[Elizabethhastily retires.
MARY. At last, at last,After whole years of sorrow and abasement,One moment of victorious revenge!
* * * * *
LEAH—[solus]-What seek I here? I know not; yet I feel I have a mission to fulfil. I feel that the cords of my I being are stretched to their utmost effort. Already seven days! So long! As the dead lights were placed about the body of Abraham, as the friends sat nightly at his feet and watched, so have I sat, for seven days, and wept over the corpse of my love. What have I done? Am I not the child of man? Is not love the right of all,—like the air, the light? And if I stretched my hands towards it, was it a crime? When I first saw him, first heard the sound of his voice, something wound itself around my heart. Then first I knew why I was created, and for the first time, was thankful for my life. Collect thyself, mind, and think! What has happened? I saw him yesterday—no! eight days ago! He was full of love. "You'll come," said he. I came. I left my people. I tore the cords that bound me to my nation, and came to him. He cast me forth into the night. And yet, my heart, you throb still. The earth still stands, the sun still shines, as if it had not gone down forever, for me. By his side stood a handsome maid, and drew him away with caressing hands. It isshehe loves, and to the Jewess he dares offer gold. I will seek him! I will gaze on his face—that deceitful beautiful face. [Church illuminated. Organ plays softly.] I will ask him what I have done that—[Hides face in her hands and weeps. Organ swells louder and then subsides again.] Perhaps he has been misled by some one—some false tongue! His looks, his words, seem to reproach me. Why was I silent? Thou proud mouth, ye proud lips, why did you not speak? Perhaps he loves me still. Perhaps his soul, like mine, pines in nameless agony, and yearns for reconciliation. [Music soft.] Why does my hate melt away at this soft voice with which heaven calls to me? That grand music! I hear voices. It sounds like a nuptial benediction; perhaps it is a loving bridal pair. Amen—amen! to that prayer, whoever you may be. [Music stops.] I, poor desolate one, would like to see their happy faces—I must—this window. Yes, here I can see into the church. [Looks into the window. Screams.] Do I dream? Kind Heaven, that prayer, that amen, you heard it not. I call it back. You did not hear my blessing. You were deaf. Did no blood-stained dagger drop upon them? 'Tis he! Revenge!——No! Thou shalt judge! Thine, Jehovah, is the vengeance. Thou, alone, canst send it. [_Rests her arm upon a broken column.]
Enter Rudolf from the sacristy door, with wreath in hand._
RUD.—I am at last alone. I cannot endure the joy and merriment around me. How like mockery sounded the pious words of the priest! As I gazed towards the church windows I saw a face, heard a muffled cry. I thought it was her face,—her voice.
LEAH.—(coldly.) Did you think so?
RUD.—Leah! Is it you?
LEAH.—Yes.
RUD.—(tenderly.) Leah—
LEAH.—Silence, perjured one! Can the tongue that lied, still speak? The breath that called me wife, now swear faith to another! Does it dare to mix with the pure air of heaven? Is this the man I worshipped? whose features I so fondly gazed upon! Ah! [shuddering] No—no! The hand of heaven has crushed, beaten and defaced them! The stamp of divinity no longer rests there! [Walks away.]
RUD.—Leah! hear me!
LEAH.—[turning fiercely.] Ha! You call me back? I am pitiless now.
RUD.—You broke faith first. You took the money.
LEAH.—Money! What money?
RUD.—The money my father sent you.
LEAH.—Sent me money? For what?
RUD.—[hesitating.] To induce you to release me—to——
LEAH.—That I might release you? And you knew it? You permitted it?
RUD.—I staked my life that you would not take it.
LEAH.—And you believed I had taken it?
RUD.—How could I believe otherwise? I——
LEAH.—[with rage] And you believed I had taken it, Miserable Christian, and you cast me off! Not a question was the Jewess worth. This, then, was thy work; this the eternity of love you promised me. Forgive me, Heaven, that I forgot my nation to love this Christian. Let that love be lost in hate. Love is false, unjust—hate endless, eternal.
RUD.—Cease these gloomy words of vengeance—I have wronged you. I feel it without your reproaches. I have sinned; but to sin is human, and it would be but human to forgive.
LEAH.—You would tempt me again? I do not know that voice.
RUD.—I will make good the evil I have done; aye, an hundredfold.
LEAH.—Aye, crush the flower, grind it under foot, then make good the evil you have done. No! no! an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a heart for a heart!
RUD.—Hold, fierce woman, I will beseech no more! Do not tempt heaven; let it be the judge between us! If I have sinned through love, see that you do not sin through hate.
LEAH.—Blasphemer! and you dare call on heaven! What commandant hast thou not broken? Thou shalt not swear falsely—you broke faith with me! Thou shalt not steal—you stole my heart. Thou shalt not kill—what of life have you left me?
RUD.—Hold, hold! No more! [Advancing.]
LEAH.—[repelling him.] The old man who died because I loved you, the woman who hungered because I followed you, may they follow you in dreams, and be a drag upon your feet forever. May you wander as I wander, suffer shame as I now suffer it. Cursed be the land you till: may it keep faith with you as you have kept faith with me. Cursed, thrice cursed, may you be evermore, and as my people on Mount Ebal spoke, so speak I thrice! Amen! Amen! Amen!
[Rudolf drops on his knees as the curtain descends on the tableau.]
* * * * *
RUD.—(Leah comes down stage gently and sad, listening). Think, Madalena, of her lot and mine. While I clasp a tender wife, and a lovely child; she wanders in foreign lands, suffering and desolate. It is not alone her curse that haunts me, it is her pale and gentle face, which I seem to see in my dreams, and which so sadly says to me,
"I have forgiven!" Oh, Madalena, could I but hear her say this, and tell her how deeply I feel that I have wronged her—could I but wet her hands with my repentent tears, then would I find peace.
MAD.—Rudolf, a thought! In yonder valley camps a company of Jews who are emigrating to America; perhaps one of them may be able to give you news of Leah, and if you find her, she shall share the blessings of our home. She shall be to me a dear sister!(Leah hastily conceals herself.)Ha, that beggar woman, where is she?(Looks around.)Perhaps she belongs to the tribe; perhaps she may tell you of her.
RUD.—How say you? A beggar woman?
MAD.—Yes, a poor Jewess, whom I rescued to-day. She must now be in the house. Oh, come, Rudolf, let us find her. All may yet be well![Exeunt in house.
Enter Leah from behind a hayrick.
LEAH.—Have I heard aright? The iron bands seem melting, the cold dead heart moves, and beats once more! The old life returns. Rudolf!(tears.)My Rudolf. No, no, he is no longer mine! The flame is extinguished, and only the empty lamp remains above the sepulchre of my heart. No, Madalena, no, I shall not remain to be a reproach to you both. I will wander on with my people, but the hate I have nourished has departed. I may not love, but I forgive—yes, I forgive him. But his child. Oh, I should so like to see his child!
Child comes to doorway from house.
Fear not, little one, come hither.
CHILD.—(coming towards her).Is it you? Father seeks you.
LEAH.—His very image.(kisses her,)What is your name, my darling?
CHILD.—Leah.
LEAH.—What say you? Leah?
CHILD.—Did you know the other Leah?—she whom mother and father speak of so often, and for whom every night I must pray?
LEAH.—(With emotion, kissing her, and giving her a withered rose- wreath, which she takes from inside her dress)Take this, my pretty one.
CHILD.—A rose-wreath?
LEAH—Take it, and give it your father. Say to him your little prayer has been heard, and that Leah—(emotion)—Leah forgives.(going, returns again, kisses child, and with extended arms and choking voice.)Bless, you, darling!(extending arms to house.)And you, and you— and all—and all'.(goes to fence, totters, and sinks down, endeavoring to exit.)
Enter Rudolf and Madalena from house.
RUD.—Not here!
CHILD—(running to Madalena.)See, mother, see what the strange woman gave me.(showing wreath.)
MAD.—(not noticing child)Where is she?
CHILD.—She has gone away(running to Rudolf with wreath.)See, father.
RUD.—(taking wreath.)A rose-wreath. Great heaven, Madalena, it must have been Leah; it is my wreath. Leah!
MAD.—It was she!
RUD.—Yes, it was Leah. By this token we are reconciled.(Leah moans.)Ha, what sound is that?
MAD.—(going to the prostrate figure.)Quick, Rudolf! It is she.(they run to her, raise her up, and bear her to front.)
LEAH.—(feebly.)I tried to go, but my strength forsook me. I shall, at least, then, die here!
RUD.—Die! No, no; speak not of dying, you shall live!
LEAH.—No; I am too happy to live. See, Madalena, I take his hand, but it is to place it in yours. All is over.(sinks into their arms.)
Alonzo in chains—A sentinel walking near.
ALONZO. (c.)—For the last time, I have beheld the quivering lustre of the stars. For the last time, O, sun! (and soon the hour), I shall behold thy rising, and thy level beams melting the pale mists of morn to glittering dew drops. Then comes my death, and in the morning of my day, I fall, which—no, Alonzo, date not the life which thou hast run, by the mean reckoning of the hours and days, which thou has breathed:—a life spent worthily should be measured by a nobler line; by deeds, not years. They only have lived long, who have lived virtuously. Surely, even now, thin streaks of glimmering light steal on the darkness of the East. If so, my life is but one hour more. I will not watch the coming dawn; but in the darkness of my cell, my last prayer to thee, Power Supreme! shall be for my wife and child! Grant them to dwell in innocence and peace; grant health and purity of mind—all else is worthless.
[Enters the cavern, R. U. E.
SEN.—Who's there? answer quickly! Who's there?
ROL.—(within.) A friar come to visit your prisoner. (enters,L. U. E.disguised as a monk.) Inform me, friend, is not Alonzo, theSpanish prisoner, confined in this dungeon?
SEN.—(c.) He is.
ROL.—I must speak with him.
SEN.—You must not. (stopping him with his spear.)
ROL.—He is my friend.
SEN.—Not if he were your brother.
ROL.—What is to be his fate?
SEN.—He dies at sunrise.
ROL.—Ha! Then I am come in time.
SEN.—Just—to witness his death.
ROL.—Soldier, I must speak to him.
SEN.—Back, back—It is impossible.
ROL.—I do entreat you, but for one moment.
SEN.—You entreat in vain—my orders are most strict.
ROL.—Look on this wedge of massive gold—look on these precious gems. In thy own land they will be wealth for thee and thine—beyond thy hope or wish. Take them—they are thine. Let me but pass one minute with Alonzo.
SEN.—Away!—wouldst thou corrupt me? Me! an old Castilian! I know my duty better.
ROL.—Soldier!—hast thou a wife?
SEN.—I have.
ROL.—Hast thou children?
SEN.—Four—honest, lovely boys.
ROL.—Where didst thou leave them?
SEN.—In my native village; even in the cot where myself was born.
ROL.—Dost thou love thy children and thy wife?
SEN.—Do I love them! God knows my heart—I do.
ROL.—Soldier! imagine thou wert doomed to die a cruel death in this strange land. What would be thy last request?
SEN.—That some of my comrades should carry my dying blessing to my wife and children.
ROL.—Oh! but if that comrade was at thy prison gate, and should there be told—thy fellow-soldier dies at sunset, yet thou shalt not for a moment see him, nor shalt thou bear his dying blessing to his poor children or his wretched wife, what would'st thou think of him, who thus could drive thy comrade from the door?
SEN.—How?
ROL.—Alonzo has a wife and child. I am come but to receive for her, and for her babe, the last blessing of my friend.
SEN.—Go in. [Shoulders his spear and walks toL. U. E.
ROL. (c.)—Oh, holy Nature! thou dost never plead in vain. There is not of our earth a creature bearing form, and life—human or savage—native of the forest wild, or giddy air—around whose parent bosom thou hast not a cord entwined of power to tie them to their offspring's claims, and at thy will to draw them back to thee. On iron pinions borne, the blood-stained vulture cleaves the storm, yet is the plumage closest to her heart soft as the cygnet's down, and o'er her unshelled brood the murmuring ring-dove sits not more gently.—Yes, now he is beyond the porch, barring the outer gate! Alonzo! Alonzo, my friend! Ha! in gentle sleep! Alonzo—rise!
ALON.—How, is my hour elapsed? Well, (Returning from the recessR.U. E.) I am ready.
ROL.—Alonzo, know me.
ALON.—What voice is that?
ROL.—'Tis Rolla's. [Takes off his disguise.
ALON.—Rolla, my friend (Embraces him.) Heavens!—how could'st thou pass the guard?—Did this habit—
ROL.—There is not a moment to be lost in words. This disguise I tore from the dead body of a friar as I passed our field of battle; it has gained me entrance to thy dungeon: now, take it thou and fly.
ALON.—And Rolla—
ROL.—Will remain here in thy place.
ALON.—And die for me? No! Rather eternal tortures rack me.
ROL.—I shall not die, Alonzo. It is thy life Pizarro seeks, not Rolla's; and from thy prison soon will thy arm deliver me. Or, should it be otherwise, I am as a blighted plantain standing alone amid the sandy desert—nothing seeks or lives beneath my shelter. Thou art—a husband and a father; the being of a lovely wife and helpless infant hangs upon thy life. Go! go, Alonzo! Go, to save, not thyself, but Cora and thy child!
ALON.—Urge me not thus, my friend! I had prepared to die in peace.
ROL.—To die in peace! devoting her thou'st sworn to live for to madness, misery, and death! For, be assured, the state I left her in forbids all hope, but from thy quick return.
ALON.—Oh, God!
ROL.—If thou art yet irresolute, Alonzo, now heed me well. I think thou hast not known that Rolla ever pledged his word, and shrunk from its fulfilment. And by the heart of truth, I swear, if thou art proudly obstinate to deny thy friend the transport of preserving Cora's life, in thee; no power that sways the will of man shalt stir me hence; and thoul't but have the desperate triumph of seeing Rolla perish by thy side, with the assured conviction that Cora and thy child—are lost forever.
ALON.—Oh, Rolla! you distract me!
ROL.—Begone! A moment's further pause, and all is lost. The dawn approaches. Fear not for me; I will treat with Pizarro, as for surrender and submission. I shall gain time, doubt not, whilst thou, with a chosen band, passing the secret way, may'st at night return, release thy friend, and bear him back in triumph. Yes, hasten, dear Alonzo! Even now I hear the frantic Cora call thee! Haste, Alonzo! Haste! Haste!
ALON.—Rolla, I fear thy friendship drives me from honour and from right.
ROL.—Did Rolla ever counsel dishonour to his friend?
ALON.—Oh! my preserver! [Embracing him.
ROL.—I feel thy warm tears dropping on my cheek.—Go! I am rewarded. (Throwing the Friar's garment over him.) There, conceal thy face; and that they may not clank, hold fast thy chains. Now, God be with thee!
ALON.—At night we meet again. Then, so aid me Heaven! I return to save or perish with thee. [ExitL.U.E.
ROL. (Looking after him.)—He has passed the outer porch—he is safe! He will soon embrace his wife and child! Now, Cora, did'st thou not wrong me? This is the first time throughout my life, I ever deceived man. Forgive me, God of Truth! if I am wrong. Alonzo flatters himself that we shall meet again! Yes, there! (Lifting his hands to heaven.)— assuredly we shall meet again; there, possess in peace, the joys of everlasting love, and friendship—on earth imperfect and embittered. I will retire, lest the guard return before Alonzo may have passed their lines. [Retires into the cavern.
CORA. (Sitting on bank by child,R.)—Oh, Nature! thou hast not the strength of love. My anxious spirit is untired in its march; my wearied shivering frame sinks under it. And for thee, my boy, when faint beneath thy lovely burden, could I refuse to give thy slumbers that poor bed of rest! Oh, my child! were I assured thy poor father breathes no more, how quickly would I lay me down by thy dear side!—but down—down forever! (Thunder and lightning.) I ask thee not, unpitying storm to abate thy rage, in mercy to poor Cora's misery; nor while thy thunders spare his slumbers, will I disturb my sleeping cherub, though Heaven knows I wish to hear the voice of life, and feel that life is near me. But I will endure all while what I have of reason holds. (Thunder and lightning.) Still, still implacable!—unfeeling elements! yet still dost thou sleep, my smiling innocent! Oh, Death! when wilt thou grant to this babe's mother such repose? Sure I may shield thee better from the storm: my veil may—
ALON. (WithoutL.)—Cora!
CORA (Runs toC.) Ha!
ALON.—Cora!
CORA—Oh, my heart. Sweet Heaven, deceive me not. Is it not Alonzo's voice?
ALON. (Louder)—Cora!
CORA (L. C.)—It is—it is Alonzo!
ALON. (Very loud) Cora! my beloved!
CORA (L.) Alonzo! Here!—here!—Alonzo!
[Runs out.
* * * * *
The King is reported to have dismounted before the battle commenced, and to have fought on foot.
Hollinshed states that the English army consisted of 15,000, and the French of 60,000 horse and 40,000 infantry—in all, 100,000. Walsingham and Harding represent the English as but 9,000, and other authors say that the number of French amounted to 150,000. Fabian says the French were 40,000, and the English only 7,000. The battle lasted only three hours.
The noble Duke of Gloucester, the king's brother, pushing himself too vigorously on his horse into the conflict, was grievously wounded, and cast down to the earth, by the blows of the French, for whose protection the King being interested, he bravely leapt against his enemies in defence of his brother, defended him with his own body, and plucked and guarded him from the raging malice of the enemy, sustaining perils of war scarcely possible to be borne.
Nicolas's History of Agincourt.
During the battle the Duke of Alençon most valiantly broke through the English lines, and advanced fighting near the King—inasmuch that he wounded and struck down the Duke of York. King Henry seeing this stepped forth to his aid, and as he was leaning down to aid him the Duke of Alençon gave him a blow on his helmet that struck off part of his crown. The King's guards on this surrounded him, when seeing he could no way escape death but by surrendering, he lifted up his arms and said to the King, "I am the Duke of Alençon, and yield myself to you." But as the King was holding out his hand to receive his pledge he was put to death by the guards.
Monstrelet.
* * * * *
GLOSTER, BEDFORD, EXETER, SALISBURY, ERPINGHAM,andWESTMORELANDdiscovered.
GLO. Where is the king?
BED. The king himself is rode to view their battle.
WEST. Of fighting men they have full threescore thousand.
EXE. There's five to one; besides they're all fresh.'Tis a fearful odds.If we no more meet till we meet in heaven,Then joyfully my noble lord of Bedford,My dear Lord Gloster, and my good Lord ExeterAnd my kind kinsman, warriors all—adieu!
WEST. O that we now had here
EnterKING HENRY,attended.
But one ten thousand of those men in EnglandThat do no work to-day!
K. HEN. What's he that wishes so?My cousin Westmoreland?—No, my fair cousin:If we are mark'd to die, we are enowTo do our country loss; and if to live,The fewer men the greater share of honour.O, do not wish one more;Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,That he which hath no stomach to this fightLet him depart; his passport shall be made,And crowns for convoy put into his purse;We would not die in that man's companyThat fears his fellowship to die with us.This day is call'd the feast of Crispian:He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,And rouse him at the name of Crispian,He that outlives this day, and sees old age,Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,And say to-morrow is Saint Crispian:Then will he strip his sleeve, and show his scars;And say, these wounds I had on Crispin's dayThen shall our names,Familiar in their mouths as household words,—Harry, the king, Bedford and Exeter,Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloster,—Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd:This story shall the good man teach his son:And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,From this day to the ending of the world,But we in it shall be remember'd:We few, we happy few, we band of brothers:For he to-day that sheds his blood with meShall be my brother; be he ne'er so vileThis day shall gentle his condition;And gentlemen in England, now a-bed,Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here;And hold their manhoods cheap, whiles any speaksThat fought with us upon St. Crispin's day.
EnterGOWER.
GOWER. My sovereign lord, bestow yourself with speedThe French are bravely in their battles set,And will with all expedience charge on us.
K. HEN. All things are ready, if our minds be so.
WEST. Perish the man whose mind is backward now!
K. HEN. Thou dost not wish more help from England,coz?
WEST. Heaven's will, my liege, I would you and I alone,Without more help could fight this royal battle!
K. HEN. Why, now thou hast unwish'd five thousand men;Which likes me better than to wish us one.—You know your places: God be with you all!
EnterMONTJOYand attendants.
MONT. Once more I come to know of thee, King HarryIf for thy ransom thou wilt now compound,Before thy most assured overthrow:For, certainly, thou art so near the gulfThou needs must be englutted. Besides, in mercy,The Constable desires thee thou wilt mindThy followers of repentance; that their soulsMay make a peaceful and a sweet retireFrom off these fields, where (wretches) their poor bodiesMust lie and fester.
K. HEN Who hath sent thee now?
MONT. The Constable of France.
K. HEN. I pray thee, bear my former answer back?Bid them achieve me, and then sell my bones.Good God! why should they mock poor fellows thus?The man that once did sell the lion's skinWhile the beast liv'd, was kill'd with hunting him.Let me speak proudly:—Tell the Constable,We are but warriors for the working-day;Our gayness and our gilt, are all besmirch'dWith rainy marching in the painful field;There's not a piece of feather in our host(Good argument, I hope, we will not fly),And time hath worn us into slovenry;But, by the mass, our hearts are in the trim:And my poor soldiers tell me, yet ere nightThey'll be in fresher robes; or they will pluckThe gay new coats o'er the French soldiers' heads,And turn them out of service. If they do this,(As if God please, they shall), my ransom thenWill soon be levied. Herald, save thou thy labour;Come thou no more for ransom, gentle herald;They shall have none, I swear, but these my joints;Which if they have as I will leave 'em themShall yield them little, tell the Constable.
MONT. I shall, King Harry. And so fare thee well:Thou never shalt hear herald any more. [Exit.
K. HEN. I fear thou'lt once more come again for ransom.
Enter theDUKE OF YORK.
YORK. My lord, most humbly on my knee I begThe leading of the vaward.
K. HEN. Take it, brave York—Now, soldiers, march away:—And how, thou pleasest God, dispose the day!
[Exeunt.
* * * * *
CASSIUS. That you have wronged me doth appear in this:You have condemned and noted Lucius PellaFor taking bribes here of the Sardians;Wherein my letters (praying on his side,Because I knew the man) were slighted of.
BRUTUS. You wronged yourself to write in such a case.
CAS. In such a time as this it is not meetThat every nice offence should bear its comment.
BRU. Let me tell you, Cassius, you yourselfAre much condemned to have an itching palm;To sell and mart your offices for goldTo undeservers.
CAS. I an itching palm?You know that you are Brutus that speak this,Or by the gods! this speech were else your last.
BRU. The name of Cassius honours this corruption,And chastisement doth therefore, hide its head.
CAS. Chastisement!
BRU. Remember March, the Ides of March remember!Did not great Julius bleed for justice sake?What! I shall one of usThat struck the foremost man of all this world
But for supporting robbers—shall we nowContaminate our fingers with base bribes,And sell the mighty space of our large honoursFor so much trash as may be graspéd thus?I had rather be a dog, and bay the moon,Than such a Roman.
CAS. Brutus, bay not me.I'll not endure it. You forget yourselfTo hedge me in. I am a soldier, I,Older in practice, abler than yourselfTo make conditions.
BRU. Go to, you are not, Cassius.
CAS. I am.
BRU. I say you are not.
CAS. Urge me no more: I shall forget myself:Have mind upon your health; tempt me no farther.
BRU. Away, slight man!
CAS. I'st possible?
BRU. Hear me, for I will speak.Must I give way and room to your rash choler?Shall I be frightened when a madman stares?
CAS. Must I endure all this?
BRU. All this! ay, more. Fret till your proud heart break.Go show your slaves how choleric you are,And make your bondmen tremble. Must I budge?Must I observe you? Must I stand and crouchUnder your testy humour? By the gods!You shall digest the venom of your spleen,Though it do split you; for from this day forthI'll use you for my mirth, yea, for my laughter,When you are waspish.
CAS. Is it come to this?
BRU. You say you are a better soldier:Let it appear so; make your vaunting true;And it shall please me well. For mine own part,I shall be glad to learn of noble men.
CAS. You wrong me every way, you wrong me, Brutus;I said an elder soldier, not a better.Did I say better?
BRU. If you did, I care not.
CAS. When Caesar lived, he durst not thus, have moved me.
BRU. Peace, peace! You durst not so have tempted him.
CAS. Idurstnot?
BRU. No.
CAS. Whatdurstnot tempt him?
BRU. For your life you durst not.
CAS. Do not presume too much upon my love;I may do that I shall be sorry for.
BRU. Youhavedone that youshouldbe sorry for.There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats,For I am arm'd so strong in honesty,That they pass by me as the idle windWhich I respect not. I did send to youFor certain sums of gold, which you denied me;For I can raise no money by vile means.By heavens! I had rather coin my heart,And drop my blood for drachmas, than wringFrom the hard hands of peasants their vile trashBy any indirection. I did sendTo you for gold to pay my legions,Which you denied me! Was that done like Cassius?Should I have answered Caius Cassius so?When Marcus Brutus grows so covetous,To lock such rascal counters from his friends,Be ready, gods! with all your thunderboltsDash him to pieces.
CAS. I denied you not.
BRU. You did.
CA. I did not: he was but a foolThat brought my answer back. Brutus hath rived my heart,A friend should bear a friend's infirmities;But Brutus makes mine greater than they are.
BRU. I do not till you practise them on me.
CAS. You love me not.
BRU. I do not like your faults.
CAS. A friendly eye could never see such faults.
BRU. A flatterer's would not, though they did appearAs huge as high Olympus.
CAS. Come, Antony! and young Octavius, come!Revenge yourself alone on Cassius,For Cassius is a-weary of the world—Hated by one he loves; braved by his brother;Check'd like a bondman; all his faults observed,Set in a note-book, learn'd and conn'd by rote,To cast into my teeth. Oh, I could weepMy spirit from mine eyes! There is my dagger,And here my naked breast—within, a heartDearer than Plutus' mine, richer than gold:If that thou need'st a Roman's, take it forth!I, that denied thee gold, will give my heart.Strike as thou didst at Caesar; for I knowWhen thou didst hate him worst, thou lovedst him betterThan ever thou lovedst Cassius.
BRU. Sheath your dagger;Be angry when you will, it shall have scope;Do what you will, dishonour shall be humour.O, Cassius, you are yokéd with a manThat carries anger as the flint bears fire,Who, much enforcèd, shows a hasty spark,And straight is cold again.
CAS. Hath Cassius livedTo be but mirth and laughter to his Brutus,When grief and blood ill-tempered vexeth him?
BRU. When I spoke that, I was ill-tempered too.
CAS. Do you confess so much? Give me your hand.
BRU. And my heart too. (Embracing.)
CAS. O, Brutus!
BRU. What's the matter?
CAS. Have you not love enough to bear with me,When that rash humour which my mother gave meMakes me forgetful?
BRIT. Yes, Cassius, and from henceforth,When you are over-earnest with your Brutus,He'll think your mother chides, and leave you so.
Shakespeare.
* * * * *
HAMLETandGHOSTdiscovered.
HAMLET, (C) Whither wilt thou lead me? speak!I'll go no further.
GHOST. (L. C.) Mark me.
HAM. (R. C.) I will.
GHOST. My hour is almost comeWhen I to sulph'rous and tormenting flamesMust render up myself.
HAM. Alas, poor ghost!
GHOST. Pity me not; but lend thy serious hearingTo what I shall unfold.
HAM. Speak, I am bound to hear.
GHOST. So art thou to revenge, when thou shalt hear.
HAM. What?
GHOST. I am thy father's spirit:Doomed for a certain term to walk the night;And, for the day, confined to fast in fires,Till the foul crimes, done in my days of nature,Are burnt and purged away. But that I am forbidTo tell the secrets of my prison-house,I could a tale unfold, whose lightest wordWould harrow up thy soul; freeze thy young blood;Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres,Thy knotted and combined locks to part,And each particular hair to stand on end,Like quills upon the fretful porcupine:But this eternal blazon must not beTo ears of flesh and blood: List, list, oh, list!—If thou didst ever thy dear father love—
HAM. Oh, heaven!
GHOST. Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.
HAM. Murder!
GHOST. Murder most foul, as in the best it is;But this most foul, strange, and unnatural.
HAM. Haste me to know it, that I, with wings as swiftAs meditation, or the thoughts of love,May sweep to my revenge.
GHOST. I find thee apt.Now, Hamlet, hear:Tis given out, that sleeping in my orchard,A serpent stung me; so that the whole ear of DenmarkIs, by a forged process of my death,Rankly abused: but know, thou noble youth,The serpent that did sting thy father's lifeNow wears his crown.
HAM. Oh, my prophetic soul! my uncle?
GHOST. Ay, that incestuous, that adulterate beast,With witchcraft of his wit, with traitorous gifts,Won to his shameful lustThe will of my most seeming-virtuous queen:Oh, Hamlet, what a falling off was there!From me, whose love was of that dignity,That it went hand in hand, even with the vowI made to her in marriage; and to declineUpon a wretch, whose natural gifts were poorTo those of mine!—But, soft, methinks I scent the morning air—Brief let me be:—sleeping within mine orchard,My custom always of the afternoon,Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole,With juice of cursed hebenon in a phial,And in the porches of mine ears did pourThe leperous distilment: whose effectHolds such an enmity with blood of man,That swift as quicksilver it courses throughThe natural gates and alleys of the body;So it did mine.Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother's hand,Of life, of crown, of queen, at once despatchedCut off, even in the blossoms of my sin,No reck'ning made, but sent to my accountWith all my imperfections on my head.
HAM. Oh, horrible! Oh, horrible! most horrible!
GHOST. It thou hast nature in thee, bear it not;Let not the royal bed of Denmark beA couch for luxury and damned incest,But, howsoever thou pursu'st this act,Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contriveAgainst thy mother aught; leave her to Heaven,And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge,To goad and sting her. Fare thee well at onceThe glow-worm shows the matin to be near,And 'gins to pale his uneffectual fire.Adieu, adieu, adieu! remember me. (Vanishes, L. C)
HAM. (R.) Hold, hold, my heart;And you my sinews, grow not instant old,But bear me stiffly up. (C.) Remember thee?Ay, thou poor ghost, while memory holds a seatIn this distracted globe. Remember thee?Yea, from the table of my memoryI'll wipe away all forms, all pressures past,And thy commandment all alone shall liveWithin the book and volume of my brain,Unmixed with baser matter; yes, by heaven,I have sworn it.
Shakespeare.
* * * * *
HAMLETandPLAYERdiscovered.
HAMLET. Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue; but if you mouth it, as many of our players do, I had as lieve the town-crier spoke my lines. Nor do not saw the air too much with your hand thus; but use all gently: for in the very torrent, tempest, and, as I may say, whirlwind of your passion, you must acquire and beget a temperance that may give it smoothness. Oh, it offends me to the soul, to hear a robustious, periwig-pated fellow tear a passion to tatters, to very rags, to split the ears of the groundlings; who, for the most part, are capable of nothing but inexplicable dumb shows, and noise! I would have such a fellow whipped for o'erdoing Termagant; it out-herods Herod pray you avoid it.
1ST ACT. (R.) I warrant your honour.
HAM. Be not too tame, neither; but let your own discretion be your tutor: suit the action to the word, and the word to the action; with this special observance, that you o'erstep not the modesty of nature: for anything so overdone is from the purpose of playing, whose end, both at the first and now, was and is, to hold, as 'twere, the mirror up to nature; to show virtue her own feature, scorn her own image, and the very age and body of the time, his form and pressure. Now this, over done, or come tardy off, though it make the unskillful laugh, can not but make the judicious grieve; the censure of which one, must, in your allowance, o'erweigh a whole theatre of others. Oh, there be players that I have seen play—and heard others praise, and that highly—not to speak it profanely, that neither having the accent of Christians, nor the gait of Christian, Pagan, or man, have so strutted, and bellowed, that I have thought some of nature's journeymen had made men, and not made them well, they imitated humanity so abominably.
1ST ACT. I hope we have reformed that indifferently with us.
HAM. (C.) Oh, reform it altogether. And let those that play your clowns speak no more than is set down for them: for there be of them that will themselves laugh, to set on some quantity of barren spectators to laugh too; though, in the mean time, some necessary question of the play be then to be considered: that's villainous; and shows a most pitiful ambition in the fool that uses it. Go, make you ready. Horatio! (Exit 1st Actor, L.)
EnterHORATIO, R.
HORATIO, (R.)—Here, sweet lord, at your service.
HAM.—Horatio, thou art e'en as just a manAs e'er my conversation coped withal.
HOR.—Oh, my dear lord!—
HAM.—Nay, do not think I flatter:For what advancement may I hope from thee,That no revenue hast, but thy good spirits,To feed and clothe thee? Why should the poor be flattered?No, let the candid tongue lick absurd pomp,And crook the pregnant hinges of the knee,Where thrift may follow fawning. Dost thou hear?Since my dear soul was mistress of her choice,And could of men distinguish her election,She hath sealed thee for herself; for thou hast beenAs one, in suffering all, that suffers nothing;A man, that fortune's buffets and rewardsHast tae'n with equal thanks: and blessed are thoseWhose blood and judgment are so well commingled,That they are not a pipe for fortune's fingerTo sound what stop she please; give me that manThat is not passion's slave, and I will wear himIn my heart's core, aye, in my heart of heart,As I do thee. Something too much of this.There is a play to-night before the kingOne scene of it comes near the circumstanceWhich I have told thee of my father's death.I prithee, when thou seest that act afoot,Even with the very comment of thy soulObserve mine uncle; if his occulted guiltDo not itself unkennel in one speech,It is a damned ghost that we have seen,And my imaginations are as foulAs Vulcan's stithy; give him heedful note.For I mine eyes will rivet to his face,And, after, we will both our judgments joinIn censure of his seeming.
HOR.—Well, my lord.
HAM—They are coming to the play, I must be idle.Get you a place (Goes and stands, R)
* * * * *
HAMLET—Leave wringing of your hands, peace, sit you down,And let me wring your heart, for so I shall,If it be made of penetrable stuff;If damnéd custom have not brassed it so,That it be proof and bulwark against sense.
QUEEN—What have I done, that thou dar'st wag thy tongueIn noise so rude against me?
HAM—Such an act,That blurs the grace and blush of modesty;Calls virtue, hypocrite, takes off the roseFrom the fair forehead of an innocent love,And sets a blister there; makes marriage-vowsAs false as dicers' oaths: O, such a deedAs from the body of contraction plucksThe very soul; and sweet religion makesA rhapsody of words: Heaven's face doth glow;Yea, this solidity and compound mass,With tristful visage, as against the doom,Is thought-sick at the act.
QUEEN.—Ah me, what act,That roars so loud, and thunders in the index?
HAM.—Look here, upon this picture, and on this;The counterfeit presentment of two brothers.See, what a grace was seated on this brow:Hyperion's curls; the front of Jove himself;An eye like Mars, to threaten and command;A station like the herald MercuryNew-lighted on a heaven-kissing hill;A combination, and a form, indeed,Where every god did seem to set his seal,To give the world assurance of a man:This was your husband.—Look you now, what follows:Here is your husband; like a mildewed ear,Blasting his wholesome brother. Have you eyes?Could you on this fair mountain leave to feed,And batten on this moor? Ha! have you eyes?You cannot call it love: for, at your age,The hey-day in the blood is tame, it's humble,And waits upon the judgment: and what judgmentWould step from this to this? Sense, sure, you have,Else, could you not have motion: but, sure, that senseIs apoplexed: for madness would not err;Nor sense to ecstacy was ne'er so thralled,But it reserved some quantity of choice,To serve in such a difference. What devil was'tThat thus hath cozened you at hoodman-blind?Eyes without feeling, feeling without sight,Ears without hands or eyes, smelling, sans all,Or but a sickly part of one true senseCould not so mope.O shame! where is thy blush? Rebellious hell,If thou canst mutine in a matron's bones,To flaming youth let virtue be as wax,And melt in her own fire: proclaim no shame,When the compulsive ardour gives the charge;Since frost itself as actively doth burn,And reason panders will.
QUEEN. O Hamlet, speak no more:Thou turn'st mine eyes into my very soul;And there I see such black and grainéd spotsAs will not leave their tinct.O, speak to me no more:These words, like daggers, enter in mine ears;No more, sweet Hamlet!
HAM. A murderer, and a villain:A slave, that is not twentieth part the titheOf your precedent lord; a vice of kings;A cutpurse of the empire and the rule,That from a shelf the precious diadem stole,And put it in his pocket.
QUEEN. No more.
EnterGHOST.
HAM. A king of shreds and patches,—Save me, and hover o'er me with your wings,You heavenly guards!—What would your gracious figure?
QUEEN. Alas, he's mad!
HAM. Do you not come your tardy son to chide,That, lapsed in time and passion, lets go byThe important acting of your dread command?O, say!
GHOST. Do not forget: this visitationIs but to whet thy almost blunted purpose.But look! amazement on thy mother sits:O, step between her and her fighting soul,Conceit in weakest bodies strongest works,Speak to her, Hamlet.
HAM. How is it with you, lady?
QUEEN. Alas, how is't with you,That you do bend your eye on vacancy,And with the incorporal air do hold discourse?Forth at your eyes your spirits wildly peep;And, as the sleeping soldiers in the alarm,Your bedded hair, like life in excrements,Starts up, and stands on end. O gentle son,Upon the heat and flame of thy distemperSprinkle cool patience. Whereon do you look?
HAM. On him! on him! Look you, how pale he glares!His form and cause conjoined, preaching to stones,Would make them capable.—Do not look upon me;Lest, with this piteous action, you convertMy stern effects: then what I have to doWill want true colour; tears, perchance for blood.
QUEEN. To whom do you speak this?
HAM. Do you see nothing there?
QUEEN. Nothing at all; yet all, that is, I see.
HAM. Nor did you nothing hear?
QUEEN. No, nothing, but ourselves.
HAM. Why, look you there! look, how it steals away!My father, in his habit as he lived!Look, where he goes, even now, out at the portal!
[ExitGHOST.
QUEEN. This is the very coinage of your brain:This bodiless creation ecstasyIs very cunning in.
HAM. Ecstasy!My pulse, as yours, doth temperately keep time,And makes as healthful music: it is not madnessThat I have uttered: bring me to the test,And I the matter will re-word; which madnessWould gambol from. Mother, for love of grace,Lay not that flattering unction to your soul,That not your trespass, but my madness, speaks:It will but skin and film the ulcerous place,Whilst rank corruption, mining all within,Infects unseen. Confess yourself to heaven;Repent what's past; avoid what is to come;And do not spread the compost on the weedsTo make them ranker. Forgive me this my virtue;For in the fatness of these pursy times,Virtue itself of vice must pardon beg,Yea, curb and woo, for leave to do him good.
QUEEN. O Hamlet, thou hast cleft my heart in twain!
HAM. O, throw away the worser part of it,And live the purer with the other half.Good night: but go not to mine uncle's room;Assume a virtue, if you have it notOnce more, good night:And when you are desirous to be blessed,I'll blessing beg of you.I must be cruel, only to be kind:Thus bad begins, and worse remains behind.
Shakespeare.
* * * * *
MACBETH. Is this a dagger which I see before me,The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee—I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.Art thou not, fatal vision, sensibleTo feeling, as to sight? or art thou butA dagger of the mind, a false creation,Proceeding from a heat-oppressed brain?I see thee yet, in form as palpableAs this which now I draw.Thou marshal'st me the way that I was going,And such an instrument I was to use.Mine eyes are made the fools o' the other sensesOr else worth all the rest: I see thee still;And on thy blade, and dudgeon, gouts of blood,Which was not so before,—There's no such thing:It is the bloody business, which informsThus to mine eyes.—Now o'er the one-half worldNature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuseThe curtain'd sleep: witchcraft celebratesPale Hecate's offerings: and wither'd murder,Alarum'd by his sentinel, the wolf,Whose howl's his watch thus with his stealthy pace,With Tarquin's ravishing strides, toward his designMoves like a ghost.—Thou sure and firm-set earth,Hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fearThe very stones prate of my where-about,And take the present horror from the time,Which now suits with it.—Whilst I threat, he lives:Words to the heat of deeds too cold breath gives.
[A bell rings.
I go, and it is done; the bell invites me.Hear it not, Duncan; for it is a knellThat summons thee to heaven, or to hell. [Exit.
* * * * *
Enter Lady Macbeth.
LADY M. That which hath made them drunk hath made me bold:What hath quench'd them hath given me fire:—Hark! Peace! It was the owl that shriek'd,The fatal bellman which gives the stern'st good night.He is about it: The doors are open;And the surfeited grooms do mock their charge with snores:I have drugged their possets,That death and nature do contend about them,Whether they live, or die.
MACB. [Within,] Who's there?—what, hoa!
LADY M. Alack! I am afraid they have awak'd,And 'tis not done:—the attempt, and not the deed,Confound us:—Hark!—I laid their daggers ready,He could not miss them.—Had he not resembledMy father as he slept I had done't—My husband!
Enter Macbeth.
MACB. I have done the deed:—Didst thou not hear a noise?—
LADY M. I heard the owl scream, and the crickets cry.Did you not speak? MACB. When?
LADY M. Now.
MACB. As I descended?
LADY M. Ay. MACB. Hark!—Who lies i' the second chamber?
LADY M. Donalbain.
MACB. This is a sorry sight. [Looking on his hands.
LADY M. A foolish thought, to say a sorry sight.
MACB. There's one did laugh in his sleep,And one cried "murther!" that they did wake each other;I stood and heard them: but they did say their prayers,And address'd them again to sleep.
LADY M. There are two lodg'd together.
MACB. One cried, "God bless us!" and "Amen," the other;As they had seen me, with these hangman's hands.Listening their fear, I could not say, "Amen,"When they did say, God bless us.
LADY M. Consider it not so deeply.
MACB. But wherefore could I not pronounce, "Amen?"I had most need of blessing, and "Amen"Stuck in my throat.
LADY M. These deeds must not be thoughtAfter these ways; so, it will make us mad.
MACB. Methought, I heard a voice cry, "Sleep no more!Macbeth does murther sleep,"—the innocent sleep;Sleep, that knits up the ravell'd sleeve of care,The death of each day's life, sore labour's bath,Balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course,Chief nourisher in life's feast.
LADY M. What do you mean?
MACB. Still it cried, "Sleep no more!" to all the house:"Glamis hath murther'd sleep: and therefore CawdorShall sleep no more, Macbeth shall sleep no more!"
LADY M. Who was it that thus cried? Why, worthy thane,You do unbend your noble strength, to thinkSo brainsickly of things—Go, get some water,And wash this filthy witness from your hand.—Why did you bring these daggers from the place?They must lie there: go, carry them; and smearThe sleepy grooms with blood.
MACB. I'll go no moreI am afraid to think what I have done;Look on't again I dare not.
LADY M. Infirm of purpose!Give me the daggers; the sleeping, and the dead,Are but as pictures: 'tis the eye of childhoodThat fears a painted devil. If he do bleed,I'll gild the faces of the grooms withal,For it must seem their guilt.
[Exit. Knocking within.
MACB. Whence is that knocking?How is't with me, when every noise appals me?What hands are here? Ha! they pluck out mine eyes!Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this bloodClean from my hand? No; this my hand will ratherThe multitudinous seas incarnardine,Making the green one red.
Re-enter Lady Macbeth.
LADY M. My hands are of your colour; but I shameTo wear a heart so white. [Knock.] I hear a knockingAt the south entry:—retire we to our chamber;A little water clears us of this deed;How easy is it then! Your constancyHath left you unattended.—[Knocking.] Hark! more knocking:Get on your nightgown, lest occasion call us,And show us to be watchers:—Be not lostSo poorly in your thoughts.
MACB. To know my deed, 'twere best not to know myself.[KnockingWake Duncan with thy knocking; I would thou could'st'[Exeunt.
* * * * *
Enter a Doctor of Physic, and a waiting Gentlewoman._
DOCT. I have two nights watched with you, but can perceive no truth in your report. When was it she last walked?
GENT. Since his majesty went into the field, I have seen her rise from her bed, throw her nightgown upon her, unlock her closet, take forth paper, fold it, write upon it, read it, afterwards seal it, and again return to bed; yet all this while in a most fast sleep.
DOCT. A great perturbation in nature! to receive at once the benefit of sleep, and do the effects of watching.—In this slumbery agitation, besides her walking and other actual performances, what, at any time, have you heard her say?
GENT. That, sir, which I will not report after her.
DOCT. You may to me; and 'tis most meet you should.
GENT. Neither to you, nor any one; having no witness to confirm my speech.
Enter Lady Macbeth, with a taper.
Lo you, here she comes! This is her very guise; and, upon my life, fast asleep. Observe her: stand close.
DOCT. How came she by that light?
GENT. Why, it stood by her: she has light by her continually; 'tis her command.
DOCT. You see, her eyes are open.
GENT. Ay, but their sense is shut.
DOCT. What is it she does now? Look how she rubs her hands.
GENT. It is an accustomed action with her, to seem thus washing her hands.I have known her continue in this a quarter of an hour.
LADY M. Yet here's a spot.
DOCT. Hark, she speaks: I will set down what comes from her, to satisfy my remembrance the more strongly.
LADY M. Out, damned spot! out, I say!—One; Two: Why, then 'tis time to do 't!—Hell is murky!—Fie, my lord, fie! a soldier, and afeared! What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account?—Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him!
DOCT. Do you mark that?
LADY M. The thane of Fife had a wife: where is she now?—What, will these hands ne'er be clean?—No more o' that, my lord, no more o' that: you mar all with this starting.
DOCT. Go to, go to; you have known what you should not.
GENT. She has spoke what she should not, I am sure of that: Heaven knows what she has known.
LADY M. Here's the smell of the blood still; all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh! oh! oh!
DOCT. What a sigh is there! The heart is sorely charged.
GENT. I would not have such a heart in my bosom, for the dignity of the whole body.
DOCT. Well, well, well,—
GENT. Pray God it be, sir.
DOCT. This disease is beyond my practice: yet I have known those which have walked in their sleep who have died holily in their beds.
LADY M. Wash your hands, put on your nightgown; look not so pale:—I tell you yet again, Banquo's buried; he cannot come out on's grave.
DOCT. Even so?
LADY M. To bed, to bed; there's knocking at the gate. Come, come, come, come, give me your hand. What's done cannot be undone: To bed, to bed, to bed.
Exit Lady Macbeth.
* * * * *
KING JOHNandHUBERT.
K. JOHN. Come hither, Hubert. O my gentle Hubert.We owe thee much; within this wall of fleshThere is a soul counts thee her creditor,And with advantage means to pay thy love:And, my good friend, thy voluntary oathLives in this bosom, dearly cherished.Give me thy hand. I had a thing to say,—But I will fit it with some better time.By heaven, Hubert, I am almost asham'dTo say what good respect I have of thee.
HUB. I am much bounden to your majesty.
K. JOHN. Good friend, thou hast no cause to say so yet;But thou shalt have; and creep time ne'er so slow,Yet it shall come for me to do thee good.I had a thing to say,—but let it go:The sun is in the heaven, and the proud day,Attended with the pleasures of the world,Is all too wanton and too full of gauds,To give me audience:—If the midnight bellDid, with his iron tongue and brazen mouth,Sound on into the drowsy race of night;If this same were a church-yard where we stand,And thou possessed with a thousand wrongs;Or if that surly spirit, melancholy,Had bak'd thy blood, and made it heavy—thick,(Which else, runs tickling up and down the veins,Making that idiot, laughter, keep men's eyes,And strain their cheeks to idle merriment,A passion hateful to my purposes;)Or if that thou could'st see me without eyes,Hear me without thine ears, and make replyWithout a tongue, using conceit alone.Without eyes, ears, and harmful sound of words;Then, in despite of brooded, watchful day,I would into thy bosom pour my thoughts:But ah, I will not:—Yet I love thee well:And, by my troth, I think, thou lov'st me well.
HUB. So well, that what you bid me undertake,Though that my death were adjunct to my act,By heaven, I would do it.
K. JOHN. Do not I know thou would'st?Good Hubert, Hubert, Hubert, throw thine eyeOn yon young boy; I'll tell thee what, my friend,He is a very serpent in my way;And wheresoe'er this foot of mine doth treadHe lies before me: Dost thou understand me?Thou art his keeper. HUB. And I'll keep him so,That he shall not offend your majesty.
K. JOHN. Death. HUB. My lord?
K. JOHN. A grave. HUB. He shall not live.
K. JOHN. Enough.I could be merry now: Hubert, I love thee.Well, I'll not say what I intend for thee:Remember.—
* * * * *