xiv
LIFE OF FENTON.
The character of Sameas, the King's cup-bearer, is one of the most villanous ever shewn upon a stage; and the poet makes Sohemus, in order to give the audience a true idea of him, and to prepare them for those barbarities he is to execute, relate the following instance of his cruelty.
Along the shore
He walk'd one evening, when the clam'rous rage
Of tempests wreck'd a ship: the crew were sunk;
The master only reach'd the neighb'ring strand,
Borne by a floating fragment; but so weak
With combating the storm, his tongue had lost
The faculty of speech; and yet for aid
He faintly wav'd his hand, on which he wore
A fatal jewel. Sameas, quickly charm'd
Both by its size and lustre, with a look
Of pity stoop'd to take him by the hand;
Then cut the finger off to gain the ring,
And plung'd him back to perish in the waves,
Crying, Go dive for more.—I'ave heard him boast
Of this adventure.
He walk'd one evening, when the clam'rous rage
Of tempests wreck'd a ship: the crew were sunk;
The master only reach'd the neighb'ring strand,
Borne by a floating fragment; but so weak
With combating the storm, his tongue had lost
The faculty of speech; and yet for aid
He faintly wav'd his hand, on which he wore
A fatal jewel. Sameas, quickly charm'd
Both by its size and lustre, with a look
Of pity stoop'd to take him by the hand;
Then cut the finger off to gain the ring,
And plung'd him back to perish in the waves,
Crying, Go dive for more.—I'ave heard him boast
Of this adventure.
In the 5th act, when Herod is agitated with the rage of jealousy, his brother Pheroras thus addresses him:
Sir, let her crime
Erase the faithful characters which Love
Imprinted on your heart.
Herod. Alas! the pain
We feel, whene'er we dispossess the soul
Of thattormenting tyrant, far exceeds
The rigour of his rule.
Pheroras. With reason quell
That haughty passion; treat it as your slave:
Resume the monarch.
Erase the faithful characters which Love
Imprinted on your heart.
Herod. Alas! the pain
We feel, whene'er we dispossess the soul
Of thattormenting tyrant, far exceeds
The rigour of his rule.
Pheroras. With reason quell
That haughty passion; treat it as your slave:
Resume the monarch.
