Page:Tragedies of Seneca (1907) Miller.djvu/461

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Is all too small to match her sufferings?
Oh, would that, ere I brought thee forth to light,
And suckled thee, my vitals had been rent
By savage beasts! Then senseless, innocent,
And mine wouldst thou have perished; joined to me
Wouldst thou forever see the quiet seats640
Of this abode of souls, thy mighty sire,
And grandsires too, those men of glorious name,
Whom now perpetual shame and grief await
Because of thee, thou monster, and of me.
But why delay in hell to hide my face,
Since I have proved a curse to all my race?645
[Vanishes.]
Octavia [to the Chorus in deprecation of their grief because of her divorce]:
Restrain your tears; put on a face of joy,
As on a festal day, lest this your love
And care for me should stir the royal wrath,
And I be cause of suffering to you.650
This wound is not the first my heart has felt;
Far worse have I endured; but all shall end,
Perchance in death, before this day is done.
No more upon my brutal husband's face
Shall I be forced to look; that hateful couch,655
Long since consigned to slavish uses, base,
I shall behold no more.
For now Augustus' sister shall I be,
And not his wife. But Oh, be far from me
All cruel punishments and fear of death.660
Poor, foolish girl! and canst thou hope for this?
Bethink thee of his former sins—and hope.
Nay, he has spared thy wretched life till now,
That thou mayst at his marriage altars fall.
But why so often turn thy streaming eyes665
Upon thy home? Now speed thy steps away,
And leave this bloody prince's hall for aye.
Chorus: Now dawns at last the day we long have feared
And talked of. Lo, our Claudia, driven forth670
By cruel Nero's threats, leaves that abode
Which even now Poppaea calls her own;