The Project Gutenberg eBook ofNeroThis ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.Title: NeroAuthor: Stephen PhillipsRelease date: March 8, 2008 [eBook #24785]Language: EnglishCredits: E-text prepared by Al Haines*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NERO ***
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.
Title: NeroAuthor: Stephen PhillipsRelease date: March 8, 2008 [eBook #24785]Language: EnglishCredits: E-text prepared by Al Haines
Title: Nero
Author: Stephen Phillips
Author: Stephen Phillips
Release date: March 8, 2008 [eBook #24785]
Language: English
Credits: E-text prepared by Al Haines
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NERO ***
E-text prepared by Al Haines
by
Author of "The Sin of David"
LondonMacMillan and Co., LimitedNew York: The MacMillan Company1906
All rights reserved
Copyright, 1906, by the MacMillan Company
NERO . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Emperor of Rome.
BRITANNICUS . . . . . . . . . .Nero's Half-Brother.
OTHO . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A Young Noble.
SENECA . . . . . . . . . . . . ) ) BURRUS . . . . . . . . . . . . ) )Ministers of State.TIGELLINUS . . . . . . . . . . ) ) ANICETUS . . . . . . . . . . . )
XENOPHON . . . . . . . . . . . .A Physician.
AGRIPPINA . . . . . . . . . . .Nero's Mother.
OCTAVIA . . . . . . . . . . . .Sister to Britannicus.
POPPAEA . . . . . . . . . . . .Wife to Otho, afterwards to Nero.
ACTE . . . . . . . . . . . . .A Captive Princess.
LOCUSTA . . . . . . . . . . . .A Poisoner.
MYRRHA . . . . . . . . . . . . .Maid to Poppaea.
Five years elapse between Acts I. and II., two years between Acts III. and IV.
[On the right of the stage is a cedarn couch on whichCLAUDIUSis uneasily sleeping. On the right is a door communicating with the inner apartments. On the left a door communicating with the outer halls.
[XENOPHONis standing by the couch ofCLAUDIUS. AGRIPPINAis sitting with face turned to anASTROLOGER,who stands at the top of the steps watching the stars.
[LOCUSTAis crouching beside a pillar, right. A meteor strikes across the sky. TheASTROLOGER,pointing upwards, comes down the steps slowly.
ASTROLOGER. These meteors flame the dazzling doom of kings.
[AGRIPPINArises apprehensively.
XENOPHON. Caesar is dead!
AGRIPPINA. The drug hath found his heart.[ToLOCUSTA,who steals forward.Locusta, take your price and steal away!Sound on the trumpet. Go! your part is done.
[ExitLOCUSTA.[Trumpet is sounded.
That gives the sign to the PraetoriansUpon the instant of the Emperor's death.
[Answering trumpets are heard.
Hark! trumpets answering through all the city.Xenophon, you and I are in this deathEternally bound. This husband have I slainTo lift unto the windy chair of the worldNero, my son. Your silence I will buyWith endless riches; but a hint divulged——
XENOPHON. O Agrippina, Empress, fear not me!
AGRIPPINA. Meantime his child, his heir, Britannicus,Must not be seen lest he be clamoured for.So till the sad Chaldean give the signOf that so yearned for, favourable hour,When with good omens may my son succeed,The sudden death of Claudius must be hid!Then on the instant Nero be proclaimedAnd Rome awake on an accomplished deed.
XENOPHON. Then summon Claudius' musicians inTo play unto the dead as though he breathed.
AGRIPPINA. Call them! A lulling music let them bring.
[ExitXENOPHON.[She turns toASTROLOGER.
O thou who readest all the scroll of the sky,Stands it so sure Nero my son shall reign?
ASTROLOGER. Nero shall reign.
AGRIPPINA. What lurks behind these words?There is a 'but' still hovering in the stars.
ASTROLOGER. Nero shall reign.
AGRIPPINA. The half! I'll know the rest.
ASTROLOGER. Peer not for peril!
AGRIPPINA. Peril! His or mine?
ASTROLOGER. Thine then.
AGRIPPINA. I will know all, however dark.Finish what did so splendidly begin.
ASTROLOGER. Nero shall reign, but he shall kill his mother.
AGRIPPINA. Kill me, but reign!
EnterSENECA
SENECA. The trumpet summoned me,And I am here.
AGRIPPINA. Seneca! Speak it low!Caesar is dead! Nero shall climb the throne.
SENECA. I will not ask the manner of his death.In studious ease I have protested muchAgainst the violent taking of a life.But lost in action I perceive at lastThat they who stand so high can falter not,But live beyond the reaches of our blame;That public good excuses private guile.
AGRIPPINA. You, Xenophon and Burrus, stand with me.
EnterBURRUS,right. He salutes the corse ofCLAUDIUS
BURRUS. Obedient to the trumpet-call I come.
AGRIPPINA. Say, Burrus, quickly say, how stands our causeWith the Praetorians who unmake and make Emperors?
BURRUS. The Praetorians are staunch,And they are marching now upon the Palace.
AGRIPPINA. Will they have Nero?
BURRUS. Yes, and double pay.There is a murmuring minorityWho toss about the name Britannicus.These may be feared; let Nero scatter goldThere where dissension rises—it will cease.Their signal when they shall surround the Palace,The gleam of my unsheathed sword to the dawn.
AGRIPPINA. Stand there until I have from him the sign,Then let thy sword gleam upward to the dawn.[Turning and pointing to body ofCLAUDIUS.That is my work! Also, I must betrothNero unto the young Octavia,And with the dead man's daughter mate my son.This marriage sets him firmer on the throne,And foils the party of Britannicus.[ToBURRUS.] You for the army answerable stand.[ToSENECA.] And, Seneca, I have entrusted Nero's mindTo you, to point an eaglet to the sun.Nero? What does he?
SENECA. Nero knows not yetThat Claudius is dead. Rome hath not slept,But to the torch-lit circus all have runTo see him victor in a chariot race,Whence he is now returning. A night raceBy burning torches is his newest whim.
AGRIPPINA. A torch-lit race! And yet why not? My childShould climb all virgin to the throne of the earth,Not conscious of spilt blood: and I meantimeWill sway the deep heart of the mighty world.The peril is Britannicus: for Nero,Careless of empire, strings but verse to verse.How shall this dove attain the eagle cry?
SENECA. Be not so sure of Nero's harmlessness.
AGRIPPINA. What do you mean?
SENECA. By me he has been taught,And I have watched him. True, the harp, the song,The theatre, delight this dreamer: true,He lives but in imaginations: yetSuppose this aesthete made omnipotent,Feeling there is no bar he cannot break,Knowing there is no bound he cannot pass;Might he not then despise the written page,A petty music, and a puny scene?Conceive a spectacle not witnessed yet,When he, an artist in omnipotence,Uses for colour this red blood of ours,Composes music out of dreadful cries,His orchestra our human agonies,His rhythms lamentations of the ruined,His poet's fire not circumscribed by words,But now translated into burning cities,His scenes the lives of men, their deaths a drama,His dream the desolation of mankind,And all this pulsing world his theatre.[Steps heard without.The dead man's children startled from their sleep!Britannicus, Octavia, wondering.
AGRIPPINA. Till the auspicious hour he is not dead.
OCTAVIAandBRITANNICUSenter
OCTAVIA. We could not sleep: father is very sick.We fancied every moment that he called us.
BRITANNICUS. And then these meteors full of coming woe——
OCTAVIA. So brilliant and so silent! O, I fear them.
BRITANNICUS. Is father yet awake? We want to ask him——
[THEYapproach the couch. AGRIPPINAinterposes.
AGRIPPINA. Do not disturb your father for this night.
OCTAVIA. We will not speak, nor make the smallest soundTo wake him. We must kiss him ere we sleep.
AGRIPPINA. Children, he is in need of some long rest. Go back to bed: your father sleepeth sound.
BRITANNICUS. I will go in to him, I will—and youAre not our mother. By what privilegeDo you thus interpose yourself betweenA father and his children?
AGRIPPINA. Would you thenTrouble him, when to sleep is all he asks?
OCTAVIA. Only a moment! But to see him!
AGRIPPINA. No!Come softly back to bed! no—no—this way!Britannicus, with the first peer of lightYou shall behold your father; but not now.So the physician, Xenophon, enjoined me.Now take Octavia's hand—so, both of you.[OCTAVIAholds her face to be kissed.To-night I think I will not kiss you, child.Good-night, good-night.
[ExitOCTAVIAandBRITANNICUS.
SENECA. How often have I taughtAnd written, 'Children shall not be beguiledEven for good ends.' And yet, the single lieMust, for the general good, be spoken; yet——
[MUSICIANSmeanwhile have entered, and are playing dreamy music. AGRIPPINAturns toASTROLOGER,holding out her arms.
AGRIPPINA. How long till Rome shall greet her Emperor?
ASTROLOGER. Behold the heavens! The moment!
[ExitASTROLOGER.
AGRIPPINA. Give the sign!
[Sounds of acclamation and cries of 'Nero.'BURRUSdraws his sword.
BURRUS. See the Praetorians!
SENECA. Nero returns.
Enter aHERALDgorgeously dressed, bearinga silver wreath
MESSENGER. From Nero unto Agrippina greeting!He comes a victor from the chariot race.
[Sounds of acclamation grow louder, thecrowd ofNERO'Sfriends and satellitespours in: last comes NERO dressed as a charioteer.
AGRIPPINA. [TouchingCLAUDIUS'body.]That music be a dirge: Caesar is dead.[NEROpauses wondering.Claudius is dead. Reign thou. Ave Caesar!
[BURRUSleadsNEROto back of platform, andaddresses the soldiers at back.
BURRUS. Caesar is dead! Behold Caesar!
[A great shout of'NERO!' 'CAESAR!'MeanwhileAGRIPPINAandSENECAare listening close together. Discordant cries are heard of'BRITANNICUS!'A slave or attendant onNEROscatters gold in the direction of these discordant cries, which gradually subside, and are lost in one long shout of 'Nero, Imperator.'NEROmotions for silence.
NERO. [Turning to Court.] Behold this forest of uprisen spears,Symbol of might! But I upon that mightWould not rely. You hail me Emperor—Then hail me as an Emperor of peace.First, I declare divinest clemency.No deaths have I to avenge, no wrath to bribe,No desperate followers clamouring for spoil;Pardon from me may beautifully fall.Next, I bestow full liberty of speech;I will not sway a dumb indignant earth—Emperor over the unuttered curse.Were I myself the mark, I will not flinch.Yet citizens, if freedom of the tongueI grant, I'd wish less freedom of the feast.Then all informers who lie life awayI'll heavily chastise; let no man thinkWith hinted scandal to employ mine ear.Last, over all my earth be perfect trust,That every tribe and people, dusk or pale,Legions extreme and farthest provinces,May know that this my hand which striketh downThe oppressor and the tyrant from his seatShall raise the afflicted and exalt the meek.And if this burden grow too vast at times,Then, mother, teach thy son to bear the load.
[Exit Court.
AGRIPPINA. [Rushing to embrace him. He is vested with the purple and laurel wreath. The body ofCLAUDIUSis borne off. ExitBURRUS. NEROcomes down.] Nero, thou art my son!
NERO. To rule the world.How heavy is the sceptre of the earth!
AGRIPPINA. [Coming down.] Nero, upon this arm behold I claspThis amulet. One dawn two murderersDespatched to kill thee, stealing to thy bedWere frightened by a snake which from beneathThy pillow glided. From that serpent's skinI made this charm. Wear it, and thou shalt prosper;But lose it, look thou for calamities.
SENECA. [Prepares to go also.] You willneed sleep, sir, for to-morrow's task.
NERO. [In terror.] I am not pale? Not heavy-eyed?
SENECA. No! No!
NERO. An artist, whatsoever mood he rouseIn others, should himself be ever still.Where is a mirror?
SENECA. Sir, one graver word.To-morrow when you first shall sit in judgment,And set your name unto the scroll of death——
NERO. [Gazing at himself in mirror.] Ah!Must I sign death-warrants? Then I wishThis hand had never learned to write.
SENECA. Dear pupil!
AGRIPPINA. Your pupil now the awful purple wears.You tremble but to grasp the pen! But theyWho dyed it thus, feared not to grip the brand.
NERO. [Again looking in mirror.] It is an act to me unbeautiful.To scatter joy, not sadness, was I born.
AGRIPPINA. It is an act to you most necessary,If you would sit secure where I have set you.Now the light things of boyhood, toys of youth,Unworthy that stern seat, you must discard.Acte, the playmate of those careless hours,Henceforth must be forgotten: you shall wedA royal consort—young Octavia,The child of Claudius, of the imperial line.
SENECA. My peaceful counsel you will not forget.
NERO. [Turning toSENECA,affectionately.]Old friend, I am not like to wade in blood,Thee at my side! I think upon the doomsOf Julius, Caius, and Tiberius,All Emperors—all miserably slain.
SENECA. This dawn art thou the master of the world;Then tremble at the task to thee assigned.Meekly receive the purple and the wreath,And on thy knees accept omnipotence.Good-night, dear pupil! May my teaching leadThy solemn opportunity aright!
[ExitSENECA.
NERO. You powers sustain me to endure this weight!Mother, I shall go mad!
AGRIPPINA. Not while this handIs on thy brow, and this voice in thine ear.
NERO. To rule the world!
AGRIPPINA. We two will rule the world.
NERO. We two?
AGRIPPINA. When you have need of me, then call me.
NERO. I ever shall. I need you at this momentMore even than when my toothless gums did fumbleAbout thy breast in darkness of the night.
AGRIPPINA. My dear, dear son! AndNero, well I knowThat you could never hurt or injure me.But you will not forget who set you here—You will not, tell me?
NERO. Never, mother, never!
AGRIPPINA. Mothers for children have dared much, and moreHave suffered; but what mother hath so scarredHer soul for the dear fruit of her body as I?Thy birth-pang was the least of all the throesThat I for thee have suffered—a brief pain,A little, little pain we share with creatures;But what was this to torments of the mind,The dark, imperial meditations,Musing with eyes half-closed in moonless night;The crimes—yes, crimes, the blood that has been spilt—Why, I have made a way for thee through ghosts.Nero, you'll not forget?
NERO. Ah! Never, never!
AGRIPPINA. My son, this very night it was foretold'Nero shall reign, but he shall kill his mother.'Tell me the stars have lied.
NERO. [Smiling.] The stars have lied.
EnterBURRUS
BURRUS. The pass-word, sir, to-night?
NERO. The best of mothers.
AGRIPPINA. Kiss me; we both of us must sleep awhile.
[ExitAGRIPPINA. NEROgoes up, gazing out on the city as the dawn comes on greyly.
NERO. O, all the earth to-night into these handsCommitted! I bow down beneath the load,Empurpled in a lone omnipotence.My softest whisper thunders in the sky,And in my frown the temples sway and reel,And the utmost isles are anguished. I but raiseAn eyelid, and a continent shall cower;My finger makes the city a solitude,The murmuring metropolis a silence,And kingdoms pine in my dispeopling nod.I can dispearl the sea, a province wearUpon my little finger; all the windsAre busy blowing odours in mine eyes,And I am wrapt in glory by the sun,And I am lit by splendours of the moon,And diadem'd by glittering midnight.O wine of the world, the odour and gold of it!There is no thirst which I may not assuage;There is no hunger which I may not sate;Nought is forbidden me under heaven![With a cry.] I shall go mad! I shall go mad!
[ACTEsteals in noiselessly, and waits till he turns, thencomes down to him.
My Acte!
ACTE. [Shrinking.] O, I seem so far from you,And so beneath you now; your care henceforthThe world and nothing less. Long have you beenNero to me, but Caesar must be nowHigh throned, the nations crawling at your feet.And yet be sure that if on some far dayThe throne should pass from you; if you should standLonely at last; your friends all fallen awayFrom you; the laurel upon other browsSet; were you dyed in blood deep as the robeThat folds you; were you dead in rags reposing,Yet would I find you, cover up your face,Taking the last kiss from your lips, and IWould gently bury you within the earth.
NERO. Ah!
ACTE. And though none came nigh you, being dead,Who were in life so thronged about and pressed,One hand at least would duly pluck you flowers,One hand at least would strew them on your grave.Sleep now, and I will charm these eyes to close.
[She takes a harp, and as she playsNEROdrops off to sleep. She, seeing him so, softly kisses him and noiselessly disappears. MeanwhileNEROturns uneasily in his sleep, and a procession of dead Emperors passes—JULIUS,covering his face, but withdrawing his cloak to gaze a while onNERO; TIBERIUS; CAIUSwounded; CLAUDIUSholding a cup. NEROrushes forward, uttering a cry. ACTEagain re-enters at the sound.
Nero, what ails you? Nero, how the dropsStand on your brow!
NERO. There, there, I seemed to seeAs in procession the dead Emperors:Julius, Tiberius, Caius, Claudius,All bloody, and all pacing that same path.
ACTE. [Trying to lead him on the opposite way.]There is another path, will you but take it.
[NEROis led by her a little way, then hesitates, still gazing after the procession of Emperors. Gradually he loosesACTE'Shand, and she leaves him, gazing.
[ACTEis reclining on a couch. The time is broadnoon. A faint exotic odour pervades the palace.
1ST MAIDEN. O Lydia, I am drowsing, and my handsCan scarcely wreathe the Emperor as Apollo.
2ND MAIDEN. Ah, crown this carefully!To-day he singsIn public; as Apollo will returnSo crowned, so garbed.
1ST MAIDEN. How is that wreath disposed?
2ND MAIDEN. Excellent!
3RD MAIDEN. O please tell me how to droop These scarlet flowers.
2ND MAIDEN. About the lyre then, thus.
4TH MAIDEN. This bust now of the Emperor as a boy?
1ST MAIDEN. O, covered with white flowers and birds of spring.
5TH MAIDEN. This charioteer: with green I have dressed that.
3RD MAIDEN. Yes, for the Emperor's colour is the green.
1ST MAIDEN. Now all the busts are wreathed.
2ND MAIDEN. What more to do?
1ST MAIDEN. All is arranged. How heavy are my eyes.
3RD MAIDEN. And this low music on my spirit hangs.
4TH MAIDEN. And the faint odour steals upon my hair.
1ST MAIDEN. [Moving up and leaning out.See, all the city is a solitude.
2ND MAIDEN. All Rome is gathered in the theatreTo hear the Emperor sing.
5TH MAIDEN. O, I should sleepOn such a noon, in such a throng.
1ST MAIDEN. That sleepWould have no wakening, if your eyes but closedWhile Caesar sang.
4TH MAIDEN. To-night there is a feast.Have you remembered?
3RD MAIDEN. Yes, the dancing girlsFrom Egypt are arrived.
1ST MAIDEN. We are to strewDown from the ceiling flowers upon the guests.
[They recline in various attitudes about the seats and pillars.
EnterSENECAandBURRUS
BURRUS. Ah, Seneca, five years since Nero climbedThe throne; and in this very chamber, nowSo changed, this odour—pah! This was the place,Grim, bare, for military virtues apt.
SENECA. And he how changed! The boy who dreamed so highOf mightiest empire and unmeasured peace,All I had taught him lost; by flattery sapped,Jewelled and clothed as from the Orient,He sings and struts with dancers and buffoons.
ACTE. [Starting up.] And you, when have you two dissuaded him?Or when forbidden? Do you teach him shunLanguor or luxury? You lure him thither.
SENECA. 'Tis true that we have not dissuaded him,But out of high deliberate policyHave suffered him to tread the path of follyRather than mischief. We have ruled the worldWith wisdom these five years while he has played.
ACTE. What of Poppaea, Otho's wife. Have youRestrained that madness? Rather have you notScreened it and fed it?
SENECA. With the same design;Better that he should vent his madness thusIn pastime to the State not perilous,Amuse himself with her rather than Rome.
ACTE. A woman without pity, beautiful.She makes the earth we tread on false, the heavenA merest mist, a vapour. Yet her faceIs as the face of a child uplifted, pure;But plead with lightning rather than those eyes,Or earthquake rather than that gentle bosomRising and falling near thy heart. Her voiceComes running on the ear as a rivulet;Yet if you hearken, you shall hear behindThe breaking of a sea whose waves are soulsThat break upon a human-crying beach.Ever she smileth, yet hath never smiled,And in her lovely laughter is no joy.Yet hath none fairer strayed into the world,Or wandered in more witchery through the air,Since she who drew the dreaming keels of GreeceAfter her over the Ionian foam.
BURRUS. Better an Emperor fooled than Rome undone!
ACTE. Though all unite to drive him to his doom,Yet I will not forsake him till he die.
[ExitACTE.
[Meanwhile there is an uneasy movement among theGIRLS,as at the approach of something sinister. TIGELLINUSenters, gasping.
TIGELLINUS. [Looking afterACTE.] She is a Christian!
BURRUS. Tigellinus!
TIGELLINUS. ICome from the theatre. For three hours have satIn the first bench, and feared to wink or cough.The Emperor sang, and had for audienceThe flower of Rome. In torment did we sit,Nobles and consuls, captains, senators,Bursting to laugh and aching but to smile.Higher and higher rose the Emperor's voice,But no man ventured to relax his lips.And all around were those who peered or crept,Inspecting each man's face, noting his look.To sigh was treason and to laugh was death,And yet none dared be absent: how were youExcused?
BURRUS. I pleaded the old wound.
SENECA. And IReception of the Parthian and the Briton.
TIGELLINUS. ISay not so much against his moody freaks,But to be called from bed to hear him sing—O, I must have my sleep at night—well, well—To graver things. Still the conspiracyOf Agrippina swells: she aims to makeHer son a toy, a puppet, while she pullsUnseen the secret strings of policy.
SENECA. Is't not enough to bear upon her backStripped continents? To clasp about her throatA civilisation in a sapphire, orThat kingdoms gleam and glow upon her brow.Now doth she overstar us like the nightIn splendour. Now she rises on our eyesDawning in gold; or like the blaze of noonTaketh our breath on a sudden; or she glidesSilent, from head to foot a glimmering pearl.But this is woman's business: 'tis not soTo listen screened to the ambassadors,To ride abroad with Nero charioted,Or wear her head upon the public coins.
TIGELLINUS. And she intends this very day to hearThe Briton, seated by the Emperor's side.Otho has joined her too.
SENECA. But from what cause?
TIGELLINUS. He is married.
BURRUS. Ah, Poppaea!
TIGELLINUS. JealousyHath driven him into Agrippina's snare.Fury at Nero's madness for his wife.Now what if we could raise Poppaea upAs Agrippina's chief antagonist:We match the mistress 'gainst the mother—pitPassion 'gainst gratitude—a sudden lure'Gainst old ascendency, the noon of beautyAgainst the evening of authority,The luring whisper 'gainst the pleading voice,The hand that beckons 'gainst the arm that sways,And set a woman to defeat a woman.To Nero I have whispered that she dotesUpon his poems, on his rhythm hangs,And cannot sleep for beauty of his verse.
SENECA. This day must Nero leave his mother's lap,And stand up as an Emperor, and alone.
[Trumpet.
BURRUS. Hark! Caesar is returning.
[Sounds heard ofNEROapproaching amid cries of 'O thou Apollo!' 'Orpheus come again!' Then enter NERO with a group of satellites,TIGELLINUS, OTHO,and professional applauders and spies. His dress is of extreme oriental richness, and profuse in jewels: his hair elaborately curled. He carries an emerald eye-glass, and appears faint from the exertion of singing, from which contest he has just come.
NERO. This languor is the penalty the godsExact from those whom they have gifted high.
SENECA. [Coming forward.] Sir, late arrivedfrom Parthia and Britain——
NERO. [Starting up.] A draught![Much hurry, zeal, and confusion among courtiers.This kerchief closer round my throat![They tie a kerchief round his throat.Was I in voice to-day? The prize is won,But I would be my own competitorAnd my own rival. Was I then in voice?
CHORUS. O Memnon struck with morning, nightingale,Ghost-charming Orpheus, O Apollo—god!
SATELLITE. O Caesar, I am one who speaks right out;If it means death, yet must I speak the truth.Thy voice was harsh.
NERO. Was it so, friend?
SATELLITE. Harsh and uncertain. Had it been anotherWho sang, it would have ravished every ear,But thee must I remember at thy best,And what in others we count excellenceIn thee we count a lapse, and falling off.
NERO. There's a good fellow!
SENECA. Caesar!
NERO. But a moment!
1ST SPY. [Stealing forward.] Licinius smiled, sir, at thy final note.
NERO. Nothing! an artist must bear ridicule.Were I incensed, I were ridiculousMyself.
1ST SPY. Shall nothing then be done?
NERO. Nothing!
2ND SPY. [Stealing forward.] Sir, Labienus, in thy second song Coughed twice.
ANOTHER SPY. [Cringing.] Nay, Caesar, thrice.
2ND SPY. What punishment?
NERO. None! Interruption must I learn to bear.What patience must we own who would excel!Anger I never must permit myself,Or ruffling littleness to this great soul.
3RD SPY. [Creeping forward.] Sir, TitusCassius yawned while thou didst sing.
4TH SPY. Nay, Caesar, worse, he slept, and must he live?
NERO. [Gently.] No! he must die: there is no hope in sleep.Witness, you gods, who sent me on the earthTo be a joy to men: and witness youWho stand around: if ever a small maliceHath governed me: what critic have I feared?What rival? Have I used this mighty throneTo baulk opinion or suppress dissent?Have I not toiled for art, forsworn food, sleep,And laboured day and night to win the crown,Lying with weight of lead upon my chest?Ye gods, there is no rancour in this soul.[Thunder.Silence while I am speaking. He must die,Because he is unmindful of your giftsAnd of the golden voice on me bestowed,To me no credit; and he shall not dieHopeless, for ere he die I'll sing to himThis night, that he may pass away in music.How foolish will he peer amid the shadesWhen Orpheus asks, 'Hast thou heard Nero sing?'If he must answer 'No!' I would not have himArrive ridiculous amid the dead.
SENECA. Caesar, the Parthian and the British chiefs.
NERO. I cannot, sirs, so suddenly returnUnto life's dreary business, or descendOut of the real to the unreal: from thatWhich is to that which is not. Leave me still.From art to empire is too swift a drop.
OTHO. Now what to do? Still drags the o'erlong day.We have driven, we have eaten, we have drunk.But all the brilliance is a burden still.
ANICETUS. No cloud upon the noon of this despair.O for some edge, some thrill unknown!
LUCAN. Remorse?
[NEROshakes his head.
SENECA. Jealousy then?
NERO. No, no—we have outlivedAll passions: terror now alone is left us.I have within me great capacitiesFor terror: fear, the last, the greatest passion!
OTHO. Can one rely on death for something new?Some other life perhaps.
SENECA. The gods forbid!The Power that sent us here would lead us there.One sample is enough.
LUCAN. Death's a dull business,Of that one may be sure. What says the poet?'When I am dead, let fire devour the world.'
[NEROstarts at these words and comes among them.
NERO. Nay, while I live! The sight! A burning world!And to be dead and miss it! There's an endOf all satiety: such fire imagine!Born in some obscure alley of the poor,Then leaping to embrace a splendid street,Palaces, temples, morsels that but whetHer appetite: the eating of huge forests:Then with redoubled fury rushing high,Smacking her lips over a continent,And licking old civilisations up!Then in tremendous battle fire and seaJoined: and the ending of the mighty sea:Then heaven in conflagration, stars like cindersFalling in tempest: then the reeling polesCrash: and the smouldering firmament subsides,And last, this universe a single flame!
[OTHO,seeing the steward and musician,who have entered, speaks.
OTHO. Nothing is left us but to eat and drink.
[Takes bill of fare which the steward passes to him.
NERO. The feast!
[Takes bill of fare fromOTHO.
You understand that in the perfect feastTo please the palate only is not art,But we should minister to the eye and the earWith colour and with music. IntroduceThe embattled oysters with a melodyOf waves that wash a reef—whence do they come?
STEWARD. From Britain, sir.
NERO. Perhaps an angrier chordOf island surf might be permitted then.From Britain? Now I see thy uses, Britain.Britain is justified: she gives us oysters,And therefore Claudius invaded her.Sausages upon silver gridirons?
STEWARD. Yes.
NERO. Dormice with poppies and milk honey? ThereA slumberous music, heavy lingering chords.Ah! slices of pomegranate underneath.Snow—purest snow of course.
STEWARD. 'Twas not forgot.
NERO. Then glorying peacocks: here a sounding march,Something triumphal—even a trifle loud.And, ah! the mullets! You remembered them?
STEWARD. O Caesar, yes.
NERO. Let these be introducedBy some low dirge. And let us see them die—Slow-dying mullets within crystal bowls,Dying from colour unto colour: nowVermilion death-pangs fading into blue—A scarlet agony in azure ending.There we have colour! And at last the tonguesOf nightingales—the tongues of nightingales?O, silence with the tongues of nightingales.
[He dismissesSTEWARD.]
TIGELLINUS. Sir, grant us three a moment's audience.
[NEROdismisses friends and satellites with gesture.
SENECA. Your mother, sir, this very day intendsTo hear the British chiefs in audience,Sitting beside you. Know then that the worldWill not endure to have a woman's rule.
BURRUS. No, nor the army.
TIGELLINUS. And thy mother laughsIn public at thy verse.
NERO. She has no ear.I pity her—remember what she loses.
TIGELLINUS. Ah, be not laughed at, sir, be it not saidNero is tied unto his mother's robe.Be brilliant, cruel, lustful, what you will,But not a naughty child, rated and slapped.Poppaea too, she will not suffer youWith her to indulge your fancy.
SENECA. Caesar, rise!
BURRUS. Rise—rise, and reign!
TIGELLINUS. And be no more a dollThat dances while she pulls the string behind.Then young Britannicus!
NERO. O nothing!
TIGELLINUS. YetHe is winning on the people: he hath charm,His voice is sweet.
[NEROstarts.
Caesar, I judge it not,But speak the common drift; and his recital,So I am told, has for accompanimentGesture most eloquent.
[NEROis more and more roused.
His poems, too!
NERO. [Breaking the silence.] His poems!Why, why, not a line will scanTo the true ear; and what variety,I ask you all—what flow, or what resourceIs shown? A safe monotony of rhythm!
[He paces to and fro angrily.
TIGELLINUS. Caesar, I cannot speak to such a theme.Merely Rome's mouthpiece.
NERO. And his gesture, why,'Tis of the Orient, and gesticulationMore happily were called; never a stillness,Never repose, but one wild whirl of arms.
TIGELLINUS. I spoke not of fulfilment, but of promise,The artist's dazzling future.
NERO. A sweet voice!Rome hath no critics! I would write a playLived there a single critic fit to judge it.Whether a dancing-girl kick high enough—On this they can pronounce: this is their trade.With verse upon the stage they cannot cope.Too well they dine, too heavily, and bearThe undigested peacock to the stalls.
TIGELLINUS. Should Agrippina on a sudden changeHer front, and clasp hands with Britannicus?
NERO. Your words awaken in me a new thirst.
SENECA. Sir, hear the Parthian and the British chiefs.
NERO. [Going to the throne.] Summon them!
[ExitSENECA.
Think not, though my aim is art,I cannot toy with empire easily.The great in me does not preclude the less.
[Re-enterSENECAwithPARTHIANandBRITISH AMBASSADORS,followed by the Court. SENECAbrings forward thePARTHIAN CHIEFS,whenAGRIPPINAenters magnificently dressed and begins to mount steps of throne. NEROwith courteous decision brings her down.
Mother, this is man's business, not for thee.You jar the scheme of colour—mar the effect.
PARTHIAN. Caesar, we starve: all Parthia parches: allOur crops sun-smitten bleach upon the plains.We ask thy aid.
NERO. And ye shall have my aidEven to the fullest: further, I will openThe imperial granaries for your people's wants.
PARTHIAN. Caesar, we thank thee: and if ever thouShouldst need the Parthian aid, whate'er the cost,That aid thou shalt find ready at thy side.
[Exit.
BRITISH CHIEF. Caesar, the tax that thou hast laid on usRemit, we pray thee, else we rise in armsAnd will abide thy battle.
NERO. So! You dreamThat Caesar being merciful is weak.I who can succour, I can strike; I'll launchThe legions over sea, and I myselfWill lead them, and the eagles will unlooseThrough Britain—I who sit on the world's throneWill have no threatening from Briton, Gaul,People or tribe inland or ocean-washed.The terror of this purple I maintain.You are dismissed.
[NERO,spreading his hands, dismisses the Court, and comesdown to his mother.
NERO. Now, mother!
AGRIPPINA. I will speakWith you alone, not compassed by these men.
[ToSENECAandBURRUS.] To me you owe the height where now you stand. Who took you, schoolmaster, from exile? Who Unstewarded you, Burrus? If I have made, I can unmake—Now leave me with my son. [ToTIGELLINUS.] You are self-made. Gods! I'd no hand in that!
[ExeuntSENECA, BURRUS,andTIGELLINUS.]
Nero, have you forgot who set you there?
NERO. Not while I hear it twenty times a day.
AGRIPPINA. You should not need that I remind you of it.
NERO. A kindness harped on grows an injury.
AGRIPPINA. Are you the babe that lay upon my breast?
NERO. I was: but I would not lie there for ever.
AGRIPPINA. Have I not reared you, tended you, and loved you?
NERO. Yes, but to be your puppet and your toy.
AGRIPPINA. Boy, never since I first looked on the sunFrom man or woman had I insolence,Who have sistered, wived, and mothered Emperors.
NERO. I speak no insolence—you weary me!
AGRIPPINA. Gods! you have hit on a new thing to tell me.[Coming to him.] Does your heart beat? Areyou all ice and pose?Has nothing gripped you—is there aught to gripIn you, pert shadow? Have you e'er shed tears?
NERO. For legendary sorrows I can weep:With those of old time I have suffered much,And I, for dreams, am capable of tears;But not for woe too near me—and too loud.
AGRIPPINA. O wall of stone 'gainst which I beat in vain!Nero, I will do much to win you backFor your own sake: and though it hurts me sore,Your passion for Poppaea I will aid.When did a mother yield herself to this?
NERO. When had a mother such a lust for ruleThat she could even yield herself to this?
AGRIPPINA. [Clasping his knees.] Child, Ihave done with scorn, with bitter words,With taunt, with gibe. Now I ask only pity—A little pity from flesh that I conceived,A little mercy from the body I bore,And touches from the baby hands I kissed.Nothing I ask of you, only to love me,And if not that, to bear with me a while,Who have borne much for you: no, Nero, child,I will not weary you, I yearn for you.Forgive me all the deeds that I have done for you,Forget the great love I have spent on you,Pardon the long, long life for you endured.
[NEROis moved and kisses her, then speaks with effort.
NERO. Mother, if I have seemed to be forgetful,Or cruel even, impute it not to meBut to the State.
[AGRIPPINAstarts.
'Tis thought that neither Rome,The provinces, nor armies, will endureTo see a woman in such eminence.Therefore it is advised that you retireTo Antium a while, and leave Rome free.
AGRIPPINA. [Starting up.] Leave Rome!Why, I would die as I did stepOutside her gates, and glide henceforth a shadow.The blood would cease to run in my veins, my heartStop, and my breath subside without her walls.All without Rome is darkness: you will notDespatch my shadow down to Antium?
NERO. We were remembering your toils, your age.
AGRIPPINA. My age! Am I old then?Look on this face,Where am I scarred, who have steered the bark of StateAs it plunged, as it rose over the waves of change?I was renewed with salt of such a sea.Empires and Emperors I have outlived;A thousand loves and lusts have left no line;Tremendous fortunes have not touched my hair,Murder hath left my cheek as the cheek of a babe.
[At this momentBURRUS, SENECA,andTIGELLINUSreturn,hearing the scene; and asAGRIPPINAcontinues her imprecations,the COURT return and stand in groups listening.
AGRIPPINA. My age! Who then accuses me of age?Was this a flash from budding Seneca,Or the boy Burrus' inspiration? Say?Do I owe it to the shrivelled or the maimed?
SENECA. Empress, it is determined you retire.And you will better your own dignityAnd his assert, if you will make this goingTo seem a free inclining from yourself.
AGRIPPINA. Bookman, shall I learn policy from you?Be patient with me. Nero, you I ask,Not schoolmasters or stewards I promoted.Is it your will I go to Antium?Speak, speak. Be not the mouthpiece of these men:Domitius!
NERO. Mother, 'tis my will you go.
AGRIPPINA. Then, sir, discharge me not from your employWithout some written commendation,That I can tire the hair or pare the nails,That those who were my friends may take me in!
NERO. Lady!
AGRIPPINA. O, lady now? Mother, no more!
NERO. [Pacing fiercely to and fro.] Bewarethe son you bore: look lest I turn!Chafe not too far the master of this world.
AGRIPPINA. See the new tiger in the dancer's eye:'Ware of him, keepers—then, you bid me go?[A pause.Then I will go. But think not, though I go,My spirit shall not pace the palace still.I am too bound by guilt unto these walls.Still shall you hear a step in dead of night;In stillness the long rustle of my robe.So long as stand these walls I cannot leave them.Yet will I go: behold you, that stand by,A mother by her own son thrust away,Cast out—ha, ha!—in my old age, infirm,To totter and mumble in oblivion!
NERO. [ToSENECAandBURRUS.] A littleviolent that—did you not think so?And yet the gesture excellent and strong!
AGRIPPINA. Romans, behold this son: the man of men;This harp-player, this actor, this buffoon——
NERO. Peace!
AGRIPPINA. —sitting where great Julius but aspiredTo sit, and died in the aspiring: see,This mime—my son is he? And did I thenHave one mad moment with a street musician?
SENECA. Have you no shame?
AGRIPPINA. This son now sends me forth,Yet it was I, his mother, set him there.
[Murmur.
And, ah! if it were known at what a price,Witness, you shades of the Silani!
SENECA. Peace!
AGRIPPINA. And witness Messalina on vain knees!
[Murmur.
And witness Claudius with the envenomed cup.
NERO. Silence, or——
AGRIPPINA. Not the seas shall stop me now,Raging on all the shores of all the world.Witness if easily my son did reign,I am bloody from head to foot for sake of him,And for my cub am I incarnadined.
[Murmur.
I'll go, but if I fall, Rome too shall fall:I'll shake this empire till it reel and crashOn that ungrateful head; and if I fall,The builded world shall tumble down in thunder.
[Murmur.
Ah!
[SeeingBRITANNICUS.] To my arms, boy! [Snatches him to her side.] Tremble now and shake! Here is the true heir to the imperial throne, Deposed by me, but now by me restored.
[Uproar.
I'll to the Praetorians!
[Clamour.
To the camp!And there upon the one side they shall seeBritannicus the child of Claudius,And me the daughter of Germanicus;And on the other side a harp-player,A withered pedant, and a maimèd sergeant,Disputing for the diadem of the earth.Come, Caesar, away to the Praetorians!
[ExitAGRIPPINAleadingBRITANNICUS,followed byCOURTin great excitement, all butBURRUSandSENECA, TIGELLINUSandNERO—a blank pause.
SENECA. Now what to do?
TIGELLINUS. Already can I hearThe roar of the Praetorians and their march,This time to crown another. Burrus, youCommand them.
BURRUS. They would tear me into pieces,As hounds a master entering in on themUnrecognised, if Agrippina onceHallooed to them the name 'Germanicus.'
TIGELLINUS. Surely Britannicus must be our aim:He gone, what threat, what counter-move hath she?Removing him, we take the sting from her;Then let her buzz at will.
BURRUS. But he is gone.
SENECA. Even as an eagle snatches up a babe,So Agrippina caught him up and flew.
TIGELLINUS. For once my wits are lost.
SENECA. Still, what to do?
[NEROhas been sitting with his back to them, suddenly rises.
NERO. Leave this to me!
TIGELLINUS. O Caesar!
NERO. [ToANICETUS.] Go thou fastAnd intercept my mother on her way,And say thou thus: 'Nero thy son repentsHis former ire and cancels the decreeFor Antium; and prays thou may'st returnTo supper, as a sign of amity,And bring with thee the prince Britannicus.'
[ANICETUSis going, butNEROstops him.
And as you go, send in to me Locusta.
[ExitANICETUS.
I have conceived—not fully—but conceivedThe death-scene of the boy Britannicus.Leave this to me.
TIGELLINUS. O Caesar!
NERO. It shall bePerformed to-night at supper: get you seats;It shall be something new and wonderful,Done after wine, and under falling roses;And there shall be suspense in it, and thrill:It shall be very sudden, very silent,And terrible in silence—I the while,Creator and arranger of the scene,Reclining with a jewel in my eye;And Agrippina shall be close to me,Aware, yet motionless: Octavia,Though but a child, yet too discreet for tears.This you may deem as yet a little crude,But other details I will add ere supper.
[SENECAwithdraws in horror, as do the others, slowly.
SENECA. Here's what I feared!
TIGELLINUS. His eyes now! Yet how calm!So steals the panther, stirring not a leaf!
[Exeunt slowlySENECA, TIGELLINUS,andBURRUS. NEROwalks to and fro, constructing the scene in pantomime to himself. LOCUSTAenters down, right.
NERO. You are Locusta, and your trade is poison.
[She makes obeisance.
[Uneasily.] Is poison but a trade with you, or art?Surely to slay is the supreme of arts;And with no ugly wound or hideous blow,But beautifully to extinguish life.Have you some rare drug that kills suddenly?As I have planned it, I can have no pause—Death must be sudden—silent. And my guestsMust 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 BritannicusMust be too hot: so that he calls for snowTo cool it. In that snow the poison lurks.
[ExitLOCUSTA.
[ANICETUShastily returns.
ANICETUS. O Caesar, the Augusta had not leftThe 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 andcouches 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.
NEROreclines at the head of the central table betweenAGRIPPINAandOCTAVIA. POPPAEAis a prominent figure. BRITANNICUS,with other youths, lies at a side table. SENECA, BURRUS,andTIGELLINUSpresent with other members of the Court. At a sign fromNEROdancing girls enter and perform a strange, wild measure, after which the hum of conversation is resumed. Again, at a sign fromNERO,odours are spurted over the guests amid cries of delight.
[At a sign fromNERO,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 easilyTo 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.
[BRITANNICUSgoes to the top of the stairs to recite, and at asign fromNEROwine 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 landWho wander to and fro this alien sand:Riches I had, and steeds, a glimmering crown;Never had known a harshness or a frown.Now must I limp and beg from door to door,Wet with the storm, or in the sun footsore:I, by a brother's cunning dispossessed,Crave for these languid limbs a place of rest.Pity me, robbed of all!
[He gives a cry and falls headlong. His limbs quiver a momentand then are still. Meanwhile the shower of roses has slackened.There is a dead silence, and in the silence slowly all the gueststurn and look atNERO,who rises, with the emerald in his eye.
NERO. Lift up the prince and bear him to his room.I do entreat that none of you will stirOr rise perturbed: my brother, since his birth,Was ever thus: the fit will pass from him.Refill the cups: proceed we with the feast!
[There is an attempt to renew the feasting, but soon a scene of uproar and confusion arises, and the guests leave the tables in alarm.
[AGRIPPINAalone remains unmoved, and then, as the guests have departed in disorder, she confrontsNEROalone.
AGRIPPINA. Thou hast done this.
NERO. Mother, I am thy son!