Attested, till the story of it all,
Of which I bring a chapter, be reveal'd,
Assured of all you see and hear as neither
Madness nor mockery—
SEGISMUND. What then?
CLOTALDO. All it seems:
This palace with its royal garniture;
This capital of which it is the eye,
With all its temples, marts, and arsenals;
This realm of which this city is the head,
With all its cities, villages, and tilth,
Its armies, fleets, and commerce; all your own;
And all the living souls that make them up,
From those who now, and those who shall, salute you,
Down to the poorest peasant of the realm,
Your subjects—Who, though now their mighty voice
Sleeps in the general body unapprized,
Wait but a word from those about you now
To hail you Prince of Poland, Segismund.
SEGISMUND. All this is so?
CLOTALDO. As sure as anything
Is, or can be.
SEGISMUND. You swear it on the faith
You taught me—elsewhere?—
CLOTALDO (kissing the hilt of his sword). Swear it upon this Symbol, and champion of the holy faith I wear it to defend.
SEGISMUND (to himself). My eyes have not deceived me, nor my ears,
With this transfiguration, nor the strain
Of royal welcome that arose and blew,
Breathed from no lying lips, along with it.
For here Clotaldo comes, his own old self,
Who, if not Lie and phantom with the rest—
(Aloud) Well, then, all this is thus.
For have not these fine people told me so,
And you, Clotaldo, sworn it? And the Why
And Wherefore are to follow by and bye!
And yet—and yet—why wait for that which you
Who take your oath on it can answer—and
Indeed it presses hard upon my brain—
What I was asking of these gentlemen
When you came in upon us; how it is
That I—the Segismund you know so long
No longer than the sun that rose to-day
Rose—and from what you know—
Rose to be Prince of Poland?
CLOTALDO. So to be
Acknowledged and entreated, Sir.
SEGISMUND. So be
Acknowledged and entreated—
Well—But if now by all, by some at least
So known—if not entreated—heretofore—
Though not by you—For, now I think again,
Of what should be your attestation worth,
You that of all my questionable subjects
Who knowing what, yet left me where I was,
You least of all, Clotaldo, till the dawn
Of this first day that told it to myself?
CLOTALDO. Oh, let your Highness draw the line across
Fore-written sorrow, and in this new dawn
Bury that long sad night.
SEGISMUND. Not ev'n the Dead,
Call'd to the resurrection of the blest,
Shall so directly drop all memory
Of woes and wrongs foregone!
CLOTALDO. But not resent—
Purged by the trial of that sorrow past
For full fruition of their present bliss.
SEGISMUND. But leaving with the Judge what, till this earth
Be cancell'd in the burning heavens, He leaves
His earthly delegates to execute,
Of retribution in reward to them
And woe to those who wrong'd them—Not as you,
Not you, Clotaldo, knowing not—And yet
Ev'n to the guiltiest wretch in all the realm,
Of any treason guilty short of that,
Stern usage—but assuredly not knowing,
Not knowing 'twas your sovereign lord, Clotaldo,
You used so sternly.
CLOTALDO. Ay, sir; with the same
Devotion and fidelity that now
Does homage to him for my sovereign.
SEGISMUND. Fidelity that held his Prince in chains!
CLOTALDO. Fidelity more fast than had it loosed him—
SEGISMUND. Ev'n from the very dawn of consciousness
Down at the bottom of the barren rocks,
Where scarce a ray of sunshine found him out,
In which the poorest beggar of my realm
At least to human-full proportion grows—
Me! Me—whose station was the kingdom's top
To flourish in, reaching my head to heaven,
And with my branches overshadowing
The meaner growth below!
CLOTALDO. Still with the same
Fidelity—
SEGISMUND. To me!—
CLOTALDO. Ay, sir, to you,
Through that divine allegiance upon which
All Order and Authority is based;
Which to revolt against—
SEGISMUND. Were to revolt
Against the stars, belike!
CLOTALDO. And him who reads them;
And by that right, and by the sovereignty
He wears as you shall wear it after him;
Ay, one to whom yourself—
Yourself, ev'n more than any subject here,
Are bound by yet another and more strong
Allegiance—King Basilio—your Father—
SEGISMUND. Basilio—King—my father!—
CLOTALDO. Oh, my Lord,
Let me beseech you on my bended knee,
For your own sake—for Poland's—and for his,
Who, looking up for counsel to the skies,
Did what he did under authority
To which the kings of earth themselves are subject,
And whose behest not only he that suffers,
But he that executes, not comprehends,
But only He that orders it—
SEGISMUND. The King—
My father!—Either I am mad already,
Or that way driving fast—or I should know
That fathers do not use their children so,
Or men were loosed from all allegiance
To fathers, kings, and heaven that order'd all.
But, mad or not, my hour is come, and I
Will have my reckoning—Either you lie,
Under the skirt of sinless majesty
Shrouding your treason; or if that indeed,
Guilty itself, take refuge in the stars
That cannot hear the charge, or disavow—
You, whether doer or deviser, who
Come first to hand, shall pay the penalty
By the same hand you owe it to—
[Seizing CLOTALDO'S sword and about to strike him.]
[Enter ROSAURA suddenly]
ROSAURA. Fie, my Lord—forbear,
What! a young hand raised against silver hair!—
[She retreats through the crowd.]
SEGISMUND. Stay! stay! What come and vanish'd as before—
I scarce remember how—but—
VOICES WITHIN. Room for Astolfo, Duke of Muscovy!
[Enter ASTOLFO]
ASTOLFO. Welcome, thrice welcome, the auspicious day,
When from the mountain where he darkling lay,
The Polish sun into the firmament
Sprung all the brighter for his late ascent,
And in meridian glory—
SEGISMUND. Where is he?
Why must I ask this twice?—
A LORD. The Page, my Lord?
I wonder at his boldness—
SEGISMUND. But I tell you
He came with Angel written in his face
As now it is, when all was black as hell
About, and none of you who now—he came,
And Angel-like flung me a shining sword
To cut my way through darkness; and again
> Angel-like wrests it from me in behalf
Of one—whom I will spare for sparing him:
But he must come and plead with that same voice
That pray'd for me—in vain.
CHAMBERLAIN. He is gone for,
And shall attend your pleasure, sir. Meanwhile,
Will not your Highness, as in courtesy,
Return your royal cousin's greeting?
SEGISMUND. Whose?
CHAMBERLAIN. Astolfo, Duke of Muscovy, my Lord,
Saluted, and with gallant compliment
Welcomed you to your royal title.
SEGISMUND. (to ASTOLFO). Oh—
You knew of this then?
ASTOLFO. Knew of what, my Lord?
SEGISMUND. That I was Prince of Poland all the while,
And you my subject?
ASTOLFO. Pardon me, my Lord,
But some few hours ago myself I learn'd
Your dignity; but, knowing it, no more
Than when I knew it not, your subject.
SEGISMUND. What then?
ASTOLFO. Your Highness' chamberlain ev'n now has told you;
Astolfo, Duke of Muscovy,
Your father's sister's son; your cousin, sir:
And who as such, and in his own right Prince,
Expects from you the courtesy he shows.
CHAMBERLAIN. His Highness is as yet unused to Court,
And to the ceremonious interchange
Of compliment, especially to those
Who draw their blood from the same royal fountain.
SEGISMUND. Where is the lad? I weary of all this—
Prince, cousins, chamberlains, and compliments—
Where are my soldiers? Blow the trumpet, and
With one sharp blast scatter these butterflies
And bring the men of iron to my side,
With whom a king feels like a king indeed!
VOICES WITHIN. Within there! room for the Princess Estrella!
[Enter ESTRELLA with Ladies]
ESTRELLA. Welcome, my Lord, right welcome to the throne
That much too long has waited for your coming:
And, in the general voice of Poland, hear
A kinswoman and cousin's no less sincere.
SEGISMUND. Ay, this is welcome-worth indeed,
And cousin cousin-worth! Oh, I have thus
Over the threshold of the mountain seen,
Leading a bevy of fair stars, the moon
Enter the court of heaven—My kinswoman!
My cousin! But my subject?—
ESTRELLA. If you please
To count your cousin for your subject, sir,
You shall not find her a disloyal.
SEGISMUND. Oh,
But there are twin stars in that heavenly face,
That now I know for having over-ruled
Those evil ones that darken'd all my past
And brought me forth from that captivity
To be the slave of her who set me free.
ESTRELLA. Indeed, my Lord, these eyes have no such power
Over the past or present: but perhaps
They brighten at your welcome to supply
The little that a lady's speech commends;
And in the hope that, let whichever be
The other's subject, we may both be friends.
SEGISMUND. Your hand to that—But why does this warm hand
Shoot a cold shudder through me?
ESTRELLA. In revenge
For likening me to that cold moon, perhaps.
SEGISMUND. Oh, but the lip whose music tells me so
Breathes of a warmer planet, and that lip
Shall remedy the treason of the hand!
[He catches to embrace her.]
ESTRELLA. Release me, sir!
CHAMBERLAIN. And pardon me, my Lord.
This lady is a Princess absolute,
As Prince he is who just saluted you,
And claims her by affiance.
SEGISMUND. Hence, old fool,
For ever thrusting that white stick of yours
Between me and my pleasure!
ASTOLFO. This cause is mine.
Forbear, sir—
SEGISMUND. What, sir mouth-piece, you again?
ASTOLFO. My Lord, I waive your insult to myself
In recognition of the dignity
You yet are new to, and that greater still
You look in time to wear. But for this lady—
Whom, if my cousin now, I hope to claim
Henceforth by yet a nearer, dearer name—
SEGISMUND. And what care I? She is my cousin too:
And if you be a Prince—well, am not I
Lord of the very soil you stand upon?
By that, and by that right beside of blood
That like a fiery fountain hitherto
Pent in the rock leaps toward her at her touch,
Mine, before all the cousins in Muscovy!
You call me Prince of Poland, and yourselves
My subjects—traitors therefore to this hour,
Who let me perish all my youth away
Chain'd there among the mountains; till, forsooth,
Terrified at your treachery foregone,
You spirit me up here, I know not how,
Popinjay-like invest me like yourselves,
Choke me with scent and music that I loathe,
And, worse than all the music and the scent,
With false, long-winded, fulsome compliment,
That 'Oh, you are my subjects!' and in word
Reiterating still obedience,
Thwart me in deed at every step I take:
When just about to wreak a just revenge
Upon that old arch-traitor of you all,
Filch from my vengeance him I hate; and him
I loved—the first and only face—till this—
I cared to look on in your ugly court—
And now when palpably I grasp at last
What hitherto but shadow'd in my dreams—
Affiances and interferences,
The first who dares to meddle with me more—
Princes and chamberlains and counsellors,
Touch her who dares!—
ASTOLFO. That dare I—
SEGISMUND. (seizing him by the throat). You dare!
CHAMBERLAIN. My Lord!—
A LORD. His strength's a lion's—
VOICES WITHIN. The King! The King!—
[Enter KING]
A LORD. And on a sudden how he stands at gaze
As might a wolf just fasten'd on his prey,
Glaring at a suddenly encounter'd lion.
KING. And I that hither flew with open arms
To fold them round my son, must now return
To press them to an empty heart again!
[He sits on the throne.]
SEGISMUND. That is the King?—My father?—
(After a long pause.) I have heard
That sometimes some blind instinct has been known
To draw to mutual recognition those
Of the same blood, beyond all memory
Divided, or ev'n never met before.
I know not how this is—perhaps in brutes
That live by kindlier instincts—but I know
Life is a Dream Page 5