A blasphemy against my father's grief,
My people's agony. I dare be happy —
So happy ! in the instant's lull betwixt
The dazzle and the crash o£ doom.
PRINCE WILLIAM
You read
The omen falsely ; rather is your joy
The thrilling harbinger of general dawn.
Did you not tell me ecarce a month agone,
When I chanced in on you at feast and prayer,
The holy time's bright legend ? of the queen,
Strong, beautiful, resolute, who denied her race
To save ber race, who cast upon the die
Of her divine and simple
Her life, her sou!, — and so redeemed her tribe,
You are my Esther — but I, no second tyrant,
Worship whom yon adore, love whom you love !
LIEBHAID.
If I must die with mom, I thank my God,
And thee, my king, that I have lived this night.
Enter StissKlKD, carri/ing ajetnelitd catiet.
SÜSSKIND
Here is the cheet, sestled with my signet-ring,
A mystery and a treasure lies within,
Whose worth is faintly symboled by these gems,
Starring the case. Deliver it unopened,
