 | The Law of Lombardy |  |
SCENE III.
PRINCESS, PALADORE.PRINCESS.
Oh, stay, and hear me now! Alas! he's gone
Who smiles on me, and kills me; bids my heart
Be traitor to itself, yet with soft words
Fetters my tongue, which free, wou'd boldly answer!
Such kindness but destroys me.
PALADORE.
My soul's idol!
I was indeed presumptuous to believe
These humble arms were destin'd to enfold
So vast a treasure, yet aspiring love
Hopes things impossible.
PRINCESS.
Bireno! He!
I'd rather waste my life in singleness;
Like the pale votarist, pour faint orisons
At the cold shrines of senseless marble saints,
And wear the eternal pavement with my knees,
Than at the sacred altar load my soul
With holy perjuries, to love the man,
At whose approach my heart alarm'd shrinks back,
While thought confirms instinctive Nature's hate.
PALADORE.
See, like a haughty conqueror he comes;
Pleasure and pride on his exulting brow
At distance speak his triumph.
10
Arm me, Disdain,
To meet the bold intruder!—Gentle Paladore!
'Tis thus thy rival woo's me. Courtship's season
Is the short date of woman's sovereignty.
For liberty, we have but in exchange
The little tribute of a lover's sighs,
His humble seeming, and soft courtesy;
Yet these, he thinks too rich a sacrifice,
And owns no advocate but pride in love.
| The Law of Lombardy | |