"I thought to have made mine inoffensive rule An era of sweet peace 'midst bloody annals, A green spot amidst desert centuries, On which the future would turn back and smile, And cultivate, or sigh when it could not Recall Sardanapalus' golden reign. I thought to have made my realm a paradise, And every moon an epoch of new pleasures. I took the rabble's shouts for love – the breath Of friends for truth – the lips of woman for My only guerdon – so they are, my Myrrha: [He kisses her] Kiss me. Now let them take my realm and life! They shall have both, but never thee!"