The Two Lovers of Heaven : Chrysanthus and Daria A Drama of Early Christian Rome |
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Scene IV.
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 | The Two Lovers of Heaven : Chrysanthus and Daria |  |
Scene IV.
—A wilder part of the wood near the cave.(Enter Daria guided by the lion.)
Daria.
O mighty lion, whither am I led?
Where wouldst thou guide me with thy stately tread,
That seems to walk not on the earth, but air?
But lo! he has entered there
Where yonder cave its yawning mouth lays bare,
[The lion enters a cave.]
Leaving me here alone.
But now fate clears, and all will soon be known;
For if I read aright
The signs this desert gives unto my sight,
It is the very place whence echo gave
Responsive music from this mystic cave.
Terror and wonder both my senses scare,
Ah! whither shall I go?
Chrysanthus
(within).
Daria fair!
Daria.
Who calls my hapless name?
Each leaf that moves doth thrill this wretched frame
With boding and with dread.
But why say wretched? I had better said
Thrice blesséd: O great God whom I adore,
Baptize me in those tears that I outpour,
In no more fitting form can I declare
My faith and hope in thee.
Chrysanthus
(within).
Daria fair.
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Who calls my name? who wakes those wild alarms?
(Enter Chrysanthus.)
Chrysanthus.
Belovéd bride, 't is one to whom thy charms
Are even less dear than is thy soul, ah! me,
One who would live and who will die with thee.
Daria.
Belovéd spouse, my heart could not demand
Than thus to see thee near, to clasp thy hand,
A sweeter solace for my long dismay,
And all the awful wonders of this day.
Hear the surprising tale,
And thou wilt know ...
Voices
(within).
Search hill.
Others.
And plain.
Others.
And vale.
Chrysanthus.
Hush! the troops our flight pursuing
Have the forest precincts entered.
Daria.
What then shall I do, Chrysanthus?
Chrysanthus.
Keep thy faith, thy life surrender:—
Daria.
I a thousand lives would offer:
Since to God I'm so indebted
That I'll think myself too happy
If 't is given for Him.
Polemius
(within).
This centre
Of the mountain, whence the sun
Scarcely ever is reflected—
This dark cavern sure must hold them.
Let us penetrate its entrails,
So that here the twain may die.
Daria.
One thing only is regretted
By me, in my life thus losing,
I am not baptized.
Chrysanthus.
Reject then
That mistrust; in blood and fire
Martyrdom the rite effecteth:—
(Enter Polemius and Soldiers.)
Polemius.
Here, my soldiers, here they are,
And the hand that death presents them
Must be mine, that none may think
I a greater love could cherish
For my son than for my gods.
And as I desire, when wendeth
Hither great Numerianus,
That he find them dead, arrest them
On the spot, and fling them headlong
Into yonder cave whose centre
Is a fathomless abyss:—
And since one sole love cemented
Their two hearts in life, in death
In one sepulchre preserve them.
Chrysanthus.
Oh! how joyfully I die!
Daria.
And I also, since the sentence
Gives to me the full assurance
Of a happiness most certain
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Doth entomb me in its centre.
(They are cast into the abyss.)
Polemius.
Cover the pit's mouth with stones.
(A sudden storm of thunder and lightning: Enter Numerianus, Claudius, Aurelius, and others.
Numerianus.
What can have produced this tempest?
Polemius.
When within the cave they threw them,
Dark eclipse o'erspread the heavens.
Claudius.
Shadowy shapes, phantasmal shadows
Are upon the wind projected.
Cynthia.
Lightnings like swift birds of fire
Dart along with burning tresses.
Claudius.
Lo! an earthquake's awful shudder
Makes the very mountains tremble.
Polemius.
Yes, the solid ground upheaveth,
And the mighty rock descendeth
O'er our heads.
Nisida.
While on the instant
Dulcet voices soft and tender
Issue from the cave's abysses.
Numerianus.
Rome to-day strange sights presenteth,
When a grave exhibits gladness.
And the sun displays resentment.
(A choir of angels is heard singing from within the cave.)
“Happy day, and happy doom.
May the gladsome world exclaim,
When the darksome cave became
Saint Daria's sacred tomb”.
(A great rock falls from the mountain, and covers the tomb, over it is seen an angel.)
Angel.
This great cave which holds to-day
In its breast so great a treasure,
Never shall by foot be trodden;—
Thus it is I've sealed and settled
This great mass of rock upon it,
Which doth shut it up for ever.
And in order that their ashes
On the wind be ne'er disperséd,
But while time itself endureth
Shall be honoured and respected,
This brief epitaph, this simple
Line shall tell this simple legend
To the ages that come after:
“Here the bodies are preservéd
Of Chrysanthus and Daria,
The two lover-saints of Heaven”.
Claudius.
Wherefore humbly we entreat
Pardon for our many errors.
Baptism by blood and fire through martyrdom. Calderon refers here evidently to the words of St. John the Baptist: “He shall baptize you in the Holy Ghost and fire”—St. Matth., c. iii. v. ii. The following passage in the Legend of St. Catherine must also have been present to his mind:
“Et cum dolerent, quod sine baptismo decederent, virgo respondit: Ne timeatis, quia effusio vestri sanguinis vobis baptismus reputabitur et corona”. Legenda Aurea, c. 167.
| The Two Lovers of Heaven : Chrysanthus and Daria | |