University of Virginia Library

SCENE III.

The Cave of Elpa.
Elpa,
sola.
Again the gaudy sun looks o'er the waves,
And draws the night from my deformity.
Once on a cloudless morn methought I saw
Some interposing darkness grateful close
Upon his odious light, while all the face
Of universal nature seem'd to sadden;
The birds sat mute, but I had sense of joy.
Yet soon th'eclipse, like an unsettled eyelid,
Opening remov'd, and all again grew gay,
Stirring my grief anew. Ha! who is this,
With knotted brow, and dark, distemper'd eyes?
What spiteful mission brings the pale wretch here?

[Enter Beneild.]
Beneild.
This must be her abode. What precious hoards
And gorgeous remnants of rich merchandize,
From shipwreck sav'd, lie gather'd useless here,
As if in spite from the bright world withheld.
But in what murky corner of the cave
Sits she herself?

Elpa.
What wouldst thou here with me?

Beneild.
Ha! hideous toad!

Elpa.
What wouldst thou here?

Beneild.
'Tis she!
Unhappy creature, thou wilt pardon me,
For fearful apprehension of strange things
That from the tide crawl into dens like this,
Troubled my fancy, and my sight perplex'd
By the fantastic lustre of these gems,
Discern'd thee not.

Elpa.
But thou didst grin at me,
And started back, as if thine eyes beheld
Some devilish aggregate of spite and venom.
But, dog, I can endure—for from my birth,
Malicious Nature has made me abhorr'd:
My mother loath'd me and denied her breast;
And I had perish'd ere I knew to suffer,
But for the thankless care of a curs'd monk,
Who fed my crave, and rear'd me into strength:
That he might know what metaphysics work
In such a monstrous ill-assorted frame.
But I forsook him, and hid in the heaps
Of a rude lading which a bark brought hence,
Came, four-score years ago, into this isle,
And made this cave my home. In all that time
No living creature dared to enter here,
Save once, a hound, and I tore out his eyes.
But now 'tis known that I begin to fail,
And the quick-sighted eagles, floating near,
Oft mark me for their prey.

Beneild.
But I have come
Not to molest thee, but to ask thy aid—

Elpa.
Ha! dost thou mock me? helpless as I am,
What aid can I bestow?—Never before
Did mortal being ask my rugged service.
Dost thou lack gold? or hast some silly maid,
Whom thou would'st win by hanging at her ear
Th'impearled humor of a wounded shell?
There, gather, gather; and make haste away.

Beneild.
Nay, be not wroth with me; I want not these—
Not ornaments, to draw the eye to beauty;
But, harken, cunning to defeat its charms.
See'st thou yon bark, with twining streamers, flying
Before the fav'ring breeze delighted coming,
The crystal ocean into sparkles braying
Beneath her stately prow.

Elpa.
What then, what then?

Beneild.
Hast thou no art to stop her gay career?
No friendly power that dwells high in the air
Whom thou canst charm to mount his cloudy car,
And breathe tempestuous mischief on that bark?

Elpa.
Wast thou insulted, that thou art malicious?
I see thou wast: and that thou think'st I deal
With th'envious agents of the evil power—
But wilt thou recompense me if I serve thee?

Beneild.
Tell me but how, and if within the scope
And compass of my arm and clan to do't,
It shall be done.

Elpa.
See'st thou the pillar'd isle,
Whose grey cliffs, like the wreck of some great town,
Gulf'd by an earthquake, overtop the waves?
There in that isle a mystic creature dens;
That bears the semblance of the female form.
But, like myself, is monstrous, yet most fair.
That hateful thing oft in the sunny calm
Elbows aside the restless ocean's swell,
And visits this lone coast. But three days since,
With smiling eyes and rising breast, she came,
Oaring the waters with her nimble arms;
And seeing me, as on that shelly seat
I ruminated of my wretched lot,
She this way hied; and when I crawl'd from view,
She follow'd fast with feminine desire
To see what I might be, and jeer'd my shape—
Wilt thou destroy her if I do thee service?

Beneild.
Why think'st thou that I would—

Elpa.
Look to you bark:
Have they done harm to me that sail therein,
That thou dost ask me for a wind to sink her?
But thou art form'd to traffic in ill deeds,
And I will aid thee for thy spiteful wishes.
Come, thou wilt shoot the mermaid—Say thou wilt,
And with what bidding I may urge the sea,
Thou shalt have thy reward—Come—

Beneild.
Whither, where—

Elpa.
To where thy boat lies ready on the shore;
And when the mermaid by thy matchlock dies,
Then shalt thou see what I will do, will do.

[Exeunt.