Not punished for thy planned deliverance,
But rather for the sacred Name, I stand
Thus ready to the headsman. Aye: give thanks;
Yet thou, too rash, hast clouded my last hour.
Did I not guard thee? Was my prayer in vain?
For into horror’s mouth thou hast returned.
Theodora. Nay: chide not. Test their changed intent, and mark
That in it lurks for me no word but “Death,”
No word at all but dear dispassionate “Death.”
Were I, still helpless, in dread peril caught,