SCENE IV

Herod's Court

HEROD

Lady, in horror all night long,
I heard a deep voice round my bed.
Methought it was the triumph song
Borne upward from my murdered dead.
" Herod," it cried, " thy doom is sealed.
The vengeance of the Lord draws nigh
Behold, in Bethlehem is revealed,
The Shiloh of the prophecy!"

QUEEN

O Sire, it were an evil thing
To heed all mutterings of the brain.
Were I a man, and that a king,
I would life's cup of pleasure drain;