PSY. Ah! I pray you, my Lord, Spare my weakness. I need constancy in
these circumstances. Add not to the excess of my grief by the tears of
your fondness. My sorrow alone is deep enough; my fate and your grief
are too much for my heart.

KING. True! I must spare thee my disconsolate trouble. The fatal
moment has come. I must tear myself from thee; but how can I utter
this dreadful word? And yet I must! Heaven commands it. An unavoidable
cruelty forces me to leave thee in this fatal spot. Farewell, I go...
Farewell.



SCENE II.--PSYCHE, AGLAURA, CIDIPPE.

PSY. Follow the king, my sisters; dry his tears, solace his grief. You
would fill him with alarm were you to, expose yourselves to my
misfortune. Preserve for him whatever he possesses still; the serpent
I expect might prove hurtful to you, and draw you in the same fate as
myself; nay, through _your_ death might cause me a second death.
Me alone has heaven condemned to his poisonous breath; nothing could
save me; and I need no example to die.

AGL. Grudge us not this cruel privilege of mingling our tears with
your sorrows; suffer our sighs to answer your last sighs; accept this
last pledge of our tender love.

PSY. 'Tis but to lose yourselves to no purpose.