The Star of Seville A Drama. In Five Acts |
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 | The Star of Seville |  |
SCENE THE LAST.
—A STREET IN SEVILLE.
Enter ESTRELLA.
ESTRELLA.
That's an ugly tune, and savours like a dirge.
O me, I've the heart-ache, yet I know not why—
Methinks there's something I should weep about.
I am cold and weary—here I'll lay me down—
Hard pillow for a bride;—good night, good nurse,
(She lies down on the stones.)
[A solemn march is heard without; Soldiers pass over the stage; Citizens crowd in on all sides to see the procession.
FIRST CITIZEN.
What's here on the ground?
SECOND CITIZEN.
A dead woman.
THIRD CITIZEN.
Dead! fainting, mayhap—no, sleeping, faith.
ANTONIO.
VASCO.
GERONIO.
Raise her gently—so—so.
ESTRELLA
—(waking.)
Go to thy marriage-bed.
Maiden, good night.
Enter, guarded, with Friar and Executioner, Carlos.
CARLOS.
Hold! hold! i' the name of heaven, hold! Estrella!
VASCO.
Father, give her to him.
GERONIO.
How he looks at her,
As though his eyes should never turn again!
ESTRELLA.
You're a strange man: why do you gaze at me?
I cannot bear your eyes, turn them away!
You make me blush. Pray let me go.
CARLOS.
Estrella!
ESTRELLA.
Ha!
CARLOS.
Dear Estrella!
ESTRELLA.
Say't again! again!
Sweet, though I weep, I love it—say't again!
CARLOS.
My love! my wife! my wife!
ESTRELLA.
Nay, now you mock me.
I can laugh as well as cry. Ha! ha! Well, hear ye—
I'll tell you the story of the gallant lover,
Who stabb'd his lady's brother in the dark:
Faith, that's a sad story—but he's damned, be sure,
With the fiends in fire, for breaking his love's heart
And murdering her brother.
CARLOS.
Horrible!
Another wreck upon this fated shore!
Another curse fall'n on this evil day!
Her reason's gone, the precious crystal's flaw'd,
And can reflect no true and entire image.
GUARD.
Sir, the day wanes.
CARLOS.
I come. O for a pow'r
Once more to bring the wandering spirit home!
Could she but know me once—once look on me
With knowledge and perception, though to blast me
With the lightning of her hate! Estrella!
GUARD.
Sir!
CARLOS.
Peace! now she knows me; look, the memory
Breaks, ray by ray, like morning in her eyes.
ESTRELLA.
Pray do not leave me—pray you take me with you,
For now my brother's dead—you know he's dead—
They watch and prison me, and keep me close;
They will not let me walk abroad i' the day,
Nor see the sun, nor breathe the sweet fresh air;—
They say I'm mad!
CARLOS.
O torture!
GUARD.
Sir, 'tis time.
ESTRELLA.
Ha! ha! ha! how you grasp me.
GUARD.
Nay, move on.
CARLOS.
Stay, stay, a moment more! one moment more!
Dark—dark—she knows me not—farewell! farewell!
Estrella! O Estrella!
(He is forced out, she remains in the hands of Antonio.)
ESTRELLA.
That was Carlos!
I know the voice! I know the blessed sound!
Let go your hold! Loosen your grasp, I say!
I heard him—ah! I see him. Carlos! Carlos!
(She rushes out, followed by crowd and Citizens.)
Manent Isabel and Florilla.
ISABEL.
Florilla, I am faint! I cannot stand!
But get thee after them, and see the end.
FLORILLA.
I can see here. (She mounts some steps.)
O heavens! through the throng
I see her white robe and her lifted arms—
The crowd divides—she climbs the scaffold stairs—
She stands beside him! Ha! that flash of light!
The axe! the axe!
(A shriek is heard—Florilla descends the steps. Re-enter Antonio, Geronio, Vasco, Friar Rodriquez, Citizens, and Soldiers, bearing on a couch the body of Carlos and that of Estrella.)
RODRIQUEZ.
The chord is snapp'd, life's music is departed—
The fire is out—our Star of Seville's set.
Part not those bodies that in death are join'd,
For though he should not lie in hallowed ground,
I'll instantly unto the Lord Archbishop,
And use what prayers may most avail with him,
That these who should this morn have been united
In holy wedlock, may this night be laid
Together in their narrow marriage-bed.
—A STREET IN SEVILLE.
Enter ESTRELLA.
ESTRELLA.
That's an ugly tune, and savours like a dirge.
O me, I've the heart-ache, yet I know not why—
142
I am cold and weary—here I'll lay me down—
Hard pillow for a bride;—good night, good nurse,
(She lies down on the stones.)
[A solemn march is heard without; Soldiers pass over the stage; Citizens crowd in on all sides to see the procession.
FIRST CITIZEN.
What's here on the ground?
SECOND CITIZEN.
A dead woman.
THIRD CITIZEN.
Dead! fainting, mayhap—no, sleeping, faith.
ANTONIO.
Stand back! All saints defend us, 'tis the Lady
Estrella.
VASCO.
Alone, untended, in this disordered attire, thus i' the
streets.
GERONIO.
Raise her gently—so—so.
ESTRELLA
—(waking.)
Go to thy marriage-bed.
Maiden, good night.
Enter, guarded, with Friar and Executioner, Carlos.
CARLOS.
Hold! hold! i' the name of heaven, hold! Estrella!
VASCO.
Father, give her to him.
143
How he looks at her,
As though his eyes should never turn again!
ESTRELLA.
You're a strange man: why do you gaze at me?
I cannot bear your eyes, turn them away!
You make me blush. Pray let me go.
CARLOS.
Estrella!
ESTRELLA.
Ha!
CARLOS.
Dear Estrella!
ESTRELLA.
Say't again! again!
Sweet, though I weep, I love it—say't again!
CARLOS.
My love! my wife! my wife!
ESTRELLA.
Nay, now you mock me.
I can laugh as well as cry. Ha! ha! Well, hear ye—
I'll tell you the story of the gallant lover,
Who stabb'd his lady's brother in the dark:
Faith, that's a sad story—but he's damned, be sure,
With the fiends in fire, for breaking his love's heart
And murdering her brother.
CARLOS.
Horrible!
Another wreck upon this fated shore!
Another curse fall'n on this evil day!
Her reason's gone, the precious crystal's flaw'd,
And can reflect no true and entire image.
144
Sir, the day wanes.
CARLOS.
I come. O for a pow'r
Once more to bring the wandering spirit home!
Could she but know me once—once look on me
With knowledge and perception, though to blast me
With the lightning of her hate! Estrella!
GUARD.
Sir!
CARLOS.
Peace! now she knows me; look, the memory
Breaks, ray by ray, like morning in her eyes.
ESTRELLA.
Pray do not leave me—pray you take me with you,
For now my brother's dead—you know he's dead—
They watch and prison me, and keep me close;
They will not let me walk abroad i' the day,
Nor see the sun, nor breathe the sweet fresh air;—
They say I'm mad!
CARLOS.
O torture!
GUARD.
Sir, 'tis time.
ESTRELLA.
Ha! ha! ha! how you grasp me.
GUARD.
Nay, move on.
CARLOS.
Stay, stay, a moment more! one moment more!
145
Estrella! O Estrella!
(He is forced out, she remains in the hands of Antonio.)
ESTRELLA.
That was Carlos!
I know the voice! I know the blessed sound!
Let go your hold! Loosen your grasp, I say!
I heard him—ah! I see him. Carlos! Carlos!
(She rushes out, followed by crowd and Citizens.)
Manent Isabel and Florilla.
ISABEL.
Florilla, I am faint! I cannot stand!
But get thee after them, and see the end.
FLORILLA.
I can see here. (She mounts some steps.)
O heavens! through the throng
I see her white robe and her lifted arms—
The crowd divides—she climbs the scaffold stairs—
She stands beside him! Ha! that flash of light!
The axe! the axe!
(A shriek is heard—Florilla descends the steps. Re-enter Antonio, Geronio, Vasco, Friar Rodriquez, Citizens, and Soldiers, bearing on a couch the body of Carlos and that of Estrella.)
RODRIQUEZ.
The chord is snapp'd, life's music is departed—
The fire is out—our Star of Seville's set.
Part not those bodies that in death are join'd,
For though he should not lie in hallowed ground,
146
And use what prayers may most avail with him,
That these who should this morn have been united
In holy wedlock, may this night be laid
Together in their narrow marriage-bed.
| The Star of Seville | |