Rod. So, now I am at rest:—
I feel death rising higher still, and higher,
Within my bosom; every breath I fetch
Shuts up my life within a shorter compass,
And, like the vanishing sound of bells, grows less
And less each pulse, 'till it be lost in air.
[Swoons away.
Gons. Down at your feet, much injured innocence, I lay that sword, which—
Jul. Take it up again;
It has not done its work 'till I am killed:
For ever, ever, thou hast robbed me of
That man, that only man, whom I could love:
Dost thou thus court thy mistress? thus oblige her?
All thy obligements have been fatal yet,
Yet the most fatal now would most oblige me.
Kill me:—yet I am killed before in him.
I lie there on the ground; cold, cold, and pale:
That death, I die in Roderick, is far
More pleasant than that life, I live in Julia.—
—See how he stands—when he is bid dispatch me!
How dull! how spiritless! that sloth possest
Thee not, when thou didst kill my Roderick.
Gons. I'm too unlucky to converse with men:
I'll pack together all my mischiefs up,
Gather with care each little remnant of them,
That none of them be left behind: Thus loaded,
Fly to some desert, and there let them loose,
Where they may never prey upon mankind.
But you may make my journey shorter:—Take
This sword; 'twill shew you how:—
Jul.I'll gladly set you on your way:— [Takes his sword.
Enter three of RODORICK'S servants.
1 Serv. Make haste; he's now unarmed, we may with ease Revenge my master's death.
Jul. Now these shall do it.
Gons. I'll die by none but you.—