Affixed to 150. 'Ferdinand's death is not sufficiently
explained to the Audience. There should be a struggling behind the
scene, as if Osorio had taken him unawares, and was hurrying him down
the Precipice. An exclamation or even groans would add still more to the
interest of the scene.' MS. III erased.
[152-234] om. Remorse. vide ante The Foster-Mother's Tale:
a Dramatic Fragment, pp. 182-4.
Between 152 and 246:
Scene II
The interior Court of a Saracenic or Gothic Castle with the iron gate
of a dungeon visible.
Teresa. Heart-chilling Superstition! thou canst glaze
Ev'n Pity's eye with her own frozen tear.
In vain I urge the tortures that await him:
Even Selma, reverend guardian of my childhood,
My second mother, shuts her heart against me!
Well, I have won from her what most imports
The present need, this secret of the dungeon
Known only to herself.—A Moor! a Sorcerer!
No, I have faith, that nature ne'er permitted
Baseness to wear a form so noble. True,
I doubt not, that Ordonio had suborned him
To act some part in some unholy fraud;
As little doubt, that for some unknown purpose
He hath baffled his suborner, terror-struck him,
And that Ordonio meditates revenge!
But my resolve is fixed! myself will rescue him,
And learn if haply he knew aught of Alvar.
Enter Valdez.
Valdez. Still sad?—and gazing at the massive door
Of that fell dungeon which thou ne'er had'st sight of,
Save what, perchance, thy infant fancy shap'd it
When the nurse still'd thy cries with unmeant threats.
Now by my faith, girl! this same wizard haunts thee!
A stately man, and eloquent and tender—
Who then need wonder if a lady sighs
Even at the thought of what these stern Dominicans—
Teresa. The horror of their ghastly punishments
Doth so o'ertop the height of all compassion,
That I should feel too little for mine enemy,
If it were possible I could feel more,
Even though the dearest inmates of our household
Were doom'd to suffer them. That such things are—
Remorse.
[155] Maria. 'Tis strange] Teresa. 'Tis said MS. III.
[157] Foster-Mother] Selma Corr. in MS. III.
[165-6]
O honor'd Selma! this strange man has left me
Wilder'd with stranger fancies than yon moon
Corr. in MS. III.
[169]
She gazes idly!
Ter. But that entrance, Selma
Corr. in MS. III.
[170] Foster-Mother] Selma Corr. in MS. III.
[171] Maria] Teresa. Foster-Mother] Selma Corr. in MS.
III.
[172] Leoni] Sesina Corr. in MS. III.
[180] Velez] Valdez Corr. in MS. III.
[201] Velez] Valdez Corr. in MS. III.
[212] And once as he was working near this dungeon Corr. in
MS. III.
[221] Maria] Teresa Corr. in MS. III.
[226] Leoni's] Sesina's Corr. in MS. III.
[228] Leoni] Sesina Corr. in MS. III.
Between 248 and 255:
What if Monviedro or his creatures hear us!
I dare not listen to you.
Teresa. My honoured lord,
These were my Alvar's lessons, and whene'er
I bend me o'er his portrait, I repeat them,
As if to give a voice to the mute image.
Valdez. ——We have mourned for Alvar.
Of his sad fate there now remains no doubt.
Have I no other son?
Remorse.
[256] That low imposture! That mysterious picture! Remorse.
it] this Remorse.
Between 262 and 268:
O that I had indeed the sorcerer's power.—
I would call up before thine eyes the image
Of my betrothed Alvar, of thy first-born!
His own fair countenance, his kingly forehead,
His tender smiles, love's day-dawn on his lips!
That spiritual and almost heavenly light
In his commanding eye—his mien heroic,
Virtue's own native heraldry! to man
Genial, and pleasant to his guardian angel.
Whene'er he gladden'd, how the gladness spread
Wide round him! and when oft with swelling tears,
Flash'd through by indignation, he bewail'd
The wrongs of Belgium's martyr'd patriots,
Oh, what a grief was there—for joy to envy,
Or gaze upon enamour'd!
O my father!
Recall that morning when we knelt together,
And thou didst bless our loves! O even now,
Even now, my sire! to thy mind's eye present him,
As at that moment he rose up before thee,
Stately, with beaming look! Place, place beside him
Ordonio's dark perturbed countenance!
Then bid me (Oh thou could'st not) bid me turn
From him, the joy, the triumph of our kind!
To take in exchange that brooding man, who never
Lifts up his eye from the earth, unless to scowl.
Remorse.
[274-86] (Thou shalt not stay . . . companion) om. Remorse.
Between 274-87:
Teresa. O grief! to hear
Hateful intreaties from a voice we love!
Enter a Peasant and presents a letter to Valdez.
Valdez (reading it). 'He dares not venture hither!' Why what can this mean?
'Lest the Familiars of the Inquisition,
That watch around my gates, should intercept him;
But he conjures me, that without delay
I hasten to him—for my own sake entreats me
To guard from danger him I hold imprison'd—
He will reveal a secret, the joy of which
Will even outweigh the sorrow.'—Why what can this be?
Perchance it is some Moorish stratagem,
To have in me a hostage for his safety.
Nay, that they dare not! Ho! collect my servants!
I will go thither—let them arm themselves. [Exit Valdez.
Teresa (alone). The moon is high in heaven, and all is hush'd.
Yet anxious listener! I have seem'd to hear
A low dead thunder mutter thro' the night,
As 'twere a giant angry in his sleep.
O Alvar! Alvar! &c.
Remorse.
After 276 And all his wealth perhaps come to the Church
MS. III. erased.
[289] evening-tide] eventide Remorse.
After 296
[A pause.
And this majestic Moor, seems he not one
Who oft and long communing with my Alvar,
Hath drunk in kindred lustre from his presence,
And guides me to him with reflected light?
What if in yon dark dungeon coward treachery
Be groping for him with envenomed poniard—
Hence womanish fears, traitors to love and duty—
I'll free him. [Exit Teresa.
Scene III
The mountains by moonlight. Alhadra alone in a Moorish dress.
Alhadra. Yon hanging woods, that touch'd by autumn seem
As they were blossoming hues of fire and gold; |
|
|
The hanging Act V, l. 41.
The flower-like woods, most lovely in decay, |
The many clouds, the sea, the rock, the sands,
Lie in the silent moonshine: and the owl,
(Strange! very strange!) the scritch-owl only wakes!
Sole voice, sole eye of all this world of beauty!
Unless, perhaps, she sing her screeching song
To a herd of wolves, that skulk athirst for blood.
Why such a thing am I?—Where are these men?
I need the sympathy of human faces,
To beat away this deep contempt for all things,
Which quenches my revenge. O! would to Alla,
The raven, or the sea-mew, were appointed
To bring me food! or rather that my soul
Could drink in life from the universal air!
It were a lot divine in some small skiff
Along some Ocean's boundless solitude,
To float for ever with a careless course,
And think myself the only being alive.
[Vide post Osorio, Act V, ll. 39-56.]
My children!—Isidore's children!—Son of Valdez,
This hath new strung mine arm. Thou coward tyrant!
To stupify a woman's heart with anguish,
Till she forgot—even that she was a mother! |
[She fixes her eye on the earth. Then drop in one after another, from
different parts of the stage, a considerable number of Morescoes, all in
Moorish garments and Moorish armour. They form a circle at a distance
round Alhadra, and remain silent till Naomi enters.
Remorse.
[337] the] these Remorse.
[342] spell-blasted] spell-blasted Remorse.
[345] Stage-direction om. Remorse.
[348] All] All Morescoes. Remorse.
[352] One to Another] One Morescoe (to another).
Remorse.
[353] Murder? Not murder'd? Remorse.
After 353 [Stage-direction] Alhadra (to Naomi, who
advances from the circle). Remorse.
[359] house] sons MS. III. Wet with the life-blood of the son
of Valdez Remorse.
After 359
Enter Warville. MS. III.
[A pause.
Ordonio was your chieftain's murderer
Remorse.
[375] Stage-direction All (kneeling). Remorse.
After 375 Alhadra. This night your chieftain armed
himself Remorse.
Affixed to 375 (not in S. T. C.'s handwriting) and
erased:
Naomi.
Proceed, proceed, Alhadra.
Alhadra.
Yestermorning
He stood before our house, startful and gloomy,
And stirr'd up fierce dispute with Ferdinand,
I saw him when the vehement Gripe of Conscience
Had wrenched his features to a visible agony.
When he was gone Ferdinand sighed out 'Villain'
And spake no other word.
Warville (mournfully).
MS. III erased.
[Note.—Warville was a character introduced into the deleted passage
360-70, the name being always altered by S. T. C. to 'Maurice'.]
[384] its] their Corr. in MS. III.
[386] there] there Remorse.
[388] a pause] a while Remorse.
[397] Stage-direction om. Remorse.
[399] A brief while] A little while Corr. in MS. III erased.
[402] God] Heaven Remorse.
[404] light] light Remorse.
[405] hideous] hideous Remorse.
[407] while] whilst Remorse.
[409] Erased MS. III. Naomi. Comfort her, Alla! Remorse.
[414] go] onward Remorse.
After 425
All. Away! away! [She rushes off, all following her.
Remorse.
ACT THE FIFTH
Scene the First.—The Sea Shore.
Naomi and a Moresco.
Moresco. This was no time for freaks of useless vengeance.
Naomi. True! but Francesco, the Inquisitor,
Thou know'st the bloodhound—'twas a strong temptation.
And when they pass'd within a mile of his house,
We could not curb them in. They swore by Mahomet, 5
It were a deed of treachery to their brethren
To sail from Spain and leave that man alive.
Moresco. Where is Alhadra?
Naomi. She moved steadily on
Unswerving from the path of her resolve.
Yet each strange object fix'd her eye: for grief 10
Doth love to dally with fantastic shapes,
And smiling, like a sickly moralist,
Gives some resemblance of her own concerns
To the straws of chance, and things inanimate.
I seek her here; stand thou upon the watch. 15
[Exit Moresco.
Naomi (looking wistfully to the distance). Stretch'd on the rock! It must be she—Alhadra!
[Alhadra rises from the rock, and advances slowly, as if musing.
Naomi. Once more, well met! what ponder'st thou so deeply?
Alhadra. I scarce can tell thee! For my many thoughts
Troubled me, till with blank and naked mind
I only listen'd to the dashing billows. 20
It seems to me, I could have closed my eyes
And wak'd without a dream of what has pass'd;
So well it counterfeited quietness,
This wearied heart of mine!
Naomi. 'Tis thus by nature
Wisely ordain'd, that so excess of sorrow 25
Might bring its own cure with it.
Alhadra. Would to Heaven
[584]
That it had brought its last and certain cure!
That ruin in the wood.
Naomi. It is a place
Of ominous fame; but 'twas the shortest road,
Nor could we else have kept clear of the village. 30
Yet some among us, as they scal'd the wall,
Mutter'd old rhyming prayers.
Alhadra. On that broad wall
I saw a skull; a poppy grew beside it,
There was a ghastly solace in the sight!
Naomi. I mark'd it not, and in good truth the night-bird 35
Curdled my blood, even till it prick'd the heart.
Its note comes dreariest in the fall of the year:
[Looking round impatiently.
Why don't they come? I will go forth and meet them.
[Exit Naomi.
Alhadra (alone). The hanging woods, that touch'd by autumn seem'd
As they were blossoming hues of fire and gold, 40
The hanging woods, most lovely in decay,
The many clouds, the sea, the rock, the sands,
Lay in the silent moonshine; and the owl,
(Strange! very strange!) the scritch owl only wak'd,
Sole voice, sole eye of all that world of beauty! 45
Why such a thing am I! Where are these men?
I need the sympathy of human faces
To beat away this deep contempt for all things
Which quenches my revenge. Oh!—would to Alla
The raven and the sea-mew were appointed 50
To bring me food, or rather that my soul
Could drink in life from the universal air!
It were a lot divine in some small skiff,
Along some ocean's boundless solitude,
To float for ever with a careless course, 55
And think myself the only being alive! [Naomi re-enters.
Naomi. Thy children——
Alhadra. Children? Whose children?
[A pause—then fiercely.
Son of Velez,
[585]
This hath new-strung my arm! Thou coward tyrant,
To stupify a woman's heart with anguish, 60
Till she forgot even that she was a mother!
[A noise—enter a part of the Morescoes; and from the opposite side
of the stage a Moorish Seaman.
Moorish Seaman. The boat is on the shore, the vessel waits.
Your wives and children are already stow'd;
I left them prattling of the Barbary coast,
Of Mosks, and minarets, and golden crescents. 65
Each had her separate dream; but all were gay,
Dancing, in thought, to finger-beaten timbrels!
[Enter Maurice and the rest of the Morescoes dragging in Francesco.
Francesco. O spare me, spare me! only spare my life!
An Old Man. All hail, Alhadra! O that thou hadst heard him
When first we dragg'd him forth!
[Then turning to the band.
Here! in her presence—— 70
[He advances with his sword as about to kill him. Maurice leaps in and
stands with his drawn sword between Francesco and the Morescoes.
Maurice. Nay, but ye shall not!
Old Man. Shall not? Hah? Shall not?
Maurice. What, an unarm'd man?
A man that never wore a sword? A priest?
It is unsoldierly! I say, ye shall not!
Old Man (turning to the bands). He bears himself most like an insolent Spaniard! 75
Maurice. And ye like slaves, that have destroy'd their master,
But know not yet what freedom means; how holy
And just a thing it is! He's a fallen foe!
Come, come, forgive him!
All. No, by Mahomet!
Francesco. O mercy, mercy! talk to them of mercy! 80
Old Man. Mercy to thee! No, no, by Mahomet!
Maurice. Nay, Mahomet taught mercy and forgiveness.
I am sure he did!
Old Man. Ha! Ha! Forgiveness! Mercy!
Maurice. If he did not, he needs it for himself!
[586]Alhadra. Blaspheming fool! the law of Mahomet 85
Was given by him, who framed the soul of man.
This the best proof—it fits the soul of man!
Ambition, glory, thirst of enterprize,
The deep and stubborn purpose of revenge,
With all the boiling revelries of pleasure— 90
These grow in the heart, yea, intertwine their roots
With its minutest fibres! And that Being
Who made us, laughs to scorn the lying faith,
Whose puny precepts, like a wall of sand,
Would stem the full tide of predestined Nature! 95
Naomi (who turns toward Francesco with his sword). Speak!
All (to Alhadra). Speak!
Alhadra. Is the murderer of your chieftain dead?
Now as God liveth, who hath suffer'd him
To make my children orphans, none shall die
Till I have seen his blood!
Off with him to the vessel!
[A part of the Morescoes hurry him off.
Alhadra. The Tyger, that with unquench'd cruelty, 100
Still thirsts for blood, leaps on the hunter's spear
With prodigal courage. 'Tis not so with man.
Maurice. It is not so, remember that, my friends!
Cowards are cruel, and the cruel cowards.
Alhadra. Scatter yourselves, take each a separate way, 105
And move in silence to the house of Velez. [Exeunt.
Scene.—A Dungeon.
Albert (alone) rises slowly from a bed of reeds.
Albert. And this place my forefathers made for men!
This is the process of our love and wisdom
To each poor brother who offends against us—
Most innocent, perhaps—and what if guilty? 110
Is this the only cure? Merciful God!
Each pore and natural outlet shrivell'd up
By ignorance and parching poverty,
His energies roll back upon his heart,
And stagnate and corrupt till changed to poison, 115
[587]
They break out on him like a loathsome plague-spot!
Then we call in our pamper'd mountebanks—
And this is their best cure! uncomforted
And friendless solitude, groaning and tears,
And savage faces at the clanking hour 120
Seen thro' the steaming vapours of his dungeon
By the lamp's dismal twilight! So he lies
Circled with evil, till his very soul
Unmoulds its essence, hopelessly deform'd
By sights of ever more deformity! 125
With other ministrations thou, O Nature!
Healest thy wandering and distemper'd child:
Thou pourest on him thy soft influences,
Thy sunny hues, fair forms, and breathing sweets,
Thy melodies of woods, and winds, and waters, 130
Till he relent, and can no more endure
To be a jarring and a dissonant thing
Amid this general dance and minstrelsy;
But bursting into tears wins back his way,
His angry spirit heal'd and harmoniz'd 135
By the benignant touch of love and beauty.
[A noise at the dungeon-door. It opens, and Osorio enters with a goblet
in his hand.
[588]Osorio. Hail, potent wizard! In my gayer mood
I pour'd forth a libation to old Pluto;
[589]
And as I brimm'd the bowl, I thought of thee!
Albert (in a low voice). I have not summon'd up my heart to give 140
That pang, which I must give thee, son of Velez!
Osorio (with affected levity). Thou hast conspired against my life and honour,
Hast trick'd me foully; yet I hate thee not!
Why should I hate thee? This same world of ours—
It is a puddle in a storm of rain, 145
And we the air-bladders, that course up and down,
And joust and tilt in merry tournament,
And when one bubble runs foul of another,
[Waving his hand at Albert.
The lesser must needs break!
Albert. I see thy heart!
There is a frightful glitter in thine eye, 150
[590]
Which doth betray thee. Crazy-conscienc'd man,
This is the gaiety of drunken anguish,
Which fain would scoff away the pang of guilt,
And quell each human feeling!
Osorio. Feeling! feeling!
The death of a man—the breaking of a bubble. 155
'Tis true, I cannot sob for such misfortunes!
But faintness, cold, and hunger—curses on me
If willingly I e'er inflicted them!
Come, share the beverage—this chill place demands it.
Friendship and wine! [Osorio proffers him the goblet.
Albert. Yon insect on the wall, 160
Which moves this way and that its hundred legs,
Were it a toy of mere mechanic craft,
It were an infinitely curious thing!
But it has life, Osorio! life and thought;
And by the power of its miraculous will 165
Wields all the complex movements of its frame
Unerringly, to pleasurable ends!
Saw I that insect on this goblet's brink,
I would remove it with an eager terror.
Osorio. What meanest thou?
Albert. There's poison in the wine. 170
Osorio. Thou hast guess'd well. There's poison in the wine.
Shall we throw dice, which of us two shall drink it?
For one of us must die!
Albert. Whom dost thou think me?
Osorio. The accomplice and sworn friend of Ferdinand.
Albert. Ferdinand! Ferdinand! 'tis a name I know not. 175
Osorio. Good! good! that lie! by Heaven! it has restor'd me.
[591]
Now I am thy master! Villain, thou shalt drink it,
Or die a bitterer death.
Albert. What strange solution
Hast thou found out to satisfy thy fears,
And drug them to unnatural sleep?
[Albert takes the goblet, and with a sigh throws it on the ground.
My master! 180
Osorio. Thou mountebank!
Albert. Mountebank and villain!
What then art thou? For shame, put up thy sword!
What boots a weapon in a wither'd arm?
I fix mine eye upon thee, and thou tremblest!
I speak—and fear and wonder crush thy rage, 185
And turn it to a motionless distraction!
Thou blind self-worshipper! thy pride, thy cunning,
Thy faith in universal villainy,
Thy shallow sophisms, thy pretended scorn
For all thy human brethren—out upon them! 190
What have they done for thee? Have they given thee peace?
Cured thee of starting in thy sleep? or made
The darkness pleasant, when thou wakest at midnight?
Art happy when alone? can'st walk by thyself
With even step, and quiet cheerfulness? 195
Yet, yet thou mayst be saved.
Osorio (stupidly reiterating the word). Saved? saved?
Albert. One pang—
Could I call up one pang of true remorse!
Osorio. He told me of the babe, that prattled to him,
His fatherless little ones! Remorse! remorse!
Where gott'st thou that fool's word? Curse on remorse! 200
Can it give up the dead, or recompact
A mangled body—mangled, dash'd to atoms!
Not all the blessings of an host of angels
Can blow away a desolate widow's curse;
And tho' thou spill thy heart's blood for atonement, 205
It will not weigh against an orphan's tear.
Albert (almost overcome by his feelings). But Albert——
Osorio. Ha! it chokes thee in the throat,
[592]Even thee! and yet, I pray thee, speak it out.
Still Albert! Albert! Howl it in mine ear!
Heap it, like coals of fire, upon my heart! 210
And shoot it hissing through my brain!
Albert. Alas—
That day, when thou didst leap from off the rock
Into the waves, and grasp'd thy sinking brother,
And bore him to the strand, then, son of Velez!
How sweet and musical the name of Albert! 215
Then, then, Osorio! he was dear to thee,
And thou wert dear to him. Heaven only knows
How very dear thou wert! Why didst thou hate him?
O Heaven! how he would fall upon thy neck,
And weep forgiveness!
Osorio. Spirit of the dead! 220
Methinks I know thee! Ha!—my brain turns wild
At its own dreams—off—off, fantastic shadow!
Albert (seizing his hand). I fain would tell thee what I am, but dare not!
Osorio (retiring from him). Cheat, villain, traitor! whatsoe'er thou be
I fear thee, man!
[He starts, and stands in the attitude of listening.
And is this too my madness? 225
Albert. It is the step of one that treads in fear
Seeking to cheat the echo.
Osorio. It approaches—
This nook shall hide me.
[Maria enters from a plank which slips to and fro.