University of Virginia Library

SCENE I.

The magnificent Hall with which the Play opens; and similar Clouds, shewing again the Dawn of Morning.
Abdallah enters, finding Orasmyn musing.
Abdallah.
Hast thou thus watch'd the night away, my son,
Regardless of the common dues of nature?
—The day will come, when thou'lt regret in vain,
This lavish waste alike of health and feeling!
And why thus strictly-guard a maniac?
—Who will assail Almeyda?

Orasmyn.
Who will soothe her?
—It is among the fatal rights of rank
To want all common blessings! Never more,
Alas! shall this sweet visionary find them.

Abdallah.
Has, then, her frenzy known no interval,
And the long night elapsed in restless ravings?

Orasmyn.
Th'inventive evil took such various forms
As fancy scarce could follow—pausing often
In vacant silence, or in speechless anguish!
—Anon, more musical than the lone bird,
Who pours her sorrows to the midnight moon,
She waked the drowsy night! Oft the wild strain
Soar'd ev'n to Heav'n—As oft it died away,—
Like the uncertain sweetness of that harp,
The light breeze softly touches!

Abdallah.
Thoughts like these,
Will undermine the firmness of thy nature.—
Orasmyn! as thou lov'st me, shake them off!
Thou art the better part of my existence;
And when thou droop'st I sink.

Orasmyn.
At once to see,
The flow'r of nature in the morning wither!
Ev'n while my senses ached at its perfection!—

Abdallah.
How wise—how gen'rous were those lavish tears,
Could sympathy restore the hapless suff'rer!
But other duties call thee into action.—
Time will not with thee watch Almeyda's frenzy,
Nor the great wheel of empire cease its motion—
Thy hand must guide it.

Orasmyn.
Empire! said my father?
—Shall I usurp Almeyda's royal seat?
Grow great by her misfortune! Rather bid me
Dig at her feet the grave she wildly calls for,
And fill it undishonor'd! Oh! no more.
I would not understand you!

Abdallah.
Say thou wilt not,
And I am answer'd.—Weak, romantick boy!
Loiter thy life away upon her threshold!
Renounce thy sire, thy rank, thy name in arms,
The golden wreath already hov'ring o'er thee,
And live a lover only!

Orasmyn.
Live to honour!
To that quick sense, which, striking at the heart,
Damns, ev'n on earth, the guilty! Oh, beware!
And dread, in time, to know the dire pulsation!

Abdallah.
Dar'st thou suppose it?

Orasmyn.
The mere thought was treason!
—Yet, a calamity so sudden, speaks
Some known, yet latent cause.—

Abdallah.
I heed thee well—
And feel, ungrateful son! through ev'ry fibre,
The yet unspoken censure! But yet, remember,
Had I more crimes than thoughts, 'tis thou hast caus'd them!
—Judge, then, what passes here, when thus I learn
Thou dar'st despise my views, my pow'r—my person!

[Exit, into the Queen's apartment.
Orasmyn.
Stay, leave me not in wrath!—forgive, my father,
A heart ev'n bursting with conflicting passions!
—If I have injur'd!—'Tis, alas, too much,
To shock his nature with the black suspicion!

Enter Abdallah again.
—My father, I have err'd!—Oh! deign to pity
Him, who, thus agoniz'd with doubt and fear,
Finds no pow'r perfect but unshaken honour!
And that pure pride he'll cherish, unto death.
—No vain—no selfish—no ambitious thought,
Shall ever tempt me, ev'n in thought, to wrong
That hapless sov'reign I have sworn to guard!
The vow yet lives, unchill'd, upon your lips!
And, oh, her mis'ry doubly should enforce it!—
Recal your honour!—Love me in Almeyda!

[Exit.
Abdallah.
'Tis well. This black ingratitude has steel'd me!
—Cherish thy insolence of pride—Thou'lt need it.
Have I, then, liv'd for thee in vain, Orasmyn?
—A girl, by one soft glance, annihilates
Those rights a life of fondness should have gain'd me!
—Hast thou forgot thy father's heir Granada,
Regardless of thy scruples, or thy choice?
—Ev'n now the golden circlet binds my brow,
And in Abdallah henceforth know thy king!
—I have dispos'd the Council to believe,
Her frenzy constitutional. This hour,
Her hand unconscious might resign her crown,
Then never, never, need she see Granada.

Enter Nourassin
Nourassin.
The Council waits, my lord, your wish'd for presence.
—How fares our hapless sov'reign?

Abdallah.
Lost in frenzy—
With vacant eye, ev'n now, she gaz'd upon me,
But knew nor voice, nor feature!—

Nourassin.
'Tis too plain—
The malady's habitual! Those starts
Ev'n as we hail'd her glad return, bespoke
A strange distraction, or some buried passion.
—Castile, with matchless policy, has kept
The mournful secret, 'till, the advantage gain'd,
With pomp, he gave us back the gorgeous casket,
Nor own'd the gem was vanish'd.—

Abdallah.
Are the Council
So satisfied?

Nourassin.
Not one dissents, my lord.

Abdallah.
Why then should we delay the abdication?
A form alone is wanting; and her hand,
Unfit to govern, may with ease be led,
To delegate that pow'r our laws deny her.
—Perchance, in the next transport of her frenzy,
No human pow'r may move her.—

Nourassin.
It were wise,
Since to the nation we must vouch this truth,
To lead her forth, and summon in the Council.

Abdallah.
Haste, then, my friend! Conduct Almeyda hither.

[Exit Nourassin.