_Remil._ Victorious monarch, second unto Jove Mars upon earth, and Neptune on the seas, Whose frown strows all the ocean with a calm, Whose smile draws Flora to display her pride, Whose eye holds wanton Venus at a gaze, Rasni, the regent of great Nineveh; For thou hast foil'd proud Jeroboam's force, And, like the mustering breath of Æolus, That overturns the pines of Lebanon, Hast scatter'd Jewry and her upstart grooms, Winning from Cadiz to Samaria;-- Remilia greets thee with a kind salute, And, for a present to thy mightiness, Gives thee a globe folded within a ship, As king on earth and lord of all the seas, With such a welcome unto Nineveh As may thy sister's humble love afford. _Rasni._ Sister! the title fits not thy degree; A higher state of honour shall be thine. The lovely trull that Mercury entrapp'd Within the curious pleasure of his tongue, And she that bash'd the sun-god with her eyes, Fair Semele, the choice of Venus' maids, Were not so beauteous as Remilia. Then, sweeting, sister shall not serve the turn, But Rasni's wife, his leman and his love: Thou shalt, like Juno, wed thyself to Jove, And fold me in the riches of thy fair;[59] Remilia shall be Rasni's paramour. For why,[60] if I be Mars for warlike deeds, And thou bright Venus for thy clear aspect, Why should not from our loins issue a son That might be lord of royal sovereignty, Of twenty worlds, if twenty worlds might be? What say'st, Remilia, art thou Rasni's wife? _Remil._ My heart doth swell with favour of thy thoughts; The love of Rasni maketh me as proud As Juno when she wore heaven's diadem. Thy sister born was for thy wife, my love: Had I the riches nature locketh up To deck her darling beauty when she smiles, Rasni should prank him in the pride of all. _Rasni._ Remilia's love is far more richer[61] priz'd Than Jeroboam's or the world's subdue. Lordings, I'll have my wedding sumptuous, Made glorious with the treasures of the world: I'll fetch from Albia shelves of margarites,[62] And strip the Indies of their diamonds, And Tyre shall yield me tribute of her gold, To make Remilia's wedding glorious. I'll send for all the damosel queens that live Within the reach of Rasni's government, To wait as hand-maids on Remilia, That her attendant train may pass the troop That gloried Venus at her wedding-day. _K. of Crete._ O my Lord, not sister to thy love! 'Tis incest and too foul a fact for kings; Nature allows no limits to such lust. _Radag._ Presumptuous viceroy, dar'st thou check thy lord, Or twit him with the laws that nature loves? Is not great Rasni above nature's reach, God upon earth, and all his will is law?