University of Virginia Library

Scene II.

—A ruined Tower, surrounded by Woods.
Procida. Vittoria.
Procida.
Thy vassals are prepared then?

Vittoria.
Yes, they wait
Thy summons to their task.

Pro.
Keep the flame bright,
But hidden, till its hour.—Wouldst thou dare, lady,
To join our councils at the night's mid-watch,
In the lone cavern by the rock-hewn cross?

Vit.
What should I shrink from?

Pro.
Oh! the forest-paths
Are dim and wild, e'en when the sunshine streams
Thro' their high arches: but when powerful night
Comes, with her cloudy phantoms, and her pale
Uncertain moonbeams, and the hollow sounds
Of her mysterious winds; their aspect then
Is of another and more fearful world;
A realm of indistinct and shadowy forms,
Wakening strange thoughts, almost too much for this,
Our frail terrestrial nature.

Vit.
Well I know
All this, and more. Such scenes have been th'abodes
Where thro' the silence of my soul have pass'd
Voices, and visions from the sphere of those
That have to die no more!—Nay, doubt it not!
If such unearthly intercourse hath e'er
Been granted to our nature, 'tis to hearts
Whose love is with the dead. They, they alone,
Unmadden'd could sustain the fearful joy
And glory of its trances!—at the hour
Which makes guilt tremulous, and peoples earth
And air with infinite, viewless multitudes,
I will be with thee, Procida.

Pro.
Thy presence
Will kindle nobler thoughts, and, in the souls
Of suffering and indignant men, arouse
That which may strengthen our majestic cause
With yet a deeper power.—Know'st thou the spot?

Vit.
Full well. There is no scene so wild and lone
In these dim woods, but I have visited
Its tangled shades.

Pro.
At midnight then we meet.
[Exit Procida.

Vit.
Why should I fear?—Thou wilt be with me, thou,
Th'immortal dream and shadow of my soul,
Spirit of him I love! that meet'st me still
In loneliness and silence; in the noon
Of the wild night, and in the forest-depths,
Known but to me; for whom thou giv'st the winds
And sighing leaves a cadence of thy voice,
Till my heart faints with that o'erthrilling joy!
—Thou wilt be with me there, and lend my lips
Words, fiery words, to flush dark cheeks with shame,
That thou art unavenged!
[Exit Vittoria.