Venice Preserved | Page 6

mischief.
Jaf. Farewell!
Pierre. At twelve.
Jaf.At any hour: my plagues Will keep me waking.
[Exit Pierre, R.
(R. C.) Tell me why, good Heaven, Thou mad'st me what I am, with all
the spirit, Aspiring thoughts, and elegant desires, That fill the happiest
man! Ah, rather, why Didst thou not form me sordid as my fate,
Base-minded, doll, and fit to carry burdens! Why have I sense to know
the curse that's on me? Is this just dealing, nature! Belvidera! Poor
Belvidera!
Bel. [ Without.] Lead me, lead me, my virgins. To that kind voice.
Enter Belvidera, L.
My lord, my love, my refuge! [Leans on Jaffier, R. C. Happy my eyes
when they behold thy face! My heavy heart will leave its doleful
beating At sight of thee, and bound with sprightful joys. Oh, smile! as
when our loves were in their spring, And cheer my fainting soul!
Jaf. (R. C.) As when our loves Were in their spring! Has, then, my
fortune changed thee? Art thou not, Belvidera, still the same, Kind,
good, and tender, as my arms first found thee? If thou art altered, where
shall I have harbour? Where ease my loaded heart? [Part] Oh! where
complain?
Bel. (C.) Does this appear like change, or love decaying, When thus I
throw myself Into thy bosom, With all the resolution of strong truth!

[Leans on Jaffier, R. C.
I joy more in thee Than did thy mother, when she hugged thee first,
And blessed the gods for all her travail past.
Jaf. Can there in woman be such glorious faith? Sure, all ill stories of
thy sex are false! [Part. Oh, woman! lovely woman! Nature made thee
To temper man: we had been brutes without you! Angels are painted
fair to look like you: There's in you all that we believe of heaven;
Amazing brightness, purity, and truth, Eternal joy, and everlasting love!
[Embrace.
Bel. If love be treasure, we'll be wondrous rich; Oh! lead me to some
desert, [Part,] wide and wild, Barren as our misfortunes, where my
soul May have its vent, where I may tell aloud To the high heavens,
and ev'ry list'ning planet, With what a boundless stock my bosom's
fraught.
Jaf. [Taking her hand.] Oh, Belvidera! doubly I'm a beggar; Undone by
fortune, and in debt to thee. Want, worldly want, that hungry meagre
fiend, Is at my heels, and chases me in view. Canst thou bear cold and
hunger? Can these limbs, Framed for the tender offices of love, Endure
the bitteer gripes of smarting poverty? When banished by our miseries
abroad, (As suddenly we shall be) to seek, out, In some far climate,
where our names are strangers, For charitable succour; wilt thou then,
When in a bed of straw we shrink together, And the bleak winds shall
whistle round our heads; Wilt thou then talk thus to me? Wilt thou then
Hush my cares thus, and shelter me with love?
Bel. Oh! I will love thee, even in madness love thee! Though my
distracted senses should forsake me, I'd find some intervals when my
poor heart Should 'suage itself, and be let loose to thine. Though the
bare earth be all our resting place, Its roots our food, some cliff our
habitation, I'll make this arm a pillow for thine head; And, as thou
sighing liest, and swelled with sorrow, Creep to thy bosom, pour the
balm of love Into thy soul, and kiss thee to thy rest; [Part. Then praise
our God, and watch thee till the morning.

Jaf. Hear this, you Heav'ns, and wonder how you made her! Reign,
reign, ye monarchs, that divide the world; Busy rebellion ne'er will let
you know Tranquillity and happiness like mine; Like gaudy ships, the
obsequious billows fall, And rise again, to lift you in your pride; They
wait but for a storm, and then devour you:
[Belvidera crosses, R. I, in my private bark already wrecked, Like a
poor merchant, driven to unknown land, That had, by chance, picked up
his choicest treasure, In one dear casket, and saved only that,
[Returns to Jaffier
Since I must wander farther on the shore, Thus [Taking her arm,] hug
my little, but my precious store, Resolved to scorn, and trust my fate no
more. [Exeunt, L.
END OF ACT I.

ACT II.
Scene I.--The Rialto.
Enter Jaffier, L.
Jaf. (L. C.) I'm here; and thus the shades of light around me, I look as if
all hell were in my heart. And I in hell. Nay, surely 'tis so with me!--
For every step I tread, methinks some fiend Knocks at my breast, and
bids me not be quiet. I've heard how desperate wretches like myself,
Have wandered out at this dead time of night, To meet the foe of
mankind