Theogenes monologue (Act 3) — Numantia

Assuage your grief, and dry your tearful eyes, Ye tender wives, and let it now be known That we do feel your anguish in such wise, That love within our hearts hath overflown. Whether your pain to higher pitch shall rise, Or else be lessened by our kindly tone, We ne'er shall leave you now in life or death, But serve you truly to our latest breath. We thought, indeed, to sally from the town To meet with certain death, but not to fly; Though death it would not be, but live renown, To deal out glorious vengeance as we die. But since our plan is subject to your frown, And it were folly other plans to try, O sons beloved, and ye, our honoured wives, From this time forth we knit in one our lives. One thing alone is needful, that the foe Shall reap from us no triumph and no fame, Nay, rather shall he serve, in this our woe, As witness to immortalize our name. If now with me ye hand in hand will go, Through thousand ages shall your glory flame, For nothing in Numantia shall remain Which these proud foes can garner to their gain. Make now a fire in middle of the square, Whose tongues of flame shall to the heavens swell, And hurl therein our goods, without a care, The poorest and the richest things as well. This will ye judge a simple, light affair, When to your listening ears I have to tell What ye must do, with honour to your names, When once your wealth is swallowed in the flames. Meanwhile to stay, but for a single hour, The hunger which devours us as its prey, Cause that these wretched Romans[11] in our power Be slain and quartered without more delay, And then distributed from hut to tower, To all both great and small, this very day. So shall our banquet through the country ring, A cruel, strange, and necessary thing! My friends, what think ye? Are ye all agreed?