have revelled till we are
As one, for they are nothing if I fall;
A brother I have injured--children whom
I have neglected, and a spouse----

_Zar._ Who loves.

_Sar._ And pardons?

_Zar._ I have never thought of this,
And cannot pardon till I have condemned.

_Sar._ My wife!

_Zar._ Now blessings on thee for that word!
I never thought to hear it more--from thee. 310

_Sar._ Oh! thou wilt hear it from my subjects. Yes--
These slaves whom I have nurtured, pampered, fed,
And swoln with peace, and gorged with plenty, till
They reign themselves--all monarchs in their mansions--
Now swarm forth in rebellion, and demand
His death, who made their lives a jubilee;
While the few upon whom I have no claim
Are faithful! This is true, yet monstrous.

_Zar._ 'Tis
Perhaps too natural; for benefits
Turn poison in bad minds.

_Sar._ And good ones make 320
Good out of evil. Happier than the bee,
Which hives not but from wholesome flowers.

_Zar._ Then reap
The honey, nor inquire whence 'tis derived.
Be satisfied--you are not all abandoned.

_Sar._ My life insures me that. How long, bethink you,
Were not I yet a king, should I be mortal;
That is, where mortals _are_, not where they must be?

_Zar._ I know not. But yet live for my--that is,
Your children's sake!

_Sar._ My gentle, wronged Zarina!
I am the very slave of Circumstance 330
And Impulse--borne away with every breath!
Misplaced upon the throne--misplaced in life.
I know not what I could have been, but feel
I am not what I should be--let it end.
But take this with thee: if I was not formed
To prize a love like thine, a mind like thine,
Nor dote even on thy beauty--as I've doted
On lesser charms, for no cause save that such
Devotion was a duty, and I hated
All that looked like a chain for me or others 340
(This even Rebellion must avouch); yet hear
These words, perhaps among my last--that none
E'er valued more thy virtues, though he knew not
To profit by them--as the miner lights
Upon a vein of virgin ore, discoveri