Count Alarcos | Page 5

bankrupt; but proud man Shuffles the cards again, and wins to-morrow What pays his present forfeit.
I:3:34 ALAR. But alas! What have I won?
I:3:35 SOL. A country and a wife.
I:3:36 ALAR. A wife!
I:3:37 SOL. A wife, and very fair, they say. She should be fair, who could induce thee break Such vows as thine. O! I am very weak. Why came I here? Was it indeed to see If thou could'st look on me?
I:3:38 ALAR. My own Solisa.
I:3:39 SOL. Call me not thine; why, what am I to thee That thou should'st call me thine?
I:3:40 ALAR. Indeed, sweet lady, Thou lookest on a man as bruised in spirit, As broken-hearted, and subdued in soul, As any breathing wretch that deems the day Can bring no darker morrow. Pity me! And if kind words may not subdue those lips So scornful in their beauty, be they touched At least by Mercy's accents! Was't a crime, I could not dare believe that royal heart Retained an exile's image? that forlorn, Harassed, worn out, surrounded by strange aspects And stranger manners, in those formal ties Custom points out, I sought some refuge, found At least companionship, and, grant 'twas weak, Shrunk from the sharp endurance of the doom That waits on exile, utter loneliness!
I:3:41 SOL. His utter loneliness!
I:3:42 ALAR. And met thy name, Most beauteous lady, prithee think of this, Only to hear the princes of the world Were thy hot suitors, and that one would soon Be happier than Alarcos.
I:3:43 SOL. False, most false, They told thee false.
I:3:44 ALAR. At least, then, pity me, Solisa!
I:3:45 SOL. Ah! Solisa, that sweet voice, Why should I pity thee? 'Tis not my office. Go, go to her that cheered thy loneliness, Thy utter loneliness. And had I none? Had I no pangs of solitude? Exile! O! there were moments I'd have gladly given My crown for banishment. A wounded heart Beats freer in a desert; 'tis the air Of palaces that chokes it.
I:3:46 ALAR. Fate has crossed, Not falsehood, our sweet loves. Our lofty passion 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 impassioned 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 passion 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