Must I be doomed to wretchedness and wo,
That others may enjoy the conqueror's smiles?
Oh! if you ever loved my royal father-
And sure you did, your gushing tears proclaim it
If still his name be dear, have pity on me!
He would not thus have forced me to despair;
Indeed he would not-Had I begged him thus,
He would have heard me, ere my heart was broke.
Sys. When will my sufferings end? Oh, when, ye
gods!

For sixty rolling years my soul has stood

The dread vicissitudes of fate unmoved;

I thought them your decrees, and therefore yielded;
But this last trial, as it springs from folly,
Exceeds my sufferance, and I must complain.

Lys. When Sysigambis mourns, no common wo Can be the cause-'tis misery indeed!

Yet pardon, mighty queen! a wretched prince,
Who thus presumes to plead the cause of love,
Beyond my life, beyond the world, [Kneeling.] I prize
Fair Parisatis.-Hear me, I conjure you!
As you have authorised Hephestion's vows,
Reject not mine-grant me but equal leave
To serve the princess, and let love decide.

Heph. A blessing like the beauteous Parisatis
Whole years of service, and the world's wide empire,
With all the blood that circles in our veins,
Can never merit, therefore in my favour
I begg'd the king to interpose his interest,
Therefore I begg'd your majesty's assistance;
Your word is past, and all my hopes rest on it.
Lys. [Rising.] Perish such hopes! for love's a ge-
nerous passion,

Which seeks the happiness of her we love,
Beyond the enjoyment of our own desires
Nor kings nor parents here have aught to do
Love owns no influence, and disdains control;
Let them stand neuter-'tis all I ask.

:

Heph. Such arrogance, did Alexander woo, Would lose him all the conquests he has won.

Lys. To talk of conquests well becomes the

man,

4

Whose life and sword are but his rival's gift!

Sys. It grieves me, brave Lysimachus, to find My power fall short of my desires to serve you: You know Hephestion first declared his love, And 'tis as true I promis'd him my aid; Your glorious king, his mighty advocate, Became himself an humble suppliant for him. Forget her, prince, and triumph o'er your passion, A conquest worthy of a soul like thine.

Lys. Forget her, madam! sooner shall the sun Forget to shine, and tumble from his sphere. Farewell, great queen-my honour now demands, That Alexander should himself explain

That wond'rous merit, which exalts his favourite, And casts Lysimachus at such a distance. [Exit. Sys. In this wild transport of ungovern'd passion, Too far, I fear, he will incense the king.

Is Alexander yet, my lord, arriv'd?

Heph. Madam, I know not; but Cassander comes; He may perhaps inform us.

Sys. I would shun him:

Something there is, I know not why, that shocks

me,

Something my nature shrinks at when I see him.

Enter CASSAnder.

[Exeunt.

Cas. The face of day now blushes scarlet deep,
Now blackens into night; the low'ring sun,
As if the dreadful business he foreknew,
Drives heavily his sable chariot on.

All nature seems alarmed for Alexander.

:

Why, be it so her pangs proclaim my triumph.
A mad Chaldean, with a flaming torch,

B

Came to my bed last night, and bellowing o'er me, 'Well had it been for Babylon, he cried,

'If curst Cassander never had been born.'

Enter THESSALUS, with a Packet.

How now? dear Thessalus? what packet's that? Thes. From Macedon; a trusty slave just brought it.

Your father chides us for our cold delay;
He says Craterus, by the king's appointment,
Comes, in his room, to govern Macedon,
Which nothing but the tyrant's death can hinder;
Therefore he bids us boldly strike,

Or quit our purpose, and confess our fears.

Cas. Is not his fate resolv'd? this night he dies, And thus my father but forestalls my purpose. How am I slow then? If I rode on thunder, Winged as the lightning, it would ask some moments,

Ere I could blast the growth of this Colossus.

Thes. Mark where the haughty Polyperchon

comes !

Some new affront, by Alexander given,

Swells in his heart, and stings him into madness.
Cas. Now, now's our time; he must, he shall, be

ours:

His haughty soul will kindle at his wrongs,
Blaze into rage, and glory in revenge.

Enter POLYPERCHON.

Poly. Still as I pass, fresh murmurs fill my ears; All talk of wrongs, and mutter their complaints. Poor soulless reptiles !-their revenge expires In idle threats-the fortitude of cowards! Their province is to talk; 'tis mine to act,

And show this tyrant, when he dar'd to wrong me, He wrong'd a man, whose attribute is vengeance.

Cas. All nations bow their heads with servile ho

mage,

And kiss the feet of this exalted man.

The name, the shout, the blast from ev'ry mouth,

Is Alexander! Alexander stuns

The list ning ear, and drowns the voice of Heaven! The earth's commanders fawn like crouching spaniels ;

And if this hunter of the barbarous world
But wind himself a god, all echo him
With universal cry.

Poly. I fawn or echo him!

Cassander, no; my soul disdains the thought!
Let eastern slaves or prostituted Greeks
Crouch at his feet, or tremble if he frown;
When Polyperchon can descend so low,

False to that honour, which thro' fields of death
I still have courted where the fight was fiercest,
Be scorn my portion, infamy my lot.

Thes. The king may doom me to a thousand tortures,

Ply me with fire, and rack me like Philotas,
Ere I shall stoop to idolize his pride.

Cas. Not Aristander, had he rais'd all hell,

Could more have shock'd my soul than thou hast done,

By the bare mention of Philotas' murder.

Oh Polyperchon! how shall I describe it!

Did not your eyes rain blood, to see the hero?

Did not your spirits burst with smothered vengeance,
To see thy noble fellow-warrior tortur'd,
Yet without groaning or a tear, endure

The torments of the damn'd? Oh! death to think it!
We saw him bruis'd, we saw his bones laid bare,
His veins wide lanc'd, and the poor quiv'ring flesh
With fiery pincers from his bosom torn,

Till all beheld, where the great heart lay panting.

Poly. Yet all like statues stood!-cold, lifeless

statues !

As if the sight had froze us into marble,

When with collected rage we should have flown
To instant vengeance on the ruthless cause,

And plung'd a thousand daggers in his heart.

Cas. At our last banquet, when the bowl had gone

The giddy round, and wine inflam'd my spirits,
I saw Craterus and Hephestion enter
In Persian robes; to Alexander's health
They largely drank, and falling at his feet
With impious adoration, thus address'd

Their idol god: 'Hail, son of thund'ring Jove!
Hail, first of kings! young Ammon, live for ever!'
Then kiss'd the ground; on which, I laugh'd aloud,
And scoffing ask'd them, why they kiss'd no harder?
Whereon the tyrant, starting from his throne,
Spurn'd me to earth, and stamping on my neck,
Learn thou to kiss it, was his fierce reply,
While with his foot he press'd me to the earth,
Till I lay welt'ring in a foam of blood.

Poly. Thus, when I mock'd the Persians that ador'd him,

He struck me on the face, swung me round,
And bid his guards chastise me like a slave :
But, if he 'scape my vengeance, may he live
Great as that god whose name he thus profanes,
And like a slave may I again be beaten,
Scoff'd as I pass, and branded for a coward!

Cas. There spoke the spirit of Calisthenes.
Remember he's a man, his flesh as penetrable
As any girl's, and wounded too as soon;
To give him death no thunders are required:
Struck by a stone young Jupiter has fall'n,

A sword has pierc'd him, and the blood has follow'd,