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Front Page  Titles (by Subject) ACT IV. - The Works of Voltaire, Vol. VIII The Dramatic Works Part 1 (Mérope, Olympia, The Orphan of China, Brutus) and Part II (Mahomet, Amelia, Oedipus, Mariamne, Socrates).
ACT IV. - Voltaire, The Works of Voltaire, Vol. VIII The Dramatic Works Part 1 (Mérope, Olympia, The Orphan of China, Brutus) and Part II (Mahomet, Amelia, Oedipus, Mariamne, Socrates). [1901]Edition used:The Works of Voltaire. A Contemporary Version. A Critique and Biography by John Morley, notes by Tobias Smollett, trans. William F. Fleming (New York: E.R. DuMont, 1901). In 21 vols. Vol. VIII The Dramatic Works Part 1 (Mérope, Olympia, The Orphan of China, Brutus) and Part II (Mahomet, Amelia, Oedipus, Mariamne, Socrates).
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ACT IV.
SCENE I.
vamir, amelia, emar.
amelia.- O Vamir, how the hand of heaven hath marked
- My life with sad variety of woe!
- The chance of war, that tore me from thy arms.
- Once more hath joined us; but, alas! we meet
- On mournful terms, meet but to part; my Vamir,
- Didst thou not say it must be so?
vamir.- It must:
- Thou seest me chained by honor’s laws beneath
- A rival’s power: my sacred word is given:
- Vamir may die, but must not follow thee.
amelia.- Thou who hast dared to fight, art thou afraid
- To flee from him?
vamir.- I am: my honor binds me:
- Take thou advantage of the general tumult,
- Which favors thy retreat: a guard attends
- To aid thy flight; heaven will protect thy virtues;
- Hope for the best.
amelia.- What can Amelia hope,
- When thou art from her?
vamir.
amelia.- O but that day will be an age to me.
- Grant, heaven! my tears and terrors may be vain.
- The Moor, I know, thirsts for my Vamir’s blood;
- Thinkest thou thy brother will not give it him?
- He loves with fury, and he hates with rancor;
- His hatred, like his love, is in extreme:
- He is thy rival, and the Moor’s ally.
- I tremble for thee.
vamir.
amelia.- O his impetuous passion knows no bounds!
vamir.- He must be taught to know them soon; the king
- Comes to avenge us; half his force already
- Throngs to the royal standard; if thou lovest me,
- Fly, my Amelia, from the impending storm,
- From dreadful slaughter, and the din of arms,
- And all the terrors of a bloody field;
- But, above all, avoid my furious rival,
- Whose jealous love despised, will turn to rage;
- Avoid an insult Vamir must avenge,
- Or perish in the attempt: my dear Amelia,
- Hope of my life, the only good on earth
- I have to boast, do not expose thyself
- To needless dangers, but retire in safety.
amelia.- Why wilt thou hazard then thy precious life,
- And stay without Amelia?
vamir.- When thou art safe,
- I shall not fear my brother; soon perhaps
- Vamir may prove his best support: to-day
- I am his prisoner, but perchance to-morrow
- May be his patron, and persuade the king
- To spare a rebel: to protect my rival
- Were noble triumph. Haste, Amelia, leave
- This seat of danger.
amelia.- Wheresoever fate
- Shall cast my hapless lot, I’ll carry with me
- My hatred and my love; ’midst every danger,
- In the wild desert, or the gloomy dungeon,
- In exile, or in chains, in death itself,
- Still shall I think of, still adore my Vamir:
- But O I cannot bear to live without thee!
vamir.- It is too much: thy griefs unman my soul.
- What noise was that? O thou hast staid too long!
SCENE II.
amelia, vamir, duke of foix,Guards.
duke.- I hear his voice; ’tis he: stay, villain, thou
- Who hast betrayed me.
vamir.- I betrayed thee not.
- Now satiate thy revenge, and take my life;
- Lose not a moment, for the hand of heaven
- Is raised against thee: tremble, slave, thy king
- Approaches: thou hast conquered none but Vamir:
- Thy master comes, take heed.
duke.- He may avenge,
- But cannot save thee; for thy blood—
amelia.- O no,
- Amelia’s guilty: let Amelia die,
- And not my Vamir: I deceived thy guards,
- And bartered with them to assist my flight
- From hated slavery, and a tyrant’s power:
- Punish my crimes, but, O respect a brother,
- Respect thyself, thy own unblemished fame!
- He ne’er betrayed, but loves and would have served thee,
- Even when thy rage had doomed him to destruction.
- What crime has he committed? none, my lord,
- None but the crime of loving his Amelia.
duke.- The more thou pleadest for him, the more his guilt:
- Thou art his murderer: thou, whose fatal charms
- Have poisoned all our happiness, and armed
- Our hands against each other, may the blood
- Of both fall on thee! now thou weepest; thy tears
- No longer shall deceive me: I must die,
- But Vamir first shall perish. Yet I love thee,
- Even yet thou mayest escape the fatal blow:
- Accept my hand, attend me to the altar,
- And seal his pardon there.
amelia.
duke.
amelia.- Shall I be false to Vamir?
duke.
amelia.
duke.
vamir.- Amelia, never let his threats o’ercome
- Thy noble faith, but love me well enough
- To see me perish: leave me to my fate;
- Now I shall fall triumphant: shouldst thou yield,
- Vamir must die by his Amelia’s hand.
duke.- Guards, drag the traitor to the tower: away.
SCENE III.
duke, amelia.
amelia.- And wilt thou make this horrid sacrifice?
- Pollute thee with the blood of innocence?
- Thou wilt not!
duke.- Yes: to hate thee, and to die,
- Is all I wish; to see thee more unhappy,
- More wretched than myself, to shed the blood
- That’s dearest to thee, and to make thy days
- As full of woe as was that fatal hour
- Which hath destroyed us all. Away, and leave me;
- The sight of thee distracts me.
SCENE IV.
duke, amelia, lisois.
amelia.- From thy justice,
- And, that alone, I can expect relief.
- Help me to soften this obdurate heart:
- Assist me, Lisois.
duke.- If thou listenest to her,
- Thou art not my friend.
amelia.- I call just heaven to witness.
duke.- Hence from my sight: I loathe thee.
amelia.- Tyrant, go,
- For I abhor thee; spite of all thy rage,
- I thought a woman might at least command
- Some cold respect: but love, that softens all,
- Hath lost its tender influence o’er thy heart:
- I leave thee to thy rage; go, sacrifice
- Thy victims, amidst thy crimes be sure thou count
- Amelia’s death, and with it count thy own,
- For vengeance comes, and in thy punishment
- Unites us all; inglorious shalt thou perish,
- And unlamented. Die, inhuman savage;
- And may that hatred, that contempt of thee,
- Which now I feel, pursue thy memory,
- And after ages execrate thy name!
SCENE V.
duke of foix, lisois.
duke.- Yes, cruel prophet, I expect the doom
- Pronounced by thee, that discord’s fatal hand
- Shall seize on all, and join us in the tomb.
lisois.- Rage has o’erpowered him, and his senses fail.
duke.- What says my friend? am I to suffer shame
- And insult thus; and shall my haughty rival
- Bear off the false, perfidious, dear Amelia?
- Wilt thou bear this, or waitest thou till the traitor
- Shall raise a powerful faction to enslave me?
lisois.- Too well I see, my lord, the royal party
- Hath spread sedition through the multitude,
- And shook their faith.
duke.- Vamir lights up the flame:
- He has betrayed us all.
lisois.- I never meant
- To palliate Vamir’s crimes, for much I dread
- The fatal consequence; already France
- Is armed against us. If the people seek
- Their safety in rebellion, all is lost,
- Danger’s on every side.
duke.
lisois.- Prevent it; rage and love must be subdued;
- Then may we conquer all. We must be firm
- And resolute; avoid, or brave the storm,
- Do as thou wilt, my hand is ready still
- To aid my friend. This morning thou hadst thoughts
- Of treating with the king: if thou commandest,
- I’ll go, my lord, even now, and sue for peace;
- Or if we try the fortune of the day,
- The faithful Lisois shall attend thee still:
- There, if thou fallest, thy friend shall not survive thee.
duke.- Alone I will descend into the grave:
- Live thou, to serve my cause, and to avenge me.
- My hour is come, I must fulfil my fate:
- Who wishes but for death, is sure to find it;
- But mine should come with all his terrors round him;
- I must have vengeance; and whene’er I fall,
- Will drag my rival with me to the tomb.
lisois.- What horrid thoughts are these!
duke.- In yonder tower
- He is confined: ’tis under thy command,
- And thou didst promise, that whene’er—
lisois.- Of whom
- Speakest thou, my lord? a brother?
duke.- No: a traitor,
- My worst of foes, a rival who abhors me;
- One who has robbed me of my dearest treasure:
- The Moor demands his head, and I have promised
- To give it him.
lisois.- Ha! promised to shake off
- The bonds of nature and humanity!
duke.- Long since they had proscribed him.
lisois.- And to them,
- Thou yieldest his life?
duke.- Not to their vengeance only,
- But to my own, which shall be satisfied.
- What is the Moor to me, or what my country?
lisois.- To love then you would make the sacrifice,
- And I must be the executioner.
duke.- No: I expect not so much justice from thee;
- I am a wretch, abandoned and forlorn,
- Betrayed by love, deserted by my friend;
- But there are those who yet will keep their promise;
- Others, perhaps, may serve me, nor allege
- Such poor excuses for ingratitude.
lisois.- [After a long silence.
- I am resolved; and be it guilt or justice,
- Ne’er shalt thou say that Lisois hath betrayed thee:
- Thou art unhappy: Vamir is a traitor.
- It is enough; I love thee, and consent:
- There is a time for desperate extremes,
- When duties the most sacred must give way
- To hard necessity: at such an hour
- I cannot suffer thee to try the faith
- Of any heart but mine: success alone
- Must prove my friendship: soon shalt thou determine
- Whether thy Lisois loved thee, and was faithful.
duke.- Once more in sorrow I behold a friend;
- Deserted by the world, in thee I find
- My only refuge: thou wilt not permit
- A haughty rival to insult my rage,
- To trample on my ashes, and enjoy
- My kingdom in the arms of my Amelia.
lisois.- I will not; but in recompense for this,
- I must demand another sacrifice.
duke.
lisois.- I cannot bear the Moor,
- Our insolent protector; cannot bear
- To see him lord it o’er thy noble subjects.
- I would not serve a tyrant, nor submit
- To shameful slavery for a poor support
- We do not want; ’tis in our power at least
- To die without him: leave to me, my lord,
- The conduct of this day, perhaps my service
- May claim it of thee: Lisois and the Moor
- Would ne’er agree: I must command alone,
- To the last hour.
duke.- Thou shalt: I’ll give thee all
- Thou canst desire, let but Amelia feel
- Despair like mine, and weep in tears of blood
- Her treacherous lover: let me hear her groans
- In my last moments to delight my soul;
- And for the rest, ’tis equal all: to thee
- I trust my glory; go, dispose, command,
- Prepare thee for the field. I hope not now
- For victory, nor for honorable death;
- For what is honor to a heart like mine,
- Sunk in despair! O be the sad remembrance
- Of a false mistress, and a cruel rival,
- Buried with me in everlasting silence!
lisois.- Eternal night, if possible, should hide
- Such dreadful deeds: would death had closed our eyes
- Before this day of horrors; but I go
- To keep my word, and save my friend. Farewell.
End of the Fourth Act.
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