DARIA. Belov`ed spouse, my heart could not demand Than thus to see thee near, to clasp thy hand, A sweeter solace for my long dismay, And all the awful wonders of this day. Hear the surprising tale, And thou wilt know . . . VOICES (within). Search hill. OTHERS. And plain. OTHERS. And vale. CHRYSANTHUS. Hush! the troops our fight pursuing Have the forest precincts entered.[17] DARIA. What then shall I do, Chrysanthus? CHRYSANTHUS. Keep thy faith, thy life surrender:-- DARIA. I a thousand lives would offer: Since to God I 'm so indebted That I 'll think myself too happy If 't is given for Him. POLEMIUS (within). This centre Of the mountain, whence the sun Scarcely ever is reflected-- This dark cavern sure must hold them. Let us penetrate its entrails, So that here the twain may die. DARIA. One thing only is regretted By me, in my life thus losing, I am not baptized. CHRYSANTHUS. Reject then That mistrust; in blood and fire[18] Martyrdom the rite effecteth:-- (Enter Polemius and Soldiers.) POLEMIUS. Here, my soldiers, here they are, And the hand that death presents them Must be mine, that none may think I a greater love could cherish For my son than for my gods. And as I desire, when wendeth Hither great Numerianus, That he find them dead, arrest them On the spot, and fling them headlong Into yonder cave whose centre Is a fathomless abyss:-- And since one sole love cemented Their two hearts in life, in death In one sepulchre preserve them. CHRYSANTHUS. Oh! how joyfully I die! DARIA. And I also, since the sentence Gives to me the full assurance Of a happiness most certain On the day this darksome cave Doth entomb me in its centre. (They are cast into the abyss.) POLEMIUS. Cover the pit's mouth with stones. (A sudden storm of thunder and lightning: Enter Numerianus, Claudius, Aurelius, and others. NUMERIANUS. What can have produced this tempest? POLEMIUS. When within the cave they threw them, Dark eclipse o'erspread the heavens. CLAUDIUS. Shadowy shapes, phantasmal shadows Are upon the wind projected. CYNTHIA. Lightnings like swift birds of fire Dart along with burning tresses. CLAUDIUS. Lo! an earthquake's awful shudder Makes the very mountains tremble. POLEMIUS. Yes, the solid ground upheaveth, And the mighty rock descendeth O'er our heads. NISIDA. While on the instant Dulcet voices soft and tender Issue from the cave's abysses. NUMERIANUS. Rome to-day strange sights presenteth, When a grave exhibits gladness, And the sun displays resentment. (A choir of angels is heard singing from within the cave.) "Happy day, and happy doom, May the gladsome world exclaim, When the darksome cave became Saint Daria's sacred tomb". (A great rock falls from the mountain, and covers the tomb, over it is seen an angel.)