_Myr._ So we Greeks deem too; And yet I sometimes think that gorgeous orb Must rather be the abode of Gods than one Of the immortal sovereigns. Now he breaks Through all the clouds, and fills my eyes with light That shuts the world out. I can look no more. _Bal._ Hark! heard you not a sound? _Myr._ No, 'twas mere fancy; They battle it beyond the wall, and not 60 As in late midnight conflict in the very Chambers: the palace has become a fortress Since that insidious hour; and here, within The very centre, girded by vast courts And regal halls of pyramid proportions, Which must be carried one by one before They penetrate to where they then arrived, We are as much shut in even from the sound Of peril as from glory. _Bal._ But they reached Thus far before. _Myr._ Yes, by surprise, and were 70 Beat back by valour: now at once we have Courage and vigilance to guard us. _Bal._ May they Prosper! _Myr._ That is the prayer of many, and The dread of more: it is an anxious hour; I strive to keep it from my thoughts. Alas! How vainly! _Bal._ It is said the King's demeanour In the late action scarcely more appalled The rebels than astonished his true subjects. _Myr._ 'Tis easy to astonish or appal The vulgar mass which moulds a horde of slaves; 80 But he did bravely. _Bal._ Slew he not Beleses? I heard the soldiers say he struck him down. _Myr._ The wretch was overthrown, but rescued to Triumph, perhaps, o'er one who vanquished him In fight, as he had spared him in his peril; And by that heedless pity risked a crown. _Bal._ Hark! _Myr._ You are right; some steps approach, but slowly. _Enter Soldiers, bearing in_ SALEMENES _wounded, with a broken javelin in his side: they seat him upon one of the couches which furnish the Apartment_. _Myr._ Oh, Jove! _Bal._ Then all is over. _Sal._ That is false. Hew down the slave who says so, if a soldier. _Myr._ Spare him--he's none: a mere court butterfly, 90 That flutter in the pageant of a monarch. _Sal._ Let him live on, then. _Myr._ So wilt thou, I trust. _Sal._ I fain would live this hour out, and the event, But doubt it. Wherefore did ye bear me here? _Sol._ By the King's order. When the javelin struck you, You fell and fainted: 'twas his strict command To bear you to this hall.