PALLA is passed on the other side, the Duke of ARcos approaches the bars, and calls to ALMANZOR.
D. Arcos. The hatred of the brave with battles ends,
And foes, who fought for honour, then are friends,
I love thee, brave Almanzor, and am proud
To have one hour when love may be allowed.
This hand, in sign of that esteem, I plight;
We shall have angry hours enough to fight.
[Giving his hand. Almanz. The man who dares, like you, in fields
appear,
And meet my sword, shall be my mistress here.
If I am proud, 'tis only to my foes;
Rough but to such who virtue would
If I some fierceness from a father drew,
A mother's milk gives me some softness too. D. Arcos. Since first you took, and after set me free,
(Whether a sense of gratitude it be,
Or some more secret motion of my mind,
For which I want a name that's more than kind)
I shall be glad, by whate'er means I can,
To get the friendship of so brave a man;
And would your unavailing valour call,
From aiding those whom heaven has doomed to fall.
We owe you that respect,
Which to the gods of foes besieged was shown,
To call you out before we take your town.
Almanz. Those whom we love, we should esteem them too,
And not debauch that virtue which we woo.
Yet, though you give my honour just offence,
I'll take your kindness in the better sense;
And, since you for my safety seem to fear,
to return your bribe, should wish you here.
But, since I love you more than you do me,
In all events preserve your honour free;
For that's your own, though not your destiny.
D. Arcos. Were you obliged in honour by a trust,
I should not think my own proposals just;
But since you fight for an unthankful king,
What loss of fame can change of parties bring?
Almanz. It will, and may with justice too be
thought,
That some advantage in that change I sought.
And though I twice have changed for wrongs re-
ceived,
That it was done for profit none believed.
The king's ingratitude I knew before;
So that can be no cause of changing more.
If now I stand, when no reward can be,
"Twill show the fault before was not in me.
D. Arcos. Yet there is a reward to valour due,
And such it is as may be sought by you;
That beauteous queen, whom you can never gain,
While you secure her husband's life and reign.
Almanz. Then be it so; let me have no return
[Here LYNDARAXA comes near, and hears them. From him but hatred, and from her but scorn. There is this comfort in a noble fate, That I deserve to be more fortunate. You have my last resolve; and now, farewell: My boding heart some mischief does foretell; But what it is, heaven will not let me know. I'm sad to death, that I must be your foe.
D. Arcos. Heaven, when we meet, if fatal it must be
To one, spare him, and cast the lot on me.
[They retire. Lyndar. Ah, what a noble conquest were this heart!
I am resolved I'll try my utmost art:
In gaining him, I gain that fortune too,
Which he has wedded, and which I but woo.
I'll try each secret passage to his mind,
And love's soft bands about his heart-strings wind.
Not his vowed constancy shall 'scape my snare ;
While he without resistance does prepare,
I'll melt into him ere his love's aware.
[She makes a gesture of invitation to ALMANZOR,
who returns again.
Lyndar. You see, sir, to how strange a remedy A persecuted maid is forced to fly:
Who, much distressed, yet scarce has confidence
To make your noble pity her defence.
Almanz. Beauty, like yours, can no protection need;
Or, if it sues, is certain to succeed.
To whate'er service you ordain my hand,
Name your request, and call it your command.
Lyndar. You cannot, sir, but know, that
Has made me loved with all the effects of hate:
One lover would, by force, my person gain;
Which one, as guilty, would by force detain.
Rash Abdelmelech's love I cannot prize,
And fond Abdalla's passion I despise.
As you are brave, so you are prudent too;
Advise a wretched woman what to do.
Almanz. Have courage, fair one, put your trust
You shall, at least, from those you hate, be free.
Resign your castle to the king's command,
And leave your love concernments in my hand.
Lyndar. The king, like them, is fierce, and faith-
less too;
How can I trust him who has injured you?
Keep for yourself, (and you can grant no less)
What you alone are worthy to possess.
Enter, brave sir; for, when you speak the word,
These gates will open of their own accord ;
The genius of the place its lord will meet,
And bend its tow'ry forehead to your feet.
That little citadel, which now you see,
Shall, then, the head of conquered nations be;
And every turret, from your coming, rise
The mother of some great metropolis.
Almanz. Tis pity, words, which none but gods should hear,
Should lose their sweetness in a soldier's ear;
I am not that Almanzor whom you praise;
But your fair mouth can fair ideas raise :-
I am a wretch, to whom it is denied
To accept, with honour, what I wish with pride;
And, since I fight not for myself, must bring
The fruits of all my conquests to the king.
Lyndar. Say rather to the queen, to whose fair
I know you vow the trophies of your fame.
I hope she is as kind as she is fair;
Kinder than inexperienced virgins are
To their first loves; (though she has loved before,
And that first innocence is now no more :)
But, in revenge, she gives you all her heart,
(For you are much too brave to take a part.)
Though, blinded by a crown, she did not see
Almanzor greater than a king could be,
I hope her love repairs her ill-made choice;
Almanzor cannot be deluded twice.
Almanz. No, not deluded; for none count their gains,
Who, like Almanzor, frankly give their pains.
Lyndar. Almanzor, do not cheat yourself, nor me; Your love is not refined to that degree:
For, since you have desires, and those not blest,
Your love's uneasy, and at little rest.
Almanz. 'Tis true, my own unhappiness I see; But who, alas, can my physician be?
Love, like a lazy ague, I endure,
Which fears the water, and abhors the cure. Lyndar. Tis a consumption, which your life does waste,
Still flattering you with hope, till help be past;
But, since of cure from her you now despair,
You, like consumptive men, should change your
Love somewhere else; 'tis a hard remedy,
But yet you owe yourself so much, to try.
Almanz. My love's now grown so much a part of
That life would, in the cure, endangered be:
At least, it like a limb cut off would show;
And better die than like a cripple go.
Lyndar. You must be brought like madmen to
their cure,
And darkness first, and next new bonds endure:
Do you dark absence to yourself ordain,
And I, in charity, will find the chain.
Almanz. Love is that madness which all lovers
have;
But yet 'tis sweet and pleasing so to rave:
'Tis an enchantment, where the reason's bound;
But Paradise is in the enchanted ground;
A palace, void of envy, cares and strife,
Where gentle hours delude so much of life.
To take those charms away, and set me free,
Is but to send me into misery;
And prudence, of whose cure so much you boast,
Restores those pains, which that sweet folly lost.
Lyndar. I would not, like philosophers, remove,
But show you a more pleasing shape of love.
You a sad, sullen, froward love did see;
I'll show him kind, and full of gaiety.
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