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Discovering Diverse Content Through
Random Scribd Documents
The Project Gutenberg eBook of Poetical
Works of Robert Bridges, Volume 5
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United
States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with
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laws of the country where you are located before using this
eBook.

Title: Poetical Works of Robert Bridges, Volume 5

Author: Robert Bridges

Release date: January 20, 2018 [eBook #56406]

Language: English

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK POETICAL

WORKS OF ROBERT BRIDGES, VOLUME 5 ***
 Poetical Works
of
ROBERT BRIDGES
 Volume V
London
Smith, Elder & Co.
15 Waterloo Place
1902
 OXFORD: HORACE HART
PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY
 POETICAL WORKS OF
ROBERT BRIDGES

VOLUME THE FIFTH

CONTAINING
THE CHRISTIAN CAPTIVES p. 1
HUMOURS OF THE COURT 127
NOTES 293
 LIST OF PREVIOUS EDITIONS

CHRISTIAN CAPTIVES.
1. THE CHRISTIAN CAPTIVES. A Tragedy
in Five Acts in a mixed manner.
Published by Ewd. Bumpus. Holborn
Bars. London, 1890. 4to. pp. 101-116.
HUMOURS OF THE COURT
1. THE HUMOURS OF THE COURT. A
Comedy in Three Acts. Published by
Geo. Bell & Sons and J. and E.
Bumpus, Lim. London. 4to. pp. 147-
181 [1893].
 THE CHRISTIAN
CAPTIVES

A TRAGEDY
IN A MIXED MANNER

DRAMATIS PERSONÆ
KING OF FEZ.
ALMEH his daughter.
SALA BEN SALA his General.
TARUDANTE Prince of Morocco.

}
FERDINAND
Princes of Portugal.
ENRIQUE
ZAPEL maid to Almeh.

CHORUS OF CHRISTIAN CAPTIVES.

Soldiers, Guards, and Messengers.
The scene is in the garden of a castle of the King of Fez, by the sea.
CHRISTIAN
CAPTIVES

ACT · I
 ALMEH and ZAPEL.
ALMEH.
Why never came we here before? To think
I have lived for eighteen years shut up in Fez,
Hemmed by the sandy desert, and all the while
There was the sea! To have never seen the sea!
ZAPEL.
If thou hadst ever seen it, where were now
Thy joy? ’tis novelty makes the delight.
To them that in this castle dwell, the sea
Is as the desert was to us at Fez.
Al. Custom will dull the sense of any pleasure.
But set them down at Fez, would they not pine? 10
There’s life in the air. ’Twixt yon blue roomy dome
And watery pavement the young winds charge forth
Stored with refreshment: now we taste the springs
Man’s spirit should drink, the very mountain torrent
Of heaven, that were content to slake our throats’
Immortal thirst at stagnant pools. What, Zapel,
Is the limit of our stay? now I am here,
I would abide for ever.
Za. I know as little
As thou. The king, thy sire, came here to fight
The unbelievers: when they are beaten back 20
We shall go home. But why he sent for thee
I cannot guess.
Al. Last night I know not, Zapel,
Whether I slept or waked,—
Za. Nor could I sleep.
Al. But as I lay and listened to the sea,
I plainly heard a waft of singing voices,
That rose and fell and died anon away,
 y,
Whiling the dark with some sweet lullaby.
Za. Why, ’twas the Christian captives that thou heardst.
Al. Ah! prisoners in the castle: I had forgot:
’Twas told me. And they are Christians! Can it be
They sing so sweetly?
Za. Nay, I call it not sweet. 31
’Tis sadder than the moaning of the wind
To hear them praise their god.
Al. True, it was sad:
Unearthly it seemed. Now more than ever, Zapel,
I am glad I came; if there be Christians here,
And I may come to see them. All my life
I have heard strange things of them, and wondered much
What they were like. I’ll speak with them.
Za. Ha! ha!
Al. Why not?
Za. They lie chained in a noisome pit,
Where ’tis impossible to come.
Al. Who be they? 40
What is their fault?
Za. They are captives in the war.
Al. My father doth not use his captives so.
Za. They are unbelievers.
Al. True: yet that’s no crime
But what they might impute to us. Were we
In their hands fallen, thus cut off from our homes,
’Twere cruel to be tortured for the faith.
Za. They are worthless dogs.
Al. Alas! is all my teaching
So cast away upon thy boorish soul?
Pity makes brethren of our enemies.
Za. Forgive me, lady; I spoke in haste; and yet—
I would that thou couldst think as I.
Al. Indeed, 51
That were attainment. Vex me not, I bid thee;
But plan with me how I may see these captives:
Were’t but to have them sing to me I’d do it:
But curiosity and pity alike
Move me. If man is cruel, ’tis woman’s part
To ease the suffering which she cannot hinder.
Za. How wouldst thou see them?
Al. I shall ask my father
To grant them, if it be but once a day,
To walk at liberty within the walls. 60

Za. ’Tis pity Sala is not here.

Al. Thy meaning?
Za. The general hath the keeping of the castle,
And he would work thy way in any wish,
Howe’er preposterous.
Al. And thou sayst not ill.
Sala is approachable and kind at heart:
’Tis pity he is away. [Trumpets heard without.
Za. Here comes the king;
He bade me shew thee hither in the garden,
And here will look to find thee.
Al. Go, I bid thee,
And tell him that I am here. [Exit Zapel.
Now shall I know why I was sent for hither. 70
Would ’twere to take this castle for my own,
With no more retinue than might suffice
To till this garden, and to cook my food.
I’d win these Christian captives to my service
 p y
For ministers and minstrels; ay, and they
Should row me on the water. I’d have my books
In the northern tower, where set on high my lamp,
Forestalling darkness with its seaward ray,
Sailors should look for, and on tranquil nights
Hear solemn music faintly, and believe 80
There was enchantment. Could I have my will,
So would I live. And where’s the gain to be
The daughter of a king, if every wish
Nearest one’s heart is of like course denied,
As to the meanest peasant ... when one word,
One nod could grant it?
Enter King.
KING.
Almeh! my rose of June!
Queen of my gardens, flower of all my kingdom!
Al. Honour be thine, my sire.
K. I bring thee joy.
Hast thou not wondered why I sent for thee?
Al. Why was it? I long to know.
K. (giving). See for thyself. 90

Al. A picture!
K. ’Tis a portrait.
Al. And of whom?
K. Dost thou not guess who this young Kaled is:
This high and dauntless brow, this stalwart arm,
Keen eye and martial poise?
Al. If this be he,
Who made of late entreaty for my hand,
Prince Tarudante ...
K A happy omen Ay
 K. A happy omen. Ay,
Look, girl, and love him, for he wooes thee well
With all Morocco.
Al. Yet I cannot love
Thy wish to banish me so far.
K. Thy marriage
Will bring Morocco nearer, and renew 100
Our old alliance: for thy valiant lover
Comes not with gold to woo thee, but sharp steel.
His flag is black, his ceremonious train
Are twenty thousand horsemen sworn to avenge
The Prophet.... Ceuta will be mine.
Al. Ah, sire!
I like not love that comes with war to woo.
K. But war that shall bring peace, whose lasting olive
May not be sceptred in my hand, until
This fallen jewel be set back in my crown.
Thy marriage with Morocco shall wipe out 110
The old dishonour that hath vexed my reign.
Al. And yet doth Ceuta, sire, in all thy kingdom
Rank as a little town.
K. Thou art a woman;
How can I show thee? This anemone,
’Tis beautiful, nor canst thou say its grace
Resides in this part nor in that: but look;
I pluck a petal from it.—Thou beholdest
My kingdom without Ceuta. Wouldst thou wish
To set this back unto the perfect flower?
Al. How could I do it?
K. I must tell thee all. 120
Our ancestors, thou knowest, blest be their names,
Long ruled in Spain, and made that coign of the earth
The glory of all; but to the peaceful arts
h h h l
Turning their genius when they sat to rule,
Their prudence slept: for that half-barbarous race,
Whom conquering they had spared, grew up more apt
In arms, and rising ’gainst our easy folk
O’erthrew and dispossest them;—and, not content
To have driven us out of Spain, pursued us hither,
Where in our southern bounds we lived retired 130
Behind the ocean as an ample shield.
’Twas in thy grandsire’s time, ere thou wert born,
They did this wrong; the boastful Portuguese
Swoln with malevolence,—why should I say it?—
King Joam and his sons, all unprovoked,
For we had oaths of peace, attacked us here
With sudden treacherous assault, and seized
Ceuta, our strongest barrier thitherward.
Impregnable we deemed it, and indeed
Impregnable have found it ’gainst ourselves 140
For twenty years besieging it in vain.
Then should this shame, unbearable to us,
Prove but incitement to our foes, a foothold
For further wresting. Two months have not passed
Since that a new Armada sailed from Tagus
Against Tangiers, and both by land and sea
Beleaguering would have reft that city too,
And added my dishonour to my father’s,
Had not Ben Sala’s generalship o’ermatched
Their most infernal malice. Praised be Allah! 150
They fell, they fled; and such as fled not lie
Dead on our sands, or in our dungeons chained.
Al. Are those the captives in the castle pit?
K. Ay, but thou breakst my tale;—mark what I tell.—
The victory mine, I looked to make fair peace,
And would have given my prisoners in exchange
For Ceuta; but the prince of Portugal,
Behind those walls retired, refused the ransom;
And gathe ing einfo cement hath come fo th
And gathering reinforcement hath come forth
To devastate the country. ’Tis ’gainst him 160
That Sala marched five days ago. Meanwhile
Morocco, who was treating for thy hand,
Heard tidings of our war, and having now
An armament collected ’gainst the tribes,
Has turned it to my rescue. ’Twas for this
I sent for thee; in furtherance of thy marriage;
Hoping thereby to bind him in the terms
I have to tell thee. However Sala fare,
And hitherto no news comes from his camp,
’Twere no achievement worthy of Tarudante 170
To make dispersal of a broken foe:
I shall propose a greater enterprise;
I’ll say ’Thou wilt not grudge to sweep the bounds
Of the fair realm, whose heiress thou wouldst wed.
Make we this compact—Win me Ceuta back
And drive the idolaters across the sea,
Ere thou take home my daughter for thy queen.’
Al. But doth Morocco, sire, know I am here?
K. Nay, nor myself knew, when I sent for thee,
How ’twould fall out: ’twas timed most happily. 180

Al. But coming not to woo, may he not find

Offence in the constraint; as I confess
I feel to lay it on him, tho’my lover?
K. Nay, nay, girl; he is in earnest; meet him frankly;
’Tis by his love thou shalt restore my town.
Enter Messenger.
MESSENGER.
News from the army, Sire.
K. Thou lookest black:
What is it? speak.
Mess O mighty king ’tis ill
 Mess. O mighty king, tis ill.
Sala ben Sala’s forces were attacked
At nightfall by the Christians. In the dark
Was battle waged. By morn what men remained 190
And all the camp were captive.
K. God forbid!
Five thousand men were there: be none escaped?
Mess. Such as in darkness fled.
K. And fledst thou thence?
Mess. The general sent me on.
K. And what of him?
Mess. The dawn discovered him, when all was lost,
Fighting on foot upon a little hill,
Surrounded by the foe; when seeing no hope,
He made surrender to the Christian leader,
Who gave him liberty. Thus far to tell
He bade, and that he followed speedily. 200

K. When will he come?

Mess. Sire, tho’I used all duty,
He hath overtaken me and dismounts without.
K. Go, wait upon him. [Exit Messenger.
Accursed be the seed
Of these idolaters. Five thousand men,
The best in Fez: the right arm of my power
Lost in one night. Five thousand men were there.
Ah! by God’s holiest names!
Al. Thank heaven, dear father,
The best is saved, if Sala be escaped.
K. True, girl: and from the ill there’s good to come:
Their victory will lead these devils on. 210
Ay, they will come. They know not of Morocco;
They run into a trap.
 Al. Will you make peace?
K. God bids us smite these hogs: I would that hell
Were deeper to receive them.
Enter Sala.
Sala ben Sala, peace be with thee!
SALA.
The peace of heaven be thine, my king!
K. Thou comest
Most swiftly from the battle.
Sa. With less haste
Than needed; but fatigue and wounds delayed me.
What see I? The princess here! Alas, alas!
O my disaster!
Al. Now I thank God, Sala, 220
That thou’rt alive.
Sa. To such shame is not good.
Sire, while there’s time, escape; and leave me here
To hold the castle for thee as I may.
K. Have thou no fear, Sala. My daughter, go:
Leave us alone: or better sit thou there,
And hear what Sala tells: and, Sala, thou
Begin the tale, for which thy messenger
Hath well prepared my ear. Here is thy seat.
Sa. Hear then, my liege, what happened, as I tell.
(Aside.) Yet how to tell my shame in Almeh’s ears?—
’Tis the fifth day since thou didst send me forth 231
Against the Christian bands, which as we learned
Harassed the plains of Ceuta.—Thither I marched
Four thousand strong, besides our cavalry
And bowmen: Here and there some small encounters
Drove back the foe within the gates, and then
I made return, establishing the country
And strengthening the garrisons, nor heard
That any greater force had come afield:
When yesterday at noon our scouts espied 240
The flash of arms and dust of troops moving
Among the hills: thither we turned our face,
And had no fear but for the foe’s escape,
Nor guessed how much the lurking enemy
Outmatched our weakened numbers. What surprise,—
I blame myself,—then, when our scouts came in
At sunset with the tidings that the foe,
Whom we thought flying from us, held the pass
Against our coming. Straight I chose a spot
Such as we might defend, and there encamped, 250
And would have stayed till morn, when suddenly
The stragglers on our rear were driven in
By horse that fell upon our flank; and soon
I heard our front engaged. The moon to them,
—That was our peril,—the accursed yellow moon
Exposed our camp, while in the shadowy glens
The night hid their attack: our disposition
Was else not ill. Taking sufficient force,
I turned to clear the rear; but in the dark
Met with great numbers. How we fought God knows,
Surrounded on all hands. If any fled 261
I cannot guess: but battling there till dawn,
I saw at daybreak there were left with me
But hundreds against thousands. Then to save
The needless slaughter, I gave up my sword
Unto the Christian leader, Ferdinand
Of Portugal; nor ever had here returned
To speak of the disaster, but that prince,
Clement as valiant, questioned courteously
My name, and hearing it returned my sword, 270
And bidding me choose out from all his suite
What horse I fancied,—for my own was killed,—
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