University of Virginia Library

3. PART III.

CIPRIANO, coming out of a grot.
CIPRIANO.
The blissful day; the happy day at last
Has shone upon my hopes. O cruel maid,
This day my sighs shall cease, my love be paid
With sweet oblivion of my sorrows past.
This day, I swear, thy proud disdain shall quell,
And break the bond of thy enchanting spell.
This lofty mount,—its crested peak that rears
So high, as seems to touch the starry spheres;
This gloomy, dark, and melancholy cave
Of living souls, so long a horrid grave;
The rugged school have been, wherein I've learnt
Of magic art enough, with modest front,
To say, my master now might lessons take
From me; so great the progress I did make.
This day fulfils the space the glowing sun
From sphere to sphere his yearly course does run.
And I my prison leave to seek the light,
And trial make of my most skilful might.
Ye heavens pure—serenely fair—attend
To my enchanting art's most wond'rous end.
Ye gently sighing winds, your flight arrest,
And be my learned words by you confess'd.
Thou huge destroying rock, with wonder quake,
When, with my thund'ring sounds, the air I shake.
Ye stubborn trunks, with verdant foliage clad,
With horror shudder at my groans so sad.
Ye plants that bloom with nature's fairest glow,
When rise my plaintive notes, your terror shew.
Ye tuneful birds, whose notes the woods adore,
Behold with awe my deep and mystic lore.
Ye savage brutes, that roam abroad at will,
The first proofs see of my astounding skill.
And ye will know 'twas not with study vain,
Cipriano sought the mystic art to gain!
Enter MISALETHES.
Cipriano!

CIPRIANO.
O 'tis my preceptor wise.

MISALETHES.
This conduct, sir, your promises belies;
For what end, I ask, with so little grace,
You dare to view the sun's all shining face?

CIPRIANO.
I thought I knew enough to frighten hell
With all my art. Methinks you cannot tell
Which knows the most, or I, or you.
For in my studies I such care did shew,
There's not of all the craft one single part
That I've not reach'd with industry and art.
In necromantic lore I so excel,
And trace its dark and mystic lines so well,
That I can cause the horrid graves to gape,
And yield their tenants to my magic charms,
Whose hideous ghastly air and fleshless shape
The stingy earth confines within her arms.
And since the sun has now fulfill'd the age
For which my soul and life I did engage;
Around whose orb, though strange it may appear,
The world the fated period of a year
Has roll'd; this day in bliss I will rejoice,
And bring the maiden to my luring voice.
This day the fair, divine Justina's charms
I'll oft and oft enfold within my arms.—
—No longer can my hopes delay withstand!

MISALETHES.
Nor otherwise to you do I command,
Since 'tis your wish. Now trace upon the earth
Mysterious words, and to the winds send forth,
With subtlety and skill, your mystic art,
And love's success will gratify your heart.

CIPRIANO.
Then to a lonely spot I will retire,
And cause the skies my science to admire.

[Exit.
MISALETHES.
Full licence you have got from me. My skill
And thine, have taught that hell's inclement will,
Invoked by thee,—Justina as thy cause,—
For me will yield obedience to thy laws.
For though I can't the human will subdue,
Such strange delights 'tis mine the soul to shew,
That if I cannot force, I can the mind
Seduce and lure, these burning joys to find.

Enter CLARIN.
CLARIN.
Ungrateful maid! not Libia warm, but cold.
The time is come when I do hope to know
If true thy love, and if with forehead bold
Thy modest chastity was all mere show.
The art of magic I have learnt so well,
That I will try, ah me! to make it tell
If thou hast play'd me false. Ye wat'ry skies,
(Pure, some one said,) receive my plaintive sighs.
Ye mounts—

MISALETHES.
Hollo, Clarin; what meaneth this?

CLARIN.
O learned master, company like yours
Has made me learn so many mysteries!
And since this art the truth of things assures,
I now do wish discovery to make
If Libia any liberties did take
Upon that fatal day that was my turn.

MISALETHES.
This folly cease, and go thy lord attend
Those cliffs among; go, if thy heart does burn
To witness how his enterprise will end.—
I fain would be alone.

CLARIN.
Not I indeed;
For of your company I feel the need.
And since I've not deserved your art to learn,
By promise writing with my body's blood,
Upon this kerchief now (more cleanly worn
It could not be by one who weeps a flood
A-day) I'll write; and with some lusty blows,
If you're agreed, I'll draw it from my nose.
It matters not, and you'll not think it harm,
If from my nose I draw it, or my arm?
[He draws blood, and writes with his fingers.
The mighty Clarin, I, do swear and say,
My soul to the devil I'll give away,
If Libia I but see......

MISALETHES.
Now hence, begone,
And join your master, who is all alone.

CLARIN.
Don't lose your temper, sir, for I will go.
Since you refuse to take my signature,
And you so little heed to keep me shew,
It's sign of me already you've made sure.

[Exit.
MISALETHES.
Up, up from your caves, ye dark spirits of hell,
Up, up, from your depths of despair.
Ye prisons terrific, where horrors do dwell,
Your wantons give up to the air.
Justina, your victim, that fortress reduce
And destroy, so virgin and chaste;
To the winds let thousands of fantasies loose,
To lay her in ruins and waste.
Her innocent heart with sweet harmony fill,
And all that to love can provoke;
Birds, flowers, and plants, their sweet poison instil,
And plaintively sing of love's yoke.
Let naught strike her ears but love's tenderest sighs.
Let naught but love drooping appear to her eyes.
For Justina this day, her faith must find vain,
And fly to the arms of her passionate swain.
Cipriano will summon, and she shall obey,
For him have I taught an infallible way.
Then up, ye spirits of hell, ye motley throng,
And I will be silent, till ended your song.

A VOICE.
What bliss in this life is the sweetest of all?

VOICES.
'Tis love! 'tis love!

Enter JUSTINA, running into her room.
A VOICE.
Oh, 'tis love with his fire,
All mortals for ever will burn and inthral,
And inflame them with the sweetest desire.
The heart of a man is love's warmest abode,
And keener his flame than where it took birth.
Things animate only know love's blissful road,
Birds—flowers—and trees, to know it are worth.
Then tell me what bliss is the sweetest of all?

VOICES ALL.
'Tis love! 'tis love!

JUSTINA.
Can this delusion be,
That all my weary thoughts can thus appal?
When, oh when, my heart, did I give cause to thee
To grieve me thus with such affliction deep?
How comes this fire that makes my cheeks to glow,
That o'er my trembling frame at times will creep,
And make my blood so rapidly to flow?

VOICES.
'Tis love! 'tis love!

JUSTINA.
Yon am'rous nightingale
It is that answer sends with swelling throat,
That constant charms his partner of the vale,
That ever near does catch the thrilling note.
Cease, cease, thou nightingale, thy song is vain;
All plaintive though it be, it never can
Persuade my heart, that melancholy strain,
Love's flame burns stronger in the heart of man.
Or comes response from yonder wanton vine,
That seeks the sturdy oak to be its friend;
Around whose trunk its laughing tendrils twine,
Till with their verdant weight to earth they bend?
'Tis all in vain thy green embraces try,
O vine! to make me think thou knowest love.
If tendrils thus embrace, I'll doubt the tie;
And arms their constancy no better prove.
And if 'tis not the vine, yon plant perforce
It is, that face to face the sun does stare,
And follows ever in his radiant course.
But oh, to droop and fade in sad despair!
My heavy heart, what will it think to see
That leaves their tears can weep—the eyes as well?
Then cease, O nightingale thy notes to me.
Unclasp thy arms, such hollow love that tell
Thou spreading vine. Thou constant flower, stay,
And tell what poison 'tis ye use; O say—

VOICES.
'Tis love! 'tis love!

JUSTINA.
'Tis love? For whom I pray,
This love I ever felt? your songs all idle are.
Did I not send my suitors three away,
With cold disdain, their longing hopes to mar?
Did I not Lelio treat with proud contempt?
To Floro did I not my hatred shew?
And Cipriano. .... He was not exempt
[She hesitates.
From cold and harsh neglect, that made him go
To whither none can tell. Alas! poor me.
I now begin to think I see the cause
That makes my heart so boldly beat less free.
For when I say he's gone,—I needs must pause.
Alas! I cannot tell, I cannot know
What grief it is my throbbing heart does feel.
'Twas pity sure, my tender heart did shew,
[She becomes calmer.
To see a hapless youth himself conceal,
And all for me his fame and books forget.
And I such cause should give to make him sad.
But if this pity was—the same regret
[She becomes uneasy again.
For Floro and Lelio I might have had.
For both these youths in gloomy prison pine,
Bereft for me of their sweet liberty.
Stay my tongue; too much thou dost incline
To speak. Well then, if it but pity be,
Let it but pity be; but you will speak
Such lengths, my tongue,—I cannot swear ....
The hapless youth I would not straightway seek,
If I but knew .... alas! .... to find him where. ...

MISALETHES appears.
MISALETHES.
Come, and I'll shew thee.

JUSTINA.
Who are you that's made
This bold intrusion here, though all be lock'd?
Art thou a monster, man—a haunting shade
That thus my wand'ring mind with fear has shock'd?

MISALETHES.
Not so. But I am one, that mov'd to hear
How deeply love has bound and quell'd your heart,
This day did promise make to bring you near
To where Cipriano long has liv'd apart
From thee.

JUSTINA.
Your promise then is all in vain.
Although imagination, I avow,
And passion, caus'd me feel this burning pain;
I have a will to nothing that will bow.

MISALETHES.
You've thought upon't, and that's one half the deed.
And sin is always sin, the world all o'er;
For when half-way you've gone, it is agreed
The will must on, and travel back no more.

JUSTINA.
Your arguments are vain to shake my soul,
Though thoughts I had; for though 'tis clear, to think
Is to begin, I can't my thoughts control.
But from a deed I have the force to shrink.
To follow you, I both must rise and walk,
And there, my will your purposes can balk
For one thing is to do—one thing to talk.

MISALETHES.
If science from a world unknown to thee,
Could force thy charms to yield its power to;
How could Justina then victorious be?
Since such its might, it lures the mind to do
Whate'er it likes; though inclination's ill.

JUSTINA.
My aid I'd seek and find in my free will.

MISALETHES.
I grieve to say your will might forced be.

JUSTINA.
If so, free will it would not seem to me.

MISALETHES.
O come where sweetest joys await thee, maid!

[He tries to drag her away.
JUSTINA.
To know such joys as those I am afraid.

MISALETHES.
They're joys, the soul that lull to sweet repose.

JUSTINA.
Captivity unjust.

MISALETHES.
No heart that knows
Such bliss supreme!

JUSTINA.
'Tis wo of darkest hue.

MISALETHES.
How canst defend thyself? What canst thou do,
If I my might employ to drag thee hence?

[He tries to drag her.
JUSTINA.
On God, I call, who is my sole defence!

[He releases her.
MISALETHES.
Woman, thou hast conquer'd; conquer'd me!
But since thy God has thus protected thee,
My frantic wrath, my boiling rage shall know
How yet thine image feign'd to send and shew,
Since real I can't. A spirit thou shalt see,
This fiendish purpose sole to execute,
Shall picture on thy form's reality,
That fame shall say itself it did pollute.
Disfam'd thy life shall be; and I do hope
To my revengeful hate to give such scope;
Two triumphs I will have: thine honour gone,
Because thy virtue is offence, be one;
And I will make the other be a joy,
Albeit false—a crime without alloy.

[Exit.
JUSTINA.
For this offence, to God I do appeal,
That Heaven may protect my honest name,
And banish all appearance may reveal
Against my innocence; no less than flame
The winds do chase, the frosts the flowers kill,
You I defy. O God! am I awake?
Did I this room with words unmeaning fill?
Was there not here a man to whom I spake?
There was.—It cannot be, for I'm alone.
No—yes—but it must be. I saw him there!
But then so quickly how can he be gone?
Or did I see some spirit of the air?
Perils dark above me hang: Lysander,
My father, come; O my brains do wander!

Enter LIBIA and LYSANDER.
LYSANDER.
What is the matter, say?

LIBIA.
What can it mean?

JUSTINA.
Did you not see a man who here has been
Just now? Ah me! I will distracted go.

LYSANDER.
A man here?

JUSTINA.
You saw him not?

LIBIA.
Madam, no.

JUSTINA.
But I saw him.

LYSANDER.
Justina, you must err;
For all the doors, you know, well closed were.

LIBIA
(aside).
O heaven! could it by any chance have been
Mosco that in my room is lock'd, she's seen?

LYSANDER.
This man, no doubt a shadow was your mind
Did form; your heart so lately has repin'd
And dwelt on thoughts that gnaw the soul away,
That you have seen this phantom in your way.

LIBIA.
My master's right.

JUSTINA.
'Twas no delusion sooth,
And I suspect it is a mournful truth;
For I do feel within my breast that grief
That rends my heart, and seeks, in vain, relief.
There is some mortal art, whose magic spell
Enchantment tries my stubborn will to quell.
This magic charm so potent might have been,
That, but for God, myself I might have seen
In sin; and would have gone to meet it hence,
Had he not interposed his kind defence;
My humble innocence he does protect,
And on my name he'd let no sin reflect.
Libia, my veil I pray,—for I must go
And meekly kneel, where I may ease my wo,
Where sons of Christ a sacred altar rais'd,
And secretly God's wond'rous works are prais'd.

LIBIA.
My lady, here's your veil.

JUSTINA.
And there the flame
Shall quenched be that thus consumes my frame.

LYSANDER.
With thee I'll go, Justina.

LIBIA
(aside).
When they're gone
I'll freely breathe, to see myself alone.

JUSTINA.
That aid and comfort may to me be given,
I place my trust and hope in thee, O heaven!

LYSANDER.
Then let us hence.

JUSTINA.
The cause is thine, O Lord,
Then give protection and thy help accord.

[Exeunt.
Enter MOSCO, from his hiding place.
MOSCO.
Are they gone?

LIBIA.
Yes.

MOSCO.
I never felt such fright.

LIBIA.
How could you dare to come before their sight?

MOSCO.
Why faith, my Libia dear, with best of grace,
I'll swear I never left my hiding place.

LIBIA.
Then who could have alarm'd Justina so?

MOSCO.
The devil's self perhaps for all I know;
But don't be angry, love, no harm did come;
I'm sure you need not look so cross and glum.

LIBIA.
It isn't that.

MOSCO.
Then say, what can it be?

LIBIA.
What a question! a day you've been with me,
And you have been so blind as not to see
Poor Clarin's been the cause of grief like this,
And that I weep for one that absent is?
And did I not shed tears all yesterday?
And must bad tongues have it of me to say,
That I, good easy woman, did forget
In one half year, without the least regret,
The mutual love that I myself confess'd
Sincerely I did feel within my breast?

MOSCO.
A fiddlestick, I say, with your half year.
'Tis twice as long he's gone—or very near.

LIBIA.
You're wrong; I cannot count the days
I did not love him; and my reason says,
That if you had one half the year; ah me!
To count the whole to him unjust would be.

MOSCO.
Ungrateful thing! when I did think your will
Was all my own, you count of pity still?

LIBIA.
Mosco, I do; for good accounts and sense
You know are ever friendship's best defence.

MOSCO.
Then since your constancy is such, adieu;
And when to-morrow comes to me be true.
And all I ask, that you, who've caus'd this ague,
Won't cut it short, or with my ghost I'll plague you.

LIBIA.
Then you're convinc'd it's not hypocrisy?

MOSCO.
Yes, I am.

LIBIA.
Then your face I must not see
Again to-day; so off, and say no more;
But come to-morrow without being sent for.

Enter CIPRIANO, looking amazed, and CLARIN, as if eaves-dropping.
CIPRIANO.
The twinkling troops that deck the azure sky,
Do they my mystic influence deny?
Have they rebell'd, united to oppose
The toil of days that never knew repose?
The dark abyss of Hell, its fiendish hordes,
Has it combin'd to mock my magic words?
In conclave met in their abode below,
Obedience they refuse to me they owe?
A thousand times and more the air will shake
And echo with the sound my words do make.
A thousand times and more upon the sand
Dark mystic words I trace with skilful hand;
But all in vain I seek with greedy eyes,
That human sun, that marvel of the skies,
I long to press within my arms.

CLARIN.
What then;
If I a thousand times and more in vain
Make drawings on the ground with skilful fingers;
And with my lusty voice the air I shake?
I nothing get for it, it will not take;
For still behind my darling Libia lingers.

CIPRIANO.
Once more I'll try the power of my charms.
Justina, hark! and come to my fond arms.

The Image of JUSTINA appears.
IMAGE.
Thy words I've heard, whose luring magic spell
My will has forc'd to seek this lonely dell.
What is't ye want, what is't? Cipriano, say.

CIPRIANO.
I'm all confus'd, my wits are fled away.

IMAGE.
And since I'm come.....

CIPRIANO.
All troubl'd is my heart.

IMAGE.
By thee invok'd. ...

CIPRIANO.
With horror I do start!

IMAGE.
To whither love did call.....

CIPRIANO.
I pause with awe.

IMAGE.
And since I have obey'd thy magic law,
From hence, and from thy sight I fly away.

[She veils herself and goes.
CIPRIANO.
Oh, go not yet, Justina, sweetest, stay.
But why amaz'd do I thus stand and rave?
I'll follow her, and in this mountain's cave,
Where I have brought her with my science keen,
My bridal couch shall be the leafy scene,
Of all that love most wond'rous ever saw.

CLARIN.
Strange woman this, to call herself a bride!
And smell so strong of smoke; for sure her paw
The ashes must have rak'd, and cook'd a side
Of meat, when she was caught by magic art.
But no; of kitchens veils don't form a part.
I've hit it now: a maiden in this plight,
If she be honest, sure will smell with fright.
He's caught her now, and in yon shady dell
I see the maiden struggling wond'rous well.
And now he holds her fast within his arms.
(I think my master's wrong to force her charms.)
They're coming back—I'll watch and see the fun,
And learn how in this world these things are done.

CIPRIANO appears, dragging JUSTINA'S Image.
CIPRIANO.
Justina fair, beneath these spreading trees,
Whose foliage mocks the sun's refulgent rays,
And bids defiance to the passing breeze;
Thy beauty now my magic toil repays.
To clasp thee to my heart all fear I lost,
And sold my soul for thee, Justina sweet—
But since I've toil'd so much, no great the cost
My soul could have,—such perils great to meet!
O now thy veil withdraw, thou maid divine.
Behind that cloud so dark,—that cloud so gray,
O force not thus the glowing sun to shine,
But shew its blushing beams to wond'ring day.
[He withdraws her veil, and sees a corpse.
O heavens, what is this? a corpse behold!
A clammy corpse my loving arms did fold!
O who could thus the bloom of youth have chang'd,
And all its purple hues so wan have made—
Such features fair so suddenly derang'd?

IMAGE.
'Tis thus the glories of this world do fade,
Cipriano!

Image disappears, CLARIN comes running, and strikes against CIPRIANO.
CLARIN.
I have fear enough to spare
For any one that has not got his share.

CIPRIANO.
Hold, stay—thou shade earth's yawning prison sends,
I seek to know thee now for other ends.

CLARIN.
That I'm a shade, my looks can't make you guess?

CIPRIANO.
Who're you?

CLARIN.
I feel so queer, I must confess,
That though myself I know, my doubts I have.

CIPRIANO.
Athwart the atoms of the atmosphere,
Or deep within this centre's gloomy grave;
Didst see a form sepulchral disappear,
That brought the pomp of beauty's brightest glow,
And then mere dust and clay itself did shew?

CLARIN.
Have you found out at last the custom bad
Of prying into things I've always had?

CIPRIANO.
What came of it?

CLARIN.
It vanish'd on the spot.

CIPRIANO.
Then let us seek it.

CLARIN.
No, I'm sure I'll not.

CIPRIANO.
My doubting mind must undeceived be.

CLARIN.
I've seen enough, and wish no more to see.

Enter MISALETHES, as if unaware of CIPRIANO'S presence.
MISALETHES.
O heaven just! if, when a spirit pure,
My science and my favour both were sure,
And you your favour took, but science left;
How is it now ye so unjust become,
And make me feel of science use bereft?

CIPRIANO.
Lucifer, is that you that hither roam?

CLARIN.
O master, do not call him: I surmise
It is the corpse that's come in new disguise.

MISALETHES.
What want ye?

CIPRIANO.
Ransom give, and chase away
These horrors dark that on my mind do prey.

CLARIN.
I want no ransom, faith; I'll step aside,
And from this fellow I myself will hide.

[Exit.
CIPRIANO.
The earth my thund'ring accents scarce did feel,
When, lo! I saw Justina's form reveal
Its blushing beauties to my longing eyes.
But I must pause, my tongue the task denies—
But you know all,—she came to my embrace,
And when the veil I drew that hid her face,
A sight .... before me stood; .... that beauty rare,
A corpse .... transform'd to death's most ghastly stare.
And statue like thus spoke the alter'd maid:—
“'Tis thus the glories of this world do fade,
Cipriano!” Oh, tis horrid to relate!
And I cannot withstand these wonders great.
The magic art to me you did explain—
Did not deceive; of that I don't complain.
I us'd such skill; nor did my tracing fail
Of letters dark; nor sounds that shook this vale,
When I my mortal art essay'd. Then you,
Therefore, have play'd me false, with things untrue;
For when I hope to see, with fever'd mind,
This maiden fair, a phantom I do find.

MISALETHES.
The fault I know, Cipriano, was not thine;
But you must know the fault was neither mine:
For you:—we'll say you work'd with wondrous skill—
For me:—my craft I taught with right good-will.
A greater art was cause of this sad blunder,
That made your hair to stand with fear and wonder.
But heed it not, your rest I will procure,
And make you of Justina master sure.
By other means I'll do't, more safe and true.

CIPRIANO.
I'll hear no more, for I my bargain rue.
Your science I disown, that gives such fright,
And awes the soul with such a ghastly sight.
You now must know, since you have fail'd to do
What this my love did promise get from you,
That what I wish, is from your sight to fly.
My written bond to me restore, whereby
Unfairly you obtain'd my freedom full;
For this your fraud has made the bargain null.

MISALETHES.
I promise made my mystic art to shew,
Whereby with study you would learn to know
How you might bend the fair Justina's will,
And cause the winds to waft her to this hill;
Justina, call'd by thee, has hither crept.
The bargain's good, and I my word have kept.

CIPRIANO.
You promis'd me my love I would enjoy,
Whereon my heart with hope so long has fed.

MISALETHES.
To shew you science which, if you'd employ,
The girl would come to you: that's all I said.

CIPRIANO.
Not so; you said the maiden you would give.

MISALETHES.
I saw her in your arms as I do live.
I'll swear it's true.

CIPRIANO.
It was a spectral shade.

MISALETHES.
A miracle!

CIPRIANO.
By whom could it be done?

MISALETHES.
By him that loves the girl, and gives her aid.

CIPRIANO.
And who is he?

MISALETHES
(trembling).
I cannot tell the one.

CIPRIANO.
Your art I'll use your very self against.
Oh, tell me why to say it thou refrain'st?
Who can it be?

MISALETHES.
A god; Justina's guide.

CIPRIANO.
A god? I thought they fill'd the heavens wide.

MISALETHES.
He rules, and over all he has command.

CIPRIANO.
Then one, he sure must be, if with his hand
He can perform much greater works than all?

MISALETHES.
I nothing know, nothing.

CIPRIANO.
My written bond
I then heed not; and on thee I do call,
In that God's name my question to respond.
What caus'd him thus Justina to protect?

MISALETHES.
He wish'd no stain upon her name reflect.

CIPRIANO.
Then this all goodness is; since he no stain
Will suffer her to know. But it is plain,
If she concealed came within this cave,
She would her honour and her virtue save?

MISALETHES.
Not she indeed: if but that foul-tongu'd set,
The world—the slightest hint of it could get.

CIPRIANO.
This God must surely be all-seeing then,
Since future wrongs he could so well foresee.
But could not you so far your science strain,
To make him yield to you, and vanquish'd be?

MISALETHES.
No, no, indeed; his power is too great.

CIPRIANO.
If so, this God must be all-powerful,
Since all he wish'd he did—though it had weight
So vast. But will you tell my senses dull
Who is this God, in whom to-day I've found
Such goodness and such power great combin'd?
Whose eyes, all-seeing, pierce through every bound?
For years I've tried to know, with longing mind;
But vain have been my toils.

MISALETHES
(faltering).
I cannot say.

CIPRIANO.
Speak; I bid thee.

MISALETHES.
I shudder at the name.
The God of Christians 'tis!

CIPRIANO.
Now tell, I pray;
What rous'd his wrath 'gainst me? Was I to blame
For aught?

MISALETHES.
No, but because Justina's one.

CIPRIANO.
Then does he so protect his children true?

MISALETHES.
Yes, yes—but better leave this talk alone.
You cannot have with things like these to do.
You try too late to find this God; and since
I see your stubborn mind I must convince;
You've made yourself my slave, I say again.
His subject then you cannot be; that's plain.

CIPRIANO.
Your slave! I?

MISALETHES.
Yes: I've got your written word.

CIPRIANO.
I'll have it back, 'twas all conditional.
I'll have it back.

MISALETHES.
How?

CIPRIANO.
Thus.

[He draws his sword and lunges at him.
MISALETHES.
Your temper'd sword
Against me though you've drawn, does harmless fall,
Despite your foaming rage. I'll tell you now
A word will make your haughty head to bow.
Now hark; since you have shewn yourself so civil,
Your master is no other than the devil.

CIPRIANO.
Eh! what?

MISALETHES.
Your master and the devil I!

CIPRIANO.
My soul with horror you do terrify.

MISALETHES.
And now you know a slave you are, and whose.

CIPRIANO.
What! for the devil I my soul did lose?
What! I obey a master so unjust?

MISALETHES.
Your soul you gave, then be convinc'd you must.
'Tis ever mine.

CIPRIANO.
What! then I have no hope?
No guide—defence—resource—this heavy sin
To blot?

MISALETHES.
None! none!

CIPRIANO.
'Tis useless then to cope
With fate; why pause ... this blade to plunge within
My heart, that idle in my hand remains,
And end myself at once my mortal woes?
But I do rave; ... who sav'd Justina pains,
'Twixt sin and me himself might interpose?
Has he not got the power?

MISALETHES.
He does not give
His aid to those that sin; to virtue, yes.

CIPRIANO.
But if all-powerful he is, forgive
As well as recompense surely he can?

MISALETHES.
Distress
Yourself no more. He will give recompense
To virtue; but will punish sin's offence.

CIPRIANO.
But him that for his sins is penitent,
No one would surely meet with punishment.
And truly I repent.

MISALETHES.
You are my slave,
And cannot thus another master have.

CIPRIANO.
That, I doubt.

MISALETHES.
What? your bond within my might,
Which with your very blood you did indite?

CIPRIANO.
Him, that all-power is, and all above,
My sad misfortunes will to pity move,
And them he will oppose.

MISALETHES.
How can he, pray?

CIPRIANO.
He sees all things, and knows the fittest way.

MISALETHES.
And so do I.

CIPRIANO.
His might can break my chains.

MISALETHES.
My arms shall sooner close thy mortal pains.

[They struggle.
CIPRIANO.
Great God of Christians! I to Thee appeal,
To succour give, and my sad woes to heal!

[He dashes MISALETHES from him.
MISALETHES.
That God has saved your life.

CIPRIANO.
He will do more;
For him I seek in my misfortunes sore.

[Exeunt, each his way.
Enter GOVERNOR, FABIO, and retinue.
GOVERNOR.
How did you arrest them?

FABIO.
I caught the set
Conceal'd within their fane, where they had met
Their God to venerate in prayer profound.
With armed men the house I did surround,
And seiz'd them all; and dungeons separate
Their bodies hold,—until be seal'd their fate.
I've said; but now, to crown the deed and your desire,
I took likewise the fair Justina and her sire.

GOVERNOR.
What! Fabio, you that wealth and honours court,
You ask no recompense for such sweet news;
And treat it all as if 'twere idle sport?

FABIO.
Reward I ask, and you will not refuse
What I demand of you.

GOVERNOR.
I'm nothing loath
To grant it; speak.

FABIO.
Floro and Lelio both
In prison still do pine; their pardon grant.

GOVERNOR.
Though rigour I did shew, 'twas all mere cant.
I merely wish'd to make this city think,
That I from justice fair could never shrink.
But quite a diff'rent reason did incline
My mind these youths in prison to confine.
Lelio, my son, I thought it wise to screen
From harm. And Floro, his competitor,
Has potent friends; and as I knew between
The two bad feeling dwelt; and, as before,
They would return to strife and deadly feud;
Until the cause of both I could exclude,
I hesitated so. With this intent,
A reason why Justina might be sent
Away, I sought; but none could ever find.
But now it's prov'd her virtue's all behind
A mask conceal'd. The girl from hence away
Not only can I send, but make her pay
Her life for this offence. Then off with speed,
And Lelio and Floro both hither lead.

FABIO.
Your feet, my lord, a thousand times I kiss,
For mercy great that grants a boon like this.

[Exit.
GOVERNOR.
Justina I now hold both tight and fast
A prisoner, and guilty found, at last.
Then let her yield her life in sad despair
Upon the bloody scaffold high—Ho, there!
[To his followers.
I bid ye bring Justina here; her shame
This city great must publicly proclaim.
For if 'tis hid within a prison gate,
Her shame will lose its better half of weight.

Enter FABIO, LELIO, and FLORO.
FABIO.
My lord, you sent for both, and they are here.

LELIO.
My lord, 'tis not before a judge severe,
I wish like one who's guilty to appear;
But I am come, an all-repentant son,
To ask my sire's grace for what I've done.

FLORO.
And I surmise, my lord, I'm come in haste,
Of punishment I don't deserve to taste.
You sent for me, your eyes I'm now before,
And at your feet, your mercy I implore.

GOVERNOR.
Lelio and Floro, both: that I have shewn
Impartial law and justice, all must own.
And if, I being judge, did not chastise;
A father, not a judge, in Antioch's eyes
I would appear. But as I well do know,
In noble hearts, resentment is not slow
To die; and since your cause of hate is gone,
In friendship now, I make you both be one.
Now give your hands, and with a cordial shake,
Again the voice of friendship be awake;
Your feuds forget, and lasting union make.

LELIO.
I count myself in luck to be his friend,
And swear my love for him with life shall end.

FLORO.
The same, I swear; my hand and word I give.

GOVERNOR.
Then, on the strength of this, in freedom live.
In freedom mark; for when the mask I tear,
Of which your silly flames are unaware,
I doubt not ye will be completely free.

MISALETHES
(within).
He's mad! he's mad!

GOVERNOR.
What's this?

LELIO.
I'll go and see.

[He goes, and quickly returns.
GOVERNOR.
What can be cause within these palace walls
Of all this noise?

FLORO.
Some great event befalls.

LELIO.
Of all this noise, my lord, (most wond'rous rare!)
Cipriano's cause. All mad—with haggard air—
To Antioch return'd, from which he's been
So long away. Such sight I've never seen!

FLORO.
No doubt his subtle mind, with learning fed,
The hapless youth to such a state has led.

ALL
(within).
He's mad, seize him!

Enter CIPRIANO, his clothes torn, and looking wild and distracted.
CIPRIANO.
I never was so sound,
And you it is have lost your wits profound.

GOVERNOR.
Cipriano, what is this?

CIPRIANO.
O governor
Of Antioch, viceroy of Decius Cæsar;
Floro and Lelio both, my friends before,
So true and fast; and ye who nobles are;
Ye people great; I beg attention lend:
For to this place my footsteps I did bend
To speak unto you all. Cipriano, I,
For wit and learning once a prodigy;
When in the schools I shone, I caus'd amaze,
And at my skill all would with wonder gaze.
But all I got, as I have since found out,
Was nothing but a most perplexing doubt.
And with this doubt my mind but darkness knew,
When fair Justina met my wond'ring view;
I then the sage Minerva quick forsook,
And Venus' luring charms my senses took.
Her virtue gave dismissal to my love;
And I, with passion rous'd, all vainly strove
To win the maid. With quick impatience spent,
At last to opposite extremes I went.
A man the raging billows wreck'd, my aid
Implor'd, and him my friendly guest I made.
To bend Justina's will to my control,
To him I made an offer of my soul;
For love with hopes my heart did captivate;
And I for knowledge toil'd my flame to sate.
Within yon mountain I have dwelt so long
His pupil, living sciences among.
Such wond'rous knowledge I to him do owe,
Which he with skilful head and hand did shew,
That I can mountains move from place to place;
And though those marvels all I can perform,
My accents could not bring to my embrace
The beauty that within my heart this storm
Did raise. The reason why I could not curb
This prodigy of beauty rare, was this:—
A God who does protect the maid there is,
And none allows her honour to disturb.
This truth I feel; and I come here to make
Confession of this God; whom I conceive
All-powerful to be; whom I believe
Is goodness all and great! And I will shake
These palace walls with words that may proclaim
The God of Christian's most benignant name.
I am a slave of hell; and gave my bond
With blood-drops of my arm. But why despond,
Since I have hope a martyr's blood will blot
The deed away, and make it be forgot?
And now, since thou art judge; if Christian name
Thy heart with fierce and bloody hate inflame,—
A Christian I! A venerable sage
Upon that mount the glorious name did give,
With first of sacramental rite! Your rage
Why then delay? Why longer let me live?
Go quick, the headsman bring; that he my head
May sever from my neck, and leave me dead.
Or on the rack with torments fierce and new,
See evidence of constancy so true.
For I'm prepar'd a thousand deaths to die;
Since now I know, without the God I seek
With reverence and adoration meek,
All human things in dust and ashes lie!

[He swoons, and falls on his face.
GOVERNOR.
Thy boldness, Cipriano, such amaze
Has caus'd my wond'ring mind, that doubts I raise
Upon chastisement fit. We'll see. Come, rise.

[He kicks him.
FLORO.
He's swoon'd, and like a marble statue lies!

Enter JUSTINA a prisoner.
A SERVANT.
My lord, Justina is before your highness.

GOVERNOR.
Her countenance my eyes wish not to witness;
But with this prostrate lifeless block alone
Leave her; and let us all from hence begone.
Perchance they both, within one prison pent,
Upon each other's death will think with fear;
And of their sacrilege may yet repent.
Or if my gods to worship they forbear,
The fiercest racks that fiercest tortures give
Shall rend their limbs until they cease to live.

[Exit.
LELIO.
'Twixt love and awe my troubl'd senses reel!

[Exit.
FLORO.
I feel so much, I know not what I feel!

[Exit.
JUSTINA.
Ye all do go, and leave me thus alone?
When all content I am to yield my breath,
And long to kneel before my guardian's throne,
Why will ye thus delay my coming death?
[She goes after them, and sees CIPRIANO.
I see now why my latest hour ye stay;
Within these gloomy walls ye leave with me
A lifeless corpse, to cheer my dismal day,
And give sweet comfort to my misery!
O happy youth! who hast return'd to dust
From which thou camest first! O happy thou,
If but the faith in which I place my trust,
Has caus'd thee thus thy prostrate head to bow!

CIPRIANO
(reviving).
Proud monster! What!—Must I yet longer wait,
Ere I my breath do yield? Why hesitate?
He sees JUSTINA, and rises.
O heavens! Is not that Justina's face?

JUSTINA.
Can this Cipriano be my eyes behold?

CIPRIANO.
A phantom it must be, my brains do trace!

JUSTINA.
It cannot be! With fear I feel all cold!
The winds have sent this spectre to my view,
Which ever does my weary mind pursue!

CIPRIANO.
Thou shadow of my dreams!

JUSTINA.
Illusive shade,
That haunts my soul!

CIPRIANO.
Thou horror of my brain!

JUSTINA.
That's froze my blood with awe.

CIPRIANO.
What want ye, maid?

JUSTINA.
What wantest thou?

CIPRIANO.
Ye haunt me all in vain;
I call'd thee not!

JUSTINA.
I think on thee no more.
Why seekest me, oh, say?

CIPRIANO.
I do not seek
Thee, Justina.

JUSTINA.
Nor am I come before
Your eyes because you call'd on me.

CIPRIANO.
Then speak
Your cause of coming here.

JUSTINA.
In durance here,
I am; and you?

CIPRIANO.
I am a captive too.
But say, Justina;—you, from sin so clear,
What can you have with prison walls to do?

JUSTINA.
No crime of mine;—'twas hatred to Christ's faith,
Whom, as my God, I worship and adore!

CIPRIANO.
And so you ought, Justina, prove in death
Your love for One, such blessings that does pour
Upon your head, and guards you so. O pray
To him that He won't turn his head away
From my repentant prayers.

JUSTINA.
Your prayers he'll hear,
If you but pray to him with faith sincere.

CIPRIANO.
With faith sincere I call on him. But though
I trust in all his goodness so benign,
I fear my sins can never pardon know;
And on my head his mercy will not shine;
They are so heavy and so strange!

JUSTINA.
Have trust.

CIPRIANO.
My sins are numerous as specks of dust!

JUSTINA.
His many favours are more num'rous still.

CIPRIANO.
Then will he really pardon give?

JUSTINA.
He will.

CIPRIANO.
When to the devil I my soul did sell,
And for thy beauty's sake in sin I fell?

JUSTINA.
More stars not heaven boasts—more sand the sea—
More sparks the fire—the day more atoms—nor
Sail on the fleeting winds more plumes, than He
Does sins forgive.

CIPRIANO.
I am convinced; and for
This God a thousand times I'd die, and more.
Justina, hark! I hear them at the door.

Enter FABIO, with MOSCO, CLARIN, and LIBIA, as prisoners.
FABIO.
Get in there, and with your masters safe remain.

LIBIA.
If they Christians wish'd to be, are we to blame?

MOSCO.
Indeed we are; we poor servants can't complain.
Don't we serve? and don't that make it all the same?

CLARIN.
I fled from yonder mount as fast as I could run,
And 'scap'd one danger but to meet another one.

Enter a SERVANT.
SERVANT.
Aurelius, our great governor, demands
Justina and Cipriano both.

JUSTINA.
My hands
I raise aloft with joy, to think that this
Is signal of long-hop'd celestial bliss!
Cheer up, Cipriano.

CIPRIANO.
Faith, courage, and heart
Are mine. If I with liberty did part,
And pay for it with life, 'tis no great feat
That life to give to God, and calmly meet
My death, when I did give my soul for thee.

JUSTINA.
I said in death thou should'st be lov'd by me.
And now, Cipriano, since our God does will,
I die with thee, my promise I fulfil!

[Exeunt.
MOSCO, CLARIN, and LIBIA remain.
MOSCO.
How gladly they go to die!

LIBIA.
Much gladder we
Remain to live.

CLARIN.
Not much; we have a bone
To pick; and, though 'tis not a fitting place,
We'd better pick it now, and quick have done,
Lest late perchance we find it be the case.

MOSCO.
To pick what bone?

CLARIN.
I was a year entire
Absent.

LIBIA.
Oh, so you were!

CLARIN.
I say a year;
And Mosco all that year has been your squire;
And every day he's been your person near:
And now to settle things, and make them square,
Another year for me will be but fair.

LIBIA.
O Clarin, could you of me such things presume,
That I to thee could give offence?
O, did I not weep, and every day consume
My health in tears, at thy absence?
I mean to say, each day my duty 'twas to weep.

MOSCO.
And I'll bear witness to what Libia says, I do.
And every day was yours, my friendship made me keep
Myself within respectful bounds. I'll swear it's so.

CLARIN.
I don't believe a word you say—it's all a lie;
For when to-day I call'd, I saw her eyes were dry;
And you beside the girl were sitting at your ease.

LIBIA.
To-day was not my weeping day.

CLARIN.
It was, I say.
For if my recollection only rightly sees,
The very day was mine on which I went away.

LIBIA.
That's a mistake.

MOSCO.
The error now is clear,
It leap year was, and all the days were even.

CLARIN.
I'm satisfied; and man ought not be given
To prying deep. But what's the noise I hear?

Enter all, running in confusion.
LIBIA.
The house is tumbling down, I think.

MOSCO.
Something
Ominous it must be, this crash does bring.

GOVERNOR.
Unhing'd must be the fabric of the sky.

FABIO.
Justina and Cipriano scarce their breath
Had yielded on the bloody scaffold high,
When shook the earth, as if it felt the death.

LELIO.
A cloud, whose blazing breast does pregnant seem
With crashing thunder and the lightning's gleam,
And forms abortive like, more hideous yet;
Above us darkly broods, with low'ring threat.

FLORO.
From out its womb a monstrous shape appears;
A scaly serpent all deform'd to see;
That now itself upon the scaffold rears,
And beckons all to hark, and silent be.

MISALETHES
(upon the scaffold).
List, O mortals list, to heaven's behest;
For mine it is its mandates to obey.
Then list, whilst I to all make manifest
What I am bid for virtue's sake to say.
'Twas I, the fair Justina to disfame,
Did scale her house, and in her room was seen;
And I come here to save her honest name
From evil talk, and scandal foul to screen.
Justina's pure; Cipriano, once my slave,
And she now lie within the silent grave;
And with his blood, that with his life did flow,
Was blotted out the bond I did obtain
From him. The bloody words forthwith did go,
And on the kerchief white there is no stain.
Their souls, the starry spheres, I grieve to tell,
Are now within; where stands God's sacred throne,
And both in realms of happiness now dwell;
The truth it is I speak, and truth alone.
And if the truth I speak, it is because
I cannot disobey God's potent laws.
So little taught am I to say what is,
It cost my temper much to say all this.

MISALETHES vanishes.
LIBIA.
Oh, wonderful!

FLORO.
Confusion great and rare!

LIBIA.
Prodigious!

MOSCO.
Oh, it's ominous i' faith!

GOVERNOR.
It's all a trick of magic art to scare
Our souls he's play'd upon us after death.

FLORO.
I cannot doubt or credit what I see!

LELIO.
And I from doubtful thoughts do not feel free!

CLARIN.
Methinks that if magician it do prove,
It must have been the one that lives above.

MOSCO.
Then we will set aside, I vote, all doubt,
Our long and well-divided love about;
And beg this wonderful magician's grace,
Our many sins with kindness to efface.