Percy: A Tragedy

by Hannah More

SCENE II. THE GARDEN.

Enter Elwina.

Elw. Each avenue is so beset with guards,

And lynx-ey'd Jealousy so broad awake,

He cannot pass unseen. Protect him, heaven!

Enter Birtha.

My Birtha, is he safe? has he escap'd?

Bir. I know not. I dispatch'd young Harcourt to him,

To bid him quit the castle, as you order'd,

Restore the scarf, and never see you more.

But how the hard injunction was receiv'd,

Or what has happen'd since, I'm yet to learn.

Elw. O when shall I be eas'd of all my cares,

And in the quiet bosom of the grave

Lay down this weary head!—I'm sick at heart!

Should Douglas intercept his flight!

Bir. Be calm;

Douglas this very moment left the castle,

With seeming peace.

Elw. Ah, then, indeed there's danger!

Birtha, whene'er Suspicion feigns to sleep,

'Tis but to make its careless prey secure.

Bir. Should Percy once again entreat to see thee,

'Twere best admit him; from thy lips alone

He will submit to hear his final doom

Of everlasting exile.

Elw. Birtha, no;

If honour would allow the wife of Douglas

To meet his rival, yet I durst not do it.

Percy! too much this rebel heart is thine:

Too deeply should I feel each pang I gave;

I cannot hate—but I will banish—thee.

Inexorable duly, O forgive,

If I can do no more!

Bir. If he remains,

As I suspect, within the castle walls,

'Twere best I sought him out.

Elw. Then tell him, Birtha,

But, Oh! with gentleness, with mercy, tell him,

That we must never, never, meet again.

The purport of my tale must be severe,

But let thy tenderness embalm the wound

My virtue gives. O soften his despair;

But say—we meet no more.

Enter Percy.

Rash man, he's here!

[she attempts to go, he seizes her hand.

Per. I will be heard; nay, fly not; I will speak;

Lost as I am, I will not be denied

The mournful consolation to complain.

Elw. Percy, I charge thee, leave me.

Per. Tyrant, no:

I blush at my obedience, blush to think

I left thee here alone, to brave the danger

I now return to share.

Elw. That danger's past:

Douglas was soon appeas'd; he nothing knows.

Then leave me, I conjure thee, nor again

Endanger my repose. Yet, ere thou goest,

Restore the scarf.

Per. Unkind Elwina, never!

'Tis all that's left me of my buried joys,

All which reminds me that I once was happy.

My letter told thee I would ne'er restore it.

Elw. Letter! what letter?

Per. That I sent by Harcourt.

Elw. Which I have ne'er receiv'd. Douglas perhaps—

Who knows?

Bir. Harcourt, t' elude his watchfulness,

Might prudently retire.

Elw. Grant heaven it prove so!

[Elwina going, Percy holds her.

Per. Hear me, Elwina; the most savage honour

Forbids not that poor grace.

Elw. It bids me fly thee.

Per. Then, ere thou goest, if we indeed must part,

To sooth the horrors of eternal exile,

Say but—thou pity'st me!

Elw. [weeps.] O Percy—pity thee!

Imperious honour;—surely I may pity him.

Yet, wherefore pity? no, I envy thee:

For thou hast still the liberty to weep,

In thee 'twill be no crime: thy tears are guiltless,

For they infringe no duty, stain no honour,

And blot no vow; but mine are criminal,

Are drops of shame which wash the cheek of guilt,

And every tear I shed dishonours Douglas.

Per. I swear my jealous love e'en grudges thee

Thy sad pre-eminence in wretchedness.

Elw. Rouse, rouse, my slumb'ring virtue! Percy, hear me.

Heaven, when it gives such high-wrought souls as thine,

Still gives as great occasions to exert them.

If thou wast form'd so noble, great, and gen'rous,

'Twas to surmount the passions which enslave

The gross of human-kind.—Then think, O think,

She, whom thou once didst love, is now another's.

Per. Go on—and tell me that that other's Douglas.

Elw. Whate'er his name, he claims respect from me:

His honour's in my keeping, and I hold

The trust so pure, its sanctity is hurt

E'en by thy presence.

Per. Thou again hast conquer'd.

Celestial virtue, like the angel spirit,

Whose flaming sword defended Paradise,

Stands guard on every charm,—Elwina, yes,

To triumph over Douglas, we'll be virtuous.

Elw. 'Tis not enough to be,—we must appear so:

Great souls disdain the shadow of offence,

Nor must their whiteness wear the stain of guilt.

Per. I shall retract—I dare not gaze upon thee;

My feeble virtue staggers, and again

The fiends of jealousy torment and haunt me.

They tear my heart-strings.——Oh!

Elw. No more;

But spare my injur'd honour the affront

To vindicate itself.

Per. But, love!

Elw. But, glory!

Per. Enough! a ray of thy sublimer spirit

Has warm'd my dying honour to a flame!

One effort and 'tis done. The world shall say,

When they shall speak of my disastrous love,

Percy deserv'd Elwina though he lost her.

Fond tears, blind me not yet! a little longer,

Let my sad eyes a little longer gaze,

And leave their last beams here.

Elw. [turns from him.] I do not weep.

Per. Not weep? then why those eyes avoiding mine?

And why that broken voice? those trembling accents?

That sigh which rends my soul?

Elw. No more, no more.

Per. That pang decides it. Come—I'll die at once;

Thou Power supreme! take all the length of days,

And all the blessings kept in store for me,

And add to her account.—Yet turn once more,

One little look, one last, short glimpse of day,

And then a long dark night.—Hold, hold, my heart,

O break not yet, while I behold her sweetness;

For after this dear, mournful, tender moment,

I shall have nothing more to do with life.

Elw. I do conjure thee, go.

Per. 'Tis terrible to nature!

With pangs like these the soul and body part!

And thus, but oh, with far less agony,

The poor departing wretch still grasps at being,

Thus clings to life, thus dreads the dark unknown,

Thus struggles to the last to keep his hold;

And when the dire convulsive groan of death

Dislodges the sad spirit—thus it stays,

And fondly hovers o'er the form it lov'd.

Once and no more—farewell, farewell!

Elw. For ever!

[they look at each other for some time, then exit Percy. After a pause;

'Tis past—the conflict's past! retire, my Birtha,

I would address me to the throne of grace.

Bir. May Heaven restore that peace thy bosom wants!

[exit Birtha.

Elw. [kneels.] Look down, thou, awful, heart-inspecting Judge,

Look down with mercy on thy erring creature,

And teach my soul the lowliness it needs!

And if some sad remains of human weakness

Should sometimes mingle with my best resolves,

O breathe thy spirit on this wayward heart,

And teach me to repent th' intruding sin

In it's first birth of thought!

[Noise within.] What noise is that?

The clash of swords! should Douglas be return'd!

Enter Douglas and Percy, fighting.

Dou. Yield, villain, yield!

Per. Not till this good right arm

Shall fail its master.

Dou. This to thy heart, then.

Per. Defend thy own.

[they fight; Percy disarms Douglas.

Dou. Confusion, death, and hell!

Edr. [without] This way I heard the noise.

Enter Edric, and many Knights and Guards, from every part of the stage.

Per. Cursed treachery!

But dearly will I sell my life.

Dou. Seize on him.

Per. I'm taken in the toils.

[Percy is surrounded by Guards, who take his sword.

Dou. In the cursed snare

Thou laid'st for me, traitor, thyself art caught.

Elw. He never sought thy life.

Dou. Adulteress, peace!

The villain Harcourt too—but he's at rest.

Per. Douglas, I'm in thy power; but do not triumph,

Percy's betray'd, not conquer'd. Come, dispatch me.

Elw. [to Douglas] O do not, do not, kill him!

Per. Madam, forbear;

For by the glorious shades of my great fathers,

Their godlike spirit is not so extinct,

That I should owe my life to that vile Scot.

Though dangers close me round on every side,

And death besets me, I am Percy still.

Dou. Sorceress, I'll disappoint thee—he shall die,

Thy minion shall expire before thy face,

That I may feast my hatred with your pangs,

And make his dying groans, and thy fond tears,

A banquet for my vengeance.

Elw. Savage tyrant!

I would have fallen a silent sacrifice,

So thou had'st spar'd my fame.—I never wrong'd thee.

Per. She knew not of my coming;—I alone

Have been to blame—Spite of her interdiction,

I hither came. She's pure as spotless saints.

Elw. I will not be excus'd by Percy's crime;

So white my innocence, it does not ask

The shade of others' faults to set it off;

Nor shall he need to sully his fair fame

To throw a brighter lustre round my virtue.

Dou. Yet he can only die—but death for honour!

Ye powers of hell, who take malignant joy

In human bloodshed, give me some dire means,

Wild as my hate, and desperate as my wrongs!

Per. Enough of words. Thou know'st I hate thee, Douglas;

'Tis stedfast, fix'd, hereditary hate,

As thine for me; our fathers did bequeath it

As part of our unalienable birthright,

Which nought but death can end.—Come, end it here.

Elw. [kneels] Hold, Douglas, hold!—not for myself I kneel,

I do not plead for Percy, but for thee:

Arm not thy hand against thy future peace,

Spare thy brave breast the tortures of remorse,—

Stain not a life of unpolluted honour,

For, oh! as surely as thou strik'st at Percy,

Thou wilt for ever stab the fame of Douglas.

Per. Finish the bloody work.

Dou. Then take thy wish.

Per. Why dost thou start?

[Percy bares his bosom. Douglas advances to stab him, and discovers the scarf.

Dou. Her scarf upon his breast!

The blasting sight converts me into stone;

Withers my powers like cowardice or age,

Curdles the blood within my shiv'ring veins,

And palsies my bold arm.

Per. [ironically to the Knights] Hear you, his friends!

Bear witness to the glorious, great exploit,

Record it in the annals of his race,

That Douglas, the renown'd—the valiant Douglas,

Fenc'd round with guards, and safe in his own castle,

Surpris'd a knight unarm'd, and bravely slew him.

Dou. [throwing away his dagger]

'Tis true—I am the very stain of knighthood.

How is my glory dimm'd!

Elw. It blazes brighter!

Douglas was only brave—he now is generous!

Per. This action has restor'd thee to thy rank,

And makes thee worthy to contend with Percy.

Dou. Thy joy will be as short as 'tis insulting.[to Elwina.

And thou, imperious boy, restrain thy boasting.

Thou hast sav'd my honour, not remov'd my hate,

For my soul loaths thee for the obligation.

Give him his sword.

Per. Now thou'rt a noble foe,

And in the field of honour I will meet thee,

As knight encount'ring knight.

Elw. Stay, Percy, stay,

Strike at the wretched cause of all, strike here,

Here sheath thy thirsty sword, but spare my husband.

Dou. Turn, madam, and address those vows to me,

To spare the precious life of him you love.

Even now you triumph in the death of Douglas;

Now your loose fancy kindles at the thought,

And, wildly rioting in lawless hope,

Indulges the adultery of the mind.

But I'll defeat that wish.—Guards, bear her in.

Nay, do not struggle.[she is borne in.

Per. Let our deaths suffice,

And reverence virtue in that form inshrin'd.

Dou. Provoke my rage no farther.—I have kindled

The burning torch of never-dying vengeance

At love's expiring lamp.—But mark me, friends,

If Percy's happier genius should prevail,

And I should fall, give him safe conduct hence,

Be all observance paid him.—Go, I follow thee.

[aside to Edric.

Within I've something for thy private ear.

Per. Now shall this mutual fury be appeas'd!

These eager hands shall soon be drench'd in slaughter!

Yes—like two famish'd vultures snuffing blood,

And panting to destroy, we'll rush to combat;

Yet I've the deepest, deadliest, cause of hate,

I am but Percy, thou'rt—Elwina's husband. [exeunt.

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