John Dryden - Delphi Poets Series

by John Dryden

  For, true to Love, she measur’d Time so right

  As not to miss one Moment of Delight. 220

  The Garden, seated on the level Floor,

  She left behind, and locking ev’ry Door,

  Thought all secure; but little did she know,

  Blind to her Fate, she had inclos’d her Foe.

  Attending Guiscard in his Leathern Frock 225

  Stood ready, with his thrice-repeated Knock:

  Thrice with a doleful Sound the jarring Grate

  Rung deaf, and hollow, and presag’d their Fate.

  The Door unlock’d, to known Delight they haste,

  And panting in each other’s Arms, embrac’d, 230

  Rush to the conscious Bed, a mutual Freight,

  And heedless press it with their wonted Weight.

  The sudden Bound awak’d the sleeping Sire,

  And shew’d a Sight no Parent can desire:

  His opening Eyes at once with odious View 235

  The Love discover’d, and the Lover knew:

  He would have cry’d; but hoping that he dreamt,

  Amazement ty’d his Tongue, and stopp’d th’ Attempt.

  Th’ ensuing Moment all the Truth declar’d,

  But now he stood collected, and prepar’d; 240

  For Malice and Revenge had put him on his Guard.

  So, like a Lion that unheeded lay,

  Dissembling Sleep, and watchful to betray,

  With inward Rage he meditates his Prey.

  The thoughtless Pair, indulging their Desires, 245

  Alternate kindl’d and then quench’d their Fires;

  Nor thinking in the Shades of Death they play’d,

  Full of themselves, themselves alone survey’d,

  And, too secure, were by themselves betray’d.

  Long time dissolv’d in Pleasure thus they lay, 250

  Till Nature could no more suffice their Play:

  Then rose the Youth, and through the Cave again

  Return’d; the Princess mingl’d with her Train.

  Resolv’d his unripe Vengeance to defer,

  The Royal Spy, when now the Coast was clear, 255

  Sought not the Garden, but retir’d unseen,

  To brood in secret on his gather’d Spleen,

  And methodize Revenge: To Death he griev’d;

  And, but he saw the Crime, had scarce believ’d.

  Th’ Appointment for th’ ensuing Night he heard; 260

  And therefore in the Cavern had prepar’d

  Two brawny Yeomen of his trusty Guard.

  Scarce had unwary Guiscard set his Foot

  Within the farmost Entrance of the Grot,

  When these in secret Ambush ready lay, 265

  And rushing on the sudden, seiz’d the Prey:

  Encumber’d with his Frock, without defence,

  An easie Prize, they led the Pris’ner thence,

  And, as commanded, brought before the Prince

  The gloomy Sire, too sensible of Wrong 270

  To vent his Rage in Words, restrain’d his Tongue;

  And only said, Thus Servants are preferr’d

  And trusted, thus their Sov’reigns they reward.

  Had I not seen, had not these Eyes receiv’d

  Too clear a Proof, I could not have believ’d. 275

  He paus’d, and choak’d the rest. The Youth, who saw

  His forfeit Life abandon’d to the Law,

  The Judge th’ Accuser, and th’ Offence to him,

  Who had both Pow’r and Will t’ avenge the Crime;

  No vain Defence prepar’d, but thus reply’d, 280

  The Faults of Love by Love are justify’d;

  With unresisted Might the Monarch reigns,

  He levels Mountains, and he raises Plains,

  And, not regarding Diff’rence of Degree,

  Abas’d your Daughter, and exalted me. 285

  This bold Return with seeming Patience heard,

  The Pris’ner was remitted to the Guard.

  The sullen Tyrant slept not all the Night,

  But lonely walking by a winking Light,

  Sobb’d, wept, and groan’d, and beat his wither’d Breast, 290

  But would not violate his Daughters Rest;

  Who long expecting lay, for Bliss prepar’d,

  Listning for Noise, and griev’d that none she heard;

  Oft rose, and oft in vain employ’d the Key,

  And oft accus’d her Lover of Delay, 295

  And pass’d the tedious Hours in anxious Thoughts away.

  The Morrow came; and at his usual Hour

  Old Tancred visited his Daughters Bow’r;

  Her Cheek (for such his Custom was) he kiss’d,

  Then blessed her kneeling, and her Maids dismiss’d. 300

  The Royal Dignity thus far maintain’d,

  Now left in private, he no longer feign’d;

  But all at once his Grief and Rage appear’d,

  And Floods of Tears ran trickling down his Beard.

  O Sigismonda, he began to say; 305

  Thrice he began, and thrice was forc’d to stay,

  Till Words with often trying found their Way;

  I thought, O Sigismonda, (But how blind

  Are Parents Eyes their Childrens Faults to find!)

  Thy Vertue, Birth, and Breeding were above 310

  A mean Desire, and vulgar sense of Love:

  Nor less than Sight and Hearing could convince

  So fond a Father, and so just, a Prince,

  Of such an unforeseen, and unbeliev’d Offence.

  Then what indignant Sorrow must I have, 315

  To see thee lie subjected to my Slave!

  A Man so smelling of the Peoples Lee,

  The Court receiv’d him first for Charity;

  And since with no Degree of Honour grac’d,

  But only suffer’d where he first was plac’d: 320

  A grov’ling Insect still; and so design’d

  By Natures Hand, nor born of Noble Kind:

  A Thing by neither Man nor Woman priz’d,

  And scarcely known enough to be despis’d:

  To what has Heav’n reserv’d my Age? Ah! why 325

  Should Man, when Nature calls, not chuse to die,

  Rather than stretch the Span of Life, to find

  Such Ills as Fate has wisely cast behind,

  For those to feel, whom fond Desire to live

  Makes covetous of more than Life can give! 330

  Each has his Share of Good; and when ’tis gone,

  The Guest, though hungry, cannot rise too soon.

  But I, expecting more, in my own wrong

  Protracting Life, have liv’d a Day too long.

  If Yesterday cou’d be recall’d again, 335

  Ev’n now would I conclude my happy Reign:

  But ’tis too late, my glorious Race is run,

  And a dark Cloud o’ertakes my setting Sun.

  Hadst thou not lov’d, or loving sav’d the Shame,

  If not the Sin, by some Illustrious Name, 340

  This little Comfort had reliev’d my Mind,

  ’Twas Frailty, not unusual to thy Kind:

  But thy low Fall beneath thy Royal Blood

  Shews downward Appetite to mix with Mud:

  Thus not the least Excuse is left for thee, 345

  Nor the least Refuge for unhappy me.

  For him I have resolv’d: whom by Surprize

  I took, and scarce can call it, in Disguise;

  For such was his Attire, as, with Intent

  Of Nature, suited to his mean Descent: 350

  The harder Question yet remains behind,

  What Pains a Parent and a Prince can find

  To punish an Offence of this degenerate Kind.

  As I have lov’d, and yet I love thee more

  Than ever Father lov’d a Child before; 355

  So, that Indulgence draws me to forgive:

  Nature, that gave thee Life
, would have thee live,

  But, as a Publick Parent of the State,

  My Justice, and thy Crime, requires thy Fate.

  Fain would I chuse a middle Course to steer; 360

  Nature’s too kind, and Justice too severe:

  Speak for us both, and to the Balance bring

  On either side, the Father, and the King.

  Heav’n knows, my Heart is bent to favour thee;

  Make it but scanty weight, and leave the rest to me. 365

  Here stopping with a Sigh, he pour’d a Flood

  Of Tears, to make his last Expression good.

  She who had heard him speak, nor saw alone

  The secret Conduct of her Love was known,

  But he was taken who her Soul possess’d, 370

  Felt all the Pangs of Sorrow in her Breast:

  And little wanted, but a Womans Heart

  With Cries, and Tears had testifi’d her Smart:

  But in-born Worth; that Fortune can controul,

  New strung, and stiffer bent her softer Soul; 375

  The Heroine assum’d the Womans Place,

  Confirmed her Mind, and fortifi’d her Face:

  Why should she beg, or what cou’d she pretend,

  When her stern Father had condemned her Friend!

  Her Life she might have had; but her Despair 380

  Of saving, his, had put it past her Care:

  Resolv’d on Fate, she would not lose her Breath,

  But rather than not die, sollicit Death.

  Fix’d on this Thought, she, not as Women use,

  Her Fault by common Frailty would excuse; 385

  But boldly justifi’d her Innocence,

  And while the Fact was own’d, deny’d th’ Offence:

  Then with dry Eyes, and with an open Look,

  She met his Glance mid-way, and thus undaunted spoke.

  Tancred, I neither am dispos’d to make 390

  Request for Life, nor offer’d Life to take;

  Much less deny the Deed; but least of all

  Beneath pretended Justice weakly fall.

  My Words to sacred Truth shall be confin’d,

  My Deeds shall shew the Greatness of my Mind. 395

  That I have lov’d, I own; that still I love,

  I call to Witness all the Pow’rs above:

  Yet more I own; To Guiscard’s Love I give

  The small remaining Time I have to live;

  And if beyond this Life Desire can be, 400

  Not Fate it self shall set my Passion free.

  This first avow’d; nor Folly warp’d my Mind,

  Nor the frail Texture of the Female Kind

  Betray’d my Vertue: For too well I knew

  What Honour was, and Honour had his due: 405

  Before the Holy Priest my Vows were ty’d,

  So came I not a Strumpet, but a Bride;

  This for my Fame, and for the Publick Voice:

  Yet more, his Merits justify’d my Choice;

  Which had they not, the first Election thine, 410

  That Bond dissolv’d, the next is freely mine:

  Or grant I err’d, (which yet I must deny,)

  Had Parents Pow’r ev’n second Vows to tie,

  Thy little Care to mend my Widow’d Nights

  Has forc’d me to recourse of Marriage-Rites, 415

  To fill an empty Side, and follow known Delights.

  What have I done in this, deserving Blame?

  State-Laws may alter: Nature’s are the same

  Those are usurp’d on helpless Woman-kind,

  Made without our Consent, and wanting Pow’r to bind. 420

  Thou, Tancred, better should’st have understood,

  That, as thy Father gave thee Flesh and Blood,

  So gav’st thou me: Not from the Quarry hew’d,

  But of a softer Mould, with Sense endu’d;

  Ev’n softer than thy own, of suppler Kind, 425

  More exquisite of Taste, and more than man refin’d.

  Nor need’st thou by thy Daughter to be told,

  Though now thy spritely Blood with Age be cold,

  Thou hast been young; and canst remember still,

  That when thou hadst the Pow’r, thou hadst the Will; 430

  And from the past Experience of thy Fires,

  Canst tell with what a Tide our strong Desires

  Come rushing on in Youth, and what their Rage requires.

  And grant thy Youth was exercis’d in Arms,

  When Love no Leisure found for softer Charms, 435

  My tender Age in Luxury was train’d,

  With idle Ease and Pageants entertain’d;

  My Hours my own, my Pleasures unrestrain’d.

  So bred, no wonder if I took the Bent

  That seem’d ev’n warranted by thy Consent; 440

  For, when the Father is too fondly kind,

  Such Seed he sows, such Harvest shall he find.

  Blame then thy self, as Reason’s Law requires,

  (Since Nature gave, and thou foment st my Fires;)

  If still those Appetites continue strong, 445

  Thou mayest consider I am yet but young

  Consider too, that having been a Wife,

  I must have tasted of a better Life,

  And am not to be blam’d, if I renew,

  By lawful Means, the Joys which then I knew. 450

  Where was the Crime, if Pleasure I procur’d,

  Young, and a Woman, and to Bliss inur’d?

  That was my Case, and this is my Defence;

  I pleas’d my self, I shunned Incontinence,

  And, urg’d by strong Desires, indulg’d my Sense. 455

  Left to my self, I must avow, I strove

  From publick Shame to screen my secret Love,

  And, well acquainted with thy Native Pride,

  Endeavour’d, what I could not help, to hide,

  For which a Womans Wit an easie Way supply’d. 460

  How this, so well contriv’d, so closely laid,

  Was known to thee, or by what Chance betray’d,

  Is not my Care: To please thy Pride alone

  I could have wish’d it had been still unknown.

  Nor took I Guiscard by blind Fancy led, 465

  Or hasty Choice, as many Women wed;

  But with delib’rate Care, and ripen’d Thought,

  At Leisure first design’d, before I wrought:

  On him I rested after long Debate,

  And not without consid’ring, fix’d my Fate: 470

  His Flame was equal, though by mine inspir’d:

  (For so the Diff’rence of our Birth requir’d:)

  Had he been born like me, like me his Love

  Had first begun, what mine was forc’d to move:

  But thus beginning, thus we persevere; 475

  Our Passions yet continue what they were,

  Nor length of Trial makes our Joys the less sincere.

  At this my Choice, though not by thine allow’d,

  (Thy Judgment herding with the common Crowd)

  Thou tak’st unjust Offence; and, led by them, 480

  Dost less the Merit than the Man esteem.

  Too sharply, Tancred, by thy Pride betray’d,

  Hast thou against the Laws of Kind inveigh’d;

  For all th’ Offence is in Opinion plac’d,

  Which deems high Birth by lowly Choice debas’d. 485

  This Thought alone with Fury fires thy Breast,

  (For Holy Marriage justifies the rest)

  That I have sunk the Glories of the State,

  And mix’d my Blood with a Plebeian Mate:

  In which I wonder thou shouldst oversee 490

  Superiour Causes, or impute to me

  The Fault of Fortune, or the Fates Decree.

  Or call it Heav’ns Imperial Pow’r alone,

  Which moves on Springs of Justice, though unknown;

  Yet this we see, though order’d for the best, 495

 
The Bad exalted, and the Good oppress’d;

  Permitted Laurels grace the Lawless Brow,

  Th’ Unworthy rais’d, the Worthy cast below.

  But leaving that: Search we the secret Springs,

  And backward trace the Principles of Things; 500

  There shall we find, that when the World began,

  One common Mass compos’d the Mould of Man;

  One Paste of Flesh on all Degrees bestow’d,

  And kneaded up alike with moistning Blood.

  The same Almighty Pow’r inspir’d the Frame 505

  With kindl’d Life, and form’d the Souls the same:

  The Faculties of Intellect, and Will,

  Dispens’d with equal Hand, dispos’d with equal Skill,

  Like Liberty indulg’d with Choice of Good or Ill.

  Thus born alike, from Vertue first began 510

  The Diff’rence that distinguish’d Man from Man:

  He claim’d no Title from Descent of Blood,

  But that which made him Noble, made him Good:

  Warm’d with more Particles of Heav’nly Flame,

  He wing’d his upward Flight, and soar’d to Fame; 515

  The rest remain’d below, a Tribe without a Name.

  This Law, though Custom now diverts the Course,

  As Natures Institute, is yet in Force;

  Uncancell’d, tho disus’d: And he, whose Mind

  Is Vertuous, is alone of Noble Kind; 520

  Though poor in Fortune, of Celestial Race;

  And he commits the Crime, who calls him Base.

  Now lay the Line; and measure all thy Court,

  By inward Vertue, not external Port,

  And find whom justly to prefer above 525

  The Man on whom my Judgment plac’d my Love:

  So shalt thou see his Parts, and Person shine,

  And thus compar’d, the rest a base degen’rate Line.

  Nor took I, when I first survey’d thy Court,

  His Valour or his Vertues on Report; 530

  But trusted what I ought to trust alone,

  Relying on thy Eyes, and not my own;

  Thy Praise (and Thine was then the Publick Voice)

  First recommended Guiscard to my Choice:

  Directed thus by thee, I look’d, and found 535

  A Man, I thought, deserving to be crowned!

  First by my Father pointed to my Sight,

  Nor less conspicuous by his Native Light:

  His Mind, his Meen, the Features of his Face,

  Excelling all the rest of Humane Race: 540

  These were thy Thoughts, and thou could’st judge aright,

  Till Int’rest made a Jaundice in thy Sight.

  Or shou’d I grant thou didst not rightly see;

  Then thou wert first deceiv’d, and I deceiv’d by thee.

  But if thou shalt alledge, through Pride of Mind, 545

  Thy Blood with one of base Condition join’d,