The Immortal Lure

by Cale Young Rice

[Begins to choke her.

Myrrha. O!
Arduin.Aieh! cry out to him! will he not help you?
Myrrha. Ion!
Arduin.That word withering in your throat
Shall stale you past all hope of resurrection.

[Strangles her—and then looks around.

So, it is done.... And now, back to your tomb,
Which I will bury in the desert sands
So deep that not eternity can find it.

[Begins to draw her toward sarcophagus.

And yet (stopping stricken) all is not well ... I now could weep.

[With lone anguish.

I know not wherefore—only that my heart
Is wounded and seems bleeding o'er the hours
That I must live!... O Rhea!... O, my love!

[Strangely kissing her.

Do you not hear the nightingale that sang
The song of our betrothal in Provence?
It sits upon....