Hold him a villain ?-thus much, I prythee, say Bal. My lord!-my friend! Pol. (aside.) 'Tis he-he comes himself! (aloud) thou reasonest well. I know what thou wouldst say-not send the message— Well!-I will think of it-I will not send it. Now prythee, leave me hither doth come a person I would adjust. Bal. I go-to-morrow we meet, Do we not?-at the Vatican. Pol. At the Vatican. Enter Castiglione. Cas. The Earl of Leicester here! (exit Bal.) Pol. I am the Earl of Leicester, and thou seest, Dost thou not? that I am here. Cas. My lord, some strange, Some singular mistake-misunderstanding- Some words most unaccountable, in writing, To me, Castiglione; the bearer being Baldazzar, Duke of Surrey. I am aware Of nothing which might warrant thee in this thing, Having given thee no offence. Ha!-am I right? "Twas a mistake ?-undoubtedly-we all Do err at times. Pol. Draw, villain, and prate no more! Cas. Ha!-draw ?—and villain? have at thee then at once, Proud Earl! (draws.) Pol. (drawing.) Thus to the expiatory tomb, Untimely sepulchre, I do devote thee In the name of Lalage! Cas. (letting fall his sword and recoiling to the extremity of the stage.) Of Lalage! Hold off-thy sacred hand!-avaunt I say! Avaunt-I will not fight thee-indeed I dare not. Pol. Thou wilt not fight with me, didst say, Sir Count? Shall I be baffled thus ?- -now this is well; Didst say thou darest not? Ha! Cas. I dare not dare not Hold off thy hand-with that beloved name Pol. Now by my halidom I do believe thee !-coward, I do believe thee! (clutches his sword and staggers towards Politian, but Alas! my lord, It is-it is most true. In such a cause I am the veriest coward. O pity me! Pol. (greatly softened.) Alas!—I do-indeel I pity thee. Cas. And Lalage Pol. Scoundrel!—arise and die! Cas. It needeth not be-thus-thus-O let me die Thus on my bended knee. It were most fitting That in this deep humiliation I perish. For in the fight I will not raise a hand Against thee, Earl of Leicester. Strike thou home (baring his bosom.) Here is no let or hindrance to thy weapon- Pol. Now s'Death and Hell! Am I not-am I not sorely-grievously tempted The eyes of the citizens. I'll follow thee- Even unto death. Before those whom thou lovest- Cas. Now this indeed is just! (exit.) Most righteous, and most just, avenging Heaven! POEMS WRITTEN IN YOUTH.* SONNET-TO SCIENCE. SCIENCE! true daughter of Old Time thou art! Albeit he soared with an undaunted wing? Hast thou not torn the Naïad from her flood, The Elfin from the green grass, and from me The summer dream beneath the tamarind tree? * Private reasons-some of which have reference to the sin of plagiarism, and others to the date of Tennyson's first poems-have induced me, after some hesitation, to republish these, the crude compositions of my earliest boyhood. They are printed verbatim-without alteration from the original edition-the date of which is too remote to be judiciously acknowledged. E. A. P. AL AARAAF.* PART I. Oн, nothing earthly save the ray 'Twas a sweet time for Nesace-for there Away-away-'mid seas of rays that roll To distant spheres, from time to time, she rode, A star was discovered by Tycho Brahe which appeared suddenly in the heavens-attained, in a few days, a brilliancy surpassing that of Jupiter-then as suddenly disappeared, and has never been seen since. |