Ant. For heaven's sake hold, and recollect your mind!
Alv. Consider whom you punish, and for what;
Yourself unjustly; you have charged the fault
On heaven, that best may bear it.
Though incest is indeed a deadly crime,
You are not guilty, since unknown 'twas done,
And, known, had been abhorred.
Seb. By heaven, you're traitors all, that hold my hands.
If death be but cessation of our thought,
Then let me die, for I would think no more.
I'll boast my innocence above,
And let them see a soul they could not sully,
I shall be there before my father's ghost,
That yet must languish long in frosts and fires,
For making me unhappy by his crime.—
Stand oft, and let me take my fill of death;[Struggling again.
For I can hold my breath in your despite,
435 And swell my heaving soul out when I please.
Alv. Heaven comfort you!
Seb. What, art thou giving comfort!
Wouldst thou give comfort, who hast given despair?
Thou seest Alonzo silent; he's a man.
He knows, that men, abandoned of their hopes,
Should ask no leave, nor stay for sueing out
A tedious writ of ease from lingering heaven,
But help themselves as timely as they could,
And teach the Fates their duty.
Dor. [To Alv. and Ant.] Let him go;
He is our king, and he shall be obeyed.
Alv. What, to destroy himself? O parricide!
Dor. Be not injurious in your foolish zeal,
But leave him free; or, by my sword, I swear
To hew that arm away, that stops the passage
To his eternal rest.
Ant. [Letting go his hold.] Let him be guilty of his own death, if he pleases; for I'll not be guilty of mine, by holding him.
[The King shakes off Alv.
Alv. [To Dor.] Infernal fiend,
Is this a subject's part?