Calderon de La Barca - Life is a Dream

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he Project Gutenberg EBook of Life Is A Dream, by Pedro Calderon de la Barca

2 in our series by Pedro Calderon de la Barca

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tle: Life Is A Dream

uthor: Pedro Calderon de la Barca

Translated by Denis Florence MacCarthy

elease Date: August, 2004 [EBook #6363]

Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]

his file was first posted on December 1, 2002]

dition: 10

anguage: English

haracter set encoding: ASCII

* START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE IS A DREAM ***

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oduced by Sue Asscher [email protected]

ALDERON'S DRAMAS.

FE IS A DREAM.

OW FIRST TRANSLATED FULLY FROM THE SPANISH IN THE METRE

F THE ORIGINAL.

Y

ENIS FLORENCE MAC-CARTHY.

ONDON: HENRY S. KING & CO.,

CORNHILL, AND 12, PATERNOSTER ROW.

73.

NTRODUCTION.

wo of the dramas contained in this volume are the most celebrated of

l Calderon's writings. The first, "La Vida es Sueno", has been

anslated into many languages and performed with success on almost

ery stage in Europe but that of England. So late as the winter of

66-7, in a Russian version, it drew crowded houses to the great

eatre of Moscow; while a few years earlier, as if to give a signal

oof of the reality of its title, and that Life was indeed a Dream,



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e Queen of Sweden expired in the theatre of Stockholm during the

rformance of "La Vida es Sueno". In England the play has been much

udied for its literary value and the exceeding beauty and lyrical

weetness of some passages; but with the exception of a version by

hn Oxenford published in "The Monthly Magazine" for 1842, which

ing in blank verse does not represent the form of the original, no

mplete translation into English has been attempted. Some scenes

anslated with considerable elegance in the metre of the originalere published by Archbishop Trench in 1856; but these comprised only

portion of the graver division of the drama. The present version

the entire play has been made with the advantages which the

thor's long experience in the study and interpretation of Calderon

s enabled him to apply to this master-piece of the great Spanish

oet. All the forms of verse have been preserved; while the

oseness of the translation may be inferred from the fact, that not

nly the whole play but every speech and fragment of a speech are

presented in English in the exact number of lines of the original,ithout the sacrifice, it is to be hoped, of one important idea.

note by Hartzenbusch in the last edition of the drama published at

adrid (1872), tells that "La Vida es Sueno", is founded on a story

hich turns out to be substantially the same as that with which

nglish students are familiar as the foundation of the famous

duction to the "Taming of the Shrew". Calderon found it however in

different work from that in which Shakespeare met with it, or

ther his predecessor, the anonymous author of "The Taming of ahrew", whose work supplied to Shakespeare the materials of his own

medy.

n this subject Malone thus writes. "The circumstance on which the

duction to the anonymous play, as well as to the present Comedy

hakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew"], is founded, is related (as

angbaine has observed) by Heuterus, "Rerum Burgund." lib. iv. The

rliest English original of this story in prose that I have met with

the following, which is found in Goulart's "Admirable andemorable Histories", translated by E. Grimstone, quarto, 1607; but

is tale (which Goulart translated from Heuterus) had undoubtedly

peared in English, in some other shape, before 1594:

hilip called the good Duke of Burgundy, in the memory of our

cestors, being at Bruxelles with his Court, and walking one night

ter supper through the streets, accompanied by some of his

vourites, he found lying upon the stones a certaine artisan that



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as very dronke, and that slept soundly. It pleased the prince in

is artisan to make trial of the vanity of our life, whereof he had

fore discoursed with his familiar friends. He therefore caused

is sleeper to be taken up, and carried into his palace; he commands

m to be layed in one of the richest beds; a riche night cap to be

ven him; his foule shirt to be taken off, and to have another put

n him of fine holland. When as this dronkard had digested his wine,

d began to awake, behold there comes about his bed Pages androomes of the Duke's Chamber, who drawe the curteines, make many

urtesies, and being bare-headed, aske him if it please him to rise,

d what apparell it would please him to put on that day. They bring

m rich apparell. This new Monsieur amazed at such courtesie, and

oubting whether he dreamt or waked, suffered himselfe to be drest,

d led out of the chamber. There came noblemen which saluted him

ith all honour, and conduct him to the Masse, where with great

remonie they give him the booke of the Gospell, and the Pixe to

sse, as they did usually to the Duke. From the Masse they bringm back unto the pallace; he washes his hands, and sittes down at

e table well furnished. After dinner, the Great Chamberlain

mmands cards to be brought with a great summe of money. This Duke

imagination playes with the chief of the Court. Then they carry

m to walke in the gardein, and to hunt the hare, and to hawke.

hey bring him back into the pallace, where he sups in state.

andles being light the musitions begin to play; and the tables taken

way, the gentlemen and gentlewomen fell to dancing. Then they

ayed a pleasant comedie, after which followed a Banket, whereatey had presently store of Ipocras and pretious wine, with all sorts

confitures, to this prince of the new impression; so as he was

onke, and fell soundlie asleepe. Hereupon the Duke commanded that

should be disrobed of all his riche attire. He was put into his

d ragges, and carried into the same place, where he had been found

e night before; where he spent that night. Being awake in the

orning, he began to remember what had happened before; he knewe not

hether it were true indeede, or a dream that had troubled his

aine. But in the end, after many discourses, he concludes that ALLAS BUT A DREAME that had happened unto him; and so entertained his

ife, his children, and his neighbours, without any other

prehension."

is curious to find that the same anecdote which formed the

duction to the original "Taming of a Shrew", and which, from a

mic point of view, Shakespeare so wonderfully developed in his own

medy, Calderon invested with such solemn and sublime dignity in "La



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ida es Sueno". He found it, as Senor Hartzenbusch points out in the

ition of 1872 already quoted, in the very amusing "Viage

ntretenido" of Augustin de Rojas, which was first published in 1603.

artzenbusch refers to the modern edition of Rojas, Madrid, 1793,

mo I, pp. 261, 262, 263, but in a copy of the Lerida edition of

615, in my own possession, I find the anecdote at folios 118, 119,

20. There are some slight differences between the version of Rojas

d that of Goulart, but the incidents and the persons are the same.he conclusion to which the artizan arrived at, in the version of

oulart, that all had been a dream, is expressed more strongly by the

uke himself in the story as told by Rojas.

Y dijo entonces el Duque: 'veis aqui, amigos, "Lo que es el Mundo:

odo es un Sueno", pues esto verdaderamente ha pasado por este, como

beis visto, y le parece que lo ha sonado.'" --

he story in all probability came originally from the East. Mr. Lanehis translation of the Thousand and One Nights gives a very

teresting narrative which he believes to be founded on an

storical fact in which Haroun Al Raschid plays the part of the good

uke of Burgundy, and Abu-l-Hasan the original of Christopher Sly.

he gravity of the treatment and certain incidents in this Oriental

ory recall more strongly Calderon's drama than the Induction to the

Taming of the Shrew". "La Vida es Sueno" was first published either

the end of 1635 or beginning of 1636.

he "Aprobacion" for its publication along with eleven other dramas

ot nine as Archbishop Trench has stated), was signed on the 6th of

ovember in the former year by the official licenser, Juan Bautista

Sossa. The volume was edited by the poet's brother, Don Joseph

alderon. So scarce has this first authorised collection of any of

alderon's dramas become, that a Spanish writer Don Vicente Garcia de

Huerta, in his "Teatro Espanol" (Parte Segunda, tomo 3o), denies

e existence of this volume of 1635, and states that it did not

pear until 1640. As if to corroborate this view, Barrera in hisCatalogo del Teatro antiguo Espanol" gives the date 1640 to the

rimera parte de comedias de Calderon" edited by his brother Joseph.

here can be no doubt, however, that the volume appeared in 1635 or

636 as stated. In 1637 Don Joseph Calderon published the "Second

art" of his brother's dramas containing like the former volume

welve plays.* In his dedication of this volume to D. Rodrigo de

endoza, Joseph Calderon expressly alludes to the First Part of his



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other's comedies which he had "printed." "En la primera Parte,

xcellentissimo Senor, de las comedias que imprimi de Don Pedro

alderon de La Barca, mi hermano," etc. This of course settles the

ct of the prior publication of the first Part. It is singular,

owever, to find that the most famous of all Calderon's dramas should

ve been frequently ascribed to Lope de Vega. So late as 1857 it is

ven in an Italian version by Giovanni La Cecilia, under the title

"La Vita e un Sogno", as a drama of Lope de Vega, with the date628. This of course is a mistake, but Senor Hartzenbusch, who makes

o allusion to this circumstance, admits that two dramas of Lope de

ega, which it is presumed preceded the composition of Calderon's

ay turn on very nearly the same incidents as those of "La Vida es

ueno". These are "Lo que ha de ser", and "Barlan y Josafa". He

ves a passage from each of these dramas which seem to be the germ

the fine lament of Sigismund, which the reader will find

anslated in the present volume.

ootnote] *In the library of the British Museum there is a fine copy

this "Segunda Parte de Comedias de Don Pedro Calderon de la Barca"

adrid, 1637. Mr. Ticknor mentions (1863) that he too had a copy of

is interesting volume.

enor Hartzenbusch, in the edition of Calderon's "La Vida es Sueno",

ready referred to (Madrid, 1872), prints the passages from Lope de

ega's two dramas, but in neither of them, he justly remarks, can we

nd anything that at all corresponds to this "grandioso caracter deegismundo."

he second drama in this volume, "The Wonderful Magician", is perhaps

tter known to poetical students in England than even the first,

om the spirited fragment Shelley has left us in his "Scenes from

alderon." The preoccupation of a subject by a great master throws

mmense difficulties in the way of any one who ventures to follow in

e same path: but as Shelley allowed himself great licence in his

rsification, and either from carelessness or an imperfect knowledgeSpanish is occasionally unfaithful to the meaning of his author,

may be hoped in my own version that strict fidelity both as to the

rm as well as substance of the original may be some compensation

r the absence of those higher poetical harmonies to which many of

y readers will have been accustomed.

El Magico Prodigioso" appeared for the first time in the same volume

"La Vida es Sueno", prepared for publication in 1635 by Don Joseph



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alderon. The translation is comprised in the same number of lines

the original, and all the preceding remarks on "Life is a Dream",

hether in reference to the period of the first publication of the

ama in Spain, or the principles I kept in view while attempting

is version may be applied to it. As in the Case of "Life is a

ream", "The Wonderful Magician" has previously been translated

tire by an English writer, ("Justina", by J.H. 1848); but as

rchbishop Trench truly observes, "the writer did not possess thatmmand of the resources of the English language, which none more

an Calderon requires."

he Legend on which Calderon founded "El Magico Prodigioso" will be

und in Surius, "De probatis Sanctorum historiis", t. V. (Col. Agr.

74), p. 351: "Vita et Martyrium SS. Cypriani et Justinae, autore

meone Metaphraste", and in Chapter cxlii, of the "Legenda Aurea" of

cobus de Voragine "De Sancta Justina virgine".

he martyrdom of the Saints took place in the year 290, and their

stival is celebrated by the Church on the 26th of September.

r. Ticknor in his History of Spanish Literature, 1863, volume ii. p.

69, says that the Wonder-working Magician is founded on "the same

gend on which Milman has founded his 'Martyr of Antioch.'" This is

mistake of the learned writer. "The Martyr of Antioch" is founded

ot on the history of St. Justina but of Saint Margaret, as Milman

mself expressly states. Chapter xciii., "De Sancta Margareta", ine "Legenda Aurea" of Jacobus de Voragine contains her story.

he third translation in this volume is that of "The Purgatory of St.

atrick". This, though perhaps not so famous as the two preceding

amas, is intended to be given by Don P. De la Escosura, in a

lection of Calderon's finest "comedias", now being edited by him

r the Spanish Academy, as the representative piece of its class --

mely, the mystical drama founded on the lives of Saints. Mr.

cknor prefers it to the more celebrated "Devotion of the Cross,"d says that it "is commonly ranked among the best religious plays

the Spanish theatre in the seventeenth century."

all that relates to the famous cave known through the middle ages

the "Purgatory of Saint Patrick", as well as the Story of Luis

nius -- the Owain Miles of Ancient English poetry -- Calderon was

tirely indebted to the little volume published at Madrid, in 1627,

y Juan Perez de Montalvan, entitled "Vida y Purgatorio de San



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atricio". This singular work met with immense success. It went

rough innumerable editions, and continues to be reprinted in Spain

a chap-book, down to the present day. I have the fifth impression

mproved and enlarged by the author himself," Madrid, 1628, the year

ter its first appearance: also a later edition, Madrid, 1664. As

rly as 1637 a French translation appeared at Brussels by "F. A. S.

hartreux, a Bruxelles." In 1642 a second French translation was

ublished at Troyes, by "R. P. Francois Bouillon, de l'Ordre de S.ancois, et Bachelier de Theologie." Mr. Thomas Wright in his

Essay on St. Patrick's Purgatory," London, 1844, makes the singular

istake of supposing that Bouillon's "Histoire de la Vie et

urgatoire de S. Patrice" was founded on the drama of Calderon, it

ing simply a translation of Montalvan's "Vida y Purgatorio," from

hich, like itself, Calderon's play was derived. Among other

anslations of Montalvan's work may be mentioned one in Dutch

russels, 1668) and one in Portuguese (Lisbon, 1738). It was also

anslated into German and Italian, but I find no mention of annglish version. For this reason I have thought that a few extracts

ight be interesting, as showing how closely Calderon adhered even to

e language of his predecessor.

all that relates to the Purgatory, Montalvan's work is itself

iefly compiled from the "Florilegium Insulae Sanctorum, seu vitae

Actae sanctorum Hiberniae," Paris, 1624, fol. This work, which

s now become scarce, was written by Thomas Messingham an Irish

iest, the Superior of the Irish Seminary in Paris. No completenglish version appears to have been made of it, but a small tract in

nglish containing everything in the original work that referred to

. Patrick's Purgatory was published at Paris in 1718. As this

act is perhaps more scarce than even the Florilegium itself, the

count of the Purgatory as given by Messingham from the MS. of Henry

Saltrey is reprinted in the notes to this drama in the quaint

nguage of the anonymous translator. Of this tract, "printed at

aris in 1718" without the name of author, publisher or printer, I

ve not been able to trace another copy. In other points ofterest connected with Calderon's drama, particularly to the

earing up of the difficulty hitherto felt as to the confused list

authorities at the end, the reader is also referred to the notes.

he present version of "The Purgatory of Saint Patrick" is, with the

ception of a few unimportant lines, an entirely new translation.

is made with the utmost care, imitating all the measures and

ntained, like the two preceding dramas, in the exact number of



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nes of the original. One passage of the translation which I

ublished in 1853 is retained in the notes, as a tribute of respect

the memory of the late John Rutter Chorley, it having been

entioned with praise by that eminent Spanish scholar in an elaborate

view of my earlier translations from Calderon, which appeared in

e "Athenaeum", Nov. 19 and Nov. 26, 1853.

only remains to add that the text I have followed is that ofartzenbusch in his edition of Calderon's Comedias, Madrid, 1856

Biblioteca de Autores Espanoles"). His arrangement of the scenes

s been followed throughout, thus enabling the reader in a moment to

rify for himself the exactness of the translation by a reference to

e original, a crucial test which I rather invite than decline.

LAPHAM PARK, Easter, 1873.

FE IS A DREAM.

O

ON JUAN EUGENIO HARTZENBUSCH,

OET, DRAMATIST, NOVELIST, AND CRITIC,

HE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS OF LIVING SPANISH WRITERS,

HIS TRANSLATION

NTO ENGLISH IMITATIVE VERSE

F

ALDERON'S MOST FAMOUS DRAMA,

INSCRIBED,ITH THE ESTEEM AND REGARD

F

HE AUTHOR.

ERSONS.



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* * * * *

ASILIUS, King of Poland.

GISMUND, his Son.

STOLFO, Duke of Muscovy.

LOTALDO, a Nobleman.

STRELLA, a Princess.

OSAURA, a Lady.LARIN, her Servant.

oldiers.

uards.

usicians.

ttendants.

adies.

ervants.

* * * * *

he Scene is in the Court of Poland, in a fortress at some distance,

d in the open field.

FE IS A DREAM.

* * * * *

CT THE FIRST.

t one side a craggy mountain, at the other a tower, the lower part

which serves as the prison of Sigismund. The door facing the

ectators is half open. The action commences at nightfall.

CENE I.

OSAURA, CLARIN.

OSAURA in man's attire appears on the rocky heights and descends to

e plain. She is followed by CLARIN.

OSAURA. Wild hippogriff swift speeding,

hou that dost run, the winged winds exceeding,

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olt which no flash illumes,

sh without scales, bird without shifting plumes,

nd brute awhile bereft

f natural instinct, why to this wild cleft,

his labyrinth of naked rocks, dost sweep

nreined, uncurbed, to plunge thee down the steep?

ay in this mountain wold,

nd let the beasts their Phaeton behold.or I, without a guide,

ave what the laws of destiny decide,

enighted, desperate, blind.

ake any path whatever that doth wind

own this rough mountain to its base,

hose wrinkled brow in heaven frowns in the sun's bright face.

h, Poland! in ill mood

ast thou received a stranger, since in blood

he name thou writest on thy sandsf her who hardly here fares hardly at thy hands.

y fate may well say so:--

ut where shall one poor wretch find pity in her woe?

LARIN. Say two, if you please;

on't leave me out when making plaints like these.

or if we are the two

ho left our native country with the view

f seeking strange adventures, if we behe two who, madly and in misery,

ave got so far as this, and if we still

re the same two who tumbled down this hill,

oes it not plainly to a wrong amount,

o put me in the pain and not in the account?

OSAURA. I do not wish to impart,

arin, to thee, the sorrows of my heart;

ourning for thee would spoil the consolationf making for thyself thy lamentation;

or there is such a pleasure in complaining,

hat a philosopher I've heard maintaining

ne ought to seek a sorrow and be vain of it,

order to be privileged to complain of it.

LARIN. That same philosopher

as an old drunken fool, unless I err:



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h, that I could a thousand thumps present him,

order for complaining to content him!

ut what, my lady, say,

re we to do, on foot, alone, our way

ost in the shades of night?

or see, the sun descends another sphere to light.

OSAURA. So strange a misadventure who has seen?ut if my sight deceives me not, between

hese rugged rocks, half-lit by the moon's ray

nd the declining day,

seems, or is it fancy? that I see

human dwelling?

LARIN. So it seems to me,

nless my wish the longed-for lodging mocks.

OSAURA. A rustic little palace 'mid the rocks

plifts its lowly roof,

carce seen by the far sun that shines aloof.

f such a rude device

the whole structure of this edifice,

hat lying at the feet

f these gigantic crags that rise to greet

he sun's first beams of gold,

seems a rock that down the mountain rolled.

LARIN. Let us approach more near,

or long enough we've looked at it from here;

hen better we shall see

those who dwell therein will generously

welcome give us.

OSAURA. See an open door

unereal mouth 'twere best the name it bore),om which as from a womb

he night is born, engendered in its gloom.

he sound of chains is heard within.]

LARIN. Heavens! what is this I hear?

OSAURA. Half ice, half fire, I stand transfixed with fear.



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LARIN. A sound of chains, is it not?

ome galley-slave his sentence here hath got;

y fear may well suggest it so may be.

* * * * *

CENE II.

GISMUND, [in the tower.] ROSAURA, CLARIN.

GISMUND [within]. Alas! Ah, wretched me! Ah, wretched me!

OSAURA. Oh what a mournful wail!gain my pains, again my fears prevail.

LARIN. Again with fear I die.

OSAURA. Clarin!

LARIN. My lady!

OSAURA. Let us turn and flyhe risks of this enchanted tower.

LARIN. For one,

carce have strength to stand, much less to run.

OSAURA. Is not that glimmer there afar --

hat dying exhalation -- that pale star --

tiny taper, which, with trembling blaze

ickering 'twixt struggling flames and dying rays,ith ineffectual spark

akes the dark dwelling place appear more dark?

es, for its distant light,

eflected dimly, brings before my sight

dungeon's awful gloom,

ay rather of a living corse, a living tomb;

nd to increase my terror and surprise,

rest in the skins of beasts a man there lies:



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piteous sight,

hained, and his sole companion this poor light.

nce then we cannot fly,

et us attentive to his words draw nigh,

hatever they may be.

he doors of the tower open wide, and SIGISMUND is discovered in

ains and clad in the skins of beasts. The light in the towercreases.]

GISMUND. Alas! Ah, wretched me! Ah, wretched me!

eaven, here lying all forlorn,

desire from thee to know,

nce thou thus dost treat me so,

hy have I provoked thy scorn

y the crime of being born?--

hough for being born I feeleaven with me must harshly deal,

nce man's greatest crime on earth

the fatal fact of birth --

n supreme without appeal.

his alone I ponder o'er,

y strange mystery to pierce through;

eaving wholly out of view

erms my hapless birthday bore,

ow have I offended more,hat the more you punish me?

ust not other creatures be

orn? If born, what privilege

an they over me allege

f which I should not be free?

rds are born, the bird that sings,

chly robed by Nature's dower,

carcely floats -- a feathered flower,

r a bunch of blooms with wings --hen to heaven's high halls it springs,

uts the blue air fast and free,

nd no longer bound will be

y the nest's secure control:--

nd with so much more of soul,

ust I have less liberty?

easts are born, the beast whose skin

appled o'er with beauteous spots,



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s when the great pencil dots

eaven with stars, doth scarce begin

om its impulses within--

ature's stern necessity,

o be schooled in cruelty,--

onster, waging ruthless war:--

nd with instincts better far

ust I have less liberty?sh are born, the spawn that breeds

here the oozy sea-weeds float,

carce perceives itself a boat,

caled and plated for its needs,

hen from wave to wave it speeds,

easuring all the mighty sea,

esting its profundity

o its depths so dark and chill:--

nd with so much freer will,ust I have less liberty?

reams are born, a coiled-up snake

hen its path the streamlet finds,

carce a silver serpent winds

Mong the flowers it must forsake,

ut a song of praise doth wake,

ournful though its music be,

o the plain that courteously

pes a path through which it flies:--nd with life that never dies,

ust I have less liberty?

hen I think of this I start,

etna-like in wild unrest

would pluck from out my breast

t by bit my burning heart:--

or what law can so depart

om all right, as to deny

ne lone man that liberty --hat sweet gift which God bestows

n the crystal stream that flows,

rds and fish that float or fly?

OSAURA. Fear and deepest sympathy

o I feel at every word.

GISMUND. Who my sad lament has heard?



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hat! Clotaldo!

LARIN [aside to his mistress]. Say 'tis he.

OSAURA. No, 'tis but a wretch (ah, me!)

ho in these dark caves and cold

ears the tale your lips unfold.

GISMUND. Then you'll die for listening so,

hat you may not know I know

hat you know the tale I told.

eizes her.]

es, you'll die for loitering near:

these strong arms gaunt and grim

will tear you limb from limb.

LARIN. I am deaf and couldn't hear:--

o!

OSAURA. If human heart you bear,

is enough that I prostrate me.

t thy feet, to liberate me!

GISMUND. Strange thy voice can so unbend me,range thy sight can so suspend me,

nd respect so penetrate me!

ho art thou? for though I see

ttle from this lonely room,

his, my cradle and my tomb.

eing all the world to me,

nd if birthday it could be,

nce my birthday I have known

ut this desert wild and lone,here throughout my life's sad course

have lived, a breathing corse,

have moved, a skeleton;

nd though I address or see

ever but one man alone,

ho my sorrows all hath known,

nd through whom have come to me

otions of earth, sky, and sea;



17/121


nd though harrowing thee again,

nce thou'lt call me in this den,

onster fit for bestial feasts,

m a man among wild beasts,

nd a wild beast amongst men.

ut though round me has been wrought

ll this woe, from beasts I've learned

olity, the same discernedeeding what the birds had taught,

nd have measured in my thought

he fair orbits of the spheres;

ou alone, 'midst doubts and fears,

ake my wonder and surprise --

ive amazement to my eyes,

dmiration to my ears.

very time your face I see

ou produce a new amaze:fter the most steadfast gaze,

again would gazer be.

believe some hydropsy

ust affect my sight, I think

eath must hover on the brink

f those wells of light, your eyes,

or I look with fresh surprise,

nd though death result, I drink.

et me see and die: forgive me;or I do not know, in faith,

to see you gives me death,

hat to see you not would give me;

omething worse than death would grieve me,

nger, rage, corroding care,

eath, but double death it were,

eath with tenfold terrors rife,

nce what gives the wretched life,

ives the happy death, despair!

OSAURA. Thee to see wakes such dismay,

hee to hear I so admire,

hat I'm powerless to inquire,

hat I know not what to say:

nly this, that I to-day,

uided by a wiser will,

ave here come to cure my ill,



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ere consoled my grief to see,

a wretch consoled can be

eeing one more wretched still.

f a sage, who roamed dejected,

oor, and wretched, it is said,

hat one day, his wants being fed

y the herbs which he collected,

s there one" (he thus reflected)oorer than I am to-day?"

urning round him to survey,

e his answer got, detecting

still poorer sage collecting

ven the leaves he threw away.

hus complaining to excess,

ourning fate, my life I led,

nd when thoughtlessly I said

o myself, "Does earth possessne more steeped in wretchedness?"

n thee the answer find.

nce revolving in my mind,

perceive that all my pains

o become thy joyful gains

hou hast gathered and entwined.

nd if haply some slight solace

y these pains may be imparted,*

ear attentively the storyf my life's supreme disasters.

am ....

ootnote] *The metre changes here to the vocal "asonante" in "a--e",

d continues to the end of the Fourth Scene.

* * * * *

CENE III.

LOTALDO, Soldiers, SIGISMUND, ROSAURA, CLARIN.

LOTALDO [within]. Warders of this tower,



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ho, or sleeping or faint-hearted,

ive an entrance to two persons

ho herein have burst a passage . . . .

OSAURA. New confusion now I suffer.

GISMUND. 'Tis Clotaldo, who here guards me;

re not yet my miseries ended?

LOTALDO [within]. Hasten hither, quick! be active!

nd before they can defend them,

ill them on the spot, or capture!

Voices within.] Treason!

LARIN. Watchguards of this tower,

ho politely let us pass here,nce you have the choice of killing

r of capturing, choose the latter.

nter CLOTALDO and Soldiers; he with a pistol, and all with their

ces covered.]

LOTALDO [aside to the Soldiers]. Keep your faces all well covered,

or it is a vital matter

hat we should be known by no one,hile I question these two stragglers.

LARIN. Are there masqueraders here?

LOTALDO. Ye who in your ignorant rashness

ave passed through the bounds and limits

f this interdicted valley,

ainst the edict of the King,

ho has publicly commandedone should dare descry the wonder

hat among these rocks is guarded,

ield at once your arms and lives,

r this pistol, this cold aspic

ormed of steel, the penetrating

oison of two balls will scatter,

he report and fire of which

ill the air astound and startle.



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GISMUND. Ere you wound them, ere you hurt them,

ill my life, O tyrant master,

e the miserable victim

f these wretched chains that clasp me;

nce in them, I vow to God,

will tear myself to fragments

ith my hands, and with my teeth,these rocks here, in these caverns,

e I yield to their misfortunes,

r lament their sad disaster.

LOTALDO. If you know that your misfortunes,

gismund, are unexampled,

nce before being born you died

y Heaven's mystical enactment;

you know these fetters aref your furies oft so rampant

ut the bridle that detains them,

ut the circle that contracts them.

hy these idle boasts? The door

o the Soldiers.]

f this narrow prison fasten;

eave him there secured.

GISMUND. Ah, heavens,is wise of you to snatch me

hus from freedom! since my rage

ainst you had become Titanic,

nce to break the glass and crystal

old-gates of the sun, my anger

n the firm-fixed rocks' foundations

ould have mountains piled of marble.

LOTALDO. 'Tis that you should not so pile themhat perhaps these ills have happened,

ome of the SOLDIERS lead SIGISMUND into his prison, the doors of

hich are closed upon him.]

* * * * *



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CENE IV.

OSAURA, CLOTALDO, CLARIN, Soldiers.

OSAURA. Since I now have seen how pride

an offend thee, I were hardenedure in folly not here humbly

t thy feet for life to ask thee;

hen to me extend thy pity,

nce it were a special harshness

humility and pride,

oth alike were disregarded.

LARIN. If Humility and Pride

hose two figures who have actedany and many a thousand times

the "autos sacramentales",

o not move you, I, who am neither

oud nor humble, but a sandwich

artly mixed of both, entreat you

o extend to us your pardon.

LOTALDO. Ho!

OLDIERS. My lord?

LOTALDO. Disarm the two,

nd their eyes securely bandage,

o that they may not be able

o see whither they are carried.

OSAURA. This is, sir, my sword; to thee

nly would I wish to hand it,nce in fine of all the others

hou art chief, and I could hardly

ield it unto one less noble.

LARIN. Mine I'll give the greatest rascal

f your troop: [To a Soldier.] so take it, you.

OSAURA. And if I must die, to thank thee



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or thy pity, I would leave thee

his as pledge, which has its value

om the owner who once wore it;

hat thou guard it well, I charge thee,

or although I do not know

hat strange secret it may carry,

his I know, that some great mystery

es within this golden scabbard,nce relying but on it

o Poland here have travelled

o revenge a wrong.

LOTALDO [aside.] Just heavens!

hat is this? Still graver, darker,

row my doubts and my confusion,

y anxieties and my anguish.--

peak, who gave you this?

OSAURA. A woman.

LOTALDO. And her name?

OSAURA. To that my answer

ust be silence.

LOTALDO. But from whato you now infer, or fancy,

hat this sword involves a secret?

OSAURA. She who gave it said: "Depart hence

to Poland, and by study,

ratagem, and skill so manage

hat this sword may be inspected

y the nobles and the magnates

f that land, for you, I know,ill by one of them be guarded,"--

ut his name, lest he was dead,

as not then to me imparted.

LOTALDO [aside]. Bless me, Heaven! what's this I hear?

or so strangely has this happened,

hat I cannot yet determine

'tis real or imagined.



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his is the same sword that I

eft with beauteous Violante,

s a pledge unto its wearer,

ho might seek me out thereafter,

s a son that I would love him,

nd protect him as a father.

hat is to be done (ah, me!)

confusion so entangled,he who for safety bore it

ears it now but to dispatch him,

nce condemned to death he cometh

o my feet? How strange a marvel!

hat a lamentable fortune!

ow unstable! how unhappy!

his must be my son -- the tokens

ll declare it, superadded

o the flutter of the heart,hat to see him loudly rappeth

t the breast, and not being able

ith its throbs to burst its chamber,

oes as one in prison, who,

earing tumult in the alley,

rives to look from out the window;

hus, not knowing what here passes

ave the noise, the heart uprusheth

o the eyes the cause to examine --hey the windows of the heart,

ut through which in tears it glances.

hat is to be done? (O Heavens!)

hat is to be done? To drag him

ow before the King were death;

ut to hide him from my master,

hat I cannot do, according

o my duty as a vassal.

hus my loyalty and self-lovepon either side attack me;

ach would win. But wherefore doubt?

not loyalty a grander,

obler thing than life, than honour?

hen let loyalty live, no matter

hat he die; besides, he told me,

I well recall his language,

hat he came to revenge a wrong,



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ut a wronged man is a lazar,--

o, he cannot be my son,

ot the son of noble fathers.

ut if some great chance, which no one

an be free from, should have happened,

nce the delicate sense of honour

a thing so fine, so fragile,

hat the slightest touch may break it,r the faintest breath may tarnish,

hat could he do more, do more,

e whose cheek the blue blood mantles,

ut at many risks to have come here

again to re-establish?

es, he is my son, my blood,

nce he shows himself so manly.

nd thus then betwixt two doubts

mid course alone is granted:is to seek the King, and tell him

ho he is, let what will happen.

desire to save my honour

ay appease my royal master;

hould he spare his life, I then

ill assist him in demanding

is revenge; but if the King

hould, persisting in his anger,

ive him death, then he will dieithout knowing I'm his father.--

o ROSAURA and CLARIN.]

ome, then, come then with me, strangers.

o not fear in your disasters

hat you will not have companions

misfortune; for so balanced

re the gains of life or death,

hat I know not which are larger.

xeunt.]

* * * * *

CENE V.

HALL IN THE ROYAL PALACE.



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nter at one side ASTOLFO and Soldiers, and at the other the INFANTA

STRELLA and her Ladies. Military music and salutes within.]

STOLFO. Struck at once with admiration

t thy starry eyes outshining,

ingle many a salutation,

rums and trumpet-notes combining,ounts and birds in alternation;

ondering here to see thee pass,

usic in grand chorus gathers

ll her notes from grove and grass:

ere are trumpets formed of feathers,

here are birds that breathe in brass.

ll salute thee, fair Senora,

rdnance as their Queen proclaim thee,

eauteous birds as their Aurora,s their Pallas trumpets name thee,

nd the sweet flowers as their Flora;

or Aurora sure thou art,

right as day that conquers night --

hine is Flora's peaceful part,

hou art Pallas in thy might,

nd as Queen thou rul'st my heart.

STRELLA. If the human voice obeyinghould with human action pair,

hen you have said ill in saying

ll these flattering words and fair,

nce in truth they are gainsaying

his parade of victory,

ainst which I my standard rear,

nce they say, it seems to me,

ot the flatteries that I hear,

ut the rigours that I see.hink, too, what a base invention

om a wild beast's treachery sprung,--

audful mother of dissension --

to flatter with the tongue,

nd to kill with the intention.

STOLFO. Ill informed you must have been,

air Estrella, thus to throw



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oubt on my respectful mien:

et your ear attentive lean

hile the cause I strive show.

ing Eustorgius the Fair,

hird so called, died leaving two

aughters, and Basilius heir;

f his sisters I and you

re the children -- I forbearo recall a single scene

ave what's needful. Clorilene,

our good mother and my aunt,

ho is now a habitant

f a sphere of sunnier sheen,

as the elder, of whom you

re the daughter; Recisunda,

hom God guard a thousand years,

er fair sister (Rosamundaere she called if names were true)

ed in Muscovy, of whom

was born. 'Tis needful now

he commencement to resume.

ing Basilius, who doth bow

eath the weight of years, the doom

ge imposes, more inclined

o the studies of the mind

han to women, wifeless, lone,ithout sons, to fill his throne

and you our way would find.

ou, the elder's child, averred,

hat the crown you stood more nigh:

maintaining that you erred,

eld, though born of the younger, I,

eing a man, should be preferred.

hus our mutual pretension

o our uncle we related,ho replied that he would mention

ere, and on this day he stated,

hat might settle the dissension.

ith this end, from Muscovy

et out, and with that view,

o-day fair Poland see,

nd not making war on you,

ait till war you make on me.



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ould to love -- that God so wise --

hat the crowd may be a sure

strologue to read the skies,

nd this festive truce secure

oth to you and me the prize,

aking you a Queen, but Queen

y my will, our uncle leaving

ou the throne we'll share between --nd my love a realm receiving

earer than a King's demesne.

STRELLA. Well, I must be generous too,

or a gallantry so fine;

his imperial realm you view,

I wish it to be mine

is to give it unto you.

hough if I the truth confessed,must fear your love may fail --

attering words are words at best,

or perhaps a truer tale

ells that portrait on your breast.

STOLFO. On that point complete content

ill I give your mind, not here,

or each sounding instrument

Drums are heard.]ells us that the King is near,

ith his Court and Parliament.

* * * * *

CENE VI.

he KING BASILIUS, with his retinue. --

STOLFO, ESTRELLA, Ladies, Soldiers.

STRELLA. Learned Euclid . . .

STOLFO. Thales wise . .



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STRELLA. The vast Zodiac . . .

STOLFO. The star spaces . . .

STRELLA. Who dost soar to . . .

STOLFO. Who dost rise...

STRELLA. The sun's orbit . . .

STOLFO. The stars' places . . .

STRELLA. To describe . . .

STOLFO. To map the skies . . .

STRELLA. Let me humbly interlacing . . .

STOLFO. Let me lovingly embracing . . .

STRELLA. Be the tendril of thy tree.

STOLFO. Bend respectfully my knee.

ASILIUS. Children, that dear word displacing

older names, my arms here bless;nd be sure, since you assented

o my plan, my love's excess

ill leave neither discontented,

r give either more or less.

nd though I from being old

owly may the facts unfold,

ear in silence my narration,

eep reserved your admiration,

ll the wondrous tale is told.ou already know -- I pray you

e attentive, dearest children,*

reat, illustrious Court of Poland,

aithful vassals, friends and kinsmen,

ou already know -- my studies

ave throughout the whole world given me

he high title of "the learned,"

nce 'gainst time and time's oblivion



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he rich pencils of Timanthes,

he bright marbles of Lysippus,

niversally proclaim me

hrough earth's bounds the great Basilius.

ou already know the sciences

hat I feel my mind most given to

re the subtle mathematics,

y whose means my clear previsionakes from rumour its slow office,

akes from time its jurisdiction

f, each day, new facts disclosing;

nce in algebraic symbols

hen the fate of future ages

n my tablets I see written,

anticipate time in telling

hat my science hath predicted.

ll those circles of pure snow,ll those canopies of crystal,

hich the sun with rays illumines,

hich the moon cuts in its circles,

ll those orbs of twinkling diamond,

ll those crystal globes that glisten,

ll that azure field of stars

here the zodiac signs are pictured,

re the study of my life,

re the books where heaven has writtenpon diamond-dotted paper,

pon leaves by sapphires tinted,

ith light luminous lines of gold,

clear characters distinctly

ll the events of human life,

hether adverse or benignant.

hese so rapidly I read

hat I follow with the quickness

f my thoughts the swiftest movementsf their orbits and their circles.

ould to heaven, that ere my mind

o those mystic books addicted

as the comment of their margins

nd of all their leaves the index,

ould to heaven, I say, my life

ad been offered the first victim

f its anger, that my death-stroke



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ad in this way have been given me,

nce the unhappy find even merit

the fatal knife that kills them,

nd his own self-murderer

the man whom knowledge injures!--

may say so, but my story

o will say with more distinctness,

nd to win your admirationnce again I pray you listen.--

orilene, my wife, a son

ore me, so by fate afflicted

hat on his unhappy birthday

ll Heaven's prodigies assisted.

ay, ere yet to life's sweet life

ave him forth her womb, that living

epulchre (for death and life

ave like ending and beginning),any a time his mother saw

her dreams' delirious dimness

om her side a monster break,

ashioned like a man, but sprinkled

ith her blood, who gave her death,

y that human viper bitten.

ound his birthday came at last,

ll its auguries fulfilling

or the presages of evileldom fail or even linger):

ame with such a horoscope,

hat the sun rushed blood-red tinted

to a terrific combat

ith the dark moon that resisted;

arth its mighty lists outspread

s with lessening lights diminished

rove the twin-lamps of the sky.

was of all the sun's eclipseshe most dreadful that it suffered

nce the hour its bloody visage

ept the awful death of Christ.

or o'erwhelmed in glowing cinders

he great orb appeared to suffer

ature's final paroxysm.

loom the glowing noontide darkened,

arthquake shook the mightiest buildings,



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ones the angry clouds rained down,

nd with blood ran red the rivers.

this frenzy of the sun,

its madness and delirium,

gismund was born, thus early

iving proofs of his condition,

nce his birth his mother slew,

st as if these words had killed her,am a man, since good with evil

epay here from the beginning,"--

applying to my studies,

aw in them as 'twere forewritten

his, that Sigismund would be

he most cruel of all princes,

f all men the most audacious,

f all monarchs the most wicked;

hat his kingdom through his meansould be broken and partitioned,

he academy of the vices,

nd the high school of sedition;

nd that he himself, borne onward

y his crimes' wild course resistless,

ould even place his feet on me;

or I saw myself down-stricken,

ying on the ground before him

o say this what shame it gives me!)hile his feet on my white hairs

s a carpet were imprinted.

ho discredits threatened ill,

pecially an ill previsioned

y one's study, when self-love

akes it his peculiar business?--

hus then crediting the fates

hich far off my science witnessed,

ll these fatal augurieseen though dimly in the distance,

esolved to chain the monster

hat unhappily life was given to,

o find out if yet the stars

wned the wise man's weird dominion.

was publicly proclaimed

hat the sad ill-omened infant

as stillborn. I then a tower



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aused by forethought to be builded

Mid the rocks of these wild mountains

here the sunlight scarce can gild it,

s glad entrance being barred

y these rude shafts obeliscal.

ll the laws of which you know,

ll the edicts that prohibit

nyone on pain of deathhat secluded part to visit

f the mountain, were occasioned

y this cause, so long well hidden.

here still lives Prince Sigismund,

iserable, poor, in prison.

im alone Clotaldo sees,

nly tends to and speaks with him;

e the sciences has taught him,

e the Catholic religionas imparted to him, being

f his miseries the sole witness.

ere there are three things: the first

ate highest, since my wishes

re, O Poland, thee to save

om the oppression, the affliction

f a tyrant King, because

f his country and his kingdom

e were no benignant fatherho to such a risk could give it.

econdly, the thought occurs

hat to take from mine own issue

he plain right that every law

uman and divine hath given him

not Christian charity;

or by no law am I bidden

o prevent another proving,

ay, a tyrant, or a villain,o be one myself: supposing

ven my son should be so guilty,

hat he should not crimes commit

myself should first commit them.

hen the third and last point is,

hat perhaps I erred in giving

oo implicit a belief

o the facts foreseen so dimly;



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or although his inclination

ell might find its precipices,

e might possibly escape them:

or the fate the most fastidious,

or the impulse the most powerful.

ven the planets most malicious

nly make free will incline,

ut can force not human wishes.nd thus 'twist these different causes

acillating and unfixed,

a remedy have thought of

hich will with new wonder fill you.

o-morrow morning purpose,

ithout letting it be hinted

hat he is my son, and therefore

our true King, at once to fix him

s King Sigismund (for the nameill he bears that first was given him)

eath my canopy, on my throne,

nd in fine in my position,

here to govern and command you,

here in dutiful submission

ou will swear to him allegiance.

y resources thus are triple,

s the causes of disquiet

ere which I revealed this instant.he first is; that he being prudent,

areful, cautious and benignant,

alsifying the wild actions

hat of him had been predicted,

ou'll enjoy your natural prince,

e who has so long been living

olding court amid these mountains,

ith the wild beasts for his circle.

hen my next resource is this:he, daring, wild, and wicked,

oudly runs with loosened rein

er the broad plain of the vicious,

will have fulfilled the duty

f my natural love and pity;

hen his righteous deposition

ill but prove my royal firmness,

hastisement and not revenge



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eading him once more to the prison.

y third course is this: the Prince

eing what my words have pictured,

om the love I owe you, vassals,

will give you other princes

orthier of the crown and sceptre;

amely, my two sisters' children,

ho their separate pretensionsaving happily commingled

y the holy bonds of marriage,

ill then fill their fit position.

his is what a king commands you,

his is what a father bids you,

his is what a sage entreats you,

his is what an old man wishes;

nd as Seneca, the Spaniard,

ays, a king for all his richesbut slave of his Republic,

his is what a slave petitions.

ootnote] *The metre changes here to the "asonante" in "i--e", or

eir vocal equivalents, and is kept up for the remainder of the Act.

STOLFO. If on me devolves the answer,

s being in this weighty business

he most interested party,of all, express the opinion:--

et Prince Sigismund appear;

e's thy son, that's all-sufficient.

LL. Give to us our natural prince,

e proclaim him king this instant!

ASILIUS. Vassals, from my heart I thank you

or this deference to my wishes:--o, conduct to their apartments

hese two columns of my kingdom,

n to-morrow you shall see him.

LL. Live, long live great King Basilius!

xeunt all, accompanying ESTRELLA and ASTOLFO;

he King remains.]



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* * * * *

CENE VII.

LOTALDO, ROSAURA, CLARIN, and BASILIUS.

LOTALDO. May I speak to you, sire?

ASILIUS. Clotaldo,

ou are always welcome with me.

LOTALDO. Although coming to your feet

hows how freely I'm admitted,ill, your majesty, this once,

ate as mournful as malicious

akes from privilege its due right,

nd from custom its permission.

ASILIUS. What has happened?

LOTALDO. A misfortune,

re, which has my heart afflictedt the moment when all joy

hould have overflown and filled it.

ASILIUS. Pray proceed.

LOTALDO. This handsome youth here,

advertently, or driven

y his daring, pierced the tower,

nd the Prince discovered in it.ay . . . .

ASILIUS. Clotaldo, be not troubled

t this act, which if committed

t another time had grieved me,

ut the secret so long hidden

aving myself told, his knowledge

f the fact but matters little.



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ee me presently, for I

uch must speak upon this business,

nd for me you much must do

or a part will be committed

o you in the strangest drama

hat perhaps the world e'er witnessed.

s for these, that you may know

hat I mean not your remissnesso chastise, I grant their pardon.

xit.]

LOTALDO. Myriad years to my lord be given!

* * * * *

CENE VIII.

LOTALDO, ROSAURA, and CLARIN.

LOTALDO [aside]. Heaven has sent a happier fate;

nce I need not now admit it,

l not say he is my son.--

rangers who have wandered hither,ou are free.

OSAURA. I give your feet

thousand kisses.

LARIN. I say misses,

or a letter more or less

wixt two friends is not considered.

OSAURA. You have given me life, my lord,

nd since by your act I'm living,

eternally will own me

s your slave.

LOTALDO. The life I've given

not really your true life,

or a man by birth uplifted



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he suffers an affront

ctually no longer liveth;

nd supposing you have come here

or revenge as you have hinted,

have not then given you life,

nce you have not brought it with you,

or no life disgraced is life.--

Aside.] (This I say to arouse his spirit.)

OSAURA. I confess I have it not,

hough by you it has been given me;

ut revenge being wreaked, my honour

will leave so pure and limpid,

ll its perils overcome,

hat my life may then with fitness

eem to be a gift of yours.

LOTALDO. Take this burnished sword which hither

ou brought with you; for I know,

o revenge you, 'tis sufficient,

your enemy's blood bathed red;

or a sword that once was girded

ound me (I say this the while

hat to me it was committed),

ill know how to right you.

OSAURA. Thus

your name once more I gird it,

nd on it my vengeance swear,

hough the enemy who afflicts me

ere more powerful.

LOTALDO. Is he so?

OSAURA. Yes; so powerful, I am hinderedaying who he is, not doubting

ven for greater things your wisdom

nd calm prudence, but through fear

est against me your prized pity

ight be turned.

LOTALDO. 'Twill rather be,

y declaring it, more kindled;



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therwise you bar the passage

ainst your foe of my assistance.--

Aside.] (Would that I but knew his name!)

OSAURA. Not to think I set so little

alue on such confidence,

now my enemy and my victim

no less than Prince Astolfo,uke of Muscovy.

LOTALDO [aside]. Resistance

adly can my grief supply

nce 'tis heavier than I figured.

et us sift the matter deeper.--

a Muscovite by birth, then

e who is your natural lord

ould not 'gainst you have committedny wrong; reseek your country,

nd abandon the wild impulse

hat has driven you here.

OSAURA. I know,

hough a prince, he has committed

ainst me a great wrong.

LOTALDO. He could not,ven although your face was stricken

y his angry hand. [Aside.] (Oh, heavens!)

OSAURA. Mine's a wrong more deep and bitter.

LOTALDO. Tell it, then; it cannot be

orse than what my fancy pictures.

OSAURA. I will tell it; though I know not,ith the respect your presence gives me,

ith the affection you awaken,

ith the esteem your worth elicits,

ow with bold face here to tell you

hat this outer dress is simply

n enigma, since it is not

hat it seems. And from this hint, then,

I'm not what I appear,



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nd Astolfo with this princess

omes to wed, judge how by him

was wronged: I've said sufficient.

xeunt ROSAURA and CLARIN.]

LOTALDO. Listen! hear me! wait! oh, stay!

hat a labyrinthine thicketall this, where reason gives

ot a thread whereby to issue?

y own honour here is wronged,

owerful is my foe's position,

a vassal, she a woman;

eaven reveal some way in pity,

hough I doubt it has the power;

hen in such confused abysses,

eaven is all one fearful presage,nd the world itself a riddle.

* * * * *

CT THE SECOND.

HALL IN THE ROYAL PALACE.

* * * * *

CENE I.

ASILIUS and CLOTALDO.

LOTALDO. Everything has been effected

s you ordered.

ASILIUS. How all happened*

et me know, my good Clotaldo.



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ootnote] *The metre of this and the following scene is the asonante in a--e.

LOTALDO. It was done, sire, in this manner.

ith the tranquillising draught,

hich was made, as you commanded,

f confections duly mixed

ith some herbs, whose juice extractedas a strange tyrannic power,

as some secret force imparted,

hich all human sense and speech

obs, deprives, and counteracteth,

nd as 'twere a living corpse

aves the man whose lips have quaffed it

o asleep that all his senses,

ll his powers are overmastered . . . .

No need have we to discusshat this fact can really happen,

nce, my lord, experience gives us

any a clear and proved example;

ertain 'tis that Nature's secrets

ay by medicine be extracted,

nd that not an animal,

ot a stone, or herb that's planted,

ut some special quality

oth possess: for if the malicef man's heart, a thousand poisons

hat give death, hath power to examine,

it then so great a wonder

hat, their venom being abstracted,

as death by some is given,

eep by others is imparted?

utting, then, aside the doubt

hat 'tis possible this should happen,

thing proved beyond all questionoth by reason and example . . . .

With the sleeping draught, in fine,

ade of opium superadded

o the poppy and the henbane,

o Sigismund's apartment --

ell, in fact -- went down, and with him

poke awhile upon the grammar

f the sciences, those first studies



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hich mute Nature's gentle masters,

lent skies and hills, had taught him;

which school divine and ample,

he bird's song, the wild beast's roar,

ere a lesson and a language.

hen to raise his spirit more

o the high design you planned here,

discoursed on, as my theme,he swift flight, the stare undazzled

f a pride-plumed eagle bold,

hich with back-averted talons,

corning the tame fields of air,

eeks the sphere of fire, and passes

hrough its flame a flash of feathers,

r a comet's hair untangled.

extolled its soaring flight,

aying, "Thou at last art masterf thy house, thou'rt king of birds,

is right thou should'st surpass them."

e who needed nothing more

han to touch upon the matter

f high royalty, with a bearing

s became him, boldly answered;

or in truth his princely blood

oves, excites, inflames his ardour

o attempt great things: he said,n the restless realm of atoms

iven to birds, that even one

hould swear fealty as a vassal!

reflecting upon this,

m consoled by my disasters,

or, at least, if I obey,

obey through force: untrammelled,

ee to act, I ne'er will own

ny man on earth my master."--his, his usual theme of grief,

aving roused him nigh to madness,

occasion took to proffer

he drugged draught: he drank, but hardly

ad the liquor from the vessel

assed into his breast, when fastest

eep his senses seized, a sweat,

old as ice, the life-blood hardened



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his veins, his limbs grew stiff,

o that, knew I not 'twas acted,

eath was there, feigned death, his life

could doubt not had departed.

hen those, to whose care you trust

his experiment, in a carriage

rought him here, where all things fitting

he high majesty and the grandeurf his person are provided.

the bed of your state chamber

hey have placed him, where the stupor

aving spent its force and vanished,

hey, as 'twere yourself, my lord,

im will serve as you commanded:

nd if my obedient service

eems to merit some slight largess,

would ask but this aloneMy presumption you will pardon),

hat you tell me, with what object

ave you, in this secret manner,

o your palace brought him here?

ASILIUS. Good Clotaldo, what you ask me

so just, to you alone

would give full satisfaction.

gismund, my son, the hardfluence of his hostile planet

As you know) doth threat a thousand

readful tragedies and disasters;

desire to test if Heaven

An impossible thing to happen)

ould have lied -- if having given us

oofs unnumbered, countless samples

f his evil disposition,

e might prove more mild, more guardedt the lest, and self-subdued

y his prudence and true valour

hange his character; for 'tis man

hat alone controls the planets.

his it is I wish to test,

aving brought him to this palace,

here he'll learn he is my son,

nd display his natural talents.



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he nobly hath subdued him,

e will reign; but if his manners

how him tyrannous and cruel,

hen his chains once more shall clasp him.

ut for this experiment,

ow you probably will ask me

f what moment was't to bring him

hus asleep and in this manner?nd I wish to satisfy you,

iving all your doubts an answer.

to-day he learns that he

my son, and some hours after

nds himself once more restored

o his misery and his shackles,

ertain 'tis that from his temper

ank despair may end in madness --

ut once knowing who he is,an he be consoled thereafter?

es, and thus I wish to leave

ne door open, one free passage,

y declaring all he saw

as a dream. With this advantage

e attain two ends. The first

to put beyond all cavil

is condition, for on waking

e will show his thoughts, his fancies:o console him is the second;

nce, although obeyed and flattered,

e beholds himself awhile,

nd then back in prison shackled

nds him, he will think he dreamed.

nd he rightly so may fancy,

or, Clotaldo, in this world

ll who live but dream they act here.

LOTALDO. Reasons fail me not to show

hat the experiment may not answer;

ut there is no remedy now,

or a sign from the apartment

ells me that he hath awoken

nd even hitherward advances.

ASILIUS. It is best that I retire;



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ut do you, so long his master,

ear him stand; the wild confusion

hat his waking sense may darken

issipate by simple truth.

LOTALDO. Then your licence you have granted

hat I may declare it?

ASILIUS. Yes;

or it possibly may happen

hat admonished of his danger

e may conquer his worst passions.

xit]

* * * * *

CENE II.

LARIN and CLOTALDO.

LARIN [aside]. Four good blows are all it cost me

o come here, inflicted smartly

y a red-robed halberdier,ith a beard to match his jacket,

t that price I see the show,

or no window's half so handy

s that which, without entreating

ckets of the ticket-master,

man carried with himself;

nce for all the feasts and galas

ool effrontery is the window

hence at ease he gazes at them.

LOTALDO [aside]. This is Clarin, heavens! of her,

es, I say, of her the valet,

he, who dealing in misfortunes,

as my pain to Poland carried:--

ny news, friend Clarin?

LARIN. News?



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es, sir, since your great compassion

disposed Rosaura's outrage

o revenge, she has changed her habit,

nd resumed her proper dress.

LOTALDO. 'Tis quite right, lest possible scandal

ight arise.

LARIN. More news: her name

aving changed and wisely bartered

or your niece's name, she now

o in honour has advanced her,

hat among Estrella's ladies

he here with her in the palace

ves.

LOTALDO. 'Tis right that I once morehould her honour re-establish.

LARIN. News; that anxiously she waiteth

or that very thing to happen,

hen you may have time to try it.

LOTALDO. Most discreetly has she acted;

oon the time will come, believe me,

appily to end this matter.

LARIN. News, too; that she's well regaled,

easted like a queen, and flattered

n the strength of being your niece.

nd the last news, and the saddest,

that I who here came with her

m with hunger almost famished.

one remember me, or think

am Clarin, clarion rather,nd that if that clarion sounded,

ll the Court would know what passes.

or there are two things, to wit,

brass clarion and a lackey,

hat are bad at keeping secrets;

nd it so may chance, if haply

am forced to break my silence,

hey of me may sing this passage:



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Never, when the day is near,

oes clarion sound more clear."*

footnote] *"Clarin, que rompe el albor,

o suena mejor."--

his is a quotation by Calderon from his own drama, "En esta vida

do es verdad y todo mentira." -- Act 2, sc. x.

LOTALDO. Your complaint is too well-founded;

will get you satisfaction,

eanwhile you may wait on me.

LARIN. See, sir, Sigismund advances.

* * * * *

CENE III.

Music and song.] SIGISMUND enters, lost in amazement. Servants

inister to him, presenting costly robes. --CLOTALDO, and CLARIN.

GISMUND. Help me, Heaven, what's this I see!

elp me, Heaven, what's this I view!

hings I scarce believe are true,

ut, if true, which fright not me.

n palaces of state?

neath silks and cloth of gold?

around me, to behold

ch-robed servants watch and wait?

o soft a bed to presshile sweet sleep my senses bowed?

o wake in such a crowd,

ho assist me even to dress?

were deceit to say I dream,

aking I recall my lot,

am Sigismund, am I not?

eaven make plain what dark doth seem!

ell me, what has phantasy --



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ild, misleading, dream-adept --

o effected while I slept,

hat I still the phantoms see?

ut let that be as it may,

hy perplex myself and brood?

etter taste the present good,

ome what will some other day.

RST SERVANT [aside to the' Second Servant, and to CLARIN]. What a

dness doth oppress him!

ECOND SERVANT. Who in such-like case would be

ess surprised and sad than he?

LARIN. I for one.

ECOND SERVANT [to the First]. You had best address him.

RST SERVANT [to SIGISMUND]. May they sing again?

GISMUND. No, no;

don't care to hear them sing.

ECOND SERVANT. I conceived the song might bring

o your thought some ease.

GISMUND. Not so;

oiced that but charm the ear

annot soothe my sorrow's pain;

is the soldier's martial strain

hat alone I love to hear.

LOTALDO. May your Highness, mighty Prince,

eign to let me kiss your hand,

would first of all this landy profound respect evince.

GISMUND [aside]. 'Tis my gaoler! how can he

hange his harshness and neglect

o this language of respect?

hat can have occurred to me?

LOTALDO. The new state in which I find you



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ust create a vague surprise,

oubts unnumbered must arise

o bewilder and to blind you;

would make your prospect fair,

hrough the maze a path would show,

hus, my lord, 'tis right you know

hat you are the prince and heir

f this Polish realm: if lateou lay hidden and concealed

was that we were forced to yield

o the stern decrees of fate,

hich strange ills, I know not how,

hreatened on this land to bring

hould the laurel of a king

ver crown thy princely brow.

ill relying on the power

f your will the stars to bind,or a man of resolute mind

an them bind how dark they lower;

o this palace from your cell

your life-long turret keep

hey have borne you while dull sleep

eld your spirit in its spell.

oon to see you and embrace

omes the King, your father, here --

e will make the rest all clear.

GISMUND. Why, thou traitor vile and base,

hat need I to know the rest,

nce it is enough to know

ho I am my power to show,

nd the pride that fills my breast?

hy this treason brought to light

as thou to thy country done,

s to hide from the King's son,ainst all reason and all right,

his his rank?

LOTALDO. Oh, destiny!

GISMUND. Thou the traitor's part has played

ainst the law; the King betrayed,

nd done cruel wrong to me;



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hus for each distinct offence

ave the law, the King, and I

hee condemned this day to die

y my hands.

ECOND SERVANT. Prince . . . .

GISMUND No pretencehall undo the debt I owe you.

atiff, hence! By Heaven! I say,

you dare to stop my way

om the window I will throw you.

ECOND SERVANT. Fly, Clotaldo!

LOTALDO. Woe to thee,

thy pride so powerful seeming,ithout knowing thou art dreaming!

xit.

ECOND SERVANT. Think . . . .

GISMUND. Away! don't trouble me.

ECOND SERVANT. He could not the King deny.

GISMUND. Bade to do a wrongful thing

e should have refused the King;

nd, besides, his prince was I.

ECOND SERVANT. '

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Calderon de La Barca - Life is a Dream