Belv. Speak.
Jaff. Before we parted,
Ere yet his guards had led him to his prison,
Full of severest sorrows for his sufferings,
With eyes o'erflowing, and a bleeding heart,
Humbling myself almost beneath my nature,
As at his feet I kneeled, and sued for mercy,
Forgetting all our friendship, all the dearness
In which we've lived so many years together,
With a reproachful hand he dashed a blow:
He struck me, Belvidera—by Heaven, he struck me,
Buffeted, called me traitor, villain, coward.
Am I a coward? am I a villain? tell me:
Thou'rt the best judge, and madest me, if I am so.
Damnation! coward!
Belv. Oh! forgive him, Jaffier;
And, if his sufferings wound thy heart already,
What will they do to-morrow?
Jaff. Ha!
Belv. To-morrow;
When thou shalt see him stretched in all the agonies
Of a tormenting and a shameful death;
His bleeding bowels, and his broken limbs,
Insulted o'er by a vile butchering villain;—
What will thy heart do then? Oh, sure, 'twill stream
Like my eyes now.
Jaff. What means thy dreadful story?
Death, and to-morrow! broken limbs and bowels!
Insulted o'er by a vile butchering villain!
By all my fears, I shall start out to madness,
With barely guessing, if the truth's hid longer.
Belv. The faithless senators, 'tis they've decreed it:
They say, according to our friends' request,
They shall have death, and not ignoble bondage;
Declare their promised mercy all as forfeited;
False to their oaths, and deaf to intercession,
Warrants are passed for public death to-morrow.
Jaff. Death! doomed to die! condemned unheard! unpleaded!
Belv. Nay, cruellest racks and torments are preparing,
To force confessions from their dying pangs.
Oh, do not look so terribly upon me:
How your lips shake, and all your face disordered!
What means my love?
Jaff. Leave me, I charge thee, leave me! strong temptations
Wake in my heart.