Gia. A cure, sir, for the heart-ache.
Come, thou shalt see. The day is on the wane—
Mark how the moon, as by some unseen arm,
Is thrusted upward, like a bloody shield!
On such an hour the experiment must begin.
Come, thou shalt be the first to witness this
Most marvelous discovery. And thou,
My pretty one, betake thee to thy bower,
And I will dream thou'rt lovelier than ever.
Come, follow me. (To Bernardo.)
Ros. Nay, father, stay; I'm sure
Thou art not well—thine eyes are strangely lit,
The task, I fear, has over-worked thy brain.
Gia. Dearest Rosalia, what were eyes or brain
Compared with banishment of sorrow? Come.
Ber. (Aside to Rosalia.)
I will indulge awhile this curious humor;
Adieu; I shall be with thee soon again.
Gia. (Overhearing him.)
When Satan shall regain his wings, and sit
Approved in heaven, perchance, but not till then.
Ber. What, not till then?
Gia. Shall he be worthy deemed
To walk, as thou hast said the people thought,
Arm in arm with the high-souled philosopher:—
And yet the people sometimes are quite right,
The devil's at our elbow oftener than
We know.
(He gives Bernardo his arm, and they enter the laboratory.)
Ros. (Alone.) He never looked so strange before;
His cheeks, asudden, are grown pale and thin;
His very hair seems whiter than it did.
Oh, surely, 'tis a fearful trade that crowds
The work of years into a single day.
It may be that the sadness which I wear
Hath clothed him in its own peculiar hue.
The very sunshine of this cloudless day
Seemed but a world of broad, white desolation—
While in my ears small melancholy bells
Knolled their long, solemn and prophetic chime;—
But hark! a louder and a holier toll,
Shedding its benediction on the air,
Proclaims the vesper hour—
Ave Maria!
[Exit Rosalia.