University of Virginia Library

SCENE II.

The Same. A Dungeon in the Castle. The music of Don Pedro's progress, the shouts of the people, &c., are occasionally heard without. Enter Leonor de Guzman.
Leonor.
Shout on, good people!—ring, ye merry bells!—
Ye jocund instruments of harmony,
Breathe your glad music to the breathless heavens!
That he who sitteth in eternal joy,
Amid angelic minstrelsy, may smile
To see his happy children mimic him!
I am glad the world rejoices; for poor I,
Who sit amid the embers of my life,
Turning its dying fancies o'er and o'er,
Had almost lost my faith in happiness.
My sorrows cast a shadow either way,
Darkening the past, and glooming towards the future.—
This is not just. Misfortunes I have known,
Cares, troubles, dangers; yet some touch of light
Has gilt the summits of my drearest fate,
Just as the hour seemed darkest. I have known
Long days of rapture, nights of sweet content,
Lit by prophetic dreams of coming cheer,
And memories of forgotten happiness.
I have no right to murmur. Born to naught,
I lived a queen; unwedded, I was loved;
Loved, I brought forth a numerous progeny;
And they, though base-born, only less than kings.
My deeds have given my country history;
My virtues live in many a grateful heart
That knew their bounty; and my fate shall draw
The drooping eyelid o'er full many a tear
That falls upon the silence of the past:—
I am immortal in man's memory.
[Shouts, music, &c.]
Therefore, rejoice, good people of Castile,
And give dumb instruments a voice of joy!
You share a cheerfulness which once was mine.

(Enter Juana and the Chaplain.)
Juana.
Joy, mother, joy!—Yet this is cruel in me,
To bring my merriment to your abode.
Forgive my folly!

Leo.
[Laughs and sings.]

Jua.
Enrique—O,
Mere rapture makes me stumble in my speech—
Enrique has escaped, and sheltered him
In the Asturias.

Leo.
Now, be praise to Heaven!
A while ago, I almost did repine,
Because these walls were dark, and yon small grate
Was chary of the sunlight, and the drops
Of chilling water, from these sweating vaults,
Seemed to be falling on my lonely heart.
But, now, the walls are windows, and the grate
Glows, as if burning in the central sun,
And every drop falls from the blue above,
Like rich celestial dew. (Shouts, &c., without.)
Ay, shout again,
Shout, ye blind multitudes! for I desire
A nation's voice to tell my gratitude!
I knew the springs of mercy were not dry,
I knew God's hand sowed blessings through the world,
I knew this dungeon hid me not from him,
And yet I dared repine!

Chaplain.
Daughter, thy words
Are fervent with the essence of true grace.
Hast thou repented of the sinful tie
That bound thee to Alfonso?

Leo.
Father, no;
Frankly, I tell thee, it is there my heart
Fights with thy holy teachings. I repent
The wrong our union did the hapless queen,
The public scandal of a life like ours,
The charter which we gave to those who sought
Excuses in example; but the tie—
The pure connection of two faithful hearts,
Through the mysterious avenues of love—
Seems something holier, something nearer heaven,
Than aught the Church has gathered from above.
There is no creed for this, no law, I own,
Save that which nature whispers in our ears;
And, in her whisper, pardon if I thought
I heard the still small voice.

Chap.
Ah! daughter, daughter,
This mars thy faith, and makes it incomplete.
Thy stubborn clinging to one darling sin
Will lose thee heaven.

Leo.
Heaven judge me! I have judged
According to the light within my soul.
If there was better light, as thou dost urge,
It never shone for me.—No more of this.

Chap.
Thou 'st never felt the guilt of thy misdeed?

Leo.
Never, so help me Heaven! Now, if thou wilt,
Heal o'er the other wounds within my soul;
But leave this bare to God's anointing eye.
My task on earth is finished. Father, come,
And get me ready for a higher life.

[Exeunt.]