Herod's Lament for Mariamne
Oh, Mariamne! now for theeThe heart for which thou bled'st is bleeding;Revenge is lost in AgonyAnd wild Remorse to rage succeeding.Oh, Mariamne! where art thou?Thou canst not hear my bitter pleading:Ah! could'st thou--thou would'st pardon now,Though Heaven were to my prayer unheeding.
And is she dead?--and did they dareObey my Frenzy's jealous raving?My Wrath but doomed my own despair:The sword that smote her 's o'er me waving.--But thou art cold, my murdered Love!And this dark heart is vainly cravingFor he who soars alone above,And leaves my soul unworthy saving.
She's gone, who shared my diadem;She sunk, with her my joys entombing;I swept that flower from Judah's stem,Whose leaves for me alone were blooming;And mine's the guilt, and mine the hell,This bosom's desolation dooming;And I have earned those tortures well,Which unconsumed are still consuming!
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