Shall give no captive hand--her heart is free:
No promise wrung, no king's command be mine to claim,
Her love the boon I crave; all else an empty name!

FABIAN.
Yes,--you may--see her--_see_ her--this you may--

SEV.
Thy speech is halting--odious thy delay!
She loves no more? I grope! O give me light!

FABIAN.
O see her not, for painful were the sight!
In Rome each matron's kind! In Rome all maids are fair!
Let lips meet other lips--seek for caresses there!
No stately Claudia will refuse--no Julia proud disdain;
A hero captures every heart, from Antioch to Spain!

SEV.
To wed a queen--an empress--were only loss and shame;
One heart for me--Pauline's! One boast--that dearest name!
Her love was virgin gold! O ne'er shall baser metal ring
From mine, who live her name to bless! her peerless praise to sing!
O, words are naught, till that I see her face,
Then doubly naught till I my love embrace.
In every war my hope was placed in death,
Her name upon my lips at every breath:
My rank, my fame, now hers and hers alone,
What is not hers, hers only--I disown!