SCENE 4
A Chamber in the Palace.The Countess ALARCOS lying on a Couch,the Infanta kneeling at her side;MAIDENS grouped around. A PHYSICIAN and the PAGE.
IV:4:1 SOL.Didst ever see so fair a skin? Her bodiceShould still be loosened. Bring the Moorish water,Griselda, you. They are the longest lashes!They hang upon her cheek. Doctor, there’s warmth;The blood returns?IV:4:2 PHY.But slowly.IV:4:3 SOL.Beauteous creature!She seems an angel fallen from some star.‘Twas well we passed. Untie that kerchief, Julia;Teresa, wave the fan. There seems a glowUpon her cheek, what but a moment sinceWas like a sculptured saint’s.IV:4:4 PHY.She breathes.IV:4:5 SOL.Hush, hush!IV:4:6 COUN.And what is this? where am I?IV:4:7 SOL.With thy friends.IV:4:8 COUN.It is not home.IV:4:9 SOL.If kindness make a home,Believe it such.[The PHYSICIAN signifies silence.]Nay lady, not a word,Those lips must now be closed. I’ve seen such eyesIn pictures, girls.IV:4:10 PHY.Methinks she’ll sleep.IV:4:11 SOL.‘Tis well.Maidens, away. I’ll be her nurse; and, doctor,Remain within.[Exeunt PHYSICIAN and MAIDENS.]Know you this beauteous dame?IV:4:12 PAGE.I have heard minstrels tell that fays are foundIn lonely places.IV:4:13 SOL.Well, she’s magical.She draws me charm-like to her. Vanish, imp,And see our chamber still.[Exit PAGE.]It is the hourAlarcos should be here. Ah! happy hour,That custom only makes more strangely sweet!His brow has lost its cloud. The bar’s removedTo our felicity; time makes amendsTo patient sufferers.[Enter COUNT ALARCOS.]Hush, my own love, hush![SOLISA takes his hand and leads him aside.]So strange an incident! the fairest lady!Found in our gardens; it would seem a swoon;Myself then passing; hither we have brought her;She is so beautiful, you’ll almost deemShe bears some charmed life. You know that faysAre found in lonely places.IV:4:14 ALAR.In thy garden!Indeed ‘tis strange! The Virgin guard thee, love.I am right glad I’m here. Alone to tend her,‘Tis scarcely wise.IV:4:15 SOL.I think when she recovers,She’ll wave her wings and fly.IV:4:16 ALAR.Nay, for one glance!In truth you paint her bright.IV:4:17 SOL.E’en now she sleeps.Tread lightly, love; I’ll lead you.[SOLISA cautiously leads ALARCOS to the couch;as they approach it, the COUNTESS opens her eyes and shrieks.]IV:4:18 COUN.Ah! ‘tis true,Alarcos[relapses into a swoon.]IV:4:19 ALAR.Florimonde!IV:4:20 SOL.Who is this lady?IV:4:21 ALAR.It is my wife.IV:4:22 SOL.[flings away his arms and rushes forward.]—Not mad!Virgin and Saints be merciful; not mad!O spare my brain one moment; ‘tis his wife.I’m lost: she is too fair. The secret’s outOf sick delays. He’s feigned; he has but feigned.[Rushing to Alarcos.]Is that thy wife? and I? and what am I?A trifled toy, a humoured instrument?To guide with glozing words, vilely cajoleWith petty perjuries? Is that thy wife?Thou said’st she was not fair, thou did’st not love her:Thou lied’st. O, anguish, anguish!IV:4:23 ALAR.By the cross,My soul is pure to thee. I’m wildered quite.How came she hereIV:4:24 SOL.As she shall ne’er return.Now, Count Alarcos, by the cross thou swearestThy faith is true to me.IV:4:25 ALAR.Ay, by the cross,IV:4:26 SOL.Give me thy dagger.IV:4:27 ALAR.Not that hand or mine.IV:4:28 SOL.Is this thy passion![Takes his dagger.]Thus I gain the heartI should despise.[Rushes to the couch.]IV:4:29 COUN.What’s this I see?IV:4:30 ALAR.[seizing the Infanta’s upraised arm]A dreamA horrid dream, yet but a dream.
THE END OF THE FOURTH ACT.
SCENE 1
Exterior of the Castle of Alarcos in the valley of Arlanzon.[Enter the COUNTESS.]
V:1:1 COUN.I would recall the days gone by, and liveA moment in the past; if but to flyThe dreary present pressing on my brain,Woe’s omened harbinger. In exiled loveThe scene he drew so fair! Ye castled crags,The sunbeam plays on your embattled cliffs,And softens your stern visage, as his loveSoftened our early sorrows. But my sunHas set for ever! Once we talked of caresAnd deemed that we were sad. Men fancy sorrowsUntil time brings the substance of despair,And then their griefs are shadows. Give me exile!It brought me love. Ah! days of gentle joy,When pastime only parted us, and heReturned with tales to make our children stare;Or called my lute, while, round my waist entwined,His hand kept chorus to my lay. No more!O, we were happier than the happy birds;And sweeter were our lives than the sweet flowers;The stars were not more tranquil in their course,Yet not more bright! The fountains in their playDid most resemble us, that as they flowStill sparkle![Enter ORAN.]Oran, I am very sad.V:1:2 ORAN.Cheer up, sweet lady, for the God of allWill guard the innocent.V:1:3 COUN.Think you he’ll comeTo visit us? Methinks he’ll never come.V:1:4 ORAN.He’s but four leagues away. This vicinageArgues a frequent presence.V:1:5 COUN.But three nights—Have only three nights past? It is an epochDistant and dim with passion. There are seasonsFeelings crowd on so, time not flies but staggers;And memory poises on her burthened plumesTo gloat upon her prey. Spoke he of coming?V:1:6 ORAN.His words were scant and wild, and yet he murmuredThat I should see him.V:1:7 COUN.I’ve not seen him sinceThat fatal night, yet even that glance of terror—I’d hail it now. O, Oran, Oran, think youHe ever more will love me? Can I doAught to regain his love? They say your peopleAre learned in these questions. Once I thoughtThere was no spell like duty—that devotionWould bulwark love for ever. Now, I’d distilPhiltres, converse with moonlit hags, defileMy soul with talismans, bow down to spirits,And frequent accursed places, all, yea all—I’d forfeit all—but to regain his love.V:1:8 ORAN.There is a cloud now rising in the west,In shape a hand, and scarcely would its graspExceed mine own, it is so small; a spot,A speck; see now again its colour flits!A lurid tint; they call it on our coast‘The hand of God;’ I for when its finger risesFrom out the horizon, there are storms abroadAnd awful judgments.V:1:9 COUN.Ah! it beckons me.V:1:10 ORAN.Lady!V:1:11 COUN.Yes, yes, see now the finger movesAnd points to me. I feel it on my spirit.V:1:12 ORAN.Methinks it points to me—V:1:13 COUN.To both of us.It may be so. And what would it portend?My heart’s grown strangely calm. If there be chanceOf storms, my children should be safe. Let’s home.
SCENE 2An illuminated Hall in the Royal Palace at Burgos;in the background Dancers.Groups of GUESTS passing.
V:2:1 1ST GUEST.Radiant!V:2:2 2ND GUEST.Recalls old days.V:2:3 3RD GUEST.The Queen herselfNe’er revelled it so high!V:2:4 4TH GUEST.The Infanta beamsLike some bright star!V:2:5 5TH GUEST.And brighter for the cloudA moment screened her.V:2:6 6TH GUEST.Is it true ‘tis overBetween the Count Sidonia and the Lara?V:2:7 1ST GUEST.A musty tale. The fair Alarcos wins him.Where’s she to-night?V:2:8 2ND GUEST.All on the watch to viewHer entrance to our world.V:2:9 3RD GUEST.The Count is here.V:2:10 4TH GUEST.Where?V:2:11 3RD GUEST.With the King; at least a moment since.V:2:12 2ND GUEST.They say she’s ravishing.V:2:13 4TH GUEST.Beyond belief!V:2:14 3RD GUEST.The King affects him much.V:2:15 5TH GUEST.He’s all in all.V:2:16 6TH GUEST.Yon Knight of Calatrava, who is he?V:2:17 1ST GUEST.Young Mendola.V:2:18 2ND GUEST.What he so rich?V:2:19 1ST GUEST.The same.V:2:20 2ND GUEST.The Lara smiles on him.V:2:21 1ST GUEST.No worthier quarryV:2:22 3RD GUEST.Who has the vacant Mastership?V:2:23 4TH GUEST.I’ll backThe Count of Leon.V:2:24 3RD GUEST.Likely; he stands wellWith the Lord Admiral.[They move away.][The Counts of SIDONIA and LEON come forward.]V:2:25 LEON.Doubt as you like,Credulity will come, and in good season.V:2:26 SIDO.She is not here that would confirm your tale.V:2:27 LEON.‘Tis history, my Sidonia. Strange eventsHave happened, stranger come.V:2:28 SIDO.I’ll not believe it.And favoured by the King! What can it mean?V:2:29 LEON.What no one dares to say.V:2:30 SIDO.A clear divorce.O that accursed garden! But for that—V:2:31 LEON.‘Twas not my counsel. Now I’d give a purseTo wash good Oran in Arlanzon’s wave;The dusk dog needs a cleansing.V:2:32 SIDO.Hush! here comesAlarcos and the King.[They retire: the KING and COUNT ALARCOS advance.]V:2:33 KING.Solisa looksA Queen.V:2:34 ALAR.The mirror of her earliest youthNe’er shadowed her so fair!V:2:35 KING.I am young again,Myself to-night. It quickens my old bloodTo see my nobles round me. This goes well.‘Tis Courts like these that make a King feel proud.Thy future subjects, cousin.V:2:36 ALAR.Gracious Sire,I would be one.V:2:37 KING.Our past seclusion lendsA lustre to this revel.[The KING approaches the Count of LEON; SOLISA advances to ALARCOS.]V:2:38 SOL.Why art thou grave?I came to bid thee smile. In truth, to-nightI feel a lightness of the heart to meHath long been strange.V:2:39 ALAR.‘Tis passion makes me grave.I muse upon thy beauty. Thus I’d readMy oppressed spirit, for in truth these soundsJar on my humour.V:2:40 SOL.Now my brain is vividWith wild and blissful images. Canst guessWhat laughing thought unbidden, but resistless,Plays o’er my mind to-night? Thou canst not guess:Meseems it is our bridal night.V:2:41 ALAR.Thy fancyOutruns the truth but scantly.V:2:42 SOL.Not a breath.Our long-vexed destinies—even now their streamsBlend in one tide. It is the hour, Alarcos:There is a spirit whispering in my ear,The hour is come. I would I were a manBut for a rapid hour. Should I rest here,Prattling with gladsome revellers, when time,Steered by my hand, might bring me to a portI long had sighed to enter? But, alas!These are a woman’s thoughts.V:2:43 ALAR.And yet I share them.V:2:44 SOL.Why not to-night? Now, when our hearts are high,Our fancies glowing, pulses fit for kings,And the whole frame and spirit of the manPrepared for daring deeds?V:2:45 ALAR.And were it done—Why then ‘twere not to do.V:2:46 SOL.The mind grows dull,Dwelling on method of its deeds too long.Our schemes should brood as gradual as the storm;Their acting should be lightning. How far is’t?V:2:47 ALAR.An hour.V:2:48 SOL.Why it wants two to midnight yet.O could I see thee but re-enter here,Ere yet the midnight clock strikes on my heartThe languish of new hours—I’d not ask theeWhy I had missed the mien, that draws to it everMy constant glance. There’d need no speech between us;For I should meet—my husband.V:2:49 ALAR.‘Tis the burthenOf this unfilled doom weighs on my spirit.Why am I here? My heart and face but marThis festive hall. To-night, why not to-night?The night will soon have past: then ‘twill be done.We’ll meet again to-night.[Exit ALARCOS.]
SCENE 3
A Hall in the Castle of ALARCOS;in the back of the Scene a door leading to another Apartment.
V:3:1 ORAN.Reveal the future, lightnings! Then I’d hailThat arrowy flash. O darker than the stormCowed as the beasts now crouching in their caves,Is my sad soul. Impending o’er this house,I feel some bursting fate, my doomed armIn vain would ward,[Enter a MAN AT ARMS.]How now, hast left thy post?V:3:2 MAN.O worthy Castellan, the lightnings playUpon our turrets, that no human stepCan keep the watch. Each forky flash seems missionedTo scathe our roof, and the whole platform flowsWith a blue sea of flame.V:3:3 ORAN.It is thy post.No peril clears desertion. To thy post.Mark me, my step will be as prompt as thine;I will relieve thee.[Exit MAN AT ARMS.]Let the mischievous fireWither this head. O Allah! grant no fateMore dire awaits me.[Enter the COUNT ALARCOS.]Hah! the Count! My lord,In such a night!V:3:4 ALAR.A night that’s not so wildAs this tempestuous breast. How is she, Oran?V:3:5 ORAN.Well.V:3:6 ALAR.Ever well.V:3:7 ORAN.The children—V:3:8 ALAR.Wine, I’m wearied,The lightning scared my horse; he’s galled my arm.Get me some wine.[Exit ORAN.]The storm was not to stop me.The mind intent construes each natural actTo a personal bias, and so catches judgmentsIn every common course. In truth the flash,Though it seemed opening hell, was not so dreadfulAs that wild glaring hall.[Re-enter ORAN with a goblet and flagon.]Ah! this re-mans me!I think the storm has lulled. Another cup.Go see, good Oran, how the tempest speeds.[Exit ORAN.]An hour ago I did not dare to thinkI’d drink wine more.[Re-enter ORAN.]V:3:9 ORAN.The storm indeed has lulledAs by a miracle; the sky is clear,There’s not a breath of air; and from the turretI heard the bell of Huelgas.V:3:10 ALAR.Then ‘twas nothing.My spirit vaults! Oran, thou dost rememberThe night that we first met?V:3:11 ORAN.‘Tis graven deepUpon my heart.V:3:12 ALAR.I think thou lov’st me, Oran?V:3:13 ORAN.And all thy house.V:3:14 ALAR.Nay, thou shalt love but me.I’ll no divisions in the hearts that are mine.V:3:15 ORAN.I have no love but that which knits me to theeWith deeper love.V:3:16 ALAR.I found thee, Oran, what—I will not say. And now thou art, good Oran,A Prince’s Castellan.V:3:17 ORAN.I feel thy bounty.V:3:18 ALAR.Thou shalt be more. But serve me as I would,And thou shalt name thy meed.V:3:19 ORAN.To serve my lordIs my sufficient meed.V:3:20 ALAR.Come hither, Oran,Were there a life between me and my life,And all that makes that life a thing to cling to,Love, Honour, Power, ay, what I will not nameNor thou canst image—yet enough to stirAmbition in the dead—I think, good Oran,Thou would’st not see me foiled?V:3:21 ORAN.Thy glory’s dearerThan life to me.V:3:22 ALAR.I knew it, I knew it.Thou shalt share all; thy alien blood shall beNo bar to thy preferment. Hast thou brothers?I’ll send for them. An aged sire, perchance?Here’s gold for him. Count it thyself. ContriveAll means of self-enjoyment. To the fullThey shall lap up fruition. Thou hast, all have,Some master wish which still eludes thy grasp,And still’s the secret idol of thy soul;‘Tis gained. And only if thou dost, good Oran,What love and duty prompt.V:3:23 ORAN.Count on my faith,I stand prepared to prove it.V:3:24 ALAR.Good, good, Oran.It is an hour to midnight?V:3:25 ORAN.The moon is notWithin her midnight bower, yet near.V:3:26 ALAR.So late!The Countess sleeps?V:3:27 ORAN.She has long retired.V:3:28 ALAR.She sleeps,O, she must wake no more!V:3:29 ORAN.Thy wife!V:3:30 ALAR.It mustBe done, ere yet the Castle chime shall tellNight wanes.V:3:31 ORAN.Thy wife! God of my fathers! noneCan do this deed!V:3:32 ALAR.Upon thy hand it rests.The deed must fall on thee.V:3:33 ORAN.I will not do it.V:3:34 ALAR.Thine oath, thine oath! Hast thou forgot thine oath?Thou owest me a life, and now I claim it.What, hast thou trifled with me? Hast thou fooledWith one whose point was at thy throat? Beware!Thou art my slave, and I have branded theeWith this infernal ransom!V:3:35 ORAN.I am thy slave,And I will be thy slave, and all my daysDevoted to perdition. Not for goldOr worldly worth; to cheer no aged parent,Though I have one, a mother; not to baskMy seed within thy beams; to feed no passionsAnd gorge no craving vanity; but becauseThou gavest me life, and led to that which madeThat life for once delicious. O, great sir,The King’s thy foe? Surrounded by his guardsI would waylay him. Hast thou some fierce rival?I’ll pluck his heart out. Yea! there is no perilI’d not confront, no rack I’ll not endure,No great offence commit, to do thee service—So thou wilt spare me this, and spare thy soulThis unmatched sin.V:3:36 ALAR.I had exhausted sufferingEre I could speak to thee. I claim thine oath.V:3:37 ORAN.One moment, yet one moment. This is suddenAs it is terrible.V:3:38 ALAR.The womb is ripe,And thou art but the midwife of the birthI have engendered.V:3:39 ORAN.Think how fair she is,How gracious, how devoted!V:3:40 ALAR.Need I theeTo tell me what she is!V:3:41 ORAN.Thy children’s mother.V:3:42 ALAR.Would she were not! Another breast should bearMy children.V:3:43 ORAN.Thou inhuman bloody man—It shall not be, it cannot, cannot be.I tell thee, tyrant, there’s a power abroadE’en now that crashes thee. The storm that ragedBlows from a mystic quarter. ‘Tis the handOf Allah guides the tempest of this night.V:3:44 ALAR.Thine oath, thine oath!V:3:45 ORAN.Accursed be the hourThou sparedst my life!V:3:46 ALAR.Thine oath, I claim thine oath.Nay, Moor, what is it? ‘Tis a life, and thouHast learnt to rate existence at its worth.A life, a woman’s life! Why, sack a town,And thousands die like her. My faithful Oran,Come let me love thee, let me find a friendWhen friends can prove themselves. It’s not an oathVowed in our sunshine ease, that shows a friend;‘Tis the tempestuous mood like this, that callsFor faithful service.V:3:47 ORAN.Hah! the Emir’s bloodCries for this judgment. It was sacred seed.V:3:48 ALAR.It flowed to clear thine honour. Art thou heThat honour loved so dearly, that he scornedBetrayal of a foe, although that foeHad changed him to a bravo?V:3:49 ORAN.Let me kissThy garment’s hem, and grovel it thy feet—I pray, I supplicate—my lord, my lord—Absolve me from that oath!V:3:50 ALAR.I had not thoughtTo claim it twice. It seems I lacked some judgmentIn man, to deem that honour might be foundIn hired stabbers.V:3:51 ORAN.Hah! I vowed to theeA life for that which thou didst spare—‘tis well.The debt is paid.[Stabs himself and falls.][Enter the COUNTESS from the inner Chamber.]V:3:52 COUN.I cannot sleep—my dreams are full of woe!Alarcos! my Alarcos! Hah! dread sight!Oran!V:3:53 ORAN.O, spare her; ‘tis no sacrificeIf she be spared.V:3:54 COUN.Wild words! Thou dost not speak.O, speak, Alarcos! speak!V:3:55 ORAN.His voice is death.V:3:56 COUN.Ye Saints uphold me now, for I am weakAnd lost. What means this? Oran dying! Nay—Alarcos! I’m a woman. Aid me, aid me.Why’s Oran thus? O, save him, my Alarcos!Blood! And why shed? Why, let us staunch his wounds.Why are there wounds? He will not speak. Alarcos,A word, a single word! Unhappy Moor!Where is thy hurt?[Kneels by ORAN.]V:3:57 ORAN.That hand! This is not death;‘Tis Paradise.[Dies.]V:3:58 ALAR.[advancing in soliloquy]He sets me great examples.‘Tis easier than I deemed; a single blowAnd his bold soul has fled. His lavish lifeEnlists me in quick service. Quit that dark corpse;He died as did become a perjured traitor.V:3:59 COUN.To whom, my lord?V:3:60 ALAR.To all Castille perchance.Come hither, wife. Before the morning breaksA lengthened journey waits thee. Art prepared?V:3:61 COUN.[springing to ALARCOS]I will not go. Alarcos, dear Alarcos,Thy look is terrible! What mean these words?Why should’st thou spare me? Why should Oran die?The veil that clouds thy mind—I’ll rend it. Tell me—Yea! I’ll know all. A power supports me now—Defies even thee.V:3:62 ALAR.A traitor’s troubled tongueDisturbs thy mind. I tell thee, thou must leaveThis castle promptly.V:3:63 COUN.Not to Burgos—sayBut that. I will not go. That fatal woman—Her shadow’s on thy soul.V:3:64 ALAR.No, not to Burgos.‘Tis not to Burgos that thy journey tends.The children sleep?V:3:65 COUN.Spite of the storm.V:3:66 ALAR.Go—kiss them.Thou canst not take them with thee. To thy chamber—Quick to thy chamber.[The COUNTESS as if about to speak, but ALARCOS stops her.]Nay, time presses, wife.[The COUNTESS slowly re-enters her Chamber.]V:3:67 ALAR.I am alone—with Death. And will she lookSerene as this? The visage of a heroStamped with a martyred end! Thou noble Moor!What if thy fate were mine! Thou art at rest:No dark fulfilment waits o’er thee. The tombHath many charms.[The COUNTESS calls.]V:3:68 COUN.Alarcos!V:3:69 ALAR.Ay, anon.Why did she tell me that she lived? MethoughtIt was all past. I came to confront death;And we have met. This sacrificial blood—What, bears it no atonement? ‘Twas an offeringFit for the Gods.[The midnight bell.]She waits me now; her handExtends a diadem; my achieveless armWould wither at her scorn. ‘Tis thus, Solisa,I gain thy heart and realm![ALARCOS moves hastily to the Chamber, which he enters;the stage for some seconds is empty; a shriek is then heard;ALARCOS re-appears, very pale, and slowly advances to the front of the stage.]‘Tis over and I live. I heard a sound;Was’t Oran’s spirit?I’ll not rest here, and yet I dare not back.The bodies? Nay, ‘tis done—I’ll not shrink now.I have seen death before. But is this death?Methinks a deeper mystery. Well, ‘tis done.There’ll be no hour so dark as this. I wouldI had not caught her eye.[A trumpet sounds.]The Warder’s note!Shall I meet life again?[Another trumpet sounds.][Enter the SENESCHAL.]V:3:70 SEN.Horsemen from Court.V:3:71 ALAR.The Court! I’m sick at heart. Perchance she’s eager,And cannot wait my coming.[Enter two COURTIERS.]Well, good sirs!V:3:72 1ST COURT.Alas, my lord.V:3:73 ALAR.I live upon thy words.What now?V:3:74 1ST COURT.We have rode post, my lord.V:3:75 ALAR.Bad newsFlies ever. ‘Tis the King?V:3:76 1ST COURT.Alas!V:3:77 ALAR.She’s ill.My horse, my horse there!V:3:78 1ST COURT.Nay, my lord, not so.V:3:79 ALAR.Why then I care for nought.V:3:80 1ST COURT.Unheard-of horror!The storm, the storm—V:3:81 ALAR.I rode in it.V:3:82 1ST COURT.MethoughtEach flash would fire the Citadel; the flameWreathed round its pinnacles, and poured in streamsAdown the pallid battlements. Our revellersForgot their festival, and stopped to gazeOn the portentous vision. When behold!The curtained clouds re-opened, and a boltCame winged from the startling blue of heaven,And struck—the Infanta!V:3:83 ALAR.There’s a God of Vengeance.V:3:84 1ST COURT.She fell a blighted corpse. Amid the shrieksOf women, prayers of hurrying multitudes,The panic and the stir we sought for thee;The King’s overwhelmed.V:3:85 ALAR.My wife’s at least a Queen,She reigns in Heaven. The King’s o’erwhelmed—poor manGo tell him, sirs, the Count Alarcos livedTo find a hell on earth; yet thus he soughtA deeper and a darker.[Falls.]