"Lady R. If time to come "Should prove as ineffectual, yet, my lord, "Thou cans't not blame me. youth When our Scottish "Vy'd with each other for my luckless love, "Oft I besought them, I implor'd them all "Not to assail me with my father's aid, "Nor blend their better destiny with mine. "For melancholy had congeal'd my blood, "And froze affection in my chilly breast. "At last my Sire, rous'd with the base attempt "To force me from him, which thou rend'red'st vain, "To his own daughter bow'd his hoary head, “Besought me to commiserate his age, "And vow'd he should not, could not die in peace, "And begg'd thy Nobleness, not to demand "Nor more to thee than to myself injurious. "Lord R. That I confess; yet ever must regret "The grief I cannot cure." Would thou wert not Compos'd of grief and tenderness alone, "But had'st a spark of other passions in thee, "Pride, anger, vanity, the strong desire "Of admiration, dear to woman-kind; "These might contend with, and allay thy grief, "As meeting tides and currents smooth our firth. "Lady R. To such a cause the human mind oft Owes "Its transient calm, a calm I envy not.” Lord R. Sure thou art not the daughter of Sir Malcolm: Strong was his rage, eternal his resentment: For when thy brother fell, he smil❜d to hear Lady R. Oh! rake not up the ashes of my fathers : Implacable resentment was their crime, And grievous has the expiation been. 81 Lord R. Thy grief wrests to its purposes my words. I never ask'd of thee that ardent love Which in the breasts of fancy's children burns. Lady R. Thou dost not think so: woeful as I am, I love thy merit, and esteem thy virtues. Lord R. Straight to the camp, Where every warrior on the tip-toe stands Each who arrives, if he is come to tell Lady R. O, may adverse winds, Far from the coast of Scotland, drive their fleet! In peace and safety to his pleasant home! Lord R. Thou speak'st a woman's, hear a warrior's wish: Right from their native land, the stormy north, Then shall our foes repent their bold invasion, Lady R. "War I detest: but war with foreign foes, "Whose manners, language, and whose looks are strange, "Is not so horrid, nor to me so hateful, "As that which with our neighbours oft we wage. "A river here, there an ideal line, "By fancy drawn, divide the sister kingdoms. 46 And, if they must have war, wage distant war, "But with each other fight in cruel conflict. "Gallant in strife, and noble in their ire, "The battle is their pastime. They go forth "Gay in the morning, as to summer sport; "When ev'ning comes, the glory of the morn, "The youthful warrior is a clod of clay. "Thus fall the prime of either hapless land; "And such the fruit of Scotch and English wars. "Lord R. I'll hear no more: this melody would make "A soldier drop his sword, and doff his arms, "Sit down and weep the conquests he has made; "Yea, (like a monk), sing rest and peace in heav'n "To souls of warriors in his battles slain." Lady, farewel: I leave thee not alone; Yonder comes one whose love makes duty light. Enter ANNA. 220 [Exit. Anna. Forgive the rashness of your Anna's love: Urg'd by affection, I have thus presum'd To interrupt your solitary thoughts; And warn you of the hours that you neglect, Lady R. So to lose my hours Is all the use I wish to make of time. Anna. To blame thee, lady, suits not with my state: Lady R. Oh! Anna. Have I distress'd you with officious love, These piteous tears, I'd throw my life away. 240 Lady R. What power directed thy unconscious tongue To speak as thou hast done? to name Anna. I know not: But since my words have made my mistress tremble, I will speak so no more: but silent mix My tears with hers. Lady R. No, thou shalt not be silent. I'll trust thy faithful love, and thou shalt be Anna. What means my noble mistress? Lady R. Did'st thou not ask what had my sorrows been, If I in early youth had lost a husband ?— In the cold bosom of the earth is lodg'd, Mangl'd with wounds, the husband of my youth; My child and his. Anna. Oh! Lady most rever'd! 260 |