 | The Weird Wanderer of Jutland |  |
Scene I.
THE WANDERER,(alone.)
That thou dost love the maid suits well my purpose;
It is the helm which guides thee to that port
Where vengeance calls; but think not thou shalt take
That viper to thy bed, the child of Sweno!
Lost as I am, and stamp'd by nature's curse,
Thou art my son; and sooner would I wring
The life blood from this heart, than see thee batten
On that abhorred couch. Once have I stood
Between thee and that leap, when fate seem'd fixt,
And thou already in thine ardent hopes
Forejoyd'st her charms. Once more I will arrest thee,
Ere Agnes be thy wife; or, if thou wedd'st,
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(producing a phial.)
Love's antidote. This philtre from thine hand
Shall lull her maidish fears in that sound sleep
Which knows no waking.
[Enter UBALD.]
UBALD.
Woman, still thou meet'st me
At each turn like my evil destiny.
What wilt thou?
WANDERER.
Aid thee.
UBALD.
I would be alone.
The blood is stirr'd within me, and thy sight
Offends my thoughts.
WANDERER.
Hast thou seen Agnes?
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Seen her!
In the broad face of day I have required her,
My prize, my right. Great gods! I have been scorn'd,
Trampled by Sweno's pride.
WANDERER.
'Tis well.—The curse
Will soon o'ertake him. Thou seek Agnes' chamber;
The shades of evening thicken, and the sounds
Of clamorous revelry are sunk in silence;
It is the hour of love.
UBALD.
Speak not of love;
I feel a strange and preternatural awe
Thrill through me in thy presence. Leave me, woman.
WANDERER.
Yet will I aid thee, Ubald. Take this phial,
A potent philtre, brew'd with secret spells
When the moon's face was full: in man 'twould breed
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Its powerful charm will so enthrall her will
Led by its strong invisible influence,
That she must bend to him who ministers.
Give this, and she is won.
UBALD,
(taking it).
I have e'en heard
That such things are, and of portentous might.
Thou rosy draught, in which the loves sit smiling,
No sea-tost mariner ere hail'd the land
With its fresh dawn of verdure, no sick mourner
The beam of health, with such heart-stirring joy
As the scorn'd lover, vex'd with hopeless wishes,
Would bless thy perfidy! O most subtle thief,
Canst thou with witching and seductive skill
From the closed issues of the pitiless mind
Draw sweet accordance, moulding the stern thoughts
Even to the form and quality of fondness?
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The virtue is in the proof. Present that philtre,
And thou shalt find the gently kindled heart
Turn quick and tremulously to thy bidding,
As doth the magnet to its proper pole.
UBALD.
These toys are for the humble;—such as crawl
Content to owe their summer-growth of fortune
To paltry plotting and mean artifice.
Woman, I scorn thy gifts.
(He dashes it on the ground.)
When Ubald takes
The kiss of love, or unbought wreath of honor
By a wizzard's trick, fall from him, gracious Heaven!
To others thy curst wares! my hopes need no
Unhallow'd aid.
WANDERER.
Mad boy, thou art undone!
The fruit, when thou hast press'd its precious savor,
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Loathsome, destroying life. Still take my counsel,
Ere fate shall close her adamantine gate
Thro' which there is no return.
UBALD.
I will not, sorceress.
Thine indirect and artful policy
Suits not my bearing.—Come, thou holy parent,
First source of love, with unadulterate speech
Inform my tongue, and show the guileless spell
Of thine own eloquence, resistless Nature!—
Bid thy priest wait me under Helen's porch.
Thus far I use thee.
[Exit.
THE WANDERER,
(alone.)
O fell Destiny,
With what prevailing and tremendous power
Thou goad'st me to the goal! Thy tread is like
The rush of many waters, indistinct
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And big with ruin. I am borne on by fate
And that relentless never-ceasing voice
Which swells within me to the utterance,
My mother's cry. It is here, here, here, rising
(She touches her forehead)
As the low murmur from the hollow earth
Which bodes the hurricane.—See there! See there!
She stands; she beckons—See! she glares upon me,
As in the frantic moments of her death.
There was none near her in that agony,
But the lost wretch who drew perdition on her.
Away, away, this is no time for thought.
[Exit.
| The Weird Wanderer of Jutland | |