 | Elvira |  |
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ACT III.
SCENE I.
ALONZO, the QUEEN.ALONZO.
Yes, let her come. The justice of a King,
That law supreme which ever ought to guide
His public will, requires she should be heard.
Her virtues too, and the fair services
To former monarchs and to me perform'd
By her forefathers, make it juster still.
QUEEN.
What would you more? Is not her guilt confess'd
In that unworthy passion she inspires?
Nor is the pride of her ambition bounded
Barely to suffer it: I know, my Lord,
That drawing glory from her conquest won,
She spares no grace, no favor, to maintain it.
ALONZO.
Such oft is woman seen: to Vanity,
To that mere idol—yet their greater god;
For Love himself holds but the second place—
Devoting even that honor they oppose
To Nature's law!
QUEEN.
And will you leave her then
To boast this triumph o'er a monarch's oath?
Leave her at large to stretch her boundless sway,
Up from your meanest subject to the throne;
Where she will reign imperious in a heart
By love enslav'd: perpaps decide the fate,
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Who is to heir your throne!
ALONZO.
I hear, and weigh
What you so justly urge: and my first thought
Was, with her death, to have atton'd her crime.
But no: that were on the wild sea of passion
To drive at random, as th'unguided bark
Is borne before the blast—She shall be heard—
Yourself shall hear her; sound her secret aims,
And search thro all the woman in her soul.
You know my thoughts, and what I purpose for her:
Set those in open light before her eyes,
With firmness—but with temper.
SCENE II.
QUEEN.Wise men tell us
That deep dissembling is th'imperial art
By which kings reign; and that its mystic veil
Must still be drawn betwixt them and the eyes
Of their presuming subjects. Must I stoop
To this felt baseness? Is a sovereign's will
By those to be controll'd whom heaven ordains
The vassals of his nod; to crouch and kiss
The foot that spurns them? Well; this art for once,
Descending from myself, I will essay—
Guard, call your prisoner hither—and assume,
If yet I can—for just disdain forbids it—
This gentleness of look that is prescrib'd me.
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SCENE III.
The QUEEN, ELVIRA.QUEEN.
Draw near—Elvira.
ELVIRA.
Now assist me, heaven!
QUEEN.
Your fears, perhaps, have form'd some direful image
Of the King's wrath; some sanguinary purpose,
By which your doom already is pronounc'd.
Those fears repress, and with the calmest ear
Attentive mark me. You, beneath this roof,
Have wide-diffus'd the flames of hateful discord,
It may be, undesigning; and the crime
Your eyes have caus'd, your heart may disavow.
ELVIRA.
You judge me fairly, Madam!
QUEEN.
Yet, attend.
I dare not think you share Don Pedro's fault,
Encouraging the rebel in his breast
By favor or connivance. You too well
Must know the distance, not to be surpass'd,
Betwixt you and the throne. It is a height
A subject's eye must from afar behold,
With reverent awe, but never hope to reach!
I know you fair and virtuous: these endowments,
That now adorn you, if bestow'd aright,
May make you happy too.
ELVIRA.
What mean you, Madam?
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Hear what Alonzo speaks by me. He owns
The state a debtor to your great forefathers,
For conquests won, for blood profusely spilt,
Not here alone in this our western world,
But in remotest regions, where the sun
Looks down direct at noon. He bids me dwell,
With chief regard, on what he owes Alphonso,
Your Grandsire, that good man who form'd his youth
To love of virtue; whose paternal care
Taught him, with no unequal hand, to wield
This kingdom's sceptre.
ELVIRA
, aside.
Whither tends her purpose?
QUEEN.
And when a king recounts a subject's worth,
What he has prais'd his glory bids him pay
With ample retribution. You shall find
He now resolves no less—Rodrigo loves you;
Rodrigo, near of kindred to the throne.
I know he loves you.
ELVIRA
, aside.
I am lost for ever!
QUEEN.
He oft has urg'd Alonzo to reward
His ardent flame: and by a gift so noble,
Your sovereign deems not his imperial house
Diminish'd in its lustre. No: the world,
By this great instance, shall be taught to know,
He holds that man, who train'd a king to honor,
As second only to the Prince he form'd.
ELVIRA.
I hear with wonder this exalted strain
Of royal gratitude. Yet, Madam, think,
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And to have lost it, at fair honor's voice,
Its own bright recompence! He who is call'd
To serve his country, if he has deserv'd
That glorious trust, is paid by serving well!
But if, too generous, great Alonzo's bounty
Deigns to reward their services in me,
Tho duty has no right—
QUEEN.
You hesitate.
Speak boldly: let your amplest claim be shewn.
ELVIRA.
Then know, the sole return Elvira asks—
Is to be mistress of her humble fate;
That far from courts, and to Rodrigo lost,
She may with gentle peace live out her days!
QUEEN.
Your pride disdains him then?
ELVIRA.
Pride dwells not here:
To such a guest this bosom is a stranger.
QUEEN.
Yet can refuse, thro mere humility,
A prince from great Alonzo's blood deriv'd?
And dare to tell it me?
ELVIRA.
I dare to think,
That all the brightest honors Hymen spreads,
When he would join our hands, are airy toys,
Or glittering load; if love attends not too,
To plight consenting hearts.
QUEEN.
I see thro yours!
I fathom its last depth!
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Then you may find,
What equal Nature has to all indulg'd,
Even to its poorest creatures, truth and worth,
The inmates of this heart!
QUEEN.
To boast thy virtues
Before thy queen is insult.
ELVIRA.
Madam, no—
O my full soul! [Aside.
—but justice done myself
To you is highest reverence. Truth should ever
Be found a subject's language to the throne:
And I but meant to say, our weaker sex,
Even I, may think up to that height of honor,
Which in all ages has enobled Man!
The same blest power—
QUEEN.
'Tis well! thy soul is trac'd
Thro all its doubling mazes. Those suspicions
I sought to banish, now are truths confirm'd!
Ambitious! yes, I mark the daring height,
The wild excess, to which your pride of heart
Elates imagination! you reserve
That beauty for Don Pedro! you revolt
A prince, a son, against his king and father!
ELVIRA.
You wrong me, madam. By the faith sincere
I owe my king, this bosom never lodg'd
A thought against his dignity or peace.
And if the Prince— [Aside.
I shall betray my heart—
If I had power upon Don Pedro's will,
Eternal Concord with her sheltering wing,
Should ever guard the throne.
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And what is she,
Whose great ambition busys thus itself
In matters of such weight? unsummon'd too
To this high task?—Am I awake? Elvira!
What art thou?
ELVIRA.
Mock me not—A subject, madam;
A subject and your servant—yet the child
Of Reason, born to think and act with choice!
Sprung too from such a race, so great and good,
Their daughter dares not deviate into baseness,
By wedding where she loves not!
QUEEN.
I have found it!
A slave to this rebellious passion's force,
Don Pedro burns to mount a vacant throne,
That you may there be worship'd as his queen—
Ha! yet—who knows—it may, it may be true,
That, spurning all the ties of sacred law,
He is already yours! Perhaps, his fate
A secret marriage has already fix'd!
Should it be so, should he have sunk the throne
To that disgrace—the bolt is lanc'd already,
That strikes you into dust! Your grand-sire, yes,
The very man, whose loyalty I boasted,
Prescrib'd this law. Think of it well—Ah heaven! [A great shout is heard, and the sound of trumpets at a distance.
What mingled uproar this way swells its storm?
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SCENE. IV.
The QUEEN, ELVIRA, MENDOZA.QUEEN.
Mendoza! speak.
MENDOZA.
Madam, the city swarms,
In every street, with multitudes enrag'd,
Who to the palace urge their furious course.
I came to know—
SCENE V.
The QUEEN, ELVIRA, MENDOZA.RODRIGO.
Not here! Where is the king?
QUEEN.
Rodrigo—what!
RODRIGO.
The sum of all misfortunes!
Arms in his hands and fury in his eyes,
Don Pedro, with a host of gather'd rebels,
Already fills the square, and threatens loudly
Destruction on our heads—I must return:
The king may want our swords.
SCENE VI.
The QUEEN, ELVIRA.QUEEN.
Perfidious! see,
Behold the curs'd effects—
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O Madam, spare
This fruitless insult. Can Elvira dread
Your impotence of anger, while her fears
Embrace alike Alonzo and his son?
My bosom bleeds for both! But Oh the prince!
Whate'er his fate may be, the same despair
Abides this tortur'd heart—since I must weep
His life, or virtue, lost!
QUEEN.
And dares thy pride
Affect this glorious sorrow, when 'tis you,
You only who have plung'd him into guilt?
But yet—and let it as the knell of death
Sound in thine ear—alone he shall not fall!
The thunder o'er thy head—think of it—think
Thou art my prisoner still!
ELVIRA.
I think withall,
The death you threaten is but my enlargement
From life's low dungeon, from its galling chains,
To boundless freedom and to bliss supreme,
Reserv'd by gracious heaven for every wretch
Who suffers here unjustly!
Trumpets sound again.
SCENE VII.
The QUEEN, ELVIRA, an Officer.QUEEN.
Ha! what means
Thy look of wild distraction?
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Mighty Queen,
Don Pedro—
QUEEN.
What of him?
OFFICER.
Has broken down
The palace-gates; and now is rushing forward
To where you stand—
QUEEN.
Confusion! he is here—
SCENE VIII.
DON PEDRO, ELVIRA.DON PEDRO
, to those behind.
Keep clear the secret passage; plant your friends
Thro all its downward windings to the garden:
I follow on the instant.
Have I found thee,
My heart's sole wealth, the jewel of my bosom!
Let me secure it, let me lodge it safe
Beyond the reach of robbers.
ELVIRA.
Ah Don Pedro!
What have you done? O you have lost for ever
A brighter gem, of dearer worth and price,
Your Faith and Innocence! And now, your deed
Opens my eyes on mine, and sets it full
In all its horrors, all its guilt before me!
DON PEDRO.
Cruel! what mean thy words?
ELVIRA.
Ah me! what means
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That what my fears suggest—
DON PEDRO.
Thy fears are vain.
With care I shun'd where stern Alonzo stood,
And stem'd the tide, majestic tho alone,
Opposing a king's firmness to it's fury.
I turn'd another way: and what you see,
These sanguine stains are from a vulgar breast,
That would have barr'd my passage on to you.
Then, let us fly, my love.
ELVIRA.
Ah, hope it not.
I dare to dye—but tremble at a crime!
I dare be deaf to love itself, and you!
Return, defend a parent and a king.
Yes, throw that rebel-sword beneath his feet:
I less shall suffer from the hand of fate,
To lose you, innocent, than save you, guilty!
DON PEDRO.
What I have done, the meanest of mankind,
The peasant, would have dar'd; have boldly met,
With face erect, earth's universal Lord,
Who from his cottage had presum'd to tear
The partner of his bosom.
ELVIRA.
By the hold,
I have upon your heart! More dear than life;
Than fame itself more sacred! yet resume
Your better thoughts. Let me behold your sorrow,
Your filial penitence—
DON PEDRO.
Ah, let me then,
Let me lodge Thee, where my distracted fondness
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Return to beg an injur'd sovereign's mercy;
To ask it at his knees: but, while I fear
For thy dear safety, duty pleads in vain!
ELVIRA.
Then, know, Don Pedro—should this guilty passion,
Deaf to the voice of reason, take no counsel
But from its headlong fury—here I stay!
I here remain, your hostage and your victim!
DON PEDRO.
Thou Angel-Cruelty! does then a wife
Reject her husband's aid—
SCENE IX.
ALMEYDA, ELVIRA, DON PEDRO.ALMEYDA.
Don Pedro, fly!
Your life is on the cast: this minute's chance
Decides your future fate. Alonzo comes:
Those clamouring multitudes, at sight of him,
Shrunk into tame submission. Not their boldest
Could bear the mingled dignity and wrath
That threaten'd from his brow. Be gone, my Lord,
Let not a father's vengeance find you here.
ELVIRA.
O unexampled goodness!
DON PEDRO.
Can it be?
Do you take part, Almeyda, for his life,
The life of One, who merits all your hate?
ALMEYDA.
Ah no! The jealousy of slighted love
I stifle here. My soul is rais'd beyond
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So you are safe. Fly then, this instant fly,
Even were it with my rival—
ELVIRA.
See! Don Pedro,
The King appears—
SCENE X.
ALONZO, DON PEDRO, ALMEYDA, ELVIRA.ALONZO.
Yes, thou of many crimes!
Thou complicated traitor! thou art lost,
Where mercy cannot find thee—But behold,
Lo where he stands! Say, is thine arm still rais'd,
Still eager for the sin of parricide?
This instant yield thy sword; or plunge it here
Full in a father's breast.
DON PEDRO.
That word, my Lord,
That dreadful sound has wrench'd it from my hand.
One moment's madness has not so effac'd
Great Nature's law, that I should ballance here.
And now, disarm'd, I know my ruin sure!
My doom already past! But O, my Lord,
O let impartial Justice draw her line,
And separate strictly innocence from guilt!
ALONZO.
Ha! innocence?
DON PEDRO.
Elvira's safety, Sir,
Unsheath'd my sword. I thought her life in danger:
And to secure my bliss in guarding that,
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But her firm virtue, firm above all fear,
Deny'd to be th'accomplice of my crime.
She chose to stay, and answer with her life
For my returning reason. Save such goodness:
Protect it, Sir, from one revengeful arm.
I ask no more.
ALONZO.
Far other cares should now
Employ thy thoughts. To serve her better, know
Thou shouldst defend her less. 'Tis thine to tremble
For her and for thyself!
DON PEDRO.
If I must dye,
Let Punishment at once lift up her axe,
And strike this rebel: for, while life is mine,
That life, in her defence, will be employ'd.
You think this recent tumult quench'd and dead:
An instant blows it into sevenfold flame.
Your subjects then, let loose from all regards,
May force my prison-doors, may set me free:
And I, amidst the horrors of my rage,
May to its deep foundations shake this realm!
Do things that reason shudders but to think!
In that wild storm, discerning, sparing none,
Noble or base, but you and this fair princess!
ELVIRA.
His passion blinds him! All the guilt is mine,
Who thus have arm'd a son against his sovereign.
Then let my head attone it; let my death
Restore that peace—
ALONZO.
Who waits?—Confine the Prince
[Guards enter.
To his apartment.—
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Dear unhappy youth!
ALONZO.
And guard him at the peril of your Heads.
[Two conduct Don Pedro to his Apartment.
Secure Elvira too.
[She is attended to hers by two others.
Stern Justice—no,
I have no son! I am no more a father!
Follow me not To Almeyda.
—I would avoid myself,
Fly from mankind, forsake this hated light,
And hide my woes in death's eternal night!
End of the third ACT.
| Elvira | |