The British drama; a collection of the most esteemed tragedies, comedies, operas, and farces, in the English language

She was not wont with ling'ring step to meet me,

Or greet my coming with a cold embrace;
Now, I extend my longing arms in vain :
My child, my darling, does not come to fill
them.

O they were happy days, when she would fly
To meet me from the camp, or from the chace,
And with her fondness overpay my toils!
How eager would her tender hands unbrace
The ponderous armour from my war-worn
limbs,
[kiss!
And pluck the helmet which oppos'd her
Dou. O sweet delights, that never must be
mine !

Raby. What do I hear?

Dou. Nothing inquire no farther.

Raby. My lord, if you respect an old man's peace,

If e'er you doted on my much-lov'd child,
As 'tis most sure you made me think you did,
Then, by the pangs which you may one day
feel,

When you, like me, shall be a fond, fond father,

And tremble for the treasure of your age,
Tell me what this alarming silence means?
You sigh, you do not speak, nay more, you
hear not;

Your lab'ring soul turns inward on itself,
As there were nothing but your own sad
thoughts

Deserv'd regard. Does my child live?
Dou. She does.

Raby. To bless her father!

Dou. And to curse her husband!

Raby. Ah! have a care, my lord, I'm not so

old

Dou. Nor 1 so base, that I should tamely bear it ;

Nor am I so inur'd to infamy,

That I can say, without a burning blush,
She lives to be my curse!

Raby. How's this? Don. I thought

The lily opening to the heaven's soft dews,
Was not so fragrant, and was not so chaste.
Raby. Has she prov'd otherwise? I'll not
believe it.
[child?
Who has traduc'd my sweet, my innocent
Yet she's too good to 'scape calumnious
tongues.

I know that Slander loves a lofty mark:
It saw her soar a flight above her fellows,
And hurl'd its arrow to her glorious height,
To reach her heart, and bring her to the
ground.

Dou. Had the rash tongue of Slander so
presum'd,

My vengeance had not been of that slow sort
To need a prompter; nor should any arm,
No, not a father's, dare dispute with mine,
The privilege to die in her defence.
None dares accuse Elwina, but—
Raby. But who?

Dou. But Douglas.

Raby. [Puts his hand to his sword.] You ?— spare my age's weakness

You do not know what 'tis to be a father; You do not know, or you would pity me, The thousand tender throbs, the nameless feelings,

The dread to ask, and yet the wish to know,
When we adore and fear; but wherefore fear?
Does not the blood of Raby fill her veins?

Dou. Percy;-know'st thou that name?
Raby. How? What of Percy?

Dou. He loves Elwina, and, my curses on He is belov'd again. [him!

Raby. I'm on the rack!

Dou. Not the two Theban brothers bore each other

Such deep, such deadly hate as I and Percy. Raby. But tell me of my child.

Dou. [Not minding him.] As I and Percy! When at the marriage rites, O rites accurs'd! I seiz'd her trembling hand, she started back, Cold horror thrill'd her veins, her tears flow'd fast.

Fool that I was, I thought 'twas maiden fear;
Dull, doting ignorance: beneath those terrors,
Hatred for me and love for Percy lurk'd.
Raby. What proof of guilt is this?
Dou. E'er since our marriage,
Our days have still been cold and joyless all;
Painful restraint, and hatred ill disguis'd,
Her sole return for all my waste of fondness.
This very morn I told her 'twas your will
She should repair to court; with all those
[it,
Which first subdued my soul, and still enslave
She begg'd to stay behind in Raby Castle,
For courts and cities had no charms for her.
Curse my blind love! I was again ensnar'd,
And doted on the sweetness which deceiv'd
[sent,

graces,

me.

Just at the hour she thought I should be ab(For chance could ne'er have tim'd their guilt so well,) [knights, Arriv'd young Harcourt, one of Percy's Strictly enjoin'd to speak to none but her; I seiz'd the miscreant: hitherto he's silent, But tortures soon shall force him to confess! Raby. Percy is absent-They have never met.

Dou. At what a feeble hold you grasp for succour!

Will it content me that her person's pure?
No, if her alien heart dotes on another,
She is unchaste, were not that other Percy.
Let vulgar spirits basely wait for proof,
She loves another-'tis enough for Douglas.
Raby. Be patient.

Dou. Be a tame convenient husband,
And meanly wait for circumstantial guilt?
No-I am nice as the first Cæsar was,
And start at bare suspicion.

[Going.

Raby. [Holding him.] Douglas, hear me; Thou hast nam'd a Roman husband; if she's false,

I mean to prove myself a Roman father.

[Erit DOUGLAS. This marriage was my work, and thus I'm punish'd!

Enter ELWINA.

[him,

Elw. Where is my father? let me fly to meet O let me clasp his venerable knees, And die of joy in his belov'd embrace! Raby. [Avoiding her embrace.] Elwina! Elw. And is that all? so cold? Raby. [Sternly.] Elwina!

Elw. Then I'm undone indeed! How stern his looks!

I will not be repuls'd, I am your child,
The child of that dear mother you ador'd;
You shall not throw me off, I will grow here,
And, like the patriarch, wrestle for a blessing.
Raby. [Holding her from him.] Before I take

thee in these aged arms,
Press thee with transport to this beating heart,
And give a loose to all a parent's fondness,
Answer, and see thou answer me as truly
As if the dread inquiry came from Heaven,-

522

All selfish cares be for a moment banish'd;
I've now no child, no kindred but my country.
El. Weak heart, be still, for what hast
thou to fear?

Does no interior sense of guilt confound thee? | All private interests sink at his approach;
Canst thou lay all thy naked soul before me?
Can thy unconscious eye encounter mine?
Canst thou endure the probe, and never shrink?
Can thy firm hand meet mine, and never trem-
ble?

Art thou prepar'd to meet the rigid Judge?
Or to embrace the fond, the melting father?
Elw. Mysterious Heaven! to what am I re-
serv'd!

Raby. Should some rash man, regardless of

thy fame,

And in defiance of thy marriage vows,
Presume to plead a guilty passion for thee,
What wouldst thou do?

Elw. What honour bids me do.

Raby. Come to my arms!
Elw. My father!
Ruby. Yes, Elwina,

Enter SIR HUBERT.

Raby. Welcome, thou gallant knight! Sir
Welcome to Raby Castle!--In one word,
Hubert, welcome!
Is the king safe? Is Palestine subdu'd?
Sir H. The king is safe, and Palestine sub-
du'd.

Raby. Bless'd be the God of armies! Now,
Sir Hubert,

[They embrace. By all the saints, thou'rt a right noble knight
O why was I too old for this crusade!
Could I, like thee, have seen the hated cres-
I think it would have made me young again,
cent
Yield to the Christian cross.-How now,
[Elwina!
What! cold at news which might awake the
dead?.

Thou art my child-thy mother's perfect image.
Elw. Forgive these tears of mingled joy and
doubt;
For why that question? who should seek to
[please
The desolate Elwina?

Raby. But if any

Should so presume, canst thou resolve to hate
[him,
Whate'er his name, whate'er his pride of blood,
Whate'er his former arrogant pretensions?
El. Ha!

Ruby. Dost thou falter? Have a care, El-
wina.

Elw. Sir, do not fear me: am I not your daughter?

[honour;

Raby. Thou hast a higher claim upon thy
Thou art Earl Douglas' wife.
Elw. [Weeps.] I am, indeed!
Raby. Unhappy Douglas!
Elw. Has he then complain'd?

Has he presum'd to sully my white fame?
Raby. He knows that Percy-

Elw. Was my destin'd husband;
By your own promise, by a father's promise,
And by a tie more strong, more sacred still,
Mine, by the fast firm bond of mutual love."
Raby. Now, by my fears, thy husband told

me truth.

Elw. If he has told thee, that thy only child
Was forc'd a helpless victim to the altar,
Torn from his arms who had her virgin heart,
And forc'd to make false vows to one she
hated,

Then I confess that he has told the truth.

Raby. Her words are barbed arrows in my
heart.

But 'tis too late. [Aside.] Thou hast appoint-
ed Harcourt
To see thee here by stealth in Douglas' ab-
[sence?
Elw. No, by my life, nor knew I till this

moment

That Harcourt was return'd. Was it for this
I taught my heart to struggle with its feel-
ings?

Was it for this I bore my wrongs in silence?
When the fond ties of early love were broken,
Did my weak soul break out in fond com-

plaints?

Did I reproach thee? Did I call thee cruel?
No-I endur'd it all; and wearied Heaven
To bless the father who destroy'd my peace.

Enter MESSENGER.

Mess. My lord, a knight, Sir Hubert as I
think,

But newly landed from the holy wars,
Entreats admittance.

Raby. Let the warrior enter.

That glows not now, thou art not Raby's If there's a drop in thy degenerate veins daughter.

It is religion's cause, the cause of Heaven!

And wears the sanctimonious garb of faith
Elw. When policy assumes religion's name,
War then is tenfold guilt,
Only to colour fraud, and license murder,

Raby. Blaspheming girl!

Elw. "Tis not the crosier, nor the pontiff's
The saintly look, nor elevated eye,
Nor Palestine destroy'd, nor Jordan's banks
[robe,
Deluged with blood of slaughter'd infidels;
No, nor the extinction of the eastern world,
Nor all the mad, pernicious, bigot rage
Of your crusades, can bribe that Power that

sees

The motive with the act. O blind, to think
That cruel war can please the Prince of Peace!
Abhors the sacrifice of human blood,
He, who erects his altar in the heart,
Which massacres the world he died to save.
And all the false devotion of that zeal
Raby. O impious rage! If thou wouldst shun

No more, I charge thee.-Tell me, good Sir
my curse,
Hubert,
(I fear to ask,) without much Christian blood-
Say, have our arms achiev'd this glorious
[deed,
shed?

[Aside.

Elw. Now, Heaven support me!
Imperfect is the sum of human glory!
Sir H. My good lord of Raby,
Would I could tell thee that the field was won,
Without the death of such illustrious knights
As make the high-flush'd cheek of victory

pale.

Elw. Why should I tremble thus?
Raby. Who have we lost?

[Aside

Sir H. The noble Clifford, Walsingham, and

Grey,

Sir Harry Hastings, and the valiant Pembroke,
All men of choicest note.

Raby. O that my name

Had been enroll'd in such a list of heroes!
If I was too infirm to serve my country,

I might have prov'd my love by dying for her.
Elw. Were there no more?

Sir H. But few of noble blood.

But the brave youth who gain'd the palm of

glory,

[Exit MESSENGER. Who bore his banner foremost in the field,
The flower of knighthood, and the plume of
[war,

Yet conquer'd more by mercy than the sword, | Yes, thou most lovely, most ador'd of women,
Was Percy.
I'll copy every virtue, every grace,
Of my bless'd rival, happier even in death
To be thus lov'd, than living to be scorn'd.

Elw. Then he lives!

Ruby. Did he? Did Percy?

[Aside.

O gallant boy, then I'm thy foe no more; Who conquers for my country is my friend! His fame shall add new glories to a house, Where never maid was false, nor knight disloyal.

Sir H. You do embalm him, lady, with your

tears:

They grace the grave of glory where he liesHe died the death of honour.

Elw. Said'st thou-died?

ACT III.

[Exit.

SCENE I.-A Garden at Raby Castle, with a Bower.

Enter PERCY and SIR HUBERT.

Sir H. That Percy lives, and is return'd in safety, [quests More joys my soul than all the mighty con

Sir H. Beneath the towers of Solyma he fell. That sun beheld, which rose on Syria's ruin.

Elw. Oh!

Raby. Retire awhile, my daughter.
Elw. Douglas here,

My father and my husband?-O for pity-
[Exit, casting a look of anguish on both.
Dou. Now, now confess she well deserves
my vengeance!

Before my face to call upon my foe!
Ruby. Upon a foe who has no power to hurt
Earl Percy's slain.

[thee

Dou. I live again.—But holdDid she not weep? she did, and wept for Percy. If she laments him, he's my rival still, And not the grave can bury my resentment. Raby. The truly brave are still the truly gen'rous.

Now, Douglas, is the time to prove thee both. If it be true that she did once love Percy, Thou hast no more to fear, since he is dead. Release young Harcourt, let him see Elwina, "Twill serve a double purpose, 'twill at once Prove Percy's death, and thy unchang'd affec.tion.

Be gentle to my child, and win her heart
By confidence and unreproaching love.
Dou. By Heaven, thou counsel'st well! it
shall be done.

Go set him free, and let him have admittance
To my Elwina's presence.

Raby. Farewell, Douglas.

Show thou believ'st her faithful, and she'll prove so. [Exit. Dou. Northumberland is dead-that thought is peace!

Her heart may yet be mine, transporting hope! Percy was gentle, even a foe avows it,

And I'll be milder than a summer's breeze.

Per. I've told thee, good Sir Hubert, by what wonder

[slain. I was preserv'd, though number'd with the Sir H. 'Twas strange, indeed!

Per. "Twas Heaven's immediate work! But let me now indulge a dearer joy, Talk of a richer gift of Mercy's hand; A gift so precious to my doting heart, That life preserv'd is but a second blessing. O Hubert, let my soul indulge its softness! The hour, the spot, is sacred to Elwina. This was her fav'rite walk; I well remember, (For who forgets that loves as I have lov'd?) 'Twas in that very bower she gave this scarf, Wrought by the hand of love! she bound it on, And, smiling, cried, Whate'er befall us, Percy, Be this the sacred pledge of faith between us. I knelt, and swore, call'd every power to witness,

No time, nor circumstance, should force it from me,

But I would lose my life and that togetherHere I repeat my vow.

Sir H. Is this the man

Beneath whose single arm a host was crush'd?
He, at whose name the Saracen turn'd pale?
And when he fell, victorious armies wept,
And mourn'd a conquest they had bought so
dear?

How has he chang'd the trumpet's martial note,
And all the stirring clangor of the war,
For the soft melting of the lover's lute!
Why are thine eyes still bent upon the bower?
Per. O Hubert, Hubert, to a soul enamour'd,
There is a sort of local sympathy, [sion,
Which, when we view the scenes of early pas
Paints the bright image of the object lov'd
In stronger colours than remoter scenes
Could ever paint it; realizes shade,
Dresses it up in all the charms it wore,
Talks to it nearer, frames its answers kinder,
Gives form to fancy, and embodies thought.

Sir H. I should not be believ'd in Percy's

How look'd, what said she? Did she hear the
Of my imagin'd death without emotion? [tale
Sir H. Percy, thou hast seen the musk-rose,
newly blown,

Disclose its bashful beauties to the sun,
Till an unfriendly, chilling storm descended,
Crush'd all its blushing glories in their prime,
Bow'd its fair head, and blasted all its sweet-

ness;

So droop'd the maid beneath the cruel weight Of my sad tale.

Per. So tender and so true!

Sir H. I left her fainting in her father's

arms,

The dying flower yet hanging on the tree.
Even Raby melted at the news I brought,
And envy'd thee thy glory.

Per. Then J am bless'd!

His hate subdued, I've nothing more to fear. Sir H. My embassy dispatch'd, I left the castle,

Nor spoke to any of Lord Raby's household, For fear the king should chide the tardiness Of my return. My joy to find you living You have already heard.

Per. But where is Harcourt?

Ere this he should have seen her, told her all,
How I surviv'd, return'd-and how I love!
I tremble at the near approach of bliss, [me.
And scarcely can sustain the joy which waits
Sir H. Grant, Heaven, the fair one prove
but half so true!

Per. O she is truth itself!

Sir H. She may be chang'd,

Spite of her tears, her fainting, and alarms. I know the sex, know them as nature made 'em,

Not such as lovers wish, and poets feign.

Per. To doubt her virtue were suspecting 'Twere little less than infidelity! [Heaven, And yet I tremble. Why does terror shake These firm-strung nerves? But 'twill be ever thus,

When fate prepares us more than mortal bliss, And gives us only human strength to bear it. Sir H. What beam of brightness breaks through yonder gloom?

Per. Hubert-she comes! by all my hopes, she comes

"Tis she-the blissful vision is Elwina! But ah! what mean those tears?-She weeps for me!

O transport!-go.-I'll listen unobserv'd, And for a moment taste the precious joy, The banquet of a tear which falls for love. [Exit SIR HUBERT, PERCY goes into the bower.

Enter ELWINA.

Shall I not weep? and have I then no cause?
If I could break the eternal bands of death,
And wrench the sceptre from his iron grasp;
If I could bid the yawning sepulchre
Restore to life its long committed dust;
If I could teach the slaughtering hand of war
To give me back my dear, my murder'd Percy,
Then I indeed might once more cease to weep.
[PERCY comes out of the bower.
Per. Then cease, for Percy lives.
Elw. Protect me, Heaven!
Per. O joy unspeakable! My life, my love!
End of my toils, and crown of all my cares!
Kind as consenting peace, as conquest bright,
Dearer than arms, and lovelier than renown!

Elw. It is his voice-it is, it is my Percy!
And dost thou live?

Per. I never liv'd till now.

El. And did my sighs, and did my sorrows reach thee?

And art thou come at last to dry my tears? How did'st thou 'scape the fury of the foe? Per. Thy guardian genius hover'd o'er the field, [breast, And turn'd the hostile spear from Percy's Lest thy fair image should be wounded there. But Harcourt should have told thee all my How I surviv'd[fate,

Elw. Alas! I have not seen him. Oh! I have suffer'd much.

Per. Of that no more;

For every minute of our future lives

Shall be so bless'd, that we will learn to wonder How we could ever think we were unhappy. El. Percy-I cannot speak.

Per. Those tears how eloquent!

I would not change this motionless, mute joy,
For the sweet strains of angels: I look down
With pity on the rest of human kind,
However great may be their fame of happiness,
And think their niggard fate has given them
[ing,

nothing,

Not giving thee; or, granting some small blessDenies them my capacity to feel it.

Elw. Alas! what mean you? Per. Can I speak my meaning? "Tis of such magnitude that words would wrong it;

But surely my Elwina's faithful bosom
Should beat in kind responses of delight,
And feel, but never question, what I mean.
Elw. Hold, hold, my heart, thou hast much
more to suffer!

Per. Let the slow form, and tedious ceremony,

Wait on the splendid victims of ambition.
Love stays for none of these. Thy father's
soften'd,

He will forget the fatal Cheviot chace;
Raby is brave, and I have serv'd my country;
I would not boast, it was for thee I conquer'd;
Then come, my love.

Elw. O never, never, never!

Per. Am I awake? Is that Elwina's voice? Elw. Percy, thou most ador'd, and most de If ever fortitude sustain'd thy soul, [ceiv'd! When vulgar minds have sunk beneath the

Elw. Percy, I think I begg'd thee not to curse me;

But now I do revoke the fond petition. Speak! ease thy bursting soul; reproach, upbraid, [all. O'erwhelm me with thy wrongs- -I'll bear it Per. Open, thou earth, and hide me from her sight! Did'st thou not bid me curse thee? Elw. Mercy! mercy!

Per. And have I 'scaped the Saracen's fell Only to perish by Elwina's guilt? [sword I would have bared my bosom to the foe, [it. I would have died, had I but known you wish'd Elw. Percy, I lov'd thee most when most I wrong'd thee; Yes, by these tears I did.

Go, seek the haughty Scot, and tell him-noMarried! to whom? Yet wherefore should I Conduct me to his presence.

Per. Married! just Heaven!

know?

It cannot add fresh horrors to thy crime,
Or my destruction.

Elw. Oh! 'twill add to both. [dreadful. How shall I tell? Prepare for something Hast thou not heard of-Douglas? Per. Why 'tis well! [me? Thou awful Power, why waste thy wrath on Why arm omnipotence to crush a worm? I could have fallen without this waste of ruin. Married to Douglas! By my wrongs, I like it; "Tis perfidy complete, 'tis finish'd falsehood, "Tis adding fresh perdition to the sin, And filling up the measure of offence! Elw. Oh! 'twas my father's deed! he made his child

An instrument of vengeance on thy head. He wept and threaten'd, sooth'd me, and commanded.

Per. And you complied, most duteously complied!

Elw. I could withstand his fury; but his
tears,

Ah, they undid me! Percy dost thou know
The cruel tyranny of tenderness?

Hast thou e'er felt a father's warm embrace?
Hast thou e'er seen a father's flowing tears,
And known that thou could'st wipe those tears
away?

If thou hast felt, and hast resisted these, [not,
Then thou may'st curse my weakness; but if
Thou canst not pity, for thou canst not judge.
Per. Let me not hear the music of thy voice,
Or I shall love thee still; I shall forget
Thy fatal marriage and my savage wrongs.
Elw. Dost thou not hate me, Percy?
Per. Hate thee? Yes,

As dying martyrs hate the righteous cause
Of that bless'd power for whom they bleed-I
hate thee.

[They look at each other with silent agony.

Enter HARCOURT.

Har. Forgive, my lord, your faithful knight

[Percy.

Per. Come, Harcourt, Come, and behold the wretch who once was Har. With grief I've learn'd the whole unhappy tale.

Earl Douglas, whose suspicion never sleepsPer. What, is the tyrant jealous?

Elw. Hear him, Percy.

Per. I will command my rage-Go on.
Har. Earl Douglas

Knew, by my arms and my accoutrements,
That I belong'd to you; he questioned much,
And much he menac'd me, but both alike
In vain; he then arrested and confin'd me.
Per. Arrest my knight! The Scot shall
answer it.

Elw. How came you now releas'd?
Har. Your noble father
Obtain'd my freedom, having learn'd from
Hubert
[lord,
The news of Percy's death. The good old
Hearing the king's return, has left the castle
To do him homage.

[TO PERCY.] Sir, you had best retire;
Your safety is endanger'd by your stay.

I fear should Douglas know-
Per. Should Douglas know!
Why what new magic's in the name of
Douglas?
[fear?
That it should strike Northumberland with

Elw. Percy, hold; Think not 'tis Douglas-'tis

Per. I know it well

Thou mean'st to tell me 'tis Elwina's husband;
But that inflames me to superior madness.
This happy husband this triumphant Douglas,
Shall not insult my misery with his bliss.
I'll blast the golden promise of his joys.
Conduct me to him-nay, I will have way-
Come, let us seek this husband.

Elw. Percy, hear me.

When I was robb'd of all my peace of mind,
My cruel fortune left me still one blessing,
One solitary blessing, to console me;
It was my fame.-"Tis a rich jewel, Percy,
And I must keep it spotless, and unsoil'd:
But thou wouldst plunder what e'en Douglas
spar'd,

And rob this single gem of all its brightness.
Per. Go-thou wast born to rule the fate of
Thou art my conqueror still.
[Percy.

Elw. What noise is that?

[HARCOURT goes to the side of the stage.
Per. Why art thou thus alarm'd?
Elw. Alas! I feel

The cowardice and terrors of the wicked,
Without their sense of guilt.

Har. My lord, 'tis Douglas.

Elw. Fly, Percy, and for ever!
Per. Fly from Douglas?

Elw. Then stay, barbarian, and at once
My life and fame.

[destroy

Per. That thought is death. Igo: My honour to thy dearer honour yields. Elw. Yet, yet thou art not gone! Per. Farewell, farewell! [Exit PERCY. Elw. I dare not meet the searching eye of [Douglas.

I must conceal my terrors.

DOUGLAS at the side with his sword drawn,
EDRIC holds him.

Dou. Give me way.
Edr. Thou shalt not enter.

Dou. [Struggling with EDRIC.] If there were no hell,

It would defraud my vengeance of its edge, And she should live.

[Breaks from EDRIC and comes forward. Cursed chance! he is not here. Elw. [Going.] I dare not meet his fury. Dou. See she flies

With every mark of guilt.-Go, search the bower, [Aside to EDRIC. He shall not thus escape. Madam, return.

[Aloud. [Aside

Now, honest Douglas, learn of her to feign.

Alone, Elwina? who had just parted Fence? [With affected composure.

Elw. My lord, 'twas Harcourt; sure you must have met him.

Dou. O exquisite dissembler! [Aside.] No one else!

« 이전 계속 »

도서

The British drama; a collection of the most esteemed tragedies, comedies ..., 1권