The Borderers. A Tragedy Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

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ACT I	A
	-
SCENE Road in a Wood	B
WALLACE and LACY	C
	-
LACY The troop will be impatient let us hie	D
Back to our post and strip the Scottish Foray	E
Of their rich Spoil ere they recross the Border	F
Pity that our young Chief will have no part	G
In this good service	H
WAL Rather let us grieve	I
That in the undertaking which has caused	J
His absence he hath sought whate'er his aim	K
Companionship with One of crooked ways	L
From whose perverted soul can come no good	B
To our confiding open hearted Leader	F
LACY True and remembering how the Band have proved	M
That Oswald finds small favour in our sight	N
Well may we wonder he has gained such power	F
Over our much loved Captain	O
WAL I have heard	P
Of some dark deed to which in early life	Q
His passion drove him then a Voyager	F
Upon the midland Sea You knew his bearing	R
In Palestine	S
LACY Where he despised alike	T
Mahommedan and Christian But enough	U
Let us begone the Band may else be foiled Exeunt	P
	-
Enter MARMADUKE and WILFRED	P
	-
WIL Be cautious my dear Master	F
MAR I perceive	I
That fear is like a cloak which old men huddle	V
About their love as if to keep it warm	W
WIL Nay but I grieve that we should part This Stranger	F
For such he is	X
MAR Your busy fancies Wilfred	P
Might tempt me to a smile but what of him	Y
WIL You know that you have saved his life	Q
MAR I know it	P
WIL And that he hates you Pardon me perhaps	Z
That word was hasty	P
MAR Fy no more of it	P
WIL Dear Master gratitude's a heavy burden	O
To a proud Soul Nobody loves this Oswald	P
Yourself you do not love him	Y
MAR I do more	A2
I honour him Strong feelings to his heart	P
Are natural and from no one can be learnt	P
More of man's thoughts and ways than his experience	B2
Has given him power to teach and then for courage	C2
And enterprise what perils hath he shunned	P
What obstacles hath he failed to overcome	D2
Answer these questions from our common knowledge	C2
And be at rest	P
WIL Oh Sir	F
MAR Peace my good Wilfred	P
Repair to Liddesdale and tell the Band	P
I shall be with them in two days at farthest	P
WIL May He whose eye is over all protect you Exit	P
	-
Enter OSWALD a bunch of plants in his hand	P
	-
OSW This wood is rich in plants and curious simples	B2
MAR looking at them The wild rose and the poppy and the	E2
nightshade	P
Which is your favourite Oswald	P
OSW That which while it is	B2
Strong to destroy is also strong to heal	F2
Looking forward	P
Not yet in sight We'll saunter here awhile	G2
They cannot mount the hill by us unseen	H2
MAR a letter in his hand It is no common thing when one like	T
you	I2
Performs these delicate services and therefore	A2
I feel myself much bounden to you Oswald	P
'Tis a strange letter this You saw her write it	P
OSW And saw the tears with which she blotted it	P
MAR And nothing less would satisfy him	Y
OSW No less	B2
For that another in his Child's affection	O
Should hold a place as if 'twere robbery	P
He seemed to quarrel with the very thought	P
Besides I know not what strange prejudice	B2
Is rooted in his mind this Band of ours	B2
Which you've collected for the noblest ends	B2
Along the confines of the Esk and Tweed	P
To guard the Innocent he calls us Outlaws	B2
And for yourself in plain terms he asserts	B2
This garb was taken up that indolence	B2
Might want no cover and rapacity	P
Be better fed	P
MAR Ne'er may I own the heart	P
That cannot feel for one helpless as he is	B2
OSW Thou know'st me for a Man not easily moved	P
Yet was I grievously provoked to think	J2
Of what I witnessed	P
MAR This day will suffice	B2
To end her wrongs	B2
OSW But if the blind Man's tale	K2
Should 'yet' be true	I2
MAR Would it were possible	V
Did not the soldier tell thee that himself	L2
And others who survived the wreck beheld	P
The Baron Herbert perish in the waves	B2
Upon the coast of Cyprus	B2
OSW Yes even so	B2
And I had heard the like before in sooth	E2
The tale of this his quondam Barony	O
Is cunningly devised and on the back	M2
Of his forlorn appearance could not fail	K2
To make the proud and vain his tributaries	B2
And stir the pulse of lazy charity	P
The seignories of Herbert are in Devon	O
We neighbours of the Esk and Tweed 'tis much	N2
The Arch Impostor	F
MAR Treat him gently Oswald	P
Though I have never seen his face methinks	B2
There cannot come a day when I shall cease	B2
To love him I remember when a Boy	O2
Of scarcely seven years' growth beneath the Elm	P2
That casts its shade over our village school	Q2
'Twas my delight to sit and hear Idonea	O
Repeat her Father's terrible adventures	B2
Till all the band of playmates wept together	F
And that was the beginning of my love	R2
And through all converse of our later years	B2
An image of this old Man still was present	P
When I had been most happy Pardon me	P
If this be idly spoken	O
OSW See they come	D2
Two Travellers	B2
MAR points The woman is Idonea	O
OSW And leading Herbert	P
MAR We must let them pass	B2
This thicket will conceal us	B2
They step aside	P
	-
Enter IDONEA leading HERBERT blind	P
	-
IDON Dear Father you sigh deeply ever since	B2
We left the willow shade by the brook side	P
Your natural breathing has been troubled	P
HER Nay	O
You are too fearful yet must I confess	B2
Our march of yesterday had better suited	P
A firmer step than mine	O
IDON That dismal Moor	S2
In spite of all the larks that cheered our path	E2
I never can forgive it but how steadily	P
'You' paced along when the bewildering moonlight	P
Mocked me with many a strange fantastic shape	T2
I thought the Convent never would appear	U2
It seemed to move away from us and yet	P
That you are thus the fault is mine for the air	V2
Was soft and warm no dew lay on the grass	B2
And midway on the waste ere night had fallen	O
I spied a Covert walled and roofed with sods	B2
A miniature belike some Shepherd boy	O2
Who might have found a nothing doing hour	F
Heavier than work raised it within that hut	P
We might have made a kindly bed of heath	E2
And thankfully there rested side by side	P
Wrapped in our cloaks and with recruited strength	E2
Have hailed the morning sun But cheerily Father	F
That staff of yours I could almost have heart	P
To fling't away from you you make no use	B2
Of me or of my strength come let me feel	F2
That you do press upon me There indeed	P
You are quite exhausted Let us rest awhile	G2
On this green bank He sits down	O
HER after some time Idonea you are silent	P
And I divine the cause	B2
IDON Do not reproach me	P
I pondered patiently your wish and will	W2
When I gave way to your request and now	O
When I behold the ruins of that face	B2
Those eyeballs dark dark beyond hope of light	P
And think that they were blasted for my sake	X2
The name of Marmaduke is blown away	O
Father I would not change that sacred feeling	R
For all this world can give	Y2
HER Nay be composed	P
Few minutes gone a faintness overspread	P
My frame and I bethought me of two things	B2
I ne'er had heart to separate my grave	Z2
And thee my Child	P
IDON Believe me honoured Sire	F
'Tis weariness that breeds these gloomy fancies	B2
And you mistake the cause you hear the woods	B2
Resound with music could you see the sun	O
And look upon the pleasant face of Nature	F
HER I comprehend thee I should be as cheerful	V
As if we two were twins two songsters bred	P
In the same nest my spring time one with thine	O
My fancies fancies if they be are such	N2
As come dear Child from a far deeper source	B2
Than bodily weariness While here we sit	P
I feel my strength returning The bequest	P
Of thy kind Patroness which to receive	I
We have thus far adventured will suffice	B2
To save thee from the extreme of penury	P
But when thy Father must lie down and die	P
How wilt thou stand alone	O
IDON Is he not strong	A3
Is he not valiant	P
HER Am I then so soon	O
Forgotten have my warnings passed so quickly	P
Out of thy mind My dear my only Child	P
Thou wouldst be leaning on a broker reed	P
This Marmaduke	B3
IDON O could you hear his voice	B2
Alas you do not know him He is one	O
I wot not what ill tongue has wronged him with you	I2
All gentleness and love His face bespeaks	B2
A deep and simple meekness and that Soul	C3
Which with the motion of a virtuous act	P
Flashes a look of terror upon guilt	P
Is after conflict quiet as the ocean	O
By a miraculous finger stilled at once	B2
HER Unhappy Woman	O
IDON Nay it was my duty	P
Thus much to speak but think not I forget	P
Dear Father how 'could' I forget and live	D3
You and the story of that doleful night	P
When Antioch blazing to her topmost towers	B2
You rushed into the murderous flames returned	P
Blind as the grave but as you oft have told me	P
Clasping your infant Daughter to your heart	P
HER Thy Mother too scarce had I gained the door	A2
I caught her voice she threw herself upon me	P
I felt thy infant brother in her arms	B2
She saw my blasted face a tide of soldiers	B2
That instant rushed between us and I heard	P
Her last death shriek distinct among a thousand	P
IDON Nay Father stop not let me hear it all	E3
HER Dear Daughter precious relic of that time	F3
For my old age it doth remain with thee	P
To make it what thou wilt Thou hast been told	P
That when on our return from Palestine	O
I found how my domains had been usurped	P
I took thee in my arms and we began	O
Our wanderings together Providence	B2
At length conducted us to Rossland there	V2
Our melancholy story moved a Stranger	F
To take thee to her home and for myself	L2
Soon after the good Abbot of St Cuthbert's	B2
Supplied my helplessness with food and raiment	P
And as thou know'st gave me that humble Cot	P
Where now we dwell For many years I bore	A2
Thy absence till old age and fresh infirmities	B2
Exacted thy return and our reunion	O
I did not think that during that long absence	B2
My Child forgetful of the name of Herbert	P
Had given her love to a wild Freebooter	A2
Who here upon the borders of the Tweed	P
Doth prey alike on two distracted Countries	B2
Traitor to both	E2
IDON Oh could you hear his voice	B2
I will not call on Heaven to vouch for me	P
But let this kiss speak what is in my heart	P
	-
Enter a Peasant	P
	-
PEA Good morrow Strangers If you want a Guide	P
Let me have leave to serve you	I2
IDON My Companion	O
Hath need of rest the sight of Hut or Hostel	V
Would be most welcome	D2
PEA Yon white hawthorn gained	P
You will look down into a dell and there	A2
Will see an ash from which a sign board hangs	B2
The house is hidden by the shade Old Man	O
You seem worn out with travel shall I support you	I2
HER I thank you but a resting place so near	A2
'Twere wrong to trouble you	I2
PEA God speed you both	E2
Exit Peasant	P
HER Idonea we must part Be not alarmed	P
'Tis but for a few days a thought has struck me	P
IDON That I should leave you at this house and thence	B2
Proceed alone It shall be so for strength	E2
Would fail you ere our journey's end be reached	P
Exit HERBERT supported by IDONEA	O
	-
Re enter MARMADUKE and OSWALD	P
	-
MAR This instant will we stop him	Y
OSW Be not hasty	P
For sometimes in despite of my conviction	O
He tempted me to think the Story true	I2
'Tis plain he loves the Maid and what he said	P
That savoured of aversion to thy name	K
Appeared the genuine colour of his soul	C3
Anxiety lest mischief should befal her	A2
After his death	E2
MAR I have been much deceived	P
OSW But sure he loves the Maiden and never love	R2
Could find delight to nurse itself so strangely	P
Thus to torment her with 'inventions' death	E2
There must be truth in this	B2
MAR Truth in his story	P
He must have felt it then known what it was	B2
And in such wise to rack her gentle heart	P
Had been a tenfold cruelty	P
OSW Strange pleasures	B2
Do we poor mortals cater for ourselves	B2
To see him thus provoke her tenderness	B2
With tales of weakness and infirmity	P
I'd wager on his life for twenty years	B2
MAR We will not waste an hour in such a cause	B2
OSW Why this is noble shake her off at once	B2
MAR Her virtues are his instruments A Man	O
Who has so practised on the world's cold sense	B2
May well deceive his Child what leave her thus	B2
A prey to a deceiver no no no	O
'Tis but a word and then	O
OSW Something is here	A2
More than we see or whence this strong aversion	O
Marmaduke I suspect unworthy tales	B2
Have reached his ear you have had enemies	B2
MAR Enemies of his own coinage	G3
OSW That may be	P
But wherefore slight protection such as you	I2
Have power to yield perhaps he looks elsewhere	A2
I am perplexed	P
MAR What hast thou heard or seen	O
OSW No no the thing stands clear of mystery	P
As you have said he coins himself the slander	A2
With which he taints her ear for a plain reason	O
He dreads the presence of a virtuous man	O
Like you he knows your eye would search his heart	P
Your justice stamp upon his evil deeds	B2
The punishment they merit All is plain	O
It cannot be	P
MAR What cannot be	P
OSW Yet that a Father	A2
Should in his love admit no rivalship	T2
And torture thus the heart of his own Child	P
MAR Nay you abuse my friendship	T2
OSW Heaven forbid	P
There was a circumstance trifling indeed	P
It struck me at the time yet I believe	I
I never should have thought of it again	O
But for the scene which we by chance have witnessed	P
MAR What is your meaning	R
OSW Two days gone I saw	B2
Though at a distance and he was disguised	P
Hovering round Herbert's door a man whose figure	A2
Resembled much that cold voluptuary	A2
The villain Clifford He hates you and he knows	B2
Where he can stab you deepest	P
MAR Clifford never	A2
Would stoop to skulk about a Cottage door	A2
It could not be	P
OSW And yet I now remember	A2
That when your praise was warm upon my tongue	H3
And the blind Man was told how you had rescued	P
A maiden from the ruffian violence	B2
Of this same Clifford he became impatient	P
And would not hear me	P
MAR No it cannot be	P
I dare not trust myself with such a thought	P
Yet whence this strange aversion You are a man	O
Not used to rash conjectures	B2
OSW If you deem it	P
A thing worth further notice we must act	P
With caution sift the matter artfully	P
Exeunt MARMADUKE and OSWALD	P
	-
SCENE The door of the Hostel	V
HERBERT IDONEA and Host	P
	-
HER seated As I am dear to you remember Child	P
This last request	P
IDON You know me Sire farewell	I3
HER And are you going then Come come Idonea	O
We must not part I have measured many a league	J3
When these old limbs had need of rest and now	O
I will not play the sluggard	P
IDON Nay sit down	O
Turning to Host	P
Good Host such tendance as you would expect	P
From your own Children if yourself were sick	K3
Let this old Man find at your hands poor Leader	A2
Looking at the dog	L3
We soon shall meet again If thou neglect	P
This charge of thine then ill befall thee Look	M3
The little fool is loth to stay behind	P
Sir Host by all the love you bear to courtesy	P
Take care of him and feed the truant well	I3
HOST Fear not I will obey you but One so young	H3
And One so fair it goes against my heart	P
That you should travel unattended Lady	P
I have a palfrey and a groom the lad	P
Shall squire you would it not be better Sir	A2
And for less fee than I would let him run	O
For any lady I have seen this twelvemonth	E2
IDON You know Sir I have been too long your guard	P
Not to have learnt to laugh at little fears	B2
Why if a wolf should leap from out a thicket	P
A look of mine would send him scouring back	M2
Unless I differ from the thing I am	N3
When you are by my side	P
HER Idonea wolves	B2
Are not the enemies that move my fears	B2
IDON No more I pray of this Three days at farthest	P
Will bring me back protect him Saints farewell	I3
Exit IDONEA	O
HOST 'Tis never drought with us St Cuthbert and his Pilgrims	B2
Thanks to them are to us a stream of comfort	P
Pity the Maiden did not wait a while	G2
She could not Sir have failed of company	O
HER Now she is gone I fain would call her back	M2
HOST calling Holla	G2
HER No no the business must be done	O
What means this riotous noise	B2
HOST The villagers	B2
Are flocking in a wedding festival	G2
That's all God save you Sir	A2
	-
Enter OSWALD	P
	-
OSW Ha as I live	D3
The Baron Herbert	P
HOST Mercy the Baron Herbert	P
OSW So far into your journey on my life	Q
You are a lusty Traveller But how fare you	I2
HER Well as the wreck I am permits And you Sir	A2
OSW I do not see Idonea	O
HER Dutiful Girl	G2
She is gone before to spare my weariness	B2
But what has brought you hither	A2
OSW A slight affair	A2
That will be soon despatched	P
HER Did Marmaduke	B3
Receive that letter	A2
OSW Be at peace The tie	P
Is broken you will hear no more of 'him'	N3
HER This is true comfort thanks a thousand times	B2
That noise would I had gone with her as far	A2
As the Lord Clifford's Castle I have heard	P
That in his milder moods he has expressed	P
Compassion for me His influence is great	P
With Henry our good King the Baron might	P
Have heard my suit and urged my plea at Court	P
No matter he's a dangerous Man That noise	B2
'Tis too disorderly for sleep or rest	P
Idonea would have fears for me the Convent	P
Will give me quiet lodging You have a boy good Host	P
And he must lead me back	M2
OSW You are most lucky	O
I have been waiting in the wood hard by	P
For a companion here he comes our journey	O
	-
Enter MARMADUKE	B3
	-
Lies on your way accept us as your Guides	B2
HER Alas I creep so slowly	O
OSW Never fear	A2
We'll not complain of that	P
HER My limbs are stiff	O3
And need repose Could you but wait an hour	A2
OSW Most willingly Come let me lead you in	O
And while you take your rest think not of us	B2
We'll stroll into the wood lean on my arm	N3
Conducts HERBERT into the house Exit MARMADUKE	B3
	-
Enter Villagers	B2
	-
OSW to himself coming out of the Hostel	G2
I have prepared a most apt Instrument	P
The Vagrant must no doubt be loitering somewhere	A2
About this ground she hath a tongue well skilled	P
By mingling natural matter of her own	O
With all the daring fictions I have taught her	A2
To win belief such as my plot requires	B2
Exit OSWALD	P
	-
Enter more Villagers a Musician among them	N3
	-
HOST to them Into the court my Friend and perch yourself	L2
Aloft upon the elm tree Pretty Maids	B2
Garlands and flowers and cakes and merry thoughts	B2
Are here to send the sun into the west	P
More speedily than you belike would wish	P3
	-
SCENE changes to the Wood adjoining the Hostel MARMADUKE and	P
OSWALD entering	R
	-
MAR I would fain hope that we deceive ourselves	B2
When first I saw him sitting there alone	O
It struck upon my heart I know not how	O
OSW To day will clear up all You marked a Cottage	C2
That ragged Dwelling close beneath a rock	Q3
By the brook side it is the abode of One	O
A Maiden innocent till ensnared by Clifford	P
Who soon grew weary of her but alas	B2
What she had seen and suffered turned her brain	O
Cast off by her Betrayer she dwells alone	O
Nor moves her hands to any needful work	R3
She eats her food which every day the peasants	B2
Bring to her hut and so the Wretch has lived	P
Ten years and no one ever heard her voice	B2
But every night at the first stroke of twelve	S3
She quits her house and in the neighbouring Churchyard	P
Upon the self same spot in rain or storm	N3
She paces out the hour 'twixt twelve and one	O
She paces round and round an Infant's grave	Z2
And in the churchyard sod her feet have worn	O
A hollow ring they say it is knee deep	T2
Ah what is here	A2
A female Beggar rises up rubbing her eyes as if in sleep a	E2
Child in her arms	B2
BEG Oh Gentlemen I thank you	I2
I've had the saddest dream that ever troubled	P
The heart of living creature My poor Babe	T3
Was crying as I thought crying for bread	P
When I had none to give him whereupon	O
I put a slip of foxglove in his hand	P
Which pleased him so that he was hushed at once	B2
When into one of those same spotted bells	B2
A bee came darting which the Child with joy	O2
Imprisoned there and held it to his ear	A2
And suddenly grew black as he would die	P
MAR We have no time for this my babbling Gossip	T2
Here's what will comfort you	I2
Gives her money	O
BEG The Saints reward you	I2
For this good deed Well Sirs this passed away	O
And afterwards I fancied a strange dog	L3
Trotting alone along the beaten road	P
Came to my child as by my side he slept	P
And fondling licked his face then on a sudden	O
Snapped fierce to make a morsel of his head	P
But here he is kissing the Child it must have been a dream	N3
OSW When next inclined to sleep take my advice	B2
And put your head good Woman under cover	A2
BEG Oh sir you would not talk thus if you knew	I2
What life is this of ours how sleep will master	A2
The weary worn You gentlefolk have got	P
Warm chambers to your wish I'd rather be	O
A stone than what I am But two nights gone	O
The darkness overtook me wind and rain	O
Beat hard upon my head and yet I saw	B2
A glow worm through the covert of the furze	B2
Shine calmly as if nothing ailed the sky	P
At which I half accused the God in Heaven	O
You must forgive me	O
OSW Ay and if you think	J2
The Fairies are to blame and you should chide	P
Your favourite saint no matter this good day	O
Has made amends	B2
BEG Thanks to you both but O sir	A2
How would you like to travel on whole hours	B2
As I have done my eyes upon the ground	P
Expecting still I knew not how to find	P
A piece of money glittering through the dust	P
MAR This woman is a prater Pray good Lady	O
Do you tell fortunes	B2
BEG Oh Sir you are like the rest	P
This Little one it cuts me to the heart	P
Well they might turn a beggar from their doors	B2
But there are Mothers who can see the Babe	T3
Here at my breast and ask me where I bought it	P
This they can do and look upon my face	B2
But you Sir should be kinder	A2
MAR Come hither Fathers	B2
And learn what nature is from this poor Wretch	P3
BEG Ay Sir there's nobody that feels for us	B2
Why now but yesterday I overtook	M3
A blind old Greybeard and accosted him	N3
I' th' name of all the Saints and by the Mass	B2
He should have used me better Charity	O
If you can melt a rock he is your man	O
But I'll be even with him here again	O
Have I been waiting for him	N3
OSW Well but softly	O
Who is it that hath wronged you	I2
BEG Mark you me	O
I'll point him out a Maiden is his guide	P
Lovely as Spring's first rose a little dog	L3
Tied by a woollen cord moves on before	A2
With look as sad as he were dumb the cur	A2
I owe him no ill will but in good sooth	E2
He does his Master credit	P
MAR As I live	D3
'Tis Herbert and no other	A2
BEG 'Tis a feast to see him	N3
Lank as a ghost and tall his shoulders bent	P
And long beard white with age yet evermore	A2
As if he were the only Saint on earth	E2
He turns his face to heaven	O
OSW But why so violent	P
Against this venerable Man	O
BEG I'll tell you	I2
He has the very hardest heart on earth	E2
I had as lief turn to the Friar's school	G2
And knock for entrance in mid holiday	O
MAR But to your story	O
BEG I was saying Sir	A2
Well he has often spurned me like a toad	P
But yesterday was worse than all at last	P
I overtook him Sirs my Babe and I	P
And begged a little aid for charity	O
But he was snappish as a cottage cur	A2
Well then says I I'll out with it at which	P3
I cast a look upon the Girl and felt	P
As if my heart would burst and so I left him	N3
OSW I think good Woman you are the very person	O
Whom but some few days past I saw in Eskdale	G2
At Herbert's door	A2
BEG Ay and if truth were known	O
I have good business there	A2
OSW I met you at the threshold	P
And he seemed angry	O
BEG Angry well he might	P
And long as I can stir I'll dog him Yesterday	O
To serve me so and knowing that he owes	B2
The best of all he has to me and mine	O
But 'tis all over now That good old Lady	O
Has left a power of riches and I say it	P
If there's a lawyer in the land the knave	Z2
Shall give me half	U3
OSW What's this I fear good Woman	O
You have been insolent	P
BEG And there's the Baron	O
I spied him skulking in his peasant's dress	B2
OSW How say you in disguise	B2
MAR But what's your business	B2
With Herbert or his Daughter	A2
BEG Daughter truly	O
But how's the day I fear my little Boy	O2
We've overslept ourselves Sirs have you seen him	N3
Offers to go	O
MAR I must have more of this you shall not stir	A2
An inch till I am answered Know you aught	P
That doth concern this Herbert	P
BEG You are provoked	P
And will misuse me Sir	A2
MAR No trifling Woman	O
OSW You are as safe as in a sanctuary	O
Speak	V3
MAR Speak	V3
BEG He is a most hard hearted Man	O
MAR Your life is at my mercy	O
BEG Do not harm me	O
And I will tell you all You know not Sir	A2
What strong temptations press upon the Poor	A2
OSW Speak out	P
BEG Oh Sir I've been a wicked Woman	O
OSW Nay but speak out	P
BEG He flattered me and said	P
What harvest it would bring us both and so	O
I parted with the Child	P
MAR Parted with whom	N3
BEG Idonea as he calls her but the Girl	G2
Is mine	O
MAR Yours Woman are you Herbert's wife	Q
BEG Wife Sir his wife not I my husband Sir	A2
Was of Kirkoswald many a snowy winter	A2
We've weathered out together My poor Gilfred	P
He has been two years in his grave	Z2
MAR Enough	U
OSW We've solved the riddle Miscreant	P
MAR Do you	I2
Good Dame repair to Liddesdale and wait	P
For my return be sure you shall have justice	B2
OSW A lucky woman go you have done good service Aside	P
MAR to himself Eternal praises on the power that saved	P
her	A2
OSW gives her money Here's for your little boy and when you	I2
christen him	N3
I'll be his Godfather	A2
BEG Oh Sir you are merry with me	O
In grange or farm this Hundred scarcely owns	B2
A dog that does not know me These good Folks	B2
For love of God I must not pass their doors	B2
But I'll be back with my best speed for you	I2
God bless and thank you both my gentle Masters	B2
Exit Beggar	A2
MAR to himself The cruel Viper Poor devoted Maid	P
Now I 'do' love thee	O
OSW I am thunderstruck	W3
MAR Where is she holla	G2
Calling to the Beggar who returns he looks at her stedfastly	G2
You are Idonea's mother	A2
Nay be not terrified it does me good	P
To look upon you	I2
OSW interrupting In a peasant's dress	B2
You saw who was it	P
BEG Nay I dare not speak	V3
He is a man if it should come to his ears	B2
I never shall be heard of more	A2
OSW Lord Clifford	P
BEG What can I do believe me gentle Sirs	B2
I love her though I dare not call her daughter	A2
OSW Lord Clifford did you see him talk with Herbert	P
BEG Yes to my sorrow under the great oak	X3
At Herbert's door and when he stood beside	P
The blind Man at the silent Girl he looked	P
With such a look it makes me tremble Sir	A2
To think of it	P
OSW Enough you may depart	P
MAR to himself Father to God himself we cannot give	Y2
A holier name and under such a mask	Y3
To lead a Spirit spotless as the blessed	P
To that abhorred den of brutish vice	B2
Oswald the firm foundation of my life	Q
Is going from under me these strange discoveries	B2
Looked at from every point of fear or hope	T2
Duty or love involve I feel my ruin	O
	-
ACT II	P
	-
SCENE A Chamber in the Hostel OSWALD alone rising from a Table	G2
on which he had been writing	R
	-
OSW They chose 'him' for their Chief what covert part	P
He in the preference modest Youth might take	X2
I neither know nor care The insult bred	P
More of contempt than hatred both are flown	O
That either e'er existed is my shame	N3
'Twas a dull spark a most unnatural fire	A2
That died the moment the air breathed upon it	P
These fools of feeling are mere birds of winter	A2
That haunt some barren island of the north	E2
Where if a famishing man stretch forth his hand	P
They think it is to feed them I have left him	N3
To solitary meditation now	O
For a few swelling phrases and a flash	P3
Of truth enough to dazzle and to blind	P
And he is mine for ever here he comes	B2
	-
Enter MARMADUKE	B3
	-
MAR These ten years she has moved her lips all day	P
And never speaks	B2
OSW Who is it	P
MAR I have seen her	A2
OSW Oh the poor tenant of that ragged homestead	P
Her whom the Monster Clifford drove to madness	B2
MAR I met a peasant near the spot he told me	O
These ten years she had sate all day alone	O
Within those empty walls	B2
OSW I too have seen her	A2
Chancing to pass this way some six months gone	O
At midnight I betook me to the Churchyard	P
The moon shone clear the air was still so still	G2
The trees were silent as the graves beneath them	N3
Long did I watch and saw her pacing round	P
Upon the self same spot still round and round	P
Her lips for ever moving	R
MAR At her door	A2
Rooted I stood for looking at the woman	O
I thought I saw the skeleton of Idonea	O
OSW But the pretended Father	A2
MAR Earthly law	G2
Measures not crimes like his	B2
OSW 'We' rank not happily	O
With those who take the spirit of their rule	G2
From that soft class of devotees who feel	G2
Reverence for life so deeply that they spare	A2
The verminous brood and cherish what they spare	A2
While feeding on their bodies Would that Idonea	O
Were present to the end that we might hear	A2
What she can urge in his defence she loves him	N3
MAR Yes loves him 'tis a truth that multiplies	B2
His guilt a thousand fold	P
OSW 'Tis most perplexing	R
What must be done	O
MAR We will conduct her hither	A2
These walls shall witness it from first to last	P
He shall reveal himself	L2
OSW Happy are we	O
Who live in these disputed tracts that own	O
No law but what each man makes for himself	L2
Here justice has indeed a field of triumph	Z3
MAR Let us be gone and bring her hither here	A2
The truth shall be laid open his guilt proved	P
	-
Before her face The rest be left to me	O
OSW You will be firm but though we well may trust	P
The issue to the justice of the cause	B2
Caution must not be flung aside remember	A2
Yours is no common life Self stationed here	A2
Upon these savage confines we have seen you	I2
Stand like an isthmus 'twixt two stormy seas	B2
That oft have checked their fury at your bidding	R
'Mid the deep holds of Solway's mossy waste	P
Your single virtue has transformed a Band	P
Of fierce barbarians into Ministers	B2
Of peace and order Aged men with tears	B2
Have blessed their steps the fatherless retire	A2
For shelter to their banners But it is	B2
As you must needs have deeply felt it is	B2
In darkness and in tempest that we seek	V3
The majesty of Him who rules the world	P
Benevolence that has not heart to use	B2
The wholesome ministry of pain and evil	G2
Becomes at last weak and contemptible	G2
Your generous qualities have won due praise	B2
But vigorous Spirits look for something more	A2
Than Youth's spontaneous products and to day	P
You will not disappoint them and hereafter	A2
MAR You are wasting words hear me then once for all	G2
You are a Man and therefore if compassion	O
Which to our kind is natural as life	Q
Be known unto you you will love this Woman	O
Even as I do but I should loathe the light	P
If I could think one weak or partial feeling	R
OSW You will forgive me	O
MAR If I ever knew	I2
My heart could penetrate its inmost core	A2
'Tis at this moment Oswald I have loved	P
To be the friend and father of the oppressed	P
A comforter of sorrow there is something	R
Which looks like a transition in my soul	G2
And yet it is not Let us lead him hither	A2
OSW Stoop for a moment 'tis an act of justice	B2
And where's the triumph if the delegate	P
Must fall in the execution of his office	B2
The deed is done if you will have it so	B2
Here where we stand that tribe of vulgar wretches	B2
You saw them gathering for the festival	G2
Rush in the villains seize us	B2
MAR Seize	B2
OSW Yes they	P
Men who are little given to sift and weigh	P
Would wreak on us the passion of the moment	P
MAR The cloud will soon disperse farewell but stay	P
Thou wilt relate the story	O
OSW Am I neither	A2
To bear a part in this Man's punishment	P
Nor be its witness	B2
MAR I had many hopes	B2
That were most dear to me and some will bear	A2
To be transferred to thee	O
OSW When I'm dishonoured	P
MAR I would preserve thee How may this be done	O
OSW By showing that you look beyond the instant	P
A few leagues hence we shall have open ground	P
And nowhere upon earth is place so fit	P
To look upon the deed Before we enter	A2
The barren Moor hangs from a beetling rock	Q3
The shattered Castle in which Clifford oft	P
Has held infernal orgies with the gloom	N3
And very superstition of the place	B2
Seasoning his wickedness The Debauchee	P3
Would there perhaps have gathered the first fruits	B2
Of this mock Father's guilt	P
	-
Enter Host conducting HERBERT	P
	-
HOST The Baron Herbert	P
Attends your pleasure	A2
OSW to Host We are ready	P
to HERBERT Sir	A2
I hope you are refreshed I have just written	O
A notice for your Daughter that she may know	B2
What is become of you You'll sit down and sign it	P
'Twill glad her heart to see her father's signature	A2
Gives the letter he had written	O
HER Thanks for your care	A2
Sits down and writes Exit Host	P
OSW aside to MARMADUKE Perhaps it would be useful	G2
That you too should subscribe your name	N3
MARMADUKE overlooks HERBERT	P
then writes examines the letter	A2
eagerly	P
MAR I cannot leave this paper He puts it up agitated	P
OSW aside Dastard Come	N3
MARMADUKE goes towards HERBERT	P
and supports him MARMADUKE	B3
tremblingly beckons OSWALD to take his place	B2
MAR as he quits HERBERT There is a palsy in his limbs he	P
shakes Exeunt OSWALD and HERBERT MARMADUKE following	R
	-
SCENE changes to a Wood a Group of Pilgrims and IDONEA with them	N3
	-
FIRST PIL A grove of darker and more lofty shade I never saw	B2
SEC PIL The music of the birds	B2
Drops deadened from a roof so thick with leaves	B2
OLD PIL This news It made my heart leap up with joy	O2
IDON I scarcely can believe it	P
OLD PIL Myself I heard	P
The Sheriff read in open Court a letter	A2
Which purported it was the royal pleasure	A2
The Baron Herbert who as was supposed	P
Had taken refuge in this neighbourhood	P
Should be forthwith restored The hearing Lady	P
Filled my dim eyes with tears When I returned	P
From Palestine and brought with me a heart	P
Though rich in heavenly poor in earthly comfort	P
I met your Father then a wandering Outcast	P
He had a Guide a Shepherd's boy but grieved	P
He was that One so young should pass his youth	E2
In such sad service and he parted with him	N3
We joined our tales of wretchedness together	A2
And begged our daily bread from door to door	A2
I talk familiarly to you sweet Lady	P
For once you loved me	P
IDON You shall back with me	P
And see your Friend again The good old Man	O
Will be rejoiced to greet you	I2
OLD PIL It seems but yesterday	P
That a fierce storm o'ertook us worn with travel	G2
In a deep wood remote from any town	O
A cave that opened to the road presented	P
A friendly shelter and we entered in	O
IDON And I was with you	I2
OLD PIL If indeed 'twas you	I2
But you were then a tottering Little one	O
We sate us down The sky grew dark and darker	A2
I struck my flint and built up a small fire	A2
With rotten boughs and leaves such as the winds	B2
Of many autumns in the cave had piled	P
Meanwhile the storm fell heavy on the woods	B2
Our little fire sent forth a cheering warmth	E2
And we were comforted and talked of comfort	P
But 'twas an angry night and o'er our heads	B2
The thunder rolled in peals that would have made	P
A sleeping man uneasy in his bed	P
O Lady you have need to love your Father	A2
His voice methinks I hear it now his voice	B2
When after a broad flash that filled the cave	Z2
He said to me that he had seen his Child	P
A face no cherub's face more beautiful	G2
Revealed by lustre brought with it from Heaven	O
And it was you dear Lady	P
IDON God be praised	P
That I have been his comforter till now	O
And will be so through every change of fortune	O
And every sacrifice his peace requires	B2
Let us be gone with speed that he may hear	A2
These joyful tidings from no lips but mine	O
Exeunt IDONEA and Pilgrims	B2
	-
SCENE The Area of a half ruined Castle on one side the entrance	B2
to a dungeon OSWALD and MARMADUKE pacing backwards and	P
forwards	B2
	-
MAR 'Tis a wild night	P
OSW I'd give my cloak and bonnet	P
For sight of a warm fire	A2
MAR The wind blows keen	O
My hands are numb	N3
OSW Ha ha 'tis nipping cold	P
Blowing his fingers	B2
I long for news of our brave Comrades Lacy	P
Would drive those Scottish Rovers to their dens	B2
If once they blew a horn this side the Tweed	P
MAR I think I see a second range of Towers	B2
This castle has another Area come	N3
Let us examine it	P
OSW 'Tis a bitter night	P
I hope Idonea is well housed That horseman	O
Who at full speed swept by us where the wood	P
Roared in the tempest was within an ace	B2
Of sending to his grave our precious Charge	A4
That would have been a vile mischance	B2
MAR It would	P
OSW Justice had been most cruelly defrauded	P
MAR Most cruelly	P
OSW As up the steep we clomb	N3
I saw a distant fire in the north east	P
I took it for the blaze of Cheviot Beacon	O
With proper speed our quarters may be gained	P
To morrow evening	R
Looks restlessly towards the mouth of the dungeon	O
MAR When upon the plank	B4
I had led him 'cross the torrent his voice blessed me	N3
You could not hear for the foam beat the rocks	B2
With deafening noise the benediction fell	G2
Back on himself but changed into a curse	B2
OSW As well indeed it might	P
MAR And this you deem	N3
The fittest place	B2
OSW aside He is growing pitiful	G2
MAR listening What an odd moaning that is	B2
OSW Mighty odd	P
The wind should pipe a little while we stand	P
Cooling our heels in this way I'll begin	O
And count the stars	B2
MAR still listening That dog of his you are sure	A2
Could not come after us he 'must' have perished	P
The torrent would have dashed an oak to splinters	B2
You said you did not like his looks that he	N3
Would trouble us if he were here again	O
I swear the sight of him would quail me more	A2
Than twenty armies	B2
OSW How	O
MAR The old blind Man	O
When you had told him the mischance was troubled	P
Even to the shedding of some natural tears	B2
Into the torrent over which he hung	H3
Listening in vain	O
OSW He has a tender heart	P
OSWALD offers to go down into the dungeon	O
MAR How now what mean you	I2
OSW Truly I was going	R
To waken our stray Baron Were there not	P
A farm or dwelling house within five leagues	B2
We should deserve to wear a cap and bells	B2
Three good round years for playing the fool here	A2
In such a night as this	B2
MAR Stop stop	T2
OSW Perhaps	B2
You'd better like we should descend together	A2
And lie down by his side what say you to it	P
Three of us we should keep each other warm	N3
I'll answer for it that our four legged friend	P
Shall not disturb us further I'll not engage	C4
Come come for manhood's sake	X2
MAR These drowsy shiverings	B2
This mortal stupor which is creeping over me	N3
What do they mean were this my single body	N3
Opposed to armies not a nerve would tremble	G2
Why do I tremble now Is not the depth	E2
Of this Man's crimes beyond the reach of thought	P
And yet in plumbing the abyss for judgment	P
Something I strike upon which turns my mind	P
Back on herself I think again my breast	P
Concentres all the terrors of the Universe	B2
I look at him and tremble like a child	P
OSW Is it possible	G2
MAR One thing you noticed not	P
Just as we left the glen a clap of thunder	A2
Burst on the mountains with hell rousing force	B2
This is a time said he when guilt may shudder	A2
But there's a Providence for them who walk	D4
In helplessness when innocence is with them	N3
At this audacious blasphemy I thought	P
The spirit of vengeance seemed to ride the air	A2
OSW Why are you not the man you were that moment	P
He draws MARMADUKE to the dungeon	O
MAR You say he was asleep look at this arm	N3
And tell me if 'tis fit for such a work	R3
Oswald Oswald	P
Leans upon OSWALD	P
OSW This is some sudden seizure	A2
MAR A most strange faintness will you hunt me out	P
A draught of water	A2
OSW Nay to see you thus	B2
Moves me beyond my bearing I will try	P
To gain the torrent's brink	J2
Exit OSWALD	P
MAR after a pause It seems an age	C4
Since that Man left me No I am not lost	P
HER at the mouth of the dungeon Give me your hand where are	A2
you Friends and tell me	N3
How goes the night	P
MAR 'Tis hard to measure time	N3
In such a weary night and such a place	B2
HER I do not hear the voice of my friend Oswald	P
MAR A minute past he went to fetch a draught	P
Of water from the torrent 'Tis you'll say	B2
A cheerless beverage	G3
HER How good it was in you	I2
To stay behind Hearing at first no answer	A2
I was alarmed	P
MAR No wonder this is a place	B2
That well may put some fears into 'your' heart	P
HER Why so a roofless rock had been a comfort	P
Storm beaten and bewildered as we were	A2
And in a night like this to lend your cloaks	B2
To make a bed for me My Girl will weep	T2
When she is told of it	P
MAR This Daughter of yours	B2
Is very dear to you	I2
HER Oh but you are young	H3
Over your head twice twenty years must roll	G2
With all their natural weight of sorrow and pain	O
Ere can be known to you how much a Father	A2
May love his Child	P
MAR Thank you old Man for this Aside	P
HER Fallen am I and worn out a useless Man	O
Kindly have you protected me to night	P
And no return have I to make but prayers	B2
May you in age be blest with such a daughter	A2
When from the Holy Land I had returned	P
Sightless and from my heritage was driven	O
A wretched Outcast but this strain of thought	P
Would lead me to talk fondly	N3
MAR Do not fear	A2
Your words are precious to my ears go on	O
HER You will forgive me but my heart runs over	A2
When my old Leader slipped into the flood	P
And perished what a piercing outcry you	I2
Sent after him I have loved you ever since	B2
You start where are we	N3
MAR Oh there is no danger	A2
The cold blast struck me	N3
HER 'Twas a foolish question	O
MAR But when you were an Outcast Heaven is just	P
Your piety would not miss its due reward	P
The little Orphan then would be your succour	A2
And do good service though she knew it not	P
HER I turned me from the dwellings of my Fathers	B2
Where none but those who trampled on my rights	B2
Seemed to remember me To the wide world	P
I bore her in my arms her looks won pity	N3
She was my Raven in the wilderness	B2
And brought me food Have I not cause to love her	A2
MAR Yes	B2
HER More than ever Parent loved a Child	P
MAR Yes yes	B2
HER I will not murmur merciful God	P
I will not murmur blasted as I have been	O
Thou hast left me ears to hear my Daughter's voice	B2
And arms to fold her to my heart Submissively	N3
Thee I adore and find my rest in faith	E2
	-
Enter OSWALD	P
	-
OSW Herbert confusion aside Here it is my Friend	P
Presents the Horn	O
A charming beverage for you to carouse	B2
This bitter night	P
HER Ha Oswald ten bright crosses	B2
I would have given not many minutes gone	O
To have heard your voice	B2
OSW Your couch I fear good Baron	O
Has been but comfortless and yet that place	B2
When the tempestuous wind first drove us hither	A2
Felt warm as a wren's nest You'd better turn	O
And under covert rest till break of day	B2
Or till the storm abate	P
To MARMADUKE aside He has restored you	I2
No doubt you have been nobly entertained	P
But soft how came he forth The Night mare Conscience	B2
Has driven him out of harbour	A2
MAR I believe	I
You have guessed right	P
HER The trees renew their murmur	A2
Come let us house together	A2
OSWALD conducts him to the dungeon	O
OSW returns Had I not	P
Esteemed you worthy to conduct the affair	A2
To its most fit conclusion do you think	J2
I would so long have struggled with my Nature	A2
And smothered all that's man in me away	B2
Looking towards the dungeon	O
This man's the property of him who best	P
Can feel his crimes I have resigned a privilege	C2
It now becomes my duty to resume it	P
MAR Touch not a finger	A2
OSW What then must be done	O
MAR Which way soe'er I turn I am perplexed	P
OSW Now on my life I grieve for you The misery	N3
Of doubt is insupportable Pity the facts	B2
Did not admit of stronger evidence	B2
Twelve honest men plain men would set us right	P
Their verdict would abolish these weak scruples	B2
MAR Weak I am weak there does my torment lie	N3
Feeding itself	L2
OSW Verily when he said	P
How his old heart would leap to hear her steps	B2
You thought his voice the echo of Idonea's	B2
MAR And never heard a sound so terrible	N3
OSW Perchance you think so now	O
MAR I cannot do it	P
Twice did I spring to grasp his withered throat	P
When such a sudden weakness fell upon me	N3
I could have dropped asleep upon his breast	P
OSW Justice is there not thunder in the word	P
Shall it be law to stab the petty robber	A2
Who aims but at our purse and shall this Parricide	P
Worse is he far far worse if foul dishonour	A2
Be worse than death to that confiding Creature	A2
Whom he to more than filial love and duty	P
Hath falsely trained shall he fulfil his purpose	B2
But you are fallen	O
MAR Fallen should I be indeed	P
Murder perhaps asleep blind old alone	O
Betrayed in darkness Here to strike the blow	N3
Away away	B2
Flings away his sword	P
OSW Nay I have done with you	I2
We'll lead him to the Convent He shall live	D3
And she shall love him With unquestioned title	N3
He shall be seated in his Barony	O
And we too chant the praise of his good deeds	B2
I now perceive we do mistake our masters	B2
And most despise the men who best can teach us	B2
Henceforth it shall be said that bad men only	P
Are brave Clifford is brave and that old Man	O
Is brave	Z2
Taking MARMADUKE'S sword and giving it to him	N3
To Clifford's arms he would have led	P
His Victim haply to this desolate house	B2
MAR advancing to the dungeon It must be ended	P
OSW Softly do not rouse him	N3
He will deny it to the last He lies	B2
Within the Vault a spear's length to the left	P
MARMADUKE descends to the dungeon	O
Alone The Villains rose in mutiny to destroy me	P
I could have quelled the Cowards but this Stripling	R
Must needs step in and save my life The look	M3
With which he gave the boon I see it now	O
The same that tempted me to loathe the gift	P
For this old venerable Greybeard faith	E2
'Tis his own fault if he hath got a face	B2
Which doth play tricks with them that look on it	P
'Twas this that put it in my thoughts that countenance	B2
His staff his figure Murder what of whom	N3
We kill a worn out horse and who but women	O
Sigh at the deed Hew down a withered tree	P
And none look grave but dotards He may live	D3
To thank me for this service Rainbow arches	B2
Highways of dreaming passion have too long	A3
Young as he is diverted wish and hope	T2
From the unpretending ground we mortals tread	P
Then shatter the delusion break it up	T2
And set him free What follows I have learned	P
That things will work to ends the slaves o' the world	P
Do never dream of I 'have' been what he	P
This Boy when he comes forth with bloody hands	B2
Might envy and am now but he shall know	O
What I am now	O
Goes and listens at the dungeon	O
Praying or parleying tut	P
Is he not eyeless He has been half dead	P
These fifteen years	B2
	-
Enter female Beggar with two or three of her Companions	B2
	-
Turning abruptly 'Ha speak' what Thing art thou	O
Recognises her Heavens my good Friend To her	A2
BEG Forgive me gracious Sir	A2
OSW to her companions Begone ye Slaves or I will raise a	E2
whirlwind	P
And send ye dancing to the clouds like leaves	B2
They retire affrighted	P
BEG Indeed we meant no harm we lodge sometimes	B2
In this deserted Castle 'I repent me '	-
OSWALD goes to the dungeon listens returns to the Beggar	A2
OSW Woman thou hast a helpless Infant keep	T2
Thy secret for its sake or verily	P
That wretched life of thine shall be the forfeit	P
BEG I 'do' repent me Sir I fear the curse	B2
Of that blind Man 'Twas not your money sir	A2
OSW Begone	O
BEG going There is some wicked deed in hand Aside	P
Would I could find the old Man and his Daughter	A2
Exit Beggar	A2
	-
MARMADUKE re enters from the dungeon	O
	-
OSW It is all over then your foolish fears	B2
Are hushed to sleep by your own act and deed	P
Made quiet as he is	B2
MAR Why came you down	O
And when I felt your hand upon my arm	N3
And spake to you why did you give no answer	A2
Feared you to waken him he must have been	O
In a deep sleep I whispered to him thrice	B2
There are the strangest echoes in that place	B2
OSW Tut let them gabble till the day of doom	N3
MAR Scarcely by groping had I reached the Spot	P
When round my wrist I felt a cord drawn tight	P
As if the blind Man's dog were pulling at it	P
OSW But after that	P
MAR The features of Idonea	O
Lurked in his face	B2
OSW Psha Never to these eyes	B2
Will retribution show itself again	O
With aspect so inviting Why forbid me	P
To share your triumph	Z3
MAR Yes her very look	M3
Smiling in sleep	T2
OSW A pretty feat of Fancy	P
MAR Though but a glimpse it sent me to my prayers	B2
OSW Is he alive	D3
MAR What mean you who alive	D3
OSW Herbert since you will have it Baron Herbert	P
He who will gain his Seignory when Idonea	O
Hath become Clifford's harlot is 'he' living	R
MAR The old Man in that dungeon 'is' alive	D3
OSW Henceforth then will I never in camp or field	P
Obey you more Your weakness to the Band	P
Shall be proclaimed brave Men they all shall hear it	P
You a protector of humanity	P
Avenger you of outraged innocence	B2
MAR 'Twas dark dark as the grave yet did I see	P
Saw him his face turned toward me and I tell thee	P
Idonea's filial countenance was there	A2
To baffle me it put me to my prayers	B2
Upwards I cast my eyes and through a crevice	B2
Beheld a star twinkling above my head	P
And by the living God I could not do it	P
Sinks exhasted	P
OSW to himself Now may I perish if this turn do more	A2
Than make me change my course	B2
To MARMADUKE Dear Marmaduke	B3
My words were rashly spoken I recall them	N3
I feel my error shedding human blood	P
Is a most serious thing	R
MAR Not I alone	O
Thou too art deep in guilt	P
OSW We have indeed	P
Been most presumptuous There 'is' guilt in this	B2
Else could so strong a mind have ever known	O
These trepidations Plain it is that Heaven	O
Has marked out this foul Wretch as one whose crimes	B2
Must never come before a mortal judgment seat	P
Or be chastised by mortal instruments	B2
MAR A thought that's worth a thousand worlds	B2
Goes towards the dungeon	O
OSW I grieve	I
That in my zeal I have caused you so much pain	O
MAR Think not of that 'tis over we are safe	E4
OSW as if to himself yet speaking aloud The truth is	B2
hideous but how stifle it	P
Turning to MARMADUKE	B3
Give me your sword nay here are stones and fragments	B2
The least of which would beat out a man's brains	B2
Or you might drive your head against that wall	P
No this is not the place to hear the tale	P
It should be told you pinioned in your bed	P
Or on some vast and solitary plain	O
Blown to you from a trumpet	P
MAR Why talk thus	B2
Whate'er the monster brooding in your breast	P
I care not fear I have none and cannot fear	A2
The sound of a horn is heard	P
That horn again 'Tis some one of our Troop	T2
What do they here Listen	O
OSW What dogged like thieves	B2
	-
Enter WALLACE and LACY etc	E2
	-
LACY You are found at last thanks to the vagrant Troop	T2
For not misleading us	B2
OSW looking at WALLACE That subtle Greybeard	P
I'd rather see my father's ghost	P
LACY to MARMADUKE My Captain	O
We come by order of the Band Belike	E2
You have not heard that Henry has at last	P
Dissolved the Barons' League and sent abroad	P
His Sheriffs with fit force to reinstate	P
The genuine owners of such Lands and Baronies	B2
As in these long commotions have been seized	P
His Power is this way tending It befits us	B2
To stand upon our guard and with our swords	B2
Defend the innocent	P
MAR Lacy we look	E2
But at the surfaces of things we hear	A2
Of towns in flames fields ravaged young and old	P
Driven out in troops to want and nakedness	B2
Then grasp our swords and rush upon a cure	A2
That flatters us because it asks not thought	P
The deeper malady is better hid	P
The world is poisoned at the heart	P
LACY What mean you	I2
WAL whose eye has been fixed suspiciously upon OSWALD Ay	B2
what is it you mean	O
MAR Hark'e my Friends	B2
Appearing gay	B2
Were there a Man who being weak and helpless	B2
And most forlorn should bribe a Mother pressed	P
By penury to yield him up her Daughter	A2
A little Infant and instruct the Babe	T3
Prattling upon his knee to call him Father	A2
LACY Why if his heart be tender that offence	B2
I could forgive him	N3
MAR going on And should he make the Child	P
An instrument of falsehood should he teach her	A2
To stretch her arms and dim the gladsome light	P
Of infant playfulness with piteous looks	B2
Of misery that was not	P
LACY Troth 'tis hard	P
But in a world like ours	B2
MAR changing his tone This self same Man	O
Even while he printed kisses on the cheek	E2
Of this poor Babe and taught its innocent tongue	E2
To lisp the name of Father could he look	E2
To the unnatural harvest of that time	N3
When he should give her up a Woman grown	O
To him who bid the highest in the market	P
Of foul pollution	O
LACY The whole visible world	P
Contains not such a Monster	A2
MAR For this purpose	B2
Should he resolve to taint her Soul by means	B2
Which bathe the limbs in sweat to think of them	N3
Should he by tales which would draw tears from iron	O
Work on her nature and so turn compassion	O
And gratitude to ministers of vice	B2
And make the spotless spirit of filial love	R2
Prime mover in a plot to damn his Victim	N3
Both soul and body	P
WAL 'Tis too horrible	P
Oswald what say you to it	P
LACY Hew him down	O
And fling him to the ravens	B2
MAR But his aspect	P
It is so meek his countenance so venerable	P
WAL with an appearance of mistrust But how what say you	I2
Oswald	P
LACY at the same moment Stab him were it	P
Before the Altar	A2
MAR What if he were sick	E2
Tottering upon the very verge of life	Q
And old and blind	P
LACY Blind say you	I2
OSW coming forward Are we Men	O
Or own we baby Spirits Genuine courage	C2
Is not an accidental quality	P
A thing dependent for its casual birth	E2
On opposition and impediment	P
Wisdom if Justice speak the word beats down	O
The giant's strength and at the voice of Justice	B2
Spares not the worm The giant and the worm	N3
She weighs them in one scale The wiles of woman	O
And craft of age seducing reason first	P
Made weakness a protection and obscured	P
The moral shapes of things His tender cries	B2
And helpless innocence do they protect	P
The infant lamb and shall the infirmities	B2
Which have enabled this enormous Culprit	P
To perpetrate his crimes serve as a Sanctuary	P
To cover him from punishment Shame Justice	B2
Admitting no resistance bends alike	E2
The feeble and the strong She needs not here	A2
Her bonds and chains which make the mighty feeble	P
We recognise in this old Man a victim	N3
Prepared already for the sacrifice	B2
LACY By heaven his words are reason	O
OSW Yes my Friends	B2
His countenance is meek and venerable	P
And by the Mass to see him at his prayers	B2
I am of flesh and blood and may I perish	P3
When my heart does not ache to think of it	P
Poor Victim not a virtue under heaven	O
But what was made an engine to ensnare thee	P
But yet I trust Idonea thou art safe	E4
LACY Idonea	O
WAL How what your Idonea	O
To MARMADUKE	E2
MAR 'Mine'	O
But now no longer mine You know Lord Clifford	P
He is the Man to whom the Maiden pure	A2
As beautiful and gentle and benign	O
And in her ample heart loving even me	P
Was to be yielded up	T2
LACY Now by the head	P
Of my own child this Man must die my hand	P
A worthier wanting shall itself entwine	O
In his grey hairs	B2
MAR to LACY I love the Father in thee	P
You know me Friends I have a heart to feel	P
And I have felt more than perhaps becomes me	P
Or duty sanctions	B2
LACY We will have ample justice	B2
Who are we Friends Do we not live on ground	P
Where Souls are self defended free to grow	O
Like mountain oaks rocked by the stormy wind	P
Mark the Almighty Wisdom which decreed	P
This monstrous crime to be laid open 'here'	O
Where Reason has an eye that she can use	B2
And Men alone are Umpires To the Camp	T2
He shall be led and there the Country round	P
All gathered to the spot in open day	B2
Shall Nature be avenged	P
OSW 'Tis nobly thought	P
His death will be a monument for ages	B2
MAR to LACY I thank you for that hint He shall be brought	P
Before the Camp and would that best and wisest	P
Of every country might be present There	O
His crime shall be proclaimed and for the rest	P
It shall be done as Wisdom shall decide	P
Meanwhile do you two hasten back and see	P
That all is well prepared	P
WAL We will obey you	I2
Aside But softly we must look a little nearer	O
MAR Tell where you found us At some future time	N3
I will explain the cause Exeunt	P
	-
ACT III	P
	-
SCENE The door of the Hostel a group of Pilgrims as before	O
IDONEA and the Host among them	N3
	-
HOST Lady you'll find your Father at the Convent	P
As I have told you He left us yesterday	P
With two Companions one of them as seemed	P
His most familiar Friend Going There was a letter	O
Of which I heard them speak but that I fancy	P
Has been forgotten	O
IDON to Host Farewell	P
HOST Gentle pilgrims	B2
St Cuthbert speed you on your holy errand	P
Exeunt IDONEA and Pilgrims	B2
	-
SCENE A desolate Moor	O
OSWALD alone	O
	-
OSW Carry him to the Camp Yes to the Camp	T2
Oh Wisdom a most wise resolve and then	O
That half a word should blow it to the winds	B2
This last device must end my work Methinks	B2
It were a pleasant pastime to construct	P
A scale and table of belief as thus	B2
Two columns one for passion one for proof	F4
Each rises as the other falls and first	P
Passion a unit and 'against' us proof	F4
Nay we must travel in another path	E2
Or we're stuck fast for ever passion then	O
Shall be a unit 'for' us proof no passion	O
We'll not insult thy majesty by time	N3
Person and place the where the when the how	O
And all particulars that dull brains require	O
To constitute the spiritless shape of Fact	P
They bow to calling the idol Demonstration	O
A whipping to the Moralists who preach	P3
That misery is a sacred thing for me	P
I know no cheaper engine to degrade a man	O
Nor any half so sure This Stripling's mind	P
Is shaken till the dregs float on the surface	B2
And in the storm and anguish of the heart	P
He talks of a transition in his Soul	P
And dreams that he is happy We dissect	P
The senseless body and why not the mind	P
These are strange sights the mind of man upturned	P
Is in all natures a strange spectacle	P
In some a hideous one hem shall I stop	T2
No Thoughts and feelings will sink deep but then	O
They have no substance Pass but a few minutes	B2
And something shall be done which Memory	P
May touch whene'er her Vassals are at work	E2
	-
Enter MARMADUKE from behind	P
	-
OSW turning to meet him But listen for my peace	B2
MAR Why I 'believe' you	I2
OSW But hear the proofs	B2
MAR Ay prove that when two peas	B2
Lie snugly in a pod the pod must then	O
Be larger than the peas prove this 'twere matter	O
Worthy the hearing Fool was I to dream	N3
It ever could be otherwise	B2
OSW Last night	P
When I returned with water from the brook	E2
I overheard the Villains every word	P
Like red hot iron burnt into my heart	P
Said one It is agreed on The blind Man	O
Shall feign a sudden illness and the Girl	P
Who on her journey must proceed alone	O
Under pretence of violence be seized	P
She is continued the detested Slave	Z2
She is right willing strange if she were not	P
They say Lord Clifford is a savage man	O
But faith to see him in his silken tunic	E2
Fitting his low voice to the minstrel's harp	T2
There's witchery in't I never knew a maid	P
That could withstand it True continued he	P
When we arranged the affair she wept a little	P
Not the less welcome to my Lord for that	P
And said 'My Father he will have it so '	-
MAR I am your hearer	O
OSW This I caught and more	O
That may not be retold to any ear	O
The obstinate bolt of a small iron door	O
Detained them near the gateway of the Castle	P
By a dim lantern's light I saw that wreaths	B2
Of flowers were in their hands as if designed	P
For festive decoration and they said	P
With brutal laughter and most foul allusion	O
That they should share the banquet with their Lord	P
And his new Favourite	P
MAR Misery	P
OSW I knew	I2
How you would be disturbed by this dire news	B2
And therefore chose this solitary Moor	O
Here to impart the tale of which last night	P
I strove to ease my mind when our two Comrades	B2
Commissioned by the Band burst in upon us	B2
MAR Last night when moved to lift the avenging steel	P
I did believe all things were shadows yea	P
Living or dead all things were bodiless	B2
Or but the mutual mockeries of body	P
Till that same star summoned me back again	O
Now I could laugh till my ribs ached Oh Fool	P
To let a creed built in the heart of things	B2
Dissolve before a twinkling atom Oswald	P
I could fetch lessons out of wiser schools	B2
Than you have entered were it worth the pains	B2
Young as I am I might go forth a teacher	O
And you should see how deeply I could reason	O
Of love in all its shapes beginnings ends	B2
Of moral qualities in their diverse aspects	B2
Of actions and their laws and tendencies	B2
OSW You take it as it merits	B2
MAR One a King	E2
General or Cham Sultan or Emperor	O
Strews twenty acres of good meadow ground	P
With carcases in lineament and shape	T2
And substance nothing differing from his own	O
But that they cannot stand up of themselves	B2
Another sits i' th' sun and by the hour	O
Floats kingcups in the brook a Hero one	O
We call and scorn the other as Time's spendthrift	P
But have they not a world of common ground	P
To occupy both fools or wise alike	E2
Each in his way	P
OSW Troth I begin to think so	B2
MAR Now for the corner stone of my philosophy	P
I would not give a denier for the man	O
Who on such provocation as this earth	E2
Yields could not chuck his babe beneath the chin	O
And send it with a fillip to its grave	Z2
OSW Nay you leave me behind	P
MAR That such a One	O
So pious in demeanour in his look	E2
So saintly and so pure Hark'e my Friend	P
I'll plant myself before Lord Clifford's Castle	P
A surly mastiff kennels at the gate	P
And he shall howl and I will laugh a medley	P
Most tunable	P
OSW In faith a pleasant scheme	N3
But take your sword along with you for that	P
Might in such neighbourhood find seemly use	B2
But first how wash our hands of this old Man	O
MAR Oh yes that mole that viper in the path	E2
Plague on my memory him I had forgotten	O
OSW You know we left him sitting see him yonder	O
MAR Ha ha	D
OSW As 'twill be but a moment's work	E2
I will stroll on you follow when 'tis done	O
Exeunt	P
	-
SCENE changes to another part of the Moor at a short distance	B2
HERBERT is discovered seated on a stone	O
	-
HER A sound of laughter too 'tis well I feared	P
The Stranger had some pitiable sorrow	B2
Pressing upon his solitary heart	P
Hush 'tis the feeble and earth loving wind	P
That creeps along the bells of the crisp heather	O
Alas 'tis cold I shiver in the sunshine	O
What can this mean There is a psalm that speaks	B2
Of God's parental mercies with Idonea	O
I used to sing it Listen what foot is there	O
	-
Enter MARMADUKE	E2
	-
MAR aside looking a HERBERT And I have loved this Man and	P
she hath loved him	N3
And I loved her and she loves the Lord Clifford	P
And there it ends if this be not enough	U
To make mankind merry for evermore	O
Then plain it is as day that eyes were made	P
For a wise purpose verily to weep with	E2
Looking round	P
A pretty prospect this a masterpiece	B2
Of Nature finished with most curious skill	P
To HERBERT Good Baron have you ever practised tillage	C2
Pray tell me what this land is worth by the acre	O
HER How glad I am to hear your voice I know not	P
Wherein I have offended you last night	P
I found in you the kindest of Protectors	B2
This morning when I spoke of weariness	B2
You from my shoulder took my scrip and threw it	P
About your own but for these two hours past	P
Once only have you spoken when the lark	E2
Whirred from among the fern beneath our feet	P
And I no coward in my better days	B2
Was almost terrified	P
MAR That's excellent	P
So you bethought you of the many ways	B2
In which a man may come to his end whose crimes	B2
Have roused all Nature up against him pshaw	P3
HER For mercy's sake is nobody in sight	P
No traveller peasant herdsman	O
MAR Not a soul	P
Here is a tree ragged and bent and bare	O
That turns its goat's beard flakes of peagreen moss	B2
From the stern breathing of the rough seawind	P
This have we but no other company	O
Commend me to the place If a man should die	P
And leave his body here it were all one	O
As he were twenty fathoms underground	P
HER Where is our common Friend	P
MAR A ghost methinks	B2
The Spirit of a murdered man for instance	B2
Might have fine room to ramble about here	O
A grand domain to squeak and gibber in	O
HER Lost Man if thou have any close pent guilt	P
Pressing upon thy heart and this the hour	O
Of visitation	O
MAR A bold word from 'you'	P
HER Restore him Heaven	O
MAR The desperate Wretch A Flower	O
Fairest of all flowers was she once but now	O
They have snapped her from the stem Poh let her lie	P
Besoiled with mire and let the houseless snail	P
Feed on her leaves You knew her well ay there	O
Old Man you were a very Lynx you knew	O
The worm was in her	O
HER Mercy Sir what mean you	O
MAR You have a Daughter	O
HER Oh that she were here	O
She hath an eye that sinks into all hearts	B2
And if I have in aught offended you	O
Soon would her gentle voice make peace between us	B2
MAR aside I do believe he weeps I could weep too	O
There is a vein of he	O

William Wordsworth

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