Count Alarcos; a Tragedy Part 6

I:3:46 ALAR.

Fate has crossed, Not falsehood, our sweet loves. Our lofty pa.s.sion Is tainted with no vileness. Memory bears Convulsion, not contempt; no palling sting That waits on base affections. It is something To have loved thee; and in that thought I find My sense exalted; wretched though I be.

I:3:47 SOL.

Is he so wretched? Yet he is less forlorn Than when he sought, what I would never seek, A partner in his woe! I'll ne'er believe it; Thou art not wretched. Why, thou hast a friend, A sweet companion in thy grief to soothe Thy loneliness, and feed on thy bright smiles, Thrill with thine accents, with impa.s.sioned reverence Enclasp thine hand, and with enchained eyes Gaze on thy glorious presence. O, Alarcos!

Art thou not worshipped now? What, can it be, That there is one, who walks in Paradise, Nor feels the air immortal?

I:3:48 ALAR.

Let my curse Descend upon the hour I left thy walls, My father's town!

I:3:49 SOL.

My blessing on thy curse!

Thou hast returned, thou hast returned, Alarcos?

I:3:50 ALAR.

To despair.

I:3:51 SOL.

Yet 'tis not the hour he quitted Our city's wall, it is the tie that binds him Within those walls my lips would more denounce, But ah, that tie is dear!

I:3:52 ALAR.

Accursed be The wiles that parted us; accursed be The ties that sever us

I:3:53 SOL.

Thou'rt mine.

I:3:54 ALAR.

For ever.

Thou unpolluted pa.s.sion of my youth, My first, my only, my enduring love!

[They embrace.]

[Enter FERDINAND, the PAGE.]

I:3:55 PAGE.

Lady, a message from thy royal father; He comes--

I:3:56 SOL.

[Springing from the arms of Alarcos.]

My father! word of fear! Why now To cloud my light? I had forgotten fate; But he recalls it. O my bright Alarcos!

My love must fly. Nay, not one word of care; Love only from those lips. Yet, ere we part, Seal our sweet faith renewed.

I:3:57 ALAR.

And never broken.

[Exit Alarcos.]

I:3:58 SOL.

Why has he gone? Why did I bid him go?

And let this jewel I so daring plucked Slip in the waves again? I'm sure there's time To call him back, and say farewell once more.

I'll say farewell no more; it was a word Ever harsh music when the morrow brought Welcomes renewed of love, No more farewells.

O when will he be mine! I cannot wait, I cannot tarry, now I know he loves me; Each hour, each instant that I see him not, Is usurpation of my right. O joy!

Am I the same Solisa, that this morn Breathed forth her orison with humbler spirit Than the surrounding acolytes? Thou'st smiled, Sweet Virgin, on my prayers. Twice fifty tapers Shall burn before thy shrine. Guard over me O! mother of my soul, and let me prosper In my great enterprise! O hope! O love!

O sharp remembrance of long baffled joy!

Inspire me now.

SCENE 4.

The KING; the INFANTA.

I:4:1 KING.

I see my daughter?

I:4:2 SOL.

Sir, your duteous child.

I:4:3 KING.

Art thou indeed my child? I had some doubt I was a father.

I:4:4 SOL.

These are bitter words.

I:4:5 KING.

Even as thy conduct.

I:4:6 SOL.

Then it would appear My conduct and my life are but the same.

I:4:7 KING.

I thought thou wert the Infanta of Castille, Heir to our realm, the paragon of Spain The Princess for whose smiles crowned Christendom Sends forth its sceptred rivals. Is that bitter?

Or bitter is it with such privilege, And standing on life's vantage ground, to cross A nation's hope, that on thy nice career Has gaged its heart?

I:4:8 SOL.

Have I no heart to gage?

A sacrificial virgin, must I bind My life to the altar, to redeem a state, Or heal some doomed People?

I:4:9 KING.

Is it so?

Is this an office alien to thy s.e.x?

Or what thy youth repudiates? We but ask What nature sanctions.

I:4:10 SOL.