Is Alvar dead? what then?The nuptial rites and funeral shall be one!50Here's no abiding-place for thee, Teresa.—Away! they see me not—Thou seest me, Alvar!To thee I bend my course.—But first one question,One question to Ordonio.—My limbs tremble—There I may sit unmark'd—a moment will restore me.55[Retires out of sight.
Is Alvar dead? what then?The nuptial rites and funeral shall be one!50Here's no abiding-place for thee, Teresa.—Away! they see me not—Thou seest me, Alvar!To thee I bend my course.—But first one question,One question to Ordonio.—My limbs tremble—There I may sit unmark'd—a moment will restore me.55[Retires out of sight.
Ordonio (as he advances with Valdez).These are the dungeon keys. Monviedro knew not,That I too had received the wizard's message,'He that can bring the dead to life again.'But now he is satisfied, I plann'd this schemeTo work a full conviction on the culprit,60And he entrusts him wholly to my keeping.Valdez.'Tis well, my son! But have you yet discovered(Where is Teresa?) what those speeches meant—Pride, and hypocrisy, and guilt, and cunning?Then when the wizard fix'd his eye on you,65And you, I know not why, look'd pale and trembled—Why—why, what ails you now?—Ordonio.Me? what ails me?A pricking of the blood—It might have happen'dAt any other time.—Why scan you me?Valdez.His speech about the corse, and stabs and murderers,70Bore reference to the assassins——Ordonio.Dup'd! dup'd! dup'd!The traitor, Isidore![A pause, then wildly.I tell thee, my dear father!I am most glad of this.Valdez.True—sorceryMerits its doom; and this perchance may guide usTo the discovery of the murderers.75I have their statures and their several facesSo present to me, that but once to meet themWould be to recognize.Ordonio.Yes! yes! we recognize them.I was benumb'd, and staggered up and downThrough darkness without light—dark—dark—dark!80My flesh crept chill, my limbs felt manacledAs had a snake coil'd round them!—Now 'tis sunshine,And the blood dances freely through its channels![Then to himself.This is my virtuous, grateful Isidore![Then mimickingIsidore'smanner and voice.'A common trick of gratitude, my lord!'85[855]Old Gratitude! a dagger would dissectHis 'own full heart'—'twere good to see its colour.Valdez.These magic sights! O that I ne'er had yieldedTo your entreaties! Neither had I yielded,But that in spite of your own seeming faith90I held it for some innocent stratagem,Which love had prompted, to remove the doubtsOf wild Teresa—by fancies quelling fancies!Ordonio.Love! love! and then we hate! and what? and wherefore?Hatred and love! fancies opposed by fancies!95What? if one reptile sting another reptile?Where is the crime? The goodly face of natureHath one disfeaturing stain the less upon it.Are we not all predestined transiency,And cold dishonour? Grant it, that this hand100Had given a morsel to the hungry wormsSomewhat too early—Where's the crime of this?That this must needs bring on the idiotcyOf moist-eyed penitence—'tis like a dream!Valdez.Wild talk, my son! But thy excess of feeling——105Almost I fear it hath unhinged his brain.Ordonio (Teresa reappears and advances slowly).Say, I had laid a body in the sun!Well! in a month there swarm forth from the corseA thousand, nay, ten thousand sentient beingsIn place of that one man.—Say, I had kill'd him!110[Teresastops listening.Yet who shall tell me, that each one and allOf these ten thousand lives is not as happy,As that one life, which being push'd aside,Made room for these unnumbered——Valdez.O mere madness!
Ordonio (as he advances with Valdez).These are the dungeon keys. Monviedro knew not,That I too had received the wizard's message,'He that can bring the dead to life again.'But now he is satisfied, I plann'd this schemeTo work a full conviction on the culprit,60And he entrusts him wholly to my keeping.
Valdez.'Tis well, my son! But have you yet discovered(Where is Teresa?) what those speeches meant—Pride, and hypocrisy, and guilt, and cunning?Then when the wizard fix'd his eye on you,65And you, I know not why, look'd pale and trembled—Why—why, what ails you now?—
Ordonio.Me? what ails me?A pricking of the blood—It might have happen'dAt any other time.—Why scan you me?
Valdez.His speech about the corse, and stabs and murderers,70Bore reference to the assassins——
Ordonio.Dup'd! dup'd! dup'd!The traitor, Isidore![A pause, then wildly.I tell thee, my dear father!I am most glad of this.
Valdez.True—sorceryMerits its doom; and this perchance may guide usTo the discovery of the murderers.75I have their statures and their several facesSo present to me, that but once to meet themWould be to recognize.
Ordonio.Yes! yes! we recognize them.I was benumb'd, and staggered up and downThrough darkness without light—dark—dark—dark!80My flesh crept chill, my limbs felt manacledAs had a snake coil'd round them!—Now 'tis sunshine,And the blood dances freely through its channels![Then to himself.This is my virtuous, grateful Isidore![Then mimickingIsidore'smanner and voice.'A common trick of gratitude, my lord!'85[855]Old Gratitude! a dagger would dissectHis 'own full heart'—'twere good to see its colour.
Valdez.These magic sights! O that I ne'er had yieldedTo your entreaties! Neither had I yielded,But that in spite of your own seeming faith90I held it for some innocent stratagem,Which love had prompted, to remove the doubtsOf wild Teresa—by fancies quelling fancies!
Ordonio.Love! love! and then we hate! and what? and wherefore?Hatred and love! fancies opposed by fancies!95What? if one reptile sting another reptile?Where is the crime? The goodly face of natureHath one disfeaturing stain the less upon it.Are we not all predestined transiency,And cold dishonour? Grant it, that this hand100Had given a morsel to the hungry wormsSomewhat too early—Where's the crime of this?That this must needs bring on the idiotcyOf moist-eyed penitence—'tis like a dream!
Valdez.Wild talk, my son! But thy excess of feeling——105Almost I fear it hath unhinged his brain.
Ordonio (Teresa reappears and advances slowly).Say, I had laid a body in the sun!Well! in a month there swarm forth from the corseA thousand, nay, ten thousand sentient beingsIn place of that one man.—Say, I had kill'd him!110[Teresastops listening.Yet who shall tell me, that each one and allOf these ten thousand lives is not as happy,As that one life, which being push'd aside,Made room for these unnumbered——
Valdez.O mere madness!
[Teresamoves hastily forwards, and places herself directly beforeOrdonio.
Ordonio.Teresa? or the phantom of Teresa?115
Ordonio.Teresa? or the phantom of Teresa?115
Teresa.Alas! the phantom only, if in truthThe substance of her being, her life's life,Have ta'en its flight through Alvar's death-wound—[A pause.Where—(Even coward murder grants the dead a grave)O tell me, Valdez!—answer me, Ordonio!120Where lies the corse of my betrothéd husband?Ordonio.There, where Ordonio likewise would fain lie!In the sleep-compelling earth, in unpierc'd darkness![856:1]For while we live—An inward day that never, never sets,125Glares round the soul, and mocks the closing eyelids!Over his rocky grave the fir-grove sighsA lulling ceaseless dirge! 'Tis well with him.[Strides off towards the altar, but returns asValdezis speaking.Teresa.The rock! the fir-grove![ToValdez.Did'st thou hear him say it?Hush! I will ask him!Valdez.Urge him not—not now!130This we beheld. Nor he nor I know more,Than what the magic imagery revealed.The assassin, who pressed foremost of the three——Ordonio.A tender-hearted, scrupulous, grateful villain,Whom I will strangle!Valdez.While his two companions——135Ordonio.Dead! dead already! what care we for the dead?Valdez (to Teresa).Pity him! soothe him! disenchant his spirit![857]These supernatural shews, this strange disclosure,And this too fond affection, which still broodsO'er Alvar's fate, and still burns to avenge it—140These, struggling with his hopeless love for you,Distemper him, and give realityTo the creatures of his fancy.Ordonio.Is it so?Yes! yes! even like a child, that too abruptlyRoused by a glare of light from deepest sleep145Starts up bewildered and talks idly.Father!What if the Moors that made my brother's grave,Even now were digging ours? What if the bolt,Though aim'd, I doubt not, at the son of Valdez,Yet miss'd its true aim when it fell on Alvar?150Valdez.Alvar ne'er fought against the Moors,—say rather,He was their advocate; but you had march'dWith fire and desolation through their villages.—Yet he by chance was captured.Ordonio.Unknown, perhaps,Captured, yet as the son of Valdez, murdered.155Leave all to me. Nay, whither, gentle lady?Valdez.What seek you now?Teresa.A better, surer lightTo guide me——Both Valdez and Ordonio.Whither?Teresa.To the only placeWhere life yet dwells for me, and ease of heart.These walls seem threatening to fall in upon me!160Detain me not! a dim power drives me hence,And that will be my guide.Valdez.To find a lover!Suits that a high-born maiden's modesty?O folly and shame! Tempt not my rage, Teresa!Teresa.Hopeless, I fear no human being's rage.165And am I hastening to the arms——O Heaven!I haste but to the grave of my belov'd![Exit,Valdezfollowing after her.Ordonio.This, then, is my reward! and I must love her?Scorn'd! shudder'd at! yet love her still? yes! yes![858]By the deep feelings of revenge and hate170I will still love her—woo her—win her too![A pause.Isidore safe and silent, and the portraitFound on the wizard—he, belike, self-poison'dTo escape the crueller flames——My soul shouts triumph!The mine is undermined! blood! blood! blood!175They thirst for thy blood! thy blood, Ordonio![A pause.The hunt is up! and in the midnight woodWith lights to dazzle and with nets they seekA timid prey: and lo! the tiger's eyeGlares in the red flame of his hunter's torch!180To Isidore I will dispatch a message,And lure him to the cavern! aye, that cavern!He cannot fail to find it. Thither I'll lure him,Whence he shall never, never more return![Looks through the side window.A rim of the sun lies yet upon the sea,185And now 'tis gone! All shall be done to-night.[Exit.
Teresa.Alas! the phantom only, if in truthThe substance of her being, her life's life,Have ta'en its flight through Alvar's death-wound—[A pause.Where—(Even coward murder grants the dead a grave)O tell me, Valdez!—answer me, Ordonio!120Where lies the corse of my betrothéd husband?
Ordonio.There, where Ordonio likewise would fain lie!In the sleep-compelling earth, in unpierc'd darkness![856:1]For while we live—An inward day that never, never sets,125Glares round the soul, and mocks the closing eyelids!
Over his rocky grave the fir-grove sighsA lulling ceaseless dirge! 'Tis well with him.[Strides off towards the altar, but returns asValdezis speaking.
Teresa.The rock! the fir-grove![ToValdez.Did'st thou hear him say it?Hush! I will ask him!
Valdez.Urge him not—not now!130This we beheld. Nor he nor I know more,Than what the magic imagery revealed.The assassin, who pressed foremost of the three——
Ordonio.A tender-hearted, scrupulous, grateful villain,Whom I will strangle!
Valdez.While his two companions——135
Ordonio.Dead! dead already! what care we for the dead?
Valdez (to Teresa).Pity him! soothe him! disenchant his spirit![857]These supernatural shews, this strange disclosure,And this too fond affection, which still broodsO'er Alvar's fate, and still burns to avenge it—140These, struggling with his hopeless love for you,Distemper him, and give realityTo the creatures of his fancy.
Ordonio.Is it so?Yes! yes! even like a child, that too abruptlyRoused by a glare of light from deepest sleep145Starts up bewildered and talks idly.Father!What if the Moors that made my brother's grave,Even now were digging ours? What if the bolt,Though aim'd, I doubt not, at the son of Valdez,Yet miss'd its true aim when it fell on Alvar?150
Valdez.Alvar ne'er fought against the Moors,—say rather,He was their advocate; but you had march'dWith fire and desolation through their villages.—Yet he by chance was captured.
Ordonio.Unknown, perhaps,Captured, yet as the son of Valdez, murdered.155Leave all to me. Nay, whither, gentle lady?
Valdez.What seek you now?
Teresa.A better, surer lightTo guide me——
Both Valdez and Ordonio.Whither?
Teresa.To the only placeWhere life yet dwells for me, and ease of heart.These walls seem threatening to fall in upon me!160Detain me not! a dim power drives me hence,And that will be my guide.
Valdez.To find a lover!Suits that a high-born maiden's modesty?O folly and shame! Tempt not my rage, Teresa!
Teresa.Hopeless, I fear no human being's rage.165And am I hastening to the arms——O Heaven!I haste but to the grave of my belov'd![Exit,Valdezfollowing after her.
Ordonio.This, then, is my reward! and I must love her?Scorn'd! shudder'd at! yet love her still? yes! yes![858]By the deep feelings of revenge and hate170I will still love her—woo her—win her too![A pause.Isidore safe and silent, and the portraitFound on the wizard—he, belike, self-poison'dTo escape the crueller flames——My soul shouts triumph!The mine is undermined! blood! blood! blood!175They thirst for thy blood! thy blood, Ordonio![A pause.The hunt is up! and in the midnight woodWith lights to dazzle and with nets they seekA timid prey: and lo! the tiger's eyeGlares in the red flame of his hunter's torch!180
To Isidore I will dispatch a message,And lure him to the cavern! aye, that cavern!He cannot fail to find it. Thither I'll lure him,Whence he shall never, never more return![Looks through the side window.A rim of the sun lies yet upon the sea,185And now 'tis gone! All shall be done to-night.[Exit.
[853:1]45-6. CompareThe Death of Wallenstein, Act I, Sc.iv, ll.48-9. See note by J. D. Campbell,P. W., 1893, p. 650.
[853:1]45-6. CompareThe Death of Wallenstein, Act I, Sc.iv, ll.48-9. See note by J. D. Campbell,P. W., 1893, p. 650.
[856:1]It was pleasing to observe, during the Rehearsal all the Actors and Actresses and even the Mechanics on the stage clustering round while these lines were repeating just as if it had been a favourite strain of Music. But from want of depth and volume of voice in Rae, they did not produce an equal effect on the Public till after the Publication—andthenthey (I understand) were applauded. I have never seen the Piece since the first Night.S. T. C.
[856:1]It was pleasing to observe, during the Rehearsal all the Actors and Actresses and even the Mechanics on the stage clustering round while these lines were repeating just as if it had been a favourite strain of Music. But from want of depth and volume of voice in Rae, they did not produce an equal effect on the Public till after the Publication—andthenthey (I understand) were applauded. I have never seen the Piece since the first Night.S. T. C.
Scene II]Scene III.Interior of a Chapel.Edition 1.
Scene II]Scene III.Interior of a Chapel.Edition 1.
[20]would he] wouldst thouEdition 1.
would he] wouldst thouEdition 1.
[22]Teresa (wildly).Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
Teresa (wildly).Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
Valdez (with averted countenance).Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
Valdez (with averted countenance).Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
[24]A worse sorrow] And how painfulEdition 1.
A worse sorrow] And how painfulEdition 1.
[41]Was Alvar lost to thee—[Turning off, aloud, but yet as to himself.Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
Was Alvar lost to thee—[Turning off, aloud, but yet as to himself.
Was Alvar lost to thee—[Turning off, aloud, but yet as to himself.
Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
[44]Teresa (with faint shriek).Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
Teresa (with faint shriek).Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
my]myEditions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
my]myEditions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
[45]He grasp'd it in his death-pang!Edition 1. did]didEditions 2, 3, 1829.
He grasp'd it in his death-pang!Edition 1. did]didEditions 2, 3, 1829.
[49]Is]IsEditions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
Is]IsEditions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
[52]Thou]ThouEditions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
Thou]ThouEditions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
After55Stage-directionom. Edition 1.
After55Stage-directionom. Edition 1.
[67]Ordonio (confused).Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
Ordonio (confused).Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
[73]Valdez (confused).Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
Valdez (confused).Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
After83[Turns off abruptly; then to himself.Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
After83[Turns off abruptly; then to himself.Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
[84]grateful]gratefulEditions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
grateful]gratefulEditions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
[94]Ordonio (in a slow voice, as reasoning to himself).Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
Ordonio (in a slow voice, as reasoning to himself).Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
[101]Had]HadEditions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
Had]HadEditions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
After105[Averting himself.Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
After105[Averting himself.Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
[107]Ordonio (now in soliloquy, and now addressing his father; and just after the speech has commenced, Teresa, &c.Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
Ordonio (now in soliloquy, and now addressing his father; and just after the speech has commenced, Teresa, &c.Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
[110]kill'd]kill'dEditions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
kill'd]kill'dEditions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
After110[Teresastarts and stops listening.Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
After110[Teresastarts and stops listening.Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
Before115Ordonio (checking the feeling of surprise, and forcing his tones into an expression of playful courtesy).Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
Before115Ordonio (checking the feeling of surprise, and forcing his tones into an expression of playful courtesy).Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
[124]live]liveEditions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
live]liveEditions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
[128]him]himEditions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
him]himEditions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
After128[Strides off in agitation towards the altar, &c.Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
After128[Strides off in agitation towards the altar, &c.Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
[129]Teresa (recoiling with the expression appropriate to the passion).Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
Teresa (recoiling with the expression appropriate to the passion).Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
thou]thouEditions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
thou]thouEditions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
[131]beheld . . . he]beheld . . . HeEditions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
beheld . . . he]beheld . . . HeEditions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
[134]grateful]gratefulEditions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
grateful]gratefulEditions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
[135]Valdez (looking with anxious disquiet at his Son, yet attempting to proceed with his description).Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
Valdez (looking with anxious disquiet at his Son, yet attempting to proceed with his description).Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
[146]Starts up bewildered and talks idly.[Then mysteriously.Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
Starts up bewildered and talks idly.[Then mysteriously.
Starts up bewildered and talks idly.[Then mysteriously.
Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
[158]Both.WhitherEdition 1.
Both.WhitherEdition 1.
[168]must]mustEditions 1, 2, 3.
must]mustEditions 1, 2, 3.
[171]win]winEditions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
win]winEditions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
[176]thy]thyEditions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
thy]thyEditions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
After186end of the Third Act.Editions 1, 2, 3.
After186end of the Third Act.Editions 1, 2, 3.
A cavern, dark, except where a gleam of moonlight is seen on one side at the further end of it; supposed to be cast on it from a crevice in a part of the cavern out of sight.Isidorealone, an extinguished torch in his hand.
Isidore.Faith 'twas a moving letter—very moving!'His life in danger, no place safe but this!'Twas his turn now to talk of gratitude.'And yet—but no! there can't be such a villain.It can not be!Thanks to that little crevice,5Which lets the moonlight in! I'll go and sit by it.To peep at a tree, or see a he-goat's beard,Or hear a cow or two breathe loud in their sleep—Any thing but this crash of water drops!These dull abortive sounds that fret the silence10With puny thwartings and mock opposition![859]So beats the death-watch to a sick man's ear.[He goes out of sight, opposite to the patch of moonlight: and returns.A hellish pit! The very same I dreamt of!I was just in—and those damn'd fingers of iceWhich clutch'd my hair up! Ha!—what's that—it mov'd.15
Isidore.Faith 'twas a moving letter—very moving!'His life in danger, no place safe but this!'Twas his turn now to talk of gratitude.'And yet—but no! there can't be such a villain.It can not be!Thanks to that little crevice,5Which lets the moonlight in! I'll go and sit by it.To peep at a tree, or see a he-goat's beard,Or hear a cow or two breathe loud in their sleep—Any thing but this crash of water drops!These dull abortive sounds that fret the silence10With puny thwartings and mock opposition![859]So beats the death-watch to a sick man's ear.[He goes out of sight, opposite to the patch of moonlight: and returns.A hellish pit! The very same I dreamt of!I was just in—and those damn'd fingers of iceWhich clutch'd my hair up! Ha!—what's that—it mov'd.15
[Isidorestands staring at another recess in the cavern. In the mean timeOrdonioenters with a torch, and halloes toIsidore.
Isidore.I swear that I saw something moving there!The moonshine came and went like a flash of lightning——I swear, I saw it move.Ordonio (goes into the recess, then returns).A jutting clay stoneDrops on the long lank weed, that grows beneath:And the weed nods and drips.[859:1]Isidore.A jest to laugh at!20It was not that which scar'd me, good my lord.Ordonio.What scar'd you, then?Isidore.You see that little rift?But first permit me![Lights his torch atOrdonio's, and while lighting it.(A lighted torch in the handIs no unpleasant object here—one's breathFloats round the flame, and makes as many colours25As the thin clouds that travel near the moon.)You see that crevice there?My torch extinguished by these water-drops,And marking that the moonlight came from thence,I stept in to it, meaning to sit there;30But scarcely had I measured twenty paces—My body bending forward, yea, o'erbalancedAlmost beyond recoil, on the dim brinkOf a huge chasm I stept. The shadowy moonshineFilling the void so counterfeited substance,35That my foot hung aslant adown the edge.[860]Was it my own fear?Fear too hath its instinctsAn arm of frost above and from behind me40Pluck'd up and snatched me backward. Merciful Heaven!You smile! alas, even smiles look ghastly here!My lord, I pray you, go yourself and view it.Ordonio.It must have shot some pleasant feelings through you.Isidore.If every atom of a dead man's flesh45Should creep, each one with a particular life,Yet all as cold as ever—'twas just so!Or had it drizzled needle-points of frostUpon a feverish head made suddenly bald—Ordonio.Why, Isidore,I blush for thy cowardice. It might have startled,50I grant you, even a brave man for a moment—But such a panic—Isidore.When a boy, my lord!I could have sate whole hours beside that chasm,Push'd in huge stones and heard them strike and rattleAgainst its horrid sides: then hung my head55Low down, and listened till the heavy fragmentsSank with faint crash in that still groaning well,Which never thirsty pilgrim blest, which neverA living thing came near—unless, perchance,Some blind-worm battens on the ropy mould60Close at its edge.Ordonio.Art thou more coward now?Isidore.Call him, that fears his fellow-man, a coward![861]I fear not man—but this inhuman cavern,It were too bad a prison-house for goblins.Beside, (you'll smile, my lord) but true it is,65My last night's sleep was very sorely hauntedBy what had passed between us in the morning.O sleep of horrors! Now run down and stared atBy forms so hideous that they mock remembrance—Now seeing nothing and imagining nothing,70But only being afraid—stifled with fear!While every goodly or familiar formHad a strange power of breathing terror round me![861:1]I saw you in a thousand fearful shapes;And, I entreat your lordship to believe me,75In my last dream——Ordonio.Well?Isidore.I was in the actOf falling down that chasm, when AlhadraWak'd me: she heard my heart beat.Ordonio.Strange enough!Had you been here before?Isidore.Never, my lord!But mine eyes do not see it now more clearly,80Than in my dream I saw—that very chasm.Ordonio (after a pause).I know not why it should be! yet it is—Isidore.What is, my lord?Ordonio.Abhorrent from our natureTo kill a man.—Isidore.Except in self-defence.Ordonio.Why that's my case; and yet the soul recoils from it—85'Tis so with me at least. But you, perhaps,Have sterner feelings?Isidore.Something troubles you.How shall I serve you? By the life you gave me,By all that makes that life of value to me,[862]My wife, my babes, my honour, I swear to you,90Name it, and I will toil to do the thing,If it be innocent! But this, my lord!Is not a place where you could perpetrate,No, nor propose a wicked thing. The darkness,When ten strides off we know 'tis cheerful moonlight,95Collects the guilt, and crowds it round the heart.It must be innocent.Ordonio.Thyself be judge.One of our family knew this place well.Isidore.Who? when? my lord?Ordonio.What boots it, who or when?Hang up thy torch—I'll tell his tale to thee.100[They hang up their torches on some ridge in the cavern.He was a man different from other men,And he despised them, yet revered himself.Isidore (aside).He? He despised? Thou'rt speaking of thyself!I am on my guard, however: no surprise.[Then toOrdonio.What, he was mad?Ordonio.All men seemed mad to him!105Nature had made him for some other planet,And pressed his soul into a human shapeBy accident or malice. In this worldHe found no fit companion.Isidore.Of himself he speaks.[Aside.Alas! poor wretch!110Mad men are mostly proud.Ordonio.He walked alone,And phantom thoughts unsought-for troubled him.Something within would still be shadowing outAll possibilities; and with these shadowsHis mind held dalliance. Once, as so it happened,115A fancy crossed him wilder than the rest:To this in moody murmur and low voiceHe yielded utterance, as some talk in sleep:The man who heard him.—Why did'st thou look round?Isidore.I have a prattler three years old, my lord!120[863]In truth he is my darling. As I wentFrom forth my door, he made a moan in sleep—But I am talking idly—pray proceed!And what did this man?Ordonio.With this human handHe gave a substance and reality125To that wild fancy of a possible thing.—Well it was done!Why babblest thou of guilt?The deed was done, and it passed fairly off.And he whose tale I tell thee—dost thou listen?Isidore.I would, my lord, you were by my fire-side,130I'd listen to you with an eager eye,Though you began this cloudy tale at midnight,But I do listen—pray proceed, my lord.Ordonio.Where was I?Isidore.He of whom you tell the tale—Ordonio.Surveying all things with a quiet scorn,135Tamed himself down to living purposes,The occupations and the semblancesOf ordinary men—and such he seemed!But that same over ready agent—he—Isidore.Ah! what of him, my lord?Ordonio.He proved a traitor,140Betrayed the mystery to a brother-traitor,And they between them hatch'd a damnéd plotTo hunt him down to infamy and death.What did the Valdez? I am proud of the nameSince he dared do it.—[Ordoniograsps his sword, and turns off fromIsidore, then after a pause returns.Our links burn dimly.145Isidore.A dark tale darkly finished! Nay, my lord!Tell what he did.Ordonio.That which his wisdom prompted—He made the traitor meet him in this cavern,And here he kill'd the traitor.Isidore.No! the fool!150He had not wit enough to be a traitor.Poor thick-eyed beetle! not to have foreseenThat he who gulled thee with a whimpered lie[864]To murder his own brother, would not scrupleTo murder thee, if e'er his guilt grew jealous,155And he could steal upon thee in the dark!Ordonio.Thou would'st not then have come, if—Isidore.Oh yes, my lord!I would have met him arm'd, and scar'd the coward.[Isidorethrows off his robe; shews himself armed, and draws his sword.Ordonio.Now this is excellent and warms the blood!160My heart was drawing back, drawing me backWith weak and womanish scruples. Now my vengeanceBeckons me onwards with a warrior's mien,And claims that life, my pity robb'd her of—Now will I kill thee, thankless slave, and count it165Among my comfortable thoughts hereafter.Isidore.And all my little ones fatherless—Die thou first.
Isidore.I swear that I saw something moving there!The moonshine came and went like a flash of lightning——I swear, I saw it move.
Ordonio (goes into the recess, then returns).A jutting clay stoneDrops on the long lank weed, that grows beneath:And the weed nods and drips.[859:1]
Isidore.A jest to laugh at!20It was not that which scar'd me, good my lord.
Ordonio.What scar'd you, then?
Isidore.You see that little rift?But first permit me![Lights his torch atOrdonio's, and while lighting it.(A lighted torch in the handIs no unpleasant object here—one's breathFloats round the flame, and makes as many colours25As the thin clouds that travel near the moon.)You see that crevice there?My torch extinguished by these water-drops,And marking that the moonlight came from thence,I stept in to it, meaning to sit there;30But scarcely had I measured twenty paces—My body bending forward, yea, o'erbalancedAlmost beyond recoil, on the dim brinkOf a huge chasm I stept. The shadowy moonshineFilling the void so counterfeited substance,35That my foot hung aslant adown the edge.[860]Was it my own fear?Fear too hath its instinctsAn arm of frost above and from behind me40Pluck'd up and snatched me backward. Merciful Heaven!You smile! alas, even smiles look ghastly here!My lord, I pray you, go yourself and view it.
Ordonio.It must have shot some pleasant feelings through you.
Isidore.If every atom of a dead man's flesh45Should creep, each one with a particular life,Yet all as cold as ever—'twas just so!Or had it drizzled needle-points of frostUpon a feverish head made suddenly bald—
Ordonio.Why, Isidore,I blush for thy cowardice. It might have startled,50I grant you, even a brave man for a moment—But such a panic—
Isidore.When a boy, my lord!I could have sate whole hours beside that chasm,Push'd in huge stones and heard them strike and rattleAgainst its horrid sides: then hung my head55Low down, and listened till the heavy fragmentsSank with faint crash in that still groaning well,Which never thirsty pilgrim blest, which neverA living thing came near—unless, perchance,Some blind-worm battens on the ropy mould60Close at its edge.
Ordonio.Art thou more coward now?
Isidore.Call him, that fears his fellow-man, a coward![861]I fear not man—but this inhuman cavern,It were too bad a prison-house for goblins.Beside, (you'll smile, my lord) but true it is,65My last night's sleep was very sorely hauntedBy what had passed between us in the morning.O sleep of horrors! Now run down and stared atBy forms so hideous that they mock remembrance—Now seeing nothing and imagining nothing,70But only being afraid—stifled with fear!While every goodly or familiar formHad a strange power of breathing terror round me![861:1]I saw you in a thousand fearful shapes;And, I entreat your lordship to believe me,75In my last dream——
Ordonio.Well?
Isidore.I was in the actOf falling down that chasm, when AlhadraWak'd me: she heard my heart beat.
Ordonio.Strange enough!Had you been here before?
Isidore.Never, my lord!But mine eyes do not see it now more clearly,80Than in my dream I saw—that very chasm.
Ordonio (after a pause).I know not why it should be! yet it is—
Isidore.What is, my lord?
Ordonio.Abhorrent from our natureTo kill a man.—
Isidore.Except in self-defence.
Ordonio.Why that's my case; and yet the soul recoils from it—85'Tis so with me at least. But you, perhaps,Have sterner feelings?
Isidore.Something troubles you.How shall I serve you? By the life you gave me,By all that makes that life of value to me,[862]My wife, my babes, my honour, I swear to you,90Name it, and I will toil to do the thing,If it be innocent! But this, my lord!Is not a place where you could perpetrate,No, nor propose a wicked thing. The darkness,When ten strides off we know 'tis cheerful moonlight,95Collects the guilt, and crowds it round the heart.It must be innocent.
Ordonio.Thyself be judge.One of our family knew this place well.
Isidore.Who? when? my lord?
Ordonio.What boots it, who or when?Hang up thy torch—I'll tell his tale to thee.100[They hang up their torches on some ridge in the cavern.He was a man different from other men,And he despised them, yet revered himself.
Isidore (aside).He? He despised? Thou'rt speaking of thyself!I am on my guard, however: no surprise.[Then toOrdonio.What, he was mad?
Ordonio.All men seemed mad to him!105Nature had made him for some other planet,And pressed his soul into a human shapeBy accident or malice. In this worldHe found no fit companion.
Isidore.Of himself he speaks.[Aside.Alas! poor wretch!110Mad men are mostly proud.
Ordonio.He walked alone,And phantom thoughts unsought-for troubled him.Something within would still be shadowing outAll possibilities; and with these shadowsHis mind held dalliance. Once, as so it happened,115A fancy crossed him wilder than the rest:To this in moody murmur and low voiceHe yielded utterance, as some talk in sleep:The man who heard him.—Why did'st thou look round?
Isidore.I have a prattler three years old, my lord!120[863]In truth he is my darling. As I wentFrom forth my door, he made a moan in sleep—But I am talking idly—pray proceed!And what did this man?
Ordonio.With this human handHe gave a substance and reality125To that wild fancy of a possible thing.—Well it was done!Why babblest thou of guilt?The deed was done, and it passed fairly off.And he whose tale I tell thee—dost thou listen?
Isidore.I would, my lord, you were by my fire-side,130I'd listen to you with an eager eye,Though you began this cloudy tale at midnight,But I do listen—pray proceed, my lord.
Ordonio.Where was I?
Isidore.He of whom you tell the tale—
Ordonio.Surveying all things with a quiet scorn,135Tamed himself down to living purposes,The occupations and the semblancesOf ordinary men—and such he seemed!But that same over ready agent—he—
Isidore.Ah! what of him, my lord?
Ordonio.He proved a traitor,140Betrayed the mystery to a brother-traitor,And they between them hatch'd a damnéd plotTo hunt him down to infamy and death.What did the Valdez? I am proud of the nameSince he dared do it.—[Ordoniograsps his sword, and turns off fromIsidore, then after a pause returns.Our links burn dimly.145
Isidore.A dark tale darkly finished! Nay, my lord!Tell what he did.
Ordonio.That which his wisdom prompted—He made the traitor meet him in this cavern,And here he kill'd the traitor.
Isidore.No! the fool!150He had not wit enough to be a traitor.Poor thick-eyed beetle! not to have foreseenThat he who gulled thee with a whimpered lie[864]To murder his own brother, would not scrupleTo murder thee, if e'er his guilt grew jealous,155And he could steal upon thee in the dark!
Ordonio.Thou would'st not then have come, if—
Isidore.Oh yes, my lord!I would have met him arm'd, and scar'd the coward.[Isidorethrows off his robe; shews himself armed, and draws his sword.
Ordonio.Now this is excellent and warms the blood!160My heart was drawing back, drawing me backWith weak and womanish scruples. Now my vengeanceBeckons me onwards with a warrior's mien,And claims that life, my pity robb'd her of—Now will I kill thee, thankless slave, and count it165Among my comfortable thoughts hereafter.
Isidore.And all my little ones fatherless—Die thou first.
[They fight,OrdoniodisarmsIsidore, and in disarming him throws his sword up that recess opposite to which they were standing.Isidorehurries into the recess with his torch,Ordoniofollows him; a loud cry of 'Traitor! Monster!' is heard from the cavern, and in a momentOrdonioreturns alone.