ZAPOLYA A CHRISTMAS TALE IN TWO PARTS

by Coleridge · Cluster: Crown · Pride · Fortune’s Wheel

Abstract

Coleridge’s romance verse-drama in blank verse, modelled on Shakespeare’s Winter’s Tale: a usurper (Emerick) seizes the throne of Illyria, the rightful queen and infant heir are driven into exile, and after twenty years legitimacy is restored. Central themes are kingship and legitimacy, usurpation, fate and providence, exile, and the restoration of the natural order.

Capitoli / Chapters

• Act I, Scene 1
• Act II, Scene 1
• Act III, Scene 1
• Act IV, Scene 1
• Act V, Scene 1
• Act V, Scene 2

Connections

Topoi: Sleeper Awakes, Fortune’s Wheel Archetypes: Usurper, Tyrant, King, Outsider Motifs: Crown, Serpent Snake, Swords and Weapons, Concealment Hidden Identity Themes & Concepts: Kingship and Legitimacy, Power and Corruption, Fate and Free Will, Providence, Exile, Natural Order, Appearance vs Reality Forms & Genres: Verse Drama, Blank Verse, Romance Play, Tragicomedy Settings: Court

Testo integrale / Full text

ZAPOLYA: A CHRISTMAS TALE IN TWO PARTS pÁ ÀÅÁv ÇÁt Ä¿¹±æı »s³µ¹½ ǵ¹¼ö½¿Â ½ eÁ³. APUD ATHENAEUM. CONTENTS ADVERTISEMENT PART I: THE PRELUDE, ENTITLED ‘THE USURPER’S FORTUNE’ CHARACTERS SCENE I PART II: THE SEQUEL, ENTITLED ‘THE USURPER’S FATE ADDITIONAL CHARACTERS ACT I SCENE I ACT II SCENE I ACT III SCENE I ACT IV SCENE I

ADVERTISEMENT The form of the following dramatic poem is in humble imitation of the Winter’s Tale of Shakspeare, except that I have called the first part a Prelude instead of a first Act, as a somewhat nearer resemblance to the plan of the ancients, of which one specimen is left us in the Æschylean Trilogy of the Agamemnon, the Orestes, and the Eumenides. Though a matter of form merely, yet two plays, on different periods of the same tale, might seem less bold, than an interval of twenty years between a first and second act. This is, however, in mere obedience to custom. The effect does not, in reality, at all depend on the Time of the interval; but on a very different principle. There are cases in which an interval of twenty hours between the acts would have a worse effect (i. e. render the imagination less disposed to take the position required) than twenty years in other cases. For the rest, I shall be well content if my readers will take it up, read and judge it, as a Christmas tale.

PART I: THE PRELUDE, ENTITLED ‘THE USURPER’S FORTUNE’

CHARACTERS EMERICK, Usurping King of Illyria. RAAB KIUPRILI, an Illyrian Chieftain. CASIMIR, Son of KIUPRILI. CHEF RAGOZZI, a Military Commander. ZAPOLYA, Queen of Illyria.

SCENE I

Act I, Scene 1

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Front of the Palace with a magnificent Colonnade. On one side a military Guard-house. Sentries pacing backward and forward before the Palace. CHEF RAGOZZI, at the door of the Guard-house, as looking forwards at some object in the distance.
CHEF RAGOZZI	My eyes deceive me not, it must be he. Who but our chief, my more than father, who But Raab Kiuprili moves with such a gait? Lo! e’en this eager and unwonted haste But agitates, not quells, its majesty. My patron! my commander! yes, ‘tis he! Call out the guards. The Lord Kiuprili comes.
(didascalia)	[Drums beat, &c., the Guard turns out.
(didascalia)	Enter RAAB KIUPRILI.
RAAB KIUPRILI	(making a signal to stop the drums, &c.). Silence! enough! This is no [[Time
CHEF RAGOZZI	Pardon my surprise. Thus sudden from the camp, and unattended! What may these wonders prophesy?
RAAB KIUPRILI	Tell me first, How fares the [[King
CHEF RAGOZZI	We know no otherwise; but Emerick’s friends (And none but they approach him) scoff at [[Hope
RAAB KIUPRILI	Ragozzi! I have reared thee from a [[Child
CHEF RAGOZZI	O most loved, most honoured, The mystery that struggles in my looks Betrayed my whole tale to thee, if it told thee That I am ignorant; but [[Fear
RAAB KIUPRILI	I have trembling proof within how true thou speakest.
CHEF RAGOZZI	That the prince Emerick feasts the soldiery, Gives splendid arms, pays the commanders’ debts, And (it is whispered) by sworn promises Makes himself debtor — hearing this, thou hast heard All —— But what my lord will learn too soon himself.
RAAB KIUPRILI	Ha! — Well then, let it come! Worse scarce can come. This letter written by the trembling hand Of royal Andreas calls me from the camp To his immediate presence. It appoints me, The Queen, and Emerick, guardians of the realm, And of the royal infant. Day by day, Robbed of Zapolya’s soothing cares, the [[King
CHEF RAGOZZI	Remember you, my lord! that Hebrew leech Whose face so much distempered you?
RAAB KIUPRILI	Barzoni? I held him for a spy; but the proof failing (More courteously, I own, than pleased myself), I sent him from the camp.
CHEF RAGOZZI	To him, in chief, Prince Emerick trusts his royal brother’s health.
RAAB KIUPRILI	Hide nothing, I conjure you! What of him?
CHEF RAGOZZI	With pomp of words beyond a soldier’s cunning, And shrugs and wrinkled brow, he smiles and whispers! Talks in dark words of women’s fancies; hints That ‘twere a useless and a cruel zeal To rob a dying man of any [[Hope
RAAB KIUPRILI	The venomous snake! My heel was on its head, And ([[Fool
CHEF RAGOZZI	Nay, he fears Zapolya will not long survive her husband.
RAAB KIUPRILI	Manifest treason! Even this brief delay Half makes me an accomplice —— (If he live,) [Is moving toward the palace. If he but live and know me, all may ——
CHEF RAGOZZI	Halt! [Stops him. On [[Pain
RAAB KIUPRILI	Thou!
CHEF RAGOZZI	No place, no name, no rank excepted —
RAAB KIUPRILI	Thou!
CHEF RAGOZZI	This life of mine, O take it, Lord Kiuprili! I give it as a weapon to thy hands, Mine own no longer. Guardian of Illyria, Useless to thee, ‘tis worthless to myself. Thou art the framer of my nobler being; Nor does there live one virtue in my [[Soul
RAAB KIUPRILI	My heart is rent asunder. O my country, O fallen Illyria, stand I here spell-bound? Did my King [[Love
CHEF RAGOZZI	Here before Heaven I dedicate my [[Faith
RAAB KIUPRILI	Hark, Ragozzi! Guilt is a timorous thing ere perpetration: Despair [[Alone
CHEF RAGOZZI	At length then ‘tis announced. Alas! I [[Fear
RAAB KIUPRILI	A prophecy too soon fulfilled! See yonder! O rank and ravenous wolves! the [[Death
CHEF RAGOZZI	Precise and faithful in their villainy Even to the moment, that the master traitor Had pre-ordained them.
RAAB KIUPRILI	Was it over-haste, Or is it scorn, that in this race of treason Their [[Guilt
CHEF RAGOZZI	Doubtless they deem Heaven too usurp’d! Heaven’s justice Bought like themselves! Being equal all in crime, Do you press on, ye spotted parricides! For the one sole pre-eminence yet doubtful, The prize of foremost impudence in [[Guilt
RAAB KIUPRILI	The bad man’s cunning still prepares the way For its own outwitting. I applaud, Ragozzi! Ragozzi! I applaud, In thee, the virtuous [[Hope
(didascalia)	[Enter a procession of EMERICK’S Adherents, Nobles, Chieftains, and Soldiers, with Music. They advance toward the front of the stage. KIUPRILI makes the signal for them to stop. — The Music ceases.
LEADER OF THE PROCESSION	The Lord Kiuprili! — Welcome from the camp.
RAAB KIUPRILI	Grave magistrates and chieftains of Illyria, In good [[Time
LEADER	Our purpose demands [[Speed
RAAB KIUPRILI	This patent written by your lawful [[King
CASIMIR	Who is this factious insolent, that dares brand The elected King, our chosen Emerick? My father!
RAAB KIUPRILI	Casimir! He, he a traitor! Too soon indeed, Ragozzi! have I learnt it. [Aside.
CASIMIR	My father and my lord!
RAAB KIUPRILI	I know thee not!
LEADER	Yet the remembrancing did sound right filial.
RAAB KIUPRILI	A holy name and words of natural duty Are blasted by a thankless traitor’s utterance.
CASIMIR	O hear me, Sire! not lightly have I sworn Homage to Emerick. Illyria’s sceptre Demands a manly hand, a warrior’s grasp. The [[Queen
RAAB KIUPRILI	(Bought by a bribe!) I know thee now still less.
CASIMIR	So much of Raab Kiuprili’s [[Blood
RAAB KIUPRILI	The son of Raab Kiuprili a bought bond-slave, Guilt’s pander, treason’s mouth-piece, a gay parrot, School’d to shrill forth his feeder’s usurp’d titles. And scream, Long live King Emerick!
LEADERS	Aye, King Emerick! Stand back, my lord! Lead us, or let us pass.
SOLDIER	Nay, let the general speak!
SOLDIERS	Hear him! hear him!
RAAB KIUPRILI	Hear me, Assembled lords and warriors of Illyria, Hear, and avenge me! Twice ten years have I Stood in your presence, honoured by the [[King
CASIMIR	Sire! your words grow dangerous. High-flown romantic fancies ill-beseem Your age and wisdom. ‘Tis a statesman’s virtue, To guard his country’s safety by what means It best may be protected — come what will Of these monk’s morals!
RAAB KIUPRILI	(aside). Ha! the elder Brutus Made his [[Soul
EMERICK	Call out the guard! Ragozzi! seize the assassin. —— Kiuprili? Ha! —— [Making signs to the guard to retire. Pass on, friends! to the palace. [Music recommences. — The Procession passes into the Palace.
EMERICK	What? Raab Kiuprili? What? a father’s [[Sword
RAAB KIUPRILI	‘Twould best excuse him, Were he thy son, Prince Emerick. I abjure him.
EMERICK	This is my thanks, then, that I have commenced A reign to which the free voice of the nobles Hath called me, and the people, by regards Of [[Love
RAAB KIUPRILI	What right hadst thou, Prince Emerick, to bestow them?
EMERICK	By what right dares Kiuprili question me?
RAAB KIUPRILI	By a right common to all loyal subjects — To me a duty! As the realm’s co-regent, Appointed by our sovereign’s last free act, Writ by himself. — [Grasping the Patent.
EMERICK	Aye! — Writ in a delirium!
RAAB KIUPRILI	I likewise ask, by whose authority The access to the sovereign was refused me?
EMERICK	By whose authority dared the general leave His camp and army, like a fugitive?
RAAB KIUPRILI	A fugitive, who, with victory for his comrade, Ran, open-eyed, upon the face of [[Death
EMERICK	A sovereign’s ear ill brooks a subject’s questioning! Yet for thy past [[Well
RAAB KIUPRILI	Prince! I listen.
EMERICK	Unwillingly I tell thee, that Zapolya, Maddened with grief, her erring hopes proved idle —
CASIMIR	Sire! speak the whole [[Truth
EMERICK	According to the sworn attests in council Of her physician ——
RAAB KIUPRILI	(aside). Yes! the Jew, Barzoni!
EMERICK	Under the imminent risk of [[Death
CASIMIR	(to Kiuprili). Trust me, my lord! a woman’s trick has duped you — Us too — but most of all, the sainted Andreas. Even for his own fair fame, his grace prays hourly For her recovery, that (the States convened) She may take counsel of her friends.
EMERICK	Right, Casimir! Receive my pledge, lord general. It shall stand In her own will to appear and voice her claims; Or (which in [[Truth
RAAB KIUPRILI	Prince Emerick! you speak fairly, and your pledge too Is such, as [[Well
CASIMIR	My lord! you scarce know half his grace’s goodness. The wealthy heiress, high-born fair Sarolta, Bred in the convent of our noble ladies, Her relative, the venerable abbess, Hath, at his grace’s urgence, wooed and won for me.
EMERICK	Long may the race, and long may that name flourish, Which your heroic deeds, brave chief, have rendered Dear and illustrious to all true Illyrians.
RAAB KIUPRILI	The longest line that ever tracing herald Or found or feigned, placed by a beggar’s [[Soul
EMERICK	Conscience, good my lord, Is but the pulse of reason. Is it [[Conscience
CASIMIR	What better claim can sovereign wish or need Than the free voice of men who [[Love
RAAB KIUPRILI	Prince Emerick, Your cause will prosper best in your own pleading.
EMERICK	(aside to Casimir). Ragozzi was thy school-mate — a bold spirit! Bind him to us! — Thy father thaws apace! [Then aloud. Leave us awhile, my lord! — Your friend, Ragozzi, Whom you have not yet seen since his return, Commands the guard to-day. [CASIMIR retires to the Guard-house; and after a [[Time
RAAB KIUPRILI	Mistake not for assent The unquiet [[Silence
EMERICK	Ha, ha! — Well, Sir! — Conclude your homily.
RAAB KIUPRILI	A tale which, whether true or false, comes guarded Against all means of proof, detects itself. The Queen mew’d up — this too from anxious care And [[Love
EMERICK	Aye! to the mark!
RAAB KIUPRILI	Had’st thou believed thine own tale, had’st thou fancied Thyself the rightful successor of Andreas, Would’st thou have pilfered from our school-boys’ themes These shallow sophisms of a popular choice? What people? How convened? or, if convened, Must not the [[Magic
EMERICK	(aloud). Is’t thus thou scoff’st the people? most of all, The soldiers, the defenders of the people?
RAAB KIUPRILI	O most of all, most miserable nation, For whom the imperial power, enormous bubble! Is blown and kept aloft, or burst and shattered By the bribed breath of a lewd soldiery! Chiefly of such, as from the frontiers far, (Which is the noblest station of true warriors) In rank licentious idleness beleaguer City and Court, a venomed thorn i’the side Of virtuous kings, the [[Tyrant
EMERICK	I have [[Faith
RAAB KIUPRILI	Wretch beneath all answer!
EMERICK	Offers at once the royal bed and throne!
RAAB KIUPRILI	To be a kingdom’s bulwark, a [[King
EMERICK	Not for thy [[Sword
CASIMIR	O agony! [To EMERICK. Sire, hear me! [To KIUPRILI, who turns from him. Hear me, father!
EMERICK	Take in arrest that traitor and assassin! Who pleads for his life, strikes at mine, his sovereign’s.
RAAB KIUPRILI	As the Co-regent of the Realm, I stand Amenable to none save to the States Met in due course of law. But ye are bond-slaves, Yet witness ye that before God and man I here impeach Lord Emerick of foul treason, And on strong grounds attaint him with suspicion Of murder —
EMERICK	Hence with the madman!
RAAB KIUPRILI	Your Queen’s murder, The royal [[Orphan
EMERICK	Ere twice the sun hath risen, by my sceptre This insolence shall be avenged.
CASIMIR	O banish him! This infamy will crush me. O for my sake, Banish him, my liege lord!
EMERICK	What? to the army? Be calm, young friend! Nought shall be done in anger. The [[Child
EMERICK	([[Alone
(didascalia)	Scene changes to the back of the Palace — a Wooded Park, and Mountains.
(didascalia)	Enter ZAPOLYA, with an infant in arms.
ZAPOLYA	Hush, dear one! hush! My trembling arm disturbs thee! Thou, the protector of the helpless! Thou, The widow’s husband and the [[Orphan
CHEF RAGOZZI	Sure Heaven befriends us. Well! he hath escaped! O rare tune of a [[Tyrant
ZAPOLYA	(coming forward). Art thou not Ragozzi?
CHEF RAGOZZI	The Queen! Now then the miracle is full! I see heaven’s wisdom is an over-match For the devil’s cunning. This way, madam, haste!
ZAPOLYA	Stay! Oh, no! Forgive me if I wrong thee! This is thy sovereign’s [[Child
CHEF RAGOZZI	(raising her). Madam! For [[Mercy
ZAPOLYA	But tyrants have a hundred eyes and arms!
CHEF RAGOZZI	Take [[Courage
ZAPOLYA	Kiuprili! How?
CHEF RAGOZZI	There is not [[Time
ZAPOLYA	What, Raab Kiuprili?
CHEF RAGOZZI	Yes! my noble general! I sent him off, with Emerick’s own pacquet, Haste, and post haste — Prepared to follow him ——
ZAPOLYA	Ah, how? Is it joy or [[Fear
CHEF RAGOZZI	(supporting her). Heaven still befriends us. I have left my charger, A gentle beast and fleet, and my boy’s mule, One that can shoot a precipice like a bird, Just where the wood begins to climb the [[Mountains
ZAPOLYA	One brief moment, That praying for strength I may have strength. This babe, Heaven’s eye is on it, and its innocence Is, as a [[Prophet
CHEF RAGOZZI	Haste, madam! Let me take this precious burden! [He kneels as he takes the [[Child
ZAPOLYA	Take him! And if we be pursued, I charge thee, Flee thou and leave me! Flee and save thy [[King

Act II, Scene 1

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	A Mountainous Country. BATHORY’S Dwelling at the end of the Stage.
(didascalia)	Enter LADY SAROLTA and GLYCINE.
GLYCINE	Well then! our round of [[Charity
SAROLTA	What, tired, Glycine? No delicate [[Court
GLYCINE	That last cottage Is built as if an eagle or a raven Had chosen it for her nest.
SAROLTA	So many are The sufferings which no human aid can reach, It needs must be a duty doubly sweet To heal the few we can. Well! let us rest.
GLYCINE	There? [Pointing to BATHORY’S dwelling.
SAROLTA	Here! For on this spot Lord Casimir Took his last leave. On yonder mountain-ridge I lost the misty image which so long Lingered, or seemed at least to linger on it.
GLYCINE	And what if even now, on that same ridge, A speck should rise, and still enlarging, lengthening, As it clomb downwards, shape itself at last To a numerous cavalcade, and spurring foremost, Who but Sarolta’s own dear lord returned From his high embassy?
SAROLTA	Thou hast hit my thought! All the long day, from yester-morn to evening, The restless [[Hope
GLYCINE	But our best sports belike, and gay processions Would to my lord have seemed but work-day sights Compared with those the royal [[Court
SAROLTA	I have small wish to see them. A spring morning With its wild gladsome minstrelsy of [[Birds
GLYCINE	And yet had I been born Lady Sarolta, Been wedded to the noblest of the realm, So beautiful besides, and yet so stately ——
SAROLTA	Hush! Innocent flatterer!
GLYCINE	Nay! to my poor fancy The royal [[Court
SAROLTA	So doth the ignorant distance still delude us! Thy fancied heaven, dear girl, like that above thee, In its mere [[Self
GLYCINE	Yes, madam! he was there. So was the maypole, For we danced round it.
SAROLTA	Ah, Glycine! why, Why did you then betroth yourself?
GLYCINE	Because My own dear lady wished it! ‘twas you asked me!
SAROLTA	Yes, at my lord’s request, but never wished, My poor affectionate girl, to see thee wretched. Thou knowest not yet the duties of a wife.
GLYCINE	Oh, yes! It is a wife’s chief duty, madam! To stand in awe of her husband, and obey him, And, I am sure, I never shall see Laska But I shall tremble.
SAROLTA	Not with [[Fear
(didascalia)	Re-enter GLYCINE.
GLYCINE	Oh, madam! there’s a party of your servants, And my lord’s steward, Laska, at their head, Have come to search for old Bathory’s son, Bethlen, that brave young man! ‘twas he, my lady, That took our parts, and beat off the intruders, And in mere spite and malice, now they charge him With bad words of Lord Casimir and the [[King
SAROLTA	Be calm, Glycine.
(didascalia)	Enter LASKA and Servants with OLD BATHORY.
LASKA	(to Bathory). We have no concern with you! What needs your presence?
OLD BATHORY	What! Do you think I’ll suffer my brave boy To be slandered by a set of coward-ruffians, And leave it to their malice, — yes, mere malice! — To tell its own tale? [LASKA and Servants bow to Lady SAROLTA.
SAROLTA	Laska! What may this mean?
LASKA	Madam! and may it please your ladyship! This old man’s son, by name Bethlen Bathory, Stands charged, on weighty evidence, that he, On yester-eve, being his lordship’s birth-day, Did traitorously defame Lord Casimir: The lord high steward of the realm, moreover ——
SAROLTA	Be brief! We know his titles!
LASKA	And moreover Raved like a traitor at our liege King Emerick. And furthermore, said witnesses make oath, Led on the assault upon his lordship’s servants; Yea, insolently tore, from this, your huntsman, His badge of livery of your noble house, And trampled it in scorn.
SAROLTA	(to the Servants who offer to speak). You have had your spokesman! Where is the young man thus accused?
OLD BATHORY	I know not: But if no ill betide him on the [[Mountains
SAROLTA	Thou art his father?
OLD BATHORY	None ever with more reason prized a son; Yet I hate falsehood more than I [[Love
GLYCINE	Yes! good old man! My lady! pray believe him!
SAROLTA	Hush, Glycine Be silent, I command you. [Then to BATHORY. Speak! we hear you!
OLD BATHORY	My tale is brief. During our festive [[Dance
SAROLTA	Old man! you talk Too bluntly! Did your son owe no respect To the livery of our house?
OLD BATHORY	Even such respect As the sheep’s skin should gain for the hot wolf That hath begun to worry the poor lambs!
LASKA	Old insolent ruffian!
GLYCINE	Pardon! pardon, madam! I saw the whole affray. The good old man Means no offence, sweet lady! — You, yourself, Laska! know [[Well
SAROLTA	What! Glycine? Go, retire! [Exit GLYCINE. Be it then that these men faulted. Yet yourself, Or better still belike the maidens’ parents, Might have complained to us. Was ever access Denied you? Or free audience? Or are we Weak and unfit to punish our own servants?
OLD BATHORY	So then! So then! Heaven grant an old man patience! And must the gardener leave his seedling plants, Leave his young roses to the rooting swine While he goes ask their master, if perchance His leisure serve to scourge them from their ravage?
LASKA	Ho! Take the rude clown from your lady’s presence! I will report her further will!
SAROLTA	Wait then, Till thou hast learnt it! Fervent good old man! Forgive me that, to try thee, I put on A face of sternness, alien to my meaning! [Then speaks to the Servants. Hence! leave my presence! and you, Laska! mark me! Those rioters are no longer of my household! If we but shake a dewdrop from a [[Rose
LASKA	(aside). Yes, now ‘tis coming.
SAROLTA	Brutal aggressors first, then baffled dastards, That they have sought to piece out their [[Revenge
OLD BATHORY	Ha! what strangers here!Your goodness, lady — and it came so sudden — I can not — must not — let you be deceived. I have yet another tale, but — [Then to SAROLTA aside. not for all ears!
SAROLTA	I oft have passed your cottage, and still praised Its [[Beauty
LASKA	([[Alone
GLYCINE	Laska! Laska! Is my lady gone?
LASKA	Gone.
GLYCINE	Have you yet seen him? Is he returned? [LASKA starts up. Has the seat stung you, Laska?
LASKA	No, serpent! no; ‘tis you that sting me; you! What! you would cling to him again?
GLYCINE	Whom?
LASKA	Bethlen! Bethlen! Yes; gaze as if your very eyes embraced him! Ha! you forget the scene of yesterday! Mute ere he came, but then — Out on your screams, And your pretended fears!
GLYCINE	Your fears, at least, Were real, Laska! or your trembling limbs And white cheeks played the hypocrites most vilely!
LASKA	I [[Fear
GLYCINE	I know what I should [[Fear
LASKA	What?
GLYCINE	My own [[Conscience
LASKA	You will know too soon.
GLYCINE	Would I could find my lady! though she chid me — Yet this suspense — [Going.
LASKA	Stop! stop! one question only — I am quite calm —
GLYCINE	Ay, as the old [[Song
LASKA	Are you not bound to me by your own promise? And is it not as plain —
GLYCINE	Halt! that’s two questions.
LASKA	Pshaw! Is it not as plain as impudence, That you’re in [[Love
GLYCINE	Question meet question: that’s a woman’s privilege, Why, Laska, did you urge Lord Casimir To make my lady force that promise from me?
LASKA	So then, you say, Lady Sarolta, forced you?
GLYCINE	Could I look up to her dear countenance, And say her nay? As far back as I wot of All her commands were gracious, sweet requests. How could it be then, but that her requests Must needs have sounded to me as commands? And as for [[Love
LASKA	Not one for Bethlen?
GLYCINE	Oh! that’s a different thing. To be sure he’s brave, and handsome, and so pious To his good old father. But for loving him — Nay, there, indeed you are mistaken, Laska! Poor youth! I rather think I grieve for him; For I sigh so deeply when I think of him! And if I see him, the [[Tears
LASKA	You dare own all this? Your lady will not warrant promise-breach. Mine, pampered Miss! you shall be; and I’ll make you Grieve for him with a vengeance. Odd’s, my fingers Tingle already! [Makes threatening signs.
GLYCINE	(aside). Ha! Bethlen coming this way! [GLYCINE then cries out. Oh, save me! save me! Pray don’t kill me, Laska!
(didascalia)	Enter BETHLEN in a Hunting Dress.
BETHLEN	What, beat a woman!
LASKA	(to Glycine). O you cockatrice!
BETHLEN	Unmanly dastard, hold!
LASKA	Do you chance to know Who — I — am, Sir? — (‘Sdeath! how black he looks!)
BETHLEN	I have started many strange beasts in my [[Time
LASKA	Bold youth! she’s mine.
GLYCINE	No, not my master yet, But only is to be; and all, because Two years ago my lady asked me, and I promised her, not him; and if she’ll let me, I’ll hate you, my lord’s steward.
BETHLEN	Hush, Glycine!
GLYCINE	Yes, I do, Bethlen; for he just now brought False witnesses to swear away your life: Your life, and old Bathory’s too.
BETHLEN	Bathory’s! Where is my father? Answer, or —— Ha! gone! [LASKA during this [[Time
GLYCINE	Oh, heed not him! I saw you pressing onward, And did but feign alarm. Dear gallant youth, It is your life they seek!
BETHLEN	My life?
GLYCINE	Alas, Lady Sarolta even —
BETHLEN	She does not know me!
GLYCINE	Oh that she did! she could not then have spoken With such stern countenance. But though she spurn me, I will kneel, Bethlen —
BETHLEN	Not for me, Glycine! What have I done? or whom have I offended?
GLYCINE	Rash words, ‘tis said, and treasonous of the [[King
GLYCINE	(aside). So looks the statue, in our hall, o’ the god, The shaft just flown that killed the serpent!
BETHLEN	King!
GLYCINE	Ah, often have I wished you were a [[King
BETHLEN	Pretty Glycine! wert thou not betrothed — But in good [[Truth
GLYCINE	Hist! ‘tis my lady’s step! She must not see you! [BETHLEN retires.
(didascalia)	Enter from the Cottage SAROLTA and BATHORY.
SAROLTA	Go, seek your son! I need not add, be speedy — You here, Glycine? [Exit BATHORY.
GLYCINE	Pardon, pardon, Madam! If you but saw the old man’s son, you would not, You could not have him harmed.
SAROLTA	Be calm, Glycine!
GLYCINE	No, I shall break my heart.
SAROLTA	Ha! is it so? O strange and hidden power of sympathy, That of — like fates, though all unknown to each, Dost make blind instincts, [[Orphan
GLYCINE	Old Bathory —
SAROLTA	Seeks his brave son. Come, wipe away thy [[Tears
GLYCINE	My lady does not mock me?
SAROLTA	Where is Laska? Has he not told thee?
GLYCINE	Nothing. In his [[Fear
SAROLTA	His shame excuses him! He is somewhat hardly tasked; and in discharging His own tools, cons a lesson for himself. Bathory and the youth henceforward live Safe in my lord’s protection.
GLYCINE	The saints bless you! Shame on my graceless heart! How dared I [[Fear
SAROLTA	Come, Be yourself, girl!
GLYCINE	O, ‘tis so full here! And now it can not harm him if I tell you, That the old man’s son —
SAROLTA	Is not that old man’s son! A destiny, not unlike thine own, is his. For all I know of thee is, that thou art A soldier’s [[Orphan
GLYCINE	O tell —
BETHLEN	(rushing out). Yes, tell me, Shape from heaven! Who is my father?
SAROLTA	(gazing with surprise). Thine? Thy father? Rise!
GLYCINE	Alas! He hath alarmed you, my dear lady!
SAROLTA	His countenance, not his act!
GLYCINE	Rise, Bethlen! Rise!
BETHLEN	No; kneel thou too! and with thy [[Orphan
SAROLTA	By that blest Heaven I gazed at, I know not who thou art. And if I knew, Dared I — But rise!
BETHLEN	Blest spirits of my parents, Ye hover o’er me now! Ye shine upon me! And like a flower that coils forth from a ruin, I feel and seek the light I can not see!
SAROLTA	Thou see’st yon dim spot on the mountain’s ridge, But what it is thou know’st not. Even such Is all I know of thee — haply, brave youth, Is all Fate makes it safe for thee to know!
BETHLEN	Safe? Safe? O let me then inherit danger, And it shall be my birth-right!
SAROLTA	(aside). That look again! — The wood which first incloses, and then skirts The highest track that leads across the [[Mountains
BETHLEN	Lady, ‘twas my wont To roam there in my [[Childhood
GLYCINE	Madam, that wood is haunted by the war-wolves, Vampires, and monstrous ——
SAROLTA	Moon-calves, credulous girl! Haply some o’ergrown savage of the forest Hath his lair there, and [[Fear
BETHLEN	An infant’s weakness doth relax my frame. O say — I [[Fear
SAROLTA	And I to tell thee.
BETHLEN	Strike! O strike quickly! See, I do not shrink. I am stone, cold stone.
SAROLTA	Hid in a brake hard by, Scarce by both palms supported from the earth, A wounded lady lay, whose life fast waning Seemed to survive itself in her fixt eyes, That strained towards the babe. At length one arm Painfully from her own weight disengaging, She pointed first to heaven, then from her bosom Drew forth a golden casket. Thus entreated Thy foster-father took thee in his arms, And kneeling spake: ‘If aught of this world’s comfort Can reach thy heart, receive a poor man’s troth, That at my life’s risk I will save thy [[Child
BETHLEN	And did he leave her? What! had I a mother? And left her bleeding, dying? Bought I vile life With the desertion of a dying mother? Oh agony!
GLYCINE	Alas! thou art bewildered, And dost forget thou wert a helpless infant!
BETHLEN	What else can I remember, but a mother Mangled and left to perish?
SAROLTA	Hush, Glycine! It is the ground-swell of a teeming instinct: Let it but lift itself to air and sunshine, And it will find a [[Mirror
BETHLEN	O that I were diffused among the waters That pierce into the secret depths of earth, And find their way in darkness! Would that I Could spread myself upon the homeless winds! And I would seek her! for she is not dead! She can not die! O pardon, gracious lady! You were about to say, that he returned —
SAROLTA	Deep Love, the godlike in us, still believes Its objects as immortal as itself!
BETHLEN	And found her still —
SAROLTA	Alas! he did return, He left no spot unsearched in all the forest, But she (I trust me by some friendly hand) Had been borne off.
BETHLEN	O whither?
GLYCINE	Dearest Bethlen! I would that you could weep like me! O do not Gaze so upon the air!
SAROLTA	While he was absent, A friendly troop, ‘tis certain, scoured the wood, Hotly pursued indeed by Emerick.
BETHLEN	Emerick. Oh hell!
GLYCINE	Bethlen!
BETHLEN	Hist! I’ll curse him in a whisper! This gracious lady must hear blessings only. She hath not yet the glory round her head, Nor those strong eagle wings, which make swift way To that appointed place, which I must seek; Or else she were my mother!
SAROLTA	Noble youth! From me [[Fear
GLYCINE	Must he leave us?
BETHLEN	And for such goodness can I return nothing But some hot [[Tears
SAROLTA	Ah! it was this I feared. To ward off this Did I withhold from him that old Bathory Returning hid beneath the [[Self
GLYCINE	Oh, let me fly And stop him! Mangled limbs do there lie scattered Till the lured eagle bears them to her nest. And voices have been heard! And there the plant grows That being eaten gives the inhuman wizard Power to put on the fell hyæna’s shape.
SAROLTA	What idle tongue hath bewitched thee, Glycine? I hoped that thou had’st learnt a nobler [[Faith
GLYCINE	O chide me not, dear lady; question Laska, Or the old man.
SAROLTA	Forgive me, I spake harshly. It is indeed a mighty sorcery That doth enthral thy young heart, my poor girl, And what hath Laska told thee?
GLYCINE	Three days past A courier from the [[King
SAROLTA	Hark! dost thou hear it!
GLYCINE	‘Tis the sound of horns! Our huntsmen are not out!
SAROLTA	Lord Casimir Would not come thus! [Horns again.
GLYCINE	Still louder!
SAROLTA	Haste we hence! For I believe in part thy tale of terror! But, trust me, ‘tis the inner man transformed: Beasts in the shape of men are worse than war-wolves. [SAROLTA and GLYCINE exeunt. Trumpets, &c. louder. Enter EMERICK, LORD RUDOLPH, LASKA, and Huntsmen and Attendants.
RUDOLPH	A gallant chase, sire.
EMERICK	Aye, but this new quarry That we last started seems worth all the rest. [then to Laska. And you — excuse me — what’s your name?
LASKA	Whatever Your majesty may please.
EMERICK	Nay, that’s too late, man. Say, what thy mother and thy godfather Were pleased to call thee.
LASKA	Laska, my liege sovereign.
EMERICK	Well, my liege subject, Laska! And you are Lord Casimir’s steward?
LASKA	And your majesty’s creature.
EMERICK	Two gentle dames made off at our approach. Which was your lady?
LASKA	My liege lord, the taller. The other, please your grace, is her poor handmaid, Long since betrothed to me. But the maid’s froward — Yet would your grace but speak —
EMERICK	Hum, master steward! I am honoured with this sudden confidence. Lead on. [to Laska, then to Rudolph. Lord Rudolph, you’ll announce our coming. Greet fair Sarolta from me, and entreat her To be our gentle hostess. Mark, you add How much we grieve, that business of the state Hath forced us to delay her lord’s return.
LORD RUDOLPH	(aside). Lewd, ingrate [[Tyrant
EMERICK	Now onward all. [Exeunt attendants. A fair one, by my [[Faith

Act III, Scene 1

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	A savage wood. At one side a cavern, overhung with ivy. ZAPOLYA and RAAB KIUPRILI discovered: both, but especially the latter, in rude and savage garments.
RAAB KIUPRILI	Heard you then aught while I was slumbering?
ZAPOLYA	Nothing. Only your face became convulsed. We miserable! Is heaven’s last [[Mercy
RAAB KIUPRILI	O for a [[Sleep
ZAPOLYA	Alas! ‘twas lack of food: for hunger chokes!
RAAB KIUPRILI	And now I saw you by a shrivelled [[Child
ZAPOLYA	I did in [[Truth
RAAB KIUPRILI	Nay! what ails you?
ZAPOLYA	A wondrous faintness there comes stealing o’er me. Is it Death’s lengthening [[Shadow
RAAB KIUPRILI	Cheerly! The dusk Will quickly shroud us. Ere the [[Moon
ZAPOLYA	Hunger’s tooth has Gnawn itself blunt. O, I could [[Queen
RAAB KIUPRILI	Yet be thou comforted! What! had’st thou [[Faith
ZAPOLYA	Can not! Oh, what if thou wert taken from me? Nay, thou said’st [[Well
RAAB KIUPRILI	Hark! heard you not A distant chaunt?
GLYCINE	[[Song
ZAPOLYA	Sure ‘tis some blest spirit! For since thou slew’st the [[Usurper
RAAB KIUPRILI	It is a maiden’s voice! quick to the [[Cave
ZAPOLYA	Hark! her voice falters! [Exit ZAPOLYA.
RAAB KIUPRILI	She must not enter The cavern, else I will remain unseen! [KIUPRILI retires to one side of the stage. GLYCINE enters singing.
GLYCINE	A savage place! saints shield me! Bethlen! Bethlen! Not here? — There’s no one here! I’ll sing again! [Sings again. If I do not hear my own voice, I shall fancy Voices in all chance sounds! [Starts. ‘Twas some dry branch Dropt of itself! Oh, he went forth so rashly, Took no food with him — only his arms and boar-spear! What if I leave these cakes, this cruse of wine, Here by this [[Cave
RAAB KIUPRILI	(unseen). Leave them and flee!
GLYCINE	(shrieks, then recovering.) Where are you?
RAAB KIUPRILI	(still unseen.) Leave them!
GLYCINE	‘Tis Glycine! Speak to me, Bethlen! speak in your own voice! All silent! — If this were the war-wolf’s den! ‘Twas not his voice! — [GLYCINE [[Leaves
GLYCINE	Shame! Nothing hurt me! If some fierce beast have gored him, he must needs Speak with a strange voice. Wounds cause thirst and hoarseness! Speak, Bethlen! or but moan. St — St —— No — Bethlen! If I turn back and he should be found dead here, [She creeps nearer and nearer to the cavern. I should go mad! — Again!—’Twas my own heart! Hush, coward heart! better beat loud with [[Fear
RAAB KIUPRILI	Swear then by all thy hopes, by all thy fears —
GLYCINE	Save me!
RAAB KIUPRILI	Swear secrecy and [[Silence
GLYCINE	I swear!
RAAB KIUPRILI	Tell what thou art, and what thou seekest?
GLYCINE	Only A harmless [[Orphan
RAAB KIUPRILI	Wherefore in this wood?
GLYCINE	Alas! it was his purpose —
RAAB KIUPRILI	With what intention came he? Would’st thou save him, Hide nothing!
GLYCINE	Save him! O forgive his rashness! He is good, and did not know that thou wert human!
RAAB KIUPRILI	Human? With what design?
GLYCINE	To kill thee, or If that thou wert a spirit, to compel thee By prayers, and with the shedding of his [[Blood
ZAPOLYA	(rushing out from the cavern). Heaven’s blessing on thee! Speak!
GLYCINE	Whether his mother live, or perished here!
ZAPOLYA	Angel of [[Mercy
GLYCINE	E’en till this morning we were wont to name him Bethlen Bathory!
ZAPOLYA	Even till this morning? This morning? when my weak [[Faith
GLYCINE	The false ones charged the valiant youth With treasonous words of Emerick —
ZAPOLYA	Ha! my son!
GLYCINE	And of Lord Casimir —
RAAB KIUPRILI	(aside). O agony! my son!
GLYCINE	But my dear lady —
ZAPOLYA and RAAB KIUPRILI	Who?
GLYCINE	Lady Sarolta Frowned and discharged these bad men.
RAAB KIUPRILI	(to himself). Righteous Heaven Sent me a daughter once, and I repined That it was not a son. A son was given me. My daughter died, and I scarce shed a tear: And lo! that son became my curse and infamy.
ZAPOLYA	(embraces Glycine). Sweet [[Innocent
GLYCINE	Not much! My own dear lady, when I was a [[Child
RAAB KIUPRILI	(to Zapolya). O yet beware, lest [[Hope
GLYCINE	She is always gracious, and so praised the old man That his heart o’erflowed, and made discovery That in this wood —
ZAPOLYA	O speak!
GLYCINE	A wounded lady — [ZAPOLYA faints — they both support her.
GLYCINE	Is this his mother?
RAAB KIUPRILI	She would fain believe it, Weak though the proofs be. Hope draws towards itself The flame with which it kindles. [Horn heard without. To the cavern! Quick! quick!
GLYCINE	Perchance some huntsmen of the [[King
RAAB KIUPRILI	Emerick?
GLYCINE	He came this morning — [They retire to the cavern, bearing ZAPOLYA. Then enter BETHLEN, armed with a boar-spear.
BETHLEN	I had a glimpse Of some fierce shape; and but that Fancy often Is Nature’s intermeddler, and cries halves With the outward sight, I should believe I saw it Bear off some human prey. O my preserver! Bathory! Father! Yes, thou deserv’st that name! Thou did’st not mock me! These are blessed findings! The secret cypher of my destiny [Looking at his signet. Stands here inscribed: it is the seal of fate! Ha! — Had ever [[Monster
RAAB KIUPRILI	Withdraw thy foot! Retract thine idle spear, And wait obedient!
BETHLEN	Ha! What art thou? speak!
RAAB KIUPRILI	(still unseen). Avengers!
BETHLEN	By a dying mother’s pangs E’en such am I. Receive me!
RAAB KIUPRILI	(still unseen). Wait! Beware! At thy first step, thou treadest upon the light, Thenceforth must darkling flow, and sink in darkness!
BETHLEN	Ha! see my boar-spear trembles like a reed! — Oh, [[Fool
RAAB KIUPRILI	(still unseen). Patience! Truth! Obedience! Be thy whole [[Soul
BETHLEN	Ask rather the poor roaming savage, Whose infancy no holy rite had blest, To him, perchance, rude spoil or ghastly trophy, In chase or battle won, have given a name. I have none — but like a dog have answered To the chance sound which he that fed me, called me.
RAAB KIUPRILI	(still unseen). Thy birth-place?
BETHLEN	Deluding spirits! Do ye mock me? Question the Night! Bid Darkness tell its birth-place? Yet hear! Within yon old oak’s hollow trunk, Where the bats cling, have I surveyed my cradle! The mother-falcon hath her nest above it, And in it the wolf litters! —— I invoke you, Tell me, ye secret ones! if ye beheld me As I stood there, like one who having delved For hidden gold hath found a talisman, O tell! what rights, what offices of duty This signet doth command? What [[Rebel
RAAB KIUPRILI	(still unseen). More, guiltier, mightier, Than thou mayest summon! Wait the destined hour!
BETHLEN	O yet again, and with more clamorous prayer, I importune ye! Mock me no more with shadows! This sable mantle — tell, dread voice! did this Enwrap one fatherless!
ZAPOLYA	(unseen). One fatherless!
BETHLEN	A sweeter voice! — A voice of [[Love
ZAPOLYA	My son! my son! A wretched — Oh no, no! a blest — a happy mother! [They embrace. KIUPRILI and GLYCINE come forward and the curtain drops.

Act IV, Scene 1

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	A stately room in LORD CASIMIR’S [[Castle
EMERICK	I do perceive thou hast a tender [[Conscience
LASKA	In this sovereign presence I can [[Fear
EMERICK	Perchance, thou think’st it strange, that I of all men Should covet thus the [[Love
LASKA	Far be it from me! Your Majesty’s [[Love
EMERICK	Perchance, thou hast heard that Casimir is my friend, Fought for me, yea, for my sake, set at nought A parent’s blessing; braved a father’s curse?
LASKA	(aside). Would I but knew now, what his Majesty meant! Oh yes, Sire! ‘tis our common talk, how Lord Kiuprili, my Lord’s father —
EMERICK	‘Tis your talk, Is it, good statesman Laska?
LASKA	No, not mine, Not mine, an please your Majesty! There are Some insolent malcontents indeed that talk thus — Nay worse, mere treason. As Bathory’s son, The [[Fool
EMERICK	Well, ‘tis a loyal [[Monster
LASKA	Not a limb left, an please your Majesty! And that unhappy girl —
EMERICK	Thou followed’st her Into the wood? [LASKA bows assent. Henceforth then I’ll believe That [[Jealousy
LASKA	Scarce had I got the first glimpse of her veil, When, with a horrid roar that made the [[Leaves
EMERICK	Made thee shake like a leaf!
LASKA	The war-wolf leapt; at the first plunge he seized her; Forward I rushed!
EMERICK	Most marvellous!
LASKA	Hurled my javelin; Which from his dragon-scales recoiling —
EMERICK	Enough! And take, friend, this advice. When next thou tonguest it, Hold constant to thy exploit with this [[Monster
LASKA	My talk? The saints forbid! I always said, for my part, ‘Was not the [[King
EMERICK	And this then was thy talk? While knave and coward, Both strong within thee, wrestle for the uppermost, In slips the [[Fool
LASKA	Your Majesty’s reasoning has convinced me.
EMERICK	Thee! ‘Tis [[Well
LASKA	Between the wall and arras to conceal you.
EMERICK	Here! This purse is but an earnest of thy fortune, If thou prov’st faithful. But if thou betrayest me, Hark you! — the wolf that shall drag thee to his den Shall be no fiction. [Exit EMERICK. LASKA manet with a key in one hand, and a purse in the other.
LASKA	Well then! here I stand, Like Hercules, on either side a goddess. Call this (looking at the purse) Preferment; this (holding up the key) Fidelity! And first my golden goddess: what bids she? Only:—’This way, your Majesty! hush! The household Are all safe lodged.’ — Then, put Fidelity Within her proper wards, just turn her round — So — the door opens — and for all the rest, ‘Tis the [[King
BETHLEN	He looked as if he were some God disguised In an old warrior’s venerable shape To guard and guide my mother. Is there not Chapel or oratory in this mansion?
OLD BATHORY	Even so.
BETHLEN	From that place then am I to take A helm and breast-plate, both inlaid with gold, And the good [[Sword
OLD BATHORY	Those very arms this day Sarolta show’d me — With wistful look. I’m lost in wild conjectures!
BETHLEN	O tempt me not, e’en with a wandering guess, To break the first command a mother’s will Imposed, a mother’s voice made known to me! ‘Ask not, my son,’ said she, ‘our names or thine. The [[Shadow
LASKA	All asleep! [Then observing BETHLEN, stands in idiot-affright. I must speak to it first — Put — put the question! I’ll confess all! [Stammering with [[Fear
OLD BATHORY	Laska! what ails thee, man?
LASKA	(pointing to Bethlen). There!
OLD BATHORY	I see nothing! where?
LASKA	He does not see it! Bethlen, torment me not!
BETHLEN	Soft! Rouse him gently! He hath outwatched his hour, and half asleep, With eyes half open, mingles sight with [[Dreams
OLD BATHORY	Ho! Laska! Don’t you know us! ‘tis Bathory And Bethlen!
LASKA	Good now! Ha! ha! An excellent trick. Afraid? Nay, no offence! But I must laugh. But are you sure now, that ‘tis you, yourself?
BETHLEN	Would’st be convinced?
LASKA	No nearer, pray! consider! If it should prove his [[Ghost
BETHLEN	The [[Fool
LASKA	Well now! I [[Love
OLD BATHORY	You, Laska?
BETHLEN	(to Bathory). Mark! Heaven grant it may be so! Glycine?
LASKA	She! I traced her by the voice. You’ll scarce believe me, when I say I heard The close of a [[Song
BETHLEN	(to Bathory). Mark that!
LASKA	At the next moment I beheld her running, Wringing her hands with, ‘Bethlen! O poor Bethlen!’ I almost [[Fear
BETHLEN	Stop there! We’ll spare your modesty! Who dares not [[Honour
LASKA	You too, Sir Knight, have come back safe and sound! You played the [[Hero
OLD BATHORY	Laska, beware! Forget not what thou art! Should’st thou but dream thou’rt valiant, [[Cross
LASKA	What then! you swell upon my lady’s favour, High Lords and perilous of one day’s growth! But other judges now sit on the bench! And haply, Laska hath found audience there, Where to defend the treason of a son Might end in lifting up both son and father Still higher; to a height from which indeed You both may drop, but, spite of fate and fortune, Will be secured from falling to the ground. ‘Tis possible too, young man! that royal Emerick, At Laska’s rightful suit, may make inquiry By whom seduced, the maid so strangely missing —
BETHLEN	Soft! my good Laska! might it not suffice, If to yourself, being Lord Casimir’s steward, I should make record of Glycine’s fate?
LASKA	‘Tis [[Well
BETHLEN	Nay! that’s superfluous! Have you not just told us, That you yourself, led by impetuous valour, Witnessed the whole? My tale’s of later date. After the fate, from which your valour strove In vain to rescue the rash maid, I saw her!
LASKA	Glycine?
BETHLEN	Nay! Dare I accuse wise Laska, Whose words find access to a monarch’s ear, Of a base, braggart lie? It must have been Her spirit that appeared to me. But haply I come too late? It has itself delivered Its own commission to you?
OLD BATHORY	‘Tis most likely! And the [[Ghost
LASKA	‘Tis [[Well
BETHLEN	Listen! for thus it spake: ‘Say thou to Laska, Glycine, knowing all thy thoughts engrossed In thy new office of [[King
OLD BATHORY	The sudden swelling of this shallow dastard Tells of a recent [[Storm
BETHLEN	E’en this reproves my loitering. Say where lies The oratory?
OLD BATHORY	Ascend yon flight of stairs! Midway the corridor a silver lamp Hangs o’er the entrance of Sarolta’s chamber, And facing it, the low arched oratory! Me thou’lt find watching at the outward gate: For a petard might burst the bars, unheard By the drenched porter, and Sarolta hourly Expects Lord Casimir, spite of Emerick’s message!
BETHLEN	There I will meet you! And till then good-[[Night
OLD BATHORY	O yet one moment! What I repelled, when it did seem my own, I cling to, now ‘tis parting — call me father! It can not now mislead thee. O my son, Ere yet our tongues have learnt another name, Bethlen! — say ‘Father’ to me!
BETHLEN	Now, and for ever My father! other sire than thou, on earth I never had, a dearer could not have! From the base earth you raised me to your arms, And I would leap from off a throne, and kneeling, Ask Heaven’s blessing from thy lips. My father!
BATHORY	Go! Go! [Exit BETHLEN. May every star now shining over us, Be as an angel’s eye, to watch and guard him! [Exit BATHORY.
(didascalia)	Scene changes to a splendid Bed-chamber, hung with tapestry.
(didascalia)	SAROLTA and an Attendant.
ATTENDANT	We all did [[Love
SAROLTA	She deserved it! Luckless Glycine! rash, unhappy girl! ‘Twas the first [[Time
ATTENDANT	She was in [[Love
SAROLTA	Has the youth’s father come back from his search?
ATTENDANT	He never will, I [[Fear
SAROLTA	Inhuman wretch!
ATTENDANT	And old Bathory answered With a sad smile, ‘It is a [[Witch
SAROLTA	Nay! ‘twas my grief, and not my anger spoke. Small fault indeed! but leave me, my poor girl! I feel a weight that only prayer can lighten. [Exit Attendant. O they were [[Innocent
EMERICK	(advancing). Fear not.
SAROLTA	Who art thou? Robber? Traitor?
EMERICK	Friend! Who in good hour hath startled these dark fancies, Rapacious traitors, that would fain depose Joy, [[Love
SAROLTA	Strengthen me, Heaven! I must not seem afraid! [Aside. The [[King
EMERICK	Sarolta’s [[Love
SAROLTA	Heaven guard the sovereign’s power from such debasement! Far rather, Sire, let it descend in vengeance On the base [[Villain
EMERICK	Chiefly from me. Has he not like an ingrate robbed my [[Court
SAROLTA	Help! Treason! Help!
EMERICK	Call louder! Scream again! Here’s none can hear you!
SAROLTA	Hear me, hear me, Heaven!
EMERICK	Nay, why this rage? Who best deserves you? Casimir, Emerick’s bought implement, the jealous slave That mews you up with bolts and bars? or Emerick Who proffers you a throne? Nay, mine you shall be. Hence with this fond resistance! Yield; then live This month a widow, and the next a [[Queen
SAROLTA	Yet, yet for one brief moment [Struggling. Unhand me, I conjure you. [She throws him off, and rushes towards a toilet. EMERICK follows, and as she takes a dagger, he grasps it in her hand.
EMERICK	Ha! Ha! a dagger; A seemly ornament for a lady’s casket! ‘Tis held, devotion is akin to [[Love
BETHLEN	Ruffian, forbear! Turn, turn and front my [[Sword
EMERICK	Pish! who is this?
SAROLTA	O sleepless eye of Heaven! A blest, a blessed spirit! Whence camest thou? May I still call thee Bethlen?
BETHLEN	Ever, lady, Your faithful soldier!
EMERICK	Insolent slave! Depart Know’st thou not me?
BETHLEN	I know thou art a [[Villain
SAROLTA	Monster, retire! O touch him not, thou blest one! This is the hour that fiends and damnéd spirits Do walk the earth, and take what form they list! Yon devil hath assumed a [[King
BETHLEN	Usurped it!
EMERICK	The [[King
SAROLTA	Thou art so fiendish wicked, That in thy blasphemies I scarce hear thy threats!
BETHLEN	Lady, be calm! [[Fear
EMERICK	Ah! treason! Thou hast been lessoned and tricked up for this! As surely as the wax on thy [[Death
BETHLEN	It must be so! ‘Tis e’en the counterpart! But with a foul usurping cypher on it! The light hath flashed from Heaven, and I must follow it! O curst [[Usurper
CASIMIR	The [[King
EMERICK	Deceived, dishonored lord! Ask thou yon fair adultress! She will tell thee A tale, which would’st thou be both dupe and traitor, Thou wilt believe against thy friend and sovereign! Thou art present now, and a friend’s duty ceases: To thine own justice leave I thine own wrongs. Of half thy vengeance I perforce must rob thee, For that the sovereign claims. To thy allegiance I now commit this traitor and assassin. [Then to the Attendants. Hence with him to the dungeon! and to-morrow, Ere the sun rises, — Hark! your heads or his!
BETHLEN	Can Hell work miracles to mock Heaven’s justice?
EMERICK	Who speaks to him dies! The traitor that has menaced His [[King
CASIMIR	(to Bathory). Hence with him to the dungeon! [Exit BETHLEN, hurried off by BATHORY and Attendants.
EMERICK	We hunt to-morrow in your upland forest: Thou (to Casimir) wilt attend us: and wilt then explain This sudden and most fortunate arrival. [Exit EMERICK; Manent CASIMIR and SAROLTA.
SAROLTA	My lord! my husband! look whose [[Sword
CASIMIR	Hush! hush! I had detected ere I left the [[City

Act V, Scene 1

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	A glade in a wood. Enter CASIMIR looking anxiously around.
CASIMIR	This needs must be the spot! O, here he comes!
(didascalia)	Enter LORD RUDOLPH.
CASIMIR	Well met, Lord Rudolph! —— Your whisper was not lost upon my ear, And I dare trust —
LORD RUDOLPH	Enough! the [[Time
CASIMIR	I did so!
LORD RUDOLPH	Heard you Aught of a hunt preparing?
CASIMIR	Yes; and met The assembled huntsmen!
LORD RUDOLPH	Was there no word given?
CASIMIR	The word for me was this: — The royal Leopard Chases thy milk-white dedicated Hind.
LORD RUDOLPH	Your answer?
CASIMIR	As the word proves false or true Will Casimir [[Cross
LORD RUDOLPH	The event redeemed their pledge?
CASIMIR	It did, and therefore Have I sent back both pledge and invitation. The spotless Hind hath fled to them for shelter, And bears with her my seal of fellowship! [They take hands.
LORD RUDOLPH	But Emerick! how when you reported to him Sarolta’s disappearance, and the flight Of Bethlen with his guards?
CASIMIR	O he received it As evidence of their mutual [[Guilt
LORD RUDOLPH	I entered as the door was closing on you: His eye was fixed, yet seemed to follow you, — With such a look of hate, and scorn and triumph, As if he had you in the toils already, And were then choosing where to stab you first. But hush! draw back!
CASIMIR	This nook is at the furthest From any beaten track.
LORD RUDOLPH	There! mark them! [Points to where LASKA and PESTALUTZ [[Cross
CASIMIR	Laska!
LORD RUDOLPH	One of the two I recognized this morning; His name is Pestalutz: a trusty ruffian Whose face is prologue still to some dark murder. Beware no stratagem, no trick of message, Dispart you from your servants.
CASIMIR	(aside). I deserve it. The comrade of that ruffian is my servant: The one I trusted most and most preferred. But we must part. What makes the [[King
LORD RUDOLPH	And his main policy. To enthral the sluggard [[Nature
CASIMIR	Mark yonder mass! I make it wear the shape Of a huge ram that butts with head depressed.
LORD RUDOLPH	(smiling). Belike, some stray sheep of the oozy flock, Which, if bards lie not, the Sea-shepherds tend, Glaucus or Proteus. But my fancy shapes it A [[Monster
CASIMIR	Mark too the edges of the lurid mass — Restless, as if some idly-vexing Sprite, On swift wing coasting by, with tetchy hand Pluck’d at the ringlets of the vaporous Fleece. These are sure signs of conflict nigh at hand, And elemental war! [A single trumpet heard at some distance.
LORD RUDOLPH	That single blast Announces that the [[Tyrant
CASIMIR	Oft as thou canst, [[Essay
(didascalia)	Scene changes to the mouth of a Cavern, as in Act II. ZAPOLYA and GLYCINE discovered.
ZAPOLYA	Our friend is gone to seek some safer [[Cave
GLYCINE	I shall know Bethlen at the furthest distance, And the same moment I descry him, lady, I will return to you. [Exit GLYCINE. [Enter OLD BATHORY, speaking as he enters.
OLD BATHORY	Who hears? A friend! A messenger from him who bears the signet!
ZAPOLYA	He hath the watch-word! — Art thou not Bathory?
OLD BATHORY	O noble lady! greetings from your son! [BATHORY kneels.
ZAPOLYA	Rise! rise! Or shall I rather kneel beside thee, And call down blessings from the wealth of Heaven Upon thy honoured head? When thou last saw’st me I would full fain have knelt to thee, and could not, Thou dear old man! How oft since then in [[Dreams
OLD BATHORY	O he was born to [[Honour
ZAPOLYA	Lady Sarolta mean’st thou?
OLD BATHORY	She is safe. The royal brute hath overleapt his prey, And when he turned, a sworded Virtue faced him. My own brave boy — O pardon, noble lady! Your son ——
ZAPOLYA	Hark! Is it he?
OLD BATHORY	I hear a voice Too hoarse for Bethlen’s! ‘Twas his scheme and [[Hope
ZAPOLYA	O life of terrors!
OLD BATHORY	In the [[Cave
LASKA	Not a step further!
PESTALUTZ	Dastard! was this your promise to the [[King
LASKA	I have fulfilled his orders. Have walked with you As with a friend: have pointed out Lord Casimir: And now I leave you to take care of him. For the [[King
PESTALUTZ	Be on your guard, man!
LASKA	Ha! what now?
PESTALUTZ	Behind you! ‘Twas one of Satan’s imps, that grinned and threatened you For your most impudent [[Hope
LASKA	Pshaw! What! you think ‘tis [[Fear
PESTALUTZ	Is’t not enough to play the knave to others, But thou must lie to thine own heart?
LASKA	Friend! Laska will be found at his own post, Watching elsewhere for the [[King
PESTALUTZ	What! the girl Whom Laska saw the war-wolf tear in pieces?
LASKA	Well! Take my arms! Hark! should your javelin fail you, These points are tipt with venom. [Seeing GLYCINE without. By Heaven! Glycine! Now as you [[Love
OLD BATHORY	Rest, lady, rest! I feel in every sinew A young man’s strength returning! Which way went they? The shriek came thence. [Enter GLYCINE.
GLYCINE	Ha! weapons here? Then, Bethlen, thy Glycine Will die with thee or save thee! [She seizes them and rushes out. BATHORY following. Music, and Peasants with hunting spears [[Cross
(didascalia)	CHORAL [[Song
(didascalia)	Re-enter BATHORY, BETHLEN, and GLYCINE.
GLYCINE	And now once more a woman ——
BETHLEN	Was it then That timid eye, was it those maiden hands That sped the shaft, which saved me and avenged me?
OLD BATHORY	‘Twas as a vision blazoned on a cloud By [[Lightning
ZAPOLYA	Bethlen! my [[Child
BETHLEN	Mother! Queen. Royal Zapolya! name me Andreas! Nor blame thy son, if being a [[King
ZAPOLYA	O Raab Kiuprili! Friend! Protector! Guide! In vain we trenched the altar round with waters, A flash from Heaven hath touched the hidden incense —
BETHLEN	And that majestic form that stood beside thee Was Raab Kiuprili!
ZAPOLYA	It was Raab Kiuprili; As sure as thou art Andreas, and the [[King
OLD BATHORY	Hail Andreas! hail my [[King
ANDREAS	Stop, thou revered one, Lest we offend the jealous destinies By shouts ere victory. Deem it then thy duty To pay this homage, when ‘tis mine to claim it.
GLYCINE	Accept thine hand-maid’s service! [Kneeling.
ZAPOLYA	Raise her, son! O raise her to thine arms! she saved thy life, And through her [[Love
ANDREAS	Dear maid! more dear thou canst not be! the rest Shall make my [[Love
GLYCINE	Hark! sure the hunt approaches. [Horn without, and afterwards distant thunder.
ZAPOLYA	O Kiuprili!
OLD BATHORY	The demon-hunters of the middle air Are in full cry, and scare with arrowy [[Fire
ZAPOLYA	O Heavens! where stays Kiuprili?
OLD BATHORY	The wood will be surrounded! leave me here.
ANDREAS	My mother! let me see thee once in safety. I too will hasten back, with [[Lightning
OLD BATHORY	Haste! my life upon it I’ll guide him safe.
ANDREAS	(thunder). Ha! what a crash was there! Heaven seems to claim a mightier criminal Than yon vile subaltern.
ZAPOLYA	Your behest, High powers, Lo, I obey! To the appointed spirit, That hath so long kept watch round this drear cavern, In fervent [[Faith
OLD BATHORY	Yon bleeding corse may work us mischief still: Once seen, ‘twill rouse alarm and crowd the hunt From all parts towards this spot. Stript of its armour, I’ll drag it hither. [Exit BATHORY. Several Hunters [[Cross
RAAB KIUPRILI	(throwing off his disguise). Since Heaven [[Alone
OLD BATHORY	Poor tool and victim of another’s [[Guilt
KIUPRILI	And are they safe? [Noise without.
OLD BATHORY	Conceal yourself, my lord! I will mislead them!
KIUPRILI	Is Zapolya safe?
OLD BATHORY	I [[Doubt
CASIMIR	Monster! Thou shalt not now escape me!
OLD BATHORY	Stop, lord Casimir! It is no [[Monster
CASIMIR	Art thou too a traitor? Is this the place where Emerick’s murderers lurk? Say where is he that, tricked in this disguise, First lured me on, then scared my dastard followers? Thou must have seen him. Say where is th’ assassin?
OLD BATHORY	There lies the assassin! slain by that same [[Sword
CASIMIR	Strange [[Providence
OLD BATHORY	Casimir, to thy father.
CASIMIR	The curse! the curse! Open and [[Swallow
OLD BATHORY	Speak, speak, my lord!
KIUPRILI	Bid him fulfil his work!
CASIMIR	Thou art Heaven’s immediate minister, dread spirit! O for sweet [[Mercy
OLD BATHORY	He lives!
CASIMIR	Lives! A father’s curse can never die!
KIUPRILI	O Casimir! Casimir!
OLD BATHORY	Look! he doth forgive you! Hark! ‘tis the [[Tyrant
CASIMIR	I kneel, I kneel! Retract thy curse! O, by my mother’s ashes, Have pity on thy [[Self
KIUPRILI	Son, I forgive thee! Take thy father’s [[Sword
EMERICK	Fools! Cowards! follow — or by Hell I’ll make you Find reason to [[Fear
(didascalia)	Enter CASIMIR and BATHORY.
OLD BATHORY	(aside). This way they come!
CASIMIR	(aside). Hold them in check awhile, The path is narrow! Rudolph will assist thee.
EMERICK	(aside). And ere I ring the alarum of my sorrow, I’ll scan that face once more, and murmur — Here Lies Casimir, the last of the Kiuprilis! Hell! ‘tis Pestalutz!
CASIMIR	(coming forward). Yes, thou ingrate Emerick! ‘Tis Pestalutz! ‘tis thy trusty murderer! To quell thee more, see Raab Kiuprili’s [[Sword
EMERICK	Curses on it and thee! Think’st thou that petty omen Dare whisper [[Fear
CASIMIR	Then have at thee, [[Tyrant
EMERICK	Betrayed and baffled By mine own tool! —— Oh! [Dies.
CASIMIR	Hear, hear, my Father! Thou should’st have witnessed thine own deed. O Father, Wake from that envious swoon! The [[Tyrant
(didascalia)	Enter RUDOLPH, BATHORY, and Attendants.
RUDOLPH and BATHORY	Friends! friends to Casimir!
CASIMIR	Rejoice, Illyrians! the [[Usurper
RUDOLPH	So perish tyrants! so end usurpation!
CASIMIR	Bear hence the [[Body

Act V, Scene 2

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	SCENE. — Chamber in CASIMIR’S Castle. Confederates discovered.
FIRST CONFEDERATE	It cannot but succeed, friends. From this palace E’en to the wood, our messengers are posted With such short interspace, that fast as sound Can travel to us, we shall learn the event!
(didascalia)	Enter another Confederate.
FIRST CONFEDERATE	What tidings from Temeswar?
SECOND CONFEDERATE	With one voice Th’ assembled chieftains have deposed the [[Tyrant
FIRST CONFEDERATE	Just doom for him, who governs without law! Is it known on whom the sov’reignty will fall?
SECOND CONFEDERATE	Nothing is yet decided: but report Points to Lord Casimir. The grateful [[Memory
(didascalia)	Enter SAROLTA.
(didascalia)	Hail to Sarolta!
SAROLTA	Confederate friends! I bring to you a joy Worthy your noble cause! Kiuprili lives, And from his obscure [[Exile
RAAB KIUPRILI	Spare yet your joy, my friends! A higher waits you: Behold, your Queen! [Enter ZAPOLYA and ANDREAS royally attired, with GLYCINE.
CONFEDERATE	Comes she from heaven to bless us?
OTHER CONFEDERATES	It is! it is!
ZAPOLYA	Heaven’s work of grace is full! Kiuprili, thou art safe!
RAAB KIUPRILI	Royal Zapolya! To the heavenly powers, pay we our duty first; Who not [[Alone
ALL	Hail, Andreas! Hail, Illyria’s rightful [[King
ANDREAS	Supported thus, O friends! ‘twere cowardice Unworthy of a royal birth, to shrink From the appointed charge. Yet, while we wait The awful sanction of convened Illyria, In this brief while, O let me feel myself The [[Child
ZAPOLYA	Hear that from me, son! For ere she lived, her father saved thy life, Thine, and thy fugitive mother’s!
CASIMIR	Chef Ragozzi! O shame upon my head! I would have given her To a base slave!
ZAPOLYA	Heaven overruled thy purpose, And sent an angel to thy house to guard her! Thou precious bark! freighted with all our treasures! The sports of tempests, and yet ne’er the victim, How many may claim salvage in thee! Take her, son! A [[Queen
SAROLTA	A banquet waits! — On this auspicious day, for some few hours I claim to be your hostess. Scenes so awful With flashing light, force wisdom on us all! E’en women at the distaff hence may see, That bad men may [[Rebel