O queen! I will deserve thee; why do tears
Silently drop, and slowly, down thy veil?
I shall return to worship thee, and soon;
Why this affliction? Oh, that I alone
Could raise or could repress it!

EGI. We depart,
Nor interrupt your counsels, nor impede;
Oh, may they prosper, whatsoe'er they be,
And perfidy soon meet its just reward!
The infirm and peaceful Opas--whither gone?

MUZA. Stay, daughter; not for counsel are we met,
But to secure our arms from treachery,
O'erthrow and stifle base conspiracies,
Involve in his own toils our false ally -

EGI. Author of every woe I have endured!
Ah, sacrilegious man! he vowed to Heaven
None of his blood should ever mount the throne.

MUZA. Herein his vow indeed is ratified:
Yet faithful ears have heard this offer made,
And weighty was the conference that ensued,
And long, not dubious; for what mortal e'er
Refused alliance with illustrious power?
Though some have given its enjoyments up,
Tired and enfeebled by satiety.
His friends and partisans, 'twas his pretence,
Should pass uninterrupted; hence his camp