But Fate shall not by human force be broke, Nor foil'd by human feint; the Secret learn'd Against the scholar by that master turn'd Who to himself reserves the master-stroke.
Witness whereof this venerable Age, Thrice crown'd as Sire, and Sovereign, and Sage, Down to the very dust dishonour'd by The very means he tempted to defy The irresistible.And shall not I, Till now the mere dumb instrument that wrought The battle Fate has with my father fought, Now the mere mouth-piece of its victory Oh, shall not I, the champions' sword laid down, Be yet more shamed to wear the teacher's gown, And, blushing at the part I had to play, Down where that honour'd head I was to lay By this more just submission of my own, The treason Fate has forced on me atone?
KING.
Oh, Segismund, in whom I see indeed, Out of the ashes of my self-extinction A better self revive; if not beneath Your feet, beneath your better wisdom bow'd, The Sovereignty of Poland I resign, With this its golden symbol; which if thus Saved with its silver head inviolate, Shall nevermore be subject to decline;But when the head that it alights on now Falls honour'd by the very foe that must, As all things mortal, lay it in the dust, Shall star-like shift to his successor's brow.
(Shouts, trumpets, etc.God save King Segismund!)SEG.
For what remains--
As for my own, so for my people's peace, Astolfo's and Estrella's plighted hands I disunite, and taking hers to mine, His to one yet more dearly his resign.
(Shouts, etc.God save Estrella, Queen of Poland!)SEG (to Clotaldo).
You That with unflinching duty to your King, Till countermanded by the mightier Power, Have held your Prince a captive in the tower, Henceforth as strictly guard him on the throne No less my people's keeper than my own.
You stare upon me all, amazed to hear The word of civil justice from such lips As never yet seem'd tuned to such discourse.
But listen--In that same enchanted tower, Not long ago I learn'd it from a dream Expounded by this ancient prophet here;And which he told me, should it come again, How I should bear myself beneath it; not As then with angry passion all on fire, Arguing and making a distemper'd soul;But ev'n with justice, mercy, self-control, As if the dream I walk'd in were no dream, And conscience one day to account for it.
A dream it was in which I thought myself, And you that hail'd me now then hail'd me King, In a brave palace that was all my own, Within, and all without it, mine; until, Drunk with excess of majesty and pride, Methought I tower'd so high and swell'd so wide, That of myself I burst the glittering bubble, That my ambition had about me blown, And all again was darkness.Such a dream As this in which I may be walking now;Dispensing solemn justice to you shadows, Who make believe to listen; but anon, With all your glittering arms and equipage, King, princes, captains, warriors, plume and steel, Ay, ev'n with all your airy theatre, May flit into the air you seem to rend With acclamation, leaving me to wake In the dark tower; or dreaming that I wake From this that waking is; or this and that Both waking or both dreaming; such a doubt Confounds and clouds our mortal life about.
And, whether wake or dreaming, this I know, How dream-wise human glories come and go;Whose momentary tenure not to break, Walking as one who knows he soon may wake, So fairly carry the full cup, so well Disorder'd insolence and passion quell, That there be nothing after to upbraid Dreamer or doer in the part he play'd, Whether To-morrow's dawn shall break the spell, Or the Last Trumpet of the eternal Day, When Dreaming with the Night shall pass away.
(Exeunt.)
End
