[A dark vault irregularly hewn in the rock, extending out of sight on one side, in a vista of rude imperfect pillars.—A small gate leads on the other side, through an enormous crag of the rock—Alonzo discover'd, chain'd to a pillar, against which he leans.]
Alonzo
Why lingers thus the tyrant exquisite
In ill perhaps he thinks mere death indulgence;
And therefore leaves me leisure for reflection—
An awful pause, 'twixt life, and immortality!—
—Is this the Murcian victor? This the heir
Of great Ramirez? That Castilian sun,
Which rose to light a nation on to virtue,
Or early set amid a crimson glory?—
Eclips'd at once; the victim of his passions
He aids his murderers and but hopes oblivion.—
—Long will my father wonder where I vanish'd!—
Almeyda, poor Almeyda's not so happy!—
[The guards unbar the gate, and light in Abdallah; then fixing their torches in clefts of the rock, they retire.]
Abdallah
Ere I pronounce my last resolve, I ask,
Has solitude restor'd thy better reason?
Alonzo
Has recollection humaniz'd thy heart?
Why should not virtue bear as fix'd a tenor,
As vice can boast?
Abdallah
Yet dar'st thou vaunt it thus?
Rash youth, if thou would'st view the light of heav'n,
Or breath untainted air—
Alonzo
Where are thy ruffians!—
Dost thou not see I less abhor to die,
Than poorly to condition with Abdallah?
Why urge this parley?
Abdallah
Thou wert born, Alonzo,
Thy enemies must own, to grace the name,
Transmitted thee from a long line of heroes—
Can'st thou then rashly fix thy fate, and perish
In flow'r of youth—in ignominy—bondage?
Alonzo
Ay—with a firmness thou can'st never know,
Who liv'st in guilt; and therefore find'st in living,
Only a daily respite from damnation.
Abdallah
What is the mighty sacrifice enjoin'd?
Why but to yield what thou can'st ne'er enjoy,
And bend Almeyda's will to meet her duty.
Then will these chains drop off; and our glad arms
In friendship fold thee.
Alonzo
By the light of heav'n!
Forever vanish'd from these eyes, I swear,
I would not yield one chaste sigh of Almeyda,
To be the worship'd of an host of traitors!
Abdallah
Thou hast not weigh'd the agonizing pangs
My pow'r can make thee suffer, ere I grant thee
The comfort of expiring?
Alonzo
I have weigh'd
Thy character; and therefore am prepar'd
For all thy threats imply—
Abdallah [stamps, and guards enter
with torches and leavers.]
Employ your leavers—
Raise yon enormous stone—beneath that chasm
Thro' jagged rocks—imperious—horrible—
A stream, oblivious as the fabled Lethe,
Washes to many an undiscover'd hollow,
The victims of my will—
Alonzo
Thy mercy then
Spares the soul-harrowing pomp of preparation,
And all the pangs of nature, and of love?
Abdallah
Hark! hear'st thou not in the deep sullen roar
The knell of death?—Of those who've gone before thee,
Methinks the shrieks resound!—a breath of mine,
Will add Alonzo to the untold many!
—Then vainly shall Almeyda weep thy loss;
Ramirez shall in vain demand his son!
For, tho' he shook this fortress to the centre,
Razed its enormous towers, and solid bastions,
Their ruins would but form the tomb he sought!
Alonzo
I have not liv'd so ill, that I have now
To learn to die,—and of Abdallah too!
No, white as angels if thou stood'st before me,
Denouncing thus my doom I could not fear thee,
How should I now?
Abdallah
Because thou'rt in my pow'r,
And I dare use it.—Yet again reflect,
But know when next we meet my voice is mortal.
[Exit Abdallah.]
Alonzo
Be it so now!—ev'n now!—why this
display.
To the firm soul that never shrunk from danger?
—By heav'n I feel an infant once again,
When thus insulted with an infant's terrors!
—Ye high-arch'd rocks! to groans alone resounding,
Witness one wretch has never tried your echo—
—And you, oh! most adored! who o'er these dens,
Rend heav'n, and earth, with vain, and fond lamenting,
For him thus strangely vanish'd—never know
Your feet unconscious trod Alonzo's grave!
Orasmyn [descends with a torch.]
Dark labyrinth, for murder fitly wrought,
At length I've reach'd your limit!—or I err,
Or this dim light gleams on the hapless stranger!
—His mien bespeaks a deep disdain of death,
With princely graces blended—youth unknown!
Dar'st thou reveal at once, thy rank and name,
With the dark embassy that thus entombs thee.
Alonzo
Orasmyn! for I need not ask thy title,
So well thy port bespeaks the prince and lover;
Why would'st thou know a name like thine renown'd,
But, oh! unlike thine, never stain'd with murder.
Orasmyn
Prince, thou art bound by chains, and I by feeling!
—The sun that ripens in a Moor's warm heart
Ev'n virtue into passion, ripens there
Those glowing frailties that o'errun the soil,
And poison its pure product—I'd forget
If possible the arts that charm'd Almeyda—
Alonzo
Can'st thou forbid the bud to blow? The zephyr
To wake the bird of spring?—As well do this,
As chill the soul's soft breathings! disunite
Hearts, which but new to life, like infant plants
Entwin'd unconscious—lived but by each other!
Alonzo never knew a guilty thought,
Or plan'd a guilty union!—if Almeyda,
Gave him, oh gift beyond all price! her heart,
Who would not think it cheaply bought with life?
Orasmyn
Fain would I hate Alonzo! like a rival
Fain would I hear thy words, survey thy actions!
But my pure nature does thee noble justice!
Why wilt thou not view me with equal candor?
Thou hast Almeyda's heart—oh blest pre-eminence!
Outstrip me not too in the race of honor—
To her repose I sacrifice a passion
Strong as thine own—oh! join with me to save her!
Alonzo
Ah! can'st thou love with so sublime a virtue!
She lives but to thy senses—thou ne'er knew'st
The chaste perfection of that gen'rous nature!
Ne'er mingled souls with her, in love as pure
As the intelligence that angels hold!
—That bliss—that agony was mine—mine only!
To thee Almeyda seems impetuous, rash,
Touch but her heart and it o'erflows with softness!
—Orasmyn, if thou lov'st, 'tis thine to prove it.
—A fearful crisis is at hand—when over
Oh! soothe, support, console, the sorrowing angel.
Protect her from thy fierce obdurate sire,
I dare implore thee, from thyself protect her!
—So shall that mortal hour no being yet
Encounter'd with indifference, be met
By me with fortitude! the long hereafter
So shalt thou less regret!—and ev'n Almeyda,
At length perhaps forget me—
Orasmyn.
Never—never
When the soft fibres of the heart expand,
And thus enclasp another, time, or space,
In vain would break the hold, or make us single!
—I see no more in thee a hated rival!
Virtue's own awful form appears before me—
Bids me behold a monarch's glorious heir!
The gallant leader of victorious armies!
The idol of whole nations!—more, oh! more,
Her own devoted pupil!—shall I then
Leave thee to dye, and sin against society?
—Oh my proud soul how it disdains the thought!
Yet for my father's sake, ere yet I free thee,
Assure me—
Alonzo
Spare thy gen'rous cheek the blush
Of asking that unworthy thine own honor,
Nor less unworthy mine!
Orasmyn.
Away with bonds—
For, ev'n were vows unknown, a noble soul
Would feel untold a fellow-suff'rer's sorrows,
And blend self-love with social.—Why, oh! why
Were we born enemies?
Alonzo [snatching his hand.]
Ere yet we were,
Our finer tones of mind some guardian spirit
Touch'd into harmony; and, when we met,
Th'according strings struck forth a sound so sweet,
That heav'n itself might listen! love! ev'n love,
That brand of discord, burns within our bosoms,
Pale—cold—before the steady flame of virtue!
Orasmyn
The camp alone is mine. Once in its districts,
No human pow'r can reach thee. It were wise
To wait the hour that wafts thee o'er the river.
[Orasmyn takes the Torch, and guides Alonzo out. Hamet, after a proper interval, descends, as lighting onward Almeyda.]
Hamet
We have been fortunate to 'scape those slaves.—
—Tread careful, madam; here the stones are loose.
Almeyda [descending.]
Thus on the soul breaks love's celestial light,
And chears, with many a lengthening ray, misfortune!
Hamet [stopping as shocked.]
—These chains—this silence—Oh, unhappy
moment!—
They were the assassins, then, who e'en now pass'd us?—
—For your soul's sake, and as you value reason,
Return at once, sweet princess!
Almeyda [waving him away with scorn.]
Hence, rude man!
Wert thou Abdallah's self, thou should'st not stay me,
Thus near Alonzo—prithee love reprove him!
Hamet
Alas!
Almeyda [faintly and alarmed.]
Hast thou deceiv'd me—or within,
Is there some yet more deep—more dreary den!
Hamet [in a broken voice.]
There is indeed a deeper—where Almeyda,
Shall never hear her lover!—
Almeyda.
Never, said'st thou?
Recall that fearful word; nor at this crisis
Pluck from my soul the last prop that sustains it!
Hamet [in agony.]
—Oh! that I could beguile myself, or thee!—
—These are the very chains with which I bound him,
And this the chasm (from whence the mass of stone
By leavers has been rais'd) where through the rocks,
Full many a victim to the fears of state,
Precipitated in the rushing torrent,
Has sought an unknown grave—
Almeyda [pressing the chains to her
bosom.]
Murder'd—lost—
Wisdom—nor strength—nor valour then avail'd thee!
Hamet
Oh prophet! should she dye! infernal tyrant,
—To chuse my only absence for the murder—
—How is it, Madam!
Almeyda [in a deep tone of despair.]
Ev'n as I would have it—
For that thy kindness meant to aid thy Queen
Take this—she has no recompence to give,
[Loosens the jewel Ramirez gave her from her bosom, kisses it—
wipes her eyes—surveys and gives it Hamet.]
—Nor ever now will have—begone, and leave me—
Nor let one human eye pervade a sorrow,
Too mighty for complaint!
Hamet [soothing her.]
You will return?
Almeyda
Return? You mean me well, nor will I chide—
But hence at once, and leave me to an anguish,
Which would not waste itself in words, or tears,
But swell within and wash away remembrance!
Hamet
Oh! Madam, pardon him who dares not leave you.
Imagine the conjectures of the world,
If here you should be found—
Almeyda.
My world is vanish'd!—
It was concentred in the spot he liv'd on,
And if it yet exists—'tis in his grave!
Hamet
Think of Abdallah!—Can you fail to dread him?
Almeyda
Who has nought to hope, has little sure to fear—
—Add not a feather to the weight that presses
Upon this brain, and turns it into chaos!
—Go—shield thyself—and leave me to
my fortune!
—Why wilt thou urge the parley?—and awake
The pride, the passion—lost—extinct—in horror?
Hamet
—Yet be advised—sweet Princess quit this place!
Almeyda. [pressing
her forehead vaguely.]
Wilt thou then kill me?
Hamet
Rather would I save—
—Time will dry up these tears—restore your peace
And make you joy in safety—
Almeyda [turning with horror to the
chasm.]
Look there—look there!
Then talk to me of peace, of joy, of safety.—
Hamet.
The savage who dares wound his sov'reign's heart,
Would lacerate each vein of wretched Hamet's—
For my sake then, if not thine own, sweet Queen,
Fly hence!—
Almeyda [with
increasing delirium.]
Say'st thou to heav'n?
Hamet
Alas! alas!
Her reason surely wanders! hark, I hear him.
—By all the nameless agonies you feel;
Oh! pity him, destroy'd by pitying you!
Almeyda
Hence—hence—whoe'er you are—I will not
go!
But reign for ever here!—supreme in sorrow!
—The sun no more shall visit these sad eyes,
Nor the wan moon present one soft reflection—
Winter no more shall chill—or summer warm me;
Nor innocence, nor heav'n itself supply,
One moment of delight!—but damp, cold, drops,
Thus petrify my heart! and night eternal,
[shivering and looking up.]
Make vain the sense of sight!—now come, Abdallah,
Behold in me Alonzo's monument!
Hamet
Abdallah comes indeed!—his voice resounds!—
It grows upon my ear—one chance is mine—
—Could I regain the cleft that lately hid us,
He might pass on—and I, in flight, find safety!
[He treads on the torch and flies hastily.]
Almeyda [in frenzy.]
How suddenly the night falls!—Oh, my heart!
Will no one knit thy loosen'd strings, and staunch
The vital blood yet flowing?—yes one hand—
—Ah! no—Ramirez, will to death abhor
Almeyda's fatal name!
[Guards light in, and follow Abdallah.]
Abdallah
Are ye all in?—
Now close the gate; that no obtrusive eye,
No foot unbidden press upon my secret.—
So in the gulph with him, at once shall sink
All knowledge of his fate!
Almeyda [majestically.]
Who pierces thro'
The grave's deep silence, with a voice so loud,
Disturbing my repose?
Abdallah
Can it be her!
Amazement! and Alonzo gone!—Ah! vain,
Is ev'ry guard against that subtle sex!
—She has found some ready villain to assist her,
And giv'n the Prince his freedom.—
Almeyda [in a low anxious voice.]
Comes Ramirez?—
He comes to seek his son?—Ah! hapless monarch,
That name to him is nothing?—yet I'll hide
These traces from his sight—
[She advances wildly, and fearfully looking back.]
Abdallah
How now, Almeyda?
This can be only frenzy—where's thy lover?
Almeyda [laying her hand on his arm.]
Why dost thou ask Ramirez?—he's in Murcia—
Did not thy policy dispose him there,
When fix'd upon my ruin? Wretched Sire!
[draws him aside.]
Fly from this den of death!—here broods a serpent,
Fatal to thee, and to thy race!—ev'n now,
Dozing upon this flinty floor, I dreamt—
—Oh! such a dream I shudder but to name it!
Abdallah
What dream Almeyda? I must soothe this transport,
If I would learn the truth—
Almeyda
Nay never frown,
I spoke it unawares—but strange, strange, visions,
Still swim before these eyes!—yet not Alonzo—
—Tho' him alone I sought. I came to save,
—Too late, alas! I came. Now thou wilt weep!
Or is thy brain, like mine, sear'd up in lead?
[She leans on the shoulder of a guard]
.Abdallah
This is an incident so singular,
As out-runs fancy, and perplexes reason!
—Nature's exhausted in her! Some dire truth
Lurks under all this mystery and frenzy.
Guard
My lord, behold the chains that bound the stranger.
Abdallah
And who durst take them off? Almeyda only!
—Yet where then is he vanish'd? Ah! if grief,
At witnessing this woe, should have impell'd him
At once to plunge into this yawning gulph!
How is't, Almeyda?
Almeyda [turning fondly to him.]
Heavy—strangely heavy!
Guide of my youth! sole partner in its sorrows!
[kissing his hand.]
Abdallah
Astonishing delusion! Where's Alonzo?
Almeyda
Did I not tell you of my horrid dream?
—Sleeping, just now, upon this flinty floor,
Ev'n from its solid base, I heard Alonzo,
Amid the rush of torrents—Me he call'd,
And shook the deep profound! My fond heart
It answer'd too—Oh! with such eager throbs,
The long vibrations spread beyond this frame,
Almost into Eternity!—
Abdallah [exultingly.]
Ev'n so!—
Thus have I the advantage, and not guilt.
Almeyda
Soft! or Abdallah comes. Not even you,
Warn'd as you were of all his selfish views,
Can guess at his barbarity! An uncle?—
Yet these dim eyes take pleasure to behold thee!
The rav'nous vulture—blood-incited wolf,
Prey not, when disappointed, on their species!
That pitch of cruelty was left for man.
—Nature convulses at the bare idea,
Nor dares to snap the tie herself has form'd!
—He thinks I'll take this tamely! No, Abdallah,
I will have such revenge!—From thy black heart,
At once I'll pluck away its worldly veil,
And punish thee in mere sincerity.
Abdallah [fiercely.]
Thou shalt not live to do it, subtle traitress!
I will be warn'd in time—For in these flights
The soul's deep sense full oft may be discover'd!
[He surveys wistfully Almeyda, the Guards, and the Chasm.]
—One moment might effect it! and that moment
Inter with her all traces of the deed!
—Further I'll try her.—Wilt thou not forgive
Th'involuntary wrong?
Almeyda
Whene'er I do,
May Heav'n forget the wretch it now chastises!
Abdallah
Nay, then thou diest! nor pray'rs, nor tears, shall save
thee.
That word decides thy doom! Seize on her, strait!
Precipitate her instant down the gulph,
And live the favor'd objects of my bounty!
Almeyda
Oh, that tremendous voice!—Where fled my senses,
That they acknowledged not yon ruthless savage?
—Him before whom I was born but to tremble!
Slaves, drag me not! Ye will not murder me?
—Am I not reft of every good but being—
A chearless being? Spare thy own remorse,
Nor crown the pile of thy enormous sins
With such a helpless victim!
Abdallah
Vain are pray'rs,
I have not ventur'd thus far, to recede!
Nought but thy death can now assure my safety—
—Who's at the gate? Unbar it not, I charge you.
Guard, opening the
Gate
The Prince Orasmyn only.
[Enter Orasmyn. Almeyda flies to him.]
Almeyda
Oh, protect me!
Guard—save me—hide me in thy very heart!
Orasmyn
Ay, while it beats, sweet flutt'rer! Good my lord,
What mean these haggard slaves, and this confusion?—
How comes Almeyda here! Why thus afflicted?
Abdallah
Born to make vain my cares, and cross thy fortune,
Why art thou here? She, as thou seest, is frantic.
Orasmyn
Alla forbid! Speak, dear one!—Calm my fears.
Ah! tremble not—but speak—
Almeyda
Alonzo, surely!
I hear thee, love; but dare not, dare not look.—
Orasmyn
Of the vast host of mental ills, ordain'd
To punish hapless man, the worst has seiz'd her!
Alas! by my omission! Dear Almeyda,
Calm thy perturbed soul, and look around!
Thy friends alone are near thee.
Almeyda [glancing around, she buries
her face in Orasmyn's robe.]
Oh, no!—no!
I see a fiend, who turns me into marble!
—But I am safe with thee! Thou ne'er wilt leave me,
My own Alonzo!
Abdallah
Thus she still has rav'd.—
Ev'n now, she took me for Ramirez! Yet
Thou mightst improve this blindness—if thou'rt wise,
Avail thyself of her fond fancy's error,
And wed her strait!
Orasmyn
Wed her. Forbid it Alla!
—Were reason perfect in her, this fond clasp
I should pronounce a bliss more exquisite,
Than all in cold futurity!—But now,
My heart recoils from her soft touch.
—Sweet suff'rer, raise thine eyes! within this circle
Give thy woes respite: For, from this sad hour,
Ne'er shalt thou know another—if this heart,
This arm, hath pow'r to save thee!
Abdallah
As thou wilt—
Thou know'st my mind!—Now be the choice thine own.
[Exit; Guards follow.]
Orasmyn.
Oh, most unguarded!—Ere I sav'd Alonzo,
I should have warn'd this dear one of my purpose.
—How shall I now convince her? Oh! those eyes,
More beauteous for their wildness, how they wander!
—Hear me, Almeyda! By the unsullied soul
Within this bleeding breast, thy lover lives—
—Alonzo lives!
Almeyda
Ay; so I knew you'd tell me:
But spare the specious tale. I know already—
I heard it from himself! Nay, nay, no more.
Orasmyn
Oh, agony! for human sense too touching!
Yet how to wake again her recollection?
Almeyda! do'st thou know me?
Almeyda [gazing vaguely on him.]
I know one,
One only, in the circle of creation,
And he is strangely vanish'd!
Orasmyn
Yet he lives!
In safety lives.
Almeyda
Within this heart, d'ye say?
Ay, there he lives, indeed, and shall for ever!
Orasmyn
Never can I forgive my own neglect!
For, oh, this sight is dreadful! Yet, Almeyda,
Thy own Alonzo lives,—like me, to weep.
Almeyda
Yes; I have heard strange tales—ye all have told me,
And seen such dismal sights! I dare not speak them!
—No matter—Time will clear all up.—I'm weary.
Orasmyn
Oh! let me lead you hence—
Almeyda
Ev'n where you will.
And by that voice of comfort, you should guide me
To my Alonzo's heaven.
Orasmyn
Touching charmer!
I dare not listen more; lest I, like thee,
Grow out of love with reason, and delight
Only to hear thy rhapsodies!
[Starting, and looking through the pillars.]
Almeyda
More dungeons!
Perhaps more murd'rers, too. Now should they come,
Exhausted as I am, no pow'r could save me!
Oh! they have strength to wrest one's very being!
Look at this arm.—
[baring hers]
Orasmyn
The savage gripe has purpled
The purest white pulsation ever throb'd in!
[He starts, and wistfully surveys Almeyda and the chasm.]
It cannot be! the fear is too tremendous!
Abhorrent Nature, from a deed so black,
Would shrink, 'till these high rocks, o'erarch'd by art,
Sink to the center!—Oh! forgive the thought
Thy own ambitious nature prompts, my father!
—Rest on me, dear Almeyda! Near your chamber,
Faithful I'll watch the live-long night, and pray
It may breathe peace upon you. Pr'ythee lean!
Almeyda
Soft! have a care, we tread not on his grave!
Somebody shew'd it me.—We're very near it.
Orasmyn
Oh! that superior mind is gone for ever!
—Yet still, thus ruin'd, like a broken mirror,
It gives a perfect image in each fragment!
[Exeunt.]
END OF ACT IV
