Alas! that heart of thine
Is like a scene in the old play; the curtain
Rises to solemn music, and lo, enter
The eleven thousand virgins of Cologne!
VICTORIAN. Nay, like the Sibyl's volumes, thou shouldst say;
Those that remained, after the six were burned,
Being held more precious than the nine together.
But listen to my tale. Dost thou remember
The Gipsy girl we saw at Córdova
Dance the Romalis in the market-place?
HYPOLITO. Thou meanest Preciosa.
Thou knowest how her image haunted me
Long after we returned to Alcalá.
She's in Madrid.
HYPOLITO.
HYPOLITO. And therefore in Madrid when thou shouldst be
Oh, pardon me, my friend,
If I so long have kept this secret from thee;
But silence is the charm that guards such treasures
And if a word be spoken ere the time,
They sink again, they were not meant for us.
HYPOLITO.-Alas! alas! I see thou art in love.
Love keeps the cold out better than a cloak.
It serves for food and raiment. Give a Spaniard
His mass, his olla, and his Doña Luisa,-
Thou knowest the proverb. But pray tell me, lover,
How speeds thy wooing? Is the maiden coy?
Write her a song, beginning with an Ave;
Sing as the monk sang to the Virgin Mary,
Ave! cujus calcem clare 24
Nec centenni commendare
Sciret Seraph studio!
VICTORIAN.-Pray, do not jest! This is no time for it.
I am in earnest!
Seriously enamoured?
What, ho! The Primus of great Alcalá
Enamoured of a Gipsy? Tell me frankly,
How meanest thou?
HYPOLITO. Surely thou wilt not marry her!
VICTORIAN.-
HYPOLITO. She was betrothed to one Bartolomé,
If I remember rightly, a young Gipsy
Who danced with her at Córdova.
And so the matter ended.
HYPOLITO.
Thou wilt not marry her.
In truth I will.
The angels sang in heaven when she was born!
She is a precious jewel I have found
Among the filth and rubbish of the world.
I'll stoop for it; but when I wear it here,
Set on my forehead like the morning star,
The world may wonder, but it will not laugh.
HYPOLITO. If thou wear'st nothing else upon thy forehead, "Twill be indeed a wonder.
With thy unseasonable jests! Pray, tell me,
Is there no virtue in the world?
What, think'st thou, is she doing at this moment;
Now, while we speak of her?
VICTORIAN.-
She lies asleep,
And, from her parted lips, her gentle breath
Comes like the fragrance from the lips of flowers.
Her tender limbs are still, and, on her breast,
The cross she prayed to, e'er she fell asleep,
Rises and falls with the soft tide of dreams,
Like a light barge safe moored.
HYPOLITO.-
Which means, in prose,
She's sleeping with her mouth a little open!
VICTORIAN.-Oh, would I had the old magician's glass,
To see her as she lies in child-like sleep!
HYPOLITO. And wouldst thou venture?
VICTORIAN.-
Ay, indeed I would!
HYPOLITO.-Thou art courageous. Hast thou e'er reflected
How much lies hidden in that one word, now?
VICTORIAN.-Yes; all the awful mystery of Life!
I oft have thought, my dear Hypolito,
That could we, by some spell of magic, change
The world and its inhabitants to stone,
In the same attitudes they now are in,
What fearful glances downward might we cast
Into the hollow chasms of human life!
What groups should we behold about the death-bed,
Putting to shame the group of Niobe!
What joyful welcomes, and what sad farewells!
What stony tears in those congealed eyes!
What visible joy or anguish in those cheeks!
What bridal pomps, and what funereal shows!
What foes, like gladiators, fierce and struggling!
What lovers with their marble lips together!
HYPOLITO.-Ay, there it is! and if I were in love,
That is the very point I most should dread.
This magic glass, these magic spells of thine,
Might tell a tale were better left untold.
For instance, they might show us thy fair cousin,
The Lady Violante, bathed in tears
Of love and anger, like the maid of Colchis,
Whom thou, another faithless Argonaut.
Having won that golden fleece, a woman's love,
Desertest for this Glaucè.
She cares not for me. She may wed another,
Or go into a convent, and, thus dying,
Marry Achilles in the Elysian fields.
HYPOLITO (rising).—And so, good night! Good morning, I
Hark! how the loud and ponderous mace of Time.
Knocks at the golden portals of the day!
And so, once more, good night! We'll speak more largely
Of Preciosa when we meet again.
Get thee to bed, and the magician, Sleep,
Shall show her to thee, in his magic glass,
In all her loveliness. Good night!
But not to bed; for I must read awhile.
(Throws himself into the arm-chair which HYPOLITO has
left, and lays a large book open upon his knees.)
Must read, or sit in reverie and watch
The changing colour of the waves that break
Upon the idle seashore of the mind!
Visions of Fame! that once did visit me,
Making night glorious with your smile, where are ye?
Oh, who shall give me, now that ye are gone,
Juices of those immortal plants that bloom
Upon Olympus, making us immortal?
Or teach me where that wondrous mandrake grows,
Whose magic root, torn from the earth with groans
At midnight hour, can scare the fiends away,
And make the mind prolific in its fancies?
I have the wish, but want the will, to act.
Souls of great men departed! Ye whose words
Have come to light from the swift river of Time,
Like Roman swords found in the Tagus' bed,
Where is the strength to wield the arms ye bore?
From the barred visor of Antiquity
Reflected shines the eternal light of Truth,
As from a mirror! All the means of action-
The shapeless masses-the materials-
Lie everywhere about us. What we need
Is the celestial fire to change the flint
Into transparent crystal, bright and clear.
That fire is genius! The rude peasant sits
At evening in his smoky cot, and draws
With charcoal uncouth figures on the wall.
The son of genius comes, foot-sore with travel,
And begs a shelter from the inclement night.
He takes the charcoal from the peasant's hand,
And, by the magic of his touch at once
Transfigured, all its hidden virtues shine,
And, in the eyes of the astonished clown,
It gleams a diamond! Even thus transformed,
Rude popular traditions and old tales
Shine as immortal poems, at the touch
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Of some poor, houseless, homeless, wandering bard,
Who had but a night's lodging for his pains.
But there are brighter dreams than those of Fame,
Which are the dreams of Love! Out of the heart
Rises the bright ideal of these dreams,
As from some woodland fount a spirit rises
And sinks again into its silent deeps,
Ere the enamoured knight can touch her robe!
'Tis this ideal that the soul of man,
Like the enamoured knight beside the fountain,
Waits for upon the margin of Life's stream;
Waits to behold her rise from the dark waters,
Clad in a mortal shape! Alas, how many
Must wait in vain! The stream flows evermore,
But from its silent deeps no spirit rises!
Yet I, born under a propitious star,
Have found the bright ideal of my dreams.
Yes! she is ever with me. I can feel,
Here, as I sit at midnight and alone,
Her gentle breathing! on my breast can feel
The pressure of her head! God's benison
Rest ever on it! Close those beauteous eyes,
Sweet Sleep! and all the flowers that bloom at night
With balmy lips breathe in her ears my name!
SCENE I. PRECIOSA's chamber. Morning. PRECIOSA and ANGELICA. PRECIOSA. Why will you go so soon? Stay yet awhile. The poor too often turn away unheard
From hearts that shut against them with a sound
That will be heard in heaven. Pray, tell me more
Of your adversities. Keep nothing from me.
What is your landlord's name?
PRECIOSA. The Count of Lara? Oh, beware that man. !
Mistrust his pity,-hold no parley with him!
And rather die an outcast in the streets
Than touch his gold.
ANGELICA.-.
PRECIOSA.
As any woman may, and yet be pure.
As you would keep your name without a blemish,
Beware of him!
I cannot choose my friends. Each word of kindness,
Come whence it may, is welcome to the poor.
PRECIOSA.-Make me your friend. A girl so young and fair
Should have no friends but those of her own sex.
What is your name?
ANGELICA.-
PRECIOSA.-
Was given you, that you might be an angel
To her who bore you! When your infant smile
Made her home Paradise, you were her angel.
Oh, be an angel still! She needs that smile.
So long as you are innocent, fear nothing.
No one can harm you! I am a poor girl,
Whom chance has taken from the public streets.
I have no other shield than mine own virtue.
That is the charm which has protected me!
Amid a thousand perils, I have worn it
Here on my heart! It is my guardian angel.
ANGELICA (rising).-I thank you for this counsel, dearest lady. PRECIOSA. Thank me by following it.
Indeed I will. PRECIOSA.-Pray, do not go. I have much more to say. ANGELICA.-My mother is alone. I dare not leave her. PRECIOSA. Some other time, then, when we meet again. You must not go away with words alone.
Take this. Would it were more.
ANGELICA.-
I thank you, lady.
PRECIOSA. No thanks. To-morrow come to me again.
I dance to-night,—perhaps for the last time.
But what I gain, I promise shall be yours,
If that can save you from the Count of Lara.
ANGELICA. Oh, my dear lady! how shall I be grateful
For so much kindness?
PRECIOSA.
Thank Heaven, not me.
Remember that you come again to-morrow.
ANGELICA.—I will. And may the blessed Virgin guard you, And all good angels.
May they guard thee too,
And all the poor; for they have need of angels.
Now bring me, dear Dolores, my basquiña,
My richest maja dress,my dancing dress,
And my most precious jewels! Make me look
Fairer than night e'er saw me! I've a prize
To win this day, worthy of Preciosa!
What seekest thou here to-day. CRUZADO.
PRECIOSA. What is thy will with me?
CRUZADO.-
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