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Mysta.(To the women):
Of her life
The torch burns thin and shaken, like a flame
Toss'd in the winds of adverse destiny.
Theonöe.(Softly, but clearly):
I dream'd my life away. I live but now.
One instant waking, as eternal night
Is closing in upon me, soft as sleep.
(Passionately to Flavian.)
Come, mouth of mortal, consecrate my lips
Anew, to Aphrodite, from my brow
Lay by the laurel, crown me with a kiss,
And set a withering rose upon my hair,
A rose that should have flower'd a brief day thro'
Whose bloom was shed or ever the noontide came,
Who dies as I die, victim to the Sun.
Flavian:
Burn out, false Sun, extinguishing the day!
