long absence won
By some more worthy suitor, would withdraw,
Keep the rest too, for to be wretched in
I have this whole vast world for heritage.

FLERIDA. My hand and heart my father plighted thee
Upon the morning when he dubbed thee knight.
Both shall be true. If other ground were lacking,
My father's choice were ground enough for love.

PALMERIN. Nay, let not duty and thy father's will
Force thee to wed me. Bid thy heart pronounce.

FLERIDA. A holy love is not the fancy's choice.
A mother cherishes the child she bore,
Nature's dear gift, bestowed with many a pang
And weary vigil and sweet fluttering joy
That flies over a sea of brooding care.
A father is not chosen but revered,
For God appointed him. 'T is destiny,
And no man's wayward will, binds brothers, kindred,
And childhood's friends in everlasting bonds.
Our native land we chose not, nor our king,
Nor our first sovereign, God. All sacred ties
Are woven round us by the hand of heaven
And therefore bear us up. Let homeless traitors
Reject their lot, like fallen Lucifer
Wretched 'neath every sky; let the false rabble
Change with the moon its despicable chiefs;
Let the vain fop and goaded libertine
Pick their poor pleasures, and adulterous spirits
Pursue a phantom down the drifts of hell.
But we will breathe the air that quickened us
And see by this same light that gave us eyes,
Here rooted where God sowed us, flowering here
Where we have grown, making our constancy
A pivot for this wheeling universe.
Ah! 't is a fickle and unholy fondness
Springs from caprice of will. Who doteth once
May dote again, for who shall fetter fancy?
As thou couldst bare thy breast to fortune's arrows
Undaunted, for thy hope was all in God
And life or death must crown it, so my bosom,
Enshrining his good gifts, is satisfied
And cannot speak again. Him heaven gave me
Shall be my lord and my unchangeable love.

PALMERIN. O constant lady! Let me then thank heaven,
That graced me with the treasure of thy troth.
Rejoice with me, my comrades. Say no more
That time has parted us, and devious chances
Governed our lives. How now, is this good Carl?
And little Hugh, so grown? And thou, old gossip,
Goes thy rheum better now the season warms?
But where is Ulric?

FLERIDA. Thou shalt know anon.
First bid the people give us leave awhile.

PALMERIN. Make ready, then; we follow you.

[Exeunt all save PALMERIN and FLERIDA.

Dear saint,
Is this a vision or a waking truth
In which I see thee, smiling on my hopes,
As only visions smile on Jack-a-dreams?
How often have I dreamt between two battles
Thou stoodest thus above me in the dusk
Half joy, half courage!

FLERIDA. Haply't was my prayer,
For prayer hath wings to travel in the night.

PALMERIN. Didst thou remember

FLERIDA. Not as others pray.
What need of blessings to protest I loved thee,
When benediction rose with every breath
From my dumb heart to thee? Awake, adream,
In woodland rambles or in household tasks,
I moved in thy love's presence as in God's,
One deity to me.

PALMERIN. How undeserving,
Fair angel, are my merits of thy love!
How could I win it!

FLERIDA. Ah, if God can love thee,
Why should a mortal give a cause for love?

PALMERIN. They say God loves us all.

FLERIDA. Such pitying love
Is his alone who knows the unsullied spirit
Shrouded at birth beneath this fleshly coil,
And can divine the stature of that virtue
Each yet might climb to. But in thee declared
Shine, Palmerin, the hopes of all the world.
What God beheld and destined when he called thee
Out of the void, he granted me to see
First through the haze of maiden dreams and now
With the deep glance of woman.

PALMERIN. Then in sooth
'T was no vain fancy, as the learned say,
That made thy silent presence cross my path
Where'er I turned, for if I slept my dream
Painted thy smile, and when the vision fled
The sunlit fountain met me with thy gaze.
If the birds chirruped, it was Flerida,
And Flerida if any minstrel sang.
Thy mien was in the lilies, the thin clouds
Contrived thy garments' fashion, and thy courage
Breathed from the mountains to renew my soul.
Nor was there need, for in these tables here
Thy name, thy looks, thy words, thy noble ways
Were graven deep, and, as the gaudy shadows
Stalked by me which men take for beauteous thing,
I laughed to scorn each feeble counterfeit,
And cried to the sweet image in my soul
How much more bright thou wast and beautiful.
Little I thought the love that brought me blessing
Brought sorrow here to thee.

FLERIDA. If it brought sorrow
That grief was consecrate and offered up
To aid thy noble venture. 'T was my hope
That thy young sinews in a dreamless sleep
Might knit them for the battle, while my vigils
Kept trimmed thy spirit's lamp; so might thy valour,
Fed on my sorrow's riches, greet the morn
With more unsullied and resplendent rays
Than her own shining, and the wondering world
Should praise thy happy courage, little knowing
The hidden might of love that nerved thy arm
And taught thy blithe soul singing.

PALMERIN. Flerida,
Though I should give thee all ray life and blood,
My honour and immortal soul, 't were nothing
By what thou gavest first, and rendering all
That should owe thee this sweet privilege
Of having lived and loved thee.

Re-enter NURSE.

NURSE. Loitering still?
Come, come, the supper's spoiling.

FLERIDA [pointing to the castle]. Wilt thou take
Possession of thy poor inheritance?

PALMERIN. 'Tis poor indeed, a case without its jewel,
Till thou be mine.

FLERIDA. Thou hast my plighted troth.

PALMERIN. Ah, pay the debt! my heart has waited long.

FLERIDA. No priest is in attendance, Palmerin.
Till one be duly summoned and arrive
I am my father's hostage in thy hands
Entrusted to thy love and chivalry.

PALMERIN. I long have bivouacked, lady, 'neath the stars,
And I shall better rest beneath their light
While I am still an exile from thy bosom.
Let me not change the canopy of heaven
Except for heaven's self. Before this shrine
I watched my virgin arms on the proud eve
Of my first knighting. On this prouder vigil
Let me hold silent session with my heart
Again before this altar, keeping watch
Over this sweeter boon, my virgin bride
To be to-morrow mine.

FLERIDA