 | The Bohemian Girl |  |
ACT III.
Scene I.
—A Splendid Saloon in the Castle of Count Arnheim. On the ground floor, a large window at the back opening on the Park. On the O.P. side, the door of a small Cabinet, doors at the back, leading into spacious Galleries.Enter Arline, elegantly dressed for a ball.
Arl.
The past appears to me but a dream, from which I have
at length awakened. Yet my heart recalls enough to convince me
it was all reality. When I think of the wandering life I led, my
memory will revert to him who in every trial preserved its
honour, who twice restored me to a father's arms, and at length
to a father's home.
Count Arnheim enters with Florestein—Arline runs into his arms.
Cou.
Every moment you leave me is a moment of unhappiness.
I am jealous of whatever divides us, short as may be the interval.
On a night of so much joy, when so many friends are to assemble
and participate in your father's delight, let me intercede for one
you have too much cause to be angry with.
Arl.
(averting her head.)
The very sight of him disturbs me.
(To the Count.)
The wishes of my dear father I would cheerfully
comply with, but the repugnance I cannot overcome.
Flo.
(falling on his knee.)
Fair cousin, let me plead my own
cause, and express the—aw—sorrow I really feel at having for an
instant believed it possible—in fact, I never in reality—
What the devil do you want at such a critical part of one's conversation?
[Servant crosses to the Count.
Ser.
The castle is filling with guests who inquire for your
lordship.
[Exit.
Cou.
(to Arline.)
Let us hasten to meet them, and afford me
the joy of making you known to all.
Arl.
Allow me but time to fortify myself for a ceremony I am
a stranger to, and I will follow you.
Flo.
That is but reasonable, uncle—I will live in hopes of my
cousin's forgiveness, which can alone restore my—peace—of
mind.
(Aside.)
I shall positively expire if I don't lead off the
first quadrille with her.
[Exeunt Count and Florestein.
Arl.
I am once more left to my thoughts, and all the deep regrets
which accompany them. Nothing can drive the recollection
of Thaddeus from my mind, and the lonely life I led was to me
far happier than the constrained one I now pass; and the graceful
dress of the gipsy girl becomes me more than all this gaudy
Now no eye beholds me, I may at least indulge in a
remembrance of the past. (Goes to the Cabinet O.P. and brings
out her gipsy dress.)
The sight of this recalls the memory of
happy days, and of him who made them happy.
[As she is contemplating the dress, the window at the back suddenly opens, and Devilshoof springs into the apartment.
Arl.
(screaming.)
Ah! what seek you here with me?
Dev.
Hush! fear not; but be silent. I come to ask you to
rejoin our tribe—we have never ceased to feel the loss of one
liked more than all the rest.
Arl.
Impossible! Leave me, I pray, and let me forget we
have ever been acquainted.
Dev.
I have brought with me one who has, undoubtedly,
greater powers of persuasion than I can pretend to.
[Here Thaddeus appears at the window, enters the room, and Arline, unable to restrain her feelings, rushes into his arms.
Tha.
In the midst of so much luxury, so much wealth and
grandeur, I thought you had forgotten me.
Arl.
Forgotten you! Had I nothing else to remind me of
you, this
(pointing to the gipsy's dress)
would always speak to me
of you. Forgotten you!
Tha.
The scenes in which you now move may drive from your
memory every trace of the past, and I only come to ask—to hope
—that you will sometimes think upon me—
Their tales of love shall tell,
In language whose excess imparts
The power they feel so well:
There may, perhaps, in such a scene
Some recollection be
Of days that have as happy been,
And you'll remember me.
The beauty now they prize,
And deem it but a faded light
Which beams within your eyes;
When hollow hearts shall wear a mask,
'Twill break your own to see;
In such a moment I but ask
That you'll remember me.
[At the end of the song Arline goes up to Thaddeus, and with great emphasis says—
Arl.
Whatever may be our future lot, nothing should persuade
you that I can ever cease to think of—ever cease to love you.
Tha.
(overjoyed.)
My heart is overpowered with happiness:—
yet alas! 'tis but of short duration, for I must leave you now for
ever.
Oh, no, no! say not so! I cannot live without you.
Tha.
And will you then forsake your home, your kindred, all!
and follow me?
TRIO.
[Ensemble]
Tha.
(to Arline.)
Through the world wilt thou fly
From the world with me?
Wilt thou Fortune's frowns defy,
As I will for thee?
Arl.
(to Thaddeus.)
Through the world I will fly
From the world with thee,
Could I hush a father's sigh
That would heave for me.
Dev.
(coming down—to Thaddeus.)
All the world hither fly,
Come away with me!
Never let a lover's sigh
Ruin bring on thee!
[Ensemble ends]
Hasten! hasten! thy safety calls:
See where they throng the halls!
This way!
[Going towards the window.
Arl.
(stopping Thaddeus.)
Stop! do not snap the string
Of the fondest tie
In my memory
To which the heart can cling.
Tha.
I am chained by fate to the spot.
Dev.
Nearer they come!
Arl.
Oh, leave me not.
Tha.
Oh, where should affection's feelings rest,
If they may not repose on affection's breast?
Better to die, than to live to grieve
Over the pangs such partings leave!
Dev.
(still looking out.)
A moment more and your doom is cast!
Arl.
(aside.)
The hopes that were brightest—the dreams of the past
In the fulness of promise recede,
And render the prospect dark indeed.
Dev.
Escape is hopeless.
Arl.
(pointing to the cabinet.)
Enter here!
Where detection we need not fear!
[Ensemble]
Tha.
If it were not for thee, I would here await
The venom'd shafts of their deadliest hate.
Dev.
Though here you may linger, I will not await
The certain blow of their power and hate.
Arl.
Oh, if only for me, no longer await
The venom'd shafts of their deadliest hate.
[Thaddeus has barely time to take refuge in the cabinet, and Devilshoof to escape by the window, when the great doors are thrown open, and a brilliant assemblage enters, led by Count Arnheim, Florestein, &c. Count takes Arline's hand and presents her to the company.
Welcome, welcome all—share with me all the joy I feel,
while I present my loved and long-lost daughter.
FINALE.
Cho.
Welcome the present, oh ponder not
On the days departed now;
Let the cares that were theirs be forgot,
And raz'd from pleasure's brow;
Never mind Time, nor what he has done,
If he only the present will smile upon.
Flo.
(seeing the gipsy dress on a chair and taking it up.)
This is not an ornament fit to grace,
At such a moment, such a stately place,
And perchance 'twere best to hide the prize
In this recess (pointing to cabinet)
from his lordship's eyes.
Arl.
(whose attention has been riveted on the cabinet, and seeing Florestein go near it.)
That room and its treasure belong to me,
And from all intrusion must sacred be.
Cho.
Never mind Time, nor what he has done,
If he only the present will smile upon!
Welcome the present, oh ponder not
On days departed now;
Let the cares that were theirs be forgot,
And raz'd from pleasure's brow.
[A confused murmur is heard at the back of the stage.
What sounds break on the ear,
Checking young joy's career?
[A Female, closely veiled, enters the apartment, and goes up to Count Arnheim.
Fem.
Heed the warning voice!
Wail, and not rejoice!
The foe to thy rest,
Is one thou lov'st best.
[She lets her veil fall and discovers the Queen of the Gipsies.
Cou.
Who, and what art thou? Let me know
Whom thou dost deem my foe?
Que.
Think not my warning wild,
'Tis thy re-found child!
She loves a youth of the tribe I sway,
And braves the world's reproof;
List to the words I say—
He is now concealed beneath thy roof.
Cou.
Base wretch, thou liest—
Que.
Thy faith I begrudge—
Open that door, and thyself be judge.
Count rushes to the door of the cabinet, which Arline in vain opposes.
[Ensemble]
Stand not across my path,/Thrown thus across thy path,
Brave not a father's wrath./Let me abide thy wrath.
[The Count pushes Arline aside, opens the door, and Thaddeus appears; the Count reels back, and every one seems panic-stricken.
QUINTET AND CHORUS.
Count, Florestein, Thaddeus, Arline, and Queen.
[Ensemble]
Cou.
(to Arline.)
To shame and feeling dead,
Now hopeless to deplore,
The thunder bursting on thy head,
Had not surprised me more.
Flo.
And this is why she said
I must not touch the door;
It clearly would have been ill-bred,
For rivals are a bore!
Tha.
Though every hope be fled,
Which seem'd so bright before,
The vengeance I scorn to dread,
Which they on me can pour!
Arl.
(horror-stricken on seeing the Queen.)
To all but vengeance dead,
She stands mine eyes before!
Its thunders waiting on my head
In all her hate to pour.
Que.
(maliciously eyeing Arline.)
All other feelings dead,
Revenge can hope restore,
Its thunders on her daring head
I only live to pour.
Cho.
Although to feeling dead,
This sorrow we deplore,
The thunder bursting o'er our head,
Had not surprised us more.
[Ensemble ends]
Cou.
(advancing to Thaddeus.)
Leave this place thy polluting step hath cross'd,
Depart, or thou art lost.
Tha.
(casting a sorrowful look on Arline as heis about to go.)
To threats I should contemn,
For thy dear sake I yield.
Arl.
(summoning resolution.)
The busting torrent I will stem,
And him I live for shield.
[She takes Thaddeus by the hand, and goes to the Count, then turns to the Company.
Break not the only tie
That bids my heart rejoice,
For whom contented I would die—
(With energy.)
The husband of my choice.
(rushing between them and drawing his sword. To Thaddeus.)
Depart, ere my thirsty weapon stains
These halls with the blood of thy recreant veins!
(To Arline.)
False thing! beloved too long, too well,
Brave not the madness thou canst not quell!
Que.
(seizing Thaddeus by the arm.)
Fly from the peril which enthrals thee!
He shall never be thine.
[As the Queen is dragging Thaddeus towards the window, Arline stops him.
Arl.
(to the assembly.)
With my father alone to speak.
Arline (falling at the Count's feet.)
Whose place should be your heart,
Behold the only living thing
To which she had to cling;
Who saved her life, watch'd o'er her years
With all the fondness faith endears,
And her affections won—
Rend not such ties apart.
Cou.
Child! Arline! wilt thou? darest thou heap
A stain thine after life will beweep,
On these hairs by thee and sorrow bleach'd—
On this heart dishonour never reached?
Arl.
(rising and seeking refuge in the arms of Thaddeus.)
Whatever the danger, the ruin, the strife—
It must fall; united we are for life.
Cou.
(with rage.)
United! and wouldst thou link my name
In a chain of such deep disgrace?
My rank, my very blood defame
With a blot no time can efface?
The child of my heart, of my house the pride,
An outcast gipsy's bride!
Tha.
(breaking from her, and going up with great dignity to Count Arnheim.)
Proud lord, although this head proscribed
Should fall by the weapons thy wealth had bribed,
The home I shall see no more—
The land which to thee, in its deep despair,
The deadliest hatred bore—
I may fall, as have fallen, the bravest of foes;
'Twere better like them to die!
And in dishonoured earth to lie,
Than bear, unresented, reproaches like those.
[Count Arnheim and Arline betray symptoms of astonishment, yet great anxiety.
Start not, but listen!
When the fair land of Poland was ploughed by the hoof
Of the ruthless invader, when Might,
With steel to the bosom and flame to the roof,
Completed her triumph o'er Right;
In that moment of danger, when Freedom invoked
All the fetterless sons of her pride,
In a phalanx as dauntless as Freedom e'er yok'd,
I fought and I fell by her side.
My birth is noble, unstained my crest
As thine own—let this attest.
[Takes his Commission, seen in Act 1, from his bosom, and gives it to the Count, who stands fixed and bewildered.
Pity for one in childhood torn
From kindred with whom she dwelt,
Ripened in after years to love—
The fondest that heart hath felt—
Has made me thus far faith renew
With outlaws chance first link'd me to.
As a foe, on this head let your hatred be pil'd,
But despise not one who hath so loved your child.
Cou.
(greatly moved.)
The feuds of a nation's strife,
The party storms of life,
Should never their sorrows impart
To the calmer scenes of the heart.
By this hand let thine hold
Till the blood of its veins be cold!
[Thaddeus, moved to tears, is about to fall at the feet of the Count, who checks him.
Not at mine—be that homage paid at hers,
Who the fond one of feeling on thee confers.
TRIO.
Cou.
Let not the soul o'er sorrows grieve,
With which the bosom hath ceased to heave;
Let us not think of the tempest past,
If we reach the haven at last.
Ne'er should the soul o'er sorrows grieve,
With which the bosom hath ceased to heave;
Ne'er should we think of the tempest past,
If we reach the haven at last.
Tha.
Why should the soul o'er sorrows grieve,
With which the bosom hath ceased to heave;
Ne'er should we think of the tempest past,
If we reach the haven at last!
[During the trio, the wan figure of the Queen has been seen at the window in the back, and at the end of it, as Thaddeus is about to embrace Arline, the Queen, in a transport of rage, points him out to a gipsy by her side, who is in the act of firing at him, when Devilshoof, who has tracked their steps, averts the gipsy's aim, and by a rapid movement turns the musket towards the Queen—it goes off, and she falls.
Cou.
Guard every portal—summon each guest and friend—
And this festive scene suspend.
[The distant sound of joyous instruments heard in the saloons, which the intelligence of the catastrophe is supposed to have reached, ceases, and crowds of Nobles, Ladies, Guests, &c., pour in at each door. Arline rushes into the arms of Thaddeus, and then passes over to the Count.
Arline and Chorus.
Through my bosom thrills,
And a wilder glow
In my heart instils!
Hope without alloy,
Speak, with raptured tone,
Of that heart the joy!
[As the curtain descends, is heard under the window at the back,
THE GIPSY'S CHORUS.
In the gipsy's life you may read,
The life that all would like to lead.
| The Bohemian Girl | |