Page:Oriental Sketches Dramatic Sketches and Tales.pdf/84

Rh

Of these pale tenants of the tomb! Away Distracting vision! Oh! ye sacred band Who, morn and eve, perform the holy rites Before great Jove's high altar, give me hope, Speak words of comfort to my troubled soul, To my sad spirit, peace.

The gods are just!

I plead for mercy! Justice dooms my crime To endless punishment in other worlds, And agony in this; to keen remorse, The deadly pang that poisons every joy. Amid the acclamations, 'mid the shouts Of the thronged multitude from east to west, The countless hosts of Rome's wide empire, groans Burst on my startled ear! Faustina's groans, The dying cry of Crispus! At the feast When the brimmed goblet sparkles, and each hand Pours a libation to the gods, the wine