The Indian Emperor/Act I/Scene II
SCENE II.—A Temple.
The High Priest with other Priests. To them an Indian.
Ind. Haste, holy priest, it is the king's command.
High Pr. When sets he forward?
Ind. He is near at hand.
High Pr. The incense is upon the altar placed,
The bloody sacrifice already past;
Five hundred captives saw the rising sun,
Who lost their light ere half his race was run.
That which remains we here must celebrate;
Where, far from noise, without the city gate,
The peaceful power that governs love repairs,
To feast upon soft vows and silent prayers.
We for his royal presence only stay,
To end the rites of this so solemn day.
High Pr. On your birthday, while we sing
To our gods and to our king,
Her, among this beauteous quire,
Whose perfections you admire,
Her who fairest does appear,
Crown her queen of all the year,
Of the year and of the day,
And at her feet your garland lay.
Odm. My father this way does his looks direct
Heaven grant, he give it not where I suspect!
Mont. Since my Orazia's death, I have not seen
A beauty so deserving to be queen
As fair Almeria.
Alm. Sure he will not know
My birth I to that injured princess owe,
Whom his hard heart not only love denied,
But in her sufferings took unmanly pride.
Alib. Since Montezuma will his choice renew,
In dead Orazia's room electing you,
'Twill please our mother's ghost that you succeed
To all the glories of her rival's bed.
Alm. If news be carried to the shades below,
The Indian queen will be more pleased, to know,
That I his scorns on him, who scorned her, pay.
Orb. Would you could right her some more noble way!
Mont. Madam, this posture is for heaven designed,
And what moves heaven I hope may make you
kind.
Alm. Heaven may be kind, the gods uninjured live,
And crimes below cost little to forgive:
By thee, inhuman, both my parents died;
One by thy sword, the other by thy pride.
Mont. My haughty mind no fate could ever bow,
Yet must I stoop to one, who scorns me now:
Is there no pity to my sufferings due?
Alm. As much as what my mother found from you.
Mont. Your mother's wrongs a recompence shall meet;
I lay my sceptre at her daughter's feet
Alm. He, who does now my least commands obey,
Would call me queen, and take my power away.
Odm. Can he hear this, and not his fetters break?
Is love so powerful, or his soul so weak?
I'll fright her from it—Madam, though you see
The king is kind, I hope your modesty
Will know, what distance to the crown is due.
Alm. Distance and modesty prescribed by you!
Odm. Almeria dares not think such thoughts as these.
Alm. She dares both think and act what thoughts she please.
'Tis much below me on his throne to sit;
But when I do, you shall petition it
Odm. If, sir, Almeria does your bed partake,
I mourn for my forgotten mother's sake.
Mont. When parents'loves are ordered by a son,
Let streams prescribe theirfountains where to run.
Odm. In all I urge, I keep my duty still,
Not rule your reason, but instruct your will.
Mont. Small use of reason in that prince is shown,
Who follows others, and neglects his own.
Alm. No, he shall ever love, and always be
The subject of my scorn and cruelty.
Orb. To prove the lasting torment of his life,
You must not be his mistress, but his wife.
Few know what care an husband's peace destroys,
His real griefs, and his dissembled joys.
Alm. What mark of pleasing vengeance could be shown,
If I, to break his quiet, lose my own?
Orb. A brother's life upon your love relies,
Since I do homage to Cydaria's eyes:
How can her father to my hopes be kind,
If in your heart he no example find?
Alm. To save your life I'll suffer any thing,
Yet I'll not flatter this tempestuous king;
But work his stubborn soul a nobler way,
And, if he love, I'll force him to obey.
I take this garland, not as given by you,
But as my merit and my beauty's due.
As for the crown, that you, my slave, possess,
To share it with you would but make me less.
Enter Guyomar hastily.
Odm. My brother Guyomar! methinks I spy
Haste in his steps, and wonder in his eye.
Mont. I sent thee to the frontiers; quickly tell
The cause of thy return ; are all things well?
Guy. I went, in order, sir, to your command,
To view the utmost limits of the land:
To that sea-shore where no more world is found,
But foaming billows breaking on the ground;
Where, for a while, my eyes no object met,
But distant skies, that in the ocean set;
And low-hung clouds, that dipt themselves in rain,
To shake their fleeces on the earth again.
At last, as far as I could cast my eyes
Upon the sea, somewhat, methought, did rise,
Like bluish mists, which, still appearing more,
Took dreadful shapes, and moved towards the shore.
Mont. What forms did these new wonders represent?
Guy. More strange than what your wonder can invent
The object, I could first distinctly view,
Was tall straight trees, which on the waters flew;
Wings on their sides, instead of leaves, did grow,
AVhich gathered all the breath the winds could blow:
And at their roots grew floating palaces,
Whose outblowed bellies cut the yielding seas.
Mont. What divine monsters, O ye gods, were these,
That float in air, and fly upon the seas!
Came they alive, or dead, upon the shore?
Guy. Alas, they lived too sure: I heard them roar.
All turned their sides, and to each other spoke ;
I saw their words break out in fire and smoke.
Sure 'tis their voice, that thunders from on high,
Or these the younger brothers of the sky.
Deaf with the noise, I took my hasty flight;
No mortal courage can support the fright
High Pr. Old prophecies foretell our fall at hand,
When bearded men in floating castles land.
I fear it is of dire portent.
Mont. Go see
What it foreshows, and what the gods decree.
Meantime proceed we to what rites remain.—
Odmar, of all this presence does contain,
Give her your wreath, whom you esteem most fair.
Odm. Above the rest I judge one beauty rare.
And may that beauty prove as kind to me,
As I am sure fair Alibech is she.
Mont. You, Guyomar, must next perform your part.
Guy. I want a garland, but I 'll give a heart:
My brother's pardon I must first implore,
Since I with him fair Alibech adore.
Odm. That all should Alibech adore, 'tis true;
But some respect is to my birthright due.
My claim to her by eldership I prove.
Guy. Age is a plea in empire, not in love.
Odm. I long have stayed for this solemnity, To make my passion public.
Guy. So have I.
Odm. But from her birth my soul has been her slave;
My heart received the first wounds which she gave:
I watched the early glories of her eyes,
As men for daybreak watch the eastern skies.
Guy. It seems my soul then moved the quicker pace;
Yours first set out, mine reached her in the race.
Mont. Odmar, your choice I cannot disapprove;
Nor justly, Guyomar, can blame your love.
To Alibech alone refer your suit,
And let her sentence finish your dispute.
Alib. You think me, sir, a mistress quickly won,
So soon to finish what is scarce begun:
In this surprise should I a judgment make,
'Tis answering riddles ere I 'm well awake:
If you oblige me suddenly to choose,
The choice is made, for I must both refuse:
For to myself I owe this due regard,
Not to make love my gift, but my reward.
Time best will show, whose services will last
Odm. Then judge my future service by my past
What I shall be, by what I was, you know:
That love took deepest root, which first did grow.
Guy. That love, which first was set, will first decay;
Mine, of a fresher date, will longer stay.
Odm. Still you forget my birth.
Guy. But you, I see,
Take care still to refresh my memory.
Mont. My sons, let your unseemly discord cease,
If not in friendship, live at least in peace.
Orbellan, where you love, bestow your wreath.
Orb. My love I dare not, even in whispers, breathe.
Mont. A virtuous love may venture any thing.
Orb. Not to attempt the daughter of my king.
Mont. Whither is all my former fury gone?
Once more I have Traxalla's chains put on,
And by his children am in triumph led:
Too well the living have revenged the dead!
Alm. You think my brother born your enemy;
He's of Traxalla's blood, and so am I.
Mont. In vain I strive.
My lion-heart is with love's toils beset;
Struggling I fall still deeper in the net
Cydaria, your new lover's garland take,
And use him kindly for your father's sake.
Cyd. So strong an hatred does my nature sway,
That, spite of duty, I must disobey;
Besides, you warned me still of loving two;
Can I love him, already loving you?
Enter a Guard hastily.
Mont. You look amazed, as if some sudden
fear Had seized your hearts; is any danger near?
1 Guard. Behind the covert, where this temple stands
Thick as the shades, there issue swarming bands
Of ambushed men, whom, by their arms and
dress, To be Traxallan enemies I guess.
2 Guard. The temple, sir, is almost compassed round.
Mont. Some speedy way for passage must be found.
Make to the city by the postern gate,
I'll either force my victory, or fate;
A glorious death in arms I 'll rather prove,
Than stay to perish tamely by my love.
Mont. No succour from the town?
Odm. None, none is nigh.
Guy. We are enclosed, and must resolve to die.
Mont. Fight for revenge, now hope of life is past;
But one stroke more, and that will be my last.
Cort. Contemned? my orders broke even in my sight?
Did I not strictly charge, you should not fight?
Ind. Your choler, general, does unjustly rise,
To see your friends pursue your enemies.
The greatest and most cruel foes we have,
Are these, whom you would ignorantly save.
By ambushed men, behind their temple laid,
We have the king of Mexico betrayed.
Cort. Where, banished virtue, wilt thou shew thy face,
If treachery infects thy Indian race?
Dismiss your rage, and lay your weapons by:
Know I protect them, and they shall not die.
Ind. O wondrous mercy, shown to foes distrest!
Cort. Call them not so, when once with odds opprest;
Nor are they foes my clemency defends,
Until they have refused the name of friends :
Draw up our Spaniards by themselves, then fire
Our guns on all, who do not straight retire.
Ind. O mercy, mercy! at thy feet we fall,
Before thy roaring Gods destroy us all:
See, we retreat without the least reply;
Keep thy Gods silent! if they speak, we die.
Mont. The fierce Traxallans lay their weapons down,
Some miracle in our relief is shown.
Guy. These bearded men in shape and colour be
Like those I saw come floating on the sea.
Mont. Patron of Mexico and God of wars,
Son of the sun, and brother of the stars——
Cort. Great monarch, your devotion you misplace.
Mont. Thy actions show thee born of heavenly race.
If then thou art that cruel God, whose eyes
Delight in blood, and human sacrifice,
Thy dreadful altars.I with slaves will store,
And feed thy nostrils with hot reeking gore;
Or if that mild and gentle God thou be,
Who dost mankind below with pity see,
With breath of incense I will glad thy heart;
But if, like us, of mortal seed thou art,
Presents of choicest fowls and fruits I'll bring,
And in my realms thou shalt be more than king.
Cort. Monarch of empires, and deserving more
Than the sun sees upon your western shore;
Like you a man, and hither led by fame,
Not by constraint, but by my choice, I came;
Ambassador of peace, if peace you choose,
Or herald of a war if you refuse.
Mont. Whence, or from whom, dost thou these offers bring?
Cort. From Charles the Fifth, the world's most potent king.
Mont. Some petty prince and one of little fame,
For to this hour I never heard his name:
The two great empires of the world I know,
That of Peru, and this of Mexico;
And since the earth none larger does afford,
This Charles is some poor tributary lord.
Cort. You speak of that small part of earth you know;
But betwixt us and you wide oceans flow,
And wat'ry deserts of so vast extent,
That passing hither four full moons we spent
Mont. But say, what news, what offers dost thou bring
From so remote, and so unknown a king ?
Vasq. Spain's mighty monarch, to whom heaven thinks fit,
That all the nations of the earth submit,
In gracious clemency, does condescend
On these conditions to become your friend:
First, that of him you shall your sceptre hold;
Next, you present him with your useless gold ;
Last, that you leave those idols you implore
And one true Deity with him adore.
Mont. You speak your prince a mighty emperor,
But his demands have spoke him proud and poor:
He proudly at my free-born sceptre flies,
Yet poorly begs a metal I despise.
Gold thou mayest take, whatever thou canst find,
Save what for sacred uses is designed:
But, by what right pretends your king to be
The sovereign lord of all the world and me?
Piz. The sovereign priest——
Who represents on earth the power of heaven,
Has this your empire to our monarch given.
Mont. Ill does he represent the powers above,
Who nourishes debate, not preaches love;
Besides, what greater folly can be shown?
He gives another what is not his own.
Vasq. His power must needs unquestioned be below,
For he in heaven an empire can bestow.
Mont. Empires in heaven he with more ease may give,
And you, perhaps, would with less thanks receive:
But heaven has need of no such viceroy here,
Itself bestows the crowns that monarchs wear.
Piz. You wrong his power, as you mistake our end,
Who came thus far religion to extend.
Mont. He, who religion truly understands,
Knows its extent must be in men, not lands.
Odm. But who are those that truth must propagate
Within the confines of my father's state?
Vasq. Religious men, who hither must be sent
As awful guides of heavenly government;
To teach you penance, fasts, and abstinence,
To punish bodies for the soul's offence.
Mont. Cheaply you sin, and punish crimes with ease,
Not as the offended, but the offenders please;
First injure heaven, and, when its wrath is due,
Yourselves prescribe it how to punish you.
Odm. What numbers of these holy men must come?
Piz. You shall not want, each village shall have some;
Who, though the royal dignity they own,
Are equal to it, and depend on none.
Guy. Depend on none! you treat them sure in state,
For 'tis their plenty does their pride create.
Mont. Those ghostly kings would parcel out my power,
And all the fatness of my land devour.
That monarch sits not safely on his throne
Who bears, within, a power that shocks his own.
They teach obedience to imperial sway,
But think it sin if they themselves obey.
Vasq. It seems, then, our religion you accuse,
And peaceful homage to our king refuse?
Mont. Your Gods I slight not, but will keep my own;
My crown is absolute, and holds of none.
I cannot in a base subjection live,
Nor suffer you to take, though I would give.
Cort. Is this your answer, sir?
Mont. ——This, as a prince,
Bound to my people's and my crown's defence,
I must return; but, as a man, by you
Redeemed from death, all gratitude is due.
Cort. It was an act my honour bound me to:
But what I did, were I again to do,
I could not do it on my honour's score,
For love would now oblige me to do more.
Is no way left that we may yet agree?
Must I have war, yet have no enemy?
Vasq. He has refused all terms of peace to take.
Mont. Since we must fight, hear, heavens,
what prayers I make!
First, to preserve this ancient state and me,
But if your doom the fall of both decree,
Grant only he, who has such honour shown,
When I am dust, may fill my empty throne!
Cort. To make me happier than that wish can do,
Lies not in all your Gods to grant, but you;
Let this fair princess but one minute stay,
A look frorn her will your obligements pay.
Mont, to Cyd. Your duty in your quick return be shown——
Stay you, and wait my daughter to the town.
Cyd. My father's gone, and yet I cannot go;
Sure I have something lost or left behind!
Cort. Like travellers who wander in the snow,
I on her beauty gaze 'till I am blind.
Cyd. Thick breath, quick pulse, and heaving of my heart,
All signs of some unwonted change appear:
I find myself unwilling to depart,
And yet I know not why I would be here.
Stranger, you raise such torments in my breast,
That when I go (if I must go again),
I'll tell my father you have robbed my rest,
And to him of your injuries complain.
Cort. Unknown, I swear, those wrongs were which I wrought,
But my complaints will much more just appear,
Who from another world my freedom brought,
And to your conquering eyes have lost it here.
Cyd. Where is that other world, from whence you came?
Cort. Beyond the ocean, far from hence it lies.
Cyd. Your other world, I fear, is then the same,
That souls must go to when the body dies.
But what's the cause that keeps you here with me,
That I may know what keeps me here with you?
Cort. Mine is a love which must perpetual be,
If you can be so just as I am true.
Enter Orbellan.
Orb. Your father wonders much at your delay.
Cyd. So great a wonder for so small a stay!
Orb. He has commanded you with me to go.
Cyd. Has he not sent to bring the stranger too?
Orb. If he to-morrow dares in fight appear,
His high-placed love perhaps may cost him dear.
Cort. Dares!——
That word was never spoke to Spaniard yet,
But forfeited his life, that gave him it;
Haste quickly with thy pledge of safety hence,
Thy guilt's protected by her innocence.
Cyd. Sure in some fatal hour my love was born,
So soon o'ercast with absence in the morn !
Cort. Turn hence those pointed glories of your eyes;
For if more charms beneath those circles rise,
So weak my virtue, they so strong appear,
I shall turn ravisher to keep you here.