my guests
Must not be wearied with a pang prolonged,
And there must be no cry. That understand.

[LOCUSTA, _grovelling at his feet_.

LOCUSTA. O Caesar, such a drug is known to me,--
But I will not reveal it.

NERO. Die then.

LOCUSTA. Die?
O, I love life, but this I'll not reveal.

NERO. Ah, you must live--you are an artist too.

LOCUSTA. I have a poison that is slipped in wine--
Not nauseous to the taste.

NERO. An artist still!
Let me have that, and suddenly. And listen--
The cup presented to Britannicus
Must be too hot: so that he calls for snow
To cool it. In that snow the poison lurks.

[_Exit_ LOCUSTA.

[ANICETUS _hastily returns_.

ANICETUS. O Caesar, the Augusta had not left
The palace; and now, o'erjoyous at thy words,
She will be present at the supper-board,
Bringing with her the prince Britannicus.

[_Servants enter with various dishes and arrange the tables and
couches for the guests, and supper begins._

[_They all recline amid a low hum of conversation. Dreamy music is
heard, which might be a continuation of the music played before._

NERO _reclines at the head of the central table between_ AGRIPPINA
_and_ OCTAVIA. POPPAEA _is a prominent figure_. BRITANNICUS, _with
other youths, lies at a side table_. SENECA, BURRUS, _and_
TIGELLINUS _present with other members of the Court. At a sign
from_ NERO _dancing girls enter and perform a strange, wild measure,
after which the hum of conversation is resumed. Again, at a sign
from_ NERO, _odours are spurted over the guests amid cries of
delight_.

[_At a sign from_ NERO, _flowers descend from the ceiling. At first
lilies, then of deeper and deeper colour. At last a tempest of
roses which gradually slackens._

NERO. Britannicus, I voice a general wish.
Sweet is it, early and thus easily
To have garnered fame: the crown is for the few,
And these are tasked to reach it ere they die.
Oftener the laurel on grey hairs is laid,
Or on the combed tresses of the dead.

[BRITANNICUS _goes to the top of the stairs to recite, and at a
sign from_ NERO _wine is handed to him_.

BRITANNICUS. This is too hot: some snow to cool it: so--
[_Cold snow is put in and he drinks. He then recites._
Beside the melancholy surge I roam--
A sad exile, a stranger, sick for home:
A prince I was in my far native land
Who wand