Think
Of our sad fate with gentleness, as now:
And let mild, pitying thoughts lighten for thee
Thy sorrow's load.
Of our sad fate with gentleness, as now:
And let mild, pitying thoughts lighten for thee
Thy sorrow's load.
Shelley
The sweet bond broken!
[ENTER CAMILLO AND GUARDS. ]
They come! Let me
Kiss those warm lips before their crimson leaves
Are blighted. . . white. . . cold. Say farewell, before
Death chokes that gentle voice! Oh, let me hear _140
You speak!
NOTE:
_136 was as a Rossetti cj. ; was a editions 1819, 1821, 1839.
BEATRICE:
Farewell, my tender brother.
Think
Of our sad fate with gentleness, as now:
And let mild, pitying thoughts lighten for thee
Thy sorrow's load. Err not in harsh despair,
But tears and patience. One thing more, my child: _145
For thine own sake be constant to the love
Thou bearest us; and to the faith that I,
Though wrapped in a strange cloud of crime and shame,
Lived ever holy and unstained. And though
Ill tongues shall wound me, and our common name _150
Be as a mark stamped on thine innocent brow
For men to point at as they pass, do thou
Forbear, and never think a thought unkind
Of those, who perhaps love thee in their graves.
So mayest thou die as I do; fear and pain _155
Being subdued. Farewell! Farewell! Farewell!
BERNARDO:
I cannot say, farewell!
CAMILLO:
Oh, Lady Beatrice!
BEATRICE:
Give yourself no unnecessary pain,
My dear Lord Cardinal. Here, Mother, tie
My girdle for me, and bind up this hair _160
In any simple knot; ay, that does well.
And yours I see is coming down. How often
Have we done this for one another; now
We shall not do it any more. My Lord,
We are quite ready. Well, 'tis very well.
[ENTER CAMILLO AND GUARDS. ]
They come! Let me
Kiss those warm lips before their crimson leaves
Are blighted. . . white. . . cold. Say farewell, before
Death chokes that gentle voice! Oh, let me hear _140
You speak!
NOTE:
_136 was as a Rossetti cj. ; was a editions 1819, 1821, 1839.
BEATRICE:
Farewell, my tender brother.
Think
Of our sad fate with gentleness, as now:
And let mild, pitying thoughts lighten for thee
Thy sorrow's load. Err not in harsh despair,
But tears and patience. One thing more, my child: _145
For thine own sake be constant to the love
Thou bearest us; and to the faith that I,
Though wrapped in a strange cloud of crime and shame,
Lived ever holy and unstained. And though
Ill tongues shall wound me, and our common name _150
Be as a mark stamped on thine innocent brow
For men to point at as they pass, do thou
Forbear, and never think a thought unkind
Of those, who perhaps love thee in their graves.
So mayest thou die as I do; fear and pain _155
Being subdued. Farewell! Farewell! Farewell!
BERNARDO:
I cannot say, farewell!
CAMILLO:
Oh, Lady Beatrice!
BEATRICE:
Give yourself no unnecessary pain,
My dear Lord Cardinal. Here, Mother, tie
My girdle for me, and bind up this hair _160
In any simple knot; ay, that does well.
And yours I see is coming down. How often
Have we done this for one another; now
We shall not do it any more. My Lord,
We are quite ready. Well, 'tis very well.
