IRENE. ACT I. SCENE I. DEMETRIUS and LEONTIUS in Turkish Habits. Leontius. AND is it thus Demetrius meets his friend, ? Dem. Till breathless fury rested from destruction These groans were fatal, these disguises vain : But now our Turkish conquerors have quench'd Their rage, and pall'd their appetite of murder; No more the glutted sabre thirsts for blood, And weary cruelty remits her tortures, Leo. Yet Greece enjoys no gleam of transient hope, No soothing interval of peaceful sorrow; The lust of gold succeeds the rage of conquest, The lust of gold, unfeeling and remorseless! The last corruption of degenerate man! Urg'd by th' imperious soldier's fierce command,. 1 The groaning Greeks break up their golden caverns Pregnant with stores, that India's mines might envy Th' accumulated wealth of toiling ages. Dem. That wealth, too sacred for their country's use! That wealth, too pleasing to be lost for freedom! Leo. Reproach not misery.-The sons of Greece, Why should they fear?-That Power that kindly spreads The clouds, a signal of impending showers, Dem. A thousand horrid prodigies foretold it. A factious populace, luxurious nobles, The weight of years, and totter to the tempest, Leo. Well might the weakness of our empire sink Dem. And yet, my friend, what miracles were wrought, Beyond the power of constancy and courage ? Did roaring whirlwinds sweep us from the ramparts ? "T was vice that shook our nerves, 't was vice, Leontius, That froze our veins, and wither'd all our powers. Leo. Whate'er our crimes, our woes demand com passion. Each night protected by the friendly darkness, With silent pangs I view the tow'ring domes, Dem. How chang'd, alas !—Now ghastly desolation In triumph sits upon our shatter'd spires, Now superstition, ignorance and error, Usurp our temples, and profane our altars. Leo. From ev'ry palace burst a mingled clamour, The dreadful dissonance of barb'rous triumph, Shrieks of affright, and wailings of distress. Arose to heaven, and pierc'd my bleeding breast, I felt thy pains, and trembled for Aspasia. Dem. Aspasia! spare that lov'd, that mournful name: Dear hapless maid-tempestuous grief o'erbears My reasoning powers-Dear, hapless, lost Aspasia! Leo. Suspend the thought. Dem. All thought on her is madness: Yet let me think-I see the helpless maid, Leo. Awake, Demetrius, from this dismal dream, Sink not beneath imaginary sorrows: Call to your aid your courage, and your wisdom; Leon. Some virgin martyr, Perhaps, enamour'd of resembling virtue, And snatch'd her timely from her country's fate. Dem. From those bright regions of eternal day, In pleasing visions, and assuasive dreams, And hop'd to share thy counsels, not thy sorrows; Dem. To what I know not: But hope, yet hope, to happiness and honour; Leo. But whence this new-sprung hope? Dem. From Cali Bassa: The chief, whose wisdom guides the Turkish counsels, He, tir'd of slavery, though the highest slave, Projects at once our freedom and his own; And bids us thus disguis'd await him here. Leo. Can he restore the state he could not save? In vain, when Turkey's troops assail'd our walls, His kind intelligence betray'd their measures; Their arms prevail'd, though Cali was our friend. Dem. When the tenth sun had set upon our sorrows, At midnight's private hour a voice unknown Sounds in my sleeping ear, Awake, Demetrius, Awake, and follow me to better fortunes;' Surpriz'd I start, and bless the happy dream; Then rousing know the fiery chief Abdallah, Whose quick impatience seiz'd my doubtful hand, |