Have been transparent as the crystal waters, Flor. O, spare me ! frown not on my harmless muse. Yet, would I knew what preys upon your cheek, thine. Flor. Does Elinor unkindly cast me out From sympathy in sorrow, like a stranger? Thou know'st it El. Cease, Florence, cease; I have not yet complained, Nor ever will, while bounteous Heaven showers down Blessings unnumbered on my worthless head. Complain! By what prerogative am I The darling offspring of a noble house? Born in this land of heroes? Graced in all things? Flor. Seems it rebellion to thee, Elinor, To bathe the wounds which Providence inflicts El. As for that youth - few words Will sum his story. Three months since, surprised Fate willed it, touched my sire, who questioned him. But fatal feuds, mischances long to tell, Robbed him of friends and substance while a child, Had won him rank and favor, ere his arm, El. Have I not told thee? Strange neglect ! - Allured me, with a damsel, down the vale. Flor. Jesu ! El. Bound us upon their horses, and amain At last, (the moon now broad above the fells,) Full in the beam, to counsel, and to breathe Their o'erspent steeds. Four huntsmen, 'midst the parle, To find brave Arthur by my side! Speech, breath El. But if a lighter thought- remember, Florence, Mine is the stock of Lancaster, the blood Whose pure, proud current feeds the hearts of Princes. Flor. Four days! and not a whisper of this tale, That should have flown to meet me on the way, (Exit.) Leaped from her eyes, mixed with the welcome-kiss, Vol. 1. pp. 227–231. The following passage, at the beginning of the second act, has the same finished and quiet beauty. It is a soliloquy of Arthur, who turns out in due time to be the son of Hotspur, and heir of Northumberland. He had been educated at the court of the Scottish regent, from which he had lately withdrawn clandestinely, in order to watch opportunities for the recovery of his ancestral honors and estates. "A high-wood walk in a park. The towers of the Castle seen over the trees. Enter ARTHUR. Ar. Here let me pause, and breathe awhile, and wipe Seems hallowed by the breath of other times.- ―p. 236. But we must not indulge ourselves in further extracts from this charming piece. Percy is discovered, and joined in the service of Earl Neville, by his friend Douglas, who has come in search of him, attended by two hundred vassals of his house, whom he has disposed where their services can be commanded when the time shall arrive. Percy informs him that, without betraying himself, he has revived the interest of his clansmen in the family of their hereditary chief, and that they stand ready for a movement, whenever fortune shall favor. At this juncture the king, with a party of two hundred knights, arrives at the castle, and Percy accepts the omen, and collects and makes himself known to his friends. He proposes to Lord Westmoreland to entertain the king with a Masque, and thus obtains admission to the armoury of the castle. Thence he equips his confederates, and, after the evening banquet, is conducted with a party of them into the royal presence. He reveals himself, and reclaims his patrimony. The king, having already been led to entertain relenting thoughts, grants his suit, and adds the better favor of interesting himself to obtain for the young Earl the hand of the fair heiress of Westmoreland. Our impressions, derived from the reading of "Percy's Masque" and "Hadad" on their first appearance, were in favor of the former, as the superior poem. We now are of a different mind; nor are we induced to change it simply by the important improvements which "Hadad" has undergone, in the course of revision. The two works are, perhaps, equally graceful, but "Hadad" now strikes us as a composition of decidedly more power. Its fable, also, is more faultless, at the same time that it is much more bold. In the plot of "Percy's Masque," there are two weak points, which, though managed with as much address as the case admitted, cannot be so disguised as not to detract from the effect of the performance. The chivalrous hero is represented as introducing himself to his enemy's house by a fraud, and acting a treacherous part there, in the character of a menial; and, notwithstanding the king's protestations to the contrary, his pardon of Percy, which brings about the catastrophe of the piece, is accorded too much under circumstances of coercion to be sufficiently consistent, poetically speaking, with manliness and royalty. In the * scheme of "Hadad," particularly since the improvements made in this last edition, in the manner of preparing the reader's mind for the announcement of the hero's real character, we see absolutely nothing to amend. We formerly gave a sketch of the story, and will now content ourselves with a single extract. It is the second scene of the first act. Hadad, son of the king of Damascus, has come to Jerusalem, as a hostage for his father. He is secretly slain by robbers, and the fallen spirit Asmodai has taken possession of his body, and personates him at the court of David. "The King's private apartment. King DAVID alone. NATHAN. Nathan. God save the Anointed! King David. Seer, we would thy counsel. Our hostage, here, and names the flower of Israel, Nath. Should Israel graft upon a heathen stock? For Absalom himself preferred the suit, Nath. Hearken not, O King. K. Dav. But if the youth conform to Moses, sure, What nobler line than Hadad's, or what throne Nath. Old, and idolatrous. K. Dav. Her idols fall If she be linked with us, and Israel's crown Nath. Rather betroth her to the poorest hind K. Dav. Prophet of the Lord, Seest thou aught more in him than we discern, Nath. I have felt *North American Review, Vol. XXII. pp. 13 et seqq Enter |