Castaliodiscovered lying on the ground.
Song.
Come, all ye youths, whose hearts e'er bledBy cruel beauty's pride;Bring each a garland on his head,Let none his sorrows hide:But hand in hand around me move,Singing the saddest tales of love;And see, when your complaints ye join,If all your wrongs can equal mine.The happiest mortal once was I;My heart no sorrows knew:Pity the pain with which I die;But ask not whence it grew.Yet if a tempting fair you find,That's very lovely, very kind,Though bright as Heaven, whose stamp she bears,Think of my fate, and shun her snares.Cast.See where the deer trot after one another,Male, female, father, daughter, mother, son,Brother and sister, mingled all together;No discontent they know, but in delightfulWildness and freedom, pleasant springs, fresh herbage,Calm harbours, lusty health and innocence,Enjoy their portion; if they see a man,How will they turn together all, and gazeUpon the monster!Once in a season too they taste of love:Only the beast of reason is its slave,And in that folly drudges all the year.
Come, all ye youths, whose hearts e'er bledBy cruel beauty's pride;Bring each a garland on his head,Let none his sorrows hide:But hand in hand around me move,Singing the saddest tales of love;And see, when your complaints ye join,If all your wrongs can equal mine.
The happiest mortal once was I;My heart no sorrows knew:Pity the pain with which I die;But ask not whence it grew.Yet if a tempting fair you find,That's very lovely, very kind,Though bright as Heaven, whose stamp she bears,Think of my fate, and shun her snares.
Cast.See where the deer trot after one another,Male, female, father, daughter, mother, son,Brother and sister, mingled all together;No discontent they know, but in delightfulWildness and freedom, pleasant springs, fresh herbage,Calm harbours, lusty health and innocence,Enjoy their portion; if they see a man,How will they turn together all, and gazeUpon the monster!Once in a season too they taste of love:Only the beast of reason is its slave,And in that folly drudges all the year.
EnterAcasto.
Acast.Castalio! Castalio!Cast.Who's thereSo wretched but to name Castalio?Acast.I hope my message may succeed.Cast.My father!'Tis joy to see you, though where sorrow's nourished.Acast.I'm come in beauty's cause; you'll guess the rest.Cast.A woman! if you love my peace of mind,Name not a woman to me; but to thinkOf woman, were enough to taint my brains,Till they ferment to madness! O my father!Acast.What ails my boy?Cast.A woman is the thingI would forget, and blot from my remembrance.Acast.Forget Monimia!Cast.She to choose: Monimia!The very sound's ungrateful to my sense.Acast.This might seem strange; but you, I've found, will hideYour heart from me; you dare not trust your father.Cast.No more Monimia!Acast.Is she not your wife?Cast.So much the worse: who loves to hear of wife?When you would give all worldly plagues a nameWorse than they have already, call them wife:But a new-married wife's a teeming mischief,Full of herself: why, what a deal of horrorHas that poor wretch to come, that wedded yesterday!Acast.Castalio, you must go along with me,And see Monimia.Cast.Sure, my lord but mocks me:Go see Monimia! Pray, my lord, excuse me;And leave the conduct of this part of lifeTo my own choice.Acast.I say, no more dispute:Complaints are made to me, that you have wronged her.Cast.Who has complained?Acast.Her brother to my face proclaimed her wronged,And in such terms they've warmed me.Cast.What terms? Her brother! Heaven! where learnt he that?What, does she send her hero with defiance?He durst not sure affront you?Acast.No, not much.But—Cast.Speak, what said he?Acast.That thou wert a villain:Methinks I would not have thee thought a villain.Cast.Shame on the ill-mannered brute! Your age secured him;He durst not else have said so.Acast.By my sword,I would not see thee wronged, and bear it vilely;Though I have passed my word she shall have justice.Cast.Justice! to give her justice would undo her:Think you this solitude I now have chosen,Left joys just opening to my sense, sought hereA place to curse my fate in, measured outMy grave at length, wished to have grown one pieceWith this cold clay, and all without a cause?
Acast.Castalio! Castalio!
Cast.Who's thereSo wretched but to name Castalio?
Acast.I hope my message may succeed.
Cast.My father!'Tis joy to see you, though where sorrow's nourished.
Acast.I'm come in beauty's cause; you'll guess the rest.
Cast.A woman! if you love my peace of mind,Name not a woman to me; but to thinkOf woman, were enough to taint my brains,Till they ferment to madness! O my father!
Acast.What ails my boy?
Cast.A woman is the thingI would forget, and blot from my remembrance.
Acast.Forget Monimia!
Cast.She to choose: Monimia!The very sound's ungrateful to my sense.
Acast.This might seem strange; but you, I've found, will hideYour heart from me; you dare not trust your father.
Cast.No more Monimia!
Acast.Is she not your wife?
Cast.So much the worse: who loves to hear of wife?When you would give all worldly plagues a nameWorse than they have already, call them wife:But a new-married wife's a teeming mischief,Full of herself: why, what a deal of horrorHas that poor wretch to come, that wedded yesterday!
Acast.Castalio, you must go along with me,And see Monimia.
Cast.Sure, my lord but mocks me:Go see Monimia! Pray, my lord, excuse me;And leave the conduct of this part of lifeTo my own choice.
Acast.I say, no more dispute:Complaints are made to me, that you have wronged her.
Cast.Who has complained?
Acast.Her brother to my face proclaimed her wronged,And in such terms they've warmed me.
Cast.What terms? Her brother! Heaven! where learnt he that?What, does she send her hero with defiance?He durst not sure affront you?
Acast.No, not much.But—
Cast.Speak, what said he?
Acast.That thou wert a villain:Methinks I would not have thee thought a villain.
Cast.Shame on the ill-mannered brute! Your age secured him;He durst not else have said so.
Acast.By my sword,I would not see thee wronged, and bear it vilely;Though I have passed my word she shall have justice.
Cast.Justice! to give her justice would undo her:Think you this solitude I now have chosen,Left joys just opening to my sense, sought hereA place to curse my fate in, measured outMy grave at length, wished to have grown one pieceWith this cold clay, and all without a cause?
EnterChamont.
Cham.Where is the hero, famous and renownedFor wronging innocence, and breaking vows;Whose mighty spirit, and whose stubborn heart,No woman can appease, nor man provoke?Acast.I guess, Chamont, you come to seek Castalio.Cham.I come to seek the husband of Monimia.Cast.The slave is here.Cham.I thought ere now to have found youAtoning for the ills you've done Chamont;For you have wronged the dearest part of him.Monimia, young lord, weeps in this heart;And all the tears thy injuries have drawnFrom her poor eyes are drops of blood from hence.Cast.Then you're Chamont?Cham.Yes, and I hope no strangerTo great Castalio.Cast.I've heard of such a man,That has been very busy with my honour.I own I'm much indebted to you, sir;And here return the villain back againYou sent me by my father.Cham.Thus I'll thank you.[Draws.Acast.By this good sword, who first presumes to violenceMakes me his foe![Draws, and interposes.Young man, it once was thought[ToCastalio.I was fit guardian of my house's honour,And you might trust your share with me.—For you,[ToChamont.Young soldier, I must tell you, you have wronged me:I promised you to do Monimia right;And thought my word a pledge I would not forfeit:But you, I find, would fright us to performance.Cast.Sir, in my younger years with care you taught meThat brave revenge was due to injured honour;Oppose not then the justice of my sword,Lest you should make me jealous of your love.Cham.Into thy father's arms thou fliest for safety,Because thou know'st the place is sanctifiedWith the remembrance of an ancient friendship.Cast.I am a villain if I will not seek thee,Till I may be revenged for all the wrongsDone me by that ungrateful fair thou plead'st for.Cham.She wronged thee! by the fury in my heart,Thy father's honour's not above Monimia's!Nor was thy mother's truth and virtue fairer.Acast.Boy, don't disturb the ashes of the deadWith thy capricious follies: the remembranceOf the loved creature that once filled these arms—Cham.Has not been wronged.Cast.It shall not.Cham.No, nor shallMonimia, though a helpless orphan, destituteOf friends and fortune, though the unhappy sisterOf poor Chamont, whose sword is all his portion,Be oppressed by thee, thou proud, imperious traitor!Cast.Ha! set me free.Cham.Come both!
Cham.Where is the hero, famous and renownedFor wronging innocence, and breaking vows;Whose mighty spirit, and whose stubborn heart,No woman can appease, nor man provoke?
Acast.I guess, Chamont, you come to seek Castalio.
Cham.I come to seek the husband of Monimia.
Cast.The slave is here.
Cham.I thought ere now to have found youAtoning for the ills you've done Chamont;For you have wronged the dearest part of him.Monimia, young lord, weeps in this heart;And all the tears thy injuries have drawnFrom her poor eyes are drops of blood from hence.
Cast.Then you're Chamont?
Cham.Yes, and I hope no strangerTo great Castalio.
Cast.I've heard of such a man,That has been very busy with my honour.I own I'm much indebted to you, sir;And here return the villain back againYou sent me by my father.
Cham.Thus I'll thank you.[Draws.
Acast.By this good sword, who first presumes to violenceMakes me his foe![Draws, and interposes.Young man, it once was thought[ToCastalio.I was fit guardian of my house's honour,And you might trust your share with me.—For you,[ToChamont.Young soldier, I must tell you, you have wronged me:I promised you to do Monimia right;And thought my word a pledge I would not forfeit:But you, I find, would fright us to performance.
Cast.Sir, in my younger years with care you taught meThat brave revenge was due to injured honour;Oppose not then the justice of my sword,Lest you should make me jealous of your love.
Cham.Into thy father's arms thou fliest for safety,Because thou know'st the place is sanctifiedWith the remembrance of an ancient friendship.
Cast.I am a villain if I will not seek thee,Till I may be revenged for all the wrongsDone me by that ungrateful fair thou plead'st for.
Cham.She wronged thee! by the fury in my heart,Thy father's honour's not above Monimia's!Nor was thy mother's truth and virtue fairer.
Acast.Boy, don't disturb the ashes of the deadWith thy capricious follies: the remembranceOf the loved creature that once filled these arms—
Cham.Has not been wronged.
Cast.It shall not.
Cham.No, nor shallMonimia, though a helpless orphan, destituteOf friends and fortune, though the unhappy sisterOf poor Chamont, whose sword is all his portion,Be oppressed by thee, thou proud, imperious traitor!
Cast.Ha! set me free.
Cham.Come both!
EnterSerina.
Ser.Alas! alas!The cause of these disorders, my Chamont?Who is't has wronged thee?Cast.Now where art thou fledFor shelter?Cham.Come from thine, and see what safeguardShall then betray my fears.Ser.Cruel Castalio,Sheathe up thy angry sword, and don't affright me.Chamont, let once Serina calm thy breast;If any of my friends have done thee injuries,I'll be revenged, and love thee better for it.Cast.Sir, if you'd have me think you did not takeThis opportunity to show your vanity,Let's meet some other time, when by ourselvesWe fairly may dispute our wrongs together.Cham.Till then, I am Castalio's friend.Cast.Serina,Farewell; I wish much happiness attend you.Ser.Chamont's the dearest thing I have on earth;Give me Chamont, and let the world forsake me!Cham.Witness the gods, how happy I'm in thee!No beauteous blossom of the fragrant spring,Though the fair child of nature newly born,Can be so lovely.—Angry, unkind Castalio,Suppose I should awhile lay by my passions,And be a beggar in Monimia's cause,Might it be heard?Cast.Sir, 'twas my last requestYou would, though you I find will not be satisfied:So, in a word, Monimia is my scorn;She basely sent you here to try my fears;That was your business.No artful prostitute, in falsehoods practised,To make advantage of her coxcomb's follies,Could have done more—disquiet vex her for't!Cham.Farewell.[ExeuntChamontandSerina.Cast.Farewell.—My father, you seem troubled.Acast.Would I'd been absent when this boisterous braveCame to disturb thee thus! I'm grieved I hinderedThy just resentment. But Monimia—Cast.Damn her!Acast.Don't curse her.Cast.Did I?Acast.Yes.Cast.I'm sorry for't.Acast.Methinks, if, as I guess, the fault's but small,It might be pardoned.Cast.No.Acast.What has she done?Cast.That she's my wife, may Heaven and you forgive me!Acast.Be reconciled then.Cast.No.Acast.Go see her.Cast.No.Acast.I'll send and bring her hither.Cast.No.Acast.For my sake,Castalio, and the quiet of my age.Cast.Why will you urge a thing my nature starts at?Acast.Pr'ythee forgive her.Cast.Lightnings first shall blast me!I tell you, were she prostrate at my feet,Full of her sex's best dissembled sorrows,And all that wondrous beauty of her own,My heart might break, but it should never soften.
Ser.Alas! alas!The cause of these disorders, my Chamont?Who is't has wronged thee?
Cast.Now where art thou fledFor shelter?
Cham.Come from thine, and see what safeguardShall then betray my fears.
Ser.Cruel Castalio,Sheathe up thy angry sword, and don't affright me.Chamont, let once Serina calm thy breast;If any of my friends have done thee injuries,I'll be revenged, and love thee better for it.
Cast.Sir, if you'd have me think you did not takeThis opportunity to show your vanity,Let's meet some other time, when by ourselvesWe fairly may dispute our wrongs together.
Cham.Till then, I am Castalio's friend.
Cast.Serina,Farewell; I wish much happiness attend you.
Ser.Chamont's the dearest thing I have on earth;Give me Chamont, and let the world forsake me!
Cham.Witness the gods, how happy I'm in thee!No beauteous blossom of the fragrant spring,Though the fair child of nature newly born,Can be so lovely.—Angry, unkind Castalio,Suppose I should awhile lay by my passions,And be a beggar in Monimia's cause,Might it be heard?
Cast.Sir, 'twas my last requestYou would, though you I find will not be satisfied:So, in a word, Monimia is my scorn;She basely sent you here to try my fears;That was your business.No artful prostitute, in falsehoods practised,To make advantage of her coxcomb's follies,Could have done more—disquiet vex her for't!
Cham.Farewell.[ExeuntChamontandSerina.
Cast.Farewell.—My father, you seem troubled.
Acast.Would I'd been absent when this boisterous braveCame to disturb thee thus! I'm grieved I hinderedThy just resentment. But Monimia—
Cast.Damn her!
Acast.Don't curse her.
Cast.Did I?
Acast.Yes.
Cast.I'm sorry for't.
Acast.Methinks, if, as I guess, the fault's but small,It might be pardoned.
Cast.No.
Acast.What has she done?
Cast.That she's my wife, may Heaven and you forgive me!
Acast.Be reconciled then.
Cast.No.
Acast.Go see her.
Cast.No.
Acast.I'll send and bring her hither.
Cast.No.
Acast.For my sake,Castalio, and the quiet of my age.
Cast.Why will you urge a thing my nature starts at?
Acast.Pr'ythee forgive her.
Cast.Lightnings first shall blast me!I tell you, were she prostrate at my feet,Full of her sex's best dissembled sorrows,And all that wondrous beauty of her own,My heart might break, but it should never soften.
EnterFlorella.
Flor.My lord, where are you? O Castalio!Acast.Hark!Cast.What's that?Flor.Oh, show me quickly, where's Castalio?Acast.Why, what's the business?Flor.Oh, the poor Monimia!Cast.Ha!Acast.What's the matter?Flor.Hurried by despair,She flies with fury over all the house,Through every room of each apartment, crying,"Where's my Castalio? give me my Castalio!"Except she sees you, sure she'll grow distracted.Cast.Ha! will she? does she name Castalio?And with such tenderness? Conduct me quicklyTo the poor lovely mourner. O my father!Acast.Then wilt thou go? Blessings attend thy purpose.Cast.I cannot hear Monimia's soul in sadness,And be a man; my heart will not forget her.But do not tell the world you saw this of me.Acast.Delay not then, but haste and cheer thy love.Cast.Oh! I will throw my impatient arms about her,In her soft bosom sigh my soul to peace:Till through the panting breast she finds the wayTo mould my heart, and make it what she will.Monimia! Oh![Exeunt.
Flor.My lord, where are you? O Castalio!
Acast.Hark!
Cast.What's that?
Flor.Oh, show me quickly, where's Castalio?
Acast.Why, what's the business?
Flor.Oh, the poor Monimia!
Cast.Ha!
Acast.What's the matter?
Flor.Hurried by despair,She flies with fury over all the house,Through every room of each apartment, crying,"Where's my Castalio? give me my Castalio!"Except she sees you, sure she'll grow distracted.
Cast.Ha! will she? does she name Castalio?And with such tenderness? Conduct me quicklyTo the poor lovely mourner. O my father!
Acast.Then wilt thou go? Blessings attend thy purpose.
Cast.I cannot hear Monimia's soul in sadness,And be a man; my heart will not forget her.But do not tell the world you saw this of me.
Acast.Delay not then, but haste and cheer thy love.
Cast.Oh! I will throw my impatient arms about her,In her soft bosom sigh my soul to peace:Till through the panting breast she finds the wayTo mould my heart, and make it what she will.Monimia! Oh![Exeunt.
EnterMonimia.
Mon.Stand off, and give me room!I will not rest till I have found Castalio,My wishes' lord, comely as rising day,Amidst ten thousand eminently known.Flowers spring up where'er he treads; his eyes,Fountains of brightness, cheering all about him—When will they shine on me?—O stay, my soul!I cannot die in peace till I have seen him.
Mon.Stand off, and give me room!I will not rest till I have found Castalio,My wishes' lord, comely as rising day,Amidst ten thousand eminently known.Flowers spring up where'er he treads; his eyes,Fountains of brightness, cheering all about him—When will they shine on me?—O stay, my soul!I cannot die in peace till I have seen him.
EnterCastalio.
Cast.Who talks of dying, with a voice so sweetThat life's in love with't?Mon.Hark! 'tis he that answers;So in a camp, though at the dead of night,If but the trumpet's cheerful noise is heard,All at the signal leap from downy rest,And every heart awakes, as mine does now.Where art thou?Cast.Here, my love.Mon.No nearer, lest I vanish.Cast.Have I been in a dream then all this while?And art thou but the shadow of Monimia?Why dost thou fly me thus?Mon.Oh! were it possible that we could drownIn dark oblivion but a few past hours,We might be happy.Cast.Is't then so hard, Monimia, to forgiveA fault, where humble love, like mine, implores thee?For I must love thee, though it prove my ruin.Which way shall I court thee?What shall I do to be enough thy slave,And satisfy the lovely pride that's in thee?I'll kneel to thee, and weep a flood before thee:Yet pr'ythee, tyrant, break not quite my heart;But when my task of penitence is done,Heal it again, and comfort me with love.Mon.If I am dumb, Castalio, and want wordsTo pay thee back this mighty tenderness,It is because I look on thee with horror,And cannot see the man I so have wronged.Cast.Thou hast not wronged me.Mon.Ah! alas, thou talk'stJust as thy poor heart thinks. Have not I wronged thee?Cast.No.Mon.Still thou wander'st in the dark, Castalio;But wilt ere long stumble on horrid danger.Cast.What means my love?Mon.Couldst thou but forgive me!Cast.What?Mon.For my fault last night: alas, thou canst not!Cast.I can, and do.Mon.Thus crawling on the earth[Kneels.Would I that pardon meet; the only thingCan make me view the face of Heaven with hope.Cast.Then let's draw near.[Raises her.Mon.Ah me!Cast.So in the fields,When the destroyer has been out for prey,The scattered lovers of the feathered kind,Seeking, when danger's past, to meet again,Make moan and call, by such degrees approach,Till joining thus they bill, and spread their wings,Murmuring love, and joy their fears are over.Mon.Yet have a care, be not too fond of peace,Lest, in pursuance of the goodly quarry,Thou meet a disappointment that distracts thee.Cast.My better angel, then, do thou inform meWhat danger threatens me, and where it lies:Why didst thou,—pr'ythee smile and tell me why,—When I stood waiting underneath the window,Quaking with fierce and violent desires(The dropping dews fell cold upon my head,Darkness enclosed, and the winds whistled round me,Which with my mournful sighs made such sad musicAs might have moved the hardest heart); why wert thouDeaf to my cries, and senseless of my pains?Mon.Did I not beg thee to forbear inquiry?Read'st thou not something in my face, that speaksWonderful change and horror from within me?Cast.Then there is something yet which I've not known:What dost thou mean by horror, and forbearanceOf more inquiry? Tell me, I beg thee tell me;And don't betray me to a second madness.Mon.Must I?Cast.If, labouring in the pangs of death,Thou wouldst do anything to give me ease,Unfold this riddle ere my thoughts grow wild,And let in fears of ugly form upon me.Mon.My heart won't let me speak it; but remember,Monimia, poor Monimia tells you this,We ne'er must meet again.Cast.What means my destiny?For all my good or evil fate dwells in thee.Ne'er meet again!Mon.No, never.Cast.Where's the powerOn earth, that dares not look like thee, and say so?Thou art my heart's inheritance; I servedA long and painful, faithful slavery for thee,And who shall rob me of the dear-bought blessing?Mon.Time will clear all, but now let this content you:Heaven has decreed, and therefore I've resolved,—With torment I must tell it thee, Castalio,—Ever to be a stranger to thy love;In some far-distant country waste my life,And from this day to see thy face no more.Cast.Where am I? Sure I wander 'midst enchantment,And never more shall find the way to rest.But, O Monimia! art thou indeed resolvedTo punish me with everlasting absence?Why turn'st thou from me? I'm alone already.Methinks I stand upon a naked beach,Sighing to winds, and to the seas complaining,Whilst afar off the vessel sails away,Where all the treasure of my soul's embarked.Wilt thou not turn?—Oh! could those eyes but speak,I should know all, for love is pregnant in them;They swell, they press their beams upon me still.Wilt thou not speak? If we must part for ever,Give me but one kind word to think upon,And please myself withal, whilst my heart's breaking!Mon.Ah, poor Castalio![Exit.Cast.Pity! by the gods,She pities me! Then thou wilt go eternally?What means all this? why all this stir, to plagueA single wretch? If but your word can shakeThis world to atoms, why so much adoWith me? Think me but dead, and lay me so.
Cast.Who talks of dying, with a voice so sweetThat life's in love with't?
Mon.Hark! 'tis he that answers;So in a camp, though at the dead of night,If but the trumpet's cheerful noise is heard,All at the signal leap from downy rest,And every heart awakes, as mine does now.Where art thou?
Cast.Here, my love.
Mon.No nearer, lest I vanish.
Cast.Have I been in a dream then all this while?And art thou but the shadow of Monimia?Why dost thou fly me thus?
Mon.Oh! were it possible that we could drownIn dark oblivion but a few past hours,We might be happy.
Cast.Is't then so hard, Monimia, to forgiveA fault, where humble love, like mine, implores thee?For I must love thee, though it prove my ruin.Which way shall I court thee?What shall I do to be enough thy slave,And satisfy the lovely pride that's in thee?I'll kneel to thee, and weep a flood before thee:Yet pr'ythee, tyrant, break not quite my heart;But when my task of penitence is done,Heal it again, and comfort me with love.
Mon.If I am dumb, Castalio, and want wordsTo pay thee back this mighty tenderness,It is because I look on thee with horror,And cannot see the man I so have wronged.
Cast.Thou hast not wronged me.
Mon.Ah! alas, thou talk'stJust as thy poor heart thinks. Have not I wronged thee?
Cast.No.
Mon.Still thou wander'st in the dark, Castalio;But wilt ere long stumble on horrid danger.
Cast.What means my love?
Mon.Couldst thou but forgive me!
Cast.What?
Mon.For my fault last night: alas, thou canst not!
Cast.I can, and do.
Mon.Thus crawling on the earth[Kneels.Would I that pardon meet; the only thingCan make me view the face of Heaven with hope.
Cast.Then let's draw near.[Raises her.
Mon.Ah me!
Cast.So in the fields,When the destroyer has been out for prey,The scattered lovers of the feathered kind,Seeking, when danger's past, to meet again,Make moan and call, by such degrees approach,Till joining thus they bill, and spread their wings,Murmuring love, and joy their fears are over.
Mon.Yet have a care, be not too fond of peace,Lest, in pursuance of the goodly quarry,Thou meet a disappointment that distracts thee.
Cast.My better angel, then, do thou inform meWhat danger threatens me, and where it lies:Why didst thou,—pr'ythee smile and tell me why,—When I stood waiting underneath the window,Quaking with fierce and violent desires(The dropping dews fell cold upon my head,Darkness enclosed, and the winds whistled round me,Which with my mournful sighs made such sad musicAs might have moved the hardest heart); why wert thouDeaf to my cries, and senseless of my pains?
Mon.Did I not beg thee to forbear inquiry?Read'st thou not something in my face, that speaksWonderful change and horror from within me?
Cast.Then there is something yet which I've not known:What dost thou mean by horror, and forbearanceOf more inquiry? Tell me, I beg thee tell me;And don't betray me to a second madness.
Mon.Must I?
Cast.If, labouring in the pangs of death,Thou wouldst do anything to give me ease,Unfold this riddle ere my thoughts grow wild,And let in fears of ugly form upon me.
Mon.My heart won't let me speak it; but remember,Monimia, poor Monimia tells you this,We ne'er must meet again.
Cast.What means my destiny?For all my good or evil fate dwells in thee.Ne'er meet again!
Mon.No, never.
Cast.Where's the powerOn earth, that dares not look like thee, and say so?Thou art my heart's inheritance; I servedA long and painful, faithful slavery for thee,And who shall rob me of the dear-bought blessing?
Mon.Time will clear all, but now let this content you:Heaven has decreed, and therefore I've resolved,—With torment I must tell it thee, Castalio,—Ever to be a stranger to thy love;In some far-distant country waste my life,And from this day to see thy face no more.
Cast.Where am I? Sure I wander 'midst enchantment,And never more shall find the way to rest.But, O Monimia! art thou indeed resolvedTo punish me with everlasting absence?Why turn'st thou from me? I'm alone already.Methinks I stand upon a naked beach,Sighing to winds, and to the seas complaining,Whilst afar off the vessel sails away,Where all the treasure of my soul's embarked.Wilt thou not turn?—Oh! could those eyes but speak,I should know all, for love is pregnant in them;They swell, they press their beams upon me still.Wilt thou not speak? If we must part for ever,Give me but one kind word to think upon,And please myself withal, whilst my heart's breaking!
Mon.Ah, poor Castalio![Exit.
Cast.Pity! by the gods,She pities me! Then thou wilt go eternally?What means all this? why all this stir, to plagueA single wretch? If but your word can shakeThis world to atoms, why so much adoWith me? Think me but dead, and lay me so.
EnterPolydore.
Pol.To live, and live a torment to myself!What dog would bear't, that knew but his condition?We've little knowledge, and that makes us cowards,Because it cannot tell us what's to come.Cast.Who's there?Pol.Why, what art thou?Cast.My brother Polydore?Pol.My name is Polydore.Cast.Canst thou inform me—Pol.Of what?Cast.Of my Monimia?Pol.No. Good-day.Cast.In haste?Methinks my Polydore appears in sadness.Pol.Indeed, and so to me does my Castalio.Cast.Do I?Pol.Thou dost.Cast.Alas! I've wondrous reason;I'm strangely altered, brother, since I saw thee.Pol.Why?Cast.Oh! to tell thee would but put thy heartTo pain. Let me embrace thee but a little,And weep upon thy neck; I would reposeWithin thy friendly bosom all my follies;For thou wilt pardon them, because they're mine.Pol.Be not too credulous; consider first;Friends may be false. Is there no friendship false?Cast.Why dost thou ask me that? does this appearLike a false friendship, when with open armsAnd streaming eyes I run upon thy breast?Oh, 'tis in thee alone I must have comfort!Pol.I fear, Castalio, I have none to give thee.Cast.Dost thou not love me then?Pol.Oh, more than life:I never had a thought of my CastalioMight wrong the friendship we had vowed together.Hast thou dealt so by me?Cast.I hope I have.Pol.Then tell me why this mourning; this disorder?Cast.O Polydore! I know not how to tell thee;Shame rises in my face, and interruptsThe story of my tongue.Pol.I grieve my friendKnows anything which he's ashamed to tell me;Or didst thou e'er conceal thy thoughts from Polydore?Cast.Oh! much too oft; but let me here conjure thee,By all the kind affection of a brother,—For I'm ashamed to call myself thy friend,—Forgive me.Pol.Well, go on.Cast.Our destiny contrivedTo plague us both with one unhappy love:Thou, like a friend, a constant generous friend,In its first pangs didst trust me with thy passion;Whilst I still smoothed my pain with smiles before thee,And made a contract I ne'er meant to keep.Pol.How!Cast.Still new ways I studied to abuse thee,And kept thee as a stranger to my passion,Till yesterday I wedded with Monimia.Pol.Ah, Castalio,Was that well done?Cast.No; to conceal't from theeWas much a fault.Pol.A fault! When thou hast heardThe tale I'll tell, what wilt thou call it then?Cast.How my heart throbs!Pol.First, for thy friendship, traitor,I cancel it thus; after this day I'll ne'erHold trust or converse with the false Castalio:This witness Heaven!Cast.What will my fate do with me?I've lost all happiness, and know not why.What means this, brother?Pol.Perjured, treacherous wretch,Farewell!Cast.I'll be thy slave; and thou shalt use meJust as thou wilt, do but forgive me.Pol.Never.Cast.Oh! think a little what thy heart is doing;How from our infancy we hand in handHave trod the path of life in love together;One bed has held us, and the same desires,The same aversions, still employed our thoughts;Whene'er had I a friend that was not Polydore's,Or Polydore a foe that was not mine?Even in the womb we embraced; and wilt thou now,For the first fault, abandon and forsake me,Leave me amidst afflictions to myself,Plunged in the gulf of grief, and none to help me?Pol.Go to Monimia; in her arms thou'lt findRepose; she has the art of healing sorrows.Cast.What arts?Pol.Blind wretch, thou husband! there's a question!Go to her fulsome bed, and wallow there,Till some hot ruffian, full of lust and wine,Come storm thee out, and show thee what's thy bargain.Cast.Hold there, I charge thee!Pol.Is she not a—Cast.Whore?Pol.Ay, whore; I think that word needs no explaining.Cast.Alas! I can forgive even this to thee:But let me tell thee, Polydore, I'm grievedTo find thee guilty of such low revenge,To wrong that virtue which thou couldst not ruin.Pol.It seems I lie then?Cast.Should the bravest manThat e'er wore conquering sword but dare to whisperWhat thou proclaim'st, he were the worst of liars:My friend may be mistaken.Pol.Damn the evasion!Thou mean'st the worst; and he's a base-born villainThat said I lied.Cast.Do, draw thy sword, and thrust it through my heart;There is no joy in life, if thou art lost.A base-born villain!Pol.Yes, thou never camestFrom old Acasto's loins; the midwife putA cheat upon my mother, and, insteadOf a true brother, in the cradle by mePlaced some coarse peasant's cub, and thou art he.Cast.Thou art my brother still.Pol.Thou liest.Cast.Nay then:[He draws.Yet I am calm.Pol.A coward's always so.Cast.Ah—ah—that stings home: coward!Pol.Ay, base-born coward, villain.Cast.This to thy heart then, though my mother bore thee.
Pol.To live, and live a torment to myself!What dog would bear't, that knew but his condition?We've little knowledge, and that makes us cowards,Because it cannot tell us what's to come.
Cast.Who's there?
Pol.Why, what art thou?
Cast.My brother Polydore?
Pol.My name is Polydore.
Cast.Canst thou inform me—
Pol.Of what?
Cast.Of my Monimia?
Pol.No. Good-day.
Cast.In haste?Methinks my Polydore appears in sadness.
Pol.Indeed, and so to me does my Castalio.
Cast.Do I?
Pol.Thou dost.
Cast.Alas! I've wondrous reason;I'm strangely altered, brother, since I saw thee.
Pol.Why?
Cast.Oh! to tell thee would but put thy heartTo pain. Let me embrace thee but a little,And weep upon thy neck; I would reposeWithin thy friendly bosom all my follies;For thou wilt pardon them, because they're mine.
Pol.Be not too credulous; consider first;Friends may be false. Is there no friendship false?
Cast.Why dost thou ask me that? does this appearLike a false friendship, when with open armsAnd streaming eyes I run upon thy breast?Oh, 'tis in thee alone I must have comfort!
Pol.I fear, Castalio, I have none to give thee.
Cast.Dost thou not love me then?
Pol.Oh, more than life:I never had a thought of my CastalioMight wrong the friendship we had vowed together.Hast thou dealt so by me?
Cast.I hope I have.
Pol.Then tell me why this mourning; this disorder?
Cast.O Polydore! I know not how to tell thee;Shame rises in my face, and interruptsThe story of my tongue.
Pol.I grieve my friendKnows anything which he's ashamed to tell me;Or didst thou e'er conceal thy thoughts from Polydore?
Cast.Oh! much too oft; but let me here conjure thee,By all the kind affection of a brother,—For I'm ashamed to call myself thy friend,—Forgive me.
Pol.Well, go on.
Cast.Our destiny contrivedTo plague us both with one unhappy love:Thou, like a friend, a constant generous friend,In its first pangs didst trust me with thy passion;Whilst I still smoothed my pain with smiles before thee,And made a contract I ne'er meant to keep.
Pol.How!
Cast.Still new ways I studied to abuse thee,And kept thee as a stranger to my passion,Till yesterday I wedded with Monimia.
Pol.Ah, Castalio,Was that well done?
Cast.No; to conceal't from theeWas much a fault.
Pol.A fault! When thou hast heardThe tale I'll tell, what wilt thou call it then?
Cast.How my heart throbs!
Pol.First, for thy friendship, traitor,I cancel it thus; after this day I'll ne'erHold trust or converse with the false Castalio:This witness Heaven!
Cast.What will my fate do with me?I've lost all happiness, and know not why.What means this, brother?
Pol.Perjured, treacherous wretch,Farewell!
Cast.I'll be thy slave; and thou shalt use meJust as thou wilt, do but forgive me.
Pol.Never.
Cast.Oh! think a little what thy heart is doing;How from our infancy we hand in handHave trod the path of life in love together;One bed has held us, and the same desires,The same aversions, still employed our thoughts;Whene'er had I a friend that was not Polydore's,Or Polydore a foe that was not mine?Even in the womb we embraced; and wilt thou now,For the first fault, abandon and forsake me,Leave me amidst afflictions to myself,Plunged in the gulf of grief, and none to help me?
Pol.Go to Monimia; in her arms thou'lt findRepose; she has the art of healing sorrows.
Cast.What arts?
Pol.Blind wretch, thou husband! there's a question!Go to her fulsome bed, and wallow there,Till some hot ruffian, full of lust and wine,Come storm thee out, and show thee what's thy bargain.
Cast.Hold there, I charge thee!
Pol.Is she not a—
Cast.Whore?
Pol.Ay, whore; I think that word needs no explaining.
Cast.Alas! I can forgive even this to thee:But let me tell thee, Polydore, I'm grievedTo find thee guilty of such low revenge,To wrong that virtue which thou couldst not ruin.
Pol.It seems I lie then?
Cast.Should the bravest manThat e'er wore conquering sword but dare to whisperWhat thou proclaim'st, he were the worst of liars:My friend may be mistaken.
Pol.Damn the evasion!Thou mean'st the worst; and he's a base-born villainThat said I lied.
Cast.Do, draw thy sword, and thrust it through my heart;There is no joy in life, if thou art lost.A base-born villain!
Pol.Yes, thou never camestFrom old Acasto's loins; the midwife putA cheat upon my mother, and, insteadOf a true brother, in the cradle by mePlaced some coarse peasant's cub, and thou art he.
Cast.Thou art my brother still.
Pol.Thou liest.
Cast.Nay then:[He draws.Yet I am calm.
Pol.A coward's always so.
Cast.Ah—ah—that stings home: coward!
Pol.Ay, base-born coward, villain.
Cast.This to thy heart then, though my mother bore thee.
[They fight;Polydoredrops his sword, and runs onCastalio's.
Pol.Now my Castalio is again my friend.Cast.What have I done? my sword is in thy breast!Pol.So I would have it be, thou best of men,Thou kindest brother, and thou truest friend.Cast.Ye gods, we're taught that all your works are justice;You're painted merciful, and friends to innocence:If so, then why these plagues upon my head?Pol.Blame not the Heavens; here lies thy fate, Castalio.They're not the gods, 'tis Polydore has wronged thee;I've stained thy bed; thy spotless marriage-joysHave been polluted by thy brother's lust.Cast.By thee!Pol.By me: last night the horrid deedWas done, when all things slept, but rage and incest.Cast.Now where's Monimia? Oh!
Pol.Now my Castalio is again my friend.
Cast.What have I done? my sword is in thy breast!
Pol.So I would have it be, thou best of men,Thou kindest brother, and thou truest friend.
Cast.Ye gods, we're taught that all your works are justice;You're painted merciful, and friends to innocence:If so, then why these plagues upon my head?
Pol.Blame not the Heavens; here lies thy fate, Castalio.They're not the gods, 'tis Polydore has wronged thee;I've stained thy bed; thy spotless marriage-joysHave been polluted by thy brother's lust.
Cast.By thee!
Pol.By me: last night the horrid deedWas done, when all things slept, but rage and incest.
Cast.Now where's Monimia? Oh!
Re-enterMonimia.
Mon.I'm here; who calls me?Methought I heard a voiceSweet as the shepherd's pipe upon the mountains,When all his little flock's at feed before him.But what means this? here's blood!Cast.Ay, brother's blood.Art thou prepared for everlasting pains?Pol.Oh, let me charge thee by the eternal justice,Hurt not her tender life!Cast.Not kill her! Rack me,Ye powers above, with all your choicest torments,Horror of mind, and pains yet uninvented,If I not practise cruelty upon her,And wreak revenge some way yet never known!Mon.That task myself have finished: I shall dieBefore we part; I've drunk a healing draughtFor all my cares, and never more shall wrong thee.Pol.Oh, she is innocent.Cast.Tell me that story,And thou wilt make a wretch of me indeed.Pol.Hadst thou, Castalio, used me like a friend,This ne'er had happened; hadst thou let me knowThy marriage, we had all now met in joy:But, ignorant of that,Hearing the appointment made, enraged to thinkThou hadst outdone me in successful love,I, in the dark, went and supplied thy place;Whilst all the night, 'midst our triumphant joys,The trembling, tender, kind, deceived MonimiaEmbraced, caressed, and called me her Castalio.Cast.And all this is the work of my own fortune!None but myself could e'er have been so curst.My fatal love, alas! has ruined thee,Thou fairest, goodliest frame the gods e'er made,Or ever human eyes and heart adored!I've murdered too my brother.Why wouldst thou study ways to damn me further,And force the sin of parricide upon me?Pol.'Twas my own fault, and thou art innocent.Forgive the barbarous trespass of my tongue;'Twas a hard violence; I could have diedWith love of thee, even when I used thee worst;Nay, at each word that my distraction uttered,My heart recoiled, and 'twas half death to speak them.Mon.Now, my Castalio, the most dear of men,Wilt thou receive pollution to thy bosom,And close the eyes of one that has betrayed thee?Cast.Oh, I'm the unhappy wretch whose cursèd fateHas weighed thee down into destruction with him;Why then thus kind to me?Mon.When I'm laid low i' the grave, and quite forgotten,Mayst thou be happy in a fairer bride!But none can ever love thee like Monimia.When I am dead,—as presently I shall be,For the grim tyrant grasps my heart already,—Speak well of me; and if thou find ill tonguesToo busy with my fame, don't hear me wronged;'Twill be a noble justice to the memoryOf a poor wretch once honoured with thy love.How my head swims!—'tis very dark. Good-night![Dies.
Mon.I'm here; who calls me?Methought I heard a voiceSweet as the shepherd's pipe upon the mountains,When all his little flock's at feed before him.But what means this? here's blood!
Cast.Ay, brother's blood.Art thou prepared for everlasting pains?
Pol.Oh, let me charge thee by the eternal justice,Hurt not her tender life!
Cast.Not kill her! Rack me,Ye powers above, with all your choicest torments,Horror of mind, and pains yet uninvented,If I not practise cruelty upon her,And wreak revenge some way yet never known!
Mon.That task myself have finished: I shall dieBefore we part; I've drunk a healing draughtFor all my cares, and never more shall wrong thee.
Pol.Oh, she is innocent.
Cast.Tell me that story,And thou wilt make a wretch of me indeed.
Pol.Hadst thou, Castalio, used me like a friend,This ne'er had happened; hadst thou let me knowThy marriage, we had all now met in joy:But, ignorant of that,Hearing the appointment made, enraged to thinkThou hadst outdone me in successful love,I, in the dark, went and supplied thy place;Whilst all the night, 'midst our triumphant joys,The trembling, tender, kind, deceived MonimiaEmbraced, caressed, and called me her Castalio.
Cast.And all this is the work of my own fortune!None but myself could e'er have been so curst.My fatal love, alas! has ruined thee,Thou fairest, goodliest frame the gods e'er made,Or ever human eyes and heart adored!I've murdered too my brother.Why wouldst thou study ways to damn me further,And force the sin of parricide upon me?
Pol.'Twas my own fault, and thou art innocent.Forgive the barbarous trespass of my tongue;'Twas a hard violence; I could have diedWith love of thee, even when I used thee worst;Nay, at each word that my distraction uttered,My heart recoiled, and 'twas half death to speak them.
Mon.Now, my Castalio, the most dear of men,Wilt thou receive pollution to thy bosom,And close the eyes of one that has betrayed thee?
Cast.Oh, I'm the unhappy wretch whose cursèd fateHas weighed thee down into destruction with him;Why then thus kind to me?
Mon.When I'm laid low i' the grave, and quite forgotten,Mayst thou be happy in a fairer bride!But none can ever love thee like Monimia.When I am dead,—as presently I shall be,For the grim tyrant grasps my heart already,—Speak well of me; and if thou find ill tonguesToo busy with my fame, don't hear me wronged;'Twill be a noble justice to the memoryOf a poor wretch once honoured with thy love.How my head swims!—'tis very dark. Good-night![Dies.