Ex Libris C. K. OGDEN '•A THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES /'/////.y W/ '/ rr.j ,/fff/> ff/r// /y-f' •./<'///■// A ,/■/ /a^v" J.t.^ ^^^' LJ-^^- .y<^--'- ANDKEA OF HUNGARY. ANDREA OF HUNGARY, AND GIOVANNA OF NAPLES. BY WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR. LONDON: RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET. MDCCCXXXIX. LONCC.V : BRAnnunv .Axr> kvans, pimvtkrs, WHITKFHrARS. F/9 4-87-? A55 MALE CriARACTRHS. Andrea. Fha Rupert. <'araccioli. Caraff.4. Boccaccio. Maximin, « Soldier. Klapvvrath ZiNGA, .Hungarian Offinrs. PSEIN, 3 Page. Ga RISEN no, a Peasant. FEMALE CHARACTERS. GiovANNA, Queen. Sancta, Queiii Dowag-ei-. Maria, Sister of Giorannn. Maria op Sicily, Half-sixler FILIPPA, Foaier-mother. Petronilla, a Peasniif e\r::r\ei^2^ PROLOGUE. My verse was for thine eyes alone, Alone by them was it repaid ; And stil thine ear records the tone Of thy grey minstrel, thoughtful maid ! Amid the pomps of regal state. Where thou, O Rose ! art call'd to move. Thee only Virtue can elate, She only guide thy steps to Love. Sometimes, when dark is each saloon, Dark every lamp that crown'd the Seine, Memory hangs low Amalfi's moon And lights thee o'er Salerno's plain, And onward, where Giovanna bore Keen anguish from envenom'd tongues : Her fame my pages shall restore, Thy pity shall requite her wrongs. Any profits which may arise to the Author from this Edition, he has requested the Pubhsher will transmit to Grace Darling, ERRATA. Page 6, line 11, for ten read twelve. „ last line, for slialt r^ad shall. 25, line 16, for overspread read o'ersprad. 26, line 22, for Filippa read Sancia, returning. 72, line 19, for sing read sip. 76, line 14, for rode read rid. 83, line 24, the direction \^He shows, ^c, should be after the word saints ! 85, line 26, for With these, read From these. 88, line 23, dele stage direction [Goes up, <^c. ANDREA OF HUNGARY ACT I. SCENE 1. PALACE AT NAPLES. Anduea and Giovanna. ANDREA. What say you now, Giovanna ! shall we go And conquer France? Heighol I am sadly idle My mighty mind wants full activity. GIOVANNA. Andrea ! be contented ; stay at home ; Conquer ? youVe conquered me. ANDREA. Ah rebel queen ! I doubt it : we have had war first, however. And parleys, and all that. GIOVANNA. You might have more Before you conquer the strong cities there. ANDREA. England, they tell me, hath as much of France B 2 ANDREA OF HUNGARY. [act i. As France hath. Some imagine that Provenza Is half-and-half French land. How this may be I cannot tell : I am no theolooian. Giovanna . . in your ear . . I have a mind To ride to Paris, and salute the king, And pull him by the beard, and make him fight. GIOVANNA. Know that french beards have stifFer hairs than german,* And crackle into flame at the first touch. ANDftKA. 'Sblood ! like black cats ! But only in the dark ? GIOVANNA. By night or day, in city or in field. ANDllEA. I never knew it : let the Devil lug them For me then ! they are fitter for his fist. Sure, of all idle days the marriage-day Is idlest : even the common people run About the streets, not knowing what to do, As if they came from wedding too, poor souls ! This fancy set me upon conquering France. GIOVANNA. And one hour only after we are united ? SCENE II. Maria enters. ANDRKA. Maria ! where are you for ? France or Naples ? She heard, she smiled . . Here's whispering! This woift do . . {_Goinfi ; hut stops, pacified. bhc may liave M-crels . . they all have . . Fll Icave'em. \^Goes. ' Hungary anil Gt-rnmny were hoslili. scBNE II.) ANDREA OF HUNGARY. GIOVANKA. Unsistcrly ! unfriendly ! MARIA. Peace ! Giovanna ! GIOVANNA. That word has sign'd it. I have sworn to love him. MAKIA. Ah, what a vow ! GIOVANNA. The harder to perform The greater were the glory : I will earn it. MARIA. Mow can we love . . . GIOVANNA, iuterriqitiiKj . Mainly, by hearing none Decry the object ; then, by cherishing The good we see in it, and overlooking What is less pleasant in the paths of life. All have some virtue if we leave it them In peace and quiet ; all may lose some part By sifting too minutely bad and good. The tenderer and the timider of creatures Often desert the brood that has been handled Or turn'd about, or indiscreetly looked at. The slightest touches, touching constantly, Irritate and inflame. MARIA, touching her shoulder. Giovanna mine ! These rhetoric-roses are supremely sweet, But hold ! the jar is full. I promise you I will not steal up with a mind to snatch, Or pry too closely where you bid me not, — But for the nest you talk about . . B 2 4 ANDREA OF HUNGARY. [act i. GIOVANNA. For shame ! What nest? MARIA. That nest your blushes gleam upon. ! I will watch each twig, each feather there, And, if my turning, tossing, hugging, does it, Woe to Giovanna''s little bird, say I. CUOVANNA. Seriously, my sweet sister ! MARIA, inttrrnpting . Seriously Indeed 1 What briars ere we come to that ! GIOVANNA. 1 am accustomed to Andrea*'s ways, And see much good in him. MARIA. I see it too. GIOVANNA. Fix upon that your eyes ; they will grow brighter, Maria, for each beauty they discover. SCENE III. Andrea, Fra Kupert. ANDRIiA. Well met again, Fra lUipert ! Why not, though, At church with us ? By this humility You lost the prettiest sight that ever was. v\{,\ uuTKirr. I know what such sights afe. scBNK III.] ANDREA OF HUNGARY, ANDREA. What ? FRA RUPERI. Vanity. ANDREA. Exact the thing that everybody likes. FRA RUPERT. You young and heedless ! ANDREA. We pass lightly over, And run on merrily quite to the end ; The graver stumble, break their knees, and curse it : Which are the wiser ? Had you seen the church ! The finest lady ever drest for court A week-day peasant to her ! By to-morrow There's not a leg of all the crowd in Naples But will stand stiff and ache with this day's tiptoe ; There's not a throat will drop its paste-tape down Without some soreness from such roaring cheers ; There's not a husband but whose ears will tingle Under his consort"'s claw this blessed night For sighing " Jfliat an ancjel is Giovannn /" FRA HL'PEKT. Go, go ! I cannot hear such ribaldry. ANDREA. llather should you have heard, as there you might, Quarrelsome blunder-headed drums, o'erpowered By pelting cymbals ; then complaining flutes, And boy-voiced fifes, lively, and smart, and shrill ; Then timbrels, where tall fingers trip, but trip In the right place, and run along again ; Then blustering trumpets, wonder- wafting horns, Evvivas from their folks, Inu rahs froni ours. 6 ANDREA OF HUNGARY. [act i. And songs that pour into both ears long life And floods of glory and victory for ever. FRA RUPERT. What signify these fooleries ? In one word, Andrea, art thou king ? ANDRFA. I fancy so. The people never give such hearty shouts Saving for kings and blunders. FRA RUPEKT. Son ! beware, Lest, while they make the one, they make the other. ANDREA. How must I guard against it ? FRA RUPERT. Ten whole years Constantly here together, all the time Since we left Hungary, and not one day Rut I have labored to instill into thee, Andrea ! how wise kings must feel and act. ANDREA. But, father, who let yo7i into the secret \ FKA RUPERT. I learnt it in the cloister. ANDREA. Then no doubt 'J'he secret is worth knowing ; many are (Or songs and fables equally are false) Among those whisperM there. KRA UUPERr. INIc'thinks, my son, Such words are liLihter than beseems irown'd heads, Ai» tljino should be, and shall br, if thou wilt. SCENE 111.] ANDREA OF HUNGARY. 7 ANDREA. Ay, father, but it is not so as yet ; Else would it jingle to another crown, With what a face beneath it ! What a girl Is our Giovanna ! FRA RUPERT. By the saints above ! I thought it was a queen, and not a girl. ANDREA. There is enough in her for both at once. A queen it shall be, then, the whole day long. [fka RUPERT impatient. Nay, not a word, good Frate ! the whole day, Ave-Maria ends it, does it not .^ I am so glad, so gamesome, so light-hearted. So fond, I (sure !) am long steps off the throne. FRA RUPERT. And ever may'st be, if thou art remiss In claiming it. ANDREA. I can get anything From my Giovanna. You would hardly guess What she has given me. Look here ! FRA RUPERT. A book .? ANDREA. King Solomon. FRA RUPERT. His Song ? To seculars ? I warrant she would teach it, and thou learn it. ANDREA. I'll learn it thro', I'll learn it every verse. Where does the Song begin ? I see no rhymes. 8 ANDREA OF HUNGARY. [act i. FRA RUPERT. The Proverbs I Not so bad ! ANDREA. Are songs then proverbs ? And what is this hard word? FRA RUPEItT. Ecclesiastes. ANDREA. But look ! you have not seen the best of it. What pretty pictures ! what broad rubies ! what Prodigious pearls ! seas seem to roll within, And azure skies, as ever bent above, Push their pink clouds, half-shy, to mingle with 'em. FRA RUPERT. 1 am not sure this book would do thee harm, Put better let me first examine it. \^He takes it. ANDREA. You shall not have it; give it me again. FRA RUPERT. Loose it, I say, Andrea ! ANDREA. I say no ! FRA RUPERT. To me > ANDREA. Dost think Pd say it to Giovanna ? Beside, she gave it me : she has read in it With her own eyes, has written latin in it AVith her own fingers, . . for who else could write Distinctly such small letters? . . You yourself, Who rarely have ()ccasii)n for much latin. Might swear them to be latin in ten minutes. Another thing . . the selfsame perfume clings About those pages as about her bosom. SCENE III.] ANDIIEIA OF HUNGARY. FliA RUPERT, starts. Abomination ! Know all that ! ANDREA. Like matins. Thence, tho' she turnM quite round, I saw her take it To give it me. A nother thing . . tlie people Bragg'd of my mettle half an liour ago, And I will show I have it, like the best. Another thing . . forgettest thou, Fra Rupert, I am a husband .'' FRA RUPERT. Seven years old thou wert one.* ANDREA. Ha, but ! ha, but ! seven years upon seven years Could not make me the man I am to-day. FRA RUPERT. Nor seventy upon seven a tittle wiser, ANDREA. Why did not you then make me while you could ? You taught me nothing, and would let none teach me. No, not our king himself, the wisest man In his dominions, nor more wise than willing. Forsooth ! you made a promise to my father That nobody should filch my faith and morals, No taint of learning eat skin-deep into me ! And good king Robert said. If thus my brother Must have it . . if such promise was exacted . . FRA RUPERT. All have more knowledge than they well employ. Upbraidest thou thy teacher, guardian, father ? • Andrea and Giovanna were contracted when he was seven, she five. 10 ANDREA OF HUNGARY. [act ANDREA. Fathers may be, alas ! too distant from us, Guardians may be too close . . but, teacher ? teacher ? FRA RUPERT. Silence ! ANDREA, retreating. He daunts me : yet, some day cospetto ! FRA RUPERT, What mutterest thou ? ANDREA, to himself. I will be brave, please God ! FRA RUPERT, Suppressing rage. " Obstinate sinners are alone unpardoned : I may forgive thee after meet repentance, But must confer with thee another time On that refractory untoward spirit. ANDREA, to Jiimself. He was then in the right (it seems) at last. FRA RUPERT. I hear some footsteps coming hitherward. SCENE IV. GiovANNA and Filippa. FRA RUPERT, tums liis back to them. O those pestiferous women ! ANDREA. Ay, well spoken. The most religious of religious men Lifts up his arms and eyes, my sweet Giovanna, Before your wonderous charms. \_The Friar laolis tit hi in iri/h rage and scorn. scKNE IV.] ANDREA OF HUNGARY. 11 GIOVANNA. Simple Andrea ! Are they more wonderous than they were before? Or are they more apparent now the robes Are laid aside, and all those gems that made My hair stand back, chiefly that mischievous Malignant ruby (some fierce dragon's eye TurnM into stone) which hurt your finger so With its vile crooked pin, for touching me, When you should have but lookt, and not quite that. FRA RUPERT, wlio had listened. Come hither; didst thou hear her? AKDREA. Every word ; And bear no rancour to her, tho' she scolds. ERA RUPERT. She might have waited twenty years beyond This day, before she thought of matrimony ; She talks so like a simpleton. ANDREA. She does Indeed : yet, father ! it is very true : The pin did prick me : she is not a simpleton As far as memory goes. [ The Friar looks up^ then loalks about impatiently. Now, won't you mind me ^ She is but very young, scarce seventeen ; When she is two years older, just my age. Then shall you see her ! more like me perhaps. She might have waited . . you say well . . and would Willingly, I do think ; but I am wiser, 12 ANDREA OF HUNGARY. [act i. And warmer. Our Hungarian blood (ay, Frate !) Is not squeezM out of March anemones. FILIPPA. Since, friar Rupert ! here are met together The lofty and the lowly, they and we, If your austerity of life forbade To mingle with the world's festivities, Indulge, I pray you, in that luxury Which suits all seasons, sets no day apart, Excludes from its communion none, howe'er Unworthy, but partakes of God indeed . . Indulge in pardon. FKA RUrEUT. Does a seneschal's Wife bend before me ? Do the proud ones beg .'' FILIPPA. Too proud I may be : even the very humblest May be too proud. I am, 'tis true, the widow Of him you mention. Do I beg ? I do. Our queen commands me to remove ill-will. FRA RUPF.nr. There are commands above the queen's. FILIPPA. There are, O holy man ! obey we both at once ! GIOVANNA, calls AnDREA, Husband ! FRA RUPERT. And not our king ? most noble lady ! GIOVANNA. He, or I much mistake him, is my husband. ANDREA. Mistake mc ! not a whit: 1 am, I am. SCENE IV.] ANDREA OF HUNGARY. l.T GIOVANNA. If, O my husband ! that dear name has power On your heart as on mine, now when first spoken, Let what is love between us shed its sweets A little wider, tho"* a little fainter ; Let all our friends this day, all yours, all mine, Be one another^ and not this day only. Persuade them. ANDREA. Can I? GIOVANNA. You persuaded me. ANDREA. Ay, but you did not hate me ; and your head Is neither grey nor tonsured ; these are odds. I never could imagine well, how folks Who disagree in other things, agree To make each other angry. What a game ! To toss back burs until the skin is full On either side ! Which wins the stake, I wonder ? FRA RVPERT, biirstinff atvai/. I have no patience. ANDREA. I have, now he's gone. How long were you contriving this grand scheme To drive away the friar ? Do you think [Whispers to Giovanna. He won't come after supper ? Does he know Our chamber ? GIOVANNA. Hush ! Andrea ! ANDREA. In good earnest 14 ANDREA OF HUNGARY. [act i. I fear him, and the fleas about his frock. Let me go after him : he went in wrath : He may do mischief, if he thinks ii right, As these rehgious people often do. [Andrea goes. FILIPPA. Happy Andrea ! Only fleas and friars Molest him. Little he suspects the snares About his paths; the bitter jealousies Of Hungary ; how pertmaciously Maird hands grasp sceptres, how reluctantly Loose them ; how tempting are our milder clime And gentler nation ! He deserves our pity. GIOVANNA. ! more than pity. If our clime, our nation, Bland, constant, kind, congenial with each other, Were granted him, how much more was withheld ! Sterile the soil is not ! hard ! hard ! 'tis waste. What buoyant spirits and what pliant temper! How patient of reproof! how he wipes off' All injuries before they harden on him. And wonders at affronts, and doubts they can be! Then, his wild quickness ! O the churl that bent it Into the earth, colourless, shapeless, thriftless. Fruitless, for ever ! Had he been my brother, 1 sliould have wept all my life over him ; But, being my husband, one hypocrisy I must put on, one only ever will I. Others must think, by my observance of iiim, I hold him prudent, penetrating, firm, No less than virtuous : 1 must place myself In my own house (now indeed his) below him. I'lLiriA. T almost think you love him. SCENE IV.] ANDREA OF HUNGARY. l") GIOVANNA. He has few Even small faults, which small minds spy the soonest ; He has, what those will never see nor heed, Wit of bright feather, but of broken wing ; No stain of malice, none of spleen, about it. For this, and more things nearer . . for the worst Of orphancy, the cruellest of frauds. Stealth of his education while he played Nor fancied he could want it ; for our ties Of kindred ; for our childhood spent together ; For those dear faces that once smiled upon us At the same hour, in the same balcony ; Even for the plants we rear'd in partnership. Or spoil'd in quarrel, I do love Andrea. But, from his counsellors ! . . . FILIPPA. We shall elude Their clumsy wiles perhaps. The youth, methinks, Is tractable. GIOVANNA. May wise men guide him then ! It lies beyond my duty. FILIPPA. But the wise Are not the men who guide the tractable. The first bold hand that seizes, holds them fast; And the best natures melt into the bad 'Mid dances and carousals, GIOVANNA. Let Andrea Be sparing of them ! FILIPPA. Evil there may be 16 ANDREA OF HUNGARY. [act i. Where evil men preside, but greatly worse Is proud austerity than princely glee. GIOVANNA. Heaven guard us ! I have entered on a course Beleaguered with dense dangers : but that course ^^'^as first ordained in earth, and now in heaven. My father's spirit filTd his father's breast, And peace and union in our family, They both foresaw, would be secured by ours. FILIPPA. She who forgets her parent will forego All later duties : yes, when love has lost The sound of its spring-head, it grows impure, Tortuous, and spent at last in barren sand. I owe these generous kings the bread I broke, The letters I pickt up : no vile sea- weed Had perisht more neglected, but for them. They would heap affluence on me ; they did heap it ; Next, honours : for these only I am ungrateful. GIOVANNA, smiling. Ungrateful ? thou ? Filippa ! FILIPPA. Most ungrateful. With humble birth and humbler intellect The puff-ball might have boimced along the plain And blinded the beholder with its dust: JJut intellect let down on humble birth Writhes under titles, shrinks from every glance, At every question turns one fibre fresh For torture, and, unpuUied and adrift, IJurns its dull heart away in smouldering scorn. GIOVANNA. Where no etherial spirit fills the breast . . SCENE II. J ANDREA OF HUNGARY. 17 FILIPPA. . . Honours are joys great as such breast can hold, GIOVANNA. The happy then in courts are numberless; We hear the contrary, " FILIPPA. Never believe This, nor another ill report of them. GIOVANNA. What? FILIPPA. That the great are not great to their valets ; 'Tis but their valets who can find their greatness. GIOVANNA. I know that you have enemies, FILIPPA, Thank God ! I might have else forgotten what 1 am, And what he gave me ere he placed me here. GIOVANNA. I never shall, Filippa ! FILIPPA. Think of those Who rais'd our souls above us, not of me. GIOVANNA. Oh ! if my soul hath risen, if the throbs Of gratitude now tell it me, if they Who rais'd it must be thought of . . to my heart, Filippa ! for the heart alone ean think. FILIPPA. I first received thee in these arms ; these arms Shall loose thee last of living things, Giovanna. 18 ANDREA OF HUNGARY. [act ji. ACT II. SCENE I. IN THE PALACE. GlOVANNA, FlAMMETTA, MARrA. MARIA. And now, Fiammetta, tell me whence that name Which tickles thee so. FIAMMETTA. Tell indeed ! not I. MARIA, to GlOVANNA. Sister! you may command. GlOVANNA. Command a sister ? Secrets are to be won, but not commanded. I never heard the name before . . Fiammetta . Is that it ? MARIA. That is it. FIAMMETTA. For shame, Maria ! Never will I entrust you with a secret. MARIA. I do believe you like this one too well Ever to let another mingle with it. FIAMMKTIA, to lierHclf. I do indeed, alas ! GlOVANNA. Some gallant knight SCENE 1.] ANDREA OF HUNGARY. I'J Has carried off her scarf and bared Ijer heart. But to this change of name I must withhold Assent, I like Maria so much better. FIAMxMETTA, poitlts tO MARIA. There is Maria yet. GIOVANNA. But where twin-roses Have grown so long together, to snap one Might make the other droop. FIAMMETTA. Ha ! now, Maria ! Maria ! you are springed, my little quail ! GIOVANNA. Fiammetta ! if our father were iiere with us, He would suspect some poet friend of his, Dealer in flames and darts, their only trade, Enchanted his Sicilian. MARIA. Ho ! ho ! ho ! Proserpine never blusht such damask blushes When she was caught. FfAMMETTA. I am quite cool. MARIA. The clouds May be quite cool when they are quite as red ; Girls' faces, I suspect, are somewhat less so. [^Fiammetta riois off. GIOVANNA. Maria ! dear Maria ! she is flown. Is the poor girl in love then ? MARIA. Til this hour c'2 20 ANDREA OF HUNGARY. [att ii. I thought it but a fancy, such as all We children have : we all choose one ; but, sure, To run out of the room at the mere shadow ! GIOVANNA. What would yon do ? MARIA. Wait till he came himself. GIOVANNA. And then .? MARIA. Think seriously of running off", Until I were persuaded it was civil. SCENE II. Andrea. What have ye done to little Sicily ? She ran so swiftly by me, and pusht back My hand so smartly when I would have stopt her, I think you must have vext her plaguily Amongst you. MARIA. She was vext, but not by us. ANDREA. Yes, many girls are vext to-day. One bride Sheds fifty thorns from each white rose she wears. I did not think of that. {To Maria.) You did, no doubt "^ MAIUA. I wear white roses too, as well ns she : Our queen's can have no thorns for us. ANDRKA. Not one ? scKNfi n.] ANDREA OF HUNGARY. 21 MARIA. No, nor for any in this happy realm. ANDREA. Ah now ! this happy realm ! Some people think That I could make it happier. GIOVANNA. I rejoice To hear it. ANDREA. Are you glad, my little bride ? GIOVANNA. Most glad. O never disappoint their hopes ! The people are so kind ! they love us so ! ANDREA. They are a merry race : ay, very crickets, Chirruping, leaping. , . What they eat, God knows ; Sunshine and cinders, may-be : he has sent Plenty of these, and they are satisfied. GIOVANNA. Should lue be, if they are ? ANDREA. then ! a boon ! To make them happy all their lives. GIOVANNA. The boon To make them happier Heaven alone can grant. Hearken ! If some oppressions were removed. Beyond my strength to manage, it were done. ANDREA. Nothing so easy. Not your strength indeed, But mine, could push a buffalo away. 1 have a little favour to request. 22 ANDREA OF HUNGARY. [act ii. GIOVANNA. Speak. ANDREA. Give me then this kingdom, only this. I do not covet mountains to the north, Nor cities over cities farther west, Casal or Monferrato or Saluzzo, Asti or Coni, Ceva or Torino, Where that great river runs which spouts from heaven, Nor Aix nor Toulon, nor Marseille nor Nice Nor Avignon, where our good pope sits percht ; I only want this tidy little kingdom, To make it happy with this sword upon it. GIOVANNA. The people and their laws alone can give it. ANDREA. Well, we can make the laws. GIOVANNA. And people too .'' ANDREA. Giovanna ! I do think that smile could make A thousand peoples from the dullest clay, And mould them to thy will. GIOVANNA. Pure poetry ! ANDREA. Don't say it ! or they knock me on the head ! I ought to be contented ; but they would Insist upon it. I have askt : here ends My duty : I d(jn't want it for myself . . And yet those cities lookt like strings of l)ird-oggs, And tempted me above my strength. I only SCENE II.] ANDREA OF HUNGARY. 23 Repent of learning all their names for nothing. Let them hang where they are. GIOVANNA. Well said. ANDREA. Who wants *em ? I like these pictures better. What a store ! Songs, proverbs, and a word as hard as flint, Enough for fifty friars to ruminate Amid their cheese and cobnuts after dinner. Read it me. GIOVANNA. Which? [_Aj^ DRK A poi7its. GIOVANNA. Ecclesiastes. ANDREA. Right ! As you pronounce it, scarce a word of ours In Hungary is softer. What a tongue ! Round, juicy, sweet, and soluble, as cherries. When Frate Rupert utter'd the same word, It sounded just as if his beard and breast. And all which there inhabit, had turn'd round Into his throat, to rasp and riddle it. I never shall forget Ecclesiastes ! Only two words I know are pleasanter. GIOVANNA. And which are they ? ^ ANDREA, saluting her. Giovanna and Carina. MARIA. Unmanner'd prince ! ANDREA. Now the white rose sheds thorns. 24 ANDREA OF HUNGARY. [act u. SCENE III. Sancia a7id FiLiPPA, SANCIA, smiling. Step-mothers are not always quite at home < With their queen-daughters. GIOVANNA. Yet queen-mothers are. Step-mother you have never been to me, But kindest, fondest, tenderest, truest mother. MARIA. Are we not all your children ? SANCIA. All : where then Is fled our lively Sicily ? GIOVANNA. She is gone To her own chamber. MARIA. To read poetry. SANCIA. Where poetry is only light or flattering, She might read some things worse, and many better. I never loved the heroes of Romance, And hope they glide not in among the leaves. MAHIA. And love you then their contraries ? SANCIA. 'i'hose better. \VhHl clever spiecli, Maria, do^.t llioii ponder^ 1 see we difler. SCENE iri.l ANDREA OF HUNGARY. 2n MARIA. Rather. SANCIA. Why so grave ? Surely no spur is tangled in thi/ hem ! MARIA. No, my regrets were all for you. What pity Andrea dropt upon our globe too late ! A puissant antipode to all such heroes ! GiovANNA, smilimj. Intolerable girl ! sad jealous creature ! SANCIA. Where is he ? I was seeking him. MARIA. There now ! SANCIA. Or else I should not have return'd so soon After our parting at the Benediction. \_Goes. MARIA. Sister ! I fear my little flippancy Hurried Queen Sancia : why just now want sposo ? GIOVANNA. She did not smile, as you do, when she went. Fond as she is, her smiles are faint this morning. A sorrowing thought, pure of all gloom, overspread That saintly face. MARIA. It did indeed. GIOVANNA. She loves Us all, she loves our people too, most kindly. MARIA. Seeing none other than Hungarian troops 26 ANDREA OF HUNGARY. [act ii. At church about us, deeply did she sigh And say " Ah ! xcliere are ours ? " GIOVANNA. You pain me sadly. Queens, O Maria ! have two hearts for sorrow ; One sinks upon our Naples. Whensoever I gaze ('tis often) on her bay, so bright With sun-wove meshes, idle multitudes Of little plashing waves ; when air breathes o'er it, Mellow with sound and fragrance, of such purity That the blue hills seem coming nearer, nearer, As I look forth at them, and tossing down Joyance for joyance to the plains below , . To think what mannerless, unshorn, harsh-tongued Barbarians from the Danube and the Drave Infest them, I cast up my eyes to Heaven Impatiently, despondently, and ask Are such the guests for such festivities .'' But shall they dare enthrall my poor Andrea ? Send, send for him : I would not he were harm'd, Much less deo;radcd. O for ministers To guide my counsels and protect my people ! I would call round me all the good and wise. FILLIPPA. Daughter ! no palace is too small to hold them. The good love other places, love the fields, And ripen the pale harvest with their prayers. Solitude, solitude, so dread a curse To princes, such a blight to sycophants, Is t/ifir own home, their healthy thoughts grow in it. The wise avoid all our anxieties : The cunning, with the tickets of the wise, SCENE IV.] ANDREA OF HUNGARY. '27 Push for the banquet, seize each vacant chair, Gorge, pat their spaniel, and fall fast asleep. GIOVANNA. Ah then what vig-ils are reserved for me ! MARIA. Hark ! spears are grounded. GIOVANNA. Officer ! who comes ? OFFICEH. Lady ! the friar mounts the stairs ; behind him Those potent lords, Caraffa and Caraccioli. GIOVANNA. Your chair. Queen Sancia, stands unoccupied : We must be seated to receive the lords. I s it not so ? SANCIA. The queen must. GIOVANNA. One queen only ? The younger first ? we cannot thus reverse The laws of nature for the whims of court. [San CI A is seated. TheiVs our kind mother ! Just in time ! They come. SCENE IV. Fra Rupert, Caraffa, and Caraccioli. Lady ! these nobles bring me with them hither, Fearing they might not win an audience On what concerns the welfare of the state, In such an hour of such a day as this. 28 ANDREA OF HUNGARY. [act ii. GIOVANNA. Speak, gentlemen ! You have much wronged yourselves, And me a little, by such hesitation. No day, methinks, no hour, is half so proper. As when the crown is placed upon my brow, To hear what are its duties. CARAFFA. Gracious queen ! We come to represent . . FRA RUPERT, behind. Speak out . . wrongs . . rights , . Religion. CARAFFA, to Mm. You distract me. FRA RUPERT, tO CaRACCJOLI. Speak then thou. See how attentively, how timidly, She waits for you, and blushes up your void ! CARACCIOLl. 'Tis therefore I want words. FRA RUPERT. Hear mine then, boys ! [^Walks toward Giovanna. Imprest with awe before such majesty, The hopes of Naples, whom their fathers deem On this occasion, this gay hour, from high Nobility, from splendour of equipments, Beauty of person, gracefulness of mien. And whatsoever courts are courtly by, Most fitted, and most likely to prevail Against those ancient frauds and artifices Which certain dark oH'ciulers weave al)out them . . These unsophisticated youths, foiedoom'd SCENE v.l ANDREA OF HUNGARY. '2'J Longest and most impatiently to suffer, Lay humbly at the footstool of your throne A list of grievances yet unredrest. GIOVANNA. Give it me, gentlemen, we will peruse it Together. FRA RUPERT. They are more than scribe could pen. GIOVANNA, to Fra lluPERT. Are they of native or imported growth ? Your Reverence hath some practice in the sorting. Permit me to fill up your pause, Fra Rupert ! On this occasion, this gay hour, methinks To urge impatience and foredoom of suffering Is quite untimely. High nobility And splendour of equipment are the last Of merits in Caraffas and Caracciolis. [To them. The delicacy that deferrM the tender Of your important service, I appreciate, Venturing to augur but a brief delay. Gentlemen ! if your fathers bade you hither, I grieve to owe them more than I owe you, And trust, when next we see you, half the pleasure, Half, if not all, may be your own free gift. [She rises, they go. SCENE V. PALACE GARDEN. Fra Rupeut, Caraffa, and Caraccioli. FRA RUPERT. The losel ! CARACCIOLI. Saints ! what graciousness ! 30 ANDREA OF HUNGARY. [act n. CARAFFA. Was ever So sweet a girl ? He's uglier than old Satan, Andrea . . I abhor him worse than ever. . . Curse on that Tartar, Turk, Bohemian, Hungarian ! I could now half-strangle him, FRA RUPERT. We are dismist. CARAFFA. My speech might have done wonders. FRA RUPERT. Now, who (the mischief!) stops a dead man's blood ? Wonders ! ay truly, wonders it had done ! Thou wert agape as mone3'^-box for mass, And wanted'st shaking more. What are our gains? CARAFFA. A vision the strain'd eyes can not inclose. Or bring again before them from the senses. Which clasp it, hang upon it, nor will ever Release it, following thro' eternity. ('ARACCIOLI. T can retain her image, hear her words. Repeat, and tone them on each fibre here. Distinctly stil. CARAFFA. Then hast thou neither heart Nor brain, Caraccioli ! No strife so hard As to catch one slight sound, one faintest trace. Of the high beauty that rules over us. Who ever seized the harmony of lieaven, Or saw the confine that is nearest earth ? FHA RUl'ERT. I can bear youthful follies, but must check scENK v.] ANDREA OF HUNGARY. 31 The words that run thus wide and point at heaven. We must warn laymen fairly off' that ground. Are ye both mad ? CARAFFA. One is ; I swear to one : I would not be the man that is not so For empires girt with gold, worlds starr'd with women. A trance is that man's life, a dream be mine ! Caraccioli 's an ice-pit, covered o'er With straw and chaff" and double-door'd and thatch'd. And wall'd, the whole dark space, with earthen wall. Why ! Frate ! all those groans of thine for heaven ? Art touch t ? FRA RUPERT. I have been praying fervently . . Despairingly I fear to say . . 'twere rash, Ungrateful, and ungodly. CARAFFA. He has brought The whole Maremma on me at one breath. My cold fit now comes over me. But, Frate ! If we do feel, may we not say we do ? FRA RUPERT. To feel is harm ; to say it, may be none, Unless 'tis said with levity like thine. CARAFFA. Ah faith ! I wish 'twere levity ! The pagan That heaves up Etna, calls it very differently : I think the dog is better off" than I am : He groans upon the bed where lies his torment, I very far away from where lies mine. FRA RUPERT. Art thou a Christian ? 32 ANDREA OF HUNGARY. [act ii. CARAFFA. Fatlier ! don't be serious. FRA RUPERT. I must be. CARAFFA. Have not I most cause ? FRA RUPERT. Yea truly. CARAFFA. I am not over-given to complain, But nettles vnW sting all . . FRA RUPERT. . . who put their hands in. Caraccioli ! be warn'd by this our friend What sufferings may arise from lawless love. Thine passeth its due bounds ; it doth, Caraccioli ! But thou canst conquer every wild desire ; A high emprize ! what high emprize but suits A true Caraccioli ! We meet again . . I have some warnings, some reproofs, for him. [Caraccioli ^06'.?. SCENE VI. Fra Rupert, Caraffa. fra rupert. Where walls are living things, have ears, eyes, mouths, Deemest thou, son Francisco ! I alone Heard those most violent words about Andrea .'' CAIJAFFA. What words ? I never thought aliout the man . . About his wife some little . . true enough. SCENE VI.] ANDREA OF HUNGARY. 33 Some little ? criminal it were to say it : He who thinks little of such . . such perfection, Has left his thoughts among the worms that creep In charnel-houses, among brainless skulls, Dry bones, without a speck of blood, a thread Of fibre, ribs that never cased a heart. The volumes of the doctors of the church Could not contain a tithe of it : their clasps, Strong enough to make chains for Saracens, Their timbers to build argosies, would warp And split, if my soul's fire were pent within, KKA RUPERT. Remember, son Francesco ! prince Andrea, King rather (such the husband of a queen Is virtually, and should be) king Andrea Lives under my protection. CARAFFA. Well, what then ? FRA RUPERT. What ? Into mine own ear didst thou not breathe Traitorous threats ? CARAFFA. I ? Threats ? About his queen ? FRA RUPERT. Filthy ! most filthy! CARAFFA. No, no : wandering thoughts Fluttered in that direction ; one thought, rather. Doves have hot livers. FRA RUPERT. Be adultery Bad as it will, yet treason, son Francesco ' Treason is far more difficult to deal with. D 34 ANDREA OF HUNGARY. [act ii. CARAFFA. 1 do suspect it may be. FRA RUPERT. Saidst thou not Thou couldst half-strangle that Hungarian ? CARAFFA. Spake I so rashly ? FRA RUPERT. I am a Hungarian. CARAFFA. Evident : but that noble mien would daunt Moor, Usbeck, Abyssinian : and that strength ! A Svvitzer bear could not half-strangle it. FRA RUPERT. 'Twere martyrdom, 'twere martyrdom. The life Of kings hath swords and scaffolds round about it ; A word might fling thee on them. CARAFFA. Such a word Must fall from holy lips, thenceforth unholy. FRA RUPERT. Guided by me and courage, thou art safe. scENR I.] ANDREA Ol" HUNGARY. 35 ACT III. SCENK I. IN THE PALACK. Andrea and Filippa. ANDREA. Many the stories you've repeated to me, Lady Filippa! 1 have clean forgotten em ; But all the bloody giants every girl Before our bed-time threw into my night-cap, Lie safe and sound there stil. FfLIPPA. I quite believe You've not the heart to drive them out, my prince. ANDRKA. Not I indeed. And then your sage advice ! FILIPPA. Is all that too forgotten ? ANDREA. No, not all ; But, dear Filippa, now that I am married, And sovran {one may say) or next door to it, You must not give me any more advice . . Not that I mind it ; but to save appearances. iShe bends : he c/oes, but 7'eturns suddenly. Lady Filippa ! lady seneschal ! FILIPPA. My prince, command me. ANDREA. Solve mc one more question. D 2 36 ANDREA OF HUNGARY. [act hi. How happens it (while old men are so wise) That any foolish thing, advice or story, We call it an old woman"'s .'' FILIPPA. Prince Andrea ! I know not as for stories and advice ; I only know, when ice are disappointed In any thing, or teazed with it, we scoff And call it an old man's. ANDREA. Ah spiteful sex ! FILIPPA. Here comes Maria : ask her no such questions. ANDREA. I wish Fra Rupert heard your words. FILIPPA. To prove them ? MARIA. Give him a nosegay at the door. ANDREA. He spurns Such luxury. MARIA. Since his arrival here, Perfumes, they tell me, are more general And tenfold dearer. Everybody .wears them In self-defence : men take them with their daggers; Laundresses sprinkle them on vilest linen, Lest they be called uncleanly ; round the churches What once were clouds of incense, now are canopies Of the same benzoin ; kites could not fly thro' ; The fainting penitents are prone to catch At the priest's surplice as he passes by, SCENE II.] ANDREA OF HUNGARY. 37 And cry, above their prayers to Heaven for mercy, Stop ! stop ! turn back ! ivaft me a little yet. ANDREA. The father is indeed more fox than civet, And stinks out sins like sulphur and stale eggs. [7'o Makia,] You will not run away Avith him? MARIA. Tarantola ! Worse than most venomous tarantola, He bites, and will not let us dance for it. SCENE II. IN THE GARDENS OF CAPO DI MONTE. Boccaccio and Fiammetta. FIAMMETTA. I do not know whether it be quite right To listen, as I have, day after dav And evening after evening, BOCCACCIO. Are my sighs Less welcome in the garden and the bower, Than where loud organ bellowM them away. And chorister and waxlight ran between ? FIAMMETTA. You sadly interrupted me at vespers : Never do that again, sir ! When I pray I like to pray with all my heart. Bold man ! Do you dare smile at me ? BOCCACCIO. The bold man first Was smiled at ; was he not ? 38 ANDREA OF HUNGARY. [act m. IIAMMETTA. No, no such tiling : But if he was, it was because he sigh''d At the hot weather he had brousht with hini. BOCCACCIO. At the cold weather he fear'd coming on He sighed. FIAMMETTA. And did it come ? BOCCACCIO. loo gracious lady ! FIAMMETTA. Keep (jracious lady for dull drawing-rooms ; Fiammetta is my name ; I would know yours. BOCCACCIO. Giovaimi. FIAMETTA. That I know {aside). I ought, alas! Often with Acciaioli and Petrarca I've seen you walking, but have never dared To ask your name from them ; your house's name 1 mean, of course ; our own names stand for nothing. You must be somebody of high estate. BOCCACCIO. T am not noble. rr AIM iM ETTA, shrinkim/ huch. Oh! . . then! . . BOCCACCIO. T must go ! 'I'hat is the sentence, is it not P 1 r AM M !■ TTA, runs ditd talics his luiiid- OoiTt III! nic SCENE II.] ANDREA OF HUNGARY. 39 Thou art not noble : say thou art most noble : Norman . . half-Norman . . quarter-Norman , . say it. BOCGACCIO. Say an untruth ? FIAMMETTA. Only this one ; my heart Will faint without it. I will swear to think it A truth, wilt thou but say it. 'Tis a truth : Thy only falsehood thou hast told already, Merely to try me. If thou art not noble . . Noble thou art, and shalt be ! \_She sobs and pauses : he presses her hand to his bosom. Who gainsays it .'' BOCCACCIO. A merchant's son, no better, is thy slave, Fiammetta! FIAMMETTA, smiling. Now art thou disguised indeed. Come, show me specimens of turquises, Amethysts, emeralds, diamonds . . out with 'em. BOCCACCIO. A merchant's, and poor merchant's, son am 1 ; Gems I have none to offer, but pure love Proof to the touchstone, to the crucible. FIAMMETTA. What then or wiio is noble, and thou not ? I have heard whispers that myself am not so Who am king ''obert's daughter. We may laugh At those who are, if thou and I are none. Thou art my knight, Giovanni ! There now ; take [^Givhifj hint her scarf. Thy patent of nobility, and wear it. 40 ANDREA OF HUNGARY. [act hi. BOCCACCIO, kisses it. What other but were cobweb after this ? FIAMMETTA. Ha ! kiss it ! but take care you don't kiss me. [Buns away. SCENE III. IN THE PALACE. Sancia and Filippa. SAN CIA. Even you, my dear Filippa, are alert As any of the girls, and giddy too : You have dropt something now you cannot find FILIPPA. I have been busy, looking here and there To find Andrea. SANCIA. Leave him with his bride. Until they tire of saying tender things. FILIPPA. Untender things, I fear, are going on. He has been truant to the friar Rupert Of late, who threatens him with penances For leaving some inj miction unpcrform'd. And more perhaps than penances are near : For sundry captains, sundry nobles, meet At friar Anselm's cell ; thither had sped Fra Rupert. In the garden of Saint Clara Voices were heard, ami threats ; then whispers \:\\\ Along the walls. They walkt out, one by one. Soldiers with shufTling pace unsoldierly, SCENE IV.] ANDREA OF HUNGARY. 41 Friars with folded hands, invoking heaven, And hotly calm as night ere burst Vesuvius. SANCIA. Peyond the slight affronts all princes bear From those who miss what others have obtain'd, Andrea shall fear nothing. Heaven protects him. FILIPPA. Heaven, in its equal dispensation, gives The pious palms, the prudent length of days. We seek him not then with the same intent Of warning ? SANCIA, With the same of warning ; you, Where the good angels guard ; I, where the bad Seduce him. Having reign'd, and having heard That thither tend his wishes . . FILIPI'A. Momentary. SANCIA. But lawless wishes have returning wings Of speed more than angelic. I would win His private ear, lest courtiers take possession ; 1 would persuade him, with his lovely bride To share all other troubles than the crown's. SCENE IV. IN THE PALACE. Andrea and Maria. ANDREA. Are we then going up to Ca})o-Monte ? How long shall we remain there? all the night? MARIA. Until the evcnini;. 4-2 ANDREA OF HUNGARY. [act hi. ANDREA. And where then ? MARIA. Aversa. ANDREA. Ay, because there 1 askt her if she loved me : Besides . . the strangest thing on earth . . young brides Fly from the altar and roost anywhere Rather than near it. What should frighten them ? But, if we go, why not set off directly .-^ MARIA. We stay because the people round the gates. Who left too late their farms and villages To see our queen and you, expect at noon To follow the procession . . ANDREA. What procession ? Is there another marriage ? O rare sport ! MARIA, conthiuimj . From Castel-Nuovo far as Capo-Monte. ANDREA. glorious! But we really shall be let Into the gardens and the groves.'' MARIA. Why not y Who should prevent us ? ANDREA. Into all P Among The marble men and women who stand there. And only stir by mo7 For thee . . thou art hut second in my breast . . Poor, poor Andrea ! CAUAFTA. Never fear about him. Giovanna, even tho' she did not love, (O that she did not !) yet would never wrong him. FRA RUPIiKT. Nay, God forbid she should ! 'Twas not for me To mark her looks, her blushes, gestures, . . how Faltered the word Caraffa as she spoke it. Thy father then said nothing ? CARAFFA. Not a word ; What should he? FKA RUPEnX, Not a word. Old men are close : And yet ! doubted . . I am apt to doubt . . Whether he might not . . for ambition stirs Most fathers . . just let slip . . Why didst thou falter? For never faltered child as thou didst falter. Thou knowest then her mind better than we ? CARAFFA. I know it? I divine it ? Would I did ! FR V RUPERT. Nay, rather let the bubble float along Than break it : the rich colours are outside. Everything in this world is but a bubble. The world itself one mighty bubble, we Mortals, small bubbles round it ! CARAFFA. Frate ! Frate ! Thou art a soapy one ! No catching thee ! [aside. \_Alnnd,'\ What hopes thou showest me ! If these were solid 58 ANDREA OF HUNGARY. [act in. As thou, most glorious bubble who reflect'st them, Then, then indeed, to me from this time forth The world, and all within the world, were bubbles. FRA RUPERT. A knight art thou, Caraffa ! and no title (Secular title, mind ! secular title) Save only royalty, surpasses knighthood. There is no condescension in a queen Placing her foot within the palm of knight, And springing from it on her jewePd saddle : No condescension is there if she lend To theirs the sceptre who lent hers the sword. Knights there have been, and are, where kings are not, Kings without knights what are they ? CARAFFA. Korman blood Runs in my veins as in her own : no king (Savage or tame) shall stand above those knights Who raised his better to the throne he won : Of such am I. But what am 1 before Giovanna ! to adore, to worship her, Is glory far above the chiseling Of uncouth kings, or dashing them to earth : O be it mine ! FRA RUPERT. Perhaps some other Norman May bear less tamely the new yoke ; perhaj)s A Filangieri may, this very night . . CARAFFA. No Filangieri ever stoop't to treachery. No sword of Norman over struck by night. Credulous monk ! to me name Filangieri ! Qut'lkrs of France and Fngland as we are, SCENE VI.] ANDREA OF HUNGARY. :>'J And jealous of precedency, no name (Offence to none) is higher than Filangieri. FRA RUPEHT. Boaster ! CARAFFA. I boast of others ; [ew do that Who merit such a title. FRA KUPEUT. Lower thy crest ; Pause ! thou art in mv hands. CARAFFA. I am in God's. FRA RUPERT, mildly^ after hesitation. Who knows but God hath chosen thee, amid His ministers of wrath, to save thy country And push oppression from her ! Dreams and signs Miraculous have haunted me. CARAFFA. Thee, Frate ! FRA RUPERT. Me, even me. My ministry is over : Marriage ends pupilage, and royalty Ends friendship. Little is it short of treason To say that kings have friends. CARAFFA. How short of treason I know not, but I know how wide of truth. FRA RUPERT. Listen ! There are designs against the life Of young Andrea. CARAFFA. By the saints above ! I hope there are not. 60 ANDREA OF HUNGARY. [act in, FRA KITPERT. If" thy name be found Among conspirators (and those are call'd Conspirators who vindicate their country) Where thy sword is, there must thy safety be. The night for veno-eance is the marriage-night. CARAFFA. /draw the sword without defiance first ? /draw the sword uninjured ? Whom against ? Against a life so young ! so innocent Of an)' guile ! a bridegroom ! in his bed ! ! is this horror only at the crime ? Or is it . . No, by Heaven ! 'tis Heaven's own horror At such unmanly deed. /, Frate ! /, Caraffa, stain with tears Giovanna's cheek ! / sprinkle poison on the flowers she smells ! FUA RUPERT, resolutely. Hark ye, Caraffa ! If the public good . . CARAFFA. Away with public good ! Was never book Put in my hand .'' was never story told me ? Show me one villain vile beyond the rest, Did not that villain talk of public good ? FRA RUPERT. Only at friars are Caraffa's stabs. Valiant and proud and wealthy as thou art, 'Jhou may"'st have nothing left on earth to-morrow. CARAFFA. 1 shall iiavc more to-morrow than to-day. My h«)nour may shoot up all in one night, As did some tree wi- read of. V\{.\ KIM'KKT. Thou .nt ra>h. SCENE VI.] ANDREA OF HUNGARY. CI CARAFFA. llashness may mellow into courage ; time Is left me. FRA RUPERT. For thy prayers. CARAFFA. My prayer then is, Peace, safety, glory, joy, to our Giovanna ! FRA HUrERT. Thou may'st depart. CARAFFA, indicjnanthj. For ever. \_Goes. FRA RUPERT. He says well. Caraccioli enters. FRA RUPERT, smilhiff wul cmhracing him. Caraccioli ! without our friend Caraffa ! CARACCIOLI. He should have been here first. FRA RUPERT, aside. Perfectly safe ! I did not follow him into the cloister. CARACCIOLI. Father ! you seem as pondering to yourself How that wild fellow kept his word so ill; Caraffa- hke ! FRA RUPERT. I keep mine well with him. CARACCIOLI. He should have thought of that. FRA RUPERT. He had no time. 62 ANDREA OF HUNGARY. [act ii CARACCIOLl. Always so kind ! so ready with your plea For little imperfections! Our Francesco, Somewhat hot-headed, is warm-hearted too. FRA RUPERT. His petty jealousy about the queen (Were there no sin behind it) we might smile at. Caraffa stands not with Caraccioli. CARACCIOLl. On the same level . . there particularly. FRA RUPERT. Ho ! lio ! you laugh and jeer about each other ? CARACCIOLl. We might. How she would laugh at two such ninnies ! FRA RUPERT. At one, most certainly. But laughing girls Often like grave men best. There's something grand, As well as grave, even in tlic sound " Caraccioli." CARACCIOLl. I have no hopes. FRA RUPERT. How I rejoice to hear it ! Hopes are but wishes, wishes are but sin, And, fed with ranker exhalations, poison. CARACCIOLl. The subtilest consumes me. FHA RUPERT. What .^ CARACCIOLl. Despair. SCENE VI.] ANDREA OF HUNGARY. 1]:] FRA RUPERl, Violets and primroses lie under thorns Often as asps and adders; and we find The unexpected often as the expected, The pleasant as the hideous. CARACCIOLI. That may be, But what avails your lesson ? whither tends it? FRA RUPERT. My son ! I hear from those who know the world And sweep its noisome litter to my cell, There are mild days when love calls love abroad As birds call birds, and even leaves call leaves : Moments there are, my poor Caraccioli ! Moments in which the labyrinth of the ear At every turn of its proclivity Grows warmer, and holds out the clue, itself: Severity should not beget despair. I would not much encovirage thee, nor yet Dash all thy hopes, however inconsiderate, For hopes there may be, though there should not be, Flickering even upon despondency. There may be sounds in certain names to smite The stagnant heart, and swell its billows high Over wide spaces, over distant years . . There may ; but who would utter them and know it ? Delicate is the female sense, yet strong In cherishing and resenting ; very prompt At hiding both, and hating the discoverer. Never, my Paolo ! look too deeply in, Or thou may'st find what thou art looking for. Not that she ever said one word against thee ; 64 ANDREA OF HUNGARY. [act hi She even lower'd her voice in naming thee. Seeing her sister and the rest sit giggling, Anythini) else ! anythinc/ else ! said she, And snapt the thread she workt with, out of spite. A friend, who hopes the best, may tell the worst. Patience will weary ; even Giovanna's patience. I could go farther, and relate . . but why Why ('tis too light to touch upon) relate The little hurt she gave Filippa's ancle With that lark heel of hers, by twitching it Uneasily ? O the impatient sex ! She did shed . . tears T will not say . . a tear . . Shed it ! no; I am wrong : it came, it stayed, As hangs one star, the first and only one, Twinkling, upon some vernal evening. CARACC10LI. I am but clay beneath her feet. Alas ! Clay there would quicken into primal man. Glorified and immortal once again. FRA RUPERT. Thou art too hot, my Paolo ! One pulse less In the half-hour might have been rather better. Lovest thou our Francesco ? rARACriOT.T, Like a lirother. I'RA HUPERT. He should not then have brought thy life in peril. Andrea is quite furious : all at court Arc sworn upon thy ruin. CAKACCIOM. Upon mine ? T will then calmly tell them they are wrong. SCENE VI.] ANDREA. OF HUNGARY. 6^, FRA RUPERT. Will they as calmly hear ? Francesco said, Imprudent youth ! you boasted of remembering Every the lightest mole about Giovanna. CAllACCIOLI. /say it ? FllA RUPERT. Those were not your words, CAllACCIOLI. My words ! FRA RUPERT. Certainly not . . precisely. CARACCIOLI, Holy Mary ! Is there in Naples, Hungary, or Hell, The monster who dares utter them ? FRA RUPERT. ""Tis hard Our friend should be the very man CARACCIOLI, 'Tis false, Frate ! 'tis false : my friend is not the man. [Bursts away. FRA RUPERT, sneering. I will not follow Mm into the cloister. (JG ANDREA OF HUNGARY. [act iv. ACT IV. SCENE I. IN THE GARDEN OF CAPO DI MONTE. Boccaccio cmd Fiammetta. BOCCACCIO, sings. If there be love on earth, 'tis here, O maid of royal line ! Should they who spring from heroes, fear ? Be scornful the divine ? Shine not the stars upon the sea, Upon the fountain too ? \ O ! let your eyes then light on me. And O ! let mine see you. QFiammetta comes fomrird. How kind, to come ! fiammetta. To come into the air ? I like it. They are all at their mcrenda*. The smell of melon overpowers me quite ; I could not bear it; therefor I just come Into the air to be revived a little. And you too here! Sly as the satyr- head \_ylff('ctmct nie dream then on ! Witliout Such dreams, Fiammetta, dull would be the sleep Caird life. FIAMMETTA, lookmy Tound timidly. I must be broad awake, BOCCACCIO. You must. FIAMMETTA, uoddiug. And you. All are indulgent to me; most Of all, queen Sancia and Giovanna. BOCCACCIO, One A saint, the other better. FIAMMETTA. Then the grave Filippa . . BOCCACCIO. Grave and watchful. FIAMMETTA. Not a word Against her ! 1 do hold her in my heart, Although she gives me good advice sometimes. BOCCACCIO. I'm glad to hear it ; for the very worthy Are very rarely general favorites. FIAMMETTA. Some love our friend most cordially ; those know her : Others there are who hate her ; those would know her And cannot ; for she stands aloof and thanks them ; Remoter, idler, neither love nor hate, Nor care about her ; and the worst and truest They say of her, is, that her speech is dark. 1.^ 2 68 ANDREA OF HUNGARY. [act iv. BOCCACCIO. Doubtless, the vulgar eye will take offence If cedar chambers are unwasht with lime. FIAMMETTA. But why are you come here ? BOCCACCIO. To gaze, to sigh, And, O Fiammetta ! tell me if . . to live. FiAMMET'iA, lanf/Mng. I never saw more signs of life in any. BOCCACCIO. Cruel ! FlAWME'lTA. To find the signs of life in you ? BOCCACCIO. To scoff them out. FIAMMETTA. I am incapable. (^Boccaccio i-ises, and steps hack gazing fondly. () now, Giovanni ! T am terrified ! Why ! you sprang up . . as if you sprang to kiss me ! Did ever creature think of such a thing ! BOCCACCIO. The drooping blades of grass beneath your feet Think of it ; the cold runlet thinks of it ; The pure sky (iiow it smiles upon us!) thinks of it . . I will no more then think of it. [_Kisscs her. lIAMME'n'A. Giovanni ! Ah ! I shall call you (wretch !) to task for this. BOCCACCIO. Call ; and, by Heaven ! Til conic, tho' from the grave. i SCENE I.] ANDREA OF HUNGARY. r>9 FIAMMF.TTA. Any-one, now, would say you thought me handsome. BOCCACCIO. Earth has two beauties ; her Bellagio And Anacapri ; earth's inhabitants Have only one among them. FIAMMKTTA. Whom ? BOCCACCIO. Fiammetta. \_Going. FIAMMETTA. Where are you running now ? Stay I tho' quite angry, I am not yet so angry as I should be : But, if you ever take such liberties Again ! BOCCACCIO. O never ! . . till we reach Aversa. FIAMMETTA. And will you there ? and tell me to my face '^ \_Is departing. Wait, wait for pardon. Must we part .'' So soon? So long a time .'' BOCCACCIO, Til star-light. FIAMMETTA. Stay a moment. BOCCACCIO. Gladly a life : but my old mule loves walking And meditation. Now the mask and dress, And boy to carry them, must all be found. FIAMMETTA. Boy, mask, dress, mule! speed, gallop, to Aversa! BOCCACCIO. So many kisses lie upon this hand, Mine hardly reach it. 70 ANDREA OF HUNGARY. [act iv. FIAMMETTA. Lips there may have been ; Had there been kisses, I must sure have felt them, As 1 did yours . . at least I thought I did. . But go, for I am half afraid of you . . That is, of your arriving yonder late. Go, else the crowd may stop you ; and, perhaps, I might delay you for some sudden fancy. Or . . go your ways . . not let you go at all. SCENE II. FRA RUPERT'S CELL. Fra Rupert alone. I wisht him power ; for what was his was mine ; 1 wisht him jealousy, distrust, aversion For his pert bride, that she might have no share. 1 never failed before this wretched day. Fiiird ! 1 have not : I will possess my rights, Spring over him, and never more be spuru'd. They who had rais'd his seat, shall stablish mine, Without those two vain boys. O ! had they done it ! And not been where they are ! The fault was theirs. MAXIMIN enters. I'ltA UUl'ERT. Maximin ! since thy services may soon He caird for, satchel on thee my ex))erience. Then set about thy work. My Maximin ! Mind how thou licst ! Know, if lie thou must, Lies, while they sap tlieir way and hold their tongues, Are safe enough : when breath gets into them. They, and the work about them, may cxpiodi. Maxinnn ' there ari' more lies ilone than ^aid. scENK £1.] ANDREA OF HUNGARY. 71 Son ! when we hesitate about the right, We're sure to do the wrong. MAXIMIN. I don't much hesitate. FRA RUPERT. To chain a dog and to unchain a dog Is hazardous alike, while the deaf beast Stands barking : he must sleep ; then for the cord. MAXIMIN. What ! are my services in some farm-yard ? I am a soldier. FRA RUPERT. All great statesmen have been. How large a portion of the world is each In his own eyes ! MAXIMIN. Am I so proud in saying I am a soldier ? FRA RUPERT. / am proud of thee ; Be that sufficient. Give thou every man What he requires of thee. MAXIMIN. A world to each ? FRA RUPERT. Not so : yet hold not up to him a glass That shows him less, or but some digits greater. MAXIMIN. Honestly now, Fra Rupert, by my cross ! No gull art thou. I knew that trick myself, And (short the digits) told it word for word. FRA RUPERT. I will be sworn for thee. Being minister (Not that I think it certain just at present, 72 ANDREA OF HUNGARY. [act iv. For when the sage and honest are most wanted, That is the chink of time they all drop through) But when ihou art so, mind this precept. One Not wise enough to keep the wiser off Should never be a minister of state. MAXIM! N. Fra Rupert ! presto ! make me one to-day. Give fifty precepts, there they go ! {Jfloicjur/I but this I'll kiss the cross and the queen's hand, and keep. FRA RUPEUT. / make thee minister f MAXIMIN, You can make kings. FRA RUPEHT. Not even those ! I might have made Andrea What thou and every tiue Hungarian Vvisht him to be, ere he show'd h6of for claw, And thought to trample down his countrymen. MAXlMlN. Andrea bloody-minded ! turtle-doves Are bloudy-niinded then, and leave their elm, The first day's mating, for the scent of gore. FRA RUPERT. Maxiniin ! here is no guitar for thee, Else niightest thou sing that pure poetry, Preciously warm and frothy from the udder. MAXI-MIN. Father ! if any in our troop call'd mc A poet, he should sing for it. FRA RUPERT. Thou''rt brave, Maximin ! and Andrea is not bloody. IJul there are j>rinces, or have been within scENi! n.] ANDREA OF HUNGARY. 7:i Our memory, who, when blood gusht fortli like water From their own jjeople, stood upon some bridge Or iland, waving their plumed caps, and drank The cries of dying men with drunken ears. iMAXIMIN. Curses, eternal curses, man's and God's, Upon such heathens ! FRARUPKUT. Nay, they were not heathens; Happily they were christians, Maximin ! Andrea, though myself instructed him, Ts treacherous. Better were this pasty people Dissolved, washt down, than brave Hungarians perish. MAXlMlN. No truer word projjhet or saint e''er spoke. FRA RUPiniT, sigJiinfj. Saint hath not spoken it : O may not prophet ! MAXIMIN. 1, being neither, cannot understand you. FUA RUPERT. The innocent, the helpless, are surrounded, MAXIMIN. Andrea ? FRA RUPERT. My Andrea would betray us, MAXIMIN. To whom ? Are we the helpless? we the innocent ? FRA RUPERT. While he is yonder at Aversa, we Are yelling thro' these very streets for mercy. MAXIMIN. I cry you mercy, father ! When I yell, 74 ANDREA OF HUNGARY. [act iv. ril borrow whistles from some thirty good Neapolitans, who'll never want them more. FRA RUPEUT. Be ready then ! be ready for Aversa ! Glory stands there before thee ; seize the traitor, Win wealth, win jewels, win . . What have not palaces For brave young men upon such nights as these ! MAXIM IN. Would'st bid me stick Andrea ? FRA RUPERT. Hungary, Not I ; our country, not revenge. , MAXIMIN. Bids murder ! I will proclaim thy treason thro' the camp. FEA RUPERT. Unhappy son, forbear ! By thy sweet mother ! Upon my knees ! Upon my knees before A mortal man ! Yea, Rupert ! bend thy head ; Thy own son's hand should, and shall, spill thy blood. [Maximin starts, then hesitates, then rushes at him. MAXIMIN. Impudent hound ! TU have thy throat for that. FRA RUPERT, guards his throat. Parricide ! make me not cry Murder . . love Forbids it . . rather die ! My son ! my son ! riitle but thy mother's shame; my shame, not hers. [ M A X I M I N relaxes his grasp. Maximin ! stand between the world and it ! Oh ! what avails it ! sinner as I am ! Otlur worlds witness it. [Maximin looses hold. My Maximin! [Kiivnwi: embraces him. bCENE n.| ANDREA OF HUNGARY. 75 MAXIMIN. Why, how now, Frate ! hath some wine-vault biiist And fiitlcllcd thcc ? we know thou never ch-inkest. FRA RUPERT. That lighter sin won't save me. MAXIMIN. If light sins Could save us, I have many a bushel ful, And little need your sentry-boxes yonder. FKA KUPKiiT, very m'ddh/. I must reprove (my own dear child!) {Passionatdi/) . . I must Reprove, however gently, such irreverence. Confessionals a7'e sentry-boxes ! true ! And woe betide the sentry that naps there ! Woe, if he spare his voice, his prayer, his curse ! MAXIMIN. Curses we get dog-cheap ; the others, reasonable. FRA EUPERT. Sweet Maximin ! whatever my delight In gazing on those features (for sharp shame, When love blows over it from lands afar, Tingles with somewhat too, too like delight !) We must now part. Thy fortune lies within My hands. To-night, if thy own officers Command thee to perform a painful office . . MAXIMIN. Good father ! what know we of offices ? Let them command a duty, and 'tis done. FRA RUPERT. Discreet tho' ! Maximin ! discreet ! my marrow ! Let not a word escape thee, not a breath. Blessings, my tender kid ! VVe must walk on (I love thee so!) together thro' the cloister. 76 ^.NDREA OF HUNGARY. [act iv. MAXIMIN. No, father ! no ; too much ! FRA RUPERT. Too much for thee ? QRuPERT precedes, speaks to three men, xoho boio and retire ; he disappears. MAXIMIN, loitering in the cloister. Incredible ! yet friars and cockroaches Creep thro' all rooms, and like the closest best. Let me consider ! can it be ? how can it .'' He is bare fifty ; I am forty-one. SCENE III. THE GARDEN OF FRIAR ANSELM'S CONVENT. Fra Rupert, Klapwrath, Zinga, a7id Psein. FRA RUPERT. Ve brave -supporters of Hungarian power And dignity ! O Zinga ! Klapwrath ! Psein ! Becomes it me to praise (we may admire Those whom to praise were a temerity) Such men as you. PSEIN. Us .'* we are only captains. ZINGA. After hard service we are nothing more. KLAPWRATH. Twenty-three years hath Klapwrath rode and thirsted. FRA RUPERT. Ingratitude! the worst of human crimes, Hardly we dare to say; so Mat and stale. So hcavv with >ick sobs from mouth to moiilh. SCENE III.] ANDREA OF HUNGARY. 77 The ejaculation. To my mind scarce witchery Comes up to it. PSEIN. Hold ! father ! For that sin Either we deal with devils or old women. FRA RUPERT. Man was created of the dust ; to make The fragile mass cohesive, were employed The hitter waters of ingratitude. [^Affects to xoeep. KLAl'WKATH. Weeping will never rinse that beaker, Frate ! FRA RUPERT. It is not for myself. ZINGA. We see it is not. FRA RUPERT. Ye cannot see deep into me. PSEIN. Few can. FKA RUPERT. Ye cannot see the havoc made within By ever-dear Andrea. ZINGA. Havoc ? FRA RUPERT. Havoc ! KLAPWRATH, I like the word : purses and rings hang round it, Necklaces, brochcs, and indented armlets. PSEIN. But, ere we reach 'em, ugly things enough, Beside the broken swords that lie below And brave men brandisht in the morning light. KLAPWRATH. Brave men then should not cross us ; wise men don't. 78 ANDREA OF HUNGARY. act iv. FRA RUPERT. Your spirit all attest ; but those the least Whose safety hangs upon your saddle-skirts. Men are not valued for their worth in Italy: Of the same price the apple and the peach, The service and the fig. ZINGA. Well, there they beat us. PSEIN. Whatever they may be, we cannot help it. FRA RUPERT. Help it, I say, ye can ; and ye shall help it, Altho' I perish for ye. KLAPVVRATH. Then indeed, Frate ! some good might come of it; but wik thou ? FRA RUPERT. Abandon to his fate my poor Andrea ! Has he not slept upon this bosom ? KLAPWRATH. Has he ? He must have had some scratches on his face. FRA RUPERT. Has he not eaten from this hand .'' KLAPWRATH. Why then, He'll never die for want of appetite. ERA RUPERT. Have we not drunk our water from one bowl? KLAPWRATH. Father ! you were not very liberal ; He might have drunk tlu- whole of mine, and welcome. FRA HtiPEUT. How light ye make of life ! scENK III] ANDREA OF HUNGARY. ZING A. Faith ! not so light; 1 think it worth a tug, for my part of it ; Nor would I leave our quarters willingly. PSEIN. O the delight of floating in a bath, One hand athwart an orange-bough, the other Flat on the marble pavement, and our eyes Wandering among those figures round the arch That scatter flowers, and laugh at us, and vie With one another which shall tempt us most ! Nor is it vmdelightful, in my mind, To let the curly wave of the warm sea Climb over me, and languishingly chide My stopping it, and push me gently away. KLAPWRATH. Water, cold, tepid, hot, is one to me. The only enemy to honest wine Is water ; plague upon it ! ZING A. So say I. FIIA RUPERT. Three braver friends ne'er met. Hei ! hei ! hei ! hei ! The very name of friend ! You cannot know What love I bear Andrea ! PSEIN. All the world Knows it. FRA RUPERT. The mischief he designs, who guesses ? PSEIN. All ])ovs are mischievous. «0 ANDREA OF HUNGARY. [act iv. FRA RUPERT. Alas ! but mischief There mioht be without treacherv. PSEIN. Poor Andrea ! So httle fit for it ! FRA RUPERT. Frank generous souls Always are first to suffer from it, last To know it when they meet it. KLAPWRATH. Who shall harm Our own king"'s colt? Who moves, speaks, looks, against him, Why ! that man's shroud is woven, and spred out. FRA RUPERT. Let mine then be ! would it had been so ere I saw this day ! PSEIN. What has he done ? FRA RUPERT. To me All kindness ever. Why such mad resolves Against the lives of his most sure defenders "i Against his countrymen, his guards, his father's Most chosen friends? /I\GA. Against your life ? FRA RUPERT. No, no ! Heaven protects mc ; he sees it ; nor indeed (To do him justice) has he such a heart. But why ask me to aid him ? Why ask me Whether he was as strong at heart as Zinga, Dexterous at sword as Klaj)wratli, such a fool . . Pardon ! your |)ard()n, gentlemen ! \_Looking at Psein. scKNE III.] ANDREA OF HUNGARY. 81 PSEIN. As Psein. FRA IIUPKRT. The very word I VVIio else dared utter it .'' I give him up ! I ahiiost give him up ! KLAPWRATH. He shall not rule us. The best blood of Hungary Shall not be poured this night upon the wine. FRA RUPERT. If you must leave the country . . and perhaps No worse may reach the greater part of you . . , PSEIN. I have no mind to leave it. ZINGA. None shall drive us. KLAPWRATH. The wines of Hungary strive hard with these, Yet Klapwrath is contented ; he hates change. ZINGA. Let us drink these out first, and then try those. FRA RUPERT. Never will come the day when pine-root fire And heavy cones puff fragrance round the room, And two bluff healthy children drag along (One by the ear, the other by the scut) A bulging hare for supper ; where each greyhound Knows his own master, leaps up, hangs a foot Inward, and whimpers piteously to see Flagons so round : then off for bread and lard. Those were your happy times ; unless when foray Stirr'd ye to wrath, and beeves, and swine, and trulls, (Tempting ye from propriety) heapt up A mount of sins to strive against ; abduction 82 ANDREA OF HUNGARY. [act iv Of linen-chests, and those who wove the linen ; And shocking oaths obscene, and well-nigh acts ; Fracture of cellar-doors, and spinning-wheels; And (who can answer for you) worse, worse, worse ! KLAPWRATH. ""Sblood ! Frate ! runs no vine-juice in our arteries ? Psein's forehead starts wry veins upon each side ; His nostrils blow so hot they'll crack my boots. ZINGA. Must we move hence ? VllA RUPERT. To die like sheep.'' like conies? Ye shall not die alone ; I will die with you. There have been kings who sacrificed their sons . Abraham would have done it ; Pagans have ; But guardians such as 1 am ! KLAPWRATH. Frate ! Frate ! Don"*! tear those tindery rags, or they will quit thee With only horse-hair under, and some stiff'er. FRA RUPERT. You conquer me, you conquer me, I yield. He was not bloody. AVould it end with one ! And we knew which . . or two, or three. ZINGA. \iuius? FRA RUPERT. " If once the captains of the companies^'" Said he . . and then, 1 own, he said no more: He saw ine slnidiler, and he sped away. Kl.APWUAril. Arc we to hold oui- throats out to the knife? scK.NK in.] ANDREA OF HUNGARY. 83 FRA RUPERT. Patience ! dear doubtful Klapwratli ! mere suspicion ! He did not say the knife, or sword, or lialter, He might have meant the scaffold ; nothiiio- worse; Deprive you he n)ight not of all distinction, Nay, might spare one or other of you yet : Why then prevent what may need no prevention ? Slyer are few ; many more sanguinary : Must we (don't say it) give him up ? I hope He's mischievous through weakness, not malignity. ZINGA. What matters that? A feather-bed may stifle us (If we will let it) with a babe to press it. Is there no other prince in Hungary Fit to maintain us here ? FRA RUPERT. The very thought That came into my head ! PSEIN. Hut when ours fall, What matters it who leaps upon his horse '1 o overlook our maintenance ? A fool I may be, can his wisdom answer that ? ZINGA. He doubts my courage, bringing thus his own Against it. He's a boy : were he a man, No injury, no insult, no affront . . Every man is as brave as I . . Stop there ! By all my saints ! by all my services ! [^Hr shoiva several about It int. This hilt shall smash his teeth who dares say, braver. KLAPWRATH. Wh-Jt 1 am you know best, at battling it ; G )t 84 ANDREA OF HUNGARY. [act iv. Nothing is easier : but Fve swum two nights And days together upon Baian wine, And so have ye : 'twould swamp that leaky nump-skull. Behead us : good ! but underrate us; never ! FRA IJUPERT. Having thus clear'd our consciences, and shown Our purity in face of day, we swear . . \_Hesitates. ZJNGA. Frate, if you don't grudge an oath or two . . FRA RUPERT. Death to Andrea ! loyalty to Lewis ! ALL. Hurrah ! FRA RUPERT. Sweet friends ! profane not thus the cloister ! Leave me to weep for him ! the cruel boy ! SCENE IV. PALACE OF AVERSA; SALOON OVER LOOKING THE GARDEN. Sancia, Filippa, Maria, Fiammetta. MARIA. Ha ! here they come again. See ! Lady Sancia Leaning upon Filippa. They are grown Wiser, and will not barter songs for griefs. BOCCACCIO sings. A mellow light on Latmos fell, It came not from the lowly cell, It glided from the skies ; it lighted upon one who slept, Sonif voiiu' then Jiskt liini why he wept, ■Some sol't tiling prest his eyes. SC.NE IV.] ANDREA OF HUNGARY. 83 Another miglit have wonder'd much, Or peer'd, or started at tlie toucli, But he was far too wise ; He knew the light was from above, He play'd the shifting game of love. And lost at last three sighs. FiAMMETTA {to FiLIPPa). 1 wish he would come nearer, just to see How my hair shines, powder'd with dust of gold: 1 think he then would call me . . What? Fiammetta. MARIA. FIAMMETTA. ULIPPA. He hardly . . poet as he seems to be . . Such as he is . . could feign a better name. He does not seem to be cut out for singing. FIAMMETTA. I would not have his voice one tittle altered. The poetry is pretty . . She says nothing. The poetry is charming . . Now she hears me. The most delightful poetry ! . . O Lady Filippa ! not one praise for it! not one ! 1 never dreamt you were yourself a poet. FILIPPA. These summer apples may be palatable. But will not last for winter ; the austere And wrinkle-rinded have a better chance. Throw a whole honeycomb into a haystack. It may draw flies, but never will feed horses. With these same cogs (eternally one tune) ' The mill has floured us with such dust all over As we must shake off, or die apoplectic. £6 ANDREA OF HUNGARY. Lact iv Your gentle silken-vested swains may wish All poetry one slicepfold. MARIA. Sheep are well, Like men and most things, in their proper places, But when some prancing knight would entertain us, Some gallant, brightening every gem about him, I would not have upon the palace steps A hind cry out, " Make icat/ tliercfur my sheep'' They say (not speaking of this woolsy race) Tliey say that poets make us live for ever. FILIPPA. Sometimes the life they lend is worse than none, Shorn of its glory, shiivel'd up for want Of the fresh air of virtue. FIAMMETTA. Yet, to live ! O ! and to live by those we love so well ! FILIPPA. If such irregularities continue After to-night, when freedoms are allowed, We must lock up the gardens, rigorously Forbidding all the inmates of the palace To use the keys they have. FIAMMKTTA. The ffood king; Robert Sooner had driven out the ni;;htinj Thau the poor tin)id poets. FILIPPA. Timid poets ! Wlial biLcd arc lliey of .-^ HAMMKTTA. Such as sing of love. stKNi. IV.] ANDREA OF HUNGARY. 87 FILIPPA. 'I'lie vtM-y worst of" all ; the boldest men ! MARIA. Nay ; not the boldest ; very quarrelsome, Tragic and comic, hot and cold, are so ; And so are nightingales ; the gardener Has told me ; and the poets do no worse Than they do. Here and there they pluck a feather From one another, here and there a crumb ; But, for hard fighting, fair straight-forward fighting, With this one nosegay I could beat them all. In good king Robert's day were lute and lyre ; Now hardly dare we hang them on the nail, But run away and throw them down before The blustering drum and trumpet hoarse with rage. Let poetry and music, dear Filippa, Gush forth unfrozen and uncheckt I FILIPPA. Ah child ! Thy fancy too some poet hath inflamed: Believe me, they are dangerous men. MARIA. No men Are dano-erous. O" O my child ! FJLIPPA. MARIA. The very creatures Whom God has given us for our protection. FILIPPA. Rut against whom ? MARIA. I never thought of that. f-8 ANDREA OF HUNGARY. [act iv. FIA.MMETTA. Somebody told me once that good king Robert Gave keys to three or four, who neither were Nor would be constant inmates of the court. MARIA. Who mio^ht and would not ! This is an enio-ma. They must have felt, then, very low indeed. Among our glass-house jewels newly-set I have seen vile ones, and have k-uight to think How nicely would my slipper pat their faces ; They never felt thus low. SANCIA. We feel it for them. Prescriptively, we leave to our assayers To stamp the currency of gold and brass. FIAjMMKTTA to FiLlPPA. Have you not prais'd the king your very self For saying to Pctrarca, as he did, " Letters are dearer to me than my crown. And, were I forced to throw up one or other, /hcay shoidd go the diadem, by Jove ! " SANCIA. Thou art thy very father. Kiss me, child ! His father said it, and thy father would. When shall such kinjjs adorn the throne ajjain ! FIAMMETTA. When the same love of what Heaven made most lovely Enters their hearts ; when genius shines above them, And not beneath their feet. \_Gocs up to Giovanni. SANCIA lo Fll.iri'A. Uapturous girl ! Warmth ripens years .nid uisdcmi. She discourses Idlv as ntluT tiirls nll otJKi- iliin:na. So soon ! FILIPPA. Perhaps so soon. GIOVANNA. It may be happy, It must be strange ; awfully strange indeed ! [FiAMMETTA goes out. ANDREA. My darling ! how you pity those two youths ! I like you for it. GIOVANNA. Both have fathers living : What must they suffer! Each . . I never heard, But may well fancy . . loved some girl who loves him. I could shed tears for her. MARIA. My dear Giovanna ! Do queens shed tears ? and on the wedding-day ? H ys ANDREA OF HUNGARY. Lact^v. SANCIA. I see no reason why they should not. FiLiPPA, aside. I, Alas ! see far too many why they should. ANDREA. What did Filippa say ? that brides should cry ? FILIPPA, to GIOVANNA Wld MARIA. Not idly has the genial breath of song TurnM into pearls the tears that woman sheds : They are what they are call'd : some may be brighter Among your gems, none purer, none become The youthful and the beautiful so well. ANDREA, as FIAMMETTA enters. Here enters one you never will teach that, She is too light for grief, too gay for love. And neither salt nor misletoe can catch her, Nor springe nor net : she laughs at all of them Like any woodpecker, and wings away. I know you women ; Tm a married man. FIAMMETTA. They will not give the story up : they draw All different ways, but death they all will have. ANDllKA. Ay, and one only will not satisfy them. {_Aii officer enters, and confers apart with him. Certain ? GIOVANNA. Some other accident less heavy, Heaven ! ii't ll^ hope ! scENK HI.] ANDREA OF HUNGARY, 99 ANDllKA. Strangled ! O what a death ! One of them . . one (no matter now which of thern) Disliked me, shunn'd me ; if we met, look'd at me Straiter and taller and athwart the shoulder, And dug his knuckles deep into his thigh. I gave him no offence . . yet, he is gone . . Without a word of hearing, he is gone ! To think of this ! to think how he has fallen Amid his pranks and joyances, amid His wild heath myrtle-blossoms, one might say, It quite unmans me. SANCIA. Speak not so, my son ! Let others, when their nature has been chano-ed To such unwonted state, when they are call'd To do what angels do and brutes do not, Sob at their shame, and say they are unmanned : Unmanned they cannot be ; they are not men. At glorious deeds, at sufferings well endured, Yea, at life's thread snapt with its gloss upon it, Be it man*'s pride and privilege to weep. SCENE III. GRAND SALOON. Masks passing. Andrea, Giovanna, Maria, Fiammetta, Filippa. FILIPPA. It may be right, my lady, that you know What masks are here. H 2 100 ANDREA OF HUNGARY. |aci v. GIOVANNA. I have found out already A few of them. Several waived ceremony (Desirably at masks) and past unnoticed. The room fills rapidly. FILIPPA. Not to detain My queen (for hundreds anxiously approach), Pardon ! I recognised the Prince Luigi. GIOVANNA. Taranto ? Tell our cousin to keep on His mask all evening. Hither ! uninvited ! MARIA, out of breath. Think you the dais will keep the masks from hearing? GIOVANNA. Why should it ? MARIA. Oh ! why should it ? He is here. Even Filippa could distinguish him. Every one upon earth must know Taranto. GIOVANNA. Descend we then : beside the statue there We may converse some moments privately. MARIA. Radiant 1 saw him as the sun . . a name We always gave him . . rapid as his beams. I should have known him by his neck alone Among ten thousand. While I gazed upon it, He gazed at three mysterious masks : then rose That graceful column, ampler, and more wreathed With its marmoreal thews and dimmer veins. The three masks hurried tliro' the hall ; Taranto After them (fierce disdain upon his brow) scENK iii.l ANDREA OF HUNGARY. 101 Darted as Mercury at Jove's coniniaiul. No doubt, three traitors who dared never face him In his own country, are courageous here. GIOVANNA. Taranto, then, Taranto was unmaskt ! Against my orders ! MAKIA. Rather say, before. Luigi never disobeyed Giovanna. aiOVANNA. Filippa carried them. MARIA. I know his answer. GIOVANNA. Repeat it then, for she may not to-night. MARIA, " Tell her I come the cousin, not the prince, Nor with pretension, nor design, nor hope ; I come the loyal, not the fond, Taranto^ Why look you round .'* GIOVANNA. The voice is surely his. MARIA. The thoughts are . . GIOVANNA, pressing her hand. May, O Heaven ! the speaker be ! ^Both walk away. FRA RUPERT, maskt and disguised, to one next. I heard our gracious queen, espoused to-day. Give orders that Taranto keep well maskt. NEXT MASK, to another. Ho then ! Taranto here ! SLCOND MASK. What treachery ! 102 ANDREA OF HUNGARY. [act v. FRA RUPERT, maskt. He could not keep away. Tempestuous love Has tost him hither. Let him but abstain From violence, nor play the jealous husband, As some men do when husbands cross their road. SECOND MASK. Taranto is a swordsman to the proof. FIRST MASK. Where is he ? FRA RUPERT, ITiaskt. He stood yonder, in sky-blue, With pearls about the sleeves. SECOND MASK. Well call him Phoebus ! I would give something for a glimpse at what That mask conceals. FRA RUPERT, Viaskt. Oh ! could we catch a glimpse Of what all masks conceal, 'twould break our hearts. Far better hidden from us ! \^'oman ! woman ! \_Goes off. FIRST MASK tO SeCOtld. A friar Rupert ! only that his voice Breathes flute-like whisperings, rather than repr(X)fs, SECOND MASK. liesidc, he stands three inches higher ; his girth Slenderer by much. FIRST MASK. Who thought 'twas really he ? I only meant lie t;dkt as morally. Ill Mil) MASK CtnitilU/ IIJ> to FOL'lil II. J am (|iiitc certain there is Frati' Hujicrt. SCENE IV.] ANDREA OF HUNGARY. lO.i FOURTH MASK. Wliere is he not ? The DeviPs ubiquity ! But, like the Devil, not well known when met. How found you him so readily ? What mark? THIRD MASK. Stout is he, nor ill-built, though the left shoulder Is half a finger's breadth above the right. FOUKTH MASK. But that man's . . let me look . . that man's right shoulder Stands two good inches highest. THIRD MASK. Doubt is past . . We catch him ! over-sedulous disguise ! SCENE IV. ANDREA, enters. We have a cousin in the house, my queen ! What dost thou blush at ? Why art troubled ? Sure We are quite grand enough for him : our supper (I trust) will answer all his expectations, MARIA. So, you have lookt then at the supper-table ? ANDREA. 'Twould moi'tify me if Giovanna's guests Were disappointed. GIOVANNA. Mine ! and not yours too ? ANDREA. Ah sly one ! you have sent then for Taranto And would not tell me ! Cousin to us both. To both he should be welcome as to one. 104 ANDREA OF HUNGARY. [act v. Another little blush ! Wliy, thou art mine, And never shalt, if love's worth love, repent it. GIOVANNA. Never, my own Andrea ! for such trust Is far more precious than the wealthiest realms, Or all that ever did adorn or win them. ANDREA. I must not wait to hear its value told, We shall have time to count it out together. I now must go to greet our cousin yonder, He waits me in the balcony ; the guards Have sent away the loiterers that stood round. And only two or three of his own friends Remain with him. To tarry were uncourteous. MAKIA, earnestly to him. I do believe Luigi is below. ANDREA. Do not detain me : we have never met Since your proud sister spoke unkindly to him, And, vaulting on his horse, he hurried home. \_Goes. MARIA. The soldiers there do well to guard the balcony, And close the folding-doors against intrusion. [_Cry is heard. FIAMMKTTA. Ha ! some inquisitive young chamber-lady, Who watcht Luigi enter, pays for it. Those frolicsouie young princes are demanding A fine for trespass. GIOVANNA. Nay, tliey are loo rude, l*ennittin