[33] move] creep Remorse.
[37-9]
Ordonio. Why, Isidore,
I blush for thy cowardice. It might have startled,
I grant you, even a brave man for a moment—
Remorse.
[41] thump] strike Corr. in MS. III, Remorse.
[44] Sunk with a faint splash in that groaning Corr. in MS.
III. Sunk] Sank Remorse.
[49] fellow-men] fellow man Remorse.
[52] laugh] smile Remorse.
Between 54 and 57:
O sleep of horrors! Now run down and stared at
By forms so hideous that they mock remembrance—
Now seeing nothing and imagining nothing,
But only being afraid—stifled with fear!
While every goodly or familiar form
Had a strange power of breathing terror round me!
I saw you in a thousand fearful shapes;
And I entreat your lordship to believe me,
Remorse.
[64]
Ord. (after a pause). I know not why it should be! yet it is—
Remorse.
[65] Abhorrent from our nature, Remorse.
[67-70]
Ord. Why that's my case! and yet the soul recoils from it—
'Tis so with me at least. But you, perhaps,
Have sterner feelings?
Isid. Something troubles you.
How shall I serve you?
Remorse.
[77] yards] strides Remorse.
[80] Stage-direction om. Remorse.
Between 84 and 88
Isid. (aside). He? He despised? Thou'rt speaking of thyself!
I am on my guard however: no surprise [Then to Ordonio.
Remorse.
[91-2]
Isidore. Of himself he speaks. [Aside.
Alas! poor wretch!
Mad men, &c.
Remorse.
[93] phantasies] phantom thoughts Remorse.
[104] go on] proceed Remorse.
[106] being] substance Remorse.
[108] Stage-direction om. Remorse.
[120] some] same Remorse.
[121-2]
He proved a traitor,
Betrayed the mystery to a brother traitor
Remorse.
[131] Stage-direction om. Remorse.
Between 143 and 145.
With weak and womanish scruples. Now my vengeance
Beckons me onwards with a warrior's mien,
And claims that life, my pity robb'd her of—
Now will I kill thee, thankless slave, and count it
Remorse.
Affixed to 147.
Ferdinand on hearing the threat of Osorio feels a momentary horror at
the consequences of his being killed, and in tones of mingled fear and
sorrow—
And all my little ones fatherless!
then bursting into indignation 'Die thou first', MS. III.
After 147
[They fight. Ordonio disarms Isidore, and in
disarming him throws his sword up that recess opposite to which they
were standing. Isidore hurries into the recess with his torch, Ordonio
follows him; a loud cry of 'Traitor! Monster!' is heard from the cavern,
and in a moment Ordonio returns alone.
Ordonio. I have hurl'd him down the chasm! treason for treason.
He dreamt of it, henceforward let him sleep,
A dreamless sleep, from which no wife can wake him.
His dream too is made out—Now for his friend. [Exit. Ordonio.
Remorse.
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.