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• The Works of Voltaire: the Dramatic Works of Voltaire Vol. Ix— Part I
• Alzire
• Dramatis PersonÆ.
• Act I.
• Act II.
• Act III.
• Act IV.
• Act V.
• Orestes
• Dramatis PersonÆ.
• Act I.
• Act II.
• Act III.
• Act IV.
• Act V.
• SÉmiramis
• Dramatis PersonÆ.
• Act I.
• Act II.
• Act III.
• Act IV.
• Act V.
• Catiline
• Dramatis PersonÆ.
• Act I.
• Act II.
• Act III.
• Act IV.
• Act V.
• Pandora
• Dramatis PersonÆ.
• Act I.
• Act II.
• Act III.
• Act IV.
• Act V.
• The Dramatic Works of Voltaire Vol. Ix—part Ii
• The Scotch Woman
• Dramatis PersonÆ.
• Act I.
• Act II.
• Act III.
• Act IV.
• Act V.
• Nanine
• Dramatis PersonÆ.
• Act I.
• Act II.
• Act III.
• The Prude
• Dramatis PersonÆ.
• Act I.
• Act II.
• Act III.
• Act IV.
• Act V.
• The Tatler
• Dramatis PersonÆ.
• Act I.

ACT I.

SCENE I.

alvarez, guzman.

alvarez.

• At length, for so the council hath decreed,
• Guzman succeeds Alvarez; long, my son,
• Mayest thou preserve for heaven and for thy king
• This better half of our new conquered world,
• This fertile source of riches and of crimes!
• Joyful to thee I yield the post of honor,
• That suits but ill with feeble age like mine;
• In youth thy father trod the paths of glory;
• Alvarez first our winged castles bore
• To Mexico’s astonished sons; he led
• Spain’s gallant heroes to this golden shore:
• After a life spent in my country’s service,
• Could I have formed these heroes into men,
• Could I have made them virtuous, mild, and good,
• I had been amply paid for all my toils:
• But who shall stop the haughty conqueror?
• Alas! my son, their cruelties obscure
• The lustre of their fame; I weep the fate
• Of these unhappy victors, raised by heaven
• To greatness but to be supremely wicked.
• O Guzman, I am verging to the grave,
• Let me but live to see thee govern here
• As justice shall direct thee, and I die
• With pleasure.

guzman.

• By thy great example fired,
• With thee I fought and conquered for my country;
• From thee must learn to rule: it is not mine
• To give the wise and good Alvarez laws,
• But to receive them from him.

alvarez.

• No; my son,
• The sovereign power can never be divided:
• Worn down with years and labor, I resign
• All worldly pomp; it is enough for me
• If yet my feeble voice be sometimes heard
• To counsel and direct thee; trust me, Guzman,
• Men are not creatures one would wish to rule:
• To that almighty being, whom too long
• I have neglected, would I consecrate
• My poor remains of life; one boon alone,
• As friend, I ask of thee, as father claim;
• To give me up those slaves who by your order
• Are here confined; this day, my son, should be
• A day of pardon, marked by clemency,
• And not by justice.

guzman.

• A request from you
• Is a command; but think, my lord, I beg,
• What dangers may ensue: a savage people,
• But half subdued, and to the yoke of slavery
• Bending reluctant, ready for revolt,
• Should never be familiar with their conquerors,
• Or dare to look on those they should be taught
• To tremble at: unarmed with power and vengeance
• They would despise us: these untutored Indians,
• Fiery and bold, ill brook the galling rein
• Of servitude, by chastisement alone
• Made tame, and humble, pardoned once, they think
• You fear them; power, in short, is lost by mildness;
• Severity alone insures obedience.
• The brave Castilian serves in honor’s cause,
• With cheerful resignation, ’tis his pride,
• His glory; but inferior nations court
• Oppression; force and only force constrains them:
• Did not the gods of these barbarians drink
• The blood of men, they would not be adored.

alvarez.

• And can a Christian, as thou art, approve
• These tyrant maxims, the detested offspring
• Of narrow policy? are these the means
• To win the wild barbarian to our faith?
• Thinkest thou to rule them with an iron hand,
• And serve a God of peace with war and slaughter?
• Braved I for this the burning tropic’s rage,
• And all the terrors of a world unknown,
• To see our country cursed, our faith disgraced?
• God sent us here for other purposes,
• Sent us to make his holy name revered,
• His sacred laws beloved: whilst we, my son,
• Unmindful of that faith which we profess,
• The laws we teach, and all the tender ties
• Of soft humanity, insatiate still
• For blood and gold, instead of winning o’er
• These savages by gentle means, destroy them.
• All is confusion, death, and horror round us,
• And nought have we of heaven but its thunder;
• Our name indeed bears terror with it; Spain
• Is feared, but hated too: we are the scourge
• Of this new world, vain, covetous, unjust;
• In short, I blush to own it, we alone
• Are the barbarians here: the simple savage,
• Though fierce by nature, is in courage equal,
• In goodness our superior. O my Guzman,
• Had he, like us, been prodigal of blood,
• Had he not felt the throbs of tender pity,
• Alvarez had not lived to speak his virtues:
• Hast thou forgot that day, when by a crowd
• Of desperate natives I was circled in
• On every side, and all my faithful band
• Of followers cut off; alone I stood,
• And every moment looked for death, when, lo;
• At mention of my name, they dropped their arms;
• And straight a young American approached me,
• Embraced my knees, and bathed them with his tears;
• And “is it you,” he cried, “is it my friend?
• Live, good Alvarez, virtue pure as thine
• May be most useful to us; be a father
• To the unhappy; let thy tyrant nation,
• That would enslave us, learn from hence—to pardon,
• And own a savage capable of virtue.”
• I see you are moved; O hearken to the voice
• Of mild humanity, by me she speaks,
• By me addresses Guzman; O my son,
• Canst thou expect the object of thy wishes,
• The fair Alzire ever will crown thy hopes,
• If thou art cruel? thinkest thou to cement
• The dearest bonds of nature in the blood
• Of her loved countrymen, or shall their groans
• Be heard, and Guzman soften into mercy?

guzman.

• ’Tis your command, my lord, and I submit;
• They have their freedom, but on this condition,
• For so our laws require, they must be Christians:
• To quit their idols, and embrace our faith,
• Alone can save them; we must bend by force
• Their stubborn hearts, and drag them to the altar;
• One king must be obeyed, one God adored.

alvarez.

• Hear me, my son, I wish, as much as Guzman,
• That truth may fix her sacred empire here,
• That neither heaven nor Spain henceforth may find
• A foe on earth; but know, the heart oppressed
• Is never conquered: I force none, yet I
• Have conquered many; the true God, my son,
• The God of Christians is a God of mercy.

guzman.

• You’ve conquered, sir, the father over his son
• Is absolute; and you, my lord, would soften
• The hardest heart, whilst virtue by Alvarez
• In mildest accents pleads her powerful cause:
• O since kind heaven to thee hath lent the art
• Of soft persuasion, use it for thy son,
• On thee alone depends the happiness
• Of Guzman’s life: the proud Alzire scorns
• My proffered hand: I love her but too well,
• Heaven knows how dearly! but I cannot stoop
• Meanly to sooth a haughty woman’s pride,
• I cannot make myself a poor tame slave
• To her imperious will; but thou hast power
• O’er the fair tyrant’s father; talk to him
• For the last time; let him command his daughter
• To take my hand, and make your Guzman happy;
• And yet it hurts my soul to think Alvarez
• Should stoop so low, and be a suppliant for me.

alvarez.

• Already I have spoke, and Montezuma
• Hath seen his daughter; she will soon be thine.
• I’ve been a friend to his unhappy race,
• And soothed the sorrows of captivity:
• Already he hath quitted his false gods;
• Alzire too, a convert to our faith,
• To this new world shines forth a bright example.
• She only can unite the jarring nations,
• And make us happy; thy long wished-for nuptials
• Shall join two distant globes; these fierce barbarians,
• Who now detest our laws, when they shall see
• The daughter of their king in Guzman’s arms,
• Cheerful beneath thy easy yoke shall bend
• Their willing hearts, and soon be all our own:
• But Montezuma comes; away, my son,
• Expect me with Alzire at the altar.

SCENE II.

alvarez, montezuma.

alvarez.

• At length, obedient to a father’s will,
• Alzire yields, I hope, to thy persuasion.

montezuma.

• If yet my daughter trembles at the thought
• Of wedding him who has destroyed her race,
• Alvarez will forgive a woman’s weakness;
• For thou hast been a father to the wretched:
• Thy gentle manners teach us to revere
• That holy faith from whence they sprung; by thee
• The will of heaven to this new world revealed,
• Enlightened our dark minds; what mighty Spain
• Unconquered left, thy virtue has subdued:
• Thy cruel countrymen’s remorseless rage
• Had rendered even thy God detestable,
• But that in thee His great perfections shine,
• His goodness, and His mercy; in thy heart
• We trace his image; Montezuma’s thine,
• His daughter, and his house; the good Alvarez
• Shall have them all: Potosi and Peru,
• With my Alzire, shall descend to Guzman:
• Prepare the nuptial rites, adorn your temple,
• And let your son be ready to receive her:
• Methinks it is as if the immortal beings
• Had deigned to visit earth, and mix with men.

alvarez.

• O Montezuma, let me live to see
• This blest event, and I shall die content.
• O God, whose gracious hand conducted us
• To this new world, enlighten and preserve it;
• Propitious smile on these first holy vows
• Made at thy altar here! adieu, my friend,
• To thee I owe my Guzman’s happiness.

SCENE III.

montezuma.

• [Alone.
• O thou true God, whose powerful arm destroyed
• Those idle deities I once adored,
• Watch o’er the poor remains of my sad life,
• And sooth my sorrows; I have lost my all,
• All but Alzire, O protect her youth,
• Watch o’er her steps, and guide her tender heart!

SCENE IV.

montezuma, alzire.

montezuma.

• Daughter, the hour is come to make thyself
• And the world happy, to command the conqueror,
• And make the vanquished smile, restore thy country
• To her lost honor, and to regal power
• Rise from the bosom of adversity.
• Alzire will obey, I know she will;
• Dry up thy tears, a father must not see them.

alzire.

• I have no will but yours; yet, O my lord,
• See my despair, and look into my soul.

montezuma.

• No more of that; thy word is passed, Alzire,
• And I depend on it.

alzire.

• ’Twas extorted from me;
• The cruel sacrifice: is this a time
• To plight my faith, and think of nuptial joy,
• This hapless day, when all I held most dear
• Was ravished from me, when our wide-stretched empire
• And all her hosts, the children of the sun,
• Inglorious fell beneath the cruel Guzman?
• O ’twas a day marked by the hand of heaven
• As most unfortunate.

montezuma.

• Our days, Alzire,
• Are happy or unhappy from ourselves,
• And not from circumstance or accident,
• As superstition taught our ancestors
• To credit; think no more on it.

alzire.

• On this day
• My Zamor fell, our country’s great avenger,
• My lover, chosen by thee, by thee, my father,
• To be Alzire’s husband.

montezuma.

• I have paid
• The debt of sorrow due to Zamor’s ashes,
• And hold his memory dear; but death has cancelled
• Your mutual bonds; therefore no longer shed
• Those fruitless tears, but carry to the altar
• A free and cheerful heart; thy God commands,
• He calls thee to him; if thou art a Christian,
• Now hear his voice.

alzire.

• Alas! my lord, I know
• A father’s power, and know my duty to him,
• ’Tis to obey, to fall a sacrifice
• Before him; I have passed the utmost bounds
• Which nature ever prescribed; thy will alone
• Hath been my law, nor did I ever stain
• With disobedience my true faith, for thee
• I left my country’s gods, and am a Christian:
• Alas! my father, why wouldst thou deceive me,
• Why tell me, the new deity I serve
• Would bring me peace, that his all-healing power
• Would ease my tortured heart? delusive promise!
• For O my lord, the deadly poison still
• Lurks in my veins, still Zamor’s image dwells
• In his Alzire’s heart, nor time nor death
• Can e’er efface it: well I know Alvarez
• Condemns that passion which he once approved:
• But I will make him ample recompense
• By my obedience:—wed me to the tyrant,
• Give me to Guzman, ’tis a sacrifice
• I owe my country; but remember, sir,
• How dreadful ’tis, and tremble at the thought
• Of such unnatural, such detested bonds,
• Thou who condemnest me to these fatal nuptials,
• Who bidst Alzire give her hand to Guzman,
• And at the altar promise him a heart
• Which is not hers to give.

montezuma.

• What says my child?
• O in the name of every tender tie
• That binds thee to me, spare a wretched father!
• Pity my age, and do not, by the woes
• Which thou alone, Alzire, canst remove,
• Let me entreat thee, O embitter not
• The sad remainder of Alvarez’s life!
• Have I not ever strove to make thee happy,
• And wilt thou not return it? O my daughter,
• Let virtue guide thy steps in duty’s path,
• And lead thee on to bliss! thy country calls,
• Wilt thou betray her? learn henceforth, Alzire,
• To be the mistress of thyself.

alzire.

• And must I
• Learn to dissemble then? ungrateful task!

SCENE V.

guzman, alzire.

guzman.

• These long delays, Alzire, are unkind,
• And, let me add, ungenerous, to the man
• Who lives but to oblige you: for thy sake
• I stopped the hand of justice; all those captives,
• Whose pardon you solicited, are free:
• But I should blush to think that Guzman owed
• Thy kind compliance to so poor a service;
• ’Tis on thyself, and thy consenting heart,
• He founds his hopes, nor thought I ever till now
• My happiness could make Alzire wretched.

alzire.

• Wretched indeed! O grant, kind heaven, this day
• May not prove fatal to us both! you see
• I am abashed, confounded, left a prey
• To horror and despair: do not these eyes
• Alone betray the anguish of a mind
• Oppressed with grief? canst thou not read it there?
• I know thou canst: such is my nature, Guzman;
• Ne’er did Alzire’s face belie her heart:
• Dissimulation and disguise, my lord,
• Are European arts, which I abhor.

guzman.

• I love thy frankness, but lament the cause;
• Zamor is still beloved, his memory lives
• Within thy breast, my rival even in death:
• This is too much, Alzire; duty, honor,
• Virtue forbid it: weep no more, it wounds
• My heart, and I am jealous of thy tears.

alzire.

• Jealous of him, my lord, who in the grave
• Is mouldering now, my loved, lamented Zamor?
• For I confess I loved him, we were bound
• By mutual vows, and still I weep his fate:
• If thou art a friend to constancy and truth,
• Thou wilt not blame my passion, but approve it.
• By this, and this alone, may Guzman gain
• Alzire’s heart.

SCENE VI.

guzman.

• [Alone.
• Her pride astonishes,
• And yet I know not how her freedom charms me:
• There is a savage beauty in her heart
• That suits the wildness of her native clime;
• But softer manners may subdue her mind,
• And bind her stubborn fierceness to the yoke
• Of duty; Guzman now is lord of all,
• And nought remains unconquered but Alzire:
• Resolved by force or art to make her mine,
• Our hands, if not our hearts, shall be united.

End of the First Act.