Where hearts of sterner stuff perhaps had sunk:
And o'er thy fall, if it be so decreed,
Good men will mourn, and brave men will shed tears,
Kindred to those which now thou shed'st. Thy name
Shall in succeeding ages be remember'd
When those of mighty monarchs are forgot.
CONSTANTINE.
Men's actions to futurity appear
But as th' events to which they are conjoin'd
To give them consequence. A fallen state,
In age and weakness fall'n, no hero hath;
For none remain behind unto whose pride
The cherish'd mem'ry of his acts pertains.
O no, good Othus, fame I look not for.
But to sustain in heaven's all seeing eye,
Before my fellow men, in mine own sight,
With graceful virtue and becoming pride,
The dignity and honour of a man,
Thus station'd as I am, I will do all
That man may do, and I will suffer all—
My heart within me cries, that man can suffer.
(Starting up with vehemence, and holding up both hands firmly clenched.)
For that their humble townsmen should not blush,
And shall I shrink? No, by the living God!
I will not shrink, albeit I shed these tears.
