 | The Heroine of Cambria |  |
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SCENE VI.
KING EDWARD, QUEEN, OFFICERS, &c.KING EDWARD,
(speaking to an Officer as he enters.)
Tell our unwary guards, that if their prisoner
Now ordered to this castle's safer keep,
Escape a second time, 'twill be their doom
To perish in his place.
(Exit Officer.
O Eleanor!
My weary soul, sick of its fruitless toil,
To tranquillise this stubborn, stormy nation,
Turns with delight to thee, in whom well pleased
I ever find the tenderness of duty,
And ready, sweet, intelligent obedience.
QUEEN.
Reflect, my generous lord, in praising me,
To whom thy praise is transport; O! reflect,
Why I possess the qualities, that please thee!
'Tis thy kind favor makes me, what I am:
Submissive gratitude's the smiling child
Of bountiful protection. Gracious Edward!
Be but as mild a guardian to this land,
As thou hast been to me, and its glad people
Will bless, as I do, thy indulgent sway.
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No! my good Eleanor, thou little knowst
What iron rule this savage realm requires.
QUEEN.
Your pardon! I have recently been speaking
To a young Cambrian. Dear, considerate Edward!
So kindly sensible of weakest merit
In thy obedient wife! wilt thou not feel
The higher claims of an heroic daughter!
And grant to Gwendylen her father's life?
I know thou wilt: I ask it on my knees.
KING EDWARD.
Arise, thou dearest of petitioners!
I mean to have a speedy conference
With this retaken fugitive, and if
His conduct merits mercy, he shall find it—
(To one of the Guard.)
Haste to the captive minstrel, and conduct him
Strait to our presence?—Haste!
(Exit one of the Guard.
QUEEN.
Believe me, Edward!
I have a woman's heart, fondly ambitious,
And proud to triumph in a husband's glory!
But sated with thy military fame,
I long to see the enterprising warrior
Nobly eclipsed by the pacific king.
Effulgent valour well becomes thy crown;
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Will give thy diadem its dearest charm.
KING EDWARD.
Pure minds, untutored by calamity,
Can rightly judge of peace; not so the savage:
They with harsh lessons from instructive rigor
Must toil, thro' pain and blood, to know her value.
There is a hot intemperance of spirit
In these wild mountaineers, that almost foils
The soundest discipline.—Authority,
And benefits, alike have failed to bend
The stubbornness of these tumultuous tribes,
Rude as their mountains, where rebellion sits,
Like a maimed vulture, waiting only time
To heal her wings, that ache with eagerness
To spurn confinement, and renew her ravage.
QUEEN.
No! happy Victor, thy resistless arms
Have made this country thine: and soon, I hope
To hear thee in the best of triumphs own,
The bliss to humanise, surpasses far
The joy of conquering: but thy captive comes:
I will not with solicitude too curious
Intrude upon your converse: yet remember,
Thy Eleanor commends him to thy mercy!
(Exit.
| The Heroine of Cambria | |