LINENOTES:
[[1-106]]
om. Remorse.
[[39]]
The hanging] Yon pendent Corr. in MS. III.
[[41]]
| hanging] |
| pendent flowerlike Corr. in MS. III. |
[[45]]
that] this Corr. in MS. III.
Affixed to [57]] Naomi, the second in command to Isidore, enters in haste. MS. III erased.
After [61] stage-direction erased MS. III.
[[62]]
Moorish Seaman] Naomi Corr. in MS. III.
Erased MS. III.
[[107]]
foll.] vide ante, 'The Dungeon,' p. 185.
[[121]]
steaming] steam and Corr. in MS. III, Remorse.
[[125]]
ever more] evermore Remorse.
After [136]
I am chill and weary! Yon rude bench of stone,
In that dark angle, the sole resting-place!
But the self-approving mind is its own light,
And Life's best warmth still radiates from the heart
Where love sits brooding, and an honest purpose.
Enter Teresa. [Retires out of sight.
Corr. in MS. III, Remorse.
Stage-direction affixed to [136] and 136-9 erased in MS. III: om. Remorse.
Between [136] and 137:
I am chill and weary, &c. . . . honest purpose.
Enter Teresa with a taper.
Teresa. It has chilled my very life—my own voice scares me;
Yet when I hear it not I seem to lose
The substance of my being—my strongest grasp
Sends inwards but weak witness that I am.
I seek to cheat the echo.—How the half sounds
Blend with this strangled light! Is he not here— [Looking round.
O for one human face here—but to see
One human face here to sustain me.—Courage!
It is but my own fear! The life within me,
It sinks and wavers like this cone of flame,
Beyond which I scarce dare look onward! Oh!
If I faint? If this inhuman den should be
At once my death-bed and my burial vault? [Faintly screams as Alvar emerges from the recess.
Alvar (rushes towards her, and catches her as she is falling). O gracious heaven! it is, it is Teresa!
Shall I reveal myself? The sudden shock
Of rapture will blow out this spark of life,
And joy complete what terror has begun.
O ye impetuous beatings here, be still!
Teresa, best beloved! pale, pale, and cold!
Her pulse doth flutter! Teresa! my Teresa!
Teresa (recovering). I heard a voice; but often in my dreams
I hear that voice! and wake and try—and try—
To hear it waking! but I never could—
And 'tis so now—even so! Well! he is dead—
Murdered perhaps! And I am faint, and feel
As if it were no painful thing to die!
Alvar. Believe it not, sweet maid! Believe it not,
Beloved woman! 'Twas a low imposture
Framed by a guilty wretch.
Teresa. Ha! Who art thou?
Alvar. Suborned by his brother—
Teresa. Didst thou murder him?
And dost thou now repent? Poor troubled man,
I do forgive thee, and may Heaven forgive thee!
Alvar. Ordonio—he——
Teresa. If thou didst murder him—
His spirit ever at the throne of God
Asks mercy for thee: prays for mercy for thee,
With tears in Heaven!
Alvar. Alvar was not murdered.
Be calm! be calm, sweet maid!
Teresa. Nay, nay, but tell me! [A pause.
O 'tis lost again!
This dull confused pain— [A pause.
Mysterious man!
Methinks I can not fear thee: for thine eye
Doth swim with love and pity—Well! Ordonio—
Oh my foreboding heart! And he suborned thee,
And thou didst spare his life? Blessings shower on thee,
As many as the drops twice counted o'er
In the fond faithful heart of his Teresa!
Alvar. I can endure no more. The Moorish sorcerer
Exists but in the stain upon his face.
That picture——
Teresa. Ha! speak on!
Alvar. Beloved Teresa!
It told but half the truth. O let this portrait
Tell all—that Alvar lives—that he is here!
Thy much deceived but ever faithful Alvar. [Takes her portrait from his neck, and gives it her.
Teresa (receiving the portrait). The same—it is the same. Ah! Who art thou?
Nay, I will call thee, Alvar! [She falls on his neck.
Alvar. O joy unutterable!
But hark! a sound as of removing bars
At the dungeon's outer door. A brief, brief while
Conceal thyself, my love! It is Ordonio.
For the honour of our race, for our dear father;
O for himself too (he is still my brother)
Let me recall him to his nobler nature,
That he may wake as from a dream of murder!
O let me reconcile him to himself,
Open the sacred source of penitent tears,
And be once more his own beloved Alvar.
Teresa. O my all virtuous love! I fear to leave thee
With that obdurate man.
Alvar. Thou dost not leave me!
But a brief while retire into the darkness:
O that my joy could spread its sunshine round thee!
Teresa. The sound of thy voice shall be my music!
Alvar! my Alvar! am I sure I hold thee?
Is it no dream? thee in my arms, my Alvar! [Exit.
[A noise at the dungeon door. It opens, and Ordonio enters, with a goblet in his hand.
Remorse.
[[139]]
of] on Remorse.
[[140-1]]
and stage-direction before 142 om. Remorse.
[[145]]
'Tis but a pool amid a storm of rain Remorse.
[[148]]
Stage-direction om. Remorse.
[[149]]
lesser must needs] weaker needs must Remorse.
[[151-2]]
Inly-tortured man,
This is the revelry of a drunken anguish
Remorse.
Before [160] [Ordonio proffers the goblet. Remorse.
[[160]]
Friendship and wine om. Remorse.
[[161]]
legs] limbs Remorse.
[[164]]
life and thought] life, enjoyment Remorse.
[[168]]
brink] brim Remorse.
[[169]]
I would remove it with an anxious pity Remorse.
[[171-2]]
Thou hast guessed right; there's poison in the wine.
There's poison in't—which of us two shall drink it?
Remorse.
Between [174] and 176:
Alvar. I know him not.
And yet methinks, I have heard the name but lately.
Means he the husband of the Moorish woman?
Isidore? Isidore?
Remorse.
[[175]]
om. Remorse.
[[180]]
Stage-direction [Alvar takes the goblet, and throws it to the ground. Remorse.
My] My Remorse.
[[196]]
Stage-direction om. Remorse.
[[198]]
babe] babes Remorse.
[[207]]
Stage-direction om. Remorse.
[[223]]
Stage-direction om. Remorse.
[[224]]
Stage-direction om. Remorse.
[[225-35]]
om. Remorse.
Between [225] and 235
Teresa (rushing out and falling on Alvar's neck). Ordonio! 'tis thy brother!
[Ordonio runs upon Alvar with his sword. Teresa flings herself on Ordonio and arrests his arm.
Stop, madman, stop!
Remorse.
[[235]]
Stage-direction om. Remorse.
[[238]]
trace] trial corr. in MS. III; trait Remorse.
[[240-41]]
Spotless . . . guilty too om. Remorse.
[[242]]
shalt] shalt Remorse.
After [242] stage-direction (Drawing back and gazing at Alvar) Remorse.
Between [243] and 245
Alvar. We will find means to save your honour. Live,
Oh live, Ordonio! for our father's sake!
Spare his gray hairs!
Teresa. And you may yet be happy
Ordonio. O horror, &c.
Remorse.
After [243] struggle with] prevent Remorse.
After [251] [Throws himself, &c.] Kneeling Remorse.
[[252]]
Curse] Curse Remorse.
[[253]]
my brother] Ordonio Remorse.
[[256]]
Stage-direction om. Remorse.
[[258]]
Stage-direction om. Remorse.
[[263]]
Stage-direction om. Remorse.
After [266]
[The doors of the dungeon are broken open, and in rush Alhadra, and the band of Morescoes.
Alh. Seize first that man!
[Alvar presses onward to defend Ordonio.
Ord. Off, &c.
Remorse.
[[274]]
Alvar and Teresa. O horrible Remorse.
[[277]]
their] their Remorse.
[[283]]
Stage-direction om. Remorse.
[[287]]
Stage-direction om. Remorse.
Between [288] and 304:
Teresa. He doth repent! See, see, I kneel to thee!
O let him live! That aged man, his father——
Alhadra. Why had he such a son?
[Shouts from the distance of, Rescue! Rescue! Alvar! Alvar! and the voice of Valdez heard.
Rescue?—and Isidore's spirit unavenged?—
The deed be mine! [Suddenly stabs Ordonio.
Now take my Life!
Ordonio (staggering from the wound). Atonement!
Alvar (while with Teresa supporting Ordonio). Arm of avenging Heaven
Thou hast snatched from me my most cherished hope—
But go! my word was pledged to thee.
Ordonio. Away!
Brave not my father's rage! I thank thee! Thou— [Then turning his eyes languidly to Alvar.
She hath avenged the blood of Isidore!
I stood in silence like a slave before her
Remorse.
om. Remorse.
Affixed to [300] Alhadra snatches it from him and suddenly stabs Ordonio. Alvar rushes towards him through the Moors, and catches him in his arms, &c. MS. III.
[[303-4]]
'Tis well! thou hast avenged thyself
I have stood in silence like a slave before thee
Corr. in MS. III.
[[305]]
spirit] heart Remorse.
After [306]
Forgive me, Alvar! O couldst thou forgive thyself.
Corr. in MS. III.
Forgive me, Alvar!
Oh!—couldst thou forget me! [Dies.
[Alvar and Teresa bend over the body of Ordonio.
Alh. (to the Moors). I thank thee, Heaven! &c.
Remorse.
Shouts of Alvar! Alvar! Noises heard; a Moor rushes in.
Moor. We are surprised, away! away! the instant—
The country is in arms. The old man heads them
And still cries out, 'My son! My son is living'
Haste to the shore! They come the opposite road.
Alhadra (to Alvar).
Thou then art Alvar! to my aid and safety
Thy word stands pledged.
Alvar. Arm of avenging Heaven!
My word stands pledged nor shall it be retracted.
(The Moors surround Alhadra) and force her off. The stage fills with armed peasants. Ali and Valdez at their head. Valdez rushes into Alvar's arms and the Curtain drops.
[Alternative ending in S. T. C.'s handwriting affixed to lines 307-21, MS. III]
[[320]]
him] her Remorse.
After [321]
[Alhadra hurries off with the Moors; the stage fills with armed Peasants and Servants, Zulimez and Valdez at their head. Valdez rushes into Alvar's arms.
Alvar. Turn not thy face that way, my father! hide,
Oh hide it from his eye! Oh let thy joy
Flow in unmingled stream through thy first blessing. [both kneel to Valdez.
Valdez. My Son! My Alvar! bless, Oh bless him, heaven!
Teresa. Me too, my Father?
Valdez. Bless, Oh, bless my children! [both rise.
Alvar. Delights so full, if unalloyed with grief,
Were ominous. In these strange dread events
Just Heaven instructs us with an awful voice,
That Conscience rules us e'en against our choice.
Our inward monitress to guide or warn,
If listened to; but if repelled with scorn,
At length as dire Remorse, she reappears,
Works in our guilty hopes, and selfish fears!
Still bids, Remember! and still cries, Too late!
And while she scares us, goads us to our fate.
Remorse.
