 | Xarifa |  |
204
SCENE II.
Royal Apartments.XARIFA
(alone).
The hour is near, and Esperanza comes not.
By all deserted!—miserable greatness!
A few days past, had the base Zegri knights
Blacken'd the fame of old Moraizel's daughter,
An hundred swords had from their scabbards leapt,
An hundred spears gleam'd in the rest!—But now
I am a queen!—a wretched queen!—all hearts
Have thrown me off to royal loneliness!
Methinks that else—the cause of the oppress'd
Were knighthood's proper cause!
[Takes a dagger concealed in her dress, and gazes on it.
Good Esperanza!
If thou succeed not, this, thy last kind boon,
From public obloquy—My father here!
Enter Moraizel.
MORAIZEL.
Thou of the Aben-Zurrah race the stain!
The sun already high!—the lists prepared—
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In proud defiance thrown:—so foul thy deed!
Thy guilt so plain!—At noon, death's iron hand
For ever seals thy shame!
XARIFA
(with dignified composure).
Not so, my father!
I still have hope—for I am innocent!
Shall I forget, so oft when on your knee
A happy child!—and Hamad at your feet—
To school our opening minds, from all around
You drew some theme of trust in Heaven's mercy?
If in the terrors of the storm I clung
Closer and closer to thy bosom, smiling,
Thou bad'st me lift my tearful eyes, and welcome,
Within the cloud's dark folds, the gathering flood
Salubrious, to fertilize the earth!
Admire the fires that flash'd from pole to pole,
Winnowing the air, with impure vapours clogg'd,
Noxious to life:—and mark, the tempest pass'd,
How bright! how fresh! how joyous nature all!
Thus train'd by thee, in Heaven's darkest frown,
To find a hidden mercy—I will hope!
For I am innocent!—to the last will hope
To leave a spotless name!—and thou, stern Death,
Suspend thy shaft, till some commission'd spear
Confound the slanderers!—and I own, once more,
No ills, save those thy hand can cure!
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My child!
I cannot look on thee and think thee false—
Yet, yet—the scroll!—thy train of damsels
Timely dismiss'd!—all, all, force strong conviction.
Despight of proofs so pregnant, could I hold thee
Still chaste, and pure from blame, my trusty blade
I'd buckle on, and grasp my toughest lance,
Old as I am!—these lusty knights should feel,
(Though to their banners rallied hell's dark powers),
With Heaven on his side, a father's vengeance!
Enter Abdallah.
KING.
Ere yet thou die, once more within these walls
Thou see'st thy injured husband, and thy king!
Thank partial nature, lavish to adorn
Thy outward form, that the recoiling hand
Shudders to mar the mould so wond'rous fair,
To strike at the deformity within.—
Would thou wert guiltless!
XARIFA.
If the unshaken purpose
To die in strict observance of the vow,
The fatal vow I breathed, be innocence,
My soul is free of all offence to thee!
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Free of offence!—Ah! shameless!—at thy feet
A slave! a traitor! fired by lawless passion!
Had not the faithful Zegris interposed—
Ha! dost thou blush?
XARIFA.
It were thy part to blush,
If such thy thoughts of her thou hast compell'd
To share thy crown.
KING.
Would'st thou imply the crime
Was his alone?—By Allah, might I think it!—
But no—thou lov'st:—with equal guilt thou lov'st.
XARIFA.
I love—his virtues!
KING.
Thou lov'st him with the love
My due!—and purchased by a throne!—Confess
Thou lov'st him—Speak—
XARIFA.
Else why am I thy wife?
KING.
Accursed wretch! thou gloriest in thy guilt?
XARIFA.
I know not guilt. Thy queen is innocent.
I loved young Hamad better than myself
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But since I am thy wife, know, King Abdallah,
I hold my honour dearer even than Hamad—
And, for my honour's sake, am innocent!
KING.
Then is he guilty!—he alone!
XARIFA
(terrified).
Oh, no!—
Hamad is guiltless!
KING.
Thou, and he!—both, both.
Why tremblest thou?
XARIFA.
Not for myself!
KING.
For him
That quivering lip—that crimson tide now rushing
O'er thy blanch'd cheek!—Thou own'st it—all for him!
So young! so fair!—Is vice so bold? so reckless?
XARIFA.
No, innocence is bold! and wretchedness
Is, indeed, reckless.
KING.
Would'st thou urge this hand
Instant to search thy bosom's depths, and pluck
Th'adulterous passion forth, and, with it, life!
Hast thou no fear?
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Oh, spare me—spare me, king!
For I have fear—I fear to die dishonour'd!
And I have hope—hope in Heaven's justice still!
Then stay thy hand. Ere noon, with spotless fame,
The wrong'd Xarifa of thy rage may woo
The stroke, she for a moment would suspend.
KING.
Within an hour, irrevocable death
Will give thy name to infamy for ever.
Already multitudes have throng'd the lists.
The knights appellants, gay-careering, urge
Their foaming coursers o'er the vacant space,
Held by no knight defendant in thy cause.
[A trumpet heard.
The trumpet sounds! The ministers of justice
But wait my signal to conduct thee forth
To public execution!
XARIFA
(with great firmness).
I am prepared!
If Heaven protect not innocence below,
The greater its reward in realms of bliss!
And she thou would'st to infamy consign,
Closing her eyes in death awakes to glory!
[As she is speaking the Officers of Justice enter, and she is led to execution.
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