Econlib

The Library

Other Sites

 Front Page arrow Titles (by Subject) arrow ACT III. - The Works of Voltaire, Vol. VIII The Dramatic Works Part 1 (Mérope, Olympia, The Orphan of China, Brutus) and Part II (Mahomet, Amelia, Oedipus, Mariamne, Socrates).

Return to Title Page for The Works of Voltaire, Vol. VIII The Dramatic Works Part 1 (Mérope, Olympia, The Orphan of China, Brutus) and Part II (Mahomet, Amelia, Oedipus, Mariamne, Socrates).

Search this Title:

Also in the Library:

Subject Area: Literature
Debate: Cato and Caesar

ACT III. - Voltaire, The Works of Voltaire, Vol. VIII The Dramatic Works Part 1 (Mérope, Olympia, The Orphan of China, Brutus) and Part II (Mahomet, Amelia, Oedipus, Mariamne, Socrates). [1901]

Edition used:

The Works of Voltaire. A Contemporary Version. A Critique and Biography by John Morley, notes by Tobias Smollett, trans. William F. Fleming (New York: E.R. DuMont, 1901). In 21 vols. Vol. VIII The Dramatic Works Part 1 (Mérope, Olympia, The Orphan of China, Brutus) and Part II (Mahomet, Amelia, Oedipus, Mariamne, Socrates).

Part of: The Works of Voltaire. A Contemporary Version, in 21 vols.

About Liberty Fund:

Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals.


ACT III.

SCENE I.

varus, nabal, albinus,Attendants onvarus.

nabal.

  • The king, my lord, the happy Herod, comes
  • Triumphant, and the Hebrews flock in crowds
  • To meet him: Salome, alarmed and fearful
  • Of her declining interest, joins his train
  • Of fawning courtiers, soothes his pride, and strives
  • By every art to gain him to her purpose;
  • The priests attend, and strew their palms before him.
  • With Herod comes the faithful Idamas,
  • Deputed by his sovereign to attend
  • The noble Varus; he will soon be here.
  • Still hath he proved himself the constant friend
  • Of Mariamne, and by wholesome counsels
  • Softened the rage of his impetuous master:
  • The queen, still wavering and irresolute,
  • Condemns herself; her rigid virtue fears
  • To do what danger tells her must be done:
  • She quits the palace, then returns; meanwhile
  • Her anxious mother, falling at her feet,
  • Bathes them in tears, points to her weeping children,
  • And trembling begs her to depart: she stops,
  • And doubts, and much I fear will stay too long:
  • ’Tis thou must hasten her; on thee alone
  • Depends the safety of the noblest being
  • Heaven e’er gave birth to. O preserve her; save
  • The race august sprung from a line of kings;
  • Save Mariamne. Are your guards all ready?
  • May I inform her of it?

varus.

  • All’s prepared:
  • I gave them orders: she may go this moment.

nabal.

  • And wilt thou too permit a faithful servant
  • To follow his loved mistress?

varus.

  • Go with her,
  • Wait on her steps, and guard her as thy life:
  • This hateful place deserves her not: may heaven,
  • In pity to her sorrows, smile upon her;
  • Light up a fairer sun to gild her journey,
  • And bid the waves in smoother currents flow,
  • Obedient to the sacred charge they bear!
  • Thou, good old man, mayest follow and attend her;
  • Thou art too happy, but thou hast deserved it.

SCENE II.

varus, albinus,Attendants onvarus.

varus.

  • Already Herod comes; the trumpet’s sound
  • Speaks his return; unwelcome sound to me!
  • I dread his presence: cruel as he is,
  • Instant his wrath may fall on Mariamne:
  • Would she had left forever these sad seats
  • Of guilt and horror! would I might partake
  • Her flight! but O! the more I love, the more
  • I must avoid her: ’twere in me a crime
  • To follow her; and all that Varus can—
  • But Idamas approaches.

SCENE III.

varus, idamas, albinus,Attendants onvarus.

idamas.

  • Ere the king,
  • My royal master, comes, with gratitude
  • To pay thy bounties, and receive from thee
  • The holy sceptre, say, wilt thou permit me?—

varus.

  • No more: your king may spare this idle homage,
  • These practised arts of visionary friendship
  • Amongst the great, drawn forth with pompous splendor
  • But to amuse the gaping multitude
  • And foreign to the heart: but say, at length
  • Rome has consented; Herod is your king;
  • Doth he deserve to reign? Is the queen safe,
  • And will he spare the blood of innocence.

idamas.

  • May the just gods, who hate the perjured man,
  • Open his eyes, now blinded by imposture!
  • But who shall dive into his secret thoughts,
  • Or trace the emotions of his troubled soul?
  • Naught can we draw from him but sullen silence;
  • Or if perchance the name of Mariamne
  • Escape his lips, he sighs, and raves: this moment
  • Gives secret orders, and the next revokes them:
  • Herod detests the race from whence she sprang,
  • And hates her more because he loved too well.
  • Perfidious Zares, by thy order stopped,
  • And by thy order freed, the artificer
  • Of calumny and fraud, will serve the cause
  • Of subtle Salome, whilst Mazael lends
  • His secret aid: the jealous Herod listens
  • To their suggestions; they besiege him closely;
  • And their officious hatred still keeps truth
  • At distance from him: this great conqueror,
  • Who made so many potent monarchs tremble,
  • This king, whose noble deeds even Rome admired,
  • Whose name yet fills all Asia with alarms,
  • In his own house beholds his glories fade:
  • Torn by suspicions, and o’erwhelmed with grief;
  • Led by his sister, hated by his wife:
  • I pity him, and fear for Mariamne.
  • Say, wilt thou not protect her?

varus.

  • ’Tis enough:
  • Albinus, follow me, the queen’s in danger:
  • Away, for I must save the innocent.

idamas.

  • Will you not wait then for the king?

varus.

  • I know
  • I should receive him here: it is my duty,
  • For so the senate wills: but other cares
  • Inspire me now, and other interests guide:
  • ’Tis my first duty to protect the wretched.
  • [Exit Varus.

idamas.

  • What storms do I foresee? what new distresses
  • Will soon o’ertake us? Now, O Israel’s God,
  • Change Herod’s heart!

SCENE IV.

herod, mazael, idamas,Attendants onherod.

herod.

  • Varus avoid me too!
  • What horrors meet me here on every side!
  • Good heaven! can Herod inspire naught but hatred
  • And terror to mankind? Is every heart
  • Thus shut against me? To myself disgustful,
  • My people, and my queen; with grief oppressed
  • I re-ascend my throne, and only come
  • To see the sorrows my own hand hath made.
  • O heaven!

mazael.

  • Be calm, my lord, let me entreat you.

herod.

  • Wretch that I am, what have I done!

mazael.

  • Ha! weeping!
  • Shall Herod weep, the great, the illustrious king,
  • The dread of Parthia, and the friend of Rome,
  • For wisdom and for valor long renowned!
  • O! think my lord, of those distinguished honors
  • Which Antony and victory bestowed;
  • Think of thy fame, when seen by great Augustus,
  • He chose thee from a crowd of conquered kings,
  • And marked thee for his friend: call back the time,
  • When great Jerusalem, by thee subdued,
  • Submitted to thy laws: by thee defended,
  • Once more she shines with all her ancient lustre,
  • And sees her sovereign crowned with fair success:
  • Never was king in peace or war more happy.

herod.

  • There is no happiness on earth for me;
  • Fate points its poisoned arrows at my breast;
  • And, to complete my woes, I have deserved them.

idamas.

  • Permit me, sir, the freedom to observe,
  • Your throne, by fears and jealousies surrounded,
  • Would stand more firmly on love’s nobler basis:
  • The king who makes his people’s happiness
  • Secures his own; thy soul, thus racked with tortures,
  • Might trace the poisoned waters to their spring.
  • O, my lord, suffer not malicious tongues
  • To wound the peace and honor of thy life;
  • Nor servile flatterers to estrange the hearts
  • Of those who long to serve their royal master:
  • Israel shall then enamored with thy virtues—

herod.

  • And thinkest thou Herod might again be loved?

mazael.

  • Zares, my lord, still faithful to his charge,
  • Burns with the same unwearied zeal to serve thee:
  • He comes from Salome, and begs admittance.

herod.

  • What! both forever persecute me! No!
  • Let not that monster e’er appear before me;
  • I’ve heard too much already: hence, begone,
  • And leave me to myself: what shall I do
  • To calm my troubled soul? Stay, Idamas,
  • And, Mazael, stay.

SCENE V.

herod, mazael, idamas.

herod.

  • Behold this dreadful monarch,
  • This mighty king, who made the nations tremble;
  • Who knew so well to conquer and to reign.
  • To break his chains, and make the world admire
  • His wisdom and his power: behold him now,
  • Alas! how little like his former self!

mazael.

  • All own thy greatness, and adore thy virtues.

idamas.

  • One heart alone resists, and that perhaps
  • May still be thine.

herod.

  • No: Herod’s a barbarian,
  • Unworthy of his throne.

idamas.

  • Thy grief is just,
  • And if for Mariamne—

herod.

  • Fatal name!
  • ’Tis that condemns me; that reproaches still
  • My tortured soul with cruelty and weakness.

mazael.

  • My lord, your goodness but augments her hatred;
  • She loathes your sight, and flies from your embraces.

herod.

  • I courted hers.

mazael.

  • Indeed, my lord?

herod.

  • I did:
  • This sudden change, this grief that hangs upon me,
  • These shameful tears, do they not all declare
  • That Herod is returned from Mariamne?
  • With love and hatred mingled in my soul,
  • I left the crowd of flatterers in my court,
  • And flew to her: but what was my reward?
  • How did we meet! in anger, frowns, and strife:
  • In her indignant eyes I read my fate,
  • And my injustice: she scarce deigned to cast
  • A look upon me; even my tears availed not;
  • They only served to make her scorn me more.

mazael.

  • You see, my lord, her soul’s implacable,
  • And never will be softened by indulgence;
  • It but inflames her pride.

herod.

  • I know she hates me;
  • But I’ve deserved it, and I must forgive her:
  • She has but too much cause from one so guilty.

mazael.

  • Guilty, my lord? hast thou forgot her flights,
  • Contempt, and pride, and wrath, and fierce resentment;
  • Her father’s plot, her own designs against thee,
  • And all her race thy mortal foes? Hircanus
  • Had oft betrayed thee; the Asmonæan league
  • Was firmly knit; and by such dangerous powers,
  • That nothing but a master-stroke could save—

herod.

  • No matter: that Hircanus was her father,
  • I should have spared him; but I only listened
  • To proud ambition, and the love of empire:
  • My cruel policy destroyed her race;
  • I killed the father, and proscribed his daughter:
  • I wanted but to hate and to oppress,
  • And heaven, to punish me, hath made me love her.

idamas.

  • To feel a passion for a worthy object
  • Is not a weakness in us, but a virtue,
  • Worthy of every good which heaven hath given thee;
  • Esteem thy love amongst its choicest blessings.

herod.

  • What hath my rashness done! ye sacred manes,
  • Hircanus, Oh!

mazael.

  • Banish the sad remembrance,
  • And grant, kind heaven, the queen too may forget it!

herod.

  • Unhappy father! more unhappy husband!
  • The injuries I have done my Mariamne
  • Make her more dear: O! if her heart—her faith—
  • But I have stayed too long: now, Idamas,
  • I’ll make amends for all; go, haste, and tell her,
  • My soul, obedient to her will, shall lay
  • My throne, my life, my glory at her feet:
  • Amongst her sons I’ll choose a successor.
  • She has accused my sister as the cause
  • Of her misfortunes, henceforth I disclaim her;
  • A nearer tie demands the sacrifice,
  • And Salome must yield to Mariamne:
  • My queen shall rule with power unlimited!

mazael.

  • My lord, you will not—

herod.

  • Yes: I am resolved:
  • I know her now; she is the choicest gift
  • Of bounteous heaven; as such I shall revere her:
  • What cannot love, the mighty conqueror, do?
  • To Mariamne I shall owe my virtue.
  • In savage pomp, and barbarous majesty,
  • Too long hath Asia seen her sovereign rule
  • Respected by his people; feared, admired,
  • Yet hated still; with crowds of worshippers,
  • But not one friend. My sister, whom long time
  • This foolish heart believed, hath ne’er consulted
  • My happiness, my interest, or my fame:
  • For Salome, more cruel than myself,
  • And more revengeful, dipped her hands in blood,
  • And ruled my subjects with a rod of iron:
  • Whilst Mariamne felt for the unhappy,
  • Forgot her own distress to pity theirs,
  • And told me all their sorrows: but ’tis past:
  • Henceforth I will be just, but not severe;
  • I’ll strive to please her by promoting still
  • The public weal: Judah shall bless my reign,
  • For I am changed. From this auspicious hour,
  • Far from my throne, shall every jealous fear
  • Be now removed: I will dry up the tears
  • Of the oppressed, and reign o’er Palestine,
  • Not as a tyrant, but a citizen;
  • Gain every heart to merit Mariamne’s.
  • O seek her, tell her how my soul repents;
  • That my remorse is equal to my rashness.
  • Run, fly, begone, and instantly return.
  • What do I see? my sister? hence: O heaven,
  • Finish the woes of my unhappy life!

SCENE VI.

herod, salome.

salome.

  • Well, sir, you’ve seen your dear deceitful foe,
  • And suffered more affronts; I know you have.

herod.

  • Madam, permit me to inform you, this
  • Is not a time to add to my misfortunes;
  • I would remove them: my imperious temper
  • Made me more feared indeed, but more unhappy:
  • Too long already o’er this house of sorrow
  • Hath vengeance poured her black and deadly poison:
  • The queen and you, thus at perpetual variance,
  • Would be a spring of endless misery; therefore,
  • My sister, for our mutual happiness,
  • For thy repose and mine, ’tis best to part;
  • Immediately, away: it must be so.

salome.

  • What do I hear! O fatal enemy!

herod.

  • A king commands, a brother begs it of thee:
  • O may he ne’er again be forced to give
  • One cruel order, ne’er take vengeance more,
  • Nourish suspicions, or shed guiltless blood!
  • Thou shalt no longer make my life a burden;
  • Complain of me, lament thyself, but go.

salome.

  • Alas! my lord, I shall make no complaints;
  • Since I am doomed to banishment by thee,
  • It must be just, and fitting that I should be;
  • For I have ever learned to make thy will
  • My law: if thou commandest, I must obey;
  • I never shall resent the injury,
  • Or call on nature and the ties of blood,
  • Or to attest, or vindicate my wrongs;
  • The voice of nature’s seldom heard by kings,
  • The ties of blood are much too weak to bind them:
  • I will not boast that tender friendship now
  • Whose zeal offends thee; much less would I call
  • To thy remembrance all my service past;
  • One look I see from Mariamne soon
  • Effaces all: but canst thou ever think
  • She will forget the attempt upon her life
  • Which Herod made? thee she must fear: thou therefore
  • Shouldst dread her more: thou knowest her vows, her thoughts
  • Are bent against thee, and whose counsels now
  • Shall stay her vengeance? Where’s the faithful heart
  • Devoted to thee? where’s the watchful eye,
  • Ever awake, to guard the life of Herod?
  • Who shall unravel all her subtle plots,
  • Or who restrain her wrath? Dost thou believe,
  • When thou hast put thy life within her power,
  • That love will plead for thee? O no! such hate,
  • Such scorn as hers, such desperate resentment—

herod.

  • Permit me, Salome, at least to doubt,
  • At least delude me with the flattering hopes
  • I may regain her heart: in this alone
  • I wish to be deceived: show some regard,
  • Some kind compassion for a brother’s weakness:
  • I must believe, thou knowest I’ve too much reason.
  • Thy hatred was a barrier to our love:
  • Thy malice hardened Mariamne’s heart,
  • And, but for thee, I had been less detested.

salome.

  • Couldst thou but know, O! couldst thou but conceive
  • To what excess—

herod.

  • Sister, I’ll hear no more:
  • Let Mariamne threaten; let her take
  • This loathesome life, for I am weary of it;
  • So shall I perish by the hand I love.

salome.

  • It would be cruel to deceive you longer
  • By guilty silence, or conceal her crimes:
  • I know the dangerous hazard that I run
  • By serving you; but I must speak, though death
  • Were my reward: poor, blind, deluded husband,
  • Enslaved by love for a vile worthless woman;
  • Know Mariamne now, and know thy shame:
  • ’Tis not her pride, her hatred, and disdain,
  • Should make thee loathe her, but that—she is false;
  • She loves another.

herod.

  • Mariamne love
  • Another! barbarous sister! to suspect
  • Her spotless virtue! Is it thus thou meanest
  • To murder Herod? Are these poisoned darts
  • The best farewell that thou canst leave thy brother?
  • To light up discord, shame, and rage, and horror,
  • In my distracted mind! Could Mariamne—
  • But thou already hast too oft deceived me;
  • Too long have I given credit to thy falsehood:
  • Now heaven has punished my credulity,
  • But it has ever been my fate to love
  • Those who abhor me. You are all my foes;
  • All sworn to persecute the wretched Herod.

salome.

  • Far from thy sight then—

herod.

  • Stir not hence, I charge thee;
  • Another is beloved? Speak, tell me, who
  • Must fall a sacrifice to Herod’s vengeance?
  • Pursue thy work, and make my woes complete.

salome.

  • Since I must speak—

herod.

  • Strike here: behold my heart:
  • Who has dishonored me? Whoe’er he be,
  • Thou, Salome, perhaps mayest answer for it,
  • For thou art guilty: thou hast undeceived me:
  • Now at thy peril speak.

salome.

  • No matter.

herod.

  • Well—

salome.

  • ’Tis—

SCENE VII.

herod, salome, mazael.

mazael.

  • Bear not this indignity, my lord,
  • The queen is fled, accompanied by Varus.

herod.

  • Varus, and Mariamne! gods! where am I?

mazael.

  • Varus, my lord, and all his troops have left
  • The palace, and a secret band is placed
  • About the walls to favor her retreat;
  • Your Mariamne will be lost forever.

herod.

  • The charm is broke, and day shines full upon me:
  • Come, Salome, acknowledge now thy brother,
  • And know him by his wrath; let us surprise
  • The infidel: now judge if Herod still
  • Acts like himself, and like himself revenges.

End of the Third Act.