LINENOTES:
[[1-3]]
Erased MS. III.: om. Remorse.
| This ceaseless dreary sound of |
| dropping water— | |
| I would they had not fallen upon my Torch! | |||
Corr. in MS. III.
[[5-6]]
In inverted commas. Remorse.
[[8]]
cannot] can not Remorse. cranny] crevice Remorse.
[[12]]
MS. III erased.
Between [11] and 13
| (a) | Any thing but this crash of water drops! |
| These dull abortive sounds that fret the silence | |
| With puny thwartings and mock opposition! | |
| So beats the death-watch to a sick man's ear |
Remorse.
| (b) | Anything but this |
| crash of water-drops | |
| At broken measure |
| scoffing | ||
| Their discontinuous, interruptive sound | ||||
| These | |||
MS. III erased.
Affixed to variant (a) of l. 12 '—this at all events is the final result of this correction.' S. T. C.
[[13]]
A hellish pit! O God—'tis that I dreamt of! Corr. in MS. III: A hellish pit! The very same I dreamt of! Remorse.
Affixed to [13] 'You mean like the dream presented to my mind when under the influence of the night-mare. This is most ludicrously expressed.' C. Ll[oyd]
[[16]]
I swear that I saw something Remorse.
[[18]]
In the stage-direction the last four words are omitted Remorse.
[[19]]
Drips] Drops Remorse.
Between [19] and 31.
Isidore. A jest to laugh at!
It 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 at Ordonio's, and while lighting it.
(A lighted torch in the hand
Is no unpleasant object here—one's breath
Floats round the flame, and makes as many colours
As 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;
But scarcely had I measured twenty paces—
My body bending forward, yea, o'erbalanced
Almost beyond recoil, on the dim brink
Of a hugh chasm I stept. The shadowy moonshine
Filling the void so counterfeited substance,
That my foot hung aslant adown the edge.
Was it my own fear?
Fear too hath its instincts!
(And yet such dens as these are wildly told of,
And there are beings that live, yet not for the eye)
An arm of frost above and from behind me
Pluck'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.
Remorse.
[[33]]
move] creep Remorse.
[[35]]
if] had Remorse.
[[37-9]]
Ordonio. Why, Isidore,
I blush for thy cowardice. It might have startled,
I grant you, even a brave man for a moment—
Remorse.
[[41]]
thump] strike Corr. in MS. III, Remorse.
[[42]]
and] then Remorse.
[[44]]
Sunk with a faint splash in that groaning Corr. in MS. III. Sunk] Sank Remorse.
[[49]]
fellow-men] fellow man Remorse.
[[52]]
laugh] smile Remorse.
Between [54] and 57:
O sleep of horrors! Now run down and stared at
By forms so hideous that they mock remembrance—
Now seeing nothing and imagining nothing,
But only being afraid—stifled with fear!
While every goodly or familiar form
Had a strange power of breathing terror round me!
I saw you in a thousand fearful shapes;
And I entreat your lordship to believe me,
Remorse.
[[56]]
om. Remorse.
[[62]]
my] mine Remorse.
[[64]]
Ord. (after a pause). I know not why it should be! yet it is—
Remorse.
[[65]]
Abhorrent from our nature, Remorse.
[[67-70]]
Ord. Why that's my case! and yet the soul recoils from it—
'Tis so with me at least. But you, perhaps,
Have sterner feelings?
Isid. Something troubles you.
How shall I serve you?
Remorse.
[[77]]
yards] strides Remorse.
[[80]]
Stage-direction om. Remorse.
[[82]]
the] thy Remorse.
Between [84] and 88
Isid. (aside). He? He despised? Thou'rt speaking of thyself!
I am on my guard however: no surprise [Then to Ordonio.
Remorse.
[[86-7]]
om. Remorse.
[[91-2]]
Isidore. Of himself he speaks. [Aside.
Alas! poor wretch!
Mad men, &c.
Remorse.
[[93]]
phantasies] phantom thoughts Remorse.
[[104]]
go on] proceed Remorse.
[[105]]
his] this Remorse.
[[106]]
being] substance Remorse.
[[108]]
Stage-direction om. Remorse.
[[120]]
some] same Remorse.
[[121-2]]
He proved a traitor,
Betrayed the mystery to a brother traitor
Remorse.
[[125-7]]
om. Remorse.
[[131]]
Stage-direction om. Remorse.
Between [143] and 145.
With weak and womanish scruples. Now my vengeance
Beckons 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 it
Remorse.
Affixed to [147].
Ferdinand on hearing the threat of Osorio feels a momentary horror at the consequences of his being killed, and in tones of mingled fear and sorrow—
And all my little ones fatherless!
then bursting into indignation 'Die thou first', MS. III.
After [147]
[They fight. Ordonio disarms Isidore, and in disarming him throws his sword up that recess opposite to which they were standing. Isidore hurries into the recess with his torch, Ordonio follows him; a loud cry of 'Traitor! Monster!' is heard from the cavern, and in a moment Ordonio returns alone.
Ordonio. I have hurl'd him down the chasm! treason for treason.
He dreamt of it, henceforward let him sleep,
A dreamless sleep, from which no wife can wake him.
His dream too is made out—Now for his friend. [Exit. Ordonio.
Remorse.
[[148-51]]
om. Remorse.
[[150]]
Now] So MS. III.
Affixed to [150]. 'Ferdinand's death is not sufficiently explained to the Audience. There should be a struggling behind the scene, as if Osorio had taken him unawares, and was hurrying him down the Precipice. An exclamation or even groans would add still more to the interest of the scene.' MS. III erased.
om. Remorse. vide ante The Foster-Mother's Tale: a Dramatic Fragment, pp. 182-4.
Between [152] and 246: