University of Virginia Library

SCENE II.

An illuminated Hall in the Ducal Palace.
Doge, Count Zeno, Ladies and Gentlemen.
Doge.
Now for some stirring air to wake the spirits
Of mirth and motion. Sweet ones, to the dance!
Where is this Foscari? Gentles, in my youth
He had been held a recreant that forsook
The revel, and the light of ladies' eyes,
And play of twinkling feet. Degenerate boy!

Gent.
Degenerate days! Ah! we could tell such tales
Of the deep merriment, the gorgeous banquet,
The high festivity of our old time!
Thou may'st smile, Zeno, but his Highness knows
Bright mirth is on the wane. Our puny sons
Shew but faint flashes of their father's fire.

Zeno.
Believe him not, fair maids! 'Tis but the vaunt
Of vaunting age. Believe him not. Why, Moro,
Thy father in those mirthful days hath said
The same to thee, and his to him; yet still
'Tis merry Venice. Forty years to come
We, too, may boast us of our jovial prime,
Nor yet the world grow sadder. Fear it not.
His Highness will not join thee, Signor Moro;
He is too youthful-hearted.

Doge.
What a bribe
Is that to aid thy cause! But Moro's right;
We were fine gallants. Niece, I prythee see
That all are welcomed. Where's thy sister Melfi?

2nd Gent.
Not yet returned from Rome.

Doge.
I would have had
All the fair stars of Venice here to night
Shining in one bright galaxy.

Gent.
We miss
Signor Donato's daughter.

Doge.
Aye, indeed,
My pretty sweet Camilla!—Fair Olivia,
Let Trevisano lead thee to the dance.
Were I one ten years younger, trust me, Sir,
I'd not resign this hand. Now a light measure.
[A Dance.
Is't not a peerless nymph? The youngest Grace
Leading her linked sisters through the maze
Of blossom'd myrtles upon Ida's side,
Is not so light of foot. Rest thee, dear maid.
What is that? Thunder?

Zeno.
Yes; a fearful storm.
It rages awfully. Hark! there again!

Doge.
Well; we must keep such coil of merriment
As shall outroar the rattling storm.
Enter Foscari.
Ah, truant!
How wilt thou make thy peace?

Fos.
I read no war
In these fair looks.

Zeno.
Peace is more perilous.

Fos.
Aye, truly, Zeno.

Zeno.
Whither hast thou been?
Watching her lattice but to catch a glimpse
Of the swift slender shadow that glides past
So gracefully, clouding the soft dim light?

Fos.
Pooh! Pooh!

Zeno.
And with a true devotion bent
Uncovered at her shrine? Why thou art wet!
This is some new device of gallantry,
Some trick of Milan courtship.

Fos.
Tush, man, tush!
Ho! a brisk measure! Drown with merry notes
Count Zeno's merry riddles! Wilt thou dance
With me, dear lady? Do not say me No!

Lady.
Oh, no!

Fos.
Why that should mean Oh yes!

Doge.
Good niece,
Will not the Lady Claudia join the dance?
Seek her. I'm young and light enough to night
To mingle there myself. What ails the music?
Quicker! Why break they off? Dear Zeno ask.

Fos.
Murdered! Impossible! I only left—
I am myself—It cannot be. Play on!
On with the dance!

Gent.
Here is a man hath seen him,
One who still shakes with fear.

Fos.
Bring him to me!
Where is he? Where?

Doge.
Zeno, what is this tale?

Zeno.
A tale of horror!

Enter Erizzo.
Eriz.
Justice, Doge of Venice!
A Senator lies reeking in his blood,
Murdered in his own palace. Justice, Doge!

Fos.
What Senator?

Eriz.
Canst thou ask that? Donato.

Doge.
Donato murdered! the beloved Donato!
The second name of Venice! Mine old friend!
Lords, to the council. This is not a tale
For woman's gentleness. Good night to all.
[Exeunt Ladies, and some Gentlemen.
Would he had ta'en my hand!

Fos.
He is not dead—
It must be false, it shall be!

Eriz.
What dost thou
Doubt of Donato's death? Thou?

Fos.
Hearken, Doge!
His voice hath mockery in it, sharp and loud
As the clear ring of metals: he speaks not
As we, who heard the tale, in broken words
And breathless; his teeth chatter not; his lips
Are firm; there is no trembling in his limbs,
No glare in his keen eyes. None but a fiend,
Fresh from the reek of murder, could so master
The human sympathy, the fellowship
Of Nature and of kind.

Doge.
Yet wherefore—

Enter Cosmo.
Cos.
Justice!

Fos.
Beloved friend!

Cos.
Off! Off! I come for justice,
For equal justice!

Doge.
Thou shalt have it.

Cos.
Doge!
For equal justice!

Doge.
Was he not my friend?
Am I not thine?

Cos.
Aye—so the murderer said!—
Friend! the word chokes me.

Fos.
Grief hath turned his brain.

Doge.
Thou shalt have justice.

Cos.
'Tis no midnight thief,
No hired assassin, no poor petty villain;—
This is a fall, as of the morning star,
A death such as the first great slayer saw
When Abel lay at his feet,—but I'll have justice!
There be hearts here will crack, old valiant hearts
When they shall hear this tale,—but I'll have justice!

Doge.
Go some one call the guard.
[Exit Erizzo.
Name the assassin.

Cos.
Have I not! Whither doth he fly!

Fos.
Camilla!
My poor Camilla!

Cos.
Thine! And the earth hears him
And opens not her womb! The heavens hear
And launch no thunderbolts! This work is mine.
Hold firm my heart.—Cousin! Erizzo!

Enter Erizzo and Guard.
Eriz.
Seize
Francesco Foscari. Nay stand not thus
Gazing on one another. Seize him. Doge,
He is the murderer.

Doge.
Away with thee,
Traitor and slanderer! He is my son—
Stir not a man of ye!—My son, the idol
Of city and of camp. His life hath been
One blaze of honour. Come to my old arms,—
Speak not a word—thy name is pledge enough
My son!

Eriz.
Ye know your duty. Seize him, soldiers.

Fos.
Approach me at your peril. Know you not
This very morning how yon serpent lay
Under my heel unbruised, a thing of scorn?
Look not upon us, lords, with doubting eyes,
Ye dare not doubt me—even to deny
Is in some sort a stain!—My shield is bright.
Ye force me to these vaunts! I could not think
A crime.

Eriz.
Bear hence the murderer. (aside.)
Palsies wither
The cowardly arm and plotting brain that feared
To strike him dead at once! (aloud)
Seize him, I say,

Fos.
Now he that dares!

Cos.
Francesco Foscari,
I do arrest thee for this murder.

Fos.
Thou!
Come forth into the light! Off with those plumes!
Look at me! Is this Cosmo? Hath some fiend
Put on that shape? Speak to me!

Cos.
Murderer!

Fos.
To-day he called me brother!—Deal with me
Even as ye will.

Eriz.
Look to him, soldiers, well,
That he escape not.

Fos.
Sir, the Foscari
Know not what that word means. I wait your pleasure.

Cos.
Doge! Doth he hear me? Once I could have wept
For such a grief, for him; now I am steeled
By merciless misery, made pitiless
By one that hath no pity. Look! he stands
With such a calm of virtue on his brow,
As if he would outface the all-seeing God
With that proud seeming. Foscari, the dead
Shall cry aloud in heaven, and I on earth,
Till vengeance overtake thee. Doge of Venice,
I call on thee for justice on thy son.

Fos.
Father!—Oh, start not!—I am innocent.
Hear that, and breathe again. Sir, I commit
My life, my honour, the unsullied name
Of my great ancestors, of him the greatest
My living father—even his name I trust
To my just cause, and the just laws of Venice.
I am your prisoner.

[Exeunt Foscari, guarded, Erizzo and Cosmo.
Zeno.
Doge!

Doge.
Those lights! Those lights!
They pierce my eye-balls, dart into my brain!
If there be any pity left i' the world
Make me a darkness and a silence, Zeno,
That I may pray.

Zeno.
Lead to his chamber, Sirs.

[Exeunt.