Classic Poem

ACT I. SCENE I

A Room in don Carlos's House .

Enter FRANCISCO , JACINTA , and FELISARDA .

Fran. I take my leave, Jacinta, and cannot wish you
More happiness than you possess.
Jac. You must
Dissemble, or it is within your wishes
To make yourself, Francisco, mine, which would be
A fair addition to me, in my faith
Of that most noble love you have profess'd.
Fran. When you but dare to own me, I am past
The fear of any destiny that can
Divide us — but your father. —

Enter don CARLOS , and a Servant .

Your own virtue
Be still your guard. I do not like this watch
Upon our meeting. — Pretty Felisarda.
Car. Tell signior Francisco I would speak with him.
I do not like his frequent visits, though
His birth and generous parts deserve to march
With men of honourable name, I am
Without ambition to sacrifice
My daughter to his pension for life.

Re-enter FRANCISCO .

Fran. Your pleasure, sir?
Car. Hath hitherto, Francisco,
Been to affect you in the list of those
I held my friends.
Fran. I hope no forfeit made
By me, hath lost that good opinion
You placed upon me.
Car. I cannot tell
How you may be transported with desires
Above my thoughts t' allow; I would not have
My silence, and the free access you've had to
My house, (which still is open to wise guests,)
Betray me, or my daughter, to the mirth
And talk of men i' the plaça. My estate
Doth walk upon sound feet, and though I make
No exception to your blood, or person, sir,
The portion I have fix'd upon Jacinta,
Beside the wealth her liberal aunt bequeath'd her,
Is more than your thin younger brother's fortune
Should lay a siege, or hope to. I am plain.
Fran. And something passionate (if I understand you)
Without a cause. I am a gentleman,
With as much sense of honour, as the proudest
Don that doth ride on's foot-cloth, and can drop
Gold to the numerous minutes of his age;
And let me not be lost for want of that
Deserves not to be nam'd to fill the balance
Against true honour: — let me tell you, sir,
Virtue and blood are weigh'd against themselves;
You cannot know the price of these, when either
Scale is not pois'd with things of the same nature.
Car. You're very right, and, therefore, I do weigh
My daughter's wealth against your fortune, sir;
I take it they are things in the same species:
And find it easy to distinguish; your's
Can hold small competition, and by
A consequence that fathers use t' infer,
As little hope to equal in affections.
Sir, I must tell you, I esteem Jacinta
Fit every way to meet your elder brother,
Whose birth will interest him so much in that
Full fortune which your father now is lord of;
Your expectations may prompt you look,
Without much curiosity, for a bride.
Fran. I shall believe thy soul is made of atoms,
That places so much happiness in dust. —
Sir, I can quit your jealousy; my thoughts
Level beneath your daughter, and shall be
Happy if you consent I may devote
My applications to Felisarda,
Your niece.
Car. Is it my niece? I ask your pardon.
Nay, then, be welcome; and, t' encourage you,
Although her father, a poor gentleman,
My brother, by the malice of the sea
And winds, have lost what might have rank'd him even
With some that ride upon their reverend mules,
I'll find a portion for her, if you strike
Affectionate hearts, and joy to call you nephew.
Pray be not angry, that I take a care
To place my own where I may see it answer'd
With state, as well as family.
Fran. You shew
A provident father. I shall not then be
Endanger'd to your scruple, if I address
My services to her, whose humble fortune,
In the relation to your blood and nobleness,
Is wealth enough to me?
Car. I wish it prosper.
Fran. You have much honour'd me.
Car. That scruple's vanish'd.
These are considerings, with which parents must
Timely prevent the folly and the fall
Of children, apt to lose themselves in shadows,
And gaudy apparitions.

Enter a Servant.

Serv. Your son
Is come from Salamanca, sir. —
Car. I hope
Philosophy hath by this time tam'd his wildness;
I have been careful not to feed his riots.
He's welcome; my next study is to choose
A wife for him.
Serv. With him a gentleman,
That seems of noble quality.

Enter LUYS and ALBERTO .

Luys . Your blessing,
Next which, 'twill be a happiness, if you
Embrace this noble gentleman, don Alberto,
To whose affection I have been engaged.
Alb. Our studies grew together, and our loves.
Car. You do an honour to us.
Luys . If he thrive
Upon his fair intents, sir, to my sister,
Whose character he has took delight to hear
From me sometimes, it will enlarge our honour.
Car. He has improved in language. — [ aside. ] — His estate?
Luys . Six thousand ducats, sir, per annum, clear
In his possession, beside
The legacy of a grannam when she dies,
That has outliv'd six cats within their family.
Car. This tastes again of the old humour; he's
Not settled yet!
&emsp: Luys . Your pardon, sir; I cannot
With any patience think of an old woman,
They are agues to my nature; she that lives
To threescore is a witch, and fit for fuel,
By the civil law. — I hope my mother's well? —
Sir, I beseech you, be not you mistaken;
I am not what I was, I'm strangely alter'd
From the wild garb, and can discourse most gravely
Of any thing but old and toothless women.
Do not you think it fit, she should be burn'd, sir,
That lives within an hospital till the roof
Consume to dust, and no more left for covering
Than is kept up in one continued cobweb,
Through which the birds may see her when she creeps
Under a spider's canopy? what think you?
Speak your own conscience.
Car. A young wife will cure
This angry heat of blood. — You are most welcome.

Command my house, and if you can affect
My daughter, for whose love (as my son here
Prepares me) you have ta'en these pains, I shall
Make equal propositions. I knew
Your father well, don Roderigo, who
Gave up his life with honour 'gainst the Moors.
Once more you're welcome. — Son Luys, shew
The way to your sister, and bid her entertain
Your friend with all the love her modesty,
And my commands may prompt her to.
Alb. You much oblige my services.
Luys Remember, don,
Conditions: if my sister and you join
Your copyholds, I have a life must be
Maintain'd till the old man die; hang his pension!
'Twill not keep me in sallads. I'll conduct you.
Car. I like his person well; and his calm gesture
Speaks for his other composition.
The estate is competent, my daughter is
Obedient, which rich parents call a blessing,
Whose wisdom is to advance their name and fortunes.
My son is all my study now. —

Enter don RAMYRES .

My noble don Ramyres! you look cheerful.
Ram. 'Tis a good omen; I have business wi'ye,
Such as cannot despair your entertainment:
You have a daughter.
Car. I would you had one!
I should be willing to translate a son,
And by his marriage be most proud to call
Your daughter mine.
Ram. You are next a prophet, signior,
And, but the sexes differ, speak my thoughts;
'Tis harmony on both sides; to be short,
For let our gravities not waste time and breath
In our affairs, give the young leave to court
And spin out days in amorous circumstance.
My son Fernando, I need not call him heir,
His birth concludes it, I would commend
To fair Jacinta: it can be no dishonour
To your family to mix with mine.
Car. 'Tis an addition
Will add a lustre rather to our blood.
Ram. 'Tis my affection to your daughter, which, confirmed
By observation of her virtue, makes
Me wish this tie between 'em; I may safely
Expect you will assure a portion that
His fortunes will deserve, who must enjoy
What I possess, unless you disaffect
His person, or decline his education,
Which hath not spar'd my coffers to advance him
In the best form of gentleman.
Car. I want
Abilities of tongue to answer this
Your freedom, and the bounty of your nature
Towards my daughter; and so far am [I] from
Exception to Fernando, there's no cavalier
In Spain I wish to thrive so well in her
Opinion.
Ram. 'Twill be his encouragement,
If he intrench upon no other's interest,
I mean not to except, how well he can
Deserve her nobly from a rival, if
Her heart be not contracted, this were to
Engage 'em both to loss of peace and honour,
Perhaps betray a life.
Car. You argue nobly;
She is yet mistress of her thoughts, and free,
While her obedience doth keep in trust
Her heart, till I direct it, which shall be
To love, and choose your son to live within it. —
Have I said home?
Ram. You have. When they have met,
We may conclude the dowry, and confirm
Our mutual assurances; till then
Farewell.
Car. I like this well; Ramyres has
A fortune for a grandee. Don Alberto
Must now excuse me, if my vote prefer
Fernando, whom my daughter must accept,
Or forfeit me. The new guest is not warm
In his access, and shall not feel with what
Soft art, and subtle ways, I steer her passion;
Yet were Alberto's state ten maravedis
Above Ramyres', I should place him first.
Fame is an empty noise, virtue a word
There's not a Jew will lend two ducats on. —
He is return'd; I must prepare Jacinta.

Re-enter R AMYRES with F ERNANDO .

Fer. I hope my past life hath not, sir, so ill
Deserv'd, you should be jealous of my duty
When you command, although in things of this
High nature, man being nothing more concern'd,
Next the divine considerations,
Than in the choice of her that must divide
The joys and sufferings of his life, a son
May modestly insist upon the privilege
That Love, by his great charter, hath conferr'd
On every heart, not to be forced, yet I
Freely resign my will, and what men call
Affection, to that object you present me.
Ram. Apply yourself, then, to don Charles' daughter;
She's young, fair, rich, and virtuous, and I've had
Full treaty with her father, who expects
Your visit.
Fer. Young, fair, rich, and virtuous :
Four excellencies seldom met in one:
She cannot, sure, want servants, that commands
Under so many titles. I could wish,
(So much I have ambition to be thought
Obedient, sir,) she were but one of those.
Ram. She is all, and one.
Fer. My duty were not less
If I forgave myself a happiness
To perfect your commands; sir, I am ready
To try my fortune.
Ram. There is no fear of thy repulse, and when
Thou dost confirm her gain'd to thy affection,
My greatest act, and care of life is over.
Go on and prosper.
Fer. He is passionate,
And like the fury of the winds, more loud
By opposition; such a providence
May be mine one day, when I am a father,
And he for whose advance my cares are meant,
Like me, may with a fair and formal shew
Disguise his thoughts, too; yet I am to blame,
For my affection to a dream, a thing
With which my eyes only convers'd, to hazard
A father's love, and the rich peace it brings;
I'll uncreate the face I doat upon,
And be myself, or —

Enter FRANCISCO .

What! my brother?
Now, Francisco, you met my father?
Fran. Yes, and he
Looks as some news had much exalted him.
You are not so merry in the face; what is't?
Fer. Nothing
Fran. You held no controversies with him?
Fer. No.
Fran. I cannot guess he was angry by his smiles;
How did you part?
Fer. Exceeding kindly.
Fran. What changes your complexion?
Fer. Thou'rt deceived.
Prithee, how do men look that are in love?
Fran. Why, as they did before; what alteration
Have you observ'd in me?
Fer. You have then a mistress,
And thrive upon her favours; — but thou art
My brother, I'll deliver thee a secret:
I was at saint Sebastian's last Sunday,
At vespers, —
Fran. Is it a secret that you went to church?
You need not blush to tell't your ghostly father.
Fer. I prithee leave thy impertinence; there I saw
So sweet a face, so harmless, so intent
Upon her prayers, it frosted my devotion
To gaze on her, till by degrees I took
Her fair idea through my covetous eye,
Into my heart, and know not how to ease
It since of the impression.
Fran. So! proceed.
Fer. Her eye did seem to labour with a tear,
Which suddenly took birth, but, overweigh'd
With its own swelling, dropp'd upon her bosom,
Which, by reflection of her light, appear'd
As nature meant her sorrow for an ornament;
After, her looks grew cheerful, and I saw
A smile shoot graceful upward from her eyes,
As if they had gain'd a victory o'er grief,
And with it many beams twisted themselves,
Upon whose golden threads the angels walk
To and again from heaven.
Fran. I do believe,
By all these metaphors, you are in love,
I see you have a fancy; but proceed,
And be not melancholy.
Fer. I have told thee all.
Fran. This is indeed a vision; you have
But seen her all this while, if I may counsel you,
You should proceed; her face is nothing when
You have perus'd the rest.
Fer. 'Tis dangerous.
Fran. You must excuse me, brother;
There can be no hurt in a handsome woman,
For if her face delight so much, what will
The enjoying of so sweet a pile of beauty?
Fer. Thou hast infus'd a confidence; I will
Embrace this counsel: you shall with me, brother,
And see how I behave myself; the lady
Is not far off.
Fran. With all my heart, I'll pawn
My life you shall enjoy her; what is she
Of flesh and blood, that will deny, when she
Is fairly courted? May I know the name
Of this lov'd mistress? you may clear your thoughts,
I dare have no design to wrong your love.
Fer. What think you, brother, of the fair Jacinta?
Fran. Don Carlos' daughter?
Fer. To that happy coast
I now am sailing; we lose time: clap on
More wings, thou feather'd god; thou hast put fire,
Francisco, into my drooping thoughts, and as
They had already bargain'd with the wind,
They are aloft, and chide Love's lazy motion.
Fran. A word before you fly; but is Jacinta
Your mistress, then?
Fer. The beautiful Jacinta.
Dost think I shall not prosper? What is she
Of flesh and blood, that can deny, when she
Is fairly courted ? add to this, my happiness,
That she's the mistress, whom, from all her sex,
My father hath made choice of for my courtship.
He hath already treated with don Carlos,
And 'twas his last command I should address
My present visit to her.
Fran. Very well.
If this be truth, you need not trouble wings
To overtake this lady; to my knowledge,
(I'm serious now,) she has bestow'd her heart
Upon a friend, who has already fortified
Himself against the world, that would oppose
His title to't.
Fer. From what intelligence
Have you gain'd this? her father knows it not.
Come, these are but subtle pretences scatter'd
By some, who cunningly thus hope to make
Themselves a victory, by cutting off
More fruitful expectations; this must
Not disengage me; prithee, walk.
Fran. I can produce my author, here, Fernando,
And with my blood defend that interest
She gave me, with intent I should preserve it.
Fer. How! is she your's, Francisco?
Fran. Mine, if hearts
Have power to make assurance.
Fer. 'Tis some happiness
I have no stranger to oppose, whose high
And stubborn soul would not release this treasure,
But make me force it through his blood. Francisco and
Fernando are two rillets from one spring;
I will not doubt he will resign, to make
Me fortunate; or, should his will be cold,
And some close thoughts suggest I had no privilege,
By eldest birth, but came a sly intruder
Upon his right of love, there is a tie
Of nature and obedience to a father
Will make him give this blessing from his bosom,
And strip his amorous soul of all his wealth,
That may invest my wishes.
Fran. I read not this
In any of the reverend casuists;
No inequality being in our blood,
The law of nature meant we should be equal;
It was first tyranny, then partial custom,
Made you more capable of land. Would you
Be lord of us, because you are first born,
And make our souls your tenants, too? When I've
Nam'd you my elder brother, I exclude
All servitude; justice, that makes me love you,
Carries an equal law to both;
Nay, I can love you more, if I consider you
(Without the chain of blood) a friend, than all
The bonds of nature can enforce me to:
In both relations give me leave to love you
As much as man, but not resign my mistress.
You ascend higher, and persuade by what
Obedience is owing to a father; —
They give us life, a good son keeps it for them,
And every drop bled in their cause, is glory;
I can acknowledge this, and sacrifice
Life, fortunes, a poor recompense to lose,
(Were they all multiplied,) to shew my duty;
But these are things may be resign'd: a mistress
Is not a wealth in balance with the world,
But much above the poise of all its happiness,
And equal with our honour, rivetted
Into our soul; it leaves her not, when death
Hath shook this body off, but flies with it
More swift, to love it in the other world.
Fer. You are very passionate.
Fran. I am very just,
And you shall find it, brother, ere you twine
With my Jacinta, mine , if vows may give
Possession of each other's soul.
Fer. No more.
May she be worthy of thy heart, till mine
Do entertain a treason to divide you;
But I, to satisfy my father, must
Present myself, and, trust me, will so manage
My love to her, as thou shalt have no cause
To interpret me a rival. O, Francisco,
Our loves are of a kindred, for mine is
Devote to Felisarda, to her cousin,
Poor Felisarda.
Fran. Theodoro's daughter?
Fer. We never yet chang'd language, nor doth she
Imagine with what thoughts I honour her;
But here is the distraction; thou caust not
Expect more opposition from don Carlos,
Than I must from my father, if he knew
Where I have placed my heart.
Fran. Let us assist
Each other, then, till time, and some kind stars,
Mature our love,
Fer. Let fathers look at wealth, 'tis all their saint:
Hearts are free-born, and love knows no constraint.