MOURNING BRIDE

end,

THE MOURNING BRIDE. : 39 hope

Impatiently to seek you, where I knew
Your grief would lead you to lament Anselmo.

“ Osm. There are no wonders, or else all is wonder.

" Heli. I saw you on the ground, and rais'd you up. “When with astonishment I saw Almeria.

“ Osm. I saw her too, and therefore saw not thee. “ Alm. Nor I; nor could I, for my eyes were

“ yours.” W Osm. What means the bounty of all-gracious

Heav'n,
That preserving still, with open hand,
It scatters good, as in a waste of mercy!
Where will this end? But Heav'n is infinite
In all, and can continue to bestow,

When scanty number shall be spent in telling. t not

Leon. Or I'm deceiv’d, or I beheld the glimpse
Of two in shining habits cross the aisle ; 261
Who by their pointing, seem to mark this place.

Alm. Sure I have dreamt, if we must part so soon.

Osm. I wish at least our parting were a dream.
Or we could sleep 'till we again were met.

Heli. Zara with Selim, Sir, I saw and know 'em:
You must be quick, for love will lend her wings.

Alm. What love? Who is she? Why are you s'd.

alarm’d? med Osm. She's the reverse of thee; she's my unhap

piness.
llarbour no thought that may disturb thy peace ;
" But gently take thyself away, lest she.
" Should come, and see the straining of my eyes

age cipo

“ To follow thee."
Retire, my love, I'll think how we may meet
To part no more ; my friend will tell thee all ;
How I escap'd, how I am here, and thus;
How I'm not callid Alphonso now, but Osmyn;
And he Heli. All, all he will unfold,
Ere next we meet-

Aim. Sure we shall meet again

Osm. We shall; we part not but to meet again. Gladness and warmth of ever-kindling love Dwell with thee, and revive thy heart in absence.

[Exeunt Alm. Leon. and Heli. Yet I behold her-yet-and now no more. Turn your lights inward, eyes, and view my thoughts, So shall you still behold her-" 'twill not be. “ Oh, impotence of sight! Mechanic sense! " Which to exterior objects ow'st thy faculty, “ Not seeing of election, but necessity. « Thus do our eyes, as do all common mirrors, « Successively reflect succeeding images : “ Not what they would, but must; a star, or toad; « Just as the hand of chance administers. 's Not so the mind, whose undetermin'd view « Revolves, and to the present adds the past : “ Essaying farther to futurity ; " But that in vain. I have Almeria here “ At once, as I before have seen her often

Enter ZARA and Selim. Zar. See where he stands, folded and fix'd to earth,

MOURNING BRIDE

THE MOURNING BRIDE. . 41 Stiff’ning in thought, a statue among statues. 300 Why, cruel Osmyn, dost thou fly me thus ? « Is it well done? Is this then the return " For fame, for honour, and for empire lost? " But what is loss of hononr, fame, and empire ? “ Is this the recompence reserv'd for love? “ Why, dost thou leave niy eyes, and fly my arms, “ To find this place of horror and obscurity is Am I more loathsome to thee than the grave, That thou dost seek to shield thee there, and shun My love ? But to the grave I'll follow theeHe looks not, minds not, hears not? barb'rous man! Am I neglected thus ? Am I despis’d Not hear'd! Ungrateful Osmyn!

Osm. Ha, 'tis Zara !

Zar. Yes, traitor; Zara, lost, abandon'd Zara,
Is a regardless suppliant now, to Osmyn.
The slave, the wretch that she redeem'd from death,
Disdains to listen now, or look on Zara.

Osm. Far be the guilt of such reproaches from me;
Lost in myself, and blinded by my thoughts, 320
I saw you not till now,

Zar. Now then you see me
But with such dumb and thankless eyes you look,
Better I was unseen, than seen thus coldly.
Osm. What would you from a wretch who came to

: mourn,
And only for his sorrows chose this solitude ?
Look round; joy is not here, nor chearfulness.
You have pursu'd misfortune to its dwelling,

Yet look for gaiety and gladness there.
Zar. Inhuman! Why, why dost thou rack me

thus?
And, with perverseness, from the purpose, answer?
What is't to me, this house of misery?
What joy do I require ? if thou dost mourn,
I come to mourn with thee, to share thy griefs,
And give thee, for 'em, in exchange, my love.

Osm. Oh, that's the greatest grief-I am so poor, I have not wherewithal to give again.

Zar. Thou hast a heart, tho''tis a savage one ?
Give it me as it is; I ask no more
For all I've done, and all I have endur'd :

340
For saving thee, when I beheld thee first,
Driv'n by the tide upon my country's coast,
Pale and expiring, drench'd in briny waves,
Thou and thy friend, 'till my compassion found thee;
Compassion! scarce will't own that name, so soon,
So quickly, was it love; for thou wert godlike
E'en then. Kneeling on earth, I loos’d my hair,
And with it dry'd thy watery cheeks, then chaf'd
Thy temples, till reviving blood arose,
And, like the morn, vermilion'd o'er thy face.
Oh, Heav'n! how did my heart rejoice and ake,
When I beheld the day-break of thy eyes,
And felt the balm of thy respiring lips!
" Osm. Oh, call not to my mind what you have

« done ; “ It sets a debt of that account before me, " Which shews me poor and bankrupt even in hopes. :

“ Zar. The faithful Selim, and my women, know “ The danger which I tempted to conceal you. “ You know how I abus’d the cred’lous king; “ What arts I us'd to make you pass on him, 360 “ When he receiv'd you as the prince of Fez; “ And as my kinsman, honour'd and advanc'd you." Oh! why do I relate what I have done? What did I not? Was't not for you this war Commenc'd ? Not knowing who you were, nor why You hated Manuel, I urg'd my husband To this invasion; where he late was lost, Where all is lost, and I am made a slave.

* Osm. You pierce my soul I own it all-But while
The power is wanting to repay such benefits,
'Tis treble anguish to a generous heart.

Zara. Repay me with thy heart-What! dost thou start?
Make no reply! Is this thy gratitude ?
Look on me now, from empire fall’n to slavery;
Think on my suff'rings first, then look on me ;
Think on the cause of all, then view thyself:
Reflect on Osmyn, and then look on Zara,
The fall'n, the lost, and now the captive Zara,
And now abandon’d- Say, what then is Osmyn?

Osm. A fatal wretch-A huge, stupendous ruin,
That tumbling on its prop, crush'd all beneath, 381
And bore contiguous palaces to earth.