University of Virginia Library

ACT II.

SCENE I.

The outward Fort.
Galinovitz, Mirovitz, Feodor, Soldiers under arms to receive the Empress.
Galin.
[to Mirovitz.]
The herald is arrived. Here will the Empress
A few fleet hours remain. Ere day-light dies
All speed away, and in new pomps and pleasures
Blot out the memory of these scenes of horror.

Miro.
[aside]
Oh that the Neva in its roaring waters
Would their proud bark ingulph!

[Sound of trumpets.
Galin.
[looking out.]
Behold, they come—
Gay as in festal pomp. The sun-beams gild
Their streamers, now bright-waving in the wind,
Now, as the light breeze falls, kissing in sport
The Neva's dimpled wave.

Miro.
[aside.]
Insulting pomp!
That flares portentous on these drear abodes,
Like some strange meteor that with transient glare,
Appalls mankind. [Flourish of trumpets.]
Yon trumpets' ceaseless clamour
Proclaims their entry. [Looking out.]
Ha! Rimuni leads her:
Look, how she leans on his proud arm, and smiles
Delighted with his flattery.

The Empress, Rimuni, Senators, Guards, Heralds, enter in state.
Sold.
[kneeling.]
Hail! long live
Elizabeth, our gracious sov'reign!

Emp.
Rise—
I thank your love, and will reward your zeal.

Rim.
[presenting Galinovitz.]
Galinovitz, now warden of yon fortress,
More faithful than Naritzin, kneels before you.
Deign to vouchsafe him audience!

Galin.
[laying at her feet various keys.]
Gracious Empress!
These at your feet I lay. This guards the gate
That bars the outward fortress: this secures
All that the inward moat encircles: this
The citadel: these close the prisoner's cells:
This, from the eye of man and light of heav'n,
Hides Ivan.

Rim.
Lives he yet?

Galin.
Yet Ivan breathes.

Rim.
[aside.]
Would he were dead!

Emp.
[to Galinovitz.]
Sir, till our further will
Resume thy charge.

Miro.
[aside to Feodor.]
We must avoid suspicion.
With seeming reverence we will kneel before her.

[They kneel to the Empress.
Emp.
Your suit—your names.

Rim.
[advancing, interrupts them.]
Ungrateful to your ear.
This, Mirovitz, that, Feodor, his brother,
Their ancestors of old were fam'd for pow'r
And loyalty: but their rebellious father
Serv'd with Mazeppa, when that faithless chief
Leagu'd with our foes against your godlike sire.
The weight of his rebellion crush'd himself
And all his race.

Miro.
We long in arms have serv'd you,
And shed our youthful blood in tented fields,
Following your standard.

Rim.
Vaunt not thus your duty.

Emp.
Merit by loyal deeds our further favour.

Miro.
We are your slaves

[Shouts heard at Naritzin's approach.
Rim.
[aside.]
The proud Naritzin comes.

Naritzin enters, followed by Petrowna closely veiled.
Sold.
[kneeling to the Empress.]
Look down with eye of favour on Naritzin.

Rim.
Peace! nor insult the royal presence.

Narit.
[kneeling respectfully to the Empress.]
Justice.

Rim.
It shall not be delay'd.

Narit.
My lord Rimuni,
Not unto you, Naritzin deigns appeal.
Justice, my gracious mistress!

Emp.
Sir, it grieves me
To see thee thus, here in the face of day
A man accus'd, before the public eye
Disgrac'd. I leant on thee, my lord Naritzin,
As on the prop and column of my empire.

Narit.
If ere my zeal; I may not add my actions,
Your favour won, now in the public presence
Declare my crime.

Rim.
Before the senate answer:
There hear thy condemnation.

Pet.
[aside to Naritzin.]
Condemnation!
Be firm—farewell.

[Petrowna goes.
Narit.
Hear, Empress! on his death-bed
Your sire, my much-lov'd master, charg'd Naritzin
By many a wound, when, side by side, our swords
Bore conquest on their edge, that long as life
Yet linger'd in these veins, I should uphold
The glory of his empire, nor desert
His royal offspring. Have I disobey'd
My sov'reign's charge? Let this distinguish'd proof,
Your gift, make answer. [A diamond cross.]
With this high reward,
When on your brow I fix'd the diadem,
You deign'd to honour me. Suspicion's breath
Must not with venemous taint pollute the breast
Grac'd by a monarch's favour. At your word
This hand resign'd my sword: a monarch's present.
Take back your gift, and grant Naritzin's pray'r,
Vouchsafe me one request, the plain demand
Of justice.

Emp.
Speak.

Narit.
That you, my gracious mistress,
Would deign your presence when Naritzin pleads
Before th'assembled senate.

Rim.
Proud Naritzin!
Mine is the grateful task to free the sov'reign
From toils and cares of state: and I am charg'd
To search out your misdeeds.

Narit.
I shall divulge
Truths bitter to thy soul, thou man of guilt.

Emp.
Proclaim them—freely speak: thy sov'reign bids thee.

Narit.
The image of my lord, and gracious master,
The father of his country, lives in you.
I may not here proclaim them. In your presence,
Before the senate, at their secret council,
All shall be fully told.

Emp.
There, we will hear thee.
On to the council. There, my lord Naritzin,
If guiltless, at my throne, before my presence
Stand unappall'd. Thy sov'reign is thy judge.

[Exeunt omnes.
Scene changes to Ivan's Prison, faintly illumed with one central lamp. Petrowna enters with a lamp, and basket of provisions. Ivan asleep.
Pet.
Forgive my long delay!
Ivan—oh answer me. He hears me not,
Or, at the breath, the whisper of my word,
His voice had giv'n kind welcome— [looking on him.]
Deep his slumber:
Yet, at this hour, such sleep is no repose
That gently recreates nature.
Gracious heav'n!
How will his misery end? will once again
Thy beam, oh blessed sun, illume his brow?
Will he, in kindly fellowship with man,
Feel what the god of kindness has infus'd
In human hearts, responsive to the voice
Of sympathy: or must this cell for ever
Close on his unavenged wrongs?

Ivan.
[asleep.]
Petrowna!
Delay not.

Pet.
I am with thee—at thy side—
A deep and heavy slumber weighs him down.
Hark! in a vision, in some troublous dream
His voice did call on me. Again: 'tis hush'd
In silence and forgetfulness of woe.
Not so with me. Can voice of mortal utter
What this day may bring forth? 'Tis horror, all,
And dread suspense. Sleep on, and wake no more!
Thou, whose harsh doom of unexampled woe,
Whose very weakness and infirmity
Have link'd thee to my soul. Oh hapless Ivan!
How shall I arm my tongue, how frame my words,
How tell thee, that, this day th'usurper comes
Haply to question thee, and doom to exile
My honour'd lord, Naritzin? How prepare thee
(If but Naritzin aid the general voice)
For freedom, sov'reign'ty, or—torturing death?
Thou! whose high will man's errant thought o'errules,
Guide me aright!

Ivan.
[asleep.]
No: they will trace our foot-steps.
Avoid me. Look, how slow yon monk steals on.
Fie on thee! Shame! A lye on holy lips!
Ha! gone. The swoln wave circles o'er his head:
They cannot torture him.

Pet.
His frame, methinks,
High-labours, and his features, e'en in slumber,
Have lost their winning mildness. Ivan, wake.

Ivan.
[asleep.]
I cannot bear those instruments of torture.
All, I confess it all. The monk seduc'd me.
Oh mercy, mercy, heav'n?

Pet.
Ivan! wake.

Ivan.
[confused.]
Ha! Is it thou, Petrowna: none but thou?

Pet.
There is none else.

Ivan.
I pray you, turn your lamp
There, steadily. No ray of light there gleams.
It may be lurking there.

Pet.
'Twas but a dream:
I heard thee, in thy sleep; forget it all.
Here is thy food, and I may yet remain
Some little time.

Ivan.
Oh, ever kind, most welcome!
The visionary shapes that vex'd my slumber,
Have in thy presence vanish'd all: not so
This horror at my heart: unwonted gloom
Here presses like reality. Petrowna,
May I disclose it to thee? It would sooth,
Methinks, my woe, yet—it will pain thy bosom.
The sufferings I endure weigh heavy on thee.
How shall I thank thee?

Pet.
Give me all thy woe,
So thank Petrowna.

Ivan.
[alarmed.]
Does not that lamp pass wavering by thee?

Pet.
Ivan!

Ivan.
[motioning with his hand.]
So it past wavering by me. Oh, Petrowna,
It was no shadow, no unreal phantom,
Such as oft haunt my troubled sleep—I saw it
Distinctly, as now flaming there—last night,
(The day and night to me, alas, are one,
One ceaseless misery:) at the stroke of midnight,
As on my couch I laid me down, that lamp
Past on before me, wavering, as borne
By some invisible arm. Behind it stalk'd
With pond'rous tread, a form of giant stature.
I could not trace its features. In its hand
A poniard gleam'd: and, ever and anon,
A shroud that reek'd with blood-drops, floated round it.
On me, the murderer sprung: yet, yet I hear
His hideous yell: I feel his iron grasp.
But—ere the blade descended, while I writh'd
Beneath th'o'erpow'ring fiend, thou camest—

Pet.
[interrupting.]
I!

Ivan.
Such as I see thee now, with seraph brightness
Illumining the gloom, and beaming on me
Rays of celestial pity. Say, Petrowna,
Wert thou thyself then near me?

Pet.
No—my son:
Heed not these shadowy dreams.

Ivan.
Not so, Petrowna,
For thrice I laid me down, and thrice the lamp
Past on, and ever more that form gigantic
Thro' all that long, long night, before me tow'r'd.
And, when worn out with misery, at late hour
I sank in slumber on my flinty couch,
Strange visions of past sufferings in my dreams
Confus'dly mingled.

Pet.
Then I woke thee.

Ivan.
Yes,
Most kindly: and all vanish'd at thy presence,
Save this strange gloom, this horror at my heart—
Give me thy hand.

Pet.
Thy fever'd hand is fire:
And now the chill fit shakes thee.

Ivan.
Raise me up—
My limbs sink under me.
Support me. [Looking earnestly on her.]
Ha! Petrowna! on thy eye-lid
The tear-drop trembles: why, why turn away?
Sure more than wonted gloom fills all the cell,
Or, if I rightly see, unwonted paleness
Has blanch'd thy cheek. Do not conceal aught from me.
All I can bear, all suffer, save the pang
That preys on thee in secret.

Pet.
'Tis for thee
Alone I feel, feel all a mother's woe.
Oh, Ivan! calm thy soul: call heav'n to aid thee.
The tongue of slander has traduc'd Naritzin:
Rimuni has accus'd him: and Galinovitz
O'er thee holds charge; my urgent pray'r has mov'd him.
I know his secret soul, it honours thee—
Ivan, be calm. This day, to these sad haunts,
The minion—base Rimuni, and—the Empress—

Ivan.
[interrupting her.]
Th'usurper! the fell fiend, who wears my crown?

Pet.
Awhile forego these thoughts: no pow'r can save thee,
If such rash words reach other ear than mine.
This day, the Empress comes to doom—I fear—
My lord to exile—and—it may be—Ivan—
We ne'er shall meet again.

Ivan.
Ye light'nings, strike her!

Pet.
Oh give me patient hearing! It may please
The sov'reign in her pride to look on thee—

Ivan.
[interrupting.]
Oh never will her stern eye look again
On Ivan living.

Pet.
Yet—if such her will,
Be mild, be gentle, then the menacing storm
May pass away unfelt.

Ivan.
I will obey thee.
Would that I ne'er again might see that fiend!
No—let me but behold her, but in day-light
Stand up, and front to front, pour in her heart
The gather'd fire that inwardly consumes me:
Then—die. Her gaze of insult shall not rest
Triumphantly on Ivan.

Pet.
I implore thee,
I urge thee, Ivan, by Petrowna's love,
By years of unremitted tenderness,
I do entreat thee by these tears that gush
Like life-drops from my heart—

Ivan.
[interrupting.]
Say, what thy wish?

Pet.
That thou in presence of Elizabeth,
Suppress thy indignation.

Ivan.
In her presence
Conceal my just abhorrence! urge it not:
I would not disobey thee.

Pet.
Else, at once
Must perish all Petrowna's high-rais'd hopes.

Ivan.
Oh! I will kneel before her: sue for pity.
Say, what thy hopes?

Pet.
To 'stablish thee once more,
King on thy father's throne.

Ivan.
Can'st thou deceive me?

Pet.
Revolt rings round the isle. Where'er I past
Before me burst the shout that bad Naritzin
Raise thee to empire. While the weak usurper
Leant on Naritzin's sacred word, my soul
Supprest its ardour—but—Naritzin wrong'd,
Hope, that long slumber'd, like a giant springs
Fresh from repose, and urges on to action.
The glorious vision fires me: ne'er till now
Has bold imagination dar'd to shape
The righteous enterprize, that still deferr'd,
Transfixt my heart with agony, and bath'd
In secret tears my pillow. On Naritzin
All now depends: and if my voice—my pray'r—
If ere Petrowna's tears had pow'r to move him,
Thy hand shall wield the sceptre.

Ivan.
[with dignity.]
'Tis my birthright.

Pet.
Rule thou the empire, in thy might extend
A hallow'd sceptre o'er a willing realm,
And fix the column of a nation's strength,
A nation's glory, on the immoveable base
Of private virtue: be, in blessing, blest:
So rightly execute the awful trust
Of heav'n's anointed.

Ivan.
And—oh bliss of bliss!
To be the minister of grace and mercy,
To lighten the sad load of human woe,
To rescue the oppressed, to search out
The world-abandon'd orphan, and the mourner
Who sighs in secret—and, then say, “Come forth!
“View, in your king, a father”—This, Petrowna,
Is to be God on earth.

Pet.
Oh King of Kings,
Who in the soul of Ivan hast infus'd
A portion of thy spirit, guard from wrong
His sacred life!
[To Ivan.]
Have confidence in Heaven.
I may not longer here remain unblam'd.
Farewell! forget me not: before th'usurper,
Remember thou thy promise: in her presence
Be gentle, be submissive.

Ivan.
'Tis thy bidding,
I will bow down before her.

Pet.
Now—farewell—

Ivan.
My mother—

Pet.
My beloved son, farewell!

[Exit.