The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 84
Enter Florestein
Enter Florestein.
Flo.
Count.
Flo.
Count.
Flo.
Count
Arl.
Count.
Flo.
All.
Count.
Art.
Count.
Arl.
[She draws a dagger from beneath her scarf, and is about to stab herself.
Count.
We cannot give the life we take,
Nor, sad thing—re-unite the heart we break.
]Taking the hand of Arline and suddenly seeing the wound on her arm.
What visions round me rise,
Arl.
And cloud with mists of the past, mine eyes ?
That mark ! those features, and thy youth !
[Dragging Arline forward, and in great agitation
My very life hangs on thy truth—
How came that mark?
My sixth sun had its radiance shed,
A wild deer who had Ian at bay.
Pursued by hunters, crossed my way;
My tender frame by its antler gored,
A humble youth to my home restored;
The tale he but this day confess'd,
And is near at hand to relate the rest.
[Thaddeus having escaped from those who confined him breaks into the room, and rushes into the arms of Arline.]
Count, Arl.
My feelings have to cope.
,Tis he my life who saved,
Solo
Count. Arl. Tha.
Oh, seek not to control
This frantic joy, this wild
Delirium of my soul.
Bound in a father's arms,
And pillowed upon his breast.
Bid all the rude alarms
That assailed thy feelings, rest,
This doubt, this torture, see—
My hopes—my very life—my frame
Depend on thee.
Dear as thou long will be !
Mourned as this passing scene
Will be through life by me—
Though his heart, and no other, like mine can adore thee,
Yet, thou art not deceived—'Tis thy father before thee.
Cho. Count Arl. Tha. Dev. Cho.
Whose light on them smiled,
And whose bounty hath given
A father his child.
Whose light o'er me smiled,
And whose bounty hath given
A father his child.
Whose light o'er me smiled.
And whose bounty hath given
A father his child.
That heart is beguiled;
The bereavement hath given
The father his child.
Than e'er be reviled :
For the bounty hath given
The father his child.
Whose light on them smiled,
And whose bounty hath given.
The father his child.