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 | The unpublished plays of Thomas Holley Chivers |  |
Scene 1.
The same apartment in Don Carlos' palace. Enter Don Pedro and Elvira.Don Pedro
Open thy bosom—take me to thy heart—
And cage my soul there, where it loves to live,
For, as the matchless Swan long from his home,
Waits for the coming of the gentle Spring,
To leave the sunny waters of the South,
And seek the milder Summer of his own
And rising from the languid blades at even,
82
And from the pathless altitudes above,
Descends upon the bosom of his home,
And meeting with his fellows floats in joy;
So hath my longing soul from day to day,
Soared through the desert—bleakness of dark deeds,
To gain possession of this longed-for joy.
Elvira
And Carlos lives to recompense thee now,
For all the benefits bestowed on him,
And see thee happy in Elvira's love.
In giving thee my hand my heart is given;
In yielding up my heart my soul is thine,
And giving that there is no more to give,
But that devotedness in after life,
Which is the consequence of all my gifts.
Don Pedro
Then are the buddings of my earliest hopes,
Expanded to the fulness of that flower,
Which only decks the paradise of bliss.
Elvira
And now the pulse of Carlos is as calm
As that most solemn pause in nature, when
The silence doth succeed the raging storm.
83
A single pulse that beats beyond the time
In which the sympathies of tranquil life
Are chained in one harmoneous round of joy.
But poor Alvino, fettered as he is,
And doomed to suffer for an act so just,
And poor Leoni, faithful to the last,
It makes me sorry from my very soul.
Don Pedro
Is she permitted still to stay with him?
Elvira
She is more faithful to Alvino's love
Than is the sunflower to the God of Day.
For though it meet him at the rising morn,
And follow him through all the weary hours,
To the soft drooping of the languid West,
At night there is no sun to follow then;
But through the weary hours of all the sun,
And through the weary hours of all the night,
Has she been faithful to Alvino's love.
But see, my brother comes. How mild he seems!
(Enter Don Carlos.)
Don Carlos
Don Pedro, in the presence of the Gods,
I now present to thee the richest gem
84
And one that has been worn upon my breast
For eighteen gentle summers—she is thine!
And now, as if the heavenly gift were made
To be restored again at some blest hour,
With all the richness of her present worth,
I charge you to be dutiful to her,
And cherish her with all the power of love,
For she is thine—forever to be thine!
(Uniting their hands.)
And like the mountain rock forever more,
Standing amid the brief decay of things,
Robed with the greenness of its velvet moss,
Which while it hides its inequalities,
Gives beauty to the outline of its forms;
May all thy years, while others fall around,
Present the greenness of enduring youth!
Don Pedro
Then, Carlos, in this hour—this single hour—
Thou dost behold more joy in Pedro's soul,
Than ever lived in man. Give me thy hand!
Don Carlos
(Giving his hand.)
Thou hast been faithful, Pedro, to the last,
And for thine honesty shouldst have the girl,
Therefore, the gift is thine, forever thine.
85
I have some business with your lord, before
Your wedding day! (Exit Elvira.)
Oh, ye immortal Gods!
How I do thank you for this hour, this hour
Of all my life is sweetest to my soul!
It sweeps away all former grief, as if
It had not been. I thank you. Oh, ye Gods,
One villain in the grave—the other here!
They should have both been tumbled in one hole,
Rotting in death as they have lived in life!
Don Pedro
(Aside, much agitated.)
I have foreboded this! What must be done?
Don Carlos
Don Pedro, come this way, come near to me!
The Chalice which I offered thee just now,
So full of perfect joy that it ran o'er,
I dash to fragments on the Rock of Hell!
Don Pedro
Oh, Carlos, you are angry with me now!
If I have wronged you, let it pass—forgive!
For I am sorry from my soul!
Don Carlos
Base fiend!
86
Which is as dear to me as life! Think you
That I would give my sister to a fiend?
Oh, cursed fool, I gave her thee, to show
Thee, snatching her away, the cruel pangs
Of unrequited love! She loves thee not,
No, hates thee—hates thee as my soul does now!
Don Pedro
Oh, Carlos, kill me rather than say that!
Don Carlos
Kill thee? I mean to cut thee all to pieces!
The splintery lightnings of the unsealed Heavens,
Were snailpaced to the thunders of revenge!
Don Pedro
Think, Carlos, who has saved thy life?
Don Carlos
My life?
My cunning, not thy treachery, or if
It did, you should not live for it, but die—yes, die!
Nay, rather say, who stole my life? Who helped
Count Alvar bear Almeda from my arms?
Ah, tremble, tremble at my power!
(Drawing his dagger.)
Don Pedro
(Kneeling.)
Forgive!
87
Don Carlos
My foe, you mean!
Did you have mercy on my heart, when it lay
Bleeding—withering at your feet? No, no!
And do you ask forgiveness in this world?
Do you expect it in the next?
Don Pedro
I do,
And hope you will forgive.
Don Carlos
Hope not.
There is no hope—forgiveness none!
Don Pedro
Do spare my life!
Don Carlos
No, thou shalt die, guilt-spotted as thou art!
Thou shalt descend to that infernal world,
Where Hell's immortal dogs shall gnaw thy soul!
Don Pedro
Let me but see Elvira once!
Don Carlos
No more,
Not in this world or the world to come!
88
Don Pedro
Then, farewell world!
Don Carlos
(Taking him by the throat.)
That was well said. Thy life!
Don Pedro
Oh, spare me but one hour, but half an hour!
Don Carlos
No longer than the impatience of my soul
Can lead thee hence to instant death, come on!
(Leading him out.) (Re-enter Elvira.)
Elvira
What, gone? Yes, gone, but where? Ah, by this time
Poor Pedro's soul is on its way to Heaven!
If not to Heaven, to that unfathomed gulf,
Where all the sinful in this world must go.
(Re-enter Don Carlos in haste.)
Don Carlos
Elvira, it is done!
Elvira
What have you done?
Don Carlos
Dispatched that devil's soul to Hell; down—down!
Where Hell's lank wolves, forever famished, howl,
89
Will he not serve the devil there as here?
What if my wife should meet him in that world?
Would she not know him there as here? She would!
If there is lechery in Hell, they have hot times,
Count Alvar being there among the rest.
Elvira
I wish it had not been.
Don Carlos
Why so, what now?
Elvira
I fear I shall never find rest.
Don Carlos
What, are
You better than I am? We need no rest!
There is no rest on earth, nor peace, nor joy,
Nor any thing that you should care about.
Elvira
I fear that I have sinned.
Don Carlos
You have not sinned.
You are as guiltless as a newborn child.
Elvira
But then I promised to be his.
90
How his?
Don Pedro's wife? Then you have sinned indeed!
For that your soul can find no rest on earth.
I did not think that I could hate you so!
Elvira
Oh, hate me not, but do forgive, forgive!
Don Carlos
I have no time for parley now. Each grain
Of sand that from the hour-glass of old time,
Falls on the earth crowds on the life of one,
Olympus high, which must be saved. Ye Gods!
That through the vistas of long trying years,
Have smiled upon my purpose to this hour,
Look down upon me with propitious smiles,
And aid me to achieve my greatest work.
Elvira
Where go you now?
Don Carlos
I go to save my friend.
Elvira
Farewell, may God have mercy on your soul!
(Exit.)
| The unpublished plays of Thomas Holley Chivers | |