Leon. Hark!

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The distant shouts proclaim your father's triumph.
O cease, for Heaven's sake, assuage a little
This torrent of your grief, for, this I fear,
'Twill urge his wrath, to see you drown'd in tears,
When joy appears in every other face.

Alm. And joy he brings to ev'ry other heart,
But double, double weight of woe to mine:
For with him Garcia comes-Garcia, to whom
I must be sacrific'd, and all the vows
gave my dear Alphonso basely broken.

No, it shall never be; for I will die

First, die ten thousand deaths-Look down, look down,

Alphonso, hear the sacred vow I make;

[Kneels.

"One moment, cease to gaze on perfect bliss,
“And bend thy glorious eyes to earth and me."
And thou, Anselmo, if yet thou art arriv’d
Thro' all impediments of purging fire,

To that bright Heav'n, where my Alphonso reigns,
Behold thou also, and attend my vow.

If ever I do yield, or give consent,
By any action, word, or thought, to wed

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Another lord; may then just Heav'n show'r down Unheard of curses on me, greater far

[Rising.

(If such there be in angry Heaven's vengeance)
Than any I have yet endur'd-And now
My heart has some relief; having so well
Discharg'd this debt, incumbent on my love.
Yet, one thing more I wou'd engage from thee.

Leon. My heart, my life, and will, are only yours. Alm. I thank thee. 'Tis but this: anon, when all Are wrapp'd and busied in the general joy, Thou wilt withdraw, and privately with me Steal forth, to visit good Anselmo's tomb. Leon. Alas! I fear some fatal resolution. Alm. No, on my life, my faith, I mean no ill, Nor violence-I feel myself more light, And more at large, since I have made this vow. Perhaps I would repeat it there more solemnly. 'Tis that, or some such melancholy thought, Upon my word, no more.

Leon. I will attend you.

Enter ALONZO.

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Alon. The lord Gonsalez comes to tell your high

ness

The king is just arriv'd.

Alm. Conduct him in.

[Exit Alon.

That's his pretence; his errand is, I know,
To fill my ears with Garcia's valiant deeds;
And gild and magnify his son's exploits.
But I am arm'd with ice around my heart,
Not to be warm'd with words, or idle eloquence.

Enter GONSALEZ.

Gon. Be ev'ry day of your long life like this. The sun, bright conquest, and your brighter eyes, Have all conspir'd to blaze promiscuous light, And bless this day with most unequal'd lustre.

Your royal father, my victorious lord,

Loaden with spoils, and ever-living laurel,
Is ent'ring now, in martial pomp, the palace.
Five hundred mules precede his solemn march,
Which groan beneath the weight of Moorish wealth.·
Chariots of war, adorn'd with glitt'ring gems,
Succeed; and next, a hundred neighing steeds, 220
White as the fleecy rain on Alpine hills,

That bound and foam, and champ the golden bit,
As they disdain'd the victory they grace.
Prisoners of war in shining fetters follow:

And captains of the noblest blood of Afric
Sweat by his chariot wheel," and lick and grind,
"With gnashing teeth, the dust his triumphs raise.”
The swarming populace spread every wall,

“And cling, as if with claws they did enforce
"Their hold; thro' clifted stones stretching and
“staring,

"As if they were all eyes, and every limb
"Would feed its faculty of admiration :"
While you alone retire, and shun this sight;
This sight, which is indeed not seen (tho' twice
The multitude should gaze) in absence of your eyes.
Alm. My lord, my eyes ungratefully behold

The gilded trophies of exterior honours.
Nor will my ears be charm'd with sounding words,

Or pompous phrase, the pageantry of souls.

But that my father is return'd in safety,

I bend to Heav'n with thanks.

Gon. Excellent princess!

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But 'tis a task unfit for my weak age

With dying words to offer at your praise.
Garcia, my son, your beauty's lowest slave,
Has better done; in proving with his sword
The force and influence of your matchless charms.

Alm. I doubt not of the worth of Garcia's deeds, Which had been brave, though I had ne'er been born. Leon. Madam, the king. [Flourish. "Alm. My women.

I wou'd meet him."

[Attendants to Almeria enter in mourning.

Symphony of warlike music. Enter the KING, attended

by GARCIA and several officers. Files of prisoners in chains, and guards, who are ranged in order round the stage. ALMERIA meets the KING, and kneels: afterwards GONSALEZ kneels and kisses the KING'S hand, while GARCIA does the same to the princess.

King. Almeria, rise-My best Gonsalez, rise. What, tears! my good old friend

Gon. But tears of joy.

Believe me, Sir, to see you thus, has fill'd

Mine eyes with more delight than they can hold.
King. By Heav'n, thou lov'st me, and I'm pleas'd

thou dost;

Take it for thanks, old man, that I rejoice
To see thee weep on this occasion-Some
Here are, who seem to mourn at our success!
Why is't, Almeria, that you meet our eyes,
Upon this solemn day, in these sad weeds?
In opposition to my brightness, you

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And yours are all like daughters of affliction.
Alm. Forgive me, Sir, if I in this offend.
The year, which I have vow'd to pay to Heav'n,
In mourning and strict life, for my deliv'rance
From wreck and death, wants yet to be expir'd.

King. Your zeal to Heav'n is great, so is your debt: Yet something too is due to me, who gave

That life, which Heav'n preserv'd. A day bestow'd In filial duty, had atton'd and given

A dispensation to your vow-No more!

'Twas weak and wilful-and a woman's error.
Yet, upon thought, it doubly wounds my sight,
To see that sable worn upon the day,
Succeeding that, in which our deadliest foe,
Hated Anselmo, was interr'd-By Heav'n,
It looks as thou didst mourn for him: just so
Thy senseless vow appear'd to bear its date,
Not from that hour wherein thou wert preserv'd,
But that wherein the curs'd Alphonso perish'd.
Ha! What? thou dost not weep to think of that!
Gon. Have patience, royal Sir; the princess weeps
To have offended you. If fate decreed,

One pointed hour should be Alphonso's loss,
And her deliverance, is she to blame?

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King. I tell thee she's to blame, not to have feasted When my first foe was laid in earth, such enmity, Such detestation bears my blood to his ;

My daughter should have revell'd at his death, She should have made these palace walls to shake, And all this high and ample roof to ring