University of Virginia Library

ACT THE FIFTH

Scene the First.

—The Sea Shore.
Naomi and a Moresco.
Moresco.
This was no time for freaks of useless vengeance.

Naomi.
True! but Francesco, the Inquisitor,
Thou know'st the bloodhound—'twas a strong temptation.
And when they pass'd within a mile of his house,
We could not curb them in. They swore by Mahomet,
It were a deed of treachery to their brethren
To sail from Spain and leave that man alive.

Moresco.
Where is Alhadra?

Naomi.
She moved steadily on
Unswerving from the path of her resolve.
Yet each strange object fix'd her eye: for grief
Doth love to dally with fantastic shapes,
And smiling, like a sickly moralist,
Gives some resemblance of her own concerns
To the straws of chance, and things inanimate.
I seek her here; stand thou upon the watch.

[Exit Moresco.
Naomi
(looking wistfully to the distance).
Stretch'd on the rock! It must be she—Alhadra!

[Alhadra rises from the rock, and advances slowly, as if musing.
Naomi.
Once more, well met! what ponder'st thou so deeply?

Alhadra.
I scarce can tell thee! For my many thoughts
Troubled me, till with blank and naked mind
I only listen'd to the dashing billows.
It seems to me, I could have closed my eyes
And wak'd without a dream of what has pass'd;
So well it counterfeited quietness,
This wearied heart of mine!

Naomi.
'Tis thus by nature
Wisely ordain'd, that so excess of sorrow
Might bring its own cure with it.

Alhadra.
Would to Heaven
That it had brought its last and certain cure!
That ruin in the wood.

Naomi.
It is a place
Of ominous fame; but 'twas the shortest road,
Nor could we else have kept clear of the village.
Yet some among us, as they scal'd the wall,
Mutter'd old rhyming prayers.

Alhadra.
On that broad wall
I saw a skull; a poppy grew beside it,
There was a ghastly solace in the sight!

Naomi.
I mark'd it not, and in good truth the night-bird
Curdled my blood, even till it prick'd the heart.
Its note comes dreariest in the fall of the year:
[Looking round impatiently.
Why don't they come? I will go forth and meet them.

[Exit Naomi.
Alhadra
(alone).
The hanging woods, that touch'd by autumn seem'd
As they were blossoming hues of fire and gold,
The hanging woods, most lovely in decay,
The many clouds, the sea, the rock, the sands,
Lay in the silent moonshine; and the owl,
(Strange! very strange!) the scritch owl only wak'd,
Sole voice, sole eye of all that world of beauty!
Why such a thing am I! Where are these men?
I need the sympathy of human faces
To beat away this deep contempt for all things
Which quenches my revenge. Oh!—would to Alla
The raven and the sea-mew were appointed
To bring me food, or rather that my soul
Could drink in life from the universal air!
It were a lot divine in some small skiff,
Along some ocean's boundless solitude,
To float for ever with a careless course,
And think myself the only being alive!

[Naomi re-enters.
Naomi.
Thy children—

Alhadra.
Children? Whose children?
[A pause—then fiercely.
Son of Velez,
This hath new-strung my arm! Thou coward tyrant,
To stupify a woman's heart with anguish,
Till she forgot even that she was a mother!

[A noise—enter a part of the Morescoes; and from the opposite side of the stage a Moorish Seaman.
Moorish Seaman.
The boat is on the shore, the vessel waits.
Your wives and children are already stow'd;
I left them prattling of the Barbary coast,
Of Mosks, and minarets, and golden crescents.
Each had her separate dream; but all were gay,
Dancing, in thought, to finger-beaten timbrels!

[Enter Maurice and the rest of the Morescoes dragging in Francesco.
Francesco.
O spare me, spare me! only spare my life!

An Old Man.
All hail, Alhadra! O that thou hadst heard him
When first we dragg'd him forth!
[Then turning to the band.
Here! in her presence—

[He advances with his sword as about to kill him. Maurice leaps in and stands with his drawn sword between Francesco and the Morescoes.
Maurice.
Nay, but ye shall not!

Old Man.
Shall not? Hah? Shall not?

Maurice.
What, an unarm'd man?
A man that never wore a sword? A priest?
It is unsoldierly! I say, ye shall not!

Old Man
(turning to the bands).
He bears himself most like an insolent Spaniard!

Maurice.
And ye like slaves, that have destroy'd their master,
But know not yet what freedom means; how holy
And just a thing it is! He's a fall'n foe!
Come, come, forgive him!

All.
No, by Mahomet!

Francesco.
O mercy, mercy! talk to them of mercy!

Old Man.
Mercy to thee! No, no, by Mahomet!

Maurice.
Nay, Mahomet taught mercy and forgiveness.
I am sure he did!

Old Man.
Ha! Ha! Forgiveness! Mercy!

Maurice.
If he did not, he needs it for himself!

Alhadra.
Blaspheming fool! the law of Mahomet
Was given by him, who framed the soul of man.
This the best proof—it fits the soul of man!
Ambition, glory, thirst of enterprize,
The deep and stubborn purpose of revenge,
With all the boiling revelries of pleasure—
These grow in the heart, yea, intertwine their roots
With its minutest fibres! And that Being
Who made us, laughs to scorn the lying faith,
Whose puny precepts, like a wall of sand,
Would stem the full tide of predestined Nature!

Naomi
(who turns toward Francesco with his sword).
Speak!

All
(to Alhadra).
Speak!

Alhadra.
Is the murderer of your chieftain dead?
Now as God liveth, who hath suffer'd him
To make my children orphans, none shall die
Till I have seen his blood!
Off with him to the vessel!

[A part of the Morescoes hurry him off.
Alhadra.
The Tyger, that with unquench'd cruelty,
Still thirsts for blood, leaps on the hunter's spear
With prodigal courage. 'Tis not so with man.

Maurice.
It is not so, remember that, my friends!
Cowards are cruel, and the cruel cowards.

Alhadra.
Scatter yourselves, take each a separate way,
And move in silence to the house of Velez.

[Exeunt.
Scene. —A Dungeon.
Albert (alone) rises slowly from a bed of reeds.
Albert.
And this place my forefathers made for men!
This is the process of our love and wisdom
To each poor brother who offends against us—
Most innocent, perhaps—and what if guilty?
Is this the only cure? Merciful God!
Each pore and natural outlet shrivell'd up
By ignorance and parching poverty,
His energies roll back upon his heart,
And stagnate and corrupt till changed to poison,
They break out on him like a loathsome plague-spot!
Then we call in our pamper'd mountebanks—
And this is their best cure! uncomforted
And friendless solitude, groaning and tears,
And savage faces at the clanking hour
Seen thro' the steaming vapours of his dungeon
By the lamp's dismal twilight! So he lies
Circled with evil, till his very soul
Unmoulds its essence, hopelessly deform'd
By sights of ever more deformity!
With other ministrations thou, O Nature!
Healest thy wandering and distemper'd child:
Thou pourest on him thy soft influences,
Thy sunny hues, fair forms, and breathing sweets,
Thy melodies of woods, and winds, and waters,
Till he relent, and can no more endure
To be a jarring and a dissonant thing
Amid this general dance and minstrelsy;
But bursting into tears wins back his way,
His angry spirit heal'd and harmoniz'd
By the benignant touch of love and beauty.

[A noise at the dungeon-door. It opens, and Osorio enters with a goblet in his hand.
Osorio.
Hail, potent wizard! In my gayer mood
I pour'd forth a libation to old Pluto;
And as I brimm'd the bowl, I thought of thee!

Albert
(in a low voice).
I have not summon'd up my heart to give
That pang, which I must give thee, son of Velez!

Osorio
(with affected levity).
Thou hast conspired against my life and honour,
Hast trick'd me foully; yet I hate thee not!
Why should I hate thee? This same world of ours—
It is a puddle in a storm of rain,
And we the air-bladders, that course up and down,
And joust and tilt in merry tournament,
And when one bubble runs foul of another,
[Waving his hand at Albert.
The lesser must needs break!

Albert.
I see thy heart!
There is a frightful glitter in thine eye,
Which doth betray thee. Crazy-conscienc'd man,
This is the gaiety of drunken anguish,
Which fain would scoff away the pang of guilt,
And quell each human feeling!

Osorio.
Feeling! feeling!
The death of a man—the breaking of a bubble.
'Tis true, I cannot sob for such misfortunes!
But faintness, cold, and hunger—curses on me
If willingly I e'er inflicted them!
Come, share the beverage—this chill place demands it.
Friendship and wine!

[Osorio proffers him the goblet.
Albert.
Yon insect on the wall,
Which moves this way and that its hundred legs,
Were it a toy of mere mechanic craft,
It were an infinitely curious thing!
But it has life, Osorio! life and thought;
And by the power of its miraculous will
Wields all the complex movements of its frame
Unerringly, to pleasurable ends!
Saw I that insect on this goblet's brink,
I would remove it with an eager terror.

Osorio.
What meanest thou?

Albert.
There's poison in the wine.

Osorio.
Thou hast guess'd well. There's poison in the wine.
Shall we throw dice, which of us two shall drink it?
For one of us must die!

Albert.
Whom dost thou think me?

Osorio.
The accomplice and sworn friend of Ferdinand.

Albert.
Ferdinand! Ferdinand! 'tis a name I know not.

Osorio.
Good! good! that lie! by Heaven! it has restor'd me.
Now I am thy master! Villain, thou shalt drink it,
Or die a bitterer death.

Albert.
What strange solution
Hast thou found out to satisfy thy fears,
And drug them to unnatural sleep?
[Albert takes the goblet, and with a sigh throws it on the ground.
My master!

Osorio.
Thou mountebank!

Albert.
Mountebank and villain!
What then art thou? For shame, put up thy sword!
What boots a weapon in a wither'd arm?
I fix mine eye upon thee, and thou tremblest!
I speak—and fear and wonder crush thy rage,
And turn it to a motionless distraction!
Thou blind self-worshipper! thy pride, thy cunning,
Thy faith in universal villainy,
Thy shallow sophisms, thy pretended scorn
For all thy human brethren—out upon them!
What have they done for thee? Have they given thee peace?
Cured thee of starting in thy sleep? or made
The darkness pleasant, when thou wakest at midnight?
Art happy when alone? can'st walk by thyself
With even step, and quiet cheerfulness?
Yet, yet thou mayst be saved.

Osorio
(stupidly reiterating the word).
Saved? saved?

Albert.
One pang—
Could I call up one pang of true remorse!

Osorio.
He told me of the babe, that prattled to him,
His fatherless little ones! Remorse! remorse!
Where gott'st thou that fool's word? Curse on remorse!
Can it give up the dead, or recompact
A mangled body—mangled, dash'd to atoms!
Not all the blessings of an host of angels
Can blow away a desolate widow's curse;
And tho' thou spill thy heart's blood for atonement,
It will not weigh against an orphan's tear.

Albert
(almost overcome by his feelings).
But Albert—

Osorio.
Ha! it chokes thee in the throat,
Even thee! and yet, I pray thee, speak it out.
Still Albert! Albert! Howl it in mine ear!
Heap it, like coals of fire, upon my heart!
And shoot it hissing through my brain!

Albert.
Alas—
That day, when thou didst leap from off the rock
Into the waves, and grasp'd thy sinking brother,
And bore him to the strand, then, son of Velez!
How sweet and musical the name of Albert!
Then, then, Osorio! he was dear to thee,
And thou wert dear to him. Heaven only knows
How very dear thou wert! Why didst thou hate him?
O Heaven! how he would fall upon thy neck,
And weep forgiveness!

Osorio.
Spirit of the dead!
Methinks I know thee! Ha!—my brain turns wild
At its own dreams—off—off, fantastic shadow!

Albert
(seizing his hand).
I fain would tell thee what I am, but dare not!

Osorio
(retiring from him).
Cheat, villain, traitor! whatsoe'er thou be
I fear thee, man!
[He starts, and stands in the attitude of listening.
And is this too my madness?

Albert.
It is the step of one that treads in fear
Seeking to cheat the echo.

Osorio.
It approaches—
This nook shall hide me.

[Maria enters from a plank which slips to and fro.
Maria.
I have put aside
The customs and the terrors of a woman,
To work out thy escape. Stranger! begone,
And only tell me what thou know'st of Albert.

[Albert takes her portrait from his neck, and gives it her with unutterable tenderness.
Albert.
Maria! my Maria!

Maria.
Do not mock me.
This is my face—and thou—ha! who art thou?
Nay, I will call thee Albert!

[She falls upon his neck. Osorio leaps out from the nook with frantic wildness, and rushes towards Albert with his sword. Maria gazes at him, as one helpless with terror, then leaves Albert, and flings herself upon Osorio, arresting his arm.
Maria.
Madman, stop!

Albert
(with majesty and tenderness).
Does then this thin disguise impenetrably
Hide Albert from thee? Toil and painful wounds,
And long imprisonment in unwholesome dungeons,
Have marr'd perhaps all trace and lineament
Of what I was! But chiefly, chiefly, brother!
My anguish for thy guilt. Spotless Maria,
I thought thee guilty too! Osorio, brother!
Nay, nay, thou shalt embrace me!

Osorio
(drawing back and gazing at Albert with a countenance expressive at once of awe and terror).
Touch me not!
Touch not pollution, Albert!—I will die!

[He attempts to fall on his sword. Albert and Maria struggle with him.
Albert.
We will invent some tale to save your honour.
Live, live, Osorio!

Maria.
You may yet be happy.

Osorio
(looking at Maria).
O horror! Not a thousand years in heaven
Could recompose this miserable heart,
Or make it capable of one brief joy.
Live! live!—why yes! 'Twere well to live with you—
For is it fit a villain should be proud?
My brother! I will kneel to you, my brother!
[Throws himself at Albert's feet.
Forgive me, Albert!—Curse me with forgiveness!

Albert.
Call back thy soul, my brother! and look round thee.
Now is the time for greatness. Think that Heaven—

Maria.
O mark his eye! he hears not what you say.

Osorio
(pointing at vacancy).
Yes, mark his eye! there's fascination in it.
Thou said'st thou didst not know him. That is he!
He comes upon me!

Albert
(lifting his eye to heaven).
Heal, O heal him, Heaven!

Osorio.
Nearer and nearer! And I cannot stir!
Will no one hear these stifled groans, and wake me?
He would have died to save me, and I kill'd him—
A husband and a father!

Maria.
Some secret poison
Drinks up his spirit!

Osorio
(fiercely recollecting himself).
Let the eternal Justice
Prepare my punishment in the obscure world.
I will not bear to live—to live! O agony!
And be myself alone, my own sore torment!

[The doors of the dungeon are burst open with a crash. Alhadra, Maurice, and the band of Morescoes enter.
Alhadra
(pointing at Osorio).
Seize first that man!

[The Moors press round.
Albert
(rushing in among them).
Draw thy sword, Maurice, and defend my brother.

[A scuffle, during which they disarm Maurice.
Osorio.
Off, ruffians! I have flung away my sword.
Woman, my life is thine! to thee I give it.
Off! he that touches me with his hand of flesh,
I'll rend his limbs asunder! I have strength
With this bare arm to scatter you like ashes!

Alhadra.
My husband—

Osorio.
Yes! I murder'd him most foully.

Albert
(throws himself on the earth).
O horrible!

Alhadra.
Why didst thou leave his children?
Demon! thou shouldst have sent thy dogs of hell
To lap their blood. Then, then, I might have harden'd
My soul in misery, and have had comfort.
I would have stood far off, quiet tho' dark,
And bade the race of men raise up a mourning
For the deep horror of a desolation
Too great to be one soul's particular lot!
Brother of Zagri! let me lean upon thee.
[Struggling to suppress her anguish.
The time is not yet come for woman's anguish—
I have not seen his blood. Within an hour
Those little ones will crowd around and ask me,
Where is our father?
[Looks at Osorio.
I shall curse thee then!
Wert thou in heaven, my curse would pluck thee thence!

Maria.
See—see! he doth repent. I kneel to thee.
Be merciful!

[Maria kneels to her. Alhadra regards her face wistfully.
Alhadra.
Thou art young and innocent;
'Twere merciful to kill thee! Yet I will not.
And for thy sake none of this house shall perish,
Save only he.

Maria.
That aged man, his father!

Alhadra
(sternly).
Why had he such a son?

[The Moors press on.
Maria
(still kneeling, and wild with affright).
Yet spare his life!
They must not murder him!

Alhadra.
And is it then
An enviable lot to waste away
With inward wounds, and like the spirit of chaos
To wander on disquietly thro' the earth,
Cursing all lovely things? to let him live—
It were a deep revenge!

All the band cry out
—No mercy! no mercy!

[Naomi advances with the sword towards Osorio.
Alhadra.
Nay, bear him forth! Why should this innocent maid
Behold the ugliness of death?

Osorio
(with great majesty).
O woman!
I have stood silent like a slave before thee,
That I might taste the wormwood and the gall,
And satiate this self-accusing spirit
With bitterer agonies than death can give.

[The Moors gather round him in a crowd, and pass off the stage.
Alhadra.
I thank thee, Heaven! thou hast ordain'd it wisely,
That still extremes bring their own cure. That point
In misery which makes the oppressed man
Regardless of his own life, makes him too
Lord of the oppressor's! Knew I an hundred men
Despairing, but not palsied by despair,
This arm should shake the kingdoms of this world;
The deep foundations of iniquity
Should sink away, earth groaning from beneath them;
The strong holds of the cruel men should fall,
Their temples and their mountainous towers should fall;
Till desolation seem'd a beautiful thing,
And all that were and had the spirit of life
Sang a new song to him who had gone forth
Conquering and still to conquer!