The Prose Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley, Vol. 1 [of 2]Shelley, Percy Bysshe
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The Prose Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley, Vol. 1 [of 2]
Shelley, Percy Bysshe
English prose literature
“Murder Olympia! O God! no!--I take Heaven to witness, that I never
_now_ could do it!”
“Nor could you ever, I hope, dear Wolfstein; but drive away thoughts
like these, and remember that Olympia lives but for thee; and the
moment which takes from her your affections seals the death-like fiat
of her destiny.” These asseverations, strengthened by the most solemn
and deadly vows that he would return to Megalena the destroyer of
Olympia, flashed across Wolfstein’s mind. Perpetrate the deed, now, he
could not; his soul became a scene of most terrific agony. “Wilt thou
be mine?” exclaimed the enraptured Olympia, as a ray of hope arose in
her mind. “Never! never can I,” groaned the agitated Wolfstein; “I
am irrevocably, indissolubly another’s.” Maddened by this death-blow
to all expectations of happiness, which the deluded Olympia had so
fondly anticipated, she leaped wildly from the bed. A light and flowing
night-dress alone veiled her form, her alabaster bosom was shaded by
the light ringlets of her hair which rested unconfined upon it. She
threw herself at the feet of Wolfstein. On a sudden, as if struck by
some thought, she started convulsively from the earth: for an instant
she paused.
The rays of a lamp, which stood in a recess of the apartment, fell full
upon the dagger of Wolfstein. Eagerly Olympia sprung towards it; and,
ere Wolfstein was aware of her dreadful intent, plunged it into her
bosom. Weltering in purple gore, she fell; no groan, no sigh escaped
her lips. A smile, which the pangs of dissolution could not dispel,
played on her convulsed countenance; it irradiated her features with
celestially awful, although terrific expression. “Ineffectually have I
endeavoured to conquer the ardent feelings of my soul; now I overcome
them,” were her last words. She uttered them in a tone of firmness,
and, falling back, expired in torments, which her fine, her expressive
features declared that she gloried in.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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