第11章

For here Clotaldo comes, his own old self, Who, if not Lie and phantom with the rest--(Aloud)

Well, then, all this is thus.

For have not these fine people told me so, And you, Clotaldo, sworn it? And the Why And Wherefore are to follow by and bye!

And yet--and yet--why wait for that which you Who take your oath on it can answer--and Indeed it presses hard upon my brain--What I was asking of these gentlemen When you came in upon us; how it is That I--the Segismund you know so long No longer than the sun that rose to-day Rose--and from what you know--Rose to be Prince of Poland?

CLO.

So to be Acknowledged and entreated, Sir.

SEG.

So be Acknowledged and entreated--

Well--But if now by all, by some at least So known--if not entreated--heretofore--Though not by you--For, now I think again, Of what should be your attestation worth, You that of all my questionable subjects Who knowing what, yet left me where I was, You least of all, Clotaldo, till the dawn Of this first day that told it to myself?

CLO.

Oh, let your Highness draw the line across Fore-written sorrow, and in this new dawn Bury that long sad night.

SEG.

Not ev'n the Dead, Call'd to the resurrection of the blest, Shall so directly drop all memory Of woes and wrongs foregone!

CLO.

But not resent--

Purged by the trial of that sorrow past For full fruition of their present bliss.

SEG.

But leaving with the Judge what, till this earth Be cancell'd in the burning heavens, He leaves His earthly delegates to execute, Of retribution in reward to them And woe to those who wrong'd them--Not as you, Not you, Clotaldo, knowing not--And yet Ev'n to the guiltiest wretch in all the realm, Of any treason guilty short of that, Stern usage--but assuredly not knowing, Not knowing 'twas your sovereign lord, Clotaldo, You used so sternly.

CLO.

Ay, sir; with the same Devotion and fidelity that now Does homage to him for my sovereign.

SEG.

Fidelity that held his Prince in chains!

CLO.

Fidelity more fast than had it loosed him--SEG.

Ev'n from the very dawn of consciousness Down at the bottom of the barren rocks, Where scarce a ray of sunshine found him out, In which the poorest beggar of my realm At least to human-full proportion grows--Me! Me--whose station was the kingdom's top To flourish in, reaching my head to heaven, And with my branches overshadowing The meaner growth below!

CLO.

Still with the same Fidelity--

SEG.

To me!--

CLO.

Ay, sir, to you, Through that divine allegiance upon which All Order and Authority is based;Which to revolt against--

SEG.

Were to revolt Against the stars, belike!

CLO.

And him who reads them;

And by that right, and by the sovereignty He wears as you shall wear it after him;Ay, one to whom yourself--

Yourself, ev'n more than any subject here, Are bound by yet another and more strong Allegiance--King Basilio--your Father--SEG.

Basilio--King--my father!--

CLO.

Oh, my Lord, Let me beseech you on my bended knee, For your own sake--for Poland's--and for his, Who, looking up for counsel to the skies, Did what he did under authority To which the kings of earth themselves are subject, And whose behest not only he that suffers, But he that executes, not comprehends, But only He that orders it--SEG.

The King--

My father!--Either I am mad already, Or that way driving fast--or I should know That fathers do not use their children so, Or men were loosed from all allegiance To fathers, kings, and heaven that order'd all.

But, mad or not, my hour is come, and I

Will have my reckoning--Either you lie, Under the skirt of sinless majesty Shrouding your treason; or if /that/ indeed, Guilty itself, take refuge in the stars That cannot hear the charge, or disavow--You, whether doer or deviser, who Come first to hand, shall pay the penalty By the same hand you owe it to--(Seizing Clotaldo's sword and about to strike him.)(Enter Rosaura suddenly.)

ROSAURA.

Fie, my Lord--forbear, What! a young hand raised against silver hair!--(She retreats through the crowd.)

SEG.

Stay! stay! What come and vanish'd as before--I scarce remember how--but--

(Voices within.Room for Astolfo, Duke of Muscovy!)(Enter Astolfo)

ASTOLFO.

Welcome, thrice welcome, the auspicious day, When from the mountain where he darkling lay, The Polish sun into the firmament Sprung all the brighter for his late ascent, And in meridian glory--SEG.

Where is he?

Why must I ask this twice?--

A LORD.

The Page, my Lord?

I wonder at his boldness--

SEG.

But I tell you He came with Angel written in his face As now it is, when all was black as hell About, and none of you who now--he came, And Angel-like flung me a shining sword To cut my way through darkness; and again Angel-like wrests it from me in behalf Of one--whom I will spare for sparing him:

But he must come and plead with that same voice That pray'd for me--in vain.

CHAMB.

He is gone for, And shall attend your pleasure, sir.Meanwhile, Will not your Highness, as in courtesy, Return your royal cousin's greeting?

SEG.

Whose?

CHAMB.

Astolfo, Duke of Muscovy, my Lord, Saluted, and with gallant compliment Welcomed you to your royal title.

SEG.(to Astolfo).

Oh--

You knew of this then?

AST.

Knew of what, my Lord?

SEG.

That I was Prince of Poland all the while, And you my subject?

AST.

Pardon me, my Lord, But some few hours ago myself I learn'd Your dignity; but, knowing it, no more Than when I knew it not, your subject.

SEG.

What then?

AST.

Your Highness' chamberlain ev'n now has told you;Astolfo, Duke of Muscovy, Your father's sister's son; your cousin, sir:

And who as such, and in his own right Prince, Expects from you the courtesy he shows.

CHAMB.

His Highness is as yet unused to Court, And to the ceremonious interchange Of compliment, especially to those Who draw their blood from the same royal fountain.

SEG.

Where is the lad? I weary of all this--

Prince, cousins, chamberlains, and compliments--Where are my soldiers? Blow the trumpet, and With one sharp blast scatter these butterflies And bring the men of iron to my side, With whom a king feels like a king indeed!