Amidst these venerable trees, the air Enter a Forester. Forester. A benison upon thee, gentle huntsman! For. The Neville's towers I seek. By dreams I learn, and prophecies most strange, Ar. (starting back.) Douglas! Douglas. Now do I clasp thee, Percy; and I swear By my dear soul, and by the blood of Douglas, Thus to elude me? Per. Answer how thou found'st me. What miracle directed here thy steps? Doug. Where should I look for thee, but in the post Where birth, fame, fortune, wrongs, and honor call thee? Returning from the isles, I found thee gone. Awhile in doubt, each circumstance I weighed; Thy difficulties, wrongs, and daring spirit; The gay, delusive show, so long maintained Till I had found and searched thee to the soul. Per. Still must I wonder; for so dark a cloud Doug. O, deeper than thou think'st I've read thy heart. A gilded insect to the world you seemed; The fashion's idol; person, pen, and lyre, By slow degrees, I found Herculean nerve To me, when none else heard thee, seemed the voice Per. 0, partial friendship! Doug. Yet had I never guessed your brooded purpose.Rememberest thou the regent's masque? the birth night? Per. Well. Doug. That night you glittered through the crowded halls. Gay and capricious as a sprite of air. Apollo rapt us when you touched the lyre; One bed received us. Soon your moaning voice Per. Heavens! Doug. "Tis true:-and more than I can now remember. Per. And never speak of it? Doug. Inly I burned; But honor, pride, forbade. Pilfer from dreams! Thou knew'st the ear, arm, life of Douglas, thine Per. And long ago I had disclosed to thee My troubled bosom; but my enterprise So rife with peril seemed to hearts less touched, How to thine aged sire? Armed proof I stand, To fate: come what will come-the wide earth bears Doug. The heart of Douglas beats not with thy blood; But never will I trust in mercy more, In justice, truth, or Heaven, if it forsake thee. Per. Douglas, thy friendship is my choicest treasure ;— Has been a radiant star on my dark way; And never did I doubt thy zcal to serve me. Lend, now, a patient ear.-While with my doom Per. Let Heaven be witness there! The thought of bringing down thy father's hairs With sorrow to the grave, would weigh like guilt, Palsy my soul, and cripple all my powers. Doug. So!-have I wandered o'er the hills for this? Per. I would not wound thee, Douglas, well thou know'st; But thus to hazard on a desperate cast Thy golden fortunes Doug. Cursed be the blood within me, Plagues and the grave o'ertake me, if I leave thee; Per. For thy father's sake Doug. Peace! I'd not go if staying here would strew His hoar hairs in the tomb-not stir, by Heaven! Must I toss counters? sum the odds of life, When honor points the way?-When was the blood Of Douglas precious in a noble cause? Per. Nay, hear me, hear me, Douglas Doug. Talk to me Of dangers? Death and shame! Is not my race As high, as ancient, and as proud as thine? Fer. I've done. Doug. By Heaven, it grieves me, Harry Percy, Preaching such craven arguments to me. Now tell me how thou stand'st; thy cause how prospered. What has been done? What projects are afoot? Acquaint me quickly. Per. Gently; lest some busy ear Be near us. Little have I yet to tell thee. Doug. A keeper of his chase thy garb bespeaks. The old, the good old day is cited, tears Roll down their reverend beards, and genuine love Doug. I long To press the sons, and tell them what a lord Lives yet to rule them. Per. When first I mixed among them, oft I struck, Encouraged thus, I sought its latent seeds, There, to high strains, the minstrel harp I tuned, When their brave fathers, scorning to be slaves, Trod his bold footsteps in the ranks of death, And shared his triumphs in the festal hall. Doug. That lulled them, as the north wind does the sea: Per. From man to man, from house to house, like fire, The kindling impulse flew; till every hind, Scarce conscious why, handles his targe and bow; Still talks of change; starts if the banished name By chance he hears; and supplicates his saint, Doug. What lack we? Spread The warlike ensign. On the border side, Two hundred veteran spears await your summons. Doug. Sinews of the house; Ready to tread in every track of Douglas. By stealth I drew them in from distant points, And hid amidst a wood in Chevy-Chace. Per. O, Douglas! Douglas! even such a friend, For death or life, was thy great sire to mine. Doug. Straight, let us turn our trumpets to the hills; Declare aloud thy name and wrongs; in swarms Call down the warlike tenantry, and teach Aspiring Neville fatal is the day The Percy and the Douglas lead in arms. Per. If he were all-Remember haughty Henry, The nephew of his wife, whose word could speed A veteran army to his kinsman's aid. Doug. Come one, come all; leave us to welcome them. [Exit Douglas, Per. * * 營。 * * Too long, too long a huntsman, Arthur comes, Stripped of disguise, this night, to execute Steeped in a mother's and an orphan's tears. When others danced, struck the glad wire, or caught Brooding o'er wrongs that haunted me for vengeance. My birth-right home. Halls founded by my sires To S**** weeping.-ANONYMOUS. WHY shouldst thou weep? No cause hast thou No care has marked that polished brow. Nor dimmed thy radiant eye. |