John Dryden - Delphi Poets Series

by John Dryden

  Enter, at several doors, the King, Abenamar, Selin, Ozmyn, Almanzor, with Guards attending Boabdelin.

  Boab. What can the cause of all this tumult be?

  And what the meaning of that naked sword?

  Lyndar. I’ll tell, when fear will so much breath afford. —

  The queen and Abdelmelech— ‘Twill not out —

  Even I, who saw it, of the truth yet doubt,

  It seems so strange.

  Almanz. Did she not name the queen?

  Haste; speak.

  Lyndar. How dare I speak what I have seen? —

  With Hamet, and with Zulema I went,

  To pay both theirs, and my acknowledgment

  To Almahide, and by her mouth implore

  Your clemency, our fortunes to restore.

  We chose this hour, which we believed most free,

  When she retired from noise and company.

  The ante-chamber past, we gently knocked,

  Unheard it seems, but found the lodgings locked,

  In duteous silence while we waited there,

  We first a noise, and then long whispers hear; Yet thought it was the queen at prayers alone,

  Till she distinctly said, — If this were known,

  My love, what shame, what danger would ensue!

  Yet I, — and sighed, — could venture more for you!

  Boab. O heaven, what do I hear!

  Almanz. Let her go on.

  Lyndar. And how, — then murmured in a bigger tone

  Another voice, — and how should it be known?

  This hour is from your court attendants free;

  The king suspects Almanzor, but not me.

  Zul. I find her drift; Hamet, be confident; [At the door.

  Second her words, and fear not the event.

  Zulema and Hamet enter. The King embraces them.

  Boab. Welcome, my only friends; — behold in me,

  O kings, behold the effects of clemency!

  See here the gratitude of pardoned foes!

  That life, I gave them, they for me expose!

  Hamet. Though Abdelmelech was our friend before,

  When duty called us, he was so no more.

  Almanz. Damn your delay! — you torturers, proceed!

  I will not hear one word but Almahide.

  Boab. When you, within, the traitor’s voice did hear,

  What did you then?

  Zul. I durst not trust my ear;

  But, peeping through the key-hole, I espied

  The queen, and Abdelmelech by her side;

  She on the couch, he on her bosom lay;

  Her hand about his neck his head did stay,

  And from his forehead wiped the drops away.

  Boab. Go on, go on, my friends, to clear my doubt;

  I hope I shall have life to hear you out.

  Zul What had been, sir, you may suspect too well;

  What followed, modesty forbids to tell:

  Seeing what we had thought beyond belief,

  Our hearts so swelled with anger and with grief,

  That, by plain force, we strove the door to break.

  He, fearful, and with guilt, or love, grown weak,

  Just as we entered, ‘scaped the other way;

  Nor did the amazed queen behind him stay.

  Lyndar. His sword, in so much haste, he could not mind;

  But left this witness of his crime behind.

  Boab. O proud, ungrateful, faithless womankind!

  How changed, and what a monster am I made!

  My love, my honour, ruined and betrayed!

  Almanz. Your love and honour! mine are ruined worse: —

  Furies and hell! — What right have you to curse?

  Dull husband as you are,

  What can your love, or what your honour, be?

  I am her lover, and she’s false to me.

  Boab. Go; when the authors of my shame are found,

  Let them be taken instantly and bound:

  They shall be punished as our laws require:

  ’Tis just, that flames should be condemned to fire.

  This, with the dawn of morning shall be done.

  Aben. You haste too much her execution.

  Her condemnation ought to be deferred;

  With justice, none can be condemned unheard.

  Boab. A formal process tedious is, and long;

  Besides, the evidence is full and strong.

  Lyndar. The law demands two witnesses; and she

  Is cast, for which heaven knows I grieve, by three.

  Ozm. Hold, sir! since you so far insist on law,

  We can from thence one just advantage draw:

  That law, which dooms adultresses to die,

  Gives champions, too, to slandered chastity.

  Almanz. And how dare you, who from my bounty live,

  Intrench upon my love’s prerogative?

  Your courage in your own concernments try;

  Brothers are things remote, while I am by.

  Ozm. I knew not you thus far her cause would own,

  And must not suffer you to fight alone:

  Let two to two in equal combat join;

  You vindicate her person, I her line.

  Lyndar. Of all mankind, Almanzor has least right

  In her defence, who wrong’d his love, to fight.

  Almanz. ’Tis false: she is not ill, nor can she be;

  She must be chaste, because she’s loved by me.

  Zul. Dare you, what sense and reason prove, deny?

  Almanz. When she’s in question, sense and reason lie.

  Zul. For truth, and for my injured sovereign,

  What I have said, I will to death maintain.

  Ozm. So foul a falsehood, whoe’er justifies,

  Is basely born, and, like a villain, lies.

  In witness of that truth, be this my gage. [Takes a ring from his finger.

  Hamet. I take it; and despise a traitor’s rage.

  Boab. The combat’s yours. — A guard the lists surround;

  Then raise a scaffold in the encompassed ground,

  And, by it, piles of wood; in whose just fire,

  Her champions slain, the adultress shall expire.

  Aben. We ask no favour, but what arms will yield.

  Boab. Choose, then, two equal judges of the field:

  Next morning shall decide the doubtful strife,

  Condemn the unchaste, or quit the virtuous wife.

  Almanz. But I am both ways cursed:

  For Almahide must die, if I am slain;

  Or for my rival I the conquest gain. [Exeunt.

  ACT V.

  SCENE I.

  Almanzor solus.

  I have outfac’d myself; and justified,

  What I knew false, to all the world beside.

  She was as faithless as her sex could be;

  And, now I am alone, she’s so to me.

  She’s fallen! and, now, where shall we virtue find?

  She was the last that stood of womankind.

  Could she so holily my flames remove,

  And fall that hour to Abdelmelech’s love?

  Yet her protection I must undertake;

  Not now for love, but for my honour’s sake,

  That moved me first, and must oblige me still:

  My cause is good, however her’s be ill.

  I’ll leave her, when she’s freed; and let it be

  Her punishment, she could be false to me.

  To him Abdelmelech, guarded.

  Abdelm. Heaven is not heaven, nor are there deities

  There is some new rebellion in the skies.

  All that was good and holy is dethroned,

  And lust and rapine are for justice owned.

  Almanz. ’Tis true; what justice in that heaven can be,

  Which thus affronts me with the sight of thee?

  Why must I be from just revenge debarred?

  Chains are thy arms, and prisons are thy guard:

 
; The death, thou diest, may to a husband be

  A satisfaction; but ’tis none to me.

  My love would justice to itself afford;

  But now thou creep’st to death below my sword.

  Abdelm. This threatening would show better were I free.

  Almanz. No; wert thou freed, I would not threaten thee;

  This arm should then — but now it is too late!

  I could redeem thee to a nobler fate.

  As some huge rock,

  Rent from its quarry, does the waves divide,

  So I

  Would souse upon thy guards, and dash them wide:

  Then, to my rage left naked and alone,

  Thy too much freedom thou should’st soon bemoan:

  Dared like a lark, that, on the open plain

  Pursued and cuffed, seeks shelter now in vain;

  So on the ground wouldst thou expecting lie,

  Not daring to afford me victory.

  But yet thy fate’s not ripe; it is decreed,

  Before thou diest, that Almahide be freed.

  My honour first her danger must remove,

  And then revenge on thee my injured love. [Exeunt severally.

  SCENE II.

  The Scene changes to the Vivarambla, and appears filled with Spectators; a Scaffold hung with black.

  Enter the Queen guarded, with Esperanza.

  Almah. See how the gazing people crowd the place,

  All gaping to be filled with my disgrace. [A shout within.

  That shout, like the hoarse peals of vultures, rings,

  When over fighting fields they beat their wings. —

  Let never woman trust in innocence,

  Or think her chastity its own defence;

  Mine has betrayed me to this public shame,

  And virtue, which I served, is but a name.

  Esper. Leave then that shadow, and for succour fly

  To Him we serve, the Christian’s Deity.

  Virtue’s no god, nor has she power divine:

  But He protects it, who did first enjoin.

  Trust then in Him; and from his grace implore

  Faith to believe, what rightly we adore.

  Almah. Thou Power unknown, if I have erred, forgive!

  My infancy was taught what I believe.

  But if the Christians truly worship thee,

  Let me thy Godhead in thy succour see:

  So shall thy justice in my safety shine,

  And all my days, which thou shalt add, be thine!

  Enter the King, Abenamar, Lyndaraxa, Benzayda: then Abdelmelech guarded; and after him Selin and Alabez, as Judges of the Field.

  Boab. You, judges of the field, first take your place. —

  The accusers and accused bring face to face.

  Set guards, and let the lists be opened wide;

  And may just heaven assist the juster side!

  Almah. What! not one tender look, one passing word?

  Farewell, my much unkind, but still loved lord!

  Your throne was for my humble fate too high,

  And therefore heaven thinks fit that I should die.

  My story be forgot, when I am dead,

  Lest it should fright some other from your bed;

  And, to forget me, may you soon adore

  Some happier maid, — yet none could love you more.

  But may you never think me innocent,

  Lest it should cause you trouble to repent.

  Boab. ’Tis pity so much beauty should not live; [Aside.

  Yet I too much am injured, to forgive. [Goes to his seat.

  Trumpets: Then enter two Moors, bearing two naked swords before the accusers Zulema and Hamet, who follow them. The Judges seat themselves; the Queen and Abdelmelech are led to the Scaffold.

  Alabez. Say for what end you thus in arms appear;

  What are your names, and what demand you here?

  Zul. The Zegrys’ ancient race our lineage claims;

  And Zulema and Hamet are our names.

  Like loyal subjects in these lists we stand,

  And justice in our king’s behalf demand.

  Hamet. For whom, in witness of what both have seen,

  Bound by our duty, we appeach the queen

  And Abdelmelech, of adultery.

  Zul. Which, like true knights, we will maintain, or die.

  Alabez. Swear on the Alcoran your cause is right,

  And Mahomet so prosper you in fight. [They touch their foreheads with the Alcoran, and bow.

  Trumpets on the other side of the Stage; two Moors, as before, with bare swords before Almanzor and Ozmyn.

  Selin. Say for what end you thus in arms appear;

  What are your names, and what demand you here?

  Almanz. Ozmyn is his, Almanzor is my name;

  We come as champions of the queen’s fair fame.

  Ozm. To prove these Zegrys, like false traitors, lie;

  Which, like true knights, we will maintain, or die.

  Selin. [to Almah.]

  Madam, do you for champions take these two,

  By their success to live or die?

  Almah. I do.

  Selin. Swear on the Alcoran your cause is right;

  And Mahomet so prosper you in fight. [They kiss the Alcoran.

  [Ozmyn and Benzayda embrace, and take leave in dumb show; while Lyndaraxa speaks to her Brother.

  Lyndar. If you o’ercome, let neither of them live,

  But use with care the advantages I give:

  One of their swords in fight shall useless be;

  The bearer of it is suborned by me. [She and Benzayda retire.

  Alabez. Now, principals and seconds, all advance,

  And each of you assist his fellow’s chance.

  Selin. The wind and sun we equally divide,

  So let the event of arms the truth decide.

  The chances of the fight, and every wound,

  The trumpets, on the victor’s part, resound. [The Trumpets sound; Almanzor and Zulema meet and fight; Ozmyn and Hamet. After some passes, the sword of Ozmyn breaks; he retires, defending himself, and is wounded; the Zegrys’ Trumpets sound their advantage. Almanzor, in the mean time, drives Zulema to the farther end of the Stage, till, hearing the Trumpets of the adverse Party, he looks back, and sees Ozmyn’s misfortune; he makes at Zulema just as Ozmyn falls, in retiring, and Hamet is thrusting at him.

  Hamet. [to Ozmyn, thrusting.]

  Our difference now shall soon determined be.

  Almanz. Hold, traitor, and defend thyself from me. [Hamet leaves Ozmyn (who cannot rise), and both he and Zulema fall on Almanzor, and press him; he retires, and Hamet, advancing first, is run through the body, and falls. The Queen’s Trumpets sound. Almanzor pursues Zulema.

  Lyndar. I must make haste some remedy to find: —

  Treason, Almanzor, treason! look behind. [Almanzor looks behind him to see who calls, and Zulema takes the advantage, and wounds him; the Zegrys’ Trumpets sound; Almanzor turns upon Zulema, and wounds him; he falls. The Queens Trumpets sound.

  Almanz. Now triumph in thy sister’s treachery. [Stabbing him.

  Zul. Hold, hold! I have enough to make me die,

  But, that I may in peace resign my breath,

  I must confess my crime before my death.

  Mine is the guilt; the queen is innocent:

  I loved her, and, to compass my intent,

  Used force, which Abdelmelech did prevent.

  The lie my sister forged; but, O! my fate

  Comes on too soon, and I repent too late.

  Fair queen, forgive; and let my penitence

  Expiate some part of — [Dies.

  Almah. Even thy whole offence!

  Almanz. [to the Judges.]

  If aught remains in the sultana’s cause,

  I here am ready to fulfil the laws.

  Selin. The law is fully satisfied, and we

  Pronounce the queen and Abdelmelech free.

  Abdelm. Heaven, thou art
just! [The Judges rise from their seats, and go before Almanzor to the Queens Scaffold; he unbinds the Queen and Abdelmelech; they all go off, the People shouting, and the Trumpets sounding the while.

  Boab. Before we pay our thanks, or show our joy,

  Let us our needful charity employ.

  Some skilful surgeon speedily be found,

  To apply fit remedies to Ozmyn’s wound.

  Benz. [running to Ozm.]

  That be my charge: my linen I will tear;

  Wash it with tears, and bind it with my hair.

  Ozm. With how much pleasure I my pains endure,

  And bless the wound which causes such a cure! [Exit Ozm. led by Benz. and Aben.

  Boab. Some from the place of combat bear the slain. —

  Next Lyndaraxa’s death I should ordain:

  But let her, who this mischief did contrive,

  For ever banished from Granada live.

  Lyndar. Thou shouldst have punished more, or not at all:

  By her thou hast not ruined, thou shalt fall.

  The Zegrys shall revenge their branded line,

  Betray their gate, and with the Christians join. [Aside.

  [Exit Lyndaraxa with Alabez; the bodies of her Brothers are borne after her.

  Almanzor, Almahide, and Esperanza, re-enter to the King.

  Almah. The thanks thus paid, which first to heaven were due,

  My next, Almanzor, let me pay to you:

  Somewhat there is of more concernment too,

  Which ’tis not fit you should in public know.

  First let your wounds be dressed with speedy care,

  And then you shall the important secret share.

  Almanz. Whene’er you speak,

  Were my wounds mortal, they should still bleed on;

  And I would listen till my life were gone:

  My soul should even for your last accent stay,

  And then shout out, and with such speed obey,

  It should not bait at heaven to stop its way. [Exit Almanz.

  Boab. ’Tis true, Almanzor did her honour save,

  But yet what private business can they have?

  Such freedom virtue will not sure allow;

  I cannot clear my heart, but must my brow. [Aside.

  [He approaches Almahide.

  Welcome again, my virtuous, loyal wife;

  Welcome to love, to honour, and to life! [Goes to salute her, she starts back.

  You seem

  As if you from a loathed embrace did go!

  Almah. Then briefly will I speak, since you must know

  What to the world my future acts will show:

  But hear me first, and then my reasons weigh.

  ’Tis known, how duty led me to obey