Of thy Statira can restore thy life:
Give me thy wonted kindness, bend me, break me
With thy embraces.

Aler. O the killing joy!

O extasy! my heart will burst my breast,
To leap into thy bosom; but, by heaven,
This night I will revenge me of thy beauties,
For the dear rack I have this day endured;
For all the sighs and tears that I have spent,
I'll have so many thousand burning loves;
So swell thy lips, so fill me with thy sweetness,
Thou shalt not sleep nor close thy wandering eyes:
The smiling hours shall all be loved away,
We'll surfeit all the night, and languish all the day.
Stat. Nor shall Roxana-

Alex. Let her not be named

O mother! how shall I requite your goodness!
And you, my fellow warriors, that could weep
For your lost king-But I invite you all,
My equals in the throne as in the grave,
Without distinction to the riot come,
To the king's banquet

Cly. I beg your majesty
Would leave me out.

Akr. None, none shall be excused; All revel out the day, 'tis my command. Gay as the Persian god ourself will stand, With a crowned goblet in our lifted hand. Young Ammon and Statira shall go round, While antic measures beat the burden'd ground, And to the vaulted skies our clangors sound.

Enter CLYTUS in his Macedonian habit; HE PHESTION, EUMENES, MELEAGER, &c. in Persian robes.

Cly. Away, I will not wear these Persian robes;
Nor ought the king be angry for the reverence
I owe my country: sacred are her customs,
Which honest Clytus shall preserve to death.
O let me rot in Macedonian rags,
Rather than shine in fashions of the east!
Then for the adorations he requires,
Roast my old body in infernal flames,
Or let him cage me like Calisthenes.
Eum. Dear Clytus, be persuaded.
Heph. You know the king

Is godlike, full of all the richest virtues,
That ever royal heart possessed; yet you
Perverse, but to one humour will oppose him.
Cly. Call you it humour? 'tis a pregnant one;
By Mars there's venom in it, burning pride;
And, though my life should follow, rather than
Bear such a hot ambition in my bowels,
I'd rip them up to give the poison vent.

Mele. Was not that Jupiter, whom we adore,

[Exeunt.

A man, but, for his more than human acts,
Advanced to heaven, and worshipped for its lord?
Heph. By all his thunder and his sovereign
power,

I'll not believe the earth yet ever felt
An arm like Alexander's; not that god
You named, though riding in a car of fire,
And drawn by flying horses, winged with light-
ning,

Could, in a shorter space, do greater deeds,
Drive all the nations, and lay waste the world.

Cly. There's not a man of war among you all, That loves the king like me; yet I'll not flatter, Nor soothe his vanity, 'tis blameable; And when the wine works, Clytus' thoughts will

out.

Heph. Then go not to the banquet.
Cly. I was called,

My minion, was I not, as well as you?
I'll go, my friends, in this old habit thus,
And laugh, and drink the king's health heartily;
And while you, blushing, bow your heads to earth,
And hide them in the dust, I'll stand upright,
Straight as a spear, the pillar of my country,
And be by so much nearer to the gods-
But see, the king and all the court appear.

Enter ALEXANDER, SYSIGAMBIS, STATIRA, PA

RISATIS, &c.

Par. Spare him, O spare Lysimachus his life! I know you will; kings should delight in mercy. Aler. Shield me, Statira, shield me from her sorrow!

Par. O save him, save him, e'er it be too late!
Speak the kind word, before the gaping lion
Swallow him up; let not your soldier perish
But for one rashness, which despair did cause:
I'll follow thus for ever on my knees,
And make your way so slippery with tears,
You shall not pass-Sister, do you conjure him!
Aler. O mother, take her, take her from me;

Her watery eyes assault my very soul,
They shake my best resolve

Stat. Did I not break

[Kneels.

Through all for you! nay, now, my lord, you

must.

Sys. Nor would I make my son so bold a prayer, Had I not first consulted for his honour.

Aler. Honour! what honour! has not Statira said it?

Were I the king of the blue firmament,
And the bold Titans should again make war,
Though my resistless arrows were made ready,
By all the gods she should arrest my hand.
Fly then, even thou, his rival so beloved,
Fly with old Clytus, snatch him from the jaws
Of the devouring beast, bring him adorned
To the king's banquet, fit for loads of honour.
[Exeunt HEPH. EUM. PAR. and CLY.
Stat. O my beloved lord ! let me embrace your
knees!

I am not worthy of this mighty passion:
You are too good for goddesses themselves:
No woman, nor the sex, is worth a grain
Of this illustrious life of my dear master.
Why are you so divine, to cause such fondness,
That my heart leaps, and beats, and fain would

out,

To make a dance of joy about your feet?

Aler. Excellent woman! no, 'tis impossible
To say how much I love thee-Ha! again!
Such extasies life cannot carry long ;
The day comes on so fast, and beamy joy
Darts with such fierceness on me, night will fol-
low.

A pale crowned head flew lately glaring by me,
With two dead hands, which threw a crystal globe
From high, that shattered in a thousand pieces.
But I will lose this boding dream in wine;
Then, warm and blushing for my queen's embra-

ces,

Bear me with all my heat to thy loved bosom. Stat. Go, my best love, and cheer your drooping spirits;

Laugh with your friends, and talk your grief away,
While, in the bower of great Semiramis,
Idress your bed with all the sweets of Nature,
Andcrown it as the altar of my love;

Where I will lay me down, and softly mourn,

But never close my eyes till you return.

[Exeunt STAT. SYS. Aler. Is she not more than mortal e'er can wish, Diana's soul cast in the flesh of Venus! By Jove, 'tis ominous, our parting is; Her face looked pale too, as she turned away: And when I wrung her by the rosy fingers, Methought the strings of my great heart did crack. What should it mean?-Forward, Leomedon. ROXANA meets him, with CASSANDER, POLYPERCHON, PHILIP, and THESSALUS,

Why, madam, gaze you thus ?

Ror. For a last look, [She holds his hand.
And that the memory of Roxana's wrongs
May be for ever printed on your mind.

Alex. O madam, you must let me pass.
Ror. I will.

But I have sworn, that you shall hear me speak,
And mark me well, for fate is in my breath:
Love on the mistress you adore, to death;
Still hope, but I fruition will destroy;
Languish for pleasures, you shall ne'er enjoy.
Sill may Statira's image draw your sight,
Like those deluding fires that walk at night;
Lead you through fragrant grots and flow'ry groves,
And charm you through deep grass with sleeping
loves;

That when your fancy to its height does rise,
That light, you loved, may vanish from your

Rox. I know I am whatever thou canst say.
My soul is pent, and has not elbow-room;
'Tis swelled with this last slight, beyond all bounds:
O that it had a space might answer to
Its infinite desire, where I might stand,
And hurl the spheres about like sportive balls!
Cass. We are your slaves, admirers of your
fury:

Command Cassander to obey your pleasure,
And I will on, swift as your nimble eye
Scales heaven; when I am angry with the fates,
No age, nor sex, nor dignity of blood,
No ties of law nor nature, not the life
Imperial, though guarded by the gods,
Shall bar Cassander's vengeance-he shall die.
Rox. Ha! shall he die? shall I consent to kill

him?

To see him clasped in the cold arms of death,
Whom I with such an eagerness have loved!
Do I not bear his image in my womb?
Which, while I meditate and roll revenge,
Starts in my body like a fatal pulse,

And strikes compassion thro' my bleeding bowels.

might pass,

Were not the empire of the world consider❜d'; How will the glorious infant in your womb, When time shall teach his tongue, be bound to curse you,

If now you strike not for a coronation.

Cass. If Alexander lives, you cannot reign,
Nor shall your child; old Sysigambis' head
Will not be idle-sure destruction waits
Both you and yours: let not your anger cool,
But give the word; say, Alexander bleeds,
Draw dry the veins of all the Persian race,
And hurl a ruin o'er the east, 'tis done.

Pol. Behold the instruments of this great work.
Phil. Behold your forward slave.
Thess. I'll execute.

Rox. And when this ruin is accomplished, where
Shall curst Roxana fly with this dear load?
Where shall she find a refuge from the arms
Of all the successors of this great man?
No barbarous nation will receive a guilt
So much transcending theirs, but drive me out:
The wildest beasts will hunt me from their dens,
And birds of prey molest me in the grave.

Cass. No, you shall live-pardon the insolence Which this almighty love enforces from meYou shall live safer, nobler than before, In your Cassander's arms.

Kor. Disgraced Roxana, whither wilt thou fall? I ne'er was truly wretched till this moment: There's not one mark of former majesty To awe my slave, that offers at my honour. Cass. Madam, I hope you'll not impute my passion

To want of that respect, which I must bear you: Long have I loved

Ror. Peace, most audacious villain, Or I will stab this passion in thy throat! What, shall I leave the bosom of a deity, To clasp a clod, a moving piece of earth, Which a mole heaves? So far art thou beneath

me.

Cass. Your majesty shall hear no more folly. Rox. Nor dare to meet my eyes; for if thou dost

'With a love-glance, thy plots are all unravelled, And your kind thoughts of Alexander told, Whose life, in spite of all his wrongs to me, Shall be for ever sacred and untouched,

Cass. I know, dread madam, that Cassander's life

Is in your hands, so cast to do you service.

Rox. You thought, perhaps, because I practised

charms

To gain the king, that I had loose desires;
No, 'tis my pride, that gives me height of plea-

sure:

To see the man, by all the world admired,
Bowed to my bosom, and my captive there,
Then my veins swell, and my arms grasp the poles,
My breasts grow bigger with the vast delight;
'Tis length of rapture and an age of fury.

Cass. By your own life, the greatest oath, I

swear,

Rox. No, if I were a wanton, I would make Princes the victims of my raging fires: I, like the changing moon, would have the stars My followers, and mantled kings by night Should wait my call; fine slaves to quench my flame,

Who, lest in dreams they should reveal the deed, Still as they came, successively should bleed. Cass. To make atonement for the highest crime,

I beg your majesty will take the life

Of

queen Statira as a sacrifice.

Ror. Rise, thou hast made ample expiation: Yes, yes, Statira, rival, thou must die! I know this night is destined for my ruin, And Alexander from the glorious revels Flies to thy arms.

Phil. The bowers of Semiramis are made The scene this night of their new-kindled loves. Ror. Methinks I see her yonder, (oh the tor

ment!)

Busy for bliss, and full of expectation: She adorns her head, and her eyes give new lustre;

Languishes in her glass, tries all her looks, Steps to the door, and listens for his coming; Runs to the bed, and kneels, and weeps, and wishes,

Then lays the pillow easy for his head,
Warms it with sighs, and moulds it with her
kisses.

Oh, I am lost! torn with imagination!
Kill me, Cassander, kill me instantly,
That I may haunt her with a thousand devils!
Cass. Why do you stop to end her while you
may?

No time so proper as the present; now
While Alexander feasts with all his court:
Give me your eunuchs, half your Zogdian slaves,
I'll do the deed; nor shall a waiter 'scape,
That serves your rival, to relate the news.

Pol. She was committed to Eumenes' charge. Ror. Eumenes dies, and all that are about her, Nor shall I need your aid; you'll love again: I'll head the slaves myself, with this drawn dag

ger,

To carry death, that's worthy of a queen.
A common fate ne'er rushes from my hand;
'Tis more than life to die by my command;
And when she sees,

That to my arm her ruin she must owe,
Her thankful head will straight be bended low,
Her heart shall leap half way to meet the blow.
[Exit ROXANA.

Cass. Go thy ways, Semele-she scorns to sin Beneath a god-We must be swift; the ruin We intend, who knows, she may discover?

Pol. It must be acted suddenly; to night; Now, at the banquet. Philip holds his cup. Phil. And dares to execute-propose his fate. Cass. Observe in this small phial certain death; It holds a poison of such deadly force, Should Esculapius drink it, in five hours (For then it works) the god himself were mortal.

I drew it from Nonarris' horrid spring;
A drop infused in wine will seal his death,
And send him howling to the lowest shades.
Phil. Would it were done!

Cass. O we shall have him tear

(Ere yet the moon has half her journey rode)
The world to atoms; for it scatters pains
All sorts, and through all nerves, veins, arteries;
Even with extremity of frost, it burns;
Drives the distracted soul about her house,
Which runs to all the pores, the doors of life,
Till she is forced for air to leave her dwelling.
Pol. By Pluto's self, the work is wondrous
brave.

Cass. Now separate: Philip and Thessalus,
Haste to the banquet; at his second call
Give him that fatal draught, that crowns the
night,

While Polyperchon and myself retire.

[Exeunt omnes, præter CASSANDER. Yes, Alexander, now thou pay'st me well; Blood for a blow is interest indeed. Methinks I am grown taller with the murder, And, standing straight on this majestic pile, I hit the clouds, and see the world below me! Ob, 'tis the worst of racks to a brave spirit, To be born base, a vassal, a cursed slave. Now, by the project labouring in my brain, 'Tis nobler far to be a king in hell, To head infernal legions, chiefs below, To let them loose for earth, to call them in, And take account of what dark deeds are done, Than be a subject-god in heaven, unblest, And, without mischief, have eternal rest! [Exit.

SCENE II.

The Scene draws, ALEXANDER is seen standing on a throne, with all his commanders about him, holding goblets in their hands.

Alex. To our immortal health, and our fair

queen's;

All drink it deep, and while it flies about,
Mars and Bellona join to make us music.
A hundred bulls be offered to the Sun,
White as his beams-speak the big voice of war,
Beat all our drums, and blow our silver trum-
pets,
Till we provoke the gods to act our pleasure,
In bowls of nectar and replying thunder!

[Sound while they drink.

Enter HEPHESTION, CLYTUS, leading LYSIMA-
CHUS in his shirt, bloody; PERDICCAS, Guard.
Cly. Long live the king, and conquest crown
his arms

With laurels ever-green! Fortune's his slave,
And kisses all that fight upon his side.

Alex. Did not I give command you should❘ preserve

Lysimachus?

Heph. You did.

Aler. What, then, portend those bloody marks? Heph. Your mercy flew too late: Perdiccas

had,

According to the dreadful charge you gave,
Already placed the prince in a lone court,
Unarmed, all but his hands, on which he wore
A pair of gauntlets; such was his desire,
To shew in death the difference betwixt
The blood of the acides, and common men.
Cly. At last the door of an old lion's den
Being drawn up, the horrid beast appeared:
The flames, which from his eyes shot glooming
red,

Made the sun start, as the spectators thought,
And round them cast a day of blood and death.
Heph. When we arrived, just as the valiant
prince

Cried out, O Parisatis, take my life; 'Tis for thy sake I go undaunted thus, To be devoured by this most dreadful creature,'Cty. Then walking forward, the large beast descried.

His prey, and with a roar, that made us pale,
Flew fiercely on him; but the active prince
Starting aside, avoided his first shock,
With a slight hurt, and as the lion turned,
Thrust gauntlet, arm and all, into his throat,
And, with Herculean force, tore forth by the

roots

The foaming bloody tongue; and while the savage,

Faint with that loss, sunk to the blushing earth, To plough it with his teeth, your conquering soldier

Leaped on his back, and dashed his skull to pieces.

Aler. By all my laurels, 'twas a godlike act! And 'tis my glory, as it shall be thine, That Alexander could not pardon thee. O my brave soldier, think not all the prayers Of the lamenting queens could move my soul Like what thou hast performed! Grow to my [Embraces him

breast.

Lys. However love did hurry my wild arm, When I was cool, my feverish blood did 'bate, And as I went to death, I blest the king.

Alex. Lysimachus, we both have been trans

ported,

But from this hour be certain of my heart;
A lion be the impress of thy shield,
And that golden armour, we from Porus won,
The king presents thee: but retire to bed,
Thy toils ask rest.

Lys. I have no wounds to hinder,
I'd stand to Alexander's health, till all
Of any moment; or if I had, though mortal,
My veins were dry, and fill them up again
With that rich blood, which makes the gods im-
mortal.

Alex. Hephestion, thy hand, embrace him close: Though next my heart you hang, the jewel there For scarce I know whether my queen be nearer Thou shalt not rob me of my glory, youth, That must to ages flourish-Parisatis Shall now be his, that serves me best in war: Neither reply, but mark the charge I give, And live as friends-sound, sound my armies ho

nour;

Cly, So would I,

Burn, hang, or drown, but in a better cause;
I'll drink or fight for sacred majesty
With any here-Fill me another bowl!
Will you excuse me?

Alex. You will be excused;

But let him have his humour, he is old.

Cly. So was your father, sir-This to his memory:

Sound all the trumpets there!

Alex. They shall not sound

Till the king drinks-By Mars, I cannot take
A moment's rest for all my years of blood,
But one or other will oppose my pleasure.
Sure I was formed for war;

All, all are Alexander's enemies;
Which I could tame Yes, the rebellious world
Should feel my wrath-But let the sports go on.
[The Indians dance.
Lys. Nay, Clytus, you that could advise
Alex. Forbear;

Let him persist, be positive, and proud,
Sullen and dazzled, 'mongst the noble souls,
Like an infernal spirit, that had stole
From hell, and mingled with the laughing gods.
Cly. When gods grow hot, where's the differ-

So truly great, so fortunately brave,
As Alexander: not the famed Alcides,
Nor fierce Achilles, who did twice destroy,
With their all-conquering arms, the famous Troy.
Lys. Such was not Cyrus.
Alex. O, you flatter me!

Cly. They do indeed, and yet you love them for it,

But hate old Clytus for his hardy virtue.
Come, shall I speak a man more brave than you,
A better general, and more expert soldier?"

Alex. I should be glad to learn; instruct me,

sir.

The laboured battle sweat, and conquest bled. Why should I fear to speak a truth more noble Than e'er your father, Jupiter Ammon, told you?

Philip fought men, but Alexander women.

Alex. Spite! by the gods, proud spite, and burning envy!

Is then my glory come to this at last,
To vanquish women? Nay, he said the stoutest
here

Would tremble at the dangers he has seen.
In all the sickness and the wounds I bore,
When from my reins the javelin head was cut,
Lysimachus, Hephestion, speak, Perdiccas,
Did I e'er tremble? O the cursed liar!
Did I once shake or groan? or bear myself
Beneath my majesty, my dauntless courage?
Heph. Wine has transported him.
Alex. No, 'tis plain mere malice:
I was a woman too at Oxydrace,
When planting at the walls a scaling ladder,
I mounted, spite of showers of stones, bars, ar