University of Virginia Library

ACT II.

SCENE I.

An Alcove in an artificial Wilderness.—DONNA LOUISA, sola.
The burnish'd hills o'erlook the verdant dales,
And nature's deck'd in all her bright array.
The whispering breeze plays o'er the dappled mead,
And fans the foliage on the flowery bank:—
The towering wood lark trills her tender note,
And soft responsive music cheers the lawn;
Yet here I wander wilder'd and alone,
Like some poor banish'd fugitive who seeks
The meagre comfort of a moss grown cave.

Enter DONNA MARIA.
Maria.
Awake fond maid—nor thus supinely waste
Thy youth—thy bloom. Thy matchless beauty fades
Mid'st sorrow, sighs, and unavailing tears.

Louisa.
Thought feeds my woes, nor can my reason aid
To calm the passions of my grief torn breast,
'Till concord weaves again her palmy wreath,
To deck the face of this distracted land.

Maria.

Louisa.
I retrospect, and weep Spain's happier days—
Survey the pleasures once we call'd our own,
When harmony display'd her gentle wand,
And every peasant smil'd beneath his vine—
'Till nature sickens at the sad reverse,
And my swoln bosom heaves with smother'd sighs,
Too big to be repress'd.—I yield to grief
'Till floods of tears relieve my tortur'd soul.

Maria.
Maria has a bolder part to act—
I scorn to live upon ignoble terms—
A supple courtier fawning at the feet
Of proud despotic nobles, or of kings.

Louisa.
Had I thy firmness, yet my heart would bleed
To see my country torn by civil feuds.
Each hero hurls a javelin at the breast
His heart reveres, and friendship's soul recoils
When the bold veteran urges home the blow,
To pierce the man he venerates and loves;
While the brave patriot parries back the shaft
Against a life that virtue's self would save.

Maria.

Louisa.
But ah, Maria!—this little self obtrudes;
I cannot boast disinterested grief;
Louisa's tears can never cease to flow.
If brave Don Juan wins a glorious day,
My father—friends—and family are lost;
If victory for loyalty declares—
Or if Don Francis—noble Francis, falls—
Is there a name from Castile to the Rhone,
So wretched as thy friend—thy lov'd Louisa!

Maria.
Thou should'st have liv'd in mild and gentler times,
And breath'd, and slumber'd in the lap of peace,
As innocent and soft as infant love,
When lull'd to rest by a fond mother's song:
The smiling babe, wak'd by the wind's rude breath,
The pearly dew drop trickles from its eye,
'Till sooth'd to quiet by its favourite toy;
But for myself—though famine, chains, and death
Should all combine—nay, should Don Juan fall—
Which Heav'n forbid—I ne'er will yield,
Nor own myself a slave.—But see thy lover,
Pensive, walks this way.—Adieu, my friend,
I must be gone—the busy moments call—
My mind is fraught with cares of high import.

[Exit.

SCENE II.

Enter DON FRANCIS and DONNA LOUISA.
Francis.
Let hope return and spread her silken wing,
And smile beneath the canopy of love;
The heav'n born mind, where virtue sits enthron'd,
Should be serene, nor waste itself in sighs.

Louisa.
Talk not of love, while sympathetic pain,
And keenest sorrows, rive the boldest heart;
While thousands fall at freedom's sacred shrine,
And bathe her pedestal with the rich blood
Of the best soldiers that the world can boast;
While the fond wife droops o'er her dying lord,
And orphan'd babes, and widow'd matrons weep,
Thrown helpless, on a cold, ungrateful world,
As pitiless as winter's frozen hand.

Francis.
For human woes my heart has often bled—
Yet dry thy tears, and calm thy ruffled mind—
Anticipate my bliss, and bid me live:—
Oh! give thy hand, and plight thy sacred vow,
Ere war's hoarse clarion summons to the field,
That nought but death shall tear thee from my arms.

Louisa.
Why wilt thou urge and importune my vows
While all my soul is agony and grief?—
Name love no more, till peace shall bless the land;
When redden'd wrath no longer lifts the sword,
Dip'd to the hilt in rancour's baneful stream—
That the steel'd heart may deeper plunge the blade,
Without a sigh—when from the gaping wound,
Out rushes, staring, the astonish'd soul
Of his lov'd friend, or of a brother slain.
Ah!—whither do I rove—let me retire,
Lest I betray the weakness of my heart.

Francis.
O might I claim that tender trickling tear,
And call those sighs my own—they'd waft me on
Towards the field of fame, with fresh blown hope,
That ere tomorrow's sun engulphs his brow,
And cools his steeds beyond the western main,
I might return victorious to thine arms,
And lay my trophies at Louisa's feet.

Louisa.
And what these trophies—but a brother's spoils?
Who is the victim thy success would doom
To infamy—disgrace—despair and death?

Francis.
Ah! there's the pain—the sharpest pang I feel
To lift the sword, and tread the hostile ground.
The Conde Haro is a virtuous foe.

Louisa.
The Conde Haro—is—Louisa's brother—
The only heir of Don Velasco's house—
And if he falls—fate severs us forever.

Francis.
Forever!—revoke the sentence ere it reaches heaven.

Louisa.
Forever. Remember this, and spare De Haro's blood.

Francis.
But, if in battle he should bravely fall—

Louisa.
A stern, enrag'd, inexorable sire,
Might hold Louisa guilty of his death.

Francis.
Just Heaven forbid!—Could he arraign a mind
As pure and spotless as the infant morn?

Louisa.
Velasco is to royalty alli'd,
A feudal lord, of ancient pedigree;
In rank, in wealth, in fame, the first in Spain;
His high swoln pride bursts forth in peals of rage,
Whene'er he talks or names the rebel chiefs;
Forbids his son to spare a single life,
If fortune makes him master of the field:—
Think then what agonies pervade my breast.

Francis.
When honour calls, and justice wields the sword,
True virtue spares, and clemency forgives;
But when a fierce, tyrannic lust of sway,
Deforms the soul, and blots out nature's stamp,
The wolf, or tyger, prowling for his prey,
Is less a savage than the monster man.

Louisa.

Francis.
What makes me bless'd beyond the power of fate.

Louisa.
Deception oft beneath a limsy veil,
Hides human hearts, nor lets man know himself.
Should fortune snatch the victory from thee—
Thyself—thy friends—and freedom lost at once—
Perhaps you'll curse, in agonies of grief,
Louisa's house—her venerated sire—
Her noble brother—and yet more I dread—
Yes—my lip trembles at the rising thought—
The hapless daughter of thy cruel foe.
Is thy love proof against this test severe?—

Francis.
Description would but beggar love like mine;
Measure the earth and mount beyond the stars,
There's nought below can bound its full extent;
Not death itself can blot thee from my heart.

Louisa.
Then am I thine!—witness ye heavenly powers!—
This is the signet of thy wedded wife;
[Gives him a ring.
In the last exigence weigh well its worth,
And claim thy life from Don Velasco's hand.
This was the pledge of his Zelinda's faith:
Knowing the sallies of his haughty soul—
In a fond moment of paternal love.
He kiss'd my cheek, and caught my trembling hand,
Fix'd on my finger this invalu'd gem,
And by a solemn oath he bound his soul,
To grant each prayer when this should plead its claim.

Francis.
Language is poor, and time itself would fail
To speak the raptures of my grateful heart.

Louisa.
What have I done—my filial love,
And the connubial ties—at variance set—
A brother's life against a husband's stak'd—
My country's weal, with loyalty at war—
Confusion—tumult—death and slaughter reign;
As if the demons leap'd Tartarus' bounds
To sport with misery and grin at pain.

Francis.
Heaven has the means to extricate from woe,
Though veil'd from man—if patience waits his will:—
When fortitude, her sister virtue joins,
They both triumphant, meet a just reward.
Adieu, my love—my duty bids me haste;
[Trumpets without.
Soon I return, victorious from the field,
And clasp an angel to my faithful breast.

[Exit.
Louisa,
solus.

[Exit.

SCENE III.

CONDE HARO, solus.
De Haro.

[Exit.

SCENE IV.

DON JUAN DE PADILLA and DONNA MARIA.
Don Juan.
First of thy sex—thou mistress of my heart—
Not all Hesperia can boast a fair
So amiably soft, discreet and wise;
With such a firm, heroic, noble soul,
Why should a tear bedew thy lovely cheek?

Maria.
I see distress on every side I turn;
Some sad dejection marks the soldiers brow;
Though veterans in arms, they fear the king,
And tremble at the frown of majesty:—
The nobles all, though emulous of fame,
Are jealous, proud—are turbulent and rash—
The people fierce, yet ever prone to change.
Today the cap of liberty's toss'd up—
Tomorrow torn and given to the winds,
And all their leaders, by the fickle throng
Are sacrific'd by violence, or fraud.

Don Juan.
So far above the weakness of thy sex,
Let me beseech thee never to despair;—
Support thy courage, arm thy noble mind—
Sure never more did thy Padilla need
Thy wisdom, counsel, fortitude and zeal,
To animate amidst ten thousand cares.
But my firm purpose never can be shook;
While life glows warm within my beating breast,
I will defend, against the proudest foe,
The liberties of Spain, my country's rights.

Maria.
So dangerous a foe has Spain ne'er seen
Since from the brindled North, the savage hords
Pour'd from their frozen hives, where gendering storms
Have rush'd, and swell'd fair Ebro's banks with blood.

Don Juan.
We have been free e'er since the mighty Goths,
In barb'rous swarms, compell'd the peaceful swain
To bare his breast, and meet the stranger's sword;
The raw and hardy peasants of the field,
Train'd up to arms, inur'd to feats of war,
Op'd their full veins, and wash'd in native gore
The field, the village, and their father's tombs,
Ere they establish'd liberty and peace.
Their ancient victories shall be recall'd
By the warm fluid from Don Juan's heart,
Ere he'll submit to drag about this shell
Through nature's system, as an useless drone,
Or live the slave of any lawless power.

Maria.
O Heaven forbid!—nor dash my country's hopes;
Or premature, cut down before the noon
A life of glory and heroic worth,
And blast success, while virtue lifts the sword.

Don Juan.
Sure life protracted is a vulgar wish,
Unless some noble end blows up the flame.

Maria.
Spite of myself, I have betray'd a tear;
But feel my courage brighten by thy side;
Nor shall the weakness of my sex again,
Create a fear that may disturb thy peace.

Don Juan.
Haste back, my love, lest some mishap befal;
The good Zemora guards Toledo's gates
With vigilance and faith;—there thou art safe.
Protect my son, and guard his infant years;
In his young bosom nurture every truth,
'Till ripen'd worth and manly virtue glow,
And mark him thine and thy Padilla's son.
The hasty moments fly—I must away—
I risque a battle on the morning dawn.

Maria.
O may we meet again with brighter hopes!—

Don Juan.
We meet again with glory and renown—
Or, meet no more.—

Maria.
—Or meet no more!
The dread idea stiffens every nerve.

Don Juan.
Let no ill omen'd word escape thy lip.
Fair freedom stands, and waves her laurel high,
She, on the acme of her burnish'd throne,
Shall hail the morrow with applauding shouts,
And greet Maria, as the guardian queen
Of union, peace, and liberty to Spain.

[Exeunt.

SCENE V.

DON JUAN DE PADILLA and DON PEDRO.
Pedro.
Toledo's banners reach the pendant skies,
And kiss the winds, and hail the work begun:
I sicken for the signal to the field,
When a decisive conflict must ensue;
I burn, I languish, till the tyrant falls,
With all the flatt'rers that surround his throne.

Don Juan.
Be temperate in words, but bold in deeds;
Most men are brave till courage has been try'd,
And boast of virtue till their price is known:—
But thirst of gold—the cursed thirst of gold,
Which plunder'd Mexico of all its wealth,
And broil'd her valiant sons in quest of more,
Is a severer tyrant of the mind,
Than coarser vice that mark'd our simpler state,
Ere cruel Spain explor'd that distant world.
Then golden bribes corrupted not the mind;
No son of Castile, or of Arragon,
E'er sold his honour, or relinquish'd fame,
For soft refinements that flow in with wealth,
Nor stoop'd to wear the liv'ry of a slave.

Pedro.
Let not a coward, or a knave be spar'd.
Who shrouds his head from danger or from death,
When freedom's cause stands trembling on the sword.

Don Juan.
Tomorrow gives a glorious test of worth;
Courage will shine conspicuously bright,
Or guilt may shake and dash the nerveless arm,
That draws a sword to massacre the brave.

Pedro.
Virtue's fair image then will shield thy head,
And animate the man who dare be free.

[Flourish of trumpets, and alarm without.
Don Juan.
The hostile clarion summons to the field.
[Pedro greatly agitated.
Hah!—pale and trembling at the trumpet's sound!—
Pedro, haste on, and take thy destin'd post,
'Twill lead to glory, conquest, and to fame;
To sure renown, if valour guides thy arm;
But certain infamy, disgrace and death,
If treason lurks beneath the guise of zeal.
[Exit Don Juan.

Don Pedro,
solus.

[Exit.