 | Almeyda, Queen of Granada |  |
ACT V.
SCENE I.
The magnificent Hall with which the Play opens; and similar Clouds, shewing again the Dawn of Morning.Abdallah enters, finding Orasmyn musing.
Abdallah.
Hast thou thus watch'd the night away, my son,
Regardless of the common dues of nature?
—The day will come, when thou'lt regret in vain,
This lavish waste alike of health and feeling!
And why thus strictly-guard a maniac?
—Who will assail Almeyda?
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Who will soothe her?
—It is among the fatal rights of rank
To want all common blessings! Never more,
Alas! shall this sweet visionary find them.
Abdallah.
Has, then, her frenzy known no interval,
And the long night elapsed in restless ravings?
Orasmyn.
Th'inventive evil took such various forms
As fancy scarce could follow—pausing often
In vacant silence, or in speechless anguish!
—Anon, more musical than the lone bird,
Who pours her sorrows to the midnight moon,
She waked the drowsy night! Oft the wild strain
Soar'd ev'n to Heav'n—As oft it died away,—
Like the uncertain sweetness of that harp,
The light breeze softly touches!
Abdallah.
Thoughts like these,
Will undermine the firmness of thy nature.—
Orasmyn! as thou lov'st me, shake them off!
Thou art the better part of my existence;
And when thou droop'st I sink.
Orasmyn.
At once to see,
The flow'r of nature in the morning wither!
Ev'n while my senses ached at its perfection!—
Abdallah.
How wise—how gen'rous were those lavish tears,
Could sympathy restore the hapless suff'rer!
But other duties call thee into action.—
Time will not with thee watch Almeyda's frenzy,
Nor the great wheel of empire cease its motion—
Thy hand must guide it.
Orasmyn.
Empire! said my father?
—Shall I usurp Almeyda's royal seat?
Grow great by her misfortune! Rather bid me
Dig at her feet the grave she wildly calls for,
And fill it undishonor'd! Oh! no more.
I would not understand you!
Abdallah.
Say thou wilt not,
And I am answer'd.—Weak, romantick boy!
Loiter thy life away upon her threshold!
Renounce thy sire, thy rank, thy name in arms,
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And live a lover only!
Orasmyn.
Live to honour!
To that quick sense, which, striking at the heart,
Damns, ev'n on earth, the guilty! Oh, beware!
And dread, in time, to know the dire pulsation!
Abdallah.
Dar'st thou suppose it?
Orasmyn.
The mere thought was treason!
—Yet, a calamity so sudden, speaks
Some known, yet latent cause.—
Abdallah.
I heed thee well—
And feel, ungrateful son! through ev'ry fibre,
The yet unspoken censure! But yet, remember,
Had I more crimes than thoughts, 'tis thou hast caus'd them!
—Judge, then, what passes here, when thus I learn
Thou dar'st despise my views, my pow'r—my person!
[Exit, into the Queen's apartment.
Orasmyn.
Stay, leave me not in wrath!—forgive, my father,
A heart ev'n bursting with conflicting passions!
—If I have injur'd!—'Tis, alas, too much,
To shock his nature with the black suspicion!
Enter Abdallah again.
—My father, I have err'd!—Oh! deign to pity
Him, who, thus agoniz'd with doubt and fear,
Finds no pow'r perfect but unshaken honour!
And that pure pride he'll cherish, unto death.
—No vain—no selfish—no ambitious thought,
Shall ever tempt me, ev'n in thought, to wrong
That hapless sov'reign I have sworn to guard!
The vow yet lives, unchill'd, upon your lips!
And, oh, her mis'ry doubly should enforce it!—
Recal your honour!—Love me in Almeyda!
[Exit.
Abdallah.
'Tis well. This black ingratitude has steel'd me!
—Cherish thy insolence of pride—Thou'lt need it.
Have I, then, liv'd for thee in vain, Orasmyn?
—A girl, by one soft glance, annihilates
Those rights a life of fondness should have gain'd me!
—Hast thou forgot thy father's heir Granada,
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—Ev'n now the golden circlet binds my brow,
And in Abdallah henceforth know thy king!
—I have dispos'd the Council to believe,
Her frenzy constitutional. This hour,
Her hand unconscious might resign her crown,
Then never, never, need she see Granada.
Enter Nourassin
Nourassin.
The Council waits, my lord, your wish'd for presence.
—How fares our hapless sov'reign?
Abdallah.
Lost in frenzy—
With vacant eye, ev'n now, she gaz'd upon me,
But knew nor voice, nor feature!—
Nourassin.
'Tis too plain—
The malady's habitual! Those starts
Ev'n as we hail'd her glad return, bespoke
A strange distraction, or some buried passion.
—Castile, with matchless policy, has kept
The mournful secret, 'till, the advantage gain'd,
With pomp, he gave us back the gorgeous casket,
Nor own'd the gem was vanish'd.—
Abdallah.
Are the Council
So satisfied?
Nourassin.
Not one dissents, my lord.
Abdallah.
Why then should we delay the abdication?
A form alone is wanting; and her hand,
Unfit to govern, may with ease be led,
To delegate that pow'r our laws deny her.
—Perchance, in the next transport of her frenzy,
No human pow'r may move her.—
Nourassin.
It were wise,
Since to the nation we must vouch this truth,
To lead her forth, and summon in the Council.
Abdallah.
Haste, then, my friend! Conduct Almeyda hither.
[Exit Nourassin.
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SCENE II.
The Council assemble round the Canopy of State. Almeyda is led on, veiled; she draws the veil at length aside, and, looking majestically around, speaks.Almeyda.
When late I closed these lips, I fully purposed,
Never again to break the awful silence,
Or view the light of Heav'n, or face of man.—
Why then am I dragg'd forth, a spectacle?
What cruel eye would dive into this heart—
This broken heart, to mark the early ravage?
—I wither in the sun—chill in the breeze;
Yet the sun runs his wonted course in glory!
The vernal breeze invigorates the world!
And all the change is here!
(pressing her heart.
“Abdallah.
(soothingly)
“Lamenting still?
“Alas! that such a beauteous form should prove
“Only the soul's sad sepulchre! Yet oft,
“In woman, (mutable in all beside)
“Love fixes ev'n to frenzy!
“Almeyda
(replying to an imaginary question.)
“Idle question!
“Why did I love? As well might you demand,
“Why I saw light!—why waked my soul to knowledge?
“Like light—like knowledge, in my infant sense,
“Sunk imperceptible the tender impulse!
“—Alonzo first partook each little care,
“And doubled ev'ry joy! Ah, dear were both,
“While crowns and sceptres yet were idle playthings!
“Abdallah.
Inventive malady, which wounds yet charms us!
“ (aside)
There is too much of method in this frenzy.
“Would I had never trusted the event!
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(appearing to listen, and trembling.)
“Hold—hide me! Save me from this inward horror!
“—Hark! hear ye not the murd'rers feet approaching?
“—That death-devoting voice! Ev'n now they come—
“They rush upon my love!—Oh! spare him, spare him!
“—Dar'st thou, inhuman?—He's a monarch's heir!
“Off, ruffians! nor profane that gallant form—
“Oh! for a giant's arm, to wrest him from you!
“—Now, now, the steep rocks echo with his fall,
“And the rude surge entombs him!—Oh, Alonzo!
“Abdullah.
Ever Alonzo! He is all her cry.—
“Nourassin.
Recal your erring sense, unhappy princess!
“Nor dwell for ever on these gloomy fictions.—
“Almeyda.
Away, away!—nor venture to console me—
“—Thou hast not known to blend thy heart with his,
“In faith indissoluble, and true passion—
“I was that wretch—the visited of Heav'n!—
“But, oh! the dire proportion of my mis'ry!—
“—Still must I seek him on the river's brink:
“Of seasons—time—of heat—of cold, regardless!
“—Or do I err; or does the surge return him?
“Swoln—maim'd, defac'd! no charm—no grace is left,
“Of all fond fancy worshipp'd.—Scarce my heart,
“In this disfigured corse, can know Alonzo!
“—Turn, hapless father! turn thine eyes away,
“Nor trace the dreadful secret! Oh, that I,
“Like you, could hope a little while his coming,
“—Start at his fancied footstep—hear his voice,
“And die, at last, in blessed, blessed ignorance!
“Abdallah.
“Mark, how this wildness shakes her!—In such transport
“She cannot yield the crown.
Nourassin.
“Yet will we try her.
—Those faithful subjects, who but pray'd to pass,
Beneath Almeyda's sway, their years in peace,
Behold, with grief, the malady that shakes
Her nobler faculties; they supplicate
That she to abler hands resign her pow'r,
And in retirement soothe her soul's soft sorrows.
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—Soft! give me time to breathe.—A moment's thought.—
(They tender her the Regalia.
Th'imperial wreath, with which, in one short day,
These throbbing temples have been overweigh'd,
I unregretting yield.—Thou gaudy emblem
(Laying her hand on the Crown.
Of nature's ample round! In thy small circle
Lies all that man desires, and, oh! much more
Than man can e'er enjoy, unless he finds
Heav'ns own supreme delight the bliss of blessing!
How hast thou mark'd my fate with endless horror!
—Hence, from my dim eyes, take the brilliant evil,
And gives the promis'd solitude!
Nourassin.
Our laws,
With your own hand, require you to resign it,
To this your heir.—
Almeyda.
To him! Oh, horrible!
—Kill me, but shew not to my eyes that monster!
—Shakes not the earth beneath his bloody feet?
And sleeps in peace the thunder?
Abdallah.
Alas! alas!
You see she knows me not!
Almeyda.
Oh! would I did not!
Is there no help? Alas, I'm at his mercy!
His mercy, said I? 'Tis a word he knows not.
—But, pray you, call no murd'rers—I will die,
Without one struggle—only have a grave
May decently receive me, when my heart
Completes his crimes, and bursts with this convulsion!
Abdallah.
The strong necessity o'er-rules all form!
—I must assume that crown she neither knows,
Duly, to wear or yield!—
Nourassin.
Yet stay, my lord,
This is mere malady—She may be won.
Almeyda.
Oh, mem'ry! thou return'st in all thy horrors!—
—Alas I am not mad, but miserable!
—Pity this anguish—pause, oh pause, one moment!
And from the fearful height where reason totters,
Ready to plunge into the bright obscure,
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—Awful supreme, support me! thou who know'st,
All I have suffer'd! all I yet must suffer!
Suspend this cruel sense of my misfortunes!
—Expunge the woman from this bleeding bosom;
Oh fill it wholly with those nobler duties,
Which supercede ev'n self, and awe at once
Each human grief to silence!
Abdallah.
Wherefore gaze ye?
—This is a frenzy equals ev'n her own!
“—Like the wild fires of the conflicting elements,
“These flashes of the soul, oft break the night,
“The long, long, night, which falls thus on a maniac.”
Nourassin.
Yet hear the Queen, Abdallah—her discourse,
Sounds not like frenzy!
Almeyda.
Rather truth, and reason—
—My dismal fate's accomplish'd!—Man nor Heav'n,
Can mitigate its horrors!—yet for you,
For you, unvers'd in suff'ring, still I feel—
Nor dare I delegate the pow'r I hold,
To him I know incapable of pity—
—To him, who would perpetuate, and extend,
The miseries I ever must groan under!
Abdallah
(in a transport of rage).
Fool'd—fool'd at last! 'tis well—I have deserv'd it,
In trusting to a woman—
Almeyda.
Ye, who hear me,
Know all the merit of this painful effort!
—For you I yet will live—for you will reign,—
And tho' my secret soul shall seek the grave,
Ev'n to the hour that gives me to Alonzo,
Yet shall the ling'ring interval be mark'd,
By many an act of equity, and honor—
—I here deliberately impeach Abdallah,
Of blackest treason to his lawful sov'reign!
—To crown his sins a nobler victim fell!
Oh! deed too horrible for thought!—Oh deed!
Which ear hath never heard, nor voice yet utter'd!
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Spare all thy eloquence! and this recital!
—The evil thou'st escap'd, now seizes me,
And makes my brain, like my wild soul, one chaos!
—I do avow the intent, ev'n of that deed,
Tho' of the fact I'm guiltless—yet I'll try,
Thus to deserve thy charge I—
Nourassin.
Seize on his sword!
(he is disarm'd.
Orasmyn
(enters and draws to guard his father.
How now? Presumptuous man!
Almeyda.
Ah! be too here!
For me there is nor justice then, nor hope!
Abdallah
(gasping on the shoulder of his son.)
Orasmyn! thou hadst nearly lost a father!
—No proud Almeyda!
For thee alone I liv'd not! hadst thou seen
No more than I intended for thy knowledge,
Thou hadst been happy!—happy with Orasmyn!
I would have giv'n thee him—my life's best hope,
In whom I centre all my pride—my glory!
—Yet at this awful crisis of existence,
No more will I dissemble my true motive!
—To crown his youthful brow with that bright wreath
Injurious fortune bade him only look on,
Has been the single object of my life!
Orasmyn.
He scorns the gift—nor thinks he hears a father.
—Recall your better self, and calm this transport
Almeyda.
This artifice, Orasmyn, is too late—
—Rather act like him—own the glorious sin,
And still preserve one merit in thy candour!
Orasmyn.
How? how have I deserved the bitter taunt?
How wrong'd my sov'reign ev'n in secret thought?
“Or dared obtrude one selfish view before her?
“—If in this hour of wildness, and confusion,
“I joy to see her renovated reason;
“Proud to confirm her pow'r, to guard her person,
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“—To thee I render gladly up the sword,
“Upon whose point no blood ere yet congeal'd,
“Save of thy foes!”
Almeyda.
“Long, long, with glory wear it—
“—I blush to have aspers'd a soul so noble.”
Abdallah
(scornfully surveying him.)
Thou traitor to thyself!—my soul disclaims thee!
Thou hast foredoom'd thy sire, by basely bowing
Thus to thy heart's fond minion!—hence, and leave me.
Orasmyn.
Ne'er can he err, whose monitor is virtue!
Revere her awful pow'r, which saves at once,
Thy life my father—sweet Almeyda's reason,
And ev'n Orasmyn's honour—fly to the gate,
And guide Alonzo hither—oh recall
The last fond hope that beat within thy heart,
Ere yet its darling object vanish'd from thee!
(Gives a ring to an attendant who departs.)
Almeyda
(faint and trembling.)
Dread to awake the thought—lost! lost! and murder'd!
Orasmyn.
The grave itself, has render'd up, ere now
A guiltless inmate!—
Almeyda.
Does my sense deceive me?
—Is he not dead—repeat that little sentence—
Let my soul live one moment on the hope,
And take, each envied ensign of dominion—
—For could I crown thee with the radiant gems,
That sprinkle o'er the blue expanse above,
'Twere recompence too poor!—but, oh! I fear,
I fear, thou trifled with my heart's fond anguish!
—Drawn a gay meteor o'er my gloomy fate,
Which only shews its blackness!
Orasmyn.
“—To appearance—
Almeyda.
“Appearance, saidst thou?—Think, ere yet again
“One breath escape thee, on the verge of being
“My soul now hovers, and a single word
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Orasmyn.
If to know
Alonzo lives, can crown thy days with pleasure,
Be happy, ever happy!—for I saved
The only lover I was born to envy!
(She looks doubtfully, then sinks fainting in his arms.)
Abdallah.
This is a folly that transcends example!
—Oh! for a pang at once to pierce them both!
Orasmyn.
Her life seems gone—soft—bend her gently forward.
Abdallah.
And hop'st thou then, ungrateful boy, to save her?
Orasmyn.
Wake not within my soul a thought so killing?
—Call ev'ry aid—
Abdallah.
Forbear the useless trouble—
'Tis not in medicine to prolong her being—
A subtle poison sleeps in ev'ry pore,
And steals her from herself—no human art,
Can bid her breathe one hour!
Orasmyn
(throwing himself in an agony at her feet)
Thou injur'd angel!
Could the life-blood congealing in these veins,
Extend thy years, and give thee all thy wishes;
Ev'n with the fierceness of that fatal savage,
I dare not call my father, would I gash
Each purple artery, and urge the current!—
—Thou gav'st me being!—tho' my soul abhors,
The tainted blessing! yet to thee I turn,
In this tremendous moment!—hear, and pity!
Blot not at once thy honour, nor defame,
E're yet he soar to glory, that loved son,
Who ne'er till now offended.—
Abdallah.
“Need'st thou learn,
“I do not easily fix my decrees,
“But never know to change them.—
Almeyda.
“Why, Orasmyn,
“Wilt thou thus plead for the poor life I heed not?
—Life, the frail blossom of eternity!
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“And sheds its purple bloom with ev'ry show'r—
“Until the embryo fruit, arrived at fullness,
“Shakes its soft shelter to the dust?—Most happy,
“Who ripen first! and quit this mortal coil,
“Unblighted, and unbroken!”
Orasmyn.
“Is it thus,
“Celestial spirit! thus, thou'dst give me comfort?
“Oh! more we need thy example, than thy precepts!
“My father! have I then no influence with thee?
Long hast thou studied nature's baleful secrets,
And well thou know'st their antidotes—
Abdallah
(with bitterness.)
But thou,
Again perhaps would'st scorn the tainted gift,
Again despise the giver!
Orasmyn.
Oh! my father!
To this, how little were the life I owe you!
Abdallah.
I have not been accustomed to deny thee—
(Gives a ring to an attendant, who goes out.)
Orasmyn
(turning with softness to Almeyda.)
“How often did I tell thee I had saved him!
“Ev'n when thy reason, like a frighted bird,
“Forsook the home round which it fondly flutter'd!
“—Yet, oh Almeyda! not in vain thou'st suffer'd!
“That fatal passion which thy beauty caused,
“By all these miseries chastized to friendship,
“Retains its essence only, and appears,
“Like the cold lustre of a winter sun,
“When all its glow, and purple vapors faded!
Abdallah.
To her devoted, he nor hears, nor sees me—
Ah! should he dare despise—On Mahomet!
To be the scorn of those for whom we sin—
—This, this, is disappointment's consummation.
(Attendant brings him a goblet.)
Crasmyn, from the memorable hour,
Thy voice first hail'd me fire, ev'n unto this
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The good I wish myself, be thine Almeyda!
I taste the draught, that thou may'st fearless share it!
Orasmyn
(presenting the bowl.)
Oh! do not hesitate a single moment.
“Hardly can I respire with apprehension—
Almeyda
(fainting.)
“If this be death, how falsely do we fear it!
“Care, pain, and sorrow, fade before the calm,
“The holy calm o'er-shadowing ev'ry sense!—
—Methinks, without a crime, at once to 'scape,
The dreadful past, and all the doubtful future,
Were to accomplish early life's great purpose!
Orasmyn.
Oh! spare me all the guilt, the grief,—the horror,
Live, sweet Almeyda, live, tho' for another!
Almeyda.
Oh! that this potent essence were compounded,
Of herbs might purify alike the soul,
And lull it to a deep, a long repose.— (Drinks the antidote.
Abdallah.
Oh, transport! glory! Oh! tremendous triumph!
Sons may forget, but Mahomet remembers!
He has not scorn'd my pray'r, nor quite renounc'd me
—Prophetic was thy voice; for thou shalt find
A long repose indeed! This was the poison
Which I with an indignant pleasure shared—
—I had, alas! no other means to die:
Nor would I fall inglorious—unlamented.—
—Almeyda, proud Almeyda! ev'n thy love,
In all the plenitude of rank and beauty,
Shall grace my obsequies! and thou, ungrateful!
Attend us, a true mourner.
Orasmyn.
Speech is lost!—
—A deed like this bursts the great chord of nature,
And makes this gorgeous world but one vast ruin!
Abdallah.
Already do I feel the subtle essence—
It rages onward, like the fires of Etna,
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—Ah! she too sinks. Upon the lip of beauty!
Mortality now lays his livid finger!
—This—This is glorious mischief! and I joy
To die, the moment life has lost its value.
Orasmyn.
But thus to blend me in so black a deed—
—Make me the minister of my own destruction!
Oh! I have, guiltless, cropt creation's rose,
And shook its crimson glories to the dust!
—Lift not those gracious eyes again to me,
Thou soft perfection! I no more dare meet them.
—No, never dare I hope thou shouldst forgive
Th'unparallel'd credulity!—and be—
Yet, nature, yet thou wring'st me!
Abdallah
(fiercely shaking him off.)
Hence! begone—
Fawn on thy minion! but no more approach
The sire thou hast disgrac'd—betray'd—abandon'd!
—Ev'n as I lov'd thee once, so now I loathe thee!
Oh! how I long to shut out life itself,
Since I with life can shut out thy rememb'rance!
—Bear me, I pray you, to the Guadalquiver—
(turns to the attendants.
Plunge, plunge me in at once! My liver's calcined!
—Oh, find some sudden means to quench this fire,
Ere yet my eye-strings crack!—Away, Away!
(Abdallah is borne off.
Almeyda.
Yet, yet, he comes not!—Oh! no more these eyes
Shall dwell delighted on their only object;
Nor this sond heart pronounce its last adieu!
(turns and sees Orasmyn's bitter grief.
“Take comfort, prince!—Tho' small is my own portion,
“Yet will I share it with thee! For thy fire,
“May Heav'n, like me, forgive him!
Orasmyn.
“Spotless victim!
“His vices have cut short his being here—
“But, oh! thy virtues speak his future fate.
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(growing more weak.)
“Among the many wand'rers on this earth,
“Few are allow'd to reach the mortal term:
“And of those few, scarce one expires content.
“—The mind's deep agonies exhaust each pow'r,
“And early fit the frame for dissolution—
“I only feel a numbness.” Hark! I hear him.
Orasmyn.
It is thy love! Ah, happy he! to know
The pangs of sorrow only.
Alonzo
(entering.)
Blest be Heav'n!
Which gives me once again to see Almeyda!
—And blest be, too, Orasmyn!
Almeyda
(leaning fondly over him.)
Tis thyself!—
My own Alonzo!—all my soul's fond treasure!
“Thus on the dying eyes of some lone hermit,
“O'erhanging angels pour a flood of glory,
“Ev'n till his soul exhales in extasy!
Alonzo.
Ah! why this mournful sweetness? In thine eye
The living lustre fades; and on thy cheek
Each charm grows wan and hollow!
Orasmyn.
(wringing his hand.)
Oh, Alonzo!
No more must we contend for this rich prize!
Heav'n claims its own—and we alike must mourn.
Alonzo
(shaking him off.)
Prince! if thou'st done this deed—
Almeyda.
Oh! never think it—
Orasmyn's gen'rous heart is virtue's temple!
Alonzo, dear Alonzo! honour—love him.
Much wilt thou owe him for my mean injustice.
—I only strove for life till thou wert near.—
It now evaporates: Hardly speech is left me.
“—I charge ye, ne'er with blood defile the tomb,
“Which the true tears of both may nobly hallow.
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This gives away my crown; and this, oh! this,
The faithful heart that's in it!—I am cold;
And these dim eyes seek vainly for Alonzo!
—Speak to me, love!—Oh! speak to me, once more,
While yet I know that voice—!
Alonzo.
Lost in a chaos
Of killing anguish, without one expression
May ease this lab'ring heart, how shall I soothe thee?
How mitigate thy pain?
Almeyda.
Tell me you love me—
(Lays her head on his hand, and dies.
Alonzo.
Love you!—Oh, God!—
Orasmyn.
(Kissing and resigning her hand.
Words—vows—weak, vain indulgence!
Never—Oh! never shall my soul forget you!
(Both lovers remain mourning near her.
Hamet
(advancing).
Tremendous moment! awful pause of being!
—When viewing thus the abdicated frame,
Where the fond soul had treasur'd all her wishes,
How does recoiling Nature feel at once
Her imperfection. Yet such scenes alone
Can shew the danger of those cherish'd passions,
Which thus can antedate the hour of death,
Or make existence agony!
| Almeyda, Queen of Granada | |