[Aside.] I struggle with a wish to wreak
Revenge, which pity doth subdue.
LUIS [aside]. It doth my happiness renew
Once more to see and hear her speak.
POLONIA [aside]. Within me opposite thoughts contend.
LUIS [aside]. Ah, me! I die. — You do not speak.
POLONIA. Attend.
This darksome lake doth all surround
The lofty mountain's rugged base,
And so to reach the awful place
An easy passage may be found:
A sacred convent in the island stands,
Midway between the mountain and the sands.
Some pious priests inhabit there,
And for this task alone they live,
With loving zeal to freely give
The helping hand, the strengthening prayer —
Confession, and the Holy Mass,
And every needful help to all who thither pass.
Telling them what they first must do,
Before they dare presume to go,
Alive, within the realm of woe.—
[Aside.] Let not this enemy subdue
My soul, O Lord!
LUIS [aside]. My hopes are fair.
Let me not feel, O Lord! the anguish of despair,
Seeing before my startled sight
My greatest, deepest crime arise;
Let not the fiend my soul that tries,
Subdue me in this dreadful fight.
POLONIA [aside]. 'Gainst what a powerful foe must I defend
Myself to-day!