ROXANE.
I came because.... O Christian, dearest conqueror,
You'd bid me rise, if I should clasp your knees;
So 'tis my soul that's at your feet. My soul
You never can remove from reverence.
I came to seek forgiveness (and the time
Is meet, indeed, since death is near, perhaps!),
Your pardon for—how frivolous I was!—
Once loving you for beauty's sake alone.
CHRISTIAN (frightened).
Roxane!
ROXANE.
But later, dear, with growing sense,
—A bird will hop before it learns to soar—
I marked your soul outshining e'en your looks,
And then I loved you more for both.
CHRISTIAN.
And now?
ROXANE.
You have, in short, yourself outshone yourself,
And now I love you for your soul alone.