REMORSE

Coleridge’s Gothic verse tragedy set in Spain during the persecution of the Moors and the Inquisition, in which Ordonio’s jealous attempt to murder his brother Alvar is undone when the disguised Alvar returns and stages a sorcerous conjuration to awaken his brother’s conscience. It centres on guilt, remorse, revenge, and the supernatural.

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	The Sea Shore on the Coast of Granada.
(didascalia)	DON ALVAR, wrapt in a Boat cloak, and ZULIMEZ (a Moresco), both as just landed.
ZULIMEZ	No sound, no face of joy to welcome us!
ALVAR	My faithful Zulimez, for one brief moment Let me forget my anguish and their crimes. If aught on earth demand an unmix’d feeling, ‘Tis surely this — after long years of [[Exile\
ZULIMEZ	Then claim your rights in it! O, revered Don Alvar, Yet, yet give up your all too gentle purpose. It is too hazardous! reveal yourself, And let the guilty meet the doom of [[Guilt\
ALVAR	Remember, Zulimez! I am his brother, Injured indeed! O deeply injured! yet Ordonio’s brother.
ZULIMEZ	Nobly-minded Alvar! This sure but gives his [[Guilt\
ALVAR	The more behoves it I should rouse within him Remorse! that I should save him from himself.
ZULIMEZ	Remorse is as the heart in which it grows: If that be gentle, it drops balmy dews Of true repentance; but if proud and gloomy, It is a [[Poison\
ALVAR	And of a brother, Dare I hold this, unproved? nor make one effort To save him? — Hear me, friend! I have yet to tell thee, That this same life, which he conspired to take, Himself once rescued from the angry flood, And at the imminent hazard of his own. Add too my oath —
ZULIMEZ	You have thrice told already The years of absence and of secrecy, To which a forced oath bound you; if in [[Truth\
ALVAR	My long captivity Left me no choice: the very wish too languished With the fond [[Hope\
ZULIMEZ	Heavy presumption!
ALVAR	It weighed not with me — Hark! I will tell thee all; As we passed by, I bade thee mark the base Of yonder cliff —
ZULIMEZ	That rocky seat you mean, Shaped by the billows? —
ALVAR	There Teresa met me The morning of the day of my departure. We were [[Alone\
ZULIMEZ	Proceed, my lord!
ALVAR	A portrait which she had procured by stealth, (For even then it seems her heart foreboded Or knew Ordonio’s moody rivalry) A portrait of herself with thrilling hand She tied around my neck, conjuring me, With earnest prayers, that I would keep it sacred To my own knowledge: nor did she desist, Till she had won a solemn promise from me, That (save my own) no eye should e’er behold it Till my return. Yet this the assassin knew, Knew that which none but she could have disclosed.
ZULIMEZ	A damning proof!
ALVAR	My own life wearied me! And but for the imperative voice within, With mine own hand I had thrown off the burthen. That voice, which quelled me, calmed me: and I sought The Belgic states: there joined the better cause; And there too fought as one that courted [[Death\
ZULIMEZ	All, all are in the sea-[[Cave\
ALVAR	Above all, the picture Of the assassination —
ZULIMEZ	Be assured That it remains uninjured.
ALVAR	Thus disguised I will first seek to meet Ordonio’s — wife! If possible, [[Alone\
ZULIMEZ	Will they not know you?
ALVAR	With your aid, friend, I shall unfearingly Trust the disguise; and as to my complexion, My long [[Imprisonment\
ZULIMEZ	’Tis yours, sir, to command, mine to obey. Now to the [[Cave\
ALVAR	I know it [[Well\
(didascalia)	Both stand listening.
ALVAR	Voices at a distance! Let us away!
(didascalia)	Exeunt.

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter TERESA and VALDEZ.
TERESA	I hold Ordonio dear; he is your son And Alvar’s brother.
VALDEZ	Love him for himself, Nor make the living wretched for the dead.
TERESA	I mourn that you should plead in vain, Lord Valdez, But heaven hath heard my vow, and I remain Faithful to Alvar, be he dead or living.
VALDEZ	Heaven knows with what delight I saw your loves, And could my heart’s [[Blood\
TERESA	There are woes Ill bartered for the garishness of joy! If it be wretched with an untired eye To watch those skiey tints, and this green ocean; Or in the sultry hour beneath some rock, My hair dishevelled by the pleasant sea breeze, To shape sweet visions, and live o’er again All past hours of delight! If it be wretched To watch some bark, and fancy Alvar there, To go through each minutest circumstance Of the blest meeting, and to frame adventures Most terrible and strange, and hear him tell them; (As once I knew a crazy Moorish maid Who drest her in her buried [[Lover\
VALDEZ	A thought? even so! mere thought! an empty thought. The very week he promised his return ——
TERESA	Was it not then a busy joy? to see him, After those three years’ travels! we had no fears — The frequent tidings, the ne’er failing letter. Almost endeared his absence! Yet the gladness, The tumult of our joy! What then if now ——
VALDEZ	O power of youth to feed on pleasant thoughts, Spite of conviction! I am old and heartless! Yes, I am old — I have no pleasant fancies — Hectic and unrefreshed with rest —
TERESA	My father!
VALDEZ	The sober [[Truth\
TERESA	Oh no! he did not!
VALDEZ	Captured in sight of land! From yon [[Hill\
TERESA	His capture, not his [[Death\
VALDEZ	Alas! how aptly thou forget’st a tale Thou ne’er didst wish to learn! my brave Ordonio Saw both the pirate and his prize go down, In the same [[Storm\
TERESA	For [[Mercy\
VALDEZ	You wrong him, maiden! You wrong him, by my [[Soul\
TERESA	Oh pardon me, Lord Valdez! pardon me! It was a foolish and ungrateful speech, A most ungrateful speech! But I am hurried Beyond myself, if I but hear of one Who aims to rival Alvar. Were we not Born in one day, like twins of the same parent? Nursed in one cradle? Pardon me, my father! A six years’ absence is a heavy thing, Yet still the [[Hope\
VALDEZ	Hush! ‘tis Monviedro.
(didascalia)	Valdez looking forward.
TERESA	The Inquisitor! on what new scent of [[Blood\
(didascalia)	Enter MONVIEDRO with ALHADRA.
MONVIEDRO	Peace and the [[Truth\
(didascalia)	Enter from the opposite side DON ORDONIO.
MONVIEDRO	My Lord Ordonio, this Moresco woman (Alhadra is her name) asks audience of you.
ORDONIO	Hail, reverend father! what may be the business?
MONVIEDRO	My lord, on strong suspicion of relapse To his false creed, so recently abjured, The secret servants of the Inquisition Have seized her husband, and at my command To the supreme tribunal would have led him, But that he made appeal to you, my lord, As surety for his soundness in the [[Faith\
ORDONIO	Reverend father, I am much beholden to your high opinion, Which so o’erprizes my light services.
(didascalia)	Then to ALHADRA.
ORDONIO	I would that I could serve you; but in [[Truth\
MONVIEDRO	My mind foretold me That such would be the event. In [[Truth\
ALHADRA	My Lord, my husband’s name Is Isidore. (ORDONIO starts.) You may remember it: Three years ago, three years this very week, You left him at Almeria.
MONVIEDRO	Palpably false! This very week, three years ago, my lord, (You needs must recollect it by your wound) You were at sea, and there engaged the pirates, The murderers doubtless of your brother Alvar! What, is he ill, my Lord? how strange he looks!
VALDEZ	You pressed upon him too abruptly, father! The fate of one, on whom, you know, he doted.
ORDONIO	O Heavens! I? — I doted? Yes! I doted on him.
(didascalia)	ORDONIO walks to the end of the stage, VALDEZ follows.
TERESA	I do not, can not, [[Love\
MONVIEDRO	The drops did start and stand upon his forehead! I will return. In very [[Truth\
ALHADRA	O gentle lady! make the father stay, Until my lord recover. I am sure, That he will say he is my husband’s friend.
TERESA	Stay, father! stay! my lord will soon recover.
ORDONIO	Strange, that this Monviedro Should have the power so to distemper me!
(didascalia)	As they return, to Valdez.
VALDEZ	Nay, ‘twas an amiable weakness, son!
MONVIEDRO	My lord, I truly grieve ——
ORDONIO	Tut! name it not. A sudden seizure, father! think not of it. As to this woman’s husband, I do know him. I know him [[Well\
MONVIEDRO	I [[Hope\
ORDONIO	’Tis certain that he was a catholic; What changes may have happened in three years, I can not say; but grant me this, good father: Myself I’ll sift him: if I find him sound, You’ll grant me your authority and name To liberate his house.
MONVIEDRO	Your zeal, my lord, And your late merits in this holy warfare Would authorize an ampler trust — you have it.
ORDONIO	I will attend you [[Home\
VALDEZ	Meantime return with us and take refreshment.
ALHADRA	Not till my husband’s free! I may not do it. I will stay here.
TERESA	Who is this Isidore?
(didascalia)	Aside.
VALDEZ	Daughter!
TERESA	With your permission, my dear lord, I’ll loiter yet awhile t’ enjoy the sea breeze.
(didascalia)	Exeunt VALDEZ, MONVIEDRO and ORDONIO.
ALHADRA	Hah! there he goes! a bitter curse go with him, A scathing curse! You hate him, don’t you, lady?
TERESA	Oh [[Fear\
ALHADRA	These fell inquisitors! these sons of [[Blood\
TERESA	Be more calm, I pray you.
ALHADRA	And as he walked along the narrow path Close by the mountain’s edge, my [[Soul\
TERESA	Hush! hush for shame! Where is your woman’s heart?
ALHADRA	O gentle lady! You have no skill to guess my many wrongs, Many and strange! Besides, I am a Christian, And Christians never pardon—‘tis their [[Faith\
TERESA	Shame fall on those who so have shewn it to thee!
ALHADRA	I know that man; ‘tis [[Well\
TERESA	What might your crime be?
ALHADRA	I was a Moresco! They cast me, then a young and nursing mother, Into a dungeon of their [[Prison\
TERESA	O Heaven! it is too horrible to hear.
ALHADRA	What was it then to suffer? ‘Tis most right That such as you should hear it. — Know you not, What [[Nature\
TERESA	You were at length released?
ALHADRA	Yes, at length I saw the blessed arch of the whole heaven! ’Twas the first [[Time\
TERESA	But your husband —
ALHADRA	A month’s [[Imprisonment\
(didascalia)	Enter ALVAR disguised as a Moresco, and in Moorish garments.
TERESA	Know you that stately Moor?
ALHADRA	I know him not: But [[Doubt\
TERESA	The Alpujarras? Does he know his danger, So near this seat?
ALHADRA	He wears the Moorish robes too, As in defiance of the royal edict.
(didascalia)	ALHADRA advances to ALVAR, who has walked to the back of the stage, near the rocks. TERESA drops her veil.
ALHADRA	Gallant Moresco! An inquisitor, Monviedro, of known hatred to our race ——
ALVAR	You have mistaken me. I am a Christian.
ALHADRA	He deems, that we are plotting to ensnare him: Speak to him, Lady — none can hear you speak, And not believe you [[Innocent\
TERESA	If aught enforce you to concealment, Sir —
ALHADRA	He trembles strangely.
(didascalia)	ALVAR sinks down and hides his face in his robe.
TERESA	See, we have disturbed him.
(didascalia)	Approaches nearer to him.
TERESA	I pray you, think us friends — uncowl your face, For you seem faint, and the [[Night\
ALVAR	Calm, very calm! ’Tis all too tranquil for reality! And she spoke to me with her [[Innocent\
TERESA	Let us retire
(didascalia)	Haughtily to Alhadra.
ALHADRA	He is indeed a Christian.
ALVAR	She deems me dead, yet wears no mourning garment! Why should my brother’s — wife — wear mourning garments?
(didascalia)	Aside. Then to TERESA.
ALVAR	Your pardon, noble dame! that I disturbed you: I had just started from a frightful dream.
TERESA	Dreams tell but of the past, and yet, ‘tis said, They prophesy —
ALVAR	The Past lives o’er again In its effects, and to the guilty spirit The ever-frowning Present is its image.
TERESA	Traitress!
(didascalia)	Then aside.
TERESA	What sudden spell o’ermasters me? Why seeks he me, shunning the Moorish woman?
ALVAR	I dreamt I had a friend, on whom I leant With blindest trust, and a betrothéd maid, Whom I was wont to call not mine, but me: For mine own [[Self\
ALHADRA	You are lost in thought: hear him no more, sweet Lady!
TERESA	From morn to [[Night\
ALVAR	On a rude rock, A rock, methought, fast by a grove of firs, Whose thready [[Leaves\
TERESA	A fearful curse!
ALHADRA	But dreamt you not that you returned and killed them? Dreamt you of no [[Revenge\
ALVAR	She would have died Died in her [[Guilt\
ALHADRA	And you dreamt all this?
TERESA	My [[Soul\
ALHADRA	There is no room in this heart for puling [[Love\
(didascalia)	Teresa lifts up her veil, and advances to Alvar.
TERESA	Stranger, farewell! I guess not who you are, Nor why you so addressed your tale to me. Your mien is noble, and, I own, perplexed me, With obscure [[Memory\
(didascalia)	Exeunt TERESA and ALHADRA.
ALVAR	’Tis strange! It cannot be! my Lord Ordonio! Her Lord Ordonio! Nay, I will not do it! I cursed him once — and one curse is enough! How sad she looked, and pale! but not like [[Guilt\
(didascalia)	[[Alone\

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	A wild and mountainous country. ORDONIO and ISIDORE are discovered, supposed at a little distance from ISIDORE’S house.
ORDONIO	Here we may stop: your house distinct in view, Yet we secured from listeners.
ISIDORE	Now indeed My house! and it looks cheerful as the clusters Basking in sunshine on yon vine-clad rock, That over-brows it! Patron! Friend! Preserver! Thrice have you saved my life. Once in the battle You gave it me: next rescued me from suicide When for my follies I was made to wander, With mouths to feed, and not a morsel for them: Now but for you, a dungeon’s slimy stones Had been my bed and pillow.
ORDONIO	Good Isidore! Why this to me? It is enough, you know it.
ISIDORE	A common trick of gratitude, my lord, Seeking to ease her own full heart ——
ORDONIO	Enough! A debt repaid ceases to be a debt. You have it in your power to serve me greatly.
ISIDORE	And how, my lord? I pray you to name the thing. I would climb up an ice-glazed precipice To pluck a weed you fancied!
ORDONIO	Why — that — Lady —
ISIDORE	’Tis now three years, my lord, since last I saw you: Have you a son, my lord?
ORDONIO	O miserable — [Aside. Isidore! you are a man, and know mankind. I told you what I wished — now for the [[Truth\
ISIDORE	You jest, my lord?
ORDONIO	And till his [[Death\
ISIDORE	You sport with me, my lord?
ORDONIO	Come, come! this foolery Lives only in thy looks, thy heart disowns it!
ISIDORE	I can bear this, and any thing more grievous From you, my lord — but how can I serve you here?
ORDONIO	Why, you can utter with a solemn gesture Oracular sentences of deep no-meaning, Wear a quaint garment, make mysterious antics —
ISIDORE	I am dull, my lord! I do not comprehend you.
ORDONIO	In blunt terms, you can play the sorcerer. She hath no [[Faith\
ISIDORE	Will that be a sure sign?
ORDONIO	Beyond suspicion. Fondly caressing him, her favour’d [[Lover\
ISIDORE	But now I should have cursed the man who told me You could ask aught, my lord, and I refuse — But this I can not do.
ORDONIO	Where lies your scruple?
ISIDORE	Why — why, my lord! You know you told me that the lady lov’d you, Had loved you with incautious tenderness; That if the young man, her betrothéd husband, Returned, yourself, and she, and the [[Honour\
ORDONIO	This fellow is a Man — he killed for hire One whom he knew not, yet has tender scruples!
(didascalia)	[Then turning to ISIDORE.
ORDONIO	These doubts, these fears, thy whine, thy stammering — Pish, [[Fool\
ISIDORE	My lord — my lord, I can bear much — yes, very much from you! But there’s a point where sufferance is meanness: I am no [[Villain\
ORDONIO	O aye — your gratitude! ’Twas a [[Well\
ISIDORE	Who proffers his past favours for my virtue —
ORDONIO	Virtue ——
ISIDORE	Tries to o’erreach me — is a very sharper, And should not speak of gratitude, my lord. I knew not ‘twas your brother!
ORDONIO	And who told you?
ISIDORE	He himself told me.
ORDONIO	Ha! you talk’d with him! And those, the two Morescoes who were with you?
ISIDORE	Both fell in a [[Night\
ORDONIO	(in a low voice) My brother —
ISIDORE	Yes, my lord, I could not tell you! I thrust away the thought — it drove me wild. But listen to me now — I pray you listen ——
ORDONIO	Villain! no more. I’ll hear no more of it.
ISIDORE	My lord, it much imports your future safety That you should hear it.
ORDONIO	(turning off from Isidore) Am not I a man! ’Tis as it should be! tut — the deed itself Was idle, and these after-pangs still idler!
ISIDORE	We met him in the very place you mentioned. Hard by a grove of firs —
ORDONIO	Enough — enough —
ISIDORE	He fought us valiantly, and wounded all; In fine, compelled a parley.
ORDONIO	Alvar! brother!
ISIDORE	He offered me his purse —
ORDONIO	Yes?
ISIDORE	Yes — I spurned it. — He promised us I know not what — in vain! Then with a look and voice that overawed me, He said, What mean you, friends? My life is dear: I have a brother and a promised wife, Who make life dear to me — and if I fall, That brother will roam earth and hell for vengeance. There was a likeness in his face to yours; I asked his brother’s name: he said — Ordonio, Son of Lord Valdez! I had [[Well\
ORDONIO	And you kill’d him? Oh [[Blood\
ISIDORE	(aside) Were he alive he had returned ere now. The consequence the same — dead through his plotting!
ORDONIO	O this unutterable dying away — here — This sickness of the heart! What if I went And liv’d in a hollow tomb, and fed on weeds? Aye! that’s the [[Road\
ISIDORE	You are disturbed, my lord!
ORDONIO	(starts) A gust of the [[Soul\
ISIDORE	(in a low voice) I’ll perish first!
ORDONIO	What dost thou mutter of?
ISIDORE	Some of your servants know me, I am certain.
ORDONIO	There’s some sense in that scruple; but we’ll mask you.
ISIDORE	They’ll know my gait: but stay! last [[Night\
ORDONIO	Doubtless you question’d him?
ISIDORE	’Twas my intention, Having first traced him homeward to his haunt. But lo! the stern Dominican, whose spies Lurk every where, already (as it seemed) Had given commission to his apt familiar To seek and sound the Moor; who now returning, Was by this trusty agent stopped midway. I, dreading fresh suspicion if found near him In that lone place, again concealed myself: Yet within hearing. So the Moor was question’d, And in your name, as lord of this domain, Proudly he answered, ‘Say to the Lord Ordonio, He that can bring the dead to life again!’
ORDONIO	A strange reply!
ISIDORE	Aye, all of him is strange. He called himself a Christian, yet he wears The Moorish robes, as if he courted [[Death\
ORDONIO	Where does this wizard live?
ISIDORE	(pointing to the distance) You see that brooklet? Trace its course backward: through a narrow opening It leads you to the place.
ORDONIO	How shall I know it?
ISIDORE	You cannot err. It is a small green dell Built all around with high off-sloping hills, And from its shape our peasants aptly call it The Giant’s Cradle. There’s a lake in the midst, And round its banks tall wood that branches over, And makes a kind of faery forest grow Down in the [[Water\
ORDONIO	(in retiring stops suddenly at the edge of the scene, then turning round to Isidore) Ha! — Who lurks there! Have we been overheard? There where the smooth high wall of slate-rock glitters ——
ISIDORE	’Neath those tall stones, which propping each the other, Form a mock portal with their pointed arch? Pardon my smiles! ‘Tis a poor idiot boy, Who sits in the sun, and twirls a bough about, His weak eyes seeth’d in most unmeaning [[Tears\
ORDONIO	’Tis [[Well\
ISIDORE	Some three strides up the [[Hill\
ORDONIO	I shall not fail to find it.
(didascalia)	[Exeunt ORDONIO and ISIDORE.

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	The inside of a Cottage, around which [[Flowers\
ALHADRA	Farewell then! and though many thoughts perplex me, Aught evil or ignoble never can I Suspect of thee! If what thou seem’st thou art, The oppressed brethren of thy [[Blood\
ALVAR	Nobly-minded woman! Long [[Time\
(didascalia)	Exit ALHADRA.
ALVAR	Yes, to the Belgic states We will return. These robes, this stained complexion, Akin to falsehood, weigh upon my spirit. Whate’er befall us, the heroic Maurice Will grant us an asylum, in remembrance Of our past services.
ZULIMEZ	And all the wealth, power, influence which is yours, You let a murderer hold?
ALVAR	O faithful Zulimez! That my return involved Ordonio’s [[Death\
ZULIMEZ	Nay now! I have distress’d you — you [[Well\
ALVAR	What if it were my brother coming onwards? I sent a most mysterious message to him.
(didascalia)	Enter ORDONIO
ALVAR	It is he!
ORDONIO	(to himself as he enters) If I distinguish’d right her gait and stature, It was the Moorish woman, Isidore’s wife, That passed me as I entered. A lit taper, In the [[Night\
(didascalia)	Addressing ALVAR.
ORDONIO	You know my name, I guess, if not my person. I am Ordonio, son of the Lord Valdez.
ALVAR	The Son of Valdez!
(didascalia)	ORDONIO walks leisurely round the room, and looks attentively at the plants.
ZULIMEZ	Why, what ails you now? How your hand trembles! Alvar, speak! what wish you?
ALVAR	To fall upon his neck and weep [[Forgiveness\
ORDONIO	(returning, and aloud) Plucked in the moonlight from a ruined abbey — Those only, which the pale rays visited! O the unintelligible power of weeds, When a few odd prayers have been muttered o’er them: Then they work miracles! I warrant you, There’s not a leaf, but underneath it lurks Some serviceable imp. There’s one of you Hath sent me a strange message.
ALVAR	I am he.
ORDONIO	With you, then, I am to speak:
(didascalia)	Haughtily waving his hand to ZULIMEZ.
ORDONIO	And mark you, [[Alone\
(didascalia)	Exit ZULIMEZ.
ORDONIO	’He that can bring the dead to life again!’ — Such was your message, Sir! You are no dullard, But one that strips the outward rind of things!
ALVAR	’Tis fabled there are fruits with tempting rinds, That are all [[Dust\
ORDONIO	Thou quibbling [[Fool\
ALVAR	O no, my lord! to sport Best suits the gaiety of innocence.
ORDONIO	(aside) O what a thing is man! the wisest heart A [[Fool\
(didascalia)	Looks round the cottage.
ORDONIO	You are poor!
ALVAR	What follows thence?
ORDONIO	That you would fain be richer. The [[Inquisition\
ALVAR	Thou art the son of Valdez! would to Heaven That I could truly and for ever serve thee.
ORDONIO	(aside) The slave begins to soften. You are my friend, ‘He that can bring the dead to life again,‘ Nay, no defence to me! The holy brethren Believe these calumnies — I know thee better. Thou art a man, and as a man I’ll trust thee!
ALVAR	(aside) Alas! this hollow mirth — Declare your business.
ORDONIO	I [[Love\
(didascalia)	ORDONIO steps to the door.
ALVAR	What, faithless too? False to his angel wife? To such a wife? Well might’st thou look so wan, Ill-starr’d Teresa! —— Wretch! my softer [[Soul\
ORDONIO	In [[Truth\
ALVAR	What! you kill’d him? hey?
ORDONIO	I’ll dash thee to the earth, if thou but think’st it! Insolent slave! how dar’dst thou —
(didascalia)	Turns abruptly from ALVAR, and then to himself.
ORDONIO	Why! what’s this? ‘Twas idiotcy! I’ll tie myself to an aspen, And wear a [[Fool\
ALVAR	Fare thee [[Well\
(didascalia)	ALVAR is retiring.
ORDONIO	Ho!
(didascalia)	Calling to ALVAR.
ALVAR	Be brief, what wish you?
ORDONIO	You are deep at bartering — You charge yourself At a round sum. Come, come, I spake unwisely.
ALVAR	I listen to you.
ORDONIO	In a sudden tempest Did Alvar perish — he, I mean — the [[Lover\
ALVAR	Nay, speak out! ‘twill ease your heart To call him [[Villain\
ORDONIO	Now, till she knows him dead, she will not wed me.
ALVAR	Are you not wedded, then? Merciful Heaven! Not wedded to Teresa?
ORDONIO	Why, what ails thee? What, art thou mad? why look’st thou upward so? Dost pray to Lucifer, Prince of the Air?
ALVAR	Proceed. I shall be silent.
ORDONIO	To Teresa? Politic wizard! ere you sent that message, You had conn’d your lesson, made yourself proficient In all my fortunes. Hah! you prophesied A golden crop! Well, you have not mistaken — Be faithful to me and I’ll pay thee nobly.
ALVAR	Well! and this lady!
ORDONIO	If we could make her certain of his [[Death\
ALVAR	Yes! he did so!
ORDONIO	Why no: he was afraid of accidents, Of robberies, and shipwrecks, and the like. In secrecy he gave it me to keep, Till his return.
ALVAR	What! he was your friend then?
ORDONIO	I was his friend. — Now that he gave it me, This lady knows not. You are a mighty wizard — Can call the dead man up — he will not come. — He is in heaven then — there you have no influence. Still there are tokens — and your imps may bring you Something he wore about him when he died. And when the smoke of the incense on the altar Is pass’d, your spirits will have left this picture. What say you now?
ALVAR	Ordonio, I will do it.
ORDONIO	We’ll hazard no delay. Be it to-[[Night\
ALVAR	I will not fail to meet you.
ORDONIO	Till next we meet, farewell!
(didascalia)	Exit ORDONIO.
ALVAR	(alone, indignantly flings the purse away and gazes passionately at the portrait) And I did curse thee! At midnight! on my knees! and I believed Thee perjur’d, thee a traitress! thee dishonour’d! O blind and credulous [[Fool\

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	A Hall of Armory, with an Altar at the back of the Stage. Soft Music from an instrument of Glass or Steel.
(didascalia)	VALDEZ, ORDONIO, and ALVAR in a Sorcerer’s robe, are discovered.
ORDONIO	This was too [[Melancholy\
VALDEZ	Nay, My Alvar lov’d sad music from a [[Child\
ALVAR	(aside) My [[Tears\
(didascalia)	Enter TERESA and Attendants.
TERESA	Lord Valdez, you have asked my presence here, And I submit; but (Heaven bear witness for me) My heart approves it not! ‘tis mockery.
ORDONIO	Believe you then no preternatural influence: Believe you not that spirits throng around us?
TERESA	Say rather that I have imagined it A possible thing: and it has sooth’d my [[Soul\
ORDONIO	(aside) Ha! he has been tampering with her?
ALVAR	O high-[[Soul\
(didascalia)	Here a strain of music is heard from behind the scene.
ALVAR	With no irreverent voice or uncouth charm I call up the departed! Soul of Alvar! Hear our soft suit, and heed my milder spell: So may the gates of Paradise, unbarr’d, Cease thy swift toils! Since haply thou art one Of that innumerable company Who in broad circle, lovelier than the rainbow, Girdle this round earth in a dizzy motion, With noise too vast and constant to be heard: Fitliest unheard! For oh, ye numberless, And rapid travellers! what ear unstunn’d, What sense unmadden’d, might bear up against The rushing of your congregated wings? [Music.] Even now your living [[Wheel\
(didascalia)	Here behind the scenes a voice sings the three words, ‘Hear, Sweet Spirit.‘
ALVAR	Soul of Alvar! Hear the mild spell, and tempt no blacker charm! By sighs unquiet, and the sickly pang Of a half-dead, yet still undying [[Hope\
(didascalia)	[[Song\
(didascalia)	Hear, sweet spirit, hear the spell, Lest a blacker charm compel! So shall the midnight breezes swell With thy deep long-lingering knell. And at evening evermore, In a chapel on the shore, Shall the chaunter, sad and saintly, Yellow tapers burning faintly, Doleful masses chaunt for thee, Miserere Domine! Hark! the cadence dies away On the quiet moonlight sea: The boatmen rest their oars and say, Miserere Domine! [A long pause.]
ORDONIO	The [[Innocent\
ALVAR	A joy to thee! What if thou heard’st him now? What if his spirit Re-enter’d its cold corse, and came upon thee With many a stab from many a murderer’s poniard? What if (his stedfast eye still beaming pity And brother’s [[Love\
VALDEZ	These are unholy fancies!
ORDONIO	Yes, my father, He is in Heaven!
ALVAR	(still to Ordonio) But what if he had a brother, Who had lived even so, that at his dying hour, The name of Heaven would have convulsed his face, More than the [[Death\
VALDEZ	Idly prating man! Thou hast guess’d ill: Don Alvar’s only brother Stands here before thee — a father’s blessing on him! He is most virtuous.
ALVAR	(still to Ordonio) What, if his very virtues Had pampered his swoln heart and made him proud? And what if [[Pride\
TERESA	’Tis strange, I tremble at my own conjectures! But whatsoe’er it mean, I dare no longer Be present at these lawless mysteries, This dark provoking of the hidden Powers! Already I affront — if not high Heaven — Yet Alvar’s [[Memory\
ALVAR	(to Teresa) O full of [[Faith\
(didascalia)	Exeunt TERESA and Attendant. Music as before.
ALVAR	The spell is mutter’d — Come, thou wandering shape, Who own’st no master in a human eye, Whate’er be this man’s doom, fair be it, or foul, If he be dead, O come! and bring with thee That which he grasp’d in [[Death\
(didascalia)	The whole Music dashes into a Chorus.
(didascalia)	[[Chorus\
(didascalia)	The incense on the altar takes [[Fire\
ORDONIO	(starting) Duped! duped! duped! — the traitor Isidore!
(didascalia)	At this instant the doors are forced open, MONVIEDRO and the Familiars of the Inquisition, Servants, &c., enter and fill the stage.
MONVIEDRO	First seize the sorcerer! suffer him not to speak! The holy judges of the Inquisition Shall hear his first words. — Look you pale, Lord Valdez? Plain evidence have we here of most foul sorcery. There is a dungeon underneath this [[Castle\
ORDONIO	(recovering himself as from stupor, to Servants) Why haste you not? Off with him to the dungeon!
(didascalia)	All rush out in tumult.

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Interior of a Chapel, with painted Windows.
(didascalia)	Enter TERESA.
TERESA	When first I entered this pure spot, forebodings Press’d heavy on my heart: but as I knelt, Such calm unwonted bliss possess’d my spirit, A trance so cloudless, that those sounds, hard by, Of trampling uproar fell upon mine ear As alien and unnoticed as the rain-[[Storm\
(didascalia)	Enter VALDEZ.
VALDEZ	Ye pitying saints, forgive a father’s blindness, And extricate us from this net of peril!
TERESA	Who wakes anew my fears, and speaks of peril?
VALDEZ	O best Teresa, wisely wert thou prompted! This was no feat of mortal agency! That picture — Oh, that picture tells me all! With a flash of light it came, in flames it vanished, Self-kindled, [[Self\
TERESA	Torture me not! But Alvar — Oh of Alvar?
VALDEZ	How often would he plead for these Morescoes! The brood accurst! remorseless, coward murderers!
TERESA	So? so? — I comprehend you — He is ——
VALDEZ	He is no more!
TERESA	O sorrow! that a father’s voice should say this, A Father’s Heart believe it!
VALDEZ	A worse sorrow Are fancy’s wild hopes to a heart despairing!
TERESA	These rays that slant in through those gorgeous windows, From yon bright orb — though coloured as they pass, Are they not light? — Even so that voice, Lord Valdez! Which whispers to my [[Soul\
VALDEZ	Yes, for three wasting years, thus and no other, He has lived for thee — a spirit for thy spirit! My [[Child\
TERESA	I breath’d to the Unerring Permitted prayers. Must those remain unanswer’d, Yet impious sorcery, that holds no commune Save with the lying spirit, claim belief?
VALDEZ	O not to-day, not now for the first [[Time\
TERESA	O Heavens! my portrait! And he did grasp it in his [[Death\
(didascalia)	ORDONIO enters with the keys of the dungeon in his hand.
TERESA	Hush! who comes here? The wizard Moor’s employer! Moors were his murderers, you say? Saints shield us From wicked thoughts ——
(didascalia)	VALDEZ moves towards the back of the stage to meet ORDONIO, and during the concluding lines of TERESA’S speech appears as eagerly conversing with him.
TERESA	Is Alvar dead? what then? The nuptial rites and funeral shall be one! Here’s no abiding-place for thee, Teresa. — Away! they see me not — Thou seest me, Alvar! To thee I bend my course. — But first one question, One question to Ordonio. — My limbs tremble — There I may sit unmark’d — a moment will restore me.
(didascalia)	Retires out of sight.
ORDONIO	These are the dungeon keys. Monviedro knew not, That I too had received the wizard’s message, ‘He that can bring the dead to life again.‘ But now he is satisfied, I plann’d this scheme To work a full conviction on the culprit, And he entrusts him wholly to my keeping.
VALDEZ	’Tis [[Well\
ORDONIO	Me? what ails me? A pricking of the [[Blood\
VALDEZ	His speech about the corse, and stabs and murderers, Bore reference to the assassins ——
ORDONIO	Dup’d! dup’d! dup’d! The traitor, Isidore!
(didascalia)	A pause, then wildly.
ORDONIO	I tell thee, my dear father! I am most glad of this.
VALDEZ	True — sorcery Merits its doom; and this perchance may guide us To the discovery of the murderers. I have their statures and their several faces So present to me, that but once to meet them Would be to recognize.
ORDONIO	Yes! yes! we recognize them. I was benumb’d, and staggered up and down Through darkness without light — dark — dark — dark! My flesh crept chill, my limbs felt manacled As had a snake coil’d round them! — Now ‘tis sunshine, And the [[Blood\
(didascalia)	Then to himself.
ORDONIO	This is my virtuous, grateful Isidore!
(didascalia)	Then mimicking ISIDORE’S manner and voice.
ORDONIO	’A common trick of gratitude, my lord!’ Old Gratitude! a dagger would dissect His ‘own full heart’—‘twere good to see its colour.
VALDEZ	These [[Magic\
ORDONIO	Love! [[Love\
VALDEZ	Wild talk, my son! But thy excess of feeling —— Almost I [[Fear\
ORDONIO	Say, I had laid a [[Body\
(didascalia)	TERESA stops listening.
ORDONIO	Yet who shall tell me, that each one and all Of these ten thousand lives is not as happy, As that one life, which being push’d aside, Made room for these unnumbered ——
VALDEZ	O mere [[Madness\
(didascalia)	TERESA moves hastily forwards, and places herself directly before ORDONIO.
ORDONIO	Teresa? or the [[Phantom\
TERESA	Alas! the [[Phantom\
(didascalia)	A pause.
TERESA	Where — (Even coward murder grants the dead a [[Grave\
ORDONIO	There, where Ordonio likewise would fain lie! In the [[Sleep\
(didascalia)	Strides off towards the altar, but returns as VALDEZ is speaking.
TERESA	The rock! the fir-grove! Did’st thou hear him say it? Hush! I will ask him!
VALDEZ	Urge him not — not now! This we beheld. Nor he nor I know more, Than what the [[Magic\
ORDONIO	A tender-hearted, scrupulous, grateful [[Villain\
VALDEZ	While his two companions ——
ORDONIO	Dead! dead already! what care we for the dead?
VALDEZ	Pity him! soothe him! disenchant his spirit! These [[Supernatural\
ORDONIO	Is it so? Yes! yes! even like a [[Child\
VALDEZ	Alvar ne’er fought against the Moors, — say rather, He was their advocate; but you had march’d With [[Fire\
ORDONIO	Unknown, perhaps, Captured, yet as the son of Valdez, murdered. Leave all to me. Nay, whither, gentle lady?
VALDEZ	What seek you now?
TERESA	A better, surer light To guide me ——
VALDEZ	Whither?
ORDONIO	Whither?
TERESA	To the only place Where life yet dwells for me, and ease of heart. These walls seem threatening to fall in upon me! Detain me not! a dim power drives me hence, And that will be my guide.
VALDEZ	To find a [[Lover\
TERESA	Hopeless, I [[Fear\
(didascalia)	Exit, VALDEZ following after her.
ORDONIO	This, then, is my reward! and I must [[Love\
(didascalia)	A pause.
ORDONIO	Isidore safe and silent, and the portrait Found on the wizard — he, belike, [[Self\
(didascalia)	A pause.
ORDONIO	The hunt is up! and in the midnight wood With lights to dazzle and with nets they seek A timid prey: and lo! the tiger’s eye Glares in the red flame of his hunter’s torch! To Isidore I will dispatch a message, And lure him to the cavern! aye, that cavern! He cannot fail to find it. Thither I’ll lure him, Whence he shall never, never more return!
(didascalia)	Looks through the side [[Window\
ORDONIO	A rim of the sun lies yet upon the sea, And now ‘tis gone! All shall be done to-[[Night\
(didascalia)	Exit.

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	A cavern, dark, except where a gleam of moonlight is seen on one side at the further end of it; supposed to be cast on it from a crevice in a part of the cavern out of sight. ISIDORE [[Alone\
ISIDORE	Faith ‘twas a moving letter — very moving! ’His life in danger, no place safe but this! ’Twas his turn now to talk of gratitude.‘ And yet — but no! there can’t be such a [[Villain\
(didascalia)	He goes out of sight, opposite to the patch of moonlight: and returns.
ISIDORE	A hellish pit! The very same I dreamt of! I was just in — and those damn’d fingers of ice Which clutch’d my hair up! Ha! — what’s that — it mov’d.
(didascalia)	ISIDORE stands staring at another recess in the cavern. In the mean [[Time\
ISIDORE	I swear that I saw something moving there! The moonshine came and went like a flash of [[Lightning\
(didascalia)	Ordonio goes into the recess, then returns.
ORDONIO	A jutting clay stone Drops on the long lank weed, that grows beneath: And the weed nods and drips.
ISIDORE	A jest to laugh at! It was not that which scar’d me, good my lord.
ORDONIO	What scar’d you, then?
ISIDORE	You see that little rift? But first permit me!
(didascalia)	Lights his torch at ORDONIO’S, and while lighting it.
ISIDORE	(A lighted torch in the hand Is no unpleasant object here — one’s breath Floats round the flame, and makes as many colours As the thin clouds that travel near the [[Moon\
ORDONIO	It must have shot some pleasant feelings through you.
ISIDORE	If every atom of a dead man’s flesh Should creep, each one with a particular life, Yet all as cold as ever—‘twas just so! Or had it drizzled needle-points of [[Frost\
ORDONIO	Why, Isidore, I blush for thy cowardice. It might have startled, I grant you, even a brave man for a moment — But such a panic —
ISIDORE	When a boy, my lord! I could have sate whole hours beside that chasm, Push’d in huge stones and heard them strike and rattle Against its horrid sides: then hung my head Low down, and listened till the heavy fragments Sank with faint crash in that still groaning [[Well\
ORDONIO	Art thou more coward now?
ISIDORE	Call him, that fears his fellow-man, a coward! I [[Fear\
ORDONIO	Well?
ISIDORE	I was in the act Of falling down that chasm, when Alhadra Wak’d me: she heard my heart beat.
ORDONIO	Strange enough! Had you been here before?
ISIDORE	Never, my lord! But mine eyes do not see it now more clearly, Than in my dream I saw — that very chasm.
ORDONIO	I know not why it should be! yet it is —
ISIDORE	What is, my lord?
ORDONIO	Abhorrent from our [[Nature\
ISIDORE	Except in [[Self\
ORDONIO	Why that’s my case; and yet the [[Soul\
ISIDORE	Something troubles you. How shall I serve you? By the life you gave me, By all that makes that life of value to me, My wife, my babes, my [[Honour\
ORDONIO	Thyself be judge. One of our family knew this place [[Well\
ISIDORE	Who? when? my lord?
ORDONIO	What boots it, who or when? Hang up thy torch — I’ll tell his tale to thee.
(didascalia)	They hang up their torches on some ridge in the cavern.
ORDONIO	He was a man different from other men, And he despised them, yet revered himself.
ISIDORE	(aside) He? He despised? Thou’rt speaking of thyself! I am on my guard, however: no surprise.
(didascalia)	Then to ORDONIO.
ISIDORE	What, he was mad?
ORDONIO	All men seemed mad to him! Nature had made him for some other planet, And pressed his [[Soul\
ISIDORE	(aside) Of himself he speaks. Alas! poor wretch! Mad men are mostly proud.
ORDONIO	He walked [[Alone\
ISIDORE	I have a prattler three years old, my lord! In [[Truth\
ORDONIO	With this human hand He gave a substance and reality To that wild fancy of a possible thing. — Well it was done! Why babblest thou of [[Guilt\
ISIDORE	I would, my lord, you were by my [[Fire\
ORDONIO	Where was I?
ISIDORE	He of whom you tell the tale —
ORDONIO	Surveying all things with a quiet scorn, Tamed himself down to living purposes, The occupations and the semblances Of ordinary men — and such he seemed! But that same over ready agent — he —
ISIDORE	Ah! what of him, my lord?
ORDONIO	He proved a traitor, Betrayed the mystery to a brother-traitor, And they between them hatch’d a damnéd plot To hunt him down to infamy and [[Death\
(didascalia)	ORDONIO grasps his [[Sword\
ORDONIO	Our links burn dimly.
ISIDORE	A dark tale darkly finished! Nay, my lord! Tell what he did.
ORDONIO	That which his wisdom prompted — He made the traitor meet him in this cavern, And here he kill’d the traitor.
ISIDORE	No! the [[Fool\
ORDONIO	Thou would’st not then have come, if —
ISIDORE	Oh yes, my lord! I would have met him arm’d, and scar’d the coward.
(didascalia)	ISIDORE throws off his robe; shews himself armed, and draws his [[Sword\
ORDONIO	Now this is excellent and warms the [[Blood\
ISIDORE	And all my little ones fatherless — Die thou first.
(didascalia)	They fight, ORDONIO disarms ISIDORE, and in disarming him throws his [[Sword\
ORDONIO	I have hurl’d him down the chasm! treason for treason. He dreamt of it: henceforward let him [[Sleep\
(didascalia)	Exit ORDONIO.

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	The interior Court of a Saracenic or Gothic Castle, with the Iron Gate of a Dungeon visible.
TERESA	Heart-chilling superstition! thou canst glaze Ev’n pity’s eye with her own frozen tear. In vain I urge the tortures that await him; Even Selma, reverend guardian of my [[Childhood\
(didascalia)	Enter VALDEZ.
VALDEZ	Still sad? — and gazing at the massive door Of that fell dungeon which thou ne’er had’st sight of, Save what, perchance, thy infant fancy shap’d it When the [[Nurse\
TERESA	The horror of their ghastly punishments Doth so o’ertop the height of all compassion, That I should feel too little for mine enemy, If it were possible I could feel more, Even though the dearest inmates of our household Were doom’d to suffer them. That such things are —
VALDEZ	Hush, thoughtless woman!
TERESA	Nay, it wakes within me More than a woman’s spirit.
VALDEZ	No more of this — What if Monviedro or his creatures hear us! I dare not listen to you.
TERESA	My honoured lord, These were my Alvar’s lessons, and whene’er I bend me o’er his portrait, I repeat them, As if to give a voice to the mute image.
VALDEZ	—— We have mourned for Alvar. Of his sad fate there now remains no [[Doubt\
TERESA	Speak not of him! That low imposture! That mysterious picture! If this be [[Madness\
VALDEZ	Is this [[Well\
TERESA	Yes, it is [[Truth\
VALDEZ	Ungrateful woman! I have tried to stifle An old man’s passion! was it not enough, That thou hast made my son a restless man, Banish’d his health, and half unhing’d his reason; But that thou wilt insult him with suspicion? And toil to blast his [[Honour\
TERESA	O grief! to hear Hateful entreaties from a voice we [[Love\
(didascalia)	Enter a Peasant and presents a letter to VALDEZ.
VALDEZ	(reading it). ‘He dares not venture hither!’ Why, what can this mean? ‘Lest the Familiars of the Inquisition, That watch around my gates, should intercept him; But he conjures me, that without delay I hasten to him — for my own sake entreats me To guard from danger him I hold imprison’d — He will reveal a secret, the joy of which Will even outweigh the sorrow.’ — Why what can this be? Perchance it is some Moorish stratagem, To have in me a hostage for his safety. Nay, that they dare not! Ho! collect my servants! I will go thither — let them arm themselves.
(didascalia)	[Exit VALDEZ.
TERESA ([[Alone\	alone]])
(didascalia)	[A pause.
TERESA	And this majestic Moor, seems he not one Who oft and long communing with my Alvar Hath drunk in kindred lustre from his presence, And guides me to him with reflected light? What if in yon dark dungeon coward treachery Be groping for him with envenomed poniard — Hence, womanish fears, traitors to [[Love\
(didascalia)	[Exit TERESA.

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	The [[Mountains\
ALHADRA	Yon hanging woods, that touch’d by [[Autumn\
(didascalia)	She fixes her eye on the earth. Then drop in one after another, from different parts of the stage, a considerable number of Morescoes, all in Moorish garments and Moorish armour. They form a circle at a distance round ALHADRA, and remain silent till NAOMI enters.
NAOMI	Woman! May Alla and the Prophet bless thee! We have obeyed thy call. Where is our chief? And why didst thou enjoin these Moorish garments?
ALHADRA	(raising her eyes, and looking round on the circle) Warriors of Mahomet! faithful in the battle! My countrymen! Come ye prepared to work An honourable deed? And would ye work it In the slave’s garb? Curse on those Christian robes! They are spell-blasted: and whoever wears them, His arm shrinks wither’d, his heart melts away, And his bones soften.
NAOMI	Where is Isidore?
ALHADRA	This [[Night\
ALL MORESCOES	Perished?
ALHADRA	He had perished! Sleep on, poor babes! not one of you doth know That he is fatherless — a desolate [[Orphan\
ONE MORESCO	(to another) Did she say his murder?
NAOMI	Murder? Not murdered?
ALHADRA	Murdered by a Christian!
(didascalia)	They all at once draw their sabres.
ALHADRA	(to Naomi, who advances from the circle) Brother of Zagri! fling away thy [[Sword\
(didascalia)	He steps forward to take it.
ALHADRA	Dost thou dare receive it? For I have sworn by Alla and the Prophet, No tear shall dim these eyes, this woman’s heart Shall heave no groan, till I have seen that [[Sword\
(didascalia)	A pause.
ALHADRA	Ordonio was your chieftain’s murderer!
NAOMI	He dies, by Alla!
ALL	(kneeling) By Alla!
ALHADRA	This [[Night\
NAOMI	The cavern?
ALHADRA	Yes, the mouth of yonder cavern After a while I saw the son of Valdez Rush by with flaring torch; he likewise entered. There was another and a longer pause; And once, methought I heard the clash of swords! And soon the son of Valdez re-appeared: He flung his torch towards the [[Moon\
NAOMI	Thou called’st him?
ALHADRA	I crept into the cavern — ‘Twas dark and very silent. What said’st thou? No! no! I did not dare call, Isidore, Lest I should hear no answer! A brief while, Belike, I lost all thought and [[Memory\
NAOMI	Comfort her, Alla!
ALHADRA	I stood in unimaginable trance And agony that cannot be remembered, Listening with horrid [[Hope\
NAOMI	Haste! let us onward.
ALHADRA	I looked far down the pit — My sight was bounded by a jutting [[Fragment\
ALL	Away! away!
(didascalia)	She rushes off, all following her.

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	A Dungeon.
(didascalia)	ALVAR ([[Alone\
ALVAR	And this place my forefathers made for man! This is the process of our [[Love\
(didascalia)	[Retires out of sight.
(didascalia)	Enter TERESA with a taper.
TERESA	It has chilled my very life —— my own voice scares me; Yet when I hear it not I seem to lose The substance of my being — my strongest grasp Sends inwards but weak witness that I am. I seek to cheat the echo. — How the half sounds Blend with this strangled light! Is he not here —
(didascalia)	[Looking round.
TERESA	O for one human face here — but to see One human face here to sustain me. — Courage! It is but my own [[Fear\
(didascalia)	[Faintly screams as ALVAR emerges from the recess.
(didascalia)	Alvar (rushes towards her, and catches her as she is falling).
ALVAR	O gracious heaven! it is, it is Teresa! Shall I reveal myself? The sudden shock Of rapture will blow out this spark of life, And joy complete what terror has begun. O ye impetuous beatings here, be still! Teresa, best beloved! pale, pale, and cold! Her pulse doth flutter! Teresa! my Teresa!
TERESA	(recovering) I heard a voice; but often in my [[Dreams\
ALVAR	Believe it not, sweet maid! Believe it not, Belovéd woman! ‘Twas a low imposture Framed by a guilty wretch.
TERESA	Ha! Who art thou?
ALVAR	Suborned by his brother —
TERESA	Didst thou murder him? And dost thou now repent? Poor troubled man, I do forgive thee, and may Heaven forgive thee!
ALVAR	Ordonio — he —
TERESA	If thou didst murder him — His spirit ever at the throne of God Asks [[Mercy\
ALVAR	Alvar was not murdered. Be calm! Be calm, sweet maid!
TERESA	Nay, nay, but tell me! [A pause. O ‘tis lost again! This dull confuséd [[Pain\
ALVAR	I can endure no more. The Moorish sorcerer Exists but in the stain upon his face. That picture —
TERESA	Ha! speak on!
ALVAR	Beloved Teresa! It told but half the [[Truth\
(didascalia)	[Takes her portrait from his neck, and gives it her.
TERESA	(receiving the portrait) The same — it is the same! Ah! Who art thou? Nay, I will call thee, Alvar! [She falls on his neck.
ALVAR	O joy unutterable! But hark! a sound as of removing bars At the dungeon’s outer door. A brief, brief while Conceal thyself, my [[Love\
TERESA	O my all virtuous [[Love\
ALVAR	Thou dost not leave me! But a brief while retire into the darkness: O that my joy could spread its sunshine round thee!
TERESA	The sound of thy voice shall be my music! Alvar! my Alvar! am I sure I hold thee? Is it no dream? thee in my arms, my Alvar! [Exit.
(didascalia)	[A noise at the Dungeon door. It opens, and ORDONIO enters, with a goblet in his hand.
ORDONIO	Hail, potent wizard! in my gayer mood I poured forth a libation to old Pluto, And as I brimmed the bowl, I thought on thee. Thou hast conspired against my life and [[Honour\
ALVAR	I see thy heart! There is a frightful glitter in thine eye Which doth betray thee. Inly-tortured man, This is the revelry of a drunken anguish, Which fain would scoff away the pang of [[Guilt\
ORDONIO	Feeling! feeling! The [[Death\
(didascalia)	[ORDONIO proffers the goblet.
ALVAR	Yon insect on the wall, Which moves this way and that its hundred limbs, Were it a toy of mere mechanic craft, It were an infinitely curious thing! But it has life, Ordonio! life, enjoyment! And by the power of its miraculous will Wields all the complex movements of its frame Unerringly to pleasurable ends! Saw I that insect on this goblet’s brim I would remove it with an anxious pity!
ORDONIO	What meanest thou?
ALVAR	There’s [[Poison\
ORDONIO	Thou hast guessed right; there’s [[Poison\
ALVAR	Whom dost thou think me?
ORDONIO	The accomplice and sworn friend of Isidore.
ALVAR	I know him not. And yet methinks, I have heard the name but lately. Means he the husband of the Moorish woman? Isidore? Isidore?
ORDONIO	Good! good! that lie! by heaven it has restored me. Now I am thy master! — Villain! thou shalt drink it, Or die a bitterer [[Death\
ALVAR	What strange solution Hast thou found out to satisfy thy fears, And drug them to unnatural [[Sleep\
(didascalia)	[ALVAR takes the goblet, and throws it to the ground.
ALVAR	My master!
ORDONIO	Thou mountebank!
ALVAR	Mountebank and [[Villain\
ORDONIO	Saved? saved?
ALVAR	One pang! Could I call up one pang of true remorse!
ORDONIO	He told me of the babes that prattled to him. His fatherless little ones! remorse! remorse! Where got’st thou that [[Fool\
ALVAR	But Alvar ——
ORDONIO	Ha! it chokes thee in the throat, Even thee; and yet I pray thee speak it out. Still Alvar! — Alvar! — howl it in mine ear! Heap it like coals of [[Fire\
ALVAR	Alas! That day when thou didst leap from off the rock Into the waves, and grasped thy sinking brother, And bore him to the strand; then, son of Valdez, How sweet and musical the name of Alvar! Then, then, Ordonio, he was dear to thee, And thou wert dear to him: heaven only knows How very dear thou wert! Why did’st thou hate him! O heaven! how he would fall upon thy neck, And weep [[Forgiveness\
ORDONIO	Spirit of the dead! Methinks I know thee! ha! my brain turns wild At its own [[Dreams\
ALVAR	I fain would tell thee what I am, but dare not!
ORDONIO	Cheat! [[Villain\
TERESA	(rushing out and falling on Alvar’s neck) Ordonio! ‘tis thy brother!
(didascalia)	[ORDONIO runs upon ALVAR with his [[Sword\
TERESA	Stop, madman, stop!
ALVAR	Does then this thin disguise impenetrably Hide Alvar from thee? Toil and painful wounds And long [[Imprisonment\
ORDONIO	(drawing back, and gazing at Alvar) Touch me not! Touch not pollution, Alvar! I will die.
(didascalia)	[He attempts to fall on his [[Sword\
ALVAR	We will find means to save your [[Honour\
TERESA	And you may yet be happy.
ORDONIO	O horror! not a thousand years in heaven Could recompose this miserable heart, Or make it capable of one brief joy! Live! live! Why yes! ‘Twere [[Well\
ALVAR	Call back thy [[Soul\
TERESA	O mark his eye! he hears not what you say.
ORDONIO	Yes, mark his eye! there’s fascination in it! Thou said’st thou did’st not know him — That is he! He comes upon me!
ALVAR	Heal, O heal him, heaven!
ORDONIO	Nearer and nearer! and I can not stir! Will no one hear these stifled groans, and wake me? He would have died to save me, and I killed him — A husband and a father! —
TERESA	Some secret [[Poison\
ORDONIO	Let the eternal justice Prepare my punishment in the obscure world — I will not bear to live — to live — O agony! And be myself [[Alone\
(didascalia)	[The doors of the dungeon are broken open, and in rush ALHADRA, and the band of Morescoes.
ALHADRA	Seize first that man!
(didascalia)	[ALVAR presses onward to defend ORDONIO.
ORDONIO	Off, ruffians! I have flung away my [[Sword\
ALHADRA	My husband —
ORDONIO	Yes, I murdered him most foully.
ALVAR AND TERESA	O horrible!
ALHADRA	Why did’st thou leave his children? Demon, thou should’st have sent thy dogs of hell To lap their [[Blood\
TERESA	He doth repent! See, see, I kneel to thee! O let him live! That agéd man, his father ——
ALHADRA	Why had he such a son?
(didascalia)	[Shouts from the distance of Rescue! Rescue! Alvar! Alvar! and the voice of VALDEZ heard.
ALHADRA	Rescue? — and Isidore’s spirit unavenged? — The deed be mine! [Suddenly stabs ORDONIO. Now take my life!
ORDONIO	(staggering from the wound) Atonement!
ALVAR	(while with Teresa supporting Ordonio) Arm of avenging Heaven Thou hast snatched from me my most cherished [[Hope\
ORDONIO	Away! Brave not my Father’s rage! I thank thee! Thou —
(didascalia)	[Then turning his eyes languidly to ALVAR.
ORDONIO	She hath avenged the [[Blood\
(didascalia)	[ALVAR and TERESA bend over the [[Body\
ALHADRA	(to the Moors) I thank thee, Heaven! thou hast ordained it wisely, That still extremes bring their own cure. That point In misery, which makes the oppressed Man Regardless of his own life, makes him too Lord of the Oppressor’s — Knew I a hundred men Despairing, but not palsied by [[Despair\
(didascalia)	[ALHADRA hurries off with the Moors; the stage fills with armed Peasants, and Servants, ZULIMEZ and VALDEZ at their head. VALDEZ rushes into ALVAR’S arms.
ALVAR	Turn not thy face that way, my father! hide, Oh hide it from his eye! Oh let thy joy Flow in unmingled stream through thy first blessing.
(didascalia)	[Both kneel to VALDEZ.
VALDEZ	My Son! My Alvar! bless, Oh bless him, heaven!
TERESA	Me too, my Father?
VALDEZ	Bless, Oh bless my children!
(didascalia)	[Both rise.
ALVAR	Delights so full, if unalloyed with grief, Were ominous. In these strange dread events Just Heaven instructs us with an awful voice, That Conscience rules us e’en against our choice. Our inward Monitress to guide or warn, If listened to; but if repelled with scorn, At length as dire Remorse, she reappears, Works in our guilty hopes, and selfish fears! Still bids, Remember! and still cries, Too late! And while she scares us, goads us to our fate.
(didascalia)	[After 41] As in [[A Dream\
(didascalia)	[After 46] [Shuddering. Editions 2, 3, 1829.
(didascalia)	[After 48] [Faintly … recess, and moves hastily towards her. Edition 1.
(didascalia)	[After 55] Teresa (recovering, looks round wildly). Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
(didascalia)	Teresa (retires from him, and feebly supports herself against a pillar of the dungeon). Ha! who art thou? Alvar (exceedingly affected). Suborned, &c. Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
(didascalia)	Teresa (wildly). Nay, nay, but tell me! [A pause, then presses her forehead. O ‘tis lost again! This dull confused [[Pain\
(didascalia)	[After 103] [Retiring, she returns hastily and embracing ALVAR. Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
(didascalia)	[Before 106] Ordonio (with affected gravity). Edition 1 (c) (?).
(didascalia)	[After 115] [Waving his hand to ALVAR. Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
(didascalia)	Edition 1. [ALVAR … and throwing it to the ground, &c. Editions 2, 3, 1829.
(didascalia)	1, 2, 3, 1829.
(didascalia)	[After 195] [ORDONIO with frantic wildness runs, &c. Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
(didascalia)	at once awe and terror). Touch me not! Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
(didascalia)	vacancy). Editions 2, 3, 1829.
(didascalia)	[After 229] (Alvar presses on as if to defend Ordonio.) Edition 1.
(didascalia)	[After 244] [Struggling to suppress her feelings. Editions 1, 2, 3, 1829.
(didascalia)	The deed be mine! (Suddenly stabs ORDONIO.) Now take my life! Alv. (while with TERESA supporting ORDONIO). Arm of avenging Heaven! Thou hast snatch’d from me my most cherish’d [[Hope\
(didascalia)	thyself, O Woman! Edition 1 (b).
(didascalia)	[Note. — In his collation of Remorse with Osorio, the Editor of P. W. 1877-1880, iv. 154 affixes to lines 289-303 of the Fifth Act of Osorio the following variant, said to be derived from the First Edition of Remorse: — After the cry of ‘No [[Mercy\
(didascalia)	Enter Teresa and Selma.
MOOR	We are surprised! away! away! this instant! The country is in arms! Lord Valdez heads them, And still cries out, ‘My son! my Alvar lives!’ Haste to the shore! they come the opposite [[Road\
ALHADRA	Thou then art Alvar! to my aid and safety Thy word stands pledged.
ALVAR	Arm of avenging Heaven! I had two cherish’d hopes — the one remains, The other thou hast snatch’d from me: but my word Is pledged to thee; nor shall it be retracted — Edition 1 (c) (?).
(didascalia)	[After 259] (ORDONIO follows ALHADRA with his eye which then raising languidly to ALVAR he compleats his meaning, but substituting ‘the’ for ‘Thee’). Marginal stage-direction inserted in MS. R.]
(didascalia)	Stage-direction preceding 265 and 265-79: om. Edition 1.
(didascalia)	[Before 280] [The stage fills with armed peasants … ALVAR’S arms. Edition 1.
(didascalia)	APPENDIX The following Scene, as unfit for the stage, was taken from the [[Tragedy\
(didascalia)	Enter Teresa and Selma.
TERESA	’Tis said, he spake of you familiarly, As mine and Alvar’s common foster-mother.
SELMA	Now blessings on the man, whoe’er he be That joined your names with mine! O my sweet Lady, As often as I think of those dear times, When you two little ones would stand, at eve, On each side of my chair, and make me learn All you had learnt in the day; and how to talk In gentle phrase; then bid me sing to you —— ‘Tis more like heaven to come, than what has been!
TERESA	But that entrance, Selma?
SELMA	Can no one hear? It is a perilous tale!
TERESA	No one.
SELMA	My husband’s father told it me, Poor old Sesina — angels rest his [[Soul\
TERESA	’Tis a sweet tale: Such as would lull a listening [[Child\
SELMA	He went on shipboard With those bold voyagers who made discovery Of golden lands. Sesina’s younger brother Went likewise, and when he returned to Spain, He told Sesina, that the poor mad youth, Soon after they arrived in that new world, In spite of his dissuasion, seized a boat, And all [[Alone\