 | The Mermaid |  |
SCENE III.
A Cave.—a fire in the middle.Marina and Agandel.
Agandel.
Ah me! how cold, how very cold thy hand!
Come to the fire and chafe thyself, sweet maid!
Marina.
No; let me sit here where the humid air
Blows fresh and genial from the foamy sea;
The nimble glancing of these spray-like flames
Afflicts my dim eyes with a prickling ache,
And when I prove the thirsty sense of heat,
A drowsy petulance benumbs my wits
And lays me languishing with strange disease.
Agandel.
Thou art, indeed, a strange and wayward thing,
To take such pleasure in the stormy shower,
And in a night so dark and dire as this
To dare the furious tossings of the sea!
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And hast not thou enjoyment in the waves?—
How was it, then, that in the furious surf
I found thee floating with the weltering weeds?
Agandel.
Alas! thou wak'st in me the sense of woe!—
I was this morning wedded to Glenelg;
And as we, from Iona's holy isle,
Steer'd to his castle, the perfidious winds
With sudden fury from our destin'd course,
By roaring Corry-vraken drove us here.
Marina.
I thought that thou wast of the sea-born race:
Caluthan, in whose cavern we now sit,
Told me my mother dwelt deep in the waves;
But that, like him, my sire liv'd on the shore:
And I did think when I beheld thy face,
So mild, so pale, so beauteous, and benign,
That thou wert of the gentle mermaid's kin.
Agandel.
Ah me! what art thou, if not human born?
Marina.
Come, sit thee down, nor look so strange at me;
Thou art not now so beauteous as before,
But wan and sickly, like the frighten'd youth
That sought to kiss me, but uncouthly fled,
When on my breast he laid his eager hand.
'Twas when the sea was sleeping and serene,
As I lay basking on the sandy shore,
This garb thrown by, which ever I assume
When old Caluthan bids me shelter here,
Came rough sea creatures from their floating shell,
And leapt on land, where presently they doff'd
Their strange attire and dash'd into the sea:
I, who such mischievous and noisy things
Had never seen, drew near to look at them;
Their forms were like Caluthan's, but so gay,
So rife with frolic, that my heart grew glad
To see how they did wanton in the waves.
They saw me as I sat upon the beach,
And laugh'd and beckon'd for me to approach,
And I did smile to them and beckon back:
Then came they all, and one of them, the youth,
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But in the instant starting fearful from me,
He sought the shore and with his brothers fled
Back to their parent shell, which spread its arms,
And plying swiftly, speeded out to sea.—
But hark, how sweetly the shrill-singing wind
Joins the hoarse cadence of the numerous waves
Loud sounding on the shore, while soft between
The nimble rain-drops tinkle in the pools
And patter on the ground.—Come forth with me,
And bare thy bosom to the lavish shower.
Still, when the rainy-winged western blast
Pursues the shadows of the flying clouds
Down the steep mountain and across the main,
I feel delighted as the watry gems
With cooling freshness trickle on my breast;
Nay, if thou wilt not come, but shrink and gaze,
So pale and timidly, stay by the hearth
And pile these faggots, that it may be bright
When old Caluthan from his walk returns.
[Exit Marina.
Agandel.
Ah hapless me, what destiny is mine!
Oft have I heard that luring mermaids dwell
Within the wave-hid caverns of this isle,
And surely she is one. And yet, methinks,
It is a creature lovely and serene;
Born without gall and fram'd to pleasant fancies,
Else had it not to this gay grotto brought me,
But rather in some dark unfathom'd cave
Where only dreadful forms with grasping fangs
And wide red throats of yawning horror come,
Made me the dainty of some monstrous feast.
Protect me, gods! what haggard sprite art thou!
O my Glenelg!—
[Enter Glenelg, Caluthan, and Ronaldsay.]
Glenelg.
Are not my eyes enchanted
By some gay vapor which the tricking elves
That haunt these rocks have painted with her form!
It is, it is my Agandel herself.
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O I have mourn'd thee perish'd in the deep.
Be not afraid; this venerable sage
Saved me from death and gives me heavenly joy;
The joy of meeting in unalter'd beauty
With those we love whom we have wept as lost—
The bliss of meeting thee. But tell me, sweet,
By what good miracle wast thou preserv'd?
For when I found the sudden sweeping blast
Had shifted round, and the white-crested waves
Drove white and crowding like a flock to fold,
Where I had left our fated vessel moor'd,
I hastened from my ramble on the hill
And saw her from her faithless anchor drive
Against the cliffs, and soon beheld the wreck
And scattered tackle floating wide and torn.
At such a sight how could my heart but fail;
How could I but deplore thee perished there.
Agandel.
And I had perish'd, but my shrieks and cries
Brought a fair creature that stood on the strand,
And she rescu'd me as I floating toss'd
Upon the weltering wreck and foaming brine.
Caluthan.
It was Marina—I have taught the nymph
What precious freight of parents and of sons
The stately ship and skimming pinnace bear,
And what sad woe and chill penurious hearths
The winter's storm makes in the sailor's home.
Hark! what was that?
Glenelg.
A match-lock fired at hand.
[Enter Marina.]
Marina.
Look, I am hurt—see how the blood flows here!
Agandel.
What cruel hand hath done this murderous deed?
Marina.
As I was sitting on the shore, surveying
The morning's eye-beam glancing o'er the waves,
Another stranger with unhappy looks
Came softly to me, and with flash of fire,
Like the cloud-mantled thunder, pierc'd my heart.
[Enter Beneild.]
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Beneild.
O Agandel, what have I done for thee?
Glenelg.
And did'st thou mean the fatal ball for her?
Beneild.
No, no, Glenelg.
Agandel.
Alas! the mermaid faints!
Marina.
My eyes fall drowsy, and I needs must rest:
But I grow cold, and would, if I were able,
Resist this numbing sleep. (dies.)
Agandel.
O she is dead!
Thought'st thou, Beneild, that I could love the man
Who in his bosom had the heart to slay
This gentle creature!
Beneild.
'Twas the Witch seduced me,
Agandel.
Then is this sin but sequel to ill thoughts;
Or wherefore dealt'st thou in deceitful spells?
O, he that seeks to wield unholy power,
Is curs'd by Nature to perform ill deeds.
| The Mermaid | |