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• The Works of Voltaire: the Dramatic Works of Voltaire Vol. Ix— Part I
• Alzire
• Dramatis PersonÆ.
• Act I.
• Act II.
• Act III.
• Act IV.
• Act V.
• Orestes
• Dramatis PersonÆ.
• Act I.
• Act II.
• Act III.
• Act IV.
• Act V.
• SÉmiramis
• Dramatis PersonÆ.
• Act I.
• Act II.
• Act III.
• Act IV.
• Act V.
• Catiline
• Dramatis PersonÆ.
• Act I.
• Act II.
• Act III.
• Act IV.
• Act V.
• Pandora
• Dramatis PersonÆ.
• Act I.
• Act II.
• Act III.
• Act IV.
• Act V.
• The Dramatic Works of Voltaire Vol. Ix—part Ii
• The Scotch Woman
• Dramatis PersonÆ.
• Act I.
• Act II.
• Act III.
• Act IV.
• Act V.
• Nanine
• Dramatis PersonÆ.
• Act I.
• Act II.
• Act III.
• The Prude
• Dramatis PersonÆ.
• Act I.
• Act II.
• Act III.
• Act IV.
• Act V.
• The Tatler
• Dramatis PersonÆ.
• Act I.

ACT I.

The scene represents a large peristyle, at the bottom of which is the palace of Sémiramis. Gardens with fine hanging terraces, raised above the palace: on the right hand the temple of the magi, and on the left a mausoleum adorned with obelisks.

SCENE I.

arsaces, mitranes.

[Two slaves at a distance carrying a coffer.

arsaces.

• Once more, Mitranes, thou beholdest thy friend,
• Who, in obedience to the royal mandate
• In secret sent, revisits Babylon,
• The seat of empire; how Sémiramis
• Imprints the image of her own great soul
• On every object! these stupendous piles,
• These deep enclosures, where Euphrates pours
• His tributary waves; the temple’s pride,
• The hanging gardens, and the splendid tomb
• Of Ninus, wondrous monuments of art!
• And only less to be admired than she
• Who raised them! here, in all her splendid pomp,
• More honored than the monarchs of the East,
• Arsaces shall behold this glorious queen.

mitranes.

• O my Arsaces, credit not the voice
• Of Fame, she is deceitful oft, and vain;
• Perhaps hereafter thou mayest weep with me,
• And admiration on a nearer view
• May turn to pity.

arsaces.

• Wherefore?

mitranes.

• Sunk in grief,
• Sémiramis hath spread o’er every heart
• The sorrows which she feels; sometimes she raves,
• Filling the air with her distressful cries,
• As if some vengeful God pursued her; sits
• Silent and sad within these lonely vaults,
• Sacred to night, to sorrow, and to death,
• Which mortals dare not enter; where the ashes
• Of Ninus, our late honored sovereign, lie:
• There will she oft fall on her knees and weep:
• With slow and fearful steps she glides along,
• And beats her breast besprinkled with her tears:
• Oft as she treads her solitary round,
• Will she repeat the names of son and husband,
• And call on heaven, which in its anger seems
• To thwart her in the zenith of her glory.

arsaces.

• Whence can her sorrow flow?

mitranes.

• The effect is dreadful:
• The cause unknown.

arsaces.

• How long hath she been thus
• Oppressed, Mitranes?

mitranes.

• From the very time
• When first her orders came to bring Arsaces.

arsaces.

• Me, saidst thou?

mitranes.

• You, my lord: when Babylon
• Rejoicing met to celebrate thy conquests,
• And saw the banners thy victorious arm
• Had wrested from our vanquished foes; when first
• Euphrates brought to our delighted shore
• The lovely Azema, from Belus sprung,
• Whom thou hadst saved from Scythian ravishers,
• Even in that hour of triumph and success,
• Even in the bosom of prosperity,
• The heart of majesty was pierced with grief,
• And the throne lost its lustre.

arsaces.

• Azema
• Was not to blame; she could not be the cause
• Of sorrow or distress; one look from her
• Would soothe the wrath of gods: but say, my friend,
• Sémiramis is still a sovereign here,
• Her heart is not forever sunk in grief?

mitranes.

• No: when her noble mind shakes off the burden,
• Resumes its strength, and shines in native lustre,
• Then we behold in her exalted soul
• Powers that excel whatever flattery’s self
• Hath e’er bestowed on kings; but when she sinks
• Beneath this dreadful malady, loose flow
• The reins of empire, dropping from her hand;
• Then the proud satrap, fiery Assur, guides
• The helm and makes the nations groan beneath him:
• The fatal secret never yet hath reached
• The walls of Babylon: abroad we still
• Are envied, but, alas! we mourn at home.

arsaces.

• What lessons of instruction to weak mortals,
• When happiness is mingled thus with woe!
• I, too, am wretched, thus deprived of him
• Whose piercing wisdom best could give me council,
• And lead me through the mazes of a court.
• O I have cause to weep: without a father,
• Left as I am to all the dangerous passions
• Of heedless youth, without a friendly guide,
• What rocks encompass and what shoals affright me!

mitranes.

• I weep with thee the loss of him we loved,
• The good old man; Phradates was my friend;
• Ninus esteemed and gave to him the care
• Of Ninias, his dear son, our country’s hope:
• But O! one fatal day destroyed them both,
• Father and son: to voluntary exile
• Devoted, long he lived: his banishment
• Was fortunate to thee, and made thee great:
• Close by his side, in honor’s glorious field,
• Arsaces fought, and conquered for his country:
• Now, ranked with princes, thy exalted virtue
• Claims its reward by merit all thy own.

arsaces.

• I know not what may be my portion here:
• Perhaps, distinguished on Arbazan’s plains
• With fair success, my name is not unknown:
• On Oxus’ banks to great Sémiramis,
• When vanquished nations paid the homage due,
• From her triumphant cars she dropped a ray
• Of her own glory on Arsaces’ head:
• But oft the soldier, honored in the field,
• In courts neglected lies, and is forgotten.
• My father told me in his dying hour
• The fortune of Arsaces here depended
• Upon the common cause; then gave to me
• These precious relics, which from every eye
• He had preserved: I must deliver them
• To the high priest, for he alone can judge,
• And know their value: I must talk with him
• In secret, touching my own fate, for he
• Can best conduct me to Sémiramis.

mitranes.

• He seldom sees the queen: in solitude
• Obscure he lives: his holy ministry
• Engrosses all his care; without ambition,
• Fearless, and void of art: is always seen
• Within the temple, never at the court:
• Never affects the pride of rank and title,
• Nor his tiara near the diadem
• Immodest wears: the less he seeks for greatness,
• The more is he admired, the more revered:
• I have access to every avenue
• Of his retirement in this sacred place,
• And can this moment talk to him in secret;
• Ere day’s too far advanced I’ll bring him hither.

SCENE II.

arsaces.

• [Alone.
• Immortal gods! for what am I reserved?
• Make known your will: why did my dying father
• Thus send me to the sanctuary, me
• A soldier, bred amidst the din of arms?
• A lover, too? How can Arsaces serve
• The gods of the Chaldæans?—Ha! what voice
• From yonder tomb in plaintive accents strikes
• My frighted ear, and makes my hair to stand
• On end with horror! Near this place I’ve heard
• The spirit of Ninus dwells—again it shrieks—
• It shocks my soul—Ye dark and dreary caves,
• And thou, the shade of my illustrious master,
• Thou voice of heaven, what wouldst thou with Arsaces?

SCENE III.

arsaces, oroes,the high priest, the magi attending him,mitranes.

mitranes.

• [Speaking to Oroes.
• He’s here, my lord, and waits to give you up
• Those precious relics.

arsaces.

• Most revered father,
• Permit a soldier to approach your presence,
• Pleased to fulfil a father’s last command,
• One whom you deigned to love; thus at your feet,
• Obedient to his will, I here resign them.

oroes.

• Welcome! thou brave and noble youth! that God
• Who governs all, and not a father’s will,
• Guided thee here: Phradates was my friend;
• Dear is his memory to me; thou shalt know
• Perhaps hereafter how I love his son:
• Where are the gifts he sent me?

arsaces.

[The slaves deliver the coffer to two of the magi, who place it on an altar.

• Here, my lord.

oroes.

[Opening the coffer, bowing reverentially to it, and seeming greatly affected.

• Ye sacred relics! do these eyes at length
• Behold you! O, I weep for joy to press
• These monuments of woe, whilst tears recall
• My solemn oath: Mitranes, let no ear
• Profane disturb our holy mystery:
• We would be private.
• [The magi retire.
• Mark this seal, Arsaces:
• ’Tis that which to the laws of Ninus gave
• Their public force, and kept the world in awe:
• The letter, too, which with his dying hand
• He wrote: Arsaces, view the wreath that crowned
• His royal brows, and his victorious sword:
• The vanquished Medes and Persians felt its power:
• It comes at last to vindicate its master,
• And to revenge him; useless instrument
• Against base treachery, and destructive poison,
• Whose mortal—

arsaces.

• Heaven! what sayest thou?

oroes.

• The dread secret
• Hath long been hid in darkness from the eyes
• Of men within the sepulchre; the shade
• Of Ninus, and offended heaven, long time
• Have raised their voice in vain, and called for vengeance.

arsaces.

• It must be as thou sayest: for know, but now,
• Even on this spot, I heard most dreadful groans.

oroes.

• It was the voice of Ninus.

arsaces.

• Twice the noise
• Affrighted me.

oroes.

• ’Twas he: he calls for vengeance.

arsaces.

• He has a right to ask it: but on whom?

oroes.

• On the vile murderers, whose detested hands
• Had of the best of sovereigns robbed mankind;
• No tracks are left behind of the base treason,
• But all with him lies buried in the tomb:
• With ease might they deceive the sons of men,
• But not the all-seeing eye of watchful heaven,
• Which pierces the deep night of human falsehood.

arsaces.

• O would to heaven this feeble hand had power
• To punish crimes like these! I know not wherefore,
• But when I cast my eyes towards you tomb,
• New horrors rise: O might I not consult
• That venerable shade, the inhabitant
• Of those dark mansions?

oroes.

• No; it is forbidden:
• An oracle severe long since denounced
• The wrath of heaven against whoe’er should press
• Into this vale of tears, inhabited
• By death and the avenging gods: await
• With me, Arsaces, for the day of justice:
• Soon will it come, and all shall be accomplished:
• I can no more: sequestered from the world,
• I pray in secret to offended heaven,
• Which, as it wills, commissions me to speak,
• Or close my lips in silence: I have said
• All that I dare, and all I ought: be careful
• Lest in these walls a word, or look, or gesture,
• Betray the secret which the god by me
• Hath trusted with thee; for on that depends
• His glory, Asia’s welfare, and thy life.
• Approach, ye magi, hide these sacred relics
• Beneath the altar.
• [The great gate of the palace opens, Assur appears at a distance, surrounded by attendants and guards on every side.
• Ha! the palace opens:
• The courtiers crowding to the queen: behold
• The haughty Assur with his servile throng
• Of flatterers round him! O almighty power!
• On whom dost thou bestow thy bounties here?
• O monster!

arsaces.

• Ha! what meanest thou?

oroes.

• Fare thee well:
• When night shall cast her sable mantle o’er
• These guilty walls, I’ll have more converse with thee,
• Before the gods: revere them, my Arsaces,
• For know, brave youth, their eyes are fixed on thee.

SCENE IV.

Arsaces, Mitranes,in the front of the stage,Assur, Cedar,with attendants, on one side.

arsaces.

• His words are dreadful; they affright my soul:
• What horrid crimes! and what a court is here!
• How little known! my royal master poisoned,
• And Assur, but too well I see, suspected!

mitranes.

• Assur is sprung of royal race, and claims
• The deference due to his authority:
• He is the favorite of Sémiramis,
• And thou, without a blush, mayest pay him homage.

arsaces.

• Homage to him!

assur.

• [To Cedar.
• Ha! do my eyes deceive me,
• Or is Arsaces here without my order?
• Amazing insolence!

arsaces.

• What haughtiness!

assur.

• [Advancing.
• Come hither, youth: what new engagements here
• Have brought you from the camp?

arsaces.

• My duty, sir,
• And the queen’s orders.

assur.

• Did the queen send for you?

arsaces.

• She did.

assur.

• But, know you not, with her commands
• You should have asked for mine?

arsaces.

• I know not that,
• And should have thought the honor of her crown
• Debased by such a mean submission to thee:
• My lord, you must forgive a soldier’s roughness,
• We are bad courtiers: bred up in the plains
• Of Arbazan and Scythia, I have served
• Your court, but am not much acquainted with it.

assur.

• Age, time, and place, perhaps, may teach you, sir.
• What would you with the queen? for know, young man,
• Assur alone can lead you to her presence.

arsaces.

• I come to ask my valor’s best reward,
• The honor still to serve her.

assur.

• Thou wantest more,
• Presumptuous boy! I know thy bold pretences
• To Azema, but that thou wouldst conceal.

arsaces.

• Yes: I adore that lovely maid: her heart
• Would I prefer to empire: my respect,
• My tenderest love—

assur.

• No more: thou knowest not whom
• Thou art insulting thus: what! join the race
• Of a Sarmatian to the demigods
• Of Tigris and Euphrates! mark me well:
• In pity to thy youth I would advise thee
• Ne’er, on thy peril, to Sémiramis
• Impart thy insolent request; for know,
• Rash boy, if thou shouldst dare to violate
• The rights of Assur, ’twill not pass unpunished.

arsaces.

• I’ll go this instant: thou hast given me courage:
• Thus threatenings always terrify Arsaces:
• Thou hast no right, whate’er thy power may be,
• To affront a soldier who has served his queen,
• The state, and thee: perhaps my warmth offends;
• But thou art rasher than myself, to think
• That I would bend beneath thy servile yoke,
• Or tremble at thy power.

assur.

• Perhaps thou mayest;
• I’ll teach thee what a subject may expect
• For insolence like this.

arsaces.

• We both may learn it.

SCENE V.

sémiramis,at the farther end of the stage, leaning on her women.

otanes, assur, arsaces, mitranes,in the front.

otanes.

• [Advancing.
• My lord, the queen at present would be private:
• You must retire, and give her sorrows way:
• Withdraw, ye gods, the hand of vengeance from her!

arsaces.

• How I lament her fate!

assur.

• [To one of his attendants.
• Let us begone,
• And study how we best may turn her griefs
• To our advantage.
• [Sémiramis comes forward, and is joined by Otanes.

otanes.

• My royal mistress, be yourself again,
• And wake once more to joy and happiness.

sémiramis.

• O death! when wilt thou come with friendly shade
• To close these eyes that hate the light of day?
• Be shut, ye caves; horrible phantom, hence!
• Strike if thou wilt, but threaten me no more.
• Otanes, is Arsaces come?

otanes.

• Ere morn
• Rose on the temple, madam, he was there.

sémiramis.

• That dreadful voice, from heaven or hell I know not,
• Which in the dead of night so shakes my soul,
• Told me, my sorrows, when Arsaces came,
• Would soon be o’er.

otanes.

• Rely then on the gods,
• And let the cheerful ray of hope dispel
• This melancholy.

sémiramis.

• Is Arsaces here?
• Methinks, when I but hear his name, my soul
• Is less disturbed, and guilt sits lighter on me!

otanes.

• O! quit, forever quit the sad remembrance:
• Let the bright days of great Sémiramis,
• Replete with glory, blot one moment out
• That broke the chain of thy ill-fated nuptials:
• Had Ninus driven thee from his throne and bed,
• All Babylon with thee had been destroyed;
• But happily for us, and for mankind,
• That wanted such distinguished virtues, you
• Prevented him; and fifteen years of toil,
• Spent in the service of thy country, lands
• Desert and waste made fertile by thy care,
• The savage tamed, and yielding to the laws,
• The useful arts, obedient to thy voice,
• Uprising still, the glorious monuments
• Of wealth and power, the wonder of mankind,
• And the loud plaudit of a grateful people,
• All plead thy cause before the throne of heaven;
• But if impartial justice hold the scale,
• If vengeance is required for Ninus’ death,
• Why thus should Assur brave the angry gods,
• And live in peace? He was more guilty far
• Than thou wert, yet the ruthless hand that poured
• The fatal draught never shakes with fear: he feels
• No stings of conscience, no remorse affrights him.

sémiramis.

• Our duties different, different is our fate:
• Where ties are sacred, crimes are heavier far:
• I was his wife, Otanes, and I stand
• Without excuse; my conscience is my judge
• And my accuser: but I hoped the gods,
• Offended at my crimes, had punished me
• Enough, when they deprived me of my child;
• Hoped my successful toils, that made the earth
• Respect my name, had soothed the wrath of heaven:
• But months on months have passed in agony
• Since this dire spectre hath appalled my soul:
• My eyes forever see him, and my ears
• Still hear his cries: I get me to the tomb,
• But dare not enter: trembling I revere
• His ashes, and invoke his honored shade,
• Which only answers me in dismal groans.
• Some dread event is nigh: perhaps the time
• Is come to expiate the offence.

otanes.

• But thinkest thou
• The spirit of thy lord hath left indeed
• The mansions of the dead, and stalks abroad?
• Ofttimes the soul, by powerful fancy led,
• Starts at a phantom of its own creation;
• Still it beholds the objects it has made,
• And everything we fear is present to us.

sémiramis.

• O no! it was not the wild dream of fancy
• By slumber wrought, I saw him but too well:
• The stranger, Sleep, had long withheld from me
• His sweet delusions; watchful as I stood,
• And mused on my unhappy fate, a voice
• Close to my bed, methought, cried out, “Arsaces!”
• The name revived me: well thou knowest, long time
• Assur has pierced this heart with deadly grief:
• I shudder at his presence, and the blushes
• That show my guilt increase my punishment,
• Hate the reproachful witness of my shame,
• And wish I could—but wherefore should I add
• To crimes like mine fresh guilt? I sought Arsaces
• To punish Assur, and the thought of him
• Awhile relieved me! but in the sweet moment
• Of consolation, sudden stood before me
• That minister of death, all bathed in blood,
• And in his hand a falchion: still I see,
• Still hear him: comes he to defend, or punish?
• ’Twas at that very hour Arsaces came.
• This day was fixed by heaven to end my sorrows,
• But peace is yet a stranger to my soul,
• And hope is lost in horror and despair:
• The load of life is grown too heavy for me,
• My throne is hateful, and my glories past
• But add fresh weight to my calamities.
• Long time I’ve hid my sorrows from the world
• And blushed in secret, fearful to consult
• That reverend sage whom Babylon adores:
• I would not thus degrade the majesty
• Of sovereign power, or let Sémiramis
• Betray her fears before a mortal’s eye,
• But I have sent to Libya’s sands in secret
• There to consult the oracle of Jove:
• As if removed from man, the God of truth
• Had hid in desert plains his will divine.
• Alas! Otanes, that dread power which dwells
• Within these lonely walls, hath long received
• My fears and adorations; at his altars
• My gifts were offered, and my incense rose;
• But gifts and incense never can atone
• For crimes like mine: to-day I shall receive
• Answers from Memphis.

SCENE VI.

sémiramis, otanes, mitranes.

mitranes.

• An Egyptian priest
• Is at the palace gate, and begs admittance.

sémiramis.

• Then will my woes be ended, or complete.
• Let us begone, and hide from Babylon
• Her queen’s disgraceful sorrows: let Arsaces
• Be sent to me: soon may his presence calm
• This storm of grief, and soothe my troubled soul!

End of the First Act.