The Complete Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge (Illustrated Edition). Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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like a wreath of smoke,
Up through the foliage of those faery trees. 180
His cot stands opposite. You cannot miss it.
Ordonio (in retiring stops suddenly at the edge of the scene, and
then turning round to Isidore). Ha! — Who lurks there! Have we
been overheard?
There where the smooth high wall of slate-rock glitters ——
Isidore. ‘Neath those tall stones, which propping each the other,
Form a mock portal with their pointed arch? 185
Pardon my smiles! ‘Tis a poor idiot boy,
Who sits in the sun, and twirls a bough about,
His weak eyes seeth’d in most unmeaning tears.
And so he sits, swaying his cone-like head,
And staring at his bough from morn to sun-set, 190
See-saws his voice in inarticulate noises.
Ordonio. ‘Tis well, and now for this same wizard’s lair.
Isidore. Some three strides up the hill, a mountain ash
Stretches its lower boughs and scarlet clusters
O’er the old thatch.
Ordonio. I shall not fail to find it. 195
[Exeunt ORDONIO and ISIDORE.
1829.
third person). Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
[After 120] [A pause. Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
[After 122] [A pause. Editions 2, 3, 1829.
This sickness of the heart [A pause.
Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829, &c.
[After 129] [A pause. Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
[Before 134] Ordonio (starts, looking at him wildly; then, after a
pause, during which his features are forced into a smile). Editions 1,
2, 3, 1829.
[After 181]
Some three yards up the hill a mountain ash
Stretches its lower boughs and scarlet clusters
O’er the old thatch.
Ord. I shall not fail to find it. [Exit ORDONIO. ISIDORE goes
into his Cottage.
Edition 1.
SCENE II
The inside of a Cottage, around which flowers and plants of various
kinds are seen. Discovers ALVAR, ZULIMEZ and ALHADRA, as on the point of
leaving.
Alhadra (addressing Alvar). Farewell then! and though many thoughts
perplex me,
Aught evil or ignoble never can I
Suspect of thee! If what thou seem’st thou art,
The oppressed brethren of thy blood have need
Of such a leader.
Alvar. Nobly-minded woman! 5
Long time against oppression have I fought,
And for the native liberty of faith
Have bled and suffered bonds. Of this be certain:
Time, as he courses onward, still unrolls
The volume of concealment. In the future, 10
As in the optician’s glassy cylinder,
The indistinguishable blots and colours
Of the dim past collect and shape themselves,
Upstarting in their own completed image
To scare or to reward.
I sought the guilty, 15
And what I sought I found: but ere the spear
Flew from my hand, there rose an angel form
Betwixt me and my aim. With baffled purpose
To the Avenger I leave vengeance, and depart!
Whate’er betide, if aught my arm may aid, 20
Or power protect, my word is pledged to thee:
For many are thy wrongs, and thy soul noble.
Once more, farewell. [Exit ALHADRA.
Yes, to the Belgic states
We will return. These robes, this stained complexion,
Akin to falsehood, weigh upon my spirit. 25
Whate’er befall us, the heroic Maurice
Will grant us an asylum, in remembrance
Of our past services.
Zulimez. And all the wealth, power, influence which is yours,
You let a murderer hold?
Alvar. O faithful Zulimez! 30
That my return involved Ordonio’s death,
I trust, would give me an unmingled pang,
Yet bearable: but when I see my father
Strewing his scant grey hairs, e’en on the ground,
Which soon must be his grave, and my Teresa — 35
Her husband proved a murderer, and her infants
His infants — poor Teresa! — all would perish,
All perish — all! and I (nay bear with me)
Could not survive the complicated ruin!
Zulimez. Nay now! I have distress’d you — you well know, 40
I ne’er will quit your fortunes. True,’tis tiresome!
You are a painter, one of many fancies!
You can call up past deeds, and make them live
On the blank canvas! and each little herb,
That grows on mountain bleak, or tangled forest, 45
You have learnt to name ——
Hark! heard you not some footsteps?
Alvar. What if it were my brother coming onwards?
I sent a most mysterious message to him.
Enter ORDONIO
Alvar. It is he!
Ordonio (to himself as he enters). If I distinguish’d right her
gait and stature, 50
It was the Moorish woman, Isidore’s wife,
That passed me as I entered. A lit taper,
In the night air, doth not more naturally
Attract the night-flies round it, than a conjuror
Draws round him the whole female neighbourhood. 55
[Addressing ALVAR.
You know my name, I guess, if not my person.
I am Ordonio, son of the Lord Valdez.
Alvar. The Son of Valdez!
[ORDONIO walks leisurely round the room, and looks
attentively at the plants.
Zulimez (to Alvar). Why, what ails you now?
How your hand trembles! Alvar, speak! what wish you?
Alvar.