University of Virginia Library

ACT II.

SCENE I.

AT THE RAMPARTS. Angelica, Stamura, and Soldiers.
Angelica.
See ye those towers that stride against the walls?

Soldier.
See you this arrow? Few were not more fatal
That flew from them: but this arrests my arm
Perhaps beyond to-morrow.

Angelica
(to others).
Fight amain.

Soldier.
The widow of Stamura is below,
And, slender tho' her figure, fair her face,
Brave as her husband. Few her words: beware
Of falling back, lest they increase and shame us.

Another Soldier.
Long live Stamura! She hath crost already
The sallyport.

Another Soldier.
What held she in her hand?

Another Soldier.
A distaff.

Soldier.
Hush! what cries are those?

Another Soldier.
All German.

Soldier.
What dust is overhead?

Another Soldier.
Is not it smoke?
Hurrah! flames mount above the battlements.

Soldier.
It was her deed.

Another Soldier.
But whose those cries behind us,
Along the harbour?

Soldier.
Those all are Italian.

Another Soldier.
Look! How yon tower curls outward, red and reeling!

Soldier.
Ay; it leans forward as in mortal pain.

Another Soldier.
What are those things that drop?

Soldier.
Men, while we speak,
Another moment, nothing.

Another Soldier.
Some leap down;
Others would keep their desperate grasp: the fire
Loosens it; and they fall like shrivell'd grapes
Which none will gather. See it, while you can;
It totters, parts, sinks. What a crash! The sparks
Will blind our archers.

Another Soldier.
What a storm of fire!

SCENE II.

THE CONSUL'S HOUSE. Consul, Erminia.
Erminia.
The men you spoke with in the port have pass'd
The window, and seem entering.

Consul.
Friends, come in.

Minuzzi
(entering with Stamura and others).
Sir Consul! we are here inopportunely,
Our work is done: God prosper'd it. Young lady!
We come no feasters at a consul's board.

Consul.
Erminia! coverest thou our scanty fare
Because 'tis scanty, and not over-nice?
Child! thou hast eaten nothing.

Erminia.
Quite enough.

Consul.
No wonder thou hast lost thy appetite,
And sighest.

Erminia.
I am sure I did not sigh;
Nor have I lost my appetite.

Consul.
Then eat:
Take off the napkin.

Erminia.
Father! you well know
What is beneath it.

Consul.
Half a cake.

Erminia.
Of beans,
Of rye, of barley, swept from off the manger:
My little horse had eaten them ere now,
But . .

Consul.
The child weeps. Even such flesh must serve.
Heaven grant us even this a few days hence.

Erminia
(to Stamura).
Signor Antonio! do not look at me,
I pray you, thinking of my greediness;
Eat, eat! I kept it . . If the sea's fresh air
Makes hungry those who sail upon it, surely
It must . . after such toil . .

Stamura.
Such toil 'twas not.

Erminia.
Father! could you persuade him?

Stamura.
Pray excuse me!
I want no food.

Consul.
Take what there is, and wine,
Wine we have still in plenty, old and strong.

Stamura.
Grant me this one half-beaker.

Erminia.
Let me run
And rinse it well.

Stamura.
Forbear! forbear!

Consul.
We have
No man or maiden in the house; they all
Fight or assist the fighting.

Erminia.
He has taken
And drank it every drop! Poor, poor Antonio!
O how he must have thirsted! [To Stamura.

'Twas half water.

Stamura.
It was not very strong.

Minuzzi.
And yet the colour
Mounts to his eyes as 'twere sheer wine of Crete.

Consul.
I am impatient (you must pardon me)
To hear what you have done. Pour out the wine,
Erminia! that can cause but short delay.

[They drink, all but Stamura. Cries in the street, “Long live Stamura!”
Stamura.
Call they me? why me?

[Cries again. “Long live the brave Angelica.”
Stamura.
My mother!

Minuzzi.
Now for the wine! The boy will faint.

Angelica.
Help! father!

Officer.
Sir! saw you not the flames along the sky?
Has no one told you how that noble lady
Burnt down the tower with all its galleries,
Down to the very wheels?

Stamura.
Who minds the tower?
Sir! is she safe? unhurt?

Officer.
Sir! the ram's head,
Blacken'd with smoke, lean'd prone against the wall,
Then seem'd to shudder as 'twere half-alive.
Then fell the iron mass. It made no sound
Among the ashes. Had it made a loud one
There were much louder from the wretches crusht
Beneath it and its tower; some tearing off
Their burning armour agonised with pain,
And others pierced with red-hot nails that held
The rafters; others holding up their arms
Against the pitch and sulphur that pour'd down.
It was a sight! Well might it have detain'd,
Those who beheld it, from their duty here.
Up flew, not sparks alone, but splinters huge,
Crackling against the battlements, and drove
More men away than all their arrows could.

Stamura.
Sir Consul! I must warm myself with fighting
After this dip. [Aside.

Nor see my mother first?
She would be first to blame me if I did.

[Goes.
Consul.
God prosper thee, brave youth, God prosper thee!

Erminia
(aside).
Discourteous man! he said no word to me!
He even forgot my father.

Father John enters.
Minuzzi.
Here comes one
Who can relate to you the whole exploit
Better than we.

Father John.
Where is Antonio?

Minuzzi.
Gone
This instant. How was it ye did not meet?

Father John.
Ha! I am this time caught in my own net.
I knew the knave would run away at seeing me;
He told me if I came he would be gone,
Fearing to hear my story. So, sir Consul,
I stole in softly through the stable-door.
I can not keep my breath beneath the surface
So long as boys can. They are slenderer,
Less buoyant too, mayhap. Oft as I rose
My pilot-fish was with me; that Stamura
Would never leave me.

Erminia.
Father John! your blessing.
You always used to give it me.

Father John.
There, take it.
How the girl kisses my rough hand to-day! [Aside.

Forgetful, heedless, reckless of himself
He held a shapeless shield of cork before me,
Wherefrom a silent shower of arrows fell
From every galley, amid shouts like hunters'
As they caught sight of us. The bright steel points
Rebounding (for not one of them bit through)
Glistened a moment as they clove the water,
Then delved into the uneven furrow'd sands.
Surely the lustrous and unclosing eyes
Of well-poised fishes have enjoy'd to-day
A rarity; they never saw before
So many feathers sticking all upright
Under the brine so many fathoms deep.

Consul.
Father! your gaiety will never fail you.

Father John.
Not while it pleases God to use my arm
Or wits, such as they are, to serve my country.
But this I tell you: had the boy been less
Assiduous, or less brave, the fish had seen
Another sight they oftener see, and then
No Father John had blest that maiden more.

Minuzzi.
Stamura saved our country, saving you.

Father John.
And you too, both of you, did well your duty.

Minuzzi.
A ground are five good galleys, and their crews
Await your mercy.

Father John.
Did Stamura bring
His captive, that spruce Roman-spoken gallant?

Consul.
He brought none hither.

Minuzzi.
Now our tale is told,
A little fighting will assuage the toil
And cold of diving. Brave Stamura toss'd
The net above his forehead fifty times
And drew it off and shoved it back again,
Impatient for his mother. He will knead
(I trow) a pasty German ere he see her;
We too may lend a hand. Come, Father John!
Shrive as if we should need it.

Consul.
Fare ye well.
Thank God! I am not rich; but this one day,
My friends, I would be richer, to reward you.
The ships are yours: let none else claim one plank.

SCENE III.

THE QUAY. People. Stamura.
Stamura.
Stand off! The stores within the barks belong
Alike and equally to all. Much grain
Will there be spilt unless a steady hand
Conveys it, and divides it house by house.
Horses no fewer than three score are dragged
Within the gates, from the last charge against us:
What would ye? Wait another charge, and take it.

People.
Brave, brave Antonio!

SCENE IV.

ARCHBISHOP'S TENT. Archbishop. The Brothers Costanzio and Corrado.
Archbishop.
Could ye not wait for death within the walls,
But must rush out to meet it?

Costanzio.
We could wait
As others do.

Corrado.
And fight we could as others.

Archbishop.
Costanzio and Corrado! I am grieved
That you should war against your lawful prince,
Your father being most loyal.

Costanzio.
So are we.

Archbishop.
What! when he serves the emperor and king,
And you the rabble?

Corrado.
Who made men the rabble?

Archbishop.
Will not your treason and your death afflict him?

Costanzio.
Our treason would: God grant our death may not.

Corrado.
We never took the oaths that he has taken,
And owe no duty but to our own land.

Archbishop.
Are ye Anconites?

Corrado.
No, sir, but Italians,
And in Ancona lies the cause of Italy.

Archbishop.
Pernicious dreams! These drive young men astray;
But when they once take their own cause, instead
Of ours who could direct them, they are lost:
So will ye find it. As ye were not born
In this vile city, what, pray, could have urged you
To throw your fortunes into it when sinking?

Costanzio.
Because we saw it sinking.

Corrado.
While it prosper'd
It needed no such feeble aid as ours.
Marquises, princes, kings, popes, emperors,
Courted it then: and you, my lord archbishop,
Would have it even in its last decay.

Archbishop.
There is a spirit in the land, a spirit
So pestilential that the fire of heaven
Alone can purify it.

Costanzio.
Things being so,
Let us return and die with those we fought for.

Archbishop.
Captious young man! Ye die the death of traitors.

Corrado.
Alas! how many better men have died
That death! alas, how many must hereafter!

Archbishop.
By following your example. Think of that;
Be that your torture.

Costanzio.
As we never grieved
At following our betters, grant, just Heaven!
That neither may our betters ever grieve
At following us, be the time soon or late.

[To the Guards.
Archbishop.
Lead off these youths. Separate them.

Corrado.
My lord!
We are too weak (you see it) for resistance;
Let us then, we beseech you, be together
In what is left of life!

Archbishop.
One hour is left:
Hope not beyond.

Corrado.
We did hope more; we hoped
To be together, tho' but half the time.

Archbishop.
It shall not be.

Costanzio.
It shall be.

Archbishop.
Art thou mad?
I would not smile, but such pride forces me.

Costanzio.
God, in whose holiest cause we took up arms,
Will reconcile us. Doubt it not, Corrado,
Altho' such men as that man there have said it.

SCENE V.

CONSUL'S HOUSE. Stamura. Erminia.
Stamura.
Lady! you need not turn your face from me.
I leave the town for aid. But one perhaps
May bring it, if you listen to him.

Erminia.
Who?

Stamura.
I made a captive.

Erminia.
So I hear.

Stamura.
I come
Seeking the consul: he expected me.

Erminia.
And him?

Stamura.
Him also.

Erminia.
Know you what he asks?

Stamura.
I know it.

Erminia.
And you wish it? you, Stamura?

Stamura.
I have no voice in it.

Erminia.
True. Go. I know it. Stamura goes.

Shameless! to ask him! Never did we meet
But, if his eye caught mine, he walk'd aside:
Yet, by some strange occurrence, we meet daily.

The Consul enters.
Consul.
Erminia! didst thou send away Stamura?

Erminia.
He went away: no need for me to send him.

Consul.
Knowest thou whom he made his captive?

Erminia.
Yes:
That insolent young Roman.

Consul.
Speak not thus
Before thou seest him.

Erminia.
I will never see him.

Consul.
Nay, I have promised scarce five minutes since
That thou shalt hear him.

Erminia.
Has he then found favour
With you so suddenly?

Consul.
Stamura speaks
Much in his favour.

Erminia.
Are they friends already?

Consul.
Hardly; we must suppose. But here they come.

Stamura. Clovio. Consul. Erminia.
Clovio.
Sir Consul! I am Clovio Fizzarelli.
Have you received the letter?

Consul.
I received it.

Clovio.
On bended knee permit me to salute
The lady who shall rule my destiny,
Your fair Erminia.

Erminia.
You are the Pope's nephew,
Sir Clovio! I have heard; and you come hither
Most strongly recommended.

Clovio.
True, sweet lady!
But I do trust, with all humility,
There may be a mere trifle in myself,
Not to engage you in the first half-hour,
But so to plead for me, that in a day
Or two, or three at farthest . .

Erminia.
Sir, your pleader
Stands there; you are his captive, and not mine.

Clovio.
He knows me well. He threw my whole boat's crew
(Four of them) overboard, but found his match
In me.

Erminia.
It seems so: does it not, Antonio?

Stamura.
More; how much more!

Clovio.
There! He could not deny it.

Erminia.
And now he has persuaded my kind father
To grant you audience.

Clovio
(to Stamura).
She is proud: I'll tame her.

Stamura
(angrily).
Sir! [Aside.

No: he is my prisoner and my guest.

Erminia.
This gentleman, who is so confidential
With you, and whom you whisper to for counsel,
May give my hand away . . and will most gladly,
I doubt not . . for my father can refuse
Nothing to one who made so great a prize,
Beside the preservation of the city.

Clovio.
Speak then, my worthy friend, if thus the consul
Honours your valour; speak for me; and let me
Who owe my life, owe more than life to you.

Stamura.
The consul knows what suits his honour best,
And the young lady seems not ill disposed
To shower his favour on such high desert.
I have my duties; but this is not one.
Let the young lady give her hand herself.
If I had any wish . . but I have none . .
It should be, Sir, that you had won it first
By a brave action or a well-tried love.
But, what is love? My road lies towards the walls. [To the Consul.

With your permission, Sir! I have yours, lady!

[Stamura goes.
Erminia.
Father! I am unwell. This gentleman
Comes unexpectedly, demands abruptly . .

Clovio.
Impatiently, but not abruptly.

Erminia.
Sir!
I will not marry: never, never, never.

[Erminia goes.
Clovio.
Ha! ha! all women are alike, Sir Cousul.
Leave her to me.

Consul.
Sir Clovio Fizzarelli!
I will do more than what you ask of me.
I grant you freedom. Go aboard the pinnace
Which bore you into port; and say at Rome
That you have seen men starving in the streets,
Because his Holiness refused us help
Unless a father gave a daughter up;
And say the daughter would not sell her heart,
Much less her country; and then add, Sir Clovio,
(O were it true!) “All women are alike.”