Fiesco monologue (Act 5) — Fiesco; or, the Genoese Conspiracy: A Tragedy

(ready to faint, to ARABELLA) Thy mistress is found--(ARABELLA advances anxiously--FIESCO casts his eyes round the whole circle--then, with a faltering voice)--'Tis true--'Tis true--And I am the instrument of this horrid deed. (Madly.) Back! back! ye human forms! Oh! (gnashing his teeth wildly, and looking up toward heaven) had I but this created orb between my teeth--I feel as though I could tear the universe to fragments, till nature's face was hideous as the pain that gnaws my soul! (To the others, that stand around, trembling.) See, how they stand aghast there, miserable creatures! blessing themselves and rejoicing that they are not as I am. I alone feel the blow. (Wildly.) I!--why I? Why not these as well? Why is my sorrow denied the balm of being shared with others?