 | The Heroine of Cambria |  |
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SCENE VII.
KING EDWARD, LLANDORVIN, GUARDS.KING EDWARD.
Stranger! the fondness of thy daughter saved
Thy forfeit life; and still inspires our Queen,
Whose mildness is affliction's sanctuary,
With wishes for thy freedom: this we grant thee,
If thy discretion merits her regard.
LLANDORVIN.
That the rare virtues of my child endear her
To minds so qualified to judge of virtue
As far-famed Eleanor, still to my heart,
Chilled as it is with age, and patriot anguish,
Gives the quick ardour of parental pride:
For had I not, in all their fond excess,
The feelings of a father, trust me, Edward!
I could not now endure the life, thou offer'st:
To languish, as I must, in dark existence:
My spirit troubled with distressful visions
Of noblest friends, calamitously lost!
Or worse, the slavery of my native land!
KING EDWARD.
Thou shalt forget this land, in wisely passing
To happier scenes, my bounty shall provide thee
An English settlement.
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I know thou'rt mighty:
The fav'rite of prosperity, and power!
But trust me, Edward! 'tis beyond thy empire
To mould anew the habits of the heart;
And thro' the breast of injured age diffuse
The native energy of young attachment.
If 'tis thy purpose to befriend two beings,
Who in domestic tenderness alone
May find a balm, to soothe their public sorrow,
Leave us in peace upon the rocks, that reared us!
KING EDWARD.
But wilt thou rest in peace? should I assign thee
A portion of this land, thy darling seat!
Wouldst thou engage, never to sound again
Notes of sedition, on thy daring harp?
But in a wiser strain, instruct the people
To look up to our salutary sway
With tranquil reverence?
LLANDORVIN.
No! not for half
Thy richer kingdom, added to this realm,
Would I debase a voice, that long has uttered
The purest dictates of impassioned freedom.
Imagination, under virtue's guidance,
I deem the rarest, richest gift of heaven,
And shall I stain the little I possess
By teaching injured slaves to bless their bondage,
And worship their oppressor?
KING EDWARD.
Dost thou brave me,
Audacious Rhapsodist?—now, in beholding
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My memory claims acquaintance with thy features.
Where have I seen thee?
LLANDORVIN.
Spare, insulting tyrant!
Spare to thyself a bitter recollection!
Yes! thou hast seen me, in my happier life,
Ere age and sorrow made it weak, and worthless;
When by Llewellyn's side, our patriot prince!
I fought for liberty: when thou, then young,
And tho' thy father's delegate, a novice
In the curst art to weaken and oppress,
Wert glad to make percipitate retreat
Before us, and the lightning of our swords
Flashed on the flying—
KING EDWARD.
Insolent enthusiast!
LLANDORVIN.
I knew the scene, thou bad'st me recollect,
Would gall thee, Edward! 'twas the early source
Of all thy ruthless rancor to my country.
Thou never couldst forgive the brave Llewellyn
For that bright triumph: hence thy enmity,
Disgracing manhood, kept his lovely bride
For years thy captive; lured by abject arts
A brother to desert him; and at last,
By the mean vantage of unequal power,
Spoiled him of life.
KING EDWARD.
He was a faithless vassal;
And justly suffered for repeated failures
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LLANDORVIN.
O belie him not!
Tho' thou hast stript him of his crown and life!
Fate cannot blast his fame: he was a prince
Munificent as nature, just as Heaven!
Fall'n as he is, his unsuspected praise
Shall live for ever in our grateful songs.
KING EDWARD.
It shall not live in thine, presumptuous minstrel!
Away with him to death!
LLANDORVIN.
Thou fierce destroyer!
Death is the only gift from thee, that I
Would willingly embrace; and for that gift,
Take thou this lesson from my parting spirit!
Thou saw'st, in Palestine, a curious Arab
Imprison water, in an orb of gold,
Till, by compression urged, the forceful fluid
Amazed thine eye in starting thro' the metal.
So genius, prest by tyranny, exerts
An energy, beyond the common laws
Of quiet nature. Here thou wouldst extinguish
Freedom and poetry: they mock thy wishes;
For they are woven in our frame of being;
And cannot perish but with human life.
My frail existence is thy easy victim;
But dying I shall triumph—e'en in thy kingdom,
Where thou art worshipped now by fear and int'rest,
A day shall rise, when the enlightened people
Shall hail the art, which thou wouldst crush for ever,
As the bright guardian of immortal virtue:
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Of rapturous excellence, shall teach the world
To mourn my fall, and execrate thy crimes.
KING EDWARD.
Away! vain prophet, to thy speedy death!
No! it shall be suspended: but till time
Allows us to bestow on thy presumption
Pre-eminence of punishment. Thy fate
Shall be no common spectacle; but, high
On Snowdon's rocks, in death thou shalt exhibit
An awful lesson to rebellious pride.
LLANDORVIN.
I am prepared to die:—o'er ruling Heaven
Is righteous still; since it assigns us now
The different lot, our different souls deserve;
For know, proud monarch! by your own award
You haste to infamy, and I to glory.
| The Heroine of Cambria | |