Three Major Plays
Page 24
No sooner do I set these eyes
On you than I am born again. 620
Aurora, province of the sun,
No sooner do you come than this
Dark burden of my night is banished by
The loveliness of your vision.
Since I arrived from Mantua, 625
My only wish has been to have
You welcome me as your suitor, sworn
To serve you well and sacrifice
Myself as you desire. But now
I know how much I have deceived 630
Myself when that same soul that in
Your worship always proves so bold,
Has in the end awakened not
The warmth of love but only cold
Disdain; discovered not the brightness of 635
Your day but only this my endless night.
The sadness that I feel stems not
From seeing you -- who would be sad
To see such brightness? -- rather from
The fact it's been the cause of your 640
Forgetfulness. With that in mind,
The only remedy that I
Can find is to depart, and so
Provide this heavy heart with some
Relief from your cruelty. 645
I'll seek my cure in that miracle
-221-
Prescribed by absence, now that love
Extracts this cruel vengeance. I kiss
Your hand, my lady, and take my leave
Of you.
AURORA. Before you do, I would 650
Remind you that the lover who
Cannot withstand the first rebuff
Of love, cannot be said to feel
True sorrow when that love has gone.
No honest lady's love is ever won 655
By any man who thinks that in
Such matters he can run before
He walks. I think that if you do
Not love enough, you cannot talk
Of how you suffer. But since you seek 660
My leave to go away, I'll do
The opposite and bid you stay.
MARQUIS. My lady, this most precious favour, though
It may be seen as cruelty,
Obliges me to stay not merely ten 665
Short years, as did the Greeks when they
Laid siege to Troy, nor seven, as did
The shepherd, Jacob,* waiting to enjoy
Laban's most precious jewel. I shall,
I promise, wait for centuries, 670
And be, like wretched Tantalus,*
Devoured constantly by doubt
And certainty. I shall be happy to
Allow my hope to feed my love.
AURORA. Until a man achieves his goal, 675
Suffering improves his soul.
Enter the DUKE, FEDERICO, and BATÍN.
DUKE. I have received this letter from
The Pope. He bids me leave for Rome.
FEDERICO. He does not tell you why?
-222-
DUKE. I think
The best reply is for me now 680
To leave at once.
FEDERICO. Then you should go,
My lord. I shall not try to learn
What I am not supposed to know.
DUKE. If I knew why, my boy, you too
Should know. I can but think that, with 685
The wars in Italy,* the Pope intends
I should be made commander of
The great and mighty army of
The Church. No doubt, to guarantee
Election, he will want from me 690
A good supply of money and
Provisions too.
FEDERICO. My lord, I would
Not have you go alone and leave
Me here. What would they say of me?
Besides, you would not find a braver or 695
More loyal soldier.
DUKE. That cannot be.
You have to stay behind and, while
I am away, administer
My lands and valued property.
It is my wish. I have no more 700
To say.
FEDERICO. Nor do I wish, my lord,
To disobey, but they will think
Me cowardly in Italy.
DUKE. They will consider we behave
Most prudently, and realize 705
The son who guards his father's house
Cannot expect to keep him company.
FEDERICO. Then my obedience, sir, shall be
Exemplary.
-223-
[Exit the DUKE
BATÍN. While you were talking to
Your father, sir, Aurora had 710
Your rival's ear. I thought that you
Might like to know it's not as if
She's missing you.
FEDERICO. You mean the Marquis?
BATÍN. Yes.
FEDERICO. And do you think I could care less?
AURORA. I offer you this ribbon* as 715
The first amongst my favours.
MARQUIS. And I,
My lady, swear I'll never part
With it, but rather see it as
A chain around my neck or manacle
Upon my hand. To let me wear 720
It now would be quite indescribable.
AURORA [aside]. This is a suitable revenge,
And yet it does offend true love.
[Aloud
Then wear it, sir, and grant it that
True greatness it deserves. 725
BATÍN. To make all women treacherous
Is Nature's way of proving it
Is marvellous. For if they were
Not false (I don't mean all, just some),
The men who fall in love would end 730
Up on their knees and crawl to them.
Do you see the ribbon?
FEDERICO. Ribbon? Where?
BATÍN. Why, there, of course! A ribbon you
Once said adorned the very sun,
So perfect was the beauty of 735
-224-
The one who always used to wear it.
But now the Marquis has it fixed
Around his neck, I'd say the sun
Has suffered an eclipse, and what
Was light and happiness for you, 740
My lord, has now become your darkness.
There was a time that very ribbon would
Have been the cause of friction, just
Like when the golden apple Paris* gave
To Venus caused a right old rumpus with 745
His women.
FEDERICO. Times have changed, Batín.
A different time has now begun.
AURORA. I bid you, Marquis, come with me
Into the garden.
[Exit AURORAand the MARQUIS
BATÍN. Master, look
How eagerly he holds her hand. 750
FEDERICO. It's not surprising if he's fond
Of her.
BATÍN. You act as if you are
Quite glad.
FEDERICO. What would you have me do?
Go mad?
BATÍN. A swan, my lord, cannot
Abide another swan come near 755
The one he loves. He'd sooner fly
Away with her to somewhere quieter.
Nor does a cock take kindly to
Some other cock who takes a walk
Amongst his hens. Just see him have 760
A go at him, his cockscomb stood
On end as if he were an angry Turk,
A fierce Barbarossa.* And then
At night he would outdo him too,
-225-
His endless crowing boasting of 765
His own superiority.
How, then, can you not feel enraged
When this pathetic Marquis steals
So blatantly the girl you were
Supposed to marry?
FEDERICO. The proper way 770
To punish
female treachery's
To let a woman have the man
She fancies. Let her own capriciousness
Be answered by his fickleness.
BATÍN. I see. You'd better let me have 775
A copy of this 'Teach Yourself
The Art of Courtship', sir, so I
Can learn it all from memory.
Though if I'm honest, there is more
To it than you are telling me, 780
If I'm to judge your mood correctly, sir. It's my opinion thoughts of love
Are like a waterwheel with all
Its buckets: soon as one is full,
The next one fills with water that 785
Is chucked to it. I think you might
Be like the water, sir, have found
Another love and so chucked her.
FEDERICO. Your mind has great agility,
Batín. It seeks to penetrate 790
My cloak of secrecy. Go now.
Discover when the Duke departs,
So I may go at least part of
The way with him.
BATÍN. How right you are
To praise my ingenuity. 795
To say that I approve your mood
Would be an insincere form
Of flattery.
[Exit BATÍN
-226-
FEDERICO. Oh mad and foolish thought!
What would you have of me? What would
You drive me to? Why do you seek 800
To end my life by forcing me
To think and do what I dare not?
I beg you, stop, before you bring
About my death; before you are
The fatal end of everything 805
Once sweet and fresh. There is no thought,
It's true, that does not feed on hope
And therefore grow. The lover's thoughts,
Accordingly, sustained by constant hope,
Will grow much more than most. But you, 810
Oh, foolish thought, I know are but
A fond illusion conjured from
A hopeless vision.
Enter CASANDRA.
CASANDRA. Love treads a careful path between
The injuries it has received, 815
The sweet revenge* it would achieve,
And in the process sows the seeds
Of what would be my own dishonour.
Its object inaccessible,
It lays foundations that quite soon 820
Are visible, as if to prove
You cannot build your happiness
On ground that is not suitable.
Because of what the Duke has done
To me, I feel a wickedness 825
Within my soul that seeks both pleasure and
Revenge in what undoubtedly
Is utter madness. The Count, apart
From being sweet and handsome, is
My dear husband's only son, 830
And thus the very one through whom
I could be best avenged upon
That cruel, most ungrateful man.
I saw how Federico was
-227-
Disturbed, and how, when he would speak 835
To me, he could not find the words
To say the things he felt, though men
Can often prove most eloquent
When they are silent. There is, I think,
In Federico's state of mind 840
A confirmation of those things
I dared not think, and since the Duke
Has given me occasion for
Revenge, a voice that whispers here
Inside, convincing me that love 845
Can never be a form of treachery.
What's more, if I now give myself
To him, I cannot be accused
That it is something no one else
Has ever done. Are we not told 850
In history* of fathers who
Have loved their daughters, brothers who
Made love with sisters? Yes, it's true.
If I do such a thing, do I,
Then, pass beyond the bounds of all 855
Normality, become a traitor to
My own integrity? And yet,
To cite the sins that others have
Been tempted to commit in no
Way justifies the things that I 860
Would do if I admit that they
Are wrong. The Count comes here!
What shall I do? I am resolved.
I cast aside both doubt and fear.
FEDERICO. The Duchess comes, this sweet and fatal sword 865
That, though I die for her, I still adore.
Ah, Duchess! Beauty such as yours makes
Heaven glad.
CASANDRA. I trust, my lord, you are
No longer sad.
FEDERICO. You would be more
-228-
Correct to call the sadness that 870
I feel eternal.
CASANDRA. It cannot be.
I rather think it might prove . . . temporary,
An illness of the body, not
The soul.
FEDERICO. My sickness lies in thoughts
That have decided to obsess me so, 875
I know there cannot be a cure.
CASANDRA. And I am sure that I, if you
Will only trust me, can as quickly help
You find the remedy. You know
How much I care for you.
FEDERICO. And I 880
Trust you, but fear will not allow
My heart to speak.
CASANDRA. You told me love
Was what had made you sad.
FEDERICO. Yes, sad.
And glad as well. The reason for
The heaven and hell in which I find 885
Myself.
CASANDRA. Then listen while I tell
A story from the past that deals
With love. Antiochus,* enamoured of
His stepmother, fell ill, and no
One thought he could recover. 890
FEDERICO. Much better if he died of it.
I know that I am sicker still.
CASANDRA. The King, his father, called together all
The doctors of his court. They each
Examined him, but he, of course, 895
Would not admit forbidden love
To be the cause of everything.
-229-
But Erasistratus,* wiser than
Galen and even great Hippocrates,*
Soon guessed what really troubled him. 900
He saw the poison lay between
The young man's heart and lip. And so
He took his pulse and ordered that
As many women as then lived
At Court present themselves.
FEDERICO. So did 905
Some evil spirit speak?
CASANDRA. He noted how
When he set eyes upon his stepmother
His heart at once beat that much faster.
And so he knew what troubled him.
FEDERICO. How very clever!
CASANDRA. He came to be 910
Regarded as the finest doctor.
FEDERICO. And did that help the patient to recover?
CASANDRA. You can't deny that what was true
Of him is true of you.
FEDERICO. Does it
Annoy you?
CASANDRA. No.
FEDERICO. It pleases you? 915
CASANDRA. Why, yes.
FEDERICO. Then know that what is now
Responsible for my distress
Is my impossible and hopeless love
For you, on whose account I've lost
All fear of God, and of my father too. 920
I find myself deprived of self,
Of God, of you; of self because
My soul belongs to you; of God
-230-
Because I worship you much more;
Of you because you are still tru
e 925
To someone else.* And if you think
That you are not to blame for this,
Observe the true extent of my distress.
They say that to be dead is worse
Than any other thing we know. 930
If that is so, then I am dead
Because of you, and would be dead
In order not to know myself.
But if I am now dead, I still
Experience equal suffering, 935
And thus, against my will, am forced
To gaze upon myself to know
If I am still what I was then.
As soon as I admit I am
Myself, my wretched state will not 940
Let me acknowledge it, but forces me
To further sufferings, forgetting that
This life is given me by heaven.
The two of us are equally
To blame if I now have no self, 945
For it is on account of you
Alone that I forget myself
And thus have neither God, nor you, nor self.
To have no self is in itself no loss,
Since I can only live in you, 950
But if I am deprived of God,
Who is the very breath of life,
Can such a love as this be true?
And if that love excludes all else,
When God commands that I must not 955
Adore such beauty as I see in you,
Then it is true I have no God,
When all my thoughts are fixed on you.
Oh what a foolish thing it is
For any man to think he can 960
Escape that black abyss when he
Is thus deprived of God, of you,
-231-
And of the self that once was his!
What can we do, the two of us,
When I forgot to worship God, 965
And have no other god but you,
Nor self to which I can lay claim,
If I myself must live in you?
The truth is I, for love of you,
Am now condemned to suffer endlessly; 970
That I feel love and you disdain,