_Sar._ And good ones make 320 Good out of evil. Happier than the bee, Which hives not but from wholesome flowers. _Zar._ Then reap The honey, nor inquire whence 'tis derived. Be satisfied--you are not all abandoned. _Sar._ My life insures me that. How long, bethink you, Were not I yet a king, should I be mortal; That is, where mortals _are_, not where they must be? _Zar._ I know not. But yet live for my--that is, Your children's sake! _Sar._ My gentle, wronged Zarina! I am the very slave of Circumstance 330 And Impulse--borne away with every breath! Misplaced upon the throne--misplaced in life. I know not what I could have been, but feel I am not what I should be--let it end. But take this with thee: if I was not formed To prize a love like thine, a mind like thine, Nor dote even on thy beauty--as I've doted On lesser charms, for no cause save that such Devotion was a duty, and I hated All that looked like a chain for me or others 340 (This even Rebellion must avouch); yet hear These words, perhaps among my last--that none E'er valued more thy virtues, though he knew not To profit by them--as the miner lights Upon a vein of virgin ore, discovering That which avails him nothing: he hath found it, But 'tis not his--but some superior's, who Placed him to dig, but not divide the wealth Which sparkles at his feet; nor dare he lift Nor poise it, but must grovel on, upturning 350 The sullen earth. _Zar._ Oh! if thou hast at length Discovered that my love is worth esteem, I ask no more--but let us hence together, And _I_--let me say _we_--shall yet be happy. Assyria is not all the earth--we'll find A world out of our own--and be more blessed Than I have ever been, or thou, with all An empire to indulge thee. _Enter_ SALEMENES. _Sal._ I must part ye-- The moments, which must not be lost, are passing. _Zar._ Inhuman brother! wilt thou thus weigh out 360 Instants so high and blest? _Sal._ Blest! _Zar._ He hath been So gentle with me, that I cannot think Of quitting. _Sal._ So--this feminine farewell Ends as such partings end, in _no_ departure. I thought as much, and yielded against all My better bodings. But it must not be. _Zar._ Not be? _Sal._ Remain, and perish---- _Zar._ With my husband---- _Sal._ And children. _Zar._ Alas!