 | The Mermaid |  |
SCENE I.
The Gate of the Monastery of Iona.Glenelg, Agandel, Ronaldsey, and Attendants.
Ronaldsey.
The gale blows gently, and the rippling sea
Rejoices in the cheerful morning's smile,
And lifts in flickering dance its summer waves
To welcome back the radiant god of day.
Come now, Glenelg, with thy fair bride descend,
To where, soft-moving on the ocean's breast,
Like a rich trinket on the heaving bosom
Of some expecting maid, the vessel swings
Held by her slend'rest cable. Lady, come,
Blest by the priest and that accorded love
Which gives the assurance of a happy race.
Agandel.
The tide scarce serves. Let us awhile delay,
Till the returning flow hath sooth'd the rage
Of the dread Corry-vraken—What may chance,
Strikes fearful chill into my inmost spirit;
For I have heard that not the secret rocks,
Nor the tumultuous whirling of the waves,
Are half so fatal to the passing bark,
As fraudful creatures that inhabit there,
Who with the social human countenance
Smiling allure, or feigning drowning cries
Draw kind and pitiable hearts so far
478
That they must perish, and become their prey.
Glenelg.
Be not afraid of such; more cause have we
To dread the malice of the proud Beneild,
In whose vindictive breast the bitter thought
Of this blest voyage, that has made thee mine,
May urge to plot some treacherous enterprize
Against our safe return. My love, thy hand;
Let us not linger, but in wisdom haste
To the safe refuge of my father's hall,
While yet the gentle breezes of the morn
Breathe thus propitiously to waft us home.
[Exeunt.
| The Mermaid | |