Accept the last words of my earthly lips:
High hallelujah to thy holy name!
[A Lion now appears, issuing from a low door at the end of the Stage, and Cordenius, advancing to meet it, enters the Arena, when Orceres from a lofty stand amongst the spectators, sends an arrow from his bow, which pierces Cordenius through the heart. He then disappears, and re-entering below, catches hold of his hand as Sylvius supports him from falling to the ground.
ORCERES (to Cordenius).
More worthy of a Roman.
I made a vow in secret to my heart,
That thou shouldst ne'er be made a mangled sight
For gazing crowds and Nero's ruthless eye.
SYLVIUS.
Says that thou hast done well; though words no more
May pass from these closed lips, whose last, bless'd utterance
Was the soul's purest and sublimest impulse.
[The Curtain drops.
