 | Virginius |  |
SCENE II.
—The Forum.Enter Appius and Lictors.
App.
See you keep back the people! Use your fasces
With firmer hands, or hearts. Your hands are firm
Enough, would but your hearts perform their office,
And leave your hands at liberty; not hang
Upon them with unseemly fears and clamours!
Look to it! Time! hadst thou the theme that I have
For speed, thou wouldst not move this cripple's gait:
But there's no urging thee, and thou wast ever
Dull fellow-traveller to young Impatience,
Dragging him back upon the road he pants
To end, but cannot run without thee.
Enter Marcus.
Well?
Marc.
News has arrived, that speaks as if Dentatus
Was murder'd by the order of your colleagues!
There's not a face I meet but lowers with it:
The streets are fill'd with thronging groups, that, as
I pass'd, grew silent, and look'd sullen round,
Then fell again to converse.
App.
'Tis ill-timed.
Marc.
What say you, Appius?
App.
Murder's ill-timed, I say,
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When Rome is in a ferment, on account
Of Claudius, and this girl, he calls his slave;
For come when evil will, or how it will,
All's laid to our account! Look out and see
If Claudius be approaching yet.
[Marcus goes out.
My wish,
Like an officious friend, comes out of time
To tell me of success. I had rather far
The plot had fail'd. The waves run high enough;
There needed not this squall on squall to raise them
Above the present swell:
But such a haven,
If won, can never be too dearly won!
Marc.
[entering].
Claudius is here!
Enter Claudius.
App.
Well, Claudius, are the forces
At hand?
Claud.
They are, and timely too! The people
Are in unwonted ferment.
App.
Marcus says
That news has come of old Dentatus' death;
Which, as I hear, and wonder not to hear it,
The mutinous citizens lay to our account!
Claud.
That's bad enough; yet—
App.
Ha! what's worse?
Claud.
'Tis best
At once to speak what you must learn at last,
Yet last of all would learn.
App.
Virginius!
Claud.
Yes!
He has arrived in Rome.
Marc.
They are coming, Appius!
Claud.
Fly, Marcus, hurry down the forces! [Marcus goes out.]
Appius,
Be not o'erwhelm'd!
App.
There's something awes me at
The thought of looking on her father!
Claud.
Look
Upon her, my Appius! Fix your gaze upon
The treasures of her beauty, nor avert it
Till they are thine. Haste! Your tribunal! Haste!
[Appius ascends his tribunal.
Enter Numitorius, Icilius, Lucius, Citizens, Virginius leading his Daughter, Servia, and Citizens.—A dead silence prevails.
Virginius.
Does no one speak? I am defendant here.
Is silence my opponent? Fit opponent
To plead a cause too foul for speech! What brow,
In blank defiance both of gods and men,
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Advanced the forgéd claim that stirs this suit
To compass the dishonour of my child—
For that's the game!—and now the trial's come,
Through shame or fear, has lost the power to wage
And ope the villain pleadings!
App.
You had better,
Virginius, wear another kind of carriage:
This is not of the fashion that will serve you.
Virginius.
The fashion, Appius! Appius Claudius, tell me
The fashion it becomes a man to speak in,
Whose property in his own child—the offspring
Of his own body, near to him as is
His hand, his arm—yea, nearer—closer far,
Knit to his heart—I say, who has his property
In such a thing, the very self of himself,
Disputed—and I'll speak so, Appius Claudius;
I'll speak so.—Pray you, tutor me!
App.
Stand forth,
Claudius! If you lay claim to any interest
In the question now before us, speak; if not
Bring on some other cause.
Claud.
Most noble Appius—
Virginius.
And are you the man
That claims my daughter for his slave?—Look at me,
And I will give her to thee.
Claud.
She is mine, then:
Do I not look at you?
Virginius.
Your eye does, truly,
But not your soul.—I see it through your eye
Shifting and shrinking—turning every way
To shun me. You surprise me, that your eye,
So long the bully of its master, knows not
To put a proper face upon a lie,
But gives the port of impudence to falsehood,
When it would pass it off for truth. Your soul
Dares as soon show its face to me.—Go on,
I had forgot; the fashion of my speech
May not please Appius Claudius.
Claud.
I demand
Protection of the decemvir!
App.
You shall have it.
Virginius.
Doubtless!
App.
Keep back the people, lictors! What's
Your plea? You say the girl 's your slave—Produce
Your proofs.
Claud.
My proof is here, which, if they can,
Let them confront. The mother of the girl—
[Virginius, stepping forward to speak, is withheld by Numitorius.
Num.
Hold, brother! Hear them out, or suffer me
To speak.
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Man, I must speak, or else go mad!
And if I do go mad, what then will hold me
From speaking? Wer't not better, brother, think you,
To speak and not go mad, than to go mad
And then to speak? She was thy sister, too!
Well, well, speak thou. I'll try, and, if I can,
Be silent.
[Retires.
Num.
Will she swear she is her child?
Virginius
[starting forward].
To be sure she will—a most wise question that!
Is she not his slave! Will his tongue lie for him—
Or his hand steal—or the finger of his hand
Beckon, or point, or shut, or open for him?
To ask him if she'll swear—Will she walk or run,
Sing, dance, or wag her head; do anything
That is most easy done? She'll as soon swear!
What mockery it is to have one's life
In jeopardy by such a barefaced trick!
Is it to be endured? I do protest
Against her oath!
App.
No law in Rome, Virginius,
Seconds you. If she swear the girl's her child,
The evidence is good, unless confronted
By better evidence. Look you to that,
Virginius. I shall take the woman's oath.
Virginia.
Icilius!
Icil.
Fear not, love; a thousand oaths
Will answer her.
App.
You swear the girl's your child,
And that you sold her to Virginius' wife,
Who pass'd her for her own. Is that your oath?
Slave.
It is my oath.
App.
Your answer now, Virginius.
Virginius.
Here it is!
[Brings Virginia forward.
Is this the daughter of a slave? I know
'Tis not with men, as shrubs and trees, that by
The shoot you know the rank and order of
The stem. Yet who from such a stem would look
For such a shoot? My witnesses are these—
The relatives and friends of Numitoria,
Who saw her, ere Virginia's birth, sustain
The burden which a mother bears, nor feels
The weight, with longing for the sight of it!
Here are the ears that listen'd to her sighs
In nature's hour of labour, which subsides
In the embrace of joy!—the hands, that when
The day first look'd upon the infant's face,
And never look'd so pleased, help'd her up to it,
And thank'd the gods for her, and pray'd them send
Blessing on blessing on her.—Here, the eyes
That saw her lying at the generous
And sympathetic fount, that at her cry
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To cherish her enamell'd veins. The lie
Is most abortive then, that takes the flower—
The very flower our bed connubial grew—
To prove its barrenness! Speak for me, friends;
Have I not spoke the truth?
Women and Citizens.
You have, Virginius.
App.
Silence!—Keep silence there! No more of that!
You're ever ready for a tumult, citizens.
[Troops appear behind.
Lictors, make way to let these troops advance.
We've had a taste of your forbearance, masters,
And wish not for another!
Virginius.
Troops in the Forum!
App.
Virginius, have you spoken?
Virginius.
If you have heard me,
I have: if not, I'll speak again.
App.
You need not,
Virginius; I have evidence to give,
Which, should you speak a hundred times again,
Would make your pleading vain.
Virginius.
Your hand, Virginia!
Stand close to me.
[Aside.
App.
My conscience will not let me
Be silent. 'Tis notorious to you all,
That Claudius' father, at his death, declared me
The guardian of his son. This cheat has long
Been known to me. I know the girl is not
Virginius' daughter.
Virginius.
Join your friends, Icilius,
And leave Virginia to my care.
[Aside.
App.
The justice
I should have done my client unrequired,
Now cited by him, how shall I refuse?
Virginius.
Don't tremble, girl! don't tremble.
[Aside.
App.
Nay, Virginius,
I feel for you; but, though you were my father,
The majesty of justice should be sacred—
Claudius must take Virginia home with him.
Virginius.
And if he must, I should advise him, Appius,
To take her home in time, before his guardian
Complete the violation, which his eyes
Already have begun—Friends! Fellow-citizens!
Look not on Claudius—Look on your decemvir!
He is the master claims Virginia!
The tongues that told him she was not my child
Are these—the costly charms he cannot purchase,
Except by making her the slave of Claudius—
His client!—purveyor!—that caters for
His pleasures—markets for him—picks, and scents,
And tastes, that he may banquet—serves him up
His sensual feast, and is not now ashamed,
In the open, common street, before your eyes—
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With blushes they ne'er thought to meet—to help him
To the honour of a Roman maid!—my child!
Who now clings to me, as you see, as if
This second Tarquin had already coil'd
His arms around her. Look upon her, Romans!
Befriend her! Succour her! See her not polluted
Before her father's eyes!—He is but one!
Tear her from Appius and his lictors, while
She is unstain'd. Your hands! your hands! your hands!
Cit.
They're yours, Virginius.
App.
Keep the people back!
Support my lictors, soldiers! Seize the girl,
And drive the people back.
Icil.
Down with the slaves!
[The people make a show of resistance, but, upon the advancing of the soldiers, retreat, and leave Icilius, Virginius, and his daughter, &c. in the hands of Appius and his party.
Deserted!—Cowards! Traitors! Let me free
But for a moment! I relied on you!
Had I relied upon myself alone,
I had kept them all at bay! I kneel to you—
Let me but loose a moment, if 'tis only
To rush upon your swords!
Virginius.
Icilius, peace!
You see how 'tis! We are deserted, left
Alone by our friends, surrounded by our enemies.
Nerveless and helpless.
App.
Take Icilius hence;
Away with him!
Icil.
Tyrant!—Virginia!
[Icilius is forced off.
App.
Separate
Virginius and the girl!—Delay not, slaves.
Virginius.
Let them forbear awhile, I pray you, Appius:
It is not very easy. Though her arms
Are tender, yet the hold is strong, by which
She grasps me, Appius. Forcing them will hurt them.
They'll soon unclasp themselves. Wait but a little:
You know you're sure of her!
App.
I have not time
To idle with thee; give her to my lictors.
Virginius.
Appius, I pray you, wait! If she is not
My child, she hath been like a child to me
For fifteen years. If I am not her father,
I have been like a father to her, Appius,
For e'en so long a time. They that have lived
For such a space together, in so near
And dear society, may be allow'd
A little time for parting! Let me take
The maid aside, I pray you, to confer
A moment with her nurse; perhaps she'll give me
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And knotted round my heart, that if you break it
So suddenly, my heart breaks with it!
App.
Well!
Look to them, lictors!
Virginia.
Do you go from me!
Do you leave! Father! Father!
Virginius.
No, my child;
No, my Virginia—come along with me.
Virginia.
Will you not leave me? Will you take me with you?
Will you take me home again? O, bless you, bless you!
My father! my dear father! Art thou not
My father?
[Virginius, perfectly at a loss what to do, looks anxiously around the Forum; at length his eye falls on a butcher's stall with a knife upon it.
Virginius.
This way, my Virginia! This way!
Virginia.
Go
We home?
Virginius.
Don't fear! Don't fear, I am not going
To leave thee, my Virginia! I'll not leave thee.
App.
Keep back the people, soldiers! Let them not
Approach Virginius! Keep the people back!
[Virginius secures the knife.
Well, have you done?
Virginius.
Short time for converse, Appius;
But I have.
App.
I hope you are satisfied.
Virginius.
I am—
I am—that she is my daughter!
App.
Take her, lictors!
[Virginia shrieks, and falls half-dead upon her father's shoulder.
Virginius.
Another moment, pray you. Bear with me
A little—'Tis my last embrace. 'Twon't try
Your patience beyond bearing, if you're a man!
Lengthen it as I may, I cannot make it
Long! My dear child! My dear Virginia!
[Kissing her.
There is one only way to save thine honour—
'Tis this!—
[Stabs her, and draws out the knife. Icilius breaks from the Soldiers that held him, and catches her.
Lo! Appius! with this innocent blood,
I do devote thee to th' infernal gods!
Make way there!
App.
Stop him! Seize him!
Virginius.
If they dare
To tempt the desperate weapon, that is madden'd
With drinking my daughter's blood, why let them: thus
It rushes in amongst them. Way there! Way!
[Goes out through the Soldiers.
| Virginius | |