if thou have any close-pent guilt
Pressing upon thy heart, and this the hour
Of visitation--
MARMADUKE A bold word from _you_!
Pressing upon thy heart, and this the hour
Of visitation--
MARMADUKE A bold word from _you_!
William Wordsworth
]
A pretty prospect this, a masterpiece
Of Nature, finished with most curious skill!
(To HERBERT. ) Good Baron, have you ever practised tillage?
Pray tell me what this land is worth by the acre?
HERBERT How glad I am to hear your voice! I know not
Wherein I have offended you;--last night
I found in you the kindest of Protectors;
This morning, when I spoke of weariness,
You from my shoulder took my scrip and threw it
About your own; but for these two hours past
Once only have you spoken, when the lark
Whirred from among the fern beneath our feet,
And I, no coward in my better days,
Was almost terrified.
MARMADUKE That's excellent! --
So, you bethought you of the many ways
In which a man may come to his end, whose crimes
Have roused all Nature up against him--pshaw! --
HERBERT For mercy's sake, is nobody in sight?
No traveller, peasant, herdsman?
MARMADUKE Not a soul:
Here is a tree, ragged, and bent, and bare,
That turns its goat's-beard flakes of pea-green moss
From the stern breathing of the rough sea-wind;
This have we, but no other company:
Commend me to the place. If a man should die
And leave his body here, it were all one
As he were twenty fathoms underground.
HERBERT Where is our common Friend?
MARMADUKE A ghost, methinks--
The Spirit of a murdered man, for instance--
Might have fine room to ramble about here,
A grand domain to squeak and gibber in.
HERBERT Lost Man!
if thou have any close-pent guilt
Pressing upon thy heart, and this the hour
Of visitation--
MARMADUKE A bold word from _you_!
HERBERT Restore him, Heaven!
MARMADUKE The desperate Wretch! --A Flower,
Fairest of all flowers, was she once, but now
They have snapped her from the stem--Poh! let her lie
Besoiled with mire, and let the houseless snail
Feed on her leaves. You knew her well--ay, there,
Old Man! you were a very Lynx, you knew
The worm was in her--
HERBERT Mercy! Sir, what mean you?
MARMADUKE You have a Daughter!
HERBERT Oh that she were here! --
She hath an eye that sinks into all hearts,
And if I have in aught offended you,
Soon would her gentle voice make peace between us.
MARMADUKE (aside)
I do believe he weeps--I could weep too--
There is a vein of her voice that runs through his:
Even such a Man my fancy bodied forth
From the first moment that I loved the Maid;
And for his sake I loved her more: these tears--
I did not think that aught was left in me
Of what I have been--yes, I thank thee, Heaven!
One happy thought has passed across my mind.
--It may not be--I am cut off from man;
No more shall I be man--no more shall I
Have human feelings! --
(To HERBERT) --Now, for a little more
About your Daughter!
HERBERT Troops of armed men,
Met in the roads, would bless us; little children,
Rushing along in the full tide of play,
Stood silent as we passed them!
A pretty prospect this, a masterpiece
Of Nature, finished with most curious skill!
(To HERBERT. ) Good Baron, have you ever practised tillage?
Pray tell me what this land is worth by the acre?
HERBERT How glad I am to hear your voice! I know not
Wherein I have offended you;--last night
I found in you the kindest of Protectors;
This morning, when I spoke of weariness,
You from my shoulder took my scrip and threw it
About your own; but for these two hours past
Once only have you spoken, when the lark
Whirred from among the fern beneath our feet,
And I, no coward in my better days,
Was almost terrified.
MARMADUKE That's excellent! --
So, you bethought you of the many ways
In which a man may come to his end, whose crimes
Have roused all Nature up against him--pshaw! --
HERBERT For mercy's sake, is nobody in sight?
No traveller, peasant, herdsman?
MARMADUKE Not a soul:
Here is a tree, ragged, and bent, and bare,
That turns its goat's-beard flakes of pea-green moss
From the stern breathing of the rough sea-wind;
This have we, but no other company:
Commend me to the place. If a man should die
And leave his body here, it were all one
As he were twenty fathoms underground.
HERBERT Where is our common Friend?
MARMADUKE A ghost, methinks--
The Spirit of a murdered man, for instance--
Might have fine room to ramble about here,
A grand domain to squeak and gibber in.
HERBERT Lost Man!
if thou have any close-pent guilt
Pressing upon thy heart, and this the hour
Of visitation--
MARMADUKE A bold word from _you_!
HERBERT Restore him, Heaven!
MARMADUKE The desperate Wretch! --A Flower,
Fairest of all flowers, was she once, but now
They have snapped her from the stem--Poh! let her lie
Besoiled with mire, and let the houseless snail
Feed on her leaves. You knew her well--ay, there,
Old Man! you were a very Lynx, you knew
The worm was in her--
HERBERT Mercy! Sir, what mean you?
MARMADUKE You have a Daughter!
HERBERT Oh that she were here! --
She hath an eye that sinks into all hearts,
And if I have in aught offended you,
Soon would her gentle voice make peace between us.
MARMADUKE (aside)
I do believe he weeps--I could weep too--
There is a vein of her voice that runs through his:
Even such a Man my fancy bodied forth
From the first moment that I loved the Maid;
And for his sake I loved her more: these tears--
I did not think that aught was left in me
Of what I have been--yes, I thank thee, Heaven!
One happy thought has passed across my mind.
--It may not be--I am cut off from man;
No more shall I be man--no more shall I
Have human feelings! --
(To HERBERT) --Now, for a little more
About your Daughter!
HERBERT Troops of armed men,
Met in the roads, would bless us; little children,
Rushing along in the full tide of play,
Stood silent as we passed them!
