his brother man of all
That's great or glittering--kingdoms fall, hosts yield,
Friends fail--slaves fly--and all betray--and, more
Than all, the most indebted--but a heart
That loves without self-love! 'Tis here--now prove it.