Take from the general of Rome this crown,
This robe of triumph, and this conquest’s wreath,
This sceptre and this hand; for ever breathe
Rome’s very minion. Live worth thy fame,
As far from faintings as from now base name.
Mass. Thou whom, like sparkling steel, the strokes of chance
Made hard and firm, and, like[388] wild-fire turn’d, 50
The more cold fate, the more thy virtue burn’d,
And in whole seas of miseries didst flame;
On thee, loved creature of a deathless fame,
[Massinissa adorns Sophonisba.
Rest all my honour! O thou for whom I drink
So deep of grief, that he must only think,
Not dare to speak, that would express my woe;
Small rivers murmur, deep gulfs silent flow.
My grief is here,[389] not here: heave gently then,
Women’s right wonder, and just shame of men.
[Exeunt all but Massinissa.
Cornets a short flourish.
[386] Ed. 2. “tongues.”
[387] Ed. 1. “he.”
[388] Ed. 2. “like to wild fire.” (As the line stands, “firm” is equivalent to a dissyllable.)
[389] i.e., in my heart, not my eyes.