[V, vi., August, 1832.] Say, Lord! for Thou alone canst tell Where lurks the good invisible Amid the depths of discord’s sea– That seem, alas! so dark to me! Oppressive to a mighty state, Contentions, feuds, the people’s hate– But who dare question that which fate Has ordered to have been? Haply the earthquake may […]

(“Vous, sire, ecoutez-moi.”) [LE ROI S’AMUSE, Act I.] M. ST. VALLIER (an aged nobleman, from whom King Francis I. decoyed his daughter, the famous beauty, Diana of Poitiers). A king should listen when his subjects speak: ‘Tis true your mandate led me to the block, Where pardon came upon me, like a dream; I blessed […]

(“Mes jeunes cavaliers.”) [HERNANI, Act I., March, 1830.] What business brings you here, young cavaliers? Men like the Cid, the knights of bygone years, Rode out the battle of the weak to wage, Protecting beauty and revering age. Their armor sat on them, strong men as true, Much lighter than your velvet rests on you. […]

(“Ma fille! o seul bonheur.”) [LE ROI S’AMUSE, Act II] My child! oh, only blessing Heaven allows me! Others have parents, brothers, kinsmen, friends, A wife, a husband, vassals, followers, Ancestors, and allies, or many children. I have but thee, thee only. Some are rich; Thou art my treasure, thou art all my riches. And […]

(“L’homme auquel on vous destina.”) [HERNANI, Act I.] Listen. The man for whom your youth is destined, Your uncle, Ruy de Silva, is the Duke Of Pastrana, Count of Castile and Aragon. For lack of youth, he brings you, dearest girl, Treasures of gold, jewels, and precious gems, With which your brow might outshine royalty; […]

(“Fuyons ensemble.”) [HERNANI, Act II.] DONNA SOL. Together let us fly! HERNANI. Together? No! the hour is past for flight. Dearest, when first thy beauty smote my sight, I offered, for the love that bade me live, Wretch that I was, what misery had to give: My wood, my stream, my mountain. Bolder grown, By […]

DONNA SOL to HERNANI. (“Nous partirons demain.”) [HERNANI, ACT I.] To mount the hills or scaffold, we go to-morrow: Hernani, blame me not for this my boldness. Art thou mine evil genius or mine angel? I know not, but I am thy slave. Now hear me: Go where thou wilt, I follow thee. Remain, And […]

(“Derision! que cet amour boiteux.”) [HERNANI, Act III.] O mockery! that this halting love That fills the heart so full of flame and transport, Forgets the body while it fires the soul! If but a youthful shepherd cross my path, He singing on the way–I sadly musing, He in his fields, I in my darksome […]

(“Celui-ci, des Silvas, c’est l’aine.”) [HERNANI, Act III.] In that reverend face Behold the father of De Silva’s race, Silvius; in Rome he filled the consul’s place Three times (your patience for such honored names). This second was Grand Master of St. James And Calatrava; his strong limbs sustained Armor which ours would sink beneath. […]

(“Mon duc, rien qu’un moment.”) [HERNANI, Act V.] One little moment to indulge the sight With the rich beauty of the summer’s night. The harp is hushed, and, see, the torch is dim,– Night and ourselves together. To the brim The cup of our felicity is filled. Each sound is mute, each harsh sensation stilled. […]

(“Ah! je le tiens enfin.”) [CROMWELL, Act II., October, 1827.] THURLOW communicates the intention of Parliament to offer CROMWELL the crown. CROMWELL. And is it mine? And have my feet at length Attained the summit of the rock i’ the sand? THURLOW. And yet, my lord, you have long reigned. CROM. Nay, nay! Power I […]

(“Non! je n’y puis tenir.”) [CROMWELL, Act III. sc. iv.] Stay! I no longer can contain myself, But cry you: Look on John, who bares his mind To Oliver–to Cromwell, Milton speaks! Despite a kindling eye and marvel deep A voice is lifted up without your leave; For I was never placed at council board […]

(“Avez-vous oui dire?”) [LES BURGRAVES, Part I., March, 1843.] JOB. Hast thou ne’er heard men say That, in the Black Wood, ‘twixt Cologne and Spire, Upon a rock flanked by the towering mountains, A castle stands, renowned among all castles? And in this fort, on piles of lava built, A burgrave dwells, among all burgraves […]

(“Ma Regina, cette noble figure.”) [LES BURGRAVES, Part II.] Thy noble face, Regina, calls to mind My poor lost little one, my latest born. He was a gift from God–a sign of pardon– That child vouchsafed me in my eightieth year! I to his little cradle went, and went, And even while ’twas sleeping, talked […]

(“Un bouffon manquait a cette fete.”) [LES BURGRAVES, Part II.] The EMPEROR FREDERICK BARBAROSSA, believed to be dead, appearing as a beggar among the Rhenish nobility at a castle, suddenly reveals himself. HATTO. This goodly masque but lacked a fool! First gypsy; next a beggar;–good! Thy name? BARBAROSSA. Frederick of Swabia, Emperor of Almain. ALL. […]

(“Mes soeurs, l’onde est plus fraiche.”) [TO THE FLORAL GAMES, Toulouse, Feb. 10, 1820.] “Sisters! the wave is freshest in the ray Of the young morning; the reapers are asleep; The river bank is lonely: come away! The early murmurs of old Memphis creep Faint on my ear; and here unseen we stray,– Deep in […]

(“L’Avarice et l’Envie.”) [LE CONSERVATEUR LIITERAIRE, 1820.] Envy and Avarice, one summer day, Sauntering abroad In quest of the abode Of some poor wretch or fool who lived that way– You–or myself, perhaps–I cannot say– Along the road, scarce heeding where it tended, Their way in sullen, sulky silence wended; For, though twin sisters, these […]

(“En ce temps-la du ciel les portes.”) [Bk. I. v., December, 1822.] The golden gates were opened wide that day, All through the unveiled heaven there seemed to play Out of the Holiest of Holy, light; And the elect beheld, crowd immortal, A young soul, led up by young angels bright, Stand in the starry […]

(“Lorsqu’a l’antique Olympe immolant l’evangile.”) [Bk. II. v., 1823.] [There was in Rome one antique usage as follows: On the eve of the execution day, the sufferers were given a public banquet–at the prison gate–known as the “Free Festival.”–CHATEAUBRIAND’S “Martyrs.”] TO YE KINGS. When the Christians were doomed to the lions of old By the […]

(DEDICATED TO CHATEAUBRIAND.) [Bk. IV. vi., July, 1822.] Woe unto him! the child of this sad earth, Who, in a troubled world, unjust and blind, Bears Genius–treasure of celestial birth, Within his solitary soul enshrined. Woe unto him! for Envy’s pangs impure, Like the undying vultures’, will be driven Into his noble heart, that must […]