University of Virginia Library

SCENE II.

CLYFFORD, QUEEN.
QUEEN.
What loitering here! O shame to soldiership!
Never till now was ardent Clyfford seen
Reckless of arms, when his heroic king
Had issued for the field.

CLYFFORD.
Can it be so?
Has new commotion called his vigilant spirit
Forth on the sudden?

QUEEN.
Yes! with eyes that flashed
Indignant fire, prepared for fierce assault,
With that dread weapon, which his powerful arm
Alone can wield, he sallied to chastise
Such opposition, as I trust will fly,
E'en at the distant gleam of his high crest.
His anger kindled at the fresh report,
That a wild troop is lurking in the mountain
To intercept Llandorvin.

CLYFFORD.
Hapless father!
Then Heaven forsakes thee.

QUEEN.
What! is thy young heart,
Once the warm seat of gratitude and duty,
Now touched with pity only for the foes
Of thy kind sovereign? at the very time,
When he, who fondly trained thy youth to arms,
Ought to behold thee anxious at his side,
To ward off peril from his sacred person?

CLYFFORD.
Noblest, and justly most adored of women!
Adored by me in every character,
That can excite the fondest veneration!
A charge of base ingratitude from thee
Strikes me, as would a seraph's keen rebuke.
Freely to thee, as to the power who made it,
I shew my tortured heart, and all its feelings.
That I have loved the king, as much as child
E'er loved a parent, my past life has proved;
But while he thus oppresses virtuous age,
With unrelenting, useless—

QUEEN.
Clyfford! Clyfford!
Beware of this blind passion, which deludes thee!
It is not ours to judge the king's decree.

CLYFFORD.
Fair excellence! forgive me, if I say
The blindness is your own: but it becomes you.
In your soft sex 'tis virtue, 'tis perfection
Not to behold the failings of a lord,
In wedded love so peerless as your Edward.
I am of rougher mold: unyielding man:
Man, the proud owner of imperial reason!
Were I the king's true son, as I have been
The child of his protection; I should then,
Feel that his cruelty, on my just heart
Implanted hate, eradicating nature.
Yet hating his barbarity,—believe me,
I love his virtues with such gratitude,
Nothing in life could so delight my soul
As to die nobly on some bright occasion,
Where my brave service might promote his glory,
And to each royal heart endear my name.

QUEEN.
Clyfford, thou feelst too keenly; but thy truth,
And thy frank nature have endeared thee to us;
Haste, I entreat thee, with unclouded duty
Arm, and attend thy sovereign! As I trust
He will return triumphant without conflict;
In that best season for my mild entreaties,
I yet may gently lead his generous nature
Freely to grant, what force could not extort.
Yet may I save our venerable prisoner,
Whom in thy absence I will kindly visit.

CLYFFORD.
Angel of life! thou giv'st me new existence
In that blest promise. Monarchs of the world!
Learn from this model of imperial goodness,
That pure beneficence alone possesses
Perfect dominion! Learn of Eleanor
To rule enlightened minds, nor fear to lose
An empire founded upon fond esteem!

(Exeunt.