Eloquent on the zither, and a master
Of rapier and
MARIA.
A puppet could be made
To answer in all points your praise of him.
Hath he no substance of a man?
ANNICCA.
Why, sister,
What may that be to us?
MARIA.
He is our Prince.
ANNICCA.
The promise of his youth is to outstrip
The hero of Lepanto ; bright and bold
As fire, he is the very soul, the star
Of Spanish chivalry ; his last achievement
Seems still the flower of his accomplishments.
Musician, soldier, courtier, yea, and artist.
"He had been a painter, were he not a prince,"
Says Messer Zurbaran. The Calderona,
His actress-mother, hath bequeathed to him
Her spirit with her beauty, and the power
To win and hold men s hearts.
MARIA.
I knew it, sister!
His eye hath a command in it; his brow
Seems garlanded with laurel.
