Sig. Oh, wo on wo! distress'd by love and duty
Oh, every way unhappy Sigismunda! Laura. Forgive me, Madam, if I blame your grief.
How can you waste your tears on one so false? Unworthy of your tenderness; to whom Nought but contempt is due, and indignation? Sig. You know not half the horrors of my fate;
I might perhaps have learn'd to scorn his falsehood: [past, Nay, when the first sad burst of tears was I might have rous'd my pride, and scorn'd himself
But 'tis too much, this greatest last misfor
Oh, whither shall I fly? Where hide me, Laura, From the dire scene my father now prepares? Laura. What thus alarms you, Madam? Sig. Can it be?
Can Iah, no!at once give to another My violated heart? in one wild moment? He brings Earl Osmond to receive my vows. Oh, dreadful change! for Tancred, haughty Osmond.
Laura. Now, on my soul, 'tis what an outrag'd heart
Like yours should wish!- Heavens, esteem it Most exquisite revenge! Sig. Revenge! on whom?
On my own heart, already but too wretched! Laura. On him! this Tancred! who has basely sold,
For the dull form of despicable grandeur, His faith, his love!-At once a slave and tyrant!
Sig. Oh, rail at me, at my believing folly, My vain ill-founded hopes; but spare him, Laura.
Laura. Who rais'd these hopes? who triumphs o'er that weakness?
Pardon the word-You greatly merit him; Better than him, with all his giddy pomp; You rais'd him by your smiles when he was nothing.
Where is your woman's pride, that guardian spirit
Given us to dash the perfidy of man? Ye powers! I cannot bear the thought with patience
Yet recent from the most unsparing vows The tongue of love e'er lavish'd; from your hopes
So vainly, idly, cruelly deluded; Before the public thus, before your father, By an irrevocable, solemn deed,
With such inhuman scorn, to throw you from bim:
To give his faithless hand yet warm from thine, With complicated meanness, to Constantia : And, to complete his crime, when thy weak limbs
That hangs upon me? Hence, unworthy tears! Disgrace my cheek no more! No more, my heart,
For one so coolly false or meanly fickle- Oh, it imports not which-dare to suggest The least excuse!-Yes, traitor, I will wring Thy pride, will turn thy triumph to confusion! I will not pine away my days for thee, Sighing to brooks and groves; while, with vain pity,
You in a rival's arms lament my fate- No, let me perish! ere I tamely be That soft, that patient, gentle Sigismunda, Who can console her with the wretched boast, She was for thee unhappy!--If I am, I will be nobly so!Sicilia's daughters Shall, wondering, see in me a great example Of one who punish'd an ill-judging heart, Who made it bow to what it most abhorr'd! Crush'd it to misery! for having thus So lightly listen'd to a worthless lover! Laura. At last it mounts, the kindling pride of virtue;
Trust me, thy marriage will embitter hisSig. Oh, may the furies light his nuptial torch!
Be it accurs'd as mine! For the fair peace, The tender joys of hymeneal love, May jealousy awak'd, and fell remorse, Pour all their fiercest venom through his breast!- [follow.- Where the fates lead, and blind revenge, I Let me not think-By injur'd love! I vow, Thou shalt, base prince! perfidious and in- human!
Thou shalt behold me in another's arms; In his thou hatest! Osmond's ! Laura. That will grind
His heart with secret rage: Ay, that will sting His soul to madness; set him up a terror, A spectacle of wo to faithless lovers! Your cooler thoughts besides, will of the change Approve, and think it happy. Noble Osmond From the same stock with him derives his
First of Sicilian barons, prudent, brave, Of strictest honour, and by all rever'd-
Sig. Talk not of Osmond, but perfidious
Rail at him, rail! invent new names of scorn! Assist me, Laura; lend my rage fresh fuel; Support my staggering purpose, which already Begins to fail me-Ah, my vaunts how vain! How have I lied to my own heart!—Alas, My tears return, the mighty flood o'erwhelms me!
Ten thousand crowding images distract My tortur'd thought-And is it come to this? Our hopes, our vows, our oft repeated wishes, Breath'd from the fervent soul, and full of Heaven,
To make each other happy-come to this! Laura. If thy own peace and honour cannot
Thy resolution fix'd; yet, Sigismunda, Oh, think how deeply, how beyond retreat, Thy father is engag'd.
Sig. Ah, wretched weakness!
That thus enthrals my soul, that chases thence Each nobler thought, the sense of every duty; And have I then no tears for thee, my father?
Can I forget thy cares, from helpless years, Thy tenderness for me? an eye still beam'd With love; a brow that never knew a frown; Nor a harsh word thy tongue? Shall I for these
Repay thy stooping, venerable age With shame, disquiet, anguish, and dishonour? It must not be! Thou first of angels! come, Sweet filial piety, and firm my breast! Yes, let one daughter to her fate submit, Be nobly wretched-but her father happy!- Laura!-they come! Oh, Heavens I cannot
The horrid trial !-Open, open, earth! And hide me from their view.
Enter SIFFREDI and OSMOND.
Sif. My daughter,
Behold my noble friend who courts thy hand, And whom to call my son I shall be proud; Nor shall I less be pleas'd in this alliance, To see thee happy.
Osm. Think not, I presume,
Madam, on this your father's kind consent, To make me bless'd. I love you from a heart, That seeks your good superior to my own; And will by every art of tender friendship, Consult your dearest welfare. May I hope, Yours does not disavow your father's choice? Sig. I am a daughter, Sir-and have no power
O'er my own heart-I die-support me, Laura. [Faints. Sif. Help-Bear her off-She breathes-my daughter!
Sig. Oh, Forgive my weakness-soft-my Laura, lead
'Tis done!-I am a slave!-The fatal vow Has pass'd my lips!-Methought in those sad [altar, The tombs around, the saints, the darken'd And all the trembling shrines with horror shook.
But here is still new matter of distress. Oh, Tancred, cease to persecute me more! Oh, grudge me not some calmer state of wo; Some quiet gloom to shade my hopeless days, Where I may never hear of love and thee!- Has Laura, too, conspir'd against my peace! Why did you take this letter:-Bear it back-- I will not court new pain.
[Giving her the letter. Laura. Madam, Rodolpho Urg'd me so much, nay, even with tears con- jur'd me,
But this once more to serve th' unhappy king- For such he said he was-that though enrag'd, Equal with thee, at his inhuman falsehood, I could not to my brother's fervent prayers Refuse this office-Read it—His excuses Will only more expose his falsehood. Sig. No:
It suits not Osmond's wife to read one line From that contagious hand-she knows too well!
Laura. He paints him out distress'd beyond expression;
[Exeunt SIGISMUNDA and LAURA. Even on the point of madness. Wild as winds, And fighting. seas, he raves. His passions
Sif. Pardon me, my lord,
If by this sudden accident alarm'd, I leave you for a moment. Osm. Let me think-
What can this mean?-Is it to me aversion? Or is it, as I fear'd, she loves another? Ha!-yes-perhaps the king, the young Count Tancred;
They were bred up together-Surely that, That cannot be-Has he not given his hand, In the most solemn manner, to Constantia ? Does not his crown depend upon the deed? No-If they lov'd, and this old statesman knew it,
He could not to a king prefer a subject.
With ceaseless rage, all in each giddy moment. He dies to see you, and to clear his faith. Sig. Save me from that!-That would be worse than all !
Laura. I but report my brother's words; who then
Began to talk of some dark imposition, That had deceiv'd us all; when interrupted. We heard your father and Earl Osmond near, As summon'd to Constantia's court they went. Sig. Ha! imposition? Well, if I am doom'd
To be, o'er all my sex, the wretch of love,
His virtues I esteem-nay more, I trust them-In vain I would resist-Give me the letter
So far as virtue goes-but could he place His daughter on the throne of Sicily- Oh, 'tis a glorious bribe, too much for man! What is it then? I care not what it be. My honour now, my dignity demands, That my propos'd alliance, by her father, And even herself accepted, be not scorn'd. I love her too-I never knew till now To what a pitch I love her. Oh, she shot Ten thousand charms into my inmost soul! She look'd so mild, so amiably gentle, She bow'd her head, she glow'd with such confusion,
Such loveliness of modesty! She is, In gracious mind, in manners, and in person, The perfect model of all female beauty! She must be mine-She is !-If yet her heart Concerts not to my happiness, her duty, Join'd to my tender cares, will gain so much Upon her generous nature-That will follow.
To know the worst is some relief-Alas, It was not thus, with such dire palpitations, That, Tancred, once I us'd to read thy letters. [Attempting to read the letter, gives it to LAURA.
Ah, fond remembrance blinds me-Read it,
Laura. [Reads.] Deliver me, Sigismunda, from that most exquisite misery which a faithful heart can suffer-to be thought base by her, from whose esteem eren virtue borrows new charms. When I submitted to my cruel situation, it was not falsehood you beheld, but an excess of love. Rather than endanger that, I for a while gave up my honour. Every moment till I see you, stebs me with sererer pangs than real guilt itself can feel. Let me then conjure you to meet me in the garden, towards the close of the day, when I wil explain this mystery. We have been most inkumanly abused; and that by the means of the very
paper which I gave you, from the warmest sincerity of love, to assure to you the heart and hund of TANCRED. Sig. There, Laura, there the dreadful secret sprung!
That paper! ah, that paper! it suggests A thousand horrid thoughts-I to my father Gave it; and he perhaps I dare not cast A look that way-If yet indeed you love me, Oh, blast me not, kind Tancred, with the truth! Oh, pitying, keep me ignorant for ever. What strange peculiar misery is mine? Reduc'd to wish the man I love were false! Why was I hurried to a step so rash? Repairless wo!-I might have waited, sure, A few short hours-No duty that forbade I ow'd thy love that justice; till this day Thy love an image of all perfect goodness! A beam from Heaven that glow'd with every
And have I thrown this prize of life away? The piteous wreck of one distracted moment? Ah, the cold prudence of remorseless age! Ah, parents, traitors to your children's bliss! Ah, curs'd, ah, blind revenge!-On every hand
I was betray'd-You, Laura, too, betray'd me! Laura. Who, who but he, whate'er he writes, betray'd you?
Or false or pusillanimous. For once, I will with you suppose, that his agreement To the king's will was forg'd-Though forg'd by whom? [it? Your father scorns the crime-Yet what avails This, if it clears his truth, condemns his spirit. A youthful king, by love and honour fir'd, Patient to sit on his insulted throne, And let an outrage, of so high a nature, Unpunish'd pass, uncheck'd, uncontradicted Oh, 'tis a meanness equal even to falsehood. Sig. Laura, no more-We have already judg'd
Too largely without knowledge. Oft, what A trifle, a mere nothing, by itself, In some nice situation turns the scale Of fate, and rules the most important actions. Yes, I begin to feel a sad presage! I am undone, from that eternal source Of human woes the judgment of the passions. But what have I to do with these excuses? O, cease, my treacherous heart, to give them room!
It suits not thee to plead a lover's cause: Even to lament my fate is now dishonour. Nought now remains, but with relentless pur- To shun all interviews, all clearing up [pose, Of this dark scene; to wrap myself in gloom, In solitude and shades; there to devour The silent sorrows ever swelling here; And since I must be wretched for I must- To claim the mighty misery myself, Engross it all, and spare a hapless father. Hence, let me fly!--The hour approaches- Laura. Madam,
Behold he comes-the king
Sig. Heavens! how escape?
No I will stay-This one last meeting-Leave [Exit LAURA.
To the late king's so just and prudent will? Heard it before you read, in solemn senate? When I beheld you give your royal hand To her, whose birth and dignity of right Demands that high alliance? Yes, my lord, You have done well. The man whom Heaven appoints
To govern others, should himself first learn To bend his passions to the sway of reason. In all you have done well; but when you bid My humble hopes look up to you again, And sooth'd with wanton cruelty my weak-
That too was well-My vanity deserv'd The sharp rebuke, whose fond extravagance Could ever dream to balance your repose, Your glory, and the welfare of a people.
Tan. Chide on, chide on. Thy soft reproaches now,
Instead of wounding, only sooth my fondness. No, no, thou charming consort of my soul! I never lov'd thee with such faithful ardour, As in that cruel, miserable moment [stoop'd You thought me false; when even my honour To wear for thee a baffled face of baseness. It was thy barbarous father, Sigismunda, Who caught me in the toil, He turn'd that paper,
Meant for th' assuring bond of nuptial love To ruin it for ever; he, he wrote [name. That forg'd consent, you heard, beneath my Nay, dar'd before my outrag'd throne to read it!
Had he not been thy father-Ha! my love! You tremble, you grow pale!
Sig. Oh, leave me, Tancred!
Tan. No-Leave thee!-Never! never till you set
My heart at peace, till these dear lips again Pronounce thee mine! Without thee, I re- [hand- Myself, my friends, the world-Here on this Sig. My lord, forget that hand, which never Can be to thine united- Tan. Sigismunda! What dost thou mean?-Thy words, thy look, thy manner,
Seem to conceal some horrid secret-Heav[thought!
No-that was wild-Distraction fires the Sig. Inquire no more- -I never can be
Tan. What, who shall interpose? Who dares attempt
To brave the fury of an injur'd king,
Tan. And are these long, long hours of tor- Who, ere he sees thee ravish'd from his hopes,
ture past? My life! my Sigismunda! [Throwing himself at her feet. Sig. Rise, my lord. To see my sovereign thus no more becomes me.
Will wrap all blazing Sicily in flames?
Sig. In vain your power, my lord-'Tis fatal Join'd to my father's unrelenting will, [error, Has plac'd an everlasting bar betwixt usI am- -Earl Osmond's-wife.
Tan. Earl Osmond's wife!
[After a long pause, during which they look at one another with the highest agitation, and most tender distress. Heavens! did I hear thee right? What! married? married!
Lost to thy faithful Tancred? lost for ever! Could thou then doom me to such matchless Wo,
Without so much as hearing me?-Distraction! Alas! what hast thou done? Ah, Sigismunda!
Thy rash credulity has done a deed, Which, of two happiest lovers that e'er felt The blissful power, has made two finish'd wretches! [be! But-madness-Sure, thou know'st it cannot This hand is mine! a thousand, thousand
Osm. [Snatching her hand from the King.] Madam, this hand, by the most solemn rites, A little hour ago, was given to me; [me, And did not sovereign honour now command Never but with my life to quit my claim, I would renounce it-thus!
Tan. Ha! who art thou? Presumptuous man!
Sig. [Aside.] Where is my father? Heavens! [Goes out. Osm. One thou shouldst better know-Yes -view me, one [our, Who can and will maintain his rights and nonAgainst a faithless prince, an upstart king, Whose first base deed is what a harden'd ty
Tan. Insolent Osmond! know, This upstart king will hurl confusion on thee, And all who shall invade his sacred rights, Prior to thine-thine, founded on compulsion, Or infamous deceit, while his proceed [faith. From mutual love, and free, long-plighted She is, and shall be mine!-I will annul, By the high power with which the laws invest me, [trapp'd, Those guilty forms in which you have enBasely entrapp'd to thy detested nuptials, My queen betroth'd, who has my heart, my hand, [lord, And shall partake my throne-If, haughty If this thou didst not know, then know it now; And know, besides, as I have told thee this, Shouldst thou but think to urge thy treason further[love!against my
Than treason more! Thy life shall answer for it.
Ösm. Ha! my life!
It moves my scorn to hear thy empty threats. When was it that a Norman baron's life Became so vile, as on the frown of kings To hang?-Of that, my lord, the law must judge:
Or if the law be weak, my guardian swordTan. Dare not to touch it, traitor, lest my rage
[me. Break loose, and do a deed that misbecomes Enter SIFFREDI.
Sif. My gracious lord, what is it I behold! My sovereign in contention with his subjects? Surely this house deserves from royal Tancred A little more regard, than to be made A scene of trouble, and unseemly jars. It grieves my soul, it baffles every hope, It makes me sick of life, to see thy glory
Thus blasted in the bud.-Heavens! can your highness
From your exalted character descend, The dignity of virtue; and, instead Of being the protector of our rights, The holy guardian of domestic bliss, Unkindly thus disturb the sweet repose, The secret peace of families, for which Alone the free-born race of man to laws And government submitted?
Tan. My lord Siffredi,
Spare thy rebuke. The duties of my station Are not to me unknown. But thou, old man, Dost thou not blush to talk of rights invaded, And of our best our dearest bliss disturb'd? Thou, who with more than barbarous peridy Hast trampled all allegiance, justice, truth," Humanity itself, beneath thy feet? [fusion, Thou know'st thou hast-I could, to thy con- Return thy hard reproaches; but I spare thee Before this lord, for whose ill-sorted friend- ship
Thou hast most basely sacrific'd thy daughter. Farewell, my lord.-For thee, lord constable, Who dost presume to lift thy surly eye To my soft love, my gentle Sigismunda, I once again command thee, on thy life- Yes-chew thy rage-but mark me-on thy life,
No further urge thy arrogant pretensions!
Osm. Ha! Arrogant pretensions! Heaven and earth!
What! arrogant pretensions to my wife? My wedded wife! Where are we? in a land Of civil rule, of liberty and laws?-
Not, on my life, pursue them?-Giddy prince! My life disdains thy nod. It is the gift Of parent Heaven, who gave me too an arm, A spirit to defend it against tyrants. The Norman race, the sons of mighty Rollo, Who, rushing in a tempest from the north, Great nurse of generous freemen, bravely won With their own swords their seats, and still possess them
By the same noble tenure, are not us'd To hear such language- If I now desist, Then brand me for a coward! deem me villain! A traitor to the public! by this conduct Deceiv'd, betray'd, insulted, tyranniz'd. Mine is a common cause. My arm shall guard. Mix'd with my own, the rights of each Sicilian, Of social life, and of mankind in general. Ere to thy tyrant rage they fall a prey, I shall find means to shake thy tottering throne, Which this illegal, this perfidious usage Forfeits at once, and crush thee in the ruins!— Constantia is my queen!
Let us be steadfast in the right; but let us Act with cool prudence, and with manly temper,
As well as manly firmness. True, I own, Th' indignities you suffer are so high, As might even justify what now you threaten. But if, my lord, we can prevent the woes, The cruel horrors of intestine war, Yet hold untouch'd our liberties and laws; Oh, let us, rais'd above the turbid sphere Of little, selfish passions, nobly do it Nor to our hot, intemperate pride, pour out A dire libation of Sicilian blood. 'Tis godlike magnanimity to keep, [clear, When most provok'd, our reason calin and And execute her will from a strong sense Of what is right, without the vulgar aid
Of heat and passion, which, though honest, | Inexorably fix'd, whate'er the risk,
Often too far. Remember that my house Protects my daughter still; and, ere I saw her Thus ravish'd from us by the arm of power, This hand should act the Roman father's part. Fear not; be temperate; all will yet be well. I know the king. At first his passions burst Quick as the lightning's flash; but in his breast [reason Honour and justice dwell.Trust me, to He will return.
Osm. He will!-By Heavens, he shall!You know the king-I wish, my Lord Siffredi, That you had deign'd to tell me all you [patience, And would you have me wait, with duteous Till he return to reason? Ye just powers! When he has planted on our necks his foot, And trod us into slaves; when his vain pride Is cloy'd with our submission; if at last, He finds his arm too weak to shake the frame Of wide-establish'd order out of joint, And overturn all justice; then, perchance, He, in a fit of sickly, kind repentance, May make a merit to return to reason. No, no, my lord! there is a nobler way, To teach the blind oppressive fury reason: Oft has the lustre of avenging steel Unseal'd her stupid eyes- -The sword is
Enter RODOLPHO with Guards.
Rod. My lord high constable of Sicily, In the king's name, and by his special order, I here arrest you prisoner of state.
Osm. What king? I know no king of Sicily, Unless he be the husband of Constantia.
Rod. Then know him now-behold his royal orders
To bear you to the castle of Palermo.
Sif. Let the big torrent foam its madness off. Submit, my lord-No castle long can hold Our wrongs-This, more than friendship or alliance, [tunes, Confirms me thine; this binds me to thy forBy the strong tie of common injury, Which nothing can dissolve I grieve, Rodolpho
To see the reign in such unhappy sort Begin.
Ösm. The reign! the usurpation call it! This meteor king may blaze awhile, but soon Must spend his idle terrors-Sir, lead on. Farewell, my lord-more than my life and [our! Remember well, is in your hands- -my honSif. Our honour is the same. My son, fare
We shall not long be parted. On these eyes Sleep shall not shed his balm, till I behold
Restor❜d to freedom, or partake thy bonds.
Even noble courage is not void of blame, Till nobler patience sanctifies its flame.
SCENE 1.-A Chamber.
SIFFREDI alone.
The prospect lowers around. I found the king, Though calm'd a little, with subsiding tempest, As suits his generous nature, yet in love Abated nought, most ardent in his purpose;
To claim my daughter, and dissolve this marriage
I have embark'd, upon a perilous sea, A mighty treasure. Here the rapid youth, Th' impetuous passions of a lover-king, Check my bold purpose; there, the jealous pride, Th' impatient honour of a haughty lord, Of the first rank, in interest and dependence Near equal to the king, forbid retreat. My honour too, the same unchang'd convic- tion,
That these my measures were, and still remain, Of absolute necessity to save The land from civil fury, urge me on. But how proceed?-I only faster rush Upon the desperate evils I would shun. Whate'er the motive be, deceit, I fear, And harsh unnatural force, are not the means Of public welfare, or of private bliss.- Bear witness, Heaven! thou mind-inspecting eye!
My breast is pure. I have preferr'd my duty, The good and safety of my fellow-subjects, To all those views that fire the selfish race Of mortal men, and mix them in eternal broils.
Enter an OFFICER belonging to SIFFREDI.
Off. My lord, a man of noble port, his face Wrapp'd in disguise, is earnest for admission. Sif. Go bid him enter- [OFFICER goes out. Ha! wrapp'd in disguise!
And at this late, unseasonable hour! When o'er the world tremendous midnight reigns,
By the dire gloom of raging tempest doubled- Enter OSMOND, discovering himself. Sif. What! ha! Earl Osmond, you?—Wel- To this glad roof!- come, once more, -But why in this disguise? Would I could hope the king exceeds his pro- mise!
I have his faith soon as to-morrow's sun
Shall gild Sicilia's cliffs, you shall be free.Has some good angel turn'd his heart to jus
Of virtue, justice, and of public faith, Ripe for revolt, are in high ferment all. This, this, they say, exceeds whate'er deform'd The miserable days we saw beneath William the Bad. This saps the solid base, At once, of government and private life: This shameless imposition on the faith, The majesty of senates, this lewd insult, This violation of the rights of men; Added to these, his ignominious treatment Of her, the illustrious offspring of our kings, Sicilia's hope, and now our royal mistress. You know, my lord, how grossly these infringe The late king's will, which orders, if Count
« ÀÌÀü°è¼Ó » |