The Poetical Works of Coleridge, Shelley, and Keats

Hero or natural coward, shall have guidance
Of a free people's destiny; should fall out
In the mere lottery of a reckless nature,
Where few the prizes and the blanks are countless?
Or haply that a nation's fate should hang
On the bald accident of a midwife's handling
The unclosed sutures of an infant's skull ?

CASIMIR.

What better claim can sovereign wish or need,
Than the free voice of men who love their country?
Those chiefly who have fought for't? Who, by right,
Claim for their monarch one, who having obey'd
So hath best learnt to govern; who, having suffer'd,
Can feel for each brave sufferer and reward him?
Whence sprang the name of Emperor? Was it not
By Nature's fiat? In the storm of triumph,
'Mid warriors' shouts, did her oracular voice
Make itself heard: Let the commanding spirit
Possess the station of command!

KAAB KIUPRILI.

Prince Emerick,
Your cause will prosper best in your own pleading.
EMERICK (aside to CASIMIR).
Ragozzi was thy school-mate-a bold spirit!
Bind him to us!-Thy father thaws apace!

[Then aloud.
Leave us awhile, my Lord!-Your friend, Ragozzi,
Whom you have not yet seen since his return,
Commands the guard to-day.

CASIMIR retires to the Guard-House; and after a
time appears before it with CHEF RAGOZZI.
We are alone.

What further pledge or proof desires Kiuprili?
Then, with your assent-

RAAB KIUPRILI.

Mistake not for assent The unquiet silence of a stern Resolve,

Throttling the impatient voice. I have heard thee,

Prince!

And I have watch'd thee, too; but have small faith in
A plausible tale told with a flitting eye.

Wouldst thou have pilfer'd from our school-boys

themes

These shallow sophisms of a popular choice?
What people? How convened? or, if convened,
Must not the magic power that charms together
Millions of men in council, needs have power
To win or wield them? Better, O far better
Shout forth thy titles to yon circling mountains,
And with a thousand-fold reverberation

Make the rocks flatter thee, and the volleying air,
Unbribed, shout back to thee, King Emerick!
By wholesome laws to embank the sovereign power,
To deepen by restraint, and by prevention
Of lawless will to amass and guide the flood
In its majestic channel, is man's task
And the true patriot's glory! In all else

Men safelier trust to Heaven, than to themselves
When least themselves in the mad whirl of crowds
Where folly is contagious, and too oft

Even wise men leave their better sense at home,
To chide and wonder at them when return'd.

EMERICK (aloud).

Is't thus, thou scoff'st the people! most of all,
The soldiers, the defenders of the people?

RAAB KIUPRILI (aloud).

O most of all, most miserable nation,

For whom th' Imperial power, enormous bubble!
Is blown and kept aloft, or burst and shatter'd
By the bribed breath of a lewd soldiery!
Chiefly of such, as from the frontiers far
(Which is the noblest station of true warriors),
In rank licentious idleness beleaguer
City and court, a venom'd thorn i' the side
Of virtuous kings, the tyrant's slave and tyrant,
Still ravening for fresh largess! but with such
What title claim'st thou, save thy birth? What merits
Which many a liegeman may not plead as well,
Brave though I grant thee? If a life outlabor'd

Head, heart, and fortunate arm, in watch and war,
For the land's fame and weal; if large acquests,
Made honest by th' aggression of the foe
And whose best praise is, that they bring us safety;

[EMERICK turns as about to call for the Guard. If victory, doubly-wreathed, whose under-garland

In the next moment I am in thy power,
In this thou art in mine. Stir but a step,

Or make one sign-I swear by this good sword,

Thou diest that instant.

EMERICK.

Ha, ha! Well, Sir! - Conclude your homily.

RAAB KIUPRILI (in a somewhat suppressed voice.)
A tale which, whether true or false, comes guarded
Against all means of proof, detects itself.
The Queen mew'd up this too from anxious care
And love brought forth of a sudden, a twin birth
With the discovery of her plot to rob thee
Of a rightful throne!-Mark how the scorpion, False-

hood,

Coils round in its own perplexity, and fixės
Its sting in its own head!

EMERICK.

Ay! to the mark!

RAAB KIUPRILI (aloud): [he and EMERICK stand-
ing at equi-distance from the Palace and
the Guard-House.

Hadst thou believed thine own tale, hadst thou fancied
Thyself the rightful successor of Andreas,

Thus long I have listen'd-Guard-ho! from the And let this darkness-
Palace.

The Guard post from the Guard-House with
CHEF RAGOZzı at their head, and then a
number from the Palace-CHEF RAGOZZI de-
mands KIUPRILI's sword, and apprehends him.

CASIMIR.

O agony! (To EMERICK). Sire, hear me!

[TO KIUPRILI, who turns from him. Hear me, Father!

EMERICK.

Take in arrest that traitor and assassin!
Who pleads for his life, strikes at mine, his sovereign's.

RAAB KIUPRILI.

As the co-regent of the realm, 1 stand

Amenable to none save to the States,

Met in due course of law. But ye are bond-slaves, Yet witness ye that before God and man

I here impeach Lord Emerick of foul treason,

And on strong grounds attaint him with suspicion Of murder

EMERICK.

Hence with the madman!

RAAB KIUPRILI.

Your Queen's murder,

The royal orphan's murder: and to the death

Defy him, as a tyrant and usurper.

[Hurried off by RAGOZZI and the Guard.

EMERICK.

Ere twice the sun hath risen, by my sceptre This insolence shall be avenged.

CASIMIR.

O banish him! This infamy will crush me. O for my sake, Banish him, my liege lord!

EMERICK (scornfully).

What! to the army?

Be calm, young friend! Nought shall be done in anger. The child o'erpowers the man. In this emergence I must take counsel for us both. Retire.

[Exit CASIMIR in agitation.

EMERICK (alone, looks at a Calendar).

The changeful planet, now in her decay,
Dips down at midnight, to be seen no more.
With her shall sink the enemies of Emerick,
Cursed by the last look of the waning moon;
And my bright destiny, with sharpen'd horns,
Shall greet me fearless in the new-born crescent.

The widow's Husband and the orphan's Father, Direct my steps! Ah whither? O send down Thy angel to a houseless babe and mother,

Driven forth into the cruel widerness!

Sure Heaven befriends us. Well! he hath escaped!
O rare tune of a tyrant's promises
That can enchant the serpent treachery
From forth its lurking-hole in the heart. "Ragozzi!
"O brave Ragozzi! Count! Commander! What not?"
And all this too for nothing! a poor nothing!
Merely to play the underling in the murder
Of my best friend Kiuprili! His own son-monstrous!
Tyrant! I owe thee thanks, and in good hour
Will I repay thee, for that thou thought'st me too
A serviceable villain. Could I now

But gain some sure intelligence of the queen:
Heaven bless and guard her!

ZAPOLYA (coming fearfully forward).

Art thou not Ragozzi?

There is not time to tell it. The tyrant call'd me to him, praised my zeal (And be assured I overtopt his cunning

And seem'd right zealous). But time wastes: in fine, Bids me dispatch my trustiest friends, as couriers With letters to the army. The thought at once Flash'd on me. I disguised my prisoner

ZAPOLYA.

What! Raab Kiuprili?

CHEF RAGOZZI.

Yes! my noble general!

I sent him off, with Emerick's own packet,
Haste, and post haste-Prepared to follow him-

ZAPOLYA.

Ah, how? Is it joy or fear? My limbs seem sinking!-
CHEF RAGOZZI (supporting her).

Heaven still befriends us. I have left my charger,

Hush, sweet one! Thou art no Hagar's offspring: A gentle beast and fleet, and my boy's mule,

thou art

The rightful heir of an anointed king!

What sounds are those? It is the vesper chant

Of laboring men returning to their home!

Their queen has no home! Hear me, heavenly Father!

One that can shoot a precipice like a bird,

Just where the wood begins to climb the mountains. The course we'll thread will mock the tyrant's guesses, Or scare the followers. Ere we reach the main road, The Lord Kiuprili will have sent a troop

Stand sentry at thy portals! Faith and honor,

Driven from the throne, shall leave the attainted na- The good strength Nature gave me.

tion:

GLYCINE.

That last cottage

What! tired, Glycine?
No delicate court dame, but a mountaineer
By choice no less than birth, I gladly use

And, for the iniquity that houses in thee,
False glory, thirst of blood, and lust of rapine
(Fateful conjunction of malignant planets),
Shall shoot their blastments on the land. The fathers
Henceforth shall have no joy in their young men,
And when they cry: Lo! a male child is born!
The mother shall make answer with a groan.
For bloody usurpation, like a vulture,
Shall clog its beak within Illyria's heart.
Remorseless slaves of a remorseless tyrant!
They shall be mock'd with sounds of liberty,
And liberty shall be proclaim'd alone

To thee, O Fire! O Pestilence! O Sword!

Till Vengeance hath her fill. - And thou, snatch'd hence,

(Again to the infant.) poor friendless fugitive! with

Mother's wailing,
Offspring of Royal Andreas, shalt return
With trump and timbrel clang, and popular shout
In triumph to the palace of thy fathers!

Is built as if an eagle or a raven
Had chosen it for her nest.

SAROLTA.

So many are

The sufferings which no human aid can reach,
It needs must be a duty doubly sweet
To heal the few we can. Well! let us rest.

GLYCINE.

There? [Pointing to BATHORY's dwelling SAROLTA answering, points to where she then stands.

SAROLTA.

Here! For on this spot Lord Casimir
Took his last leave. On yonder mountain ridge
I lost the misty image which so long
Linger'd or seem'd at least to linger on it.

GLYCYNE.

And what if even now, on that same ridge,
[Ezeunt. A speck should rise, and still enlarging, lengthening,
As it clomb downwards, shape itself at last
To a numerous cavalcade, and spurring foremost,
Who but Sarolta's own dear Lord return'd
From his high embassy?

SAROLTA.

Thou hast hit my thought!

All the long day, from yester-morn to evening,
The restless hope flutter'd about my heart.
Oh, we are querulous creatures! Little less
Than all things can suffice to make us happy;
And little more than nothing is enough
To discontent us. - Were he come, then should I
Repine he had not arrived just one day earlier
To keep his birth-day here, in his own birth-place.

GLYCINE.

But our best sports belike, and gay processions

Yea, e'en in thy simplicity, Glycine,
A fine and feminine grace, that makes me feel
More as a mother than a mistress to thee!
Thou art a soldier's orphan ! that the courage,
Which rising in thine eye, seems oft to give
A new soul to its gentleness, doth prove thee!
Thou art sprung too of no ignoble blood,
Or there's no faith in instinct!

[Angry voices and clamor within, re-enter GLYCINE.

GLYCINE.

Oh, madam! there's a party of your servants, And my Lord's steward, Laska, at their head,

Would to my Lord have seem'd but work-day sights Have come to search for old Bathory's son,

Compared with those the royal court affords.

So doth the ignorant distance still delude us!

Bethlen, that brave young man! 't was he, my lady,
That took our parts, and beat off the intruders;
And in mere spite and malice, now they charge him
With bad words of Lord Casimir and the king.

Pray don't believe them, madam! This way! This

SAROLTA.

[Calling without

Be calm, Glycine.

Enter LASKA and Servants with OLD BATHORY.
LASKA (to BATHORY).

We have no concern with you! What needs your

presence?

OLD BATHORY.

What! Do you think I'll suffer my brave boy
To be slander'd by a set of coward-ruffians,
And leave it to their malice,-yes, mere malice!-
To tell its own tale?

[LASKA and Servants bow to LADY SAROLTA

SAROLTA.

Laska! What may this mean?

LASKA (pompously, as commencing a set speech).

Thy fancied heaven, dear girl, like that above thee, Madam! and may it please your ladyship!

My tale is brief. During our festive dance,
Your servants, the accusers of my son,
Offer'd gross insults, in unmanly sort,
To our village maidens. He (could he do less?)
Rose in defence of outraged modesty,
And so persuasive did his cudgel prove

(Your hectoring sparks so over brave to women
Are always cowards), that they soon took flight,
And now in mere revenge, like baffled boasters,
Have framed this tale, out of some hasty words
Which their own threats provoked.

SAROLTA.

LASKA (aside).

Yes, now 'tis coming.

SAROLTA.

Brutal aggressors first, then baffled dastards,
That they have sought to piece out their revenge
With a tale of words lured from the lips of anger,
Stamps them most dangerous; and till I want
Fit means for wicked ends, we shall not need
Their services. Discharge them! You, Bathory!
Are henceforth of my household! I shall place you
Near my own person. When your son returns,
Present him to us.

OLD BATHORY.

Ha! what, strangers* here! What business have they in an old man's eye? Your goodness, lady-and it came so suddenI cannot-must not let you be deceived. I have yet another tale, but- [Then to SAROLTA aside. Not for all ears!

SAROLTA.

Old man! you talk I oft have pass'd your cottage, and still praised Too bluntly! Did your son owe no respect To the livery of our house ?

OLD BATHORY.

Even such respect As the sheep's skin should gain for the hot wolf That hath begun to worry the poor lambs!

LASKA.

Old insolent ruffian!

GLYCINE.

Pardon! pardon, madam!

I saw the whole affray. The good old man
Means no offence, sweet lady!-You, yourself,
Laska! know well, that these men were the ruffians!
Shame on you!

SAROLTA (speaks with affected anger).
What! Glycine! Go, retire!

[Erit GLYCINE, mournfully.

Be it then that these men faulted. Yet yourself,
Or better still belike the maidens' parents,

Might have complain'd to us. Was ever access
Denied you? Or free audience? Or are we

Weak and unfit to punish our own servants?

OLD BATHORY.

Its beauty, and that trim orchard-plot, whose blossoms
The gusts of April shower'd aslant its thatch.
Come, you shall show it me! And while you bid it
Farewell, be not ashamed that I should witness
The oil of gladness glittering on the water
Of an ebbing grief.

[BATHORY bowing, shows her into his cottage.

LASKA (alone).

Vexation! baffled! school'd!

Ho! Laska! wake! why? what can all this mean?
She sent away that cockatrice in anger!
Oh the false witch! It is too plain, she loves him
And now, the old man near my lady's person,
She'll see this Bethlen hourly!

[LASKA flings himself into the seat. GLYCINE
peeps in timidly.

GLYCINE.

Laska! Laska!

Is my lady gone?

Gone.

So then! So then! Heaven grant an old man patience! Is he return'd?

And must the gardener leave his seedling plants,

LASKA (surlily).

His leisure serve to scourge them from their ravage? No! serpent! no; 'tis you that sting me; you!

Till thou hast learnt it! Fervent, good old man!
Forgive me that, to try thee, I put on

A face of sternness, alien to my meaning!

[Then speaks to the Servants.

Hence! leave my presence! and you, Laska! mark me!

Those rioters are no longer of my household!
If we but shake a dew-drop from a rose,
In vain would we replace it, and as vainly
Restore the tear of wounded modesty
To a maiden's eye familiarized to license.-
But these men, Laska-

Yes; gaze as if your very eyes embraced him!
Ha! you forget the scene of yesterday!

Mute ere he came, but then-Out on your screams,
And your pretended fears!

GLYCINE.

* Refers to the tear, which he feels starting in his eye. The following line was borrowed unconsciously from Mr. Wor worth's Excursion.

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Libros

The Poetical Works of Coleridge, Shelley, and Keats: Complete in One Volume