* * * * *
SCENE XIII.
BASILIUS, CLOTALDO, ASTOLFO, flying. — CLARIN concealed.
BASILIUS. Hapless king! disastrous reign!
Outraged father! guilty son!
CLOTALDO. See thy vanquished forces run
In a panic o'er the plain!
ASTOLFO. And the rebel conqueror's stay,
Proud, defiant.
BASILIUS. 'Tis decreed
Those are loyal who succeed,
Rebels those who lose the day.
Let us then, Clotaldo, flee,
Since the victory he hath won,
From a proud and cruel son.
[Shots are fired within, and CLARIN falls wounded from his hiding-place.
CLARIN. Heaven protect me!
ASTOLFO. Who can be
This last victim of the fight,
Who is struck down in the retreat,
Falls here bleeding at our feet?