RUD.—Die! No, no; speak not of dying, you shall live!
LEAH.—No; I am too happy to live. See, Madalena, I take his hand, but it is to place it in yours. All is over. (sinks into their arms.)
SCENE FROM PIZARRO.
SCENE I.—A Dungeon.
Alonzo in chains—A sentinel walking near.
ALONZO. (c.)—For the last time, I have beheld the quivering lustre of the stars. For the last time, O, sun! (and soon the hour), I shall behold thy rising, and thy level beams melting the pale mists of morn to glittering dew drops. Then comes my death, and in the morning of my day, I fall, which—no, Alonzo, date not the life which thou hast run, by the mean reckoning of the hours and days, which thou has breathed:—a life spent worthily should be measured by a nobler line; by deeds, not years. They only have lived long, who have lived virtuously. Surely, even now, thin streaks of glimmering light steal on the darkness of the East. If so, my life is but one hour more. I will not watch the coming dawn; but in the darkness of my cell, my last prayer to thee, Power Supreme! shall be for my wife and child! Grant them to dwell in innocence and peace; grant health and purity of mind—all else is worthless.
[Enters the cavern, R. U. E.
SEN.—Who's there? answer quickly! Who's there?
ROL.—(within.) A friar come to visit your prisoner. (enters,
L. U. E. disguised as a monk.) Inform me, friend, is not Alonzo, the
Spanish prisoner, confined in this dungeon?
SEN.—(c.) He is.