Samuel Coleridge - The Complete Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge

And may the light that streams from thine own honour

Guide thee to that thou seekest!

Glycine. Must he leave us?

Bethlen. And for such goodness can I return nothing 420

But some hot tears that sting mine eyes? Some sighs

That if not breathed would swell my heart to stifling?

May heaven and thine own virtues, high-born lady,

Be as a shield of fire, far, far aloof

To scare all evil from thee! Yet, if fate 425

Hath destined thee one doubtful hour of danger,

From the uttermost region of the earth, methinks,

Swift as a spirit invoked, I should be with thee!

And then, perchance, I might have power to unbosom

These thanks that struggle here. Eyes fair as thine 430

Have gazed on me with tears of love and anguish,

Which these eyes saw not, or beheld unconscious;

And tones of anxious fondness, passionate prayers,

Have been talked to me! But this tongue ne’er soothed

A mother’s ear, lisping a mother’s name! 435

O, at how dear a price have I been loved

And no love could return! One boon then, lady!

Where’er thou bidd’st, I go thy faithful soldier,

But first must trace the spot, where she lay bleeding

Who gave me life. No more shall beast of ravine 440

Affront with baser spoil that sacred forest!

Or if avengers more than human haunt there,

Take they what shape they list, savage or heavenly,

They shall make answer to me, though my heart’s blood

Should be the spell to bind them. Blood calls for blood! 445

[Exit Bethlen.

Sarolta. Ah! it was this I feared. To ward off this

Did I withhold from him that old Bathory

Returning hid beneath the selfsame oak,

Where the babe lay, the mantle, and some jewel

Bound on his infant arm.

Glycine. Oh, let me fly 450

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. 455

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 460

That doth enthral thy young heart, my poor girl,

And what hath Laska told thee?

Glycine. Three days past

A courier from the king did cross that wood;

A wilful man, that armed himself on purpose:

And never hath been heard of from that time! 465

[Sound of horns without.

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: 470

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. 475

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. 480

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. 485

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. 490

Lord Rudolph (aside). Lewd, ingrate tyrant! Yes, I will announce

thee.

Emerick. Now onward all. [Exeunt attendants.

A fair one, by my faith!

If her face rival but her gait and stature,

My good friend Casimir had his reasons too.

‘Her tender health, her vow of strict retirement, 495

Made early in the convent — His word pledged—’

All fictions, all! fictions of jealousy.

Well! If the mountain move not to the prophet,

The prophet must to the mountain! In this Laska

There’s somewhat of the knave mixed up with dolt. 500

Through the transparence of the fool, methought,

I saw (as I could lay my finger on it)

The crocodile’s eye, that peered up from the bottom.

This knave may do us service. Hot ambition

Won me the husband. Now let vanity 505

And the resentment for a forced seclusion

Decoy the wife! Let him be deemed the aggressor

Whose cunning and distrust began the game! [Exit.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

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 fled? Is sleep grown treacherous?

Raab Kiuprili. O for a sleep, for sleep itself to rest in!

I dream’d I had met with food beneath a tree, 5

And I was seeking you, when all at once

My feet became entangled in a net:

Still more entangled as in rage I tore it.

At length I freed myself, had sight of you,

But as I hastened eagerly, again 10

I found my frame encumbered: a huge serpent

Twined round my chest, but tightest round my throat.

Zapolya. Alas! ‘twas lack of food: for hunger chokes!

Raab Kiuprili. And now I saw you by a shrivelled child

Strangely pursued. You did not fly, yet neither 15

Touched you the ground, methought, but close above it

Did seem to shoot yourself along the air,

And as you passed me, turned your face and shrieked.

Zapolya. I did in truth send forth a feeble shriek,

Scarce knowing why. Perhaps the mock’d sense craved 20

To hear the scream, which you but seemed to utter.

For your whole face looked like a mask of torture!

Yet a child’s image doth indeed pursue me

Shrivelled with toil and penury!

Raab Kiuprili. Nay! what ails you?

Zapolya. A wondrous faintness there comes stealing o’er me. 25

Is it Death’s lengthening shadow, who comes onward,

Life’s setting sun behind him?

Raab Kiuprili. Cheerly! The dusk

Will quickly shroud us. Ere the moon be up,

Trust me I’ll bring thee food!

Zapolya. Hunger’s tooth has

Gnawn itself blunt. O, I could queen it well 30

O’er my own sorrows as my rightful subjects.

But wherefore, O revered Kiuprili! wherefore

Did my importunate prayers, my hopes and fancies,

Force thee from thy secure though sad retreat?

Would that my tongue had then cloven to my mouth! 35

But Heaven is just! With tears I conquered thee,

And not a tear is left me to repent with!

Had’st thou not done already — had’st thou not