If to be most unhappy, and to know That hope is irrecoverably fled,
If to be great and wretched, may deserve
Commiseration from the brave; behold,
Thou glorious leader of unconquer'd bands, b.) eroii['
Behold, descended from Darius' loins,
Th' afflicted Ariana; and my pray're yo
Accept with pity, nor my tears disdain.
First, that I lov'd the best of human race,
Heroic, wise, adorn'd by every art,
Of shame unconscious, doth my heart reveal. Ardali
This day, in Grecian arms conspicuous clad,
He fought, he fell. A passion long conceal'd,
For me, alas! within my brother's arms
His dying breath resigning, he disclos'd.
Oh! I will stay my sorrows! will forbid
My eyes to stream before thee, and my breast,
O'erwhelmed by anguish, will from sighs restrain !
For why should thy humanity be griev'd
At my distress, why learn from me to mourn
The lot of mortals, doom'd to pain and wo!
Hear then, O king, and grant my sole request,
To seek his body in the heaps of slain.'
Thus to the hero su'd the royal maid, Resembling Ceres in majestic wo,
When supplicating Jove, from Stygian gloom,
And Pluto's black embraces, to redeem
Her lov'd and lost Proserpina. Awhile
On Ariana fixing stedfast eyes,
These tender thoughts Leonidas recall'd
Such are thy sorrows, O for ever dear,
Who now at Lacedæmon dost deplore
My everlasting absence!' Then aside
He turn'd and sigh'd. Recov'ring, he address'd
His brother- Most beneficent of men,
Attend, assist this princess!' Night retires
Before the purple-winged morn. A band
Is call'd. The well-remember'd spot they find
Where Teribazus from his dying hand
Dropt in their sight his formidable sword.
Soon from beneath a pile of Asian dead
They draw the hero, by his armour known.
Then, Ariana, what transcending pangs Were thine! what horrors! In thy tender breast Love still was mightiest. On the bosom cold Of Teribazus, grief-distracted maid,
Thy beauteous limbs were thrown. Thy snowy hue The clotted gore disfigur❜d. On his wounds
Loose flow'd thy hair, and, bubbling from thy eyes,
Impetuous sorrow lav'd th' empurpled clay.
When forth in groans these lamentations broke
'O, torn for ever from these weeping eyes! Thou, who despairing to obtain a heart Which then most lov'd thee, didst untimely yield Thy life to fate's inevitable dart
For her, who now in agony reveals
Her tender passion, who repeats her vows
To thy deaf ear, who fondly to her own
Unites thy cheek insensible and cold.
Alas! do those unmoving, ghastly, orbs
Perceive my gushing sorrow? Can that heart
At my complaint dissolve the ice of death,
To share my suff'rings? Never, never more
Shall Ariana bend a listening ear
To thy enchanting eloquence, nor feast
Her mind on wisdom from thy copious tongue! Oh! bitter, insurmountable distress!'
She could no more. Suppress'd all utt'rance.
Fix'd on the solemn sepulchre, inclines
The silent head, in imitated wo,
O'er some dead hero whom his country lov'd,
Entranc'd by anguish, o'er the breathless clay
So hung the princess. On the gory breach,
Whence life had issu'd by the fatal blow,
Mute for a space, and motionless, she gaz'd;
When thus in accents firm. " Imperial pomp,
Foe to my quiet, take my last farewell!
There is a state where only virtue holds
The rank supreme. My Teribazus there
From his high order must descend to mine.'
Then, with no trembling hand, no change of look, She drew a poniard, which her garment veil'd; And, instant sheathing in her heart the blade, On her slain lover silent sunk in death! The unexpected stroke prevents the care Of Agis, pierc'd by horror and distress, Like one who, standing on a stormy beach, Beholds a found'ring vessel by the deep At once engulph'd, his pity feels and mourns, Depriv'd of pow'r to save; so Agis view'd The prostrate pair.
PERSIAN EMBASSY TO LEONIDAS.
THE king uprises from his seat, and bids
The Persian follow. He, amaz'd, attends,
Surrounded soon by each assembling band:
When thus at length the godlike Spartan spake―
'Here, Persian, tell thy embassy. Repeat
That, to obtain my friendship, Asia's prince
To me hath proffer'd sov'reignty o'er Greece.
Then view these bands, whose valour shall preserve
That Greece unconquer'd which your king bestows;
Shall strew your bodies on her crimson'd plains.
The indignation, painted on their looks,
Their gen'rous scorn, may answer for their chief.
Yet from Leonidas, thou wretch inur'd
To vassalage and baseness, hear. The pomp,
The arts of pleasure in despotic courts,
I spurn, abhorrent! In a spotless heart
I look for pleasure. I from righteous deeds
Derive my splendour. No adoring crowd,
No purpled slaves, no mercenary spears,
My state embarrass. I in Sparta rule
By laws, my rulers, with a guard unknown
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