Now, Doge, denounce me 250
As rebel slave of a revolted Council!
As rebel slave of a revolted Council!
Byron
if thou wouldst have thy vile life, implore it;
It is not now a lease of sixty seconds.
Aye, send thy miserable ruffians forth;
They never shall return.
_Sig_. So let it be!
They die then in their duty, as will I. 240
_Doge_. Fool! the high eagle flies at nobler game
Than thou and thy base myrmidons,--live on,
So thou provok'st not peril by resistance,
And learn (if souls so much obscured can bear
To gaze upon the sunbeams) to be free.
_Sig_. And learn thou to be captive. It hath ceased,
[_The bell ceases to toll_.
The traitorous signal, which was to have set
The bloodhound mob on their patrician prey--
The knell hath rung, but it is not the Senate's!
_Doge_ (_after a pause_).
All's silent, and all's lost!
_Sig_.
Now, Doge, denounce me 250
As rebel slave of a revolted Council!
Have I not done my duty?
_Doge_. Peace, thou thing!
Thou hast done a worthy deed, and earned the price
Of blood, and they who use thee will reward thee.
But thou wert sent to watch, and not to prate,
As thou said'st even now--then do thine office,
But let it be in silence, as behoves thee,
Since, though thy prisoner, I am thy Prince.
_Sig_. I did not mean to fail in the respect
Due to your rank: in this I shall obey you. 260
_Doge_ (_aside_). There now is nothing left me save to die;
And yet how near success! I would have fallen,
And proudly, in the hour of triumph, but
To miss it thus! ----
_Enter other_ SIGNORS OF THE NIGHT, _with_
BERTUCCIO FALIERO _prisoner_.
_2nd Sig_. We took him in the act
Of issuing from the tower, where, at his order,
As delegated from the Doge, the signal
Had thus begun to sound.
_1st Sig_. Are all the passes
Which lead up to the palace well secured?
It is not now a lease of sixty seconds.
Aye, send thy miserable ruffians forth;
They never shall return.
_Sig_. So let it be!
They die then in their duty, as will I. 240
_Doge_. Fool! the high eagle flies at nobler game
Than thou and thy base myrmidons,--live on,
So thou provok'st not peril by resistance,
And learn (if souls so much obscured can bear
To gaze upon the sunbeams) to be free.
_Sig_. And learn thou to be captive. It hath ceased,
[_The bell ceases to toll_.
The traitorous signal, which was to have set
The bloodhound mob on their patrician prey--
The knell hath rung, but it is not the Senate's!
_Doge_ (_after a pause_).
All's silent, and all's lost!
_Sig_.
Now, Doge, denounce me 250
As rebel slave of a revolted Council!
Have I not done my duty?
_Doge_. Peace, thou thing!
Thou hast done a worthy deed, and earned the price
Of blood, and they who use thee will reward thee.
But thou wert sent to watch, and not to prate,
As thou said'st even now--then do thine office,
But let it be in silence, as behoves thee,
Since, though thy prisoner, I am thy Prince.
_Sig_. I did not mean to fail in the respect
Due to your rank: in this I shall obey you. 260
_Doge_ (_aside_). There now is nothing left me save to die;
And yet how near success! I would have fallen,
And proudly, in the hour of triumph, but
To miss it thus! ----
_Enter other_ SIGNORS OF THE NIGHT, _with_
BERTUCCIO FALIERO _prisoner_.
_2nd Sig_. We took him in the act
Of issuing from the tower, where, at his order,
As delegated from the Doge, the signal
Had thus begun to sound.
_1st Sig_. Are all the passes
Which lead up to the palace well secured?
