{"id":690,"date":"2013-07-13T01:29:44","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:29:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=690"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:29:44","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:29:44","slug":"48-rodogune-act-two-scene-5-vol-06-collected-plays-part-i-volume-06","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/01-sabcl\/06-collected-plays-part-i-volume-06\/48-rodogune-act-two-scene-5-vol-06-collected-plays-part-i-volume-06","title":{"rendered":"-48_Rodogune-Act Two-Scene-5.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n

\n
\nSCENE V \u2022 <\/font><\/b><\/span>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\n <\/div>\n

\n

\n <\/div>\n

\nCleopatra’s chamber.
\nCleopatra, Cleone.<\/i><\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tC<\/font>LEOPATRA
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nI am resolved; but Mentho the Egyptian knows
\nThe true precedence of the twins. Send her to me.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nCleone goes out.
\nO<\/i> you high-seated cold divinities,
\nYou sleep sometimes, they say you sleep. Sleep now!
\nI only loosen what your careless wills
\nHave tangled.<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\nMentho enters.<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\nMentho, sit by me, Mentho,<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nYou have not breathed our secret ? Keep it, Mentho,
\nDead in your bosom, buy a queen for slave.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tM<\/font>ENTHO<\/font><\/p>\n

\nDead! Can truth die?<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tC<\/font>LEOPATRA
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nAh, Mentho, truth! But truth
\nIs often terrible. Justice! but was ever
\nJustice yet seen upon the earth? Man lives
\nBecause he is not just and real right
\nDwells not with law and custom but for him
\nIt grows by whose arriving our brief happiness
\nIs best assured and grief prohibited
\nFor a while to mortals.<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tM<\/font>ENTHO
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nThis is the thing I feared.
\nO wickedness! Well, Queen, I understand.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tC<\/font>LEOPATRA<\/font><\/p>\n

\nNot less than you I love Antiochus;<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 391<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nBut Timocles seeks Parthian Rodogune.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nO, if these brother-loves should turn to hate<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nAnd slay us all! Then rather let thy nursling stand,<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nWill he not rule whoever fills the throne ? \u2014<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nApproved of heaven and earth, indeed a king,<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nProtector of the weaker Timocles,<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nHis right hand in his wars, his pillar, guard<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nAnd sword of action, grand in loyalty,<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nKingly in great subjection, famed for love.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nThen there shall be no grief for any one<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nAnd everything consent to our desires.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tM<\/font>ENTHO
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nQueen Cleopatra, shall I speak, shall I
\nForget respect ? The God demands my voice.
\nI tell thee then that thy rash brain has hatched
\nA wickedness beyond all parallel,
\nA cold, unmotherly and cruel plot
\nThou striv’st in vain to alter with thy words.
\nO nature self-deceived! O blinded heart!
\nIt is the husband of thy boasted love,
\nWoman, thou wrongest in thy son.<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tC<\/font>LEOPATRA
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nAlas,
\nMentho, my nurse, thou knowest not the cause.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tM<\/font>ENTHO
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nI do not need to know. Art thou Olympian Zeus ?
\nHas he given thee his sceptre and his charge
\nTo guide the tangled world ? Wilt thou upset
\nHis rulings ? wilt thou improve his providence ?
\nAre thy light woman’s brain and shallow love
\nA better guide than his all-seeing eye ?
\nO wondrous arrogance of finite men
\nWho would know better than omniscient God!
\nBeware his thunders and observe his will.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 393<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nWhat he has made strive not to unmake but shun<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe tragical responsibility<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nOf such dire error. If from thy act spring death<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nAnd horror, are thy human shoulders fit<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nTo bear that heavy load ? Observe his will,<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nDo right and leave the rest to God above.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tC<\/font>LEOPATRA<\/font><\/p>\n

\nThy words have moved me.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tM<\/font>ENTHO
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nLet thy husband move thee.
\nHow wilt thou meet him in the solemn shades ?
\nWill he not turn his royal face from thee
\nSaying, "Murderess of my children, come not near me!"?<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tC<\/font>LEOPATRA
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nO Mentho, curse me not. My husband’s eyes
\nShall meet me with a smile. Mentho, my nurse,
\nYou will not tell this to Antiochus ?<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tM<\/font>ENTHO
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nI am not mad nor wicked. Remain fixed
\nIn this resolve. Dream not that happiness
\nCan spring from wicked roots. God overrules
\nAnd Right denied is mighty.<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nCurtain<\/i><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 393<\/font><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCENE V \u2022     Cleopatra’s chamber. Cleopatra, Cleone. CLEOPATRA I am resolved; but Mentho the Egyptian knows The true precedence of the twins. Send…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-06-collected-plays-part-i-volume-06","wpcat-15-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/690\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}