_ Thou art guarded by thy foes: in a few hours
The tempest may break out which overwhelms thee,
And thine and mine; and in another day
What _is_ shall be the past of Belus' race.
The tempest may break out which overwhelms thee,
And thine and mine; and in another day
What _is_ shall be the past of Belus' race.
Byron
"
I leave such things to conquerors; enough
For me, if I can make my subjects feel
The weight of human misery less, and glide
Ungroaning to the tomb: I take no license
Which I deny to them. We all are men.
_Sal. _ Thy Sires have been revered as Gods--
_Sar. _ In dust
And death, where they are neither Gods nor men.
Talk not of such to me! the worms are Gods;[11]
At least they banqueted upon your Gods, 270
And died for lack of farther nutriment.
Those Gods were merely men; look to their issue--
I feel a thousand mortal things about me,
But nothing godlike,--unless it may be
The thing which you condemn, a disposition
To love and to be merciful, to pardon
The follies of my species, and (that's human)
To be indulgent to my own.
_Sal. _ Alas!
The doom of Nineveh is sealed. --Woe--woe
To the unrivalled city!
_Sar. _ What dost dread? 280
_Sal.
_ Thou art guarded by thy foes: in a few hours
The tempest may break out which overwhelms thee,
And thine and mine; and in another day
What _is_ shall be the past of Belus' race.
_Sar. _ What must we dread?
_Sal. _ Ambitious treachery,
Which has environed thee with snares; but yet
There is resource: empower me with thy signet
To quell the machinations, and I lay
The heads of thy chief foes before thy feet.
_Sar. _ The heads--how many?
_Sal. _ Must I stay to number 290
When even thine own's in peril? Let me go;
Give me thy signet--trust me with the rest.
_Sar. _ I will trust no man with unlimited lives.
When we take those from others, we nor know
What we have taken, nor the thing we give.
_Sal. _ Wouldst thou not take their lives who seek for thine?
_Sar.
I leave such things to conquerors; enough
For me, if I can make my subjects feel
The weight of human misery less, and glide
Ungroaning to the tomb: I take no license
Which I deny to them. We all are men.
_Sal. _ Thy Sires have been revered as Gods--
_Sar. _ In dust
And death, where they are neither Gods nor men.
Talk not of such to me! the worms are Gods;[11]
At least they banqueted upon your Gods, 270
And died for lack of farther nutriment.
Those Gods were merely men; look to their issue--
I feel a thousand mortal things about me,
But nothing godlike,--unless it may be
The thing which you condemn, a disposition
To love and to be merciful, to pardon
The follies of my species, and (that's human)
To be indulgent to my own.
_Sal. _ Alas!
The doom of Nineveh is sealed. --Woe--woe
To the unrivalled city!
_Sar. _ What dost dread? 280
_Sal.
_ Thou art guarded by thy foes: in a few hours
The tempest may break out which overwhelms thee,
And thine and mine; and in another day
What _is_ shall be the past of Belus' race.
_Sar. _ What must we dread?
_Sal. _ Ambitious treachery,
Which has environed thee with snares; but yet
There is resource: empower me with thy signet
To quell the machinations, and I lay
The heads of thy chief foes before thy feet.
_Sar. _ The heads--how many?
_Sal. _ Must I stay to number 290
When even thine own's in peril? Let me go;
Give me thy signet--trust me with the rest.
_Sar. _ I will trust no man with unlimited lives.
When we take those from others, we nor know
What we have taken, nor the thing we give.
_Sal. _ Wouldst thou not take their lives who seek for thine?
_Sar.
