Don Carlos

KING (to the MARQUIS, after LERMA is gone)                Nay, continue.MARQUIS (after a pause)   I feel, sire – all the worth —KING                   Proceed; you had   Yet more to say to me.MARQUIS               Your majesty,   I lately passed through Flanders and Brabant,   So many rich and blooming provinces,   Filled with a valiant, great, and honest people.   To be the father of a race like this   I thought must be divine indeed; and then   I stumbled on a heap of burnt men's bones.

[He stops, he fixes a penetrating look on the KING, who endeavors to return his glance; but he looks on the ground, embarrassed and confused.

   True, you are forced to act so; but that you   Could dare fulfil your task – this fills my soul   With shuddering horror! Oh, 'tis pity that   The victim, weltering in his blood, must cease   To chant the praises of his sacrificer!   And that mere men – not beings loftier far —   Should write the history of the world. But soon   A milder age will follow that of Philip,   An age of truer wisdom; hand in hand,   The subjects' welfare and the sovereign's greatness   Will walk in union. Then the careful state   Will spare her children, and necessity   No longer glory to be thus inhuman.KING   When, think you, would that blessed age arrive,   If I had shrunk before the curse of this?   Behold my Spain, see here the burgher's good   Blooms in eternal and unclouded peace.   A peace like this will I bestow on Flanders.MARQUIS (hastily)   The churchyard's peace! And do you hope to end   What you have now begun? Say, do you hope   To check the ripening change of Christendom,   The universal spring, that shall renew   The earth's fair form? Would you alone, in Europe,   Fling yourself down before the rapid wheel   Of destiny, which rolls its ceaseless course,   And seize its spokes with human arm. Vain thought!   Already thousands have your kingdom fled   In joyful poverty: the honest burgher   For his faith exiled, was your noblest subject!   See! with a mother's arms, Elizabeth   Welcomes the fugitives, and Britain blooms   In rich luxuriance, from our country's arts.   Bereft of the new Christian's industry,   Granada lies forsaken, and all Europe   Exulting, sees his foe oppressed with wounds,   By its own hands inflicted!

[The KING is moved; the MARQUIS observes it, and advances a step nearer.

                  You would plant   For all eternity, and yet the seeds   You sow around you are the seeds of death!   This hopeless task, with nature's laws at strife,   Will ne'er survive the spirit of its founder.   You labor for ingratitude; in vain,   With nature you engage in desperate struggle —   In vain you waste your high and royal life   In projects of destruction. Man is greater   Than you esteem him. He will burst the chains   Of a long slumber, and reclaim once more   His just and hallowed rights. With Nero's name,   And fell Busiris', will he couple yours;   And – ah! you once deserved a better fate.KING   How know you that?MARQUIS             In very truth you did —   Yes, I repeat it – by the Almighty power!   Restore us all you have deprived us of,   And, generous as strong, let happiness   Flow from your horn of plenty – let man's mind   Ripen in your vast empire – give us back   All you have taken from us – and become,   Amidst a thousand kings, a king indeed!

[He advances boldly, and fixes on him a look of earnestness and enthusiasm.

   Oh, that the eloquence of all those myriads,   Whose fate depends on this momentous hour,   Could hover on my lips, and fan the spark   That lights thine eye into a glorious flame!   Renounce the mimicry of godlike powers   Which level us to nothing. Be, in truth,   An image of the Deity himself!   Never did mortal man possess so much   For purpose so divine. The kings of Europe   Pay homage to the name of Spain. Be you   The leader of these kings. One pen-stroke now,   One motion of your hand, can new create   The earth! but grant us liberty of thought.

[Casts himself at his feet.

KING (surprised, turns away his face, then again looks towards the MARQUIS)   Enthusiast most strange! arise; but I —MARQUIS   Look round on all the glorious face of nature,   On freedom it is founded – see how rich,   Through freedom it has grown. The great Creator   Bestows upon the worm its drop of dew,   And gives free-will a triumph in abodes   Where lone corruption reigns. See your creation,   How small, how poor! The rustling of a leaf   Alarms the mighty lord of Christendom.   Each virtue makes you quake with fear. While he,   Not to disturb fair freedom's blest appearance,   Permits the frightful ravages of evil   To waste his fair domains. The great Creator   We see not – he conceals himself within   His own eternal laws. The sceptic sees   Their operation, but beholds not Him.   "Wherefore a God!" he cries, "the world itself   Suffices for itself!" And Christian prayer   Ne'er praised him more than doth this blasphemy.KING   And will you undertake to raise up this   Exalted standard of weak human nature   In my dominions?MARQUIS            You can do it, sire.   Who else? Devote to your own people's bliss   The kingly power, which has too long enriched   The greatness of the throne alone. Restore   The prostrate dignity of human nature,   And let the subject be, what once he was,   The end and object of the monarch's care,   Bound by no duty, save a brother's love.   And when mankind is to itself restored,   Roused to a sense of its own innate worth,   When freedom's lofty virtues proudly flourish —   Then, sire, when you have made your own wide realms   The happiest in the world, it then may be   Your duty to subdue the universe.KING (after a long pause)   I've heard you to the end. Far differently   I find, than in the minds of other men,   The world exists in yours. And you shall not   By foreign laws be judged. I am the first   To whom you have your secret self disclosed;   I know it – so believe it – for the sake   Of this forbearance – that you have till now   Concealed these sentiments, although embraced   With so much ardor, – for this cautious prudence.   I will forget, young man, that I have learned them,   And how I learned them. Rise! I will confute   Your youthful dreams by my matured experience,   Not by my power as king. Such is my will,   And therefore act I thus. Poison itself   May, in a worthy nature, be transformed   To some benignant use. But, sir, beware   My Inquisition! 'Twould afflict me much —MARQUIS   Indeed!KING (lost in surprise)        Ne'er met I such a man as that!   No, marquis, no! you wrong me! Not to you   Will I become a Nero – not to you! —   All happiness shall not be blasted round me,   And you at least, beneath my very eyes,   May dare continue to remain a man.MARQUIS (quickly)   And, sire, my fellow-subjects? Not for me,   Nor my own cause, I pleaded. Sire! your subjects —KING   Nay, if you know so well how future times   Will judge me, let them learn at least from you,   That when I found a man, I could respect him.MARQUIS   Oh, let not the most just of kings at once   Be the most unjust! In your realm of Flanders   There are a thousand better men than I.   But you – sire! may I dare to say so much —   For the first time, perhaps, see liberty   In milder form portrayed.KING (with gentle severity)                 No more of this,   Young man! You would, I know, think otherwise   Had you but learned to understand mankind   As I. But truly – I would not this meeting   Should prove our last. How can I hope to win you?MARQUIS   Pray leave me as I am. What value, sire,   Should I be to you were you to corrupt me?KING   This pride I will not bear. From this day forth   I hold you in my service. No remonstrance —   For I will have it so.

[After a pause.

               But how is this?   What would I now? Was it not truth I wished?   But here is something more. Marquis, so far   You've learned to know me as a king; but yet   You know me not as man —

[The MARQUIS seems to meditate.

               I understand you —   Were I the most unfortunate of fathers,   Yet as a husband may I not be blest?MARQUIS   If the possession of a hopeful son,   And a most lovely spouse, confer a claim   On mortal to assume that title, sire,   In both respects, you are supremely blest.KING (with a serious look)   That am I not – and never, till this hour,   Have I so deeply felt that I am not so.

[Contemplating the MARQUIS with a look of melancholy.

MARQUIS   The prince possesses a right noble mind.   I ne'er have known him otherwise.KING                     I have   The treasure he has robbed me of, no crown   Can e'er requite. So virtuous a queen!MARQUIS   Who dare assert it, sire?KING                 The world! and scandal!   And I myself! Here lie the damning proofs   Of doubtless guilt – and others, too, exist,   From which I fear the worst. But still 'tis hard   To trust one proof alone. Who brings the charge?   And oh! if this were possible – that she,   The queen, so foully could pollute her honor,   Then how much easier were it to believe   An Eboli may be a slanderer!   Does not that priest detest my son and her?   And can I doubt that Alva broods revenge?   My wife has higher worth than all together.MARQUIS   And there exists besides in woman's soul   A treasure, sire, beyond all outward show,   Above the reach of slander – female virtue!KING   Marquis! those thoughts are mine. It costs too much   To sink so low as they accuse the queen.   The sacred ties of honor are not broken   With so much ease, as some would fain persuade me.   Marquis, you know mankind. Just such a man   As you I long have wished for – you are kind —   Cheerful – and deeply versed in human nature —   Therefore I've chosen you —MARQUIS (surprised and alarmed)                  Me, sire!KING                       You stand   Before your king and ask no special favor —   For yourself nothing! – that is new to me —   You will be just – ne'er weakly swayed by passion.   Watch my son close – search the queen's inmost heart.   You shall have power to speak with her in private.   Retire.

[He rings a bell.

MARQUIS        And if with but one hope fulfilled   I now depart, then is this day indeed   The happiest of my life.KING (holds out his hand to him to kiss)                I hold it not   Amongst my days a lost one.

[The MARQUIS rises and goes. COUNT LERMA enters.

                  Count, in future,   The marquis is to enter, unannounced.

ACT IV

SCENE I

The Queen's Apartment.

QUEEN, DUCHESS OLIVAREZ, PRINCESS EBOLI, COUNTESS FUENTES.

QUEEN (to the first lady as she rises)   And so the key has not been found! My casket   Must be forced open then – and that at once.

[She observes PRINCESS EBOLI, who approaches and kisses her hand.

   Welcome, dear princess! I rejoice to see you   So near recovered. But you still look pale.FUENTES (with malice)   The fault of that vile fever which affects   The nerves so painfully. Is't not, princess?QUEEN   I wished to visit you, dear Eboli,   But dared not.OLIVAREZ           Oh! the Princess Eboli   Was not in want of company.QUEEN                  Why, that   I readily believe, but what's the matter?   You tremble —PRINCESS           Nothing – nothing, gracious queen.   Permit me to retire.QUEEN              You hide it from us —   And are far worse than you would have us think.   Standing must weary you. Assist her, countess,   And let her rest awhile upon that seat.PRINCESS (going)   I shall be better in the open air.QUEEN   Attend her, countess. What a sudden illness!

[A PAGE enters and speaks to the DUCHESS, who then

      addresses the QUEEN.OLIVAREZ   The Marquis Posa waits, your majesty,   With orders from the king.QUEEN                 Admit him then.

[PAGE admits the MARQUIS and exit.

SCENE II

MARQUIS POSA. The former.

The MARQUIS falls on one knee before the QUEEN, who signs to him to rise.

QUEEN   What are my lord's commands? And may I dare   Thus publicly to hear —MARQUIS                My business is   In private with your royal majesty.

[The ladies retire on a signal from the QUEEN.

SCENE III

The QUEEN, MARQUIS POSA.

QUEEN (full of astonishment)   How! Marquis, dare I trust my eyes? Are you   Commissioned to me from the king?MARQUIS                     Does this   Seem such a wonder to your majesty?   To me 'tis otherwise.QUEEN               The world must sure   Have wandered from its course! That you and he —   I must confess —MARQUIS            It does sound somewhat strange —   But be it so. The present times abound   In prodigies.QUEEN           But none can equal this.MARQUIS   Suppose I had at last allowed myself   To be converted, and had weary grown   Of playing the eccentric at the court   Of Philip. The eccentric! What is that?   He who would be of service to mankind   Must first endeavor to resemble them.   What end is gained by the vain-glorious garb   Of the sectarian? Then suppose – for who   From vanity is so completely free   As for his creed to seek no proselytes?   Suppose, I say, I had it in my mind   To place my own opinions on the throne!QUEEN   No, marquis! no! Not even in jest could I   Suspect you of so wild a scheme as this;   No visionary you! to undertake   What you can ne'er accomplish.MARQUIS                   But that seems   To be the very point at issue.QUEEN                   What   I chiefly blame you, marquis, for, and what   Could well estrange me from you – is —MARQUIS                       Perhaps   Duplicity!QUEEN         At least – a want of candor.   Perhaps the king himself has no desire   You should impart what now you mean to tell me.MARQUIS   No.QUEEN      And can evil means be justified   By honest ends? And – pardon me the doubt —   Can your high bearing stoop to such an office?   I scarce can think it.MARQUIS               Nor, indeed, could I,   Were my sole purpose to deceive the king.   'Tis not my wish – I mean to serve him now   More honestly than he himself commands.QUEEN   'Tis spoken like yourself. Enough of this —   What would the king?MARQUIS              The king? I can, it seems,   Retaliate quickly on my rigid judge   And what I have deferred so long to tell,   Your majesty, perhaps, would willingly   Longer defer to hear. But still it must   Be heard. The king requests your majesty   Will grant no audience to the ambassador   Of France to-day. Such were my high commands —   They're executed.QUEEN             Marquis, is that all   You have to tell me from him?MARQUIS                   Nearly all   That justifies me thus to seek your presence.QUEEN   Well, marquis, I'm contented not to hear   What should, perhaps, remain a secret from me.MARQUIS   True, queen! though were you other than yourself,   I should inform you straight of certain things —   Warn you of certain men – but this to you   Were a vain office. Danger may arise   And disappear around you, unperceived.   You will not know it – of too little weight   To chase the slumber from your angel brow.   But 'twas not this, in sooth, that brought me hither,   Prince Carlos —QUEEN            What of him? How have you left him?MARQUIS   E'en as the only wise man of his time,   In whom it is a crime to worship truth —   And ready, for his love to risk his life,   As the wise sage for his. I bring few words —   But here he is himself.

[Giving the QUEEN a letter.

QUEEN (after she has read it)                He says he must   Speak with me —MARQUIS            So do I.QUEEN                 And will he thus   Be happy – when he sees with his own eyes,   That I am wretched?MARQUIS              No; but more resolved,   More active.QUEEN          How?MARQUIS             Duke Alva is appointed   To Flanders.QUEEN          Yes, appointed – so I hear.MARQUIS   The king cannot retract: – we know the king.   This much is clear, the prince must not remain   Here in Madrid, nor Flanders be abandoned.QUEEN   And can you hinder it?MARQUIS               Perhaps I can,   But then the means are dangerous as the evil —   Rash as despair – and yet I know no other.QUEEN   Name them.MARQUIS         To you, and you alone, my queen,   Will I reveal them; for from you alone,   Carlos will hear them named without a shudder.   The name they bear is somewhat harsh.QUEEN                       Rebellion!MARQUIS   He must prove faithless to the king, and fly   With secrecy to Brussels, where the Flemings   Wait him with open arms. The Netherlands   Will rise at his command. Our glorious cause   From the king's son will gather matchless strength,   The Spanish throne shall tremble at his arms,   And what his sire denied him in Madrid,   That will he willingly concede in Brussels.QUEEN   You've spoken with the king to-day – and yet   Maintain all this.MARQUIS             Yes, I maintain it all,   Because I spoke with him.QUEEN (after a pause)                 The daring plan   Alarms and pleases me. You may be right —   The thought is bold, and that perhaps enchants me.   Let it but ripen. Does Prince Carlos know it?MARQUIS   It was my wish that he should hear it first   From your own lips.QUEEN              The plan is doubtless good,   But then the prince's youth —MARQUIS                   No disadvantage!   He there will find the bravest generals   Of the Emperor Charles – an Egmont and an Orange —   In battle daring, and in council wise.QUEEN (with vivacity)   True – the design is grand and beautiful!   The prince must act; I feel it sensibly.   The part he's doomed to play here in Madrid   Has bowed me to the dust on his account.   I promise him the aid of France and Savoy;   I think with you, lord marquis – he must act —   But this design needs money —MARQUIS                   It is ready.QUEEN   I, too, know means.MARQUIS              May I then give him hopes   Of seeing you?QUEEN           I will consider it.MARQUIS   The prince, my queen, is urgent for an answer.   I promised to procure it.

[Presenting his writing tablet to the QUEEN.

                 Two short lines   Will be enough.QUEEN (after she has written)            When do we meet again?MARQUIS   Whene'er you wish.QUEEN             Whene'er I wish it, marquis!   How can I understand this privilege?MARQUIS   As innocently, queen, as e'er you may.   But we enjoy it – that is sure enough.QUEEN (interrupting)   How will my heart rejoice should this become   A refuge for the liberties of Europe,   And this through him! Count on my silent aid!MARQUIS (with animation)   Right well I knew your heart would understand me.

[The DUCHESS OLIVAREZ enters.

QUEEN (coldly to the MARQUIS)   My lord! the king's commands I shall respect   As law. Assure him of the queen's submission.

[She makes a sign to him. Exit MARQUIS.

SCENE IV

A Gallery.

DON CARLOS, COUNT LERMA.

CARLOS   Here we are undisturbed. What would you now   Impart to me?LERMA           Your highness has a friend   Here at the court.CARLOS (starting)             A friend! I knew it not!   But what's your meaning?LERMA                I must sue for pardon   That I am learned in more than I should know.   But for your highness' comfort I've received it   From one I may depend upon – in short,   I have it from myself.CARLOS               Whom speak you of?LERMA   The Marquis Posa.CARLOS             What!LERMA                And if your highness   Has trusted to him more of what concerns you   Than every one should know, as I am led   To fear —CARLOS         You fear!LERMA              He has been with the king.CARLOS   Indeed!LERMA        Two hours in secret converse too.CARLOS   Indeed!LERMA        The subject was no trifling matter.CARLOS   That I can well believe.LERMA                And several times   I heard your name.CARLOS             That's no bad sign, I hope.LERMA   And then, this morning, in the king's apartment,   The queen was spoken of mysteriously.CARLOS (starts back astonished)   Count Lerma!LERMA          When the marquis had retired   I was commanded to admit his lordship   In future unannounced.CARLOS               Astonishing!LERMA   And without precedent do I believe,   Long as I served the king —CARLOS                  'Tis strange, indeed!   How did you say the queen was spoken of?LERMA (steps back)   No, no, my prince! that were against my duty.CARLOS   'Tis somewhat strange! One secret you impart.   The other you withhold.LERMA                The first was due   To you, the other to the king.CARLOS                   You're right.LERMA   And still I've thought you, prince, a man of honor.CARLOS   Then you have judged me truly.LERMA                   But all virtue   Is spotless till it's tried.CARLOS                  Some stand the trial.LERMA   A powerful monarch's favor is a prize   Worth seeking for; and this alluring bait   Has ruined many a virtue.CARLOS                 Truly said!LERMA   And oftentimes 'tis prudent to discover —   What scarce can longer be concealed.CARLOS                      Yes, prudent   It may be, but you say you've ever known   The marquis prove himself a man of honor.LERMA   And if he be so still my fears are harmless,   And you become a double gainer, prince.

[Going.

CARLOS (follows him with emotion, and presses his hand)   Trebly I gain, upright and worthy man,   I gain another friend, nor lose the one   Whom I before possessed.

[Exit LERMA.

SCENE V

MARQUIS POSA comes through the gallery. CARLOS.

MARQUIS                Carlos! My Carlos!CARLOS   Who calls me? Ah! 'tis thou – I was in haste   To gain the convent! You will not delay.

[Going.

MARQUIS   Hold! for a moment.CARLOS              We may be observed.MARQUIS   No chance of that. 'Tis over now. The queen —CARLOS   You've seen my father.MARQUIS               Yes! he sent for me.CARLOS (full of expectation)   Well!MARQUIS       'Tis all settled – you may see the queen.CARLOS   Yes! but the king! What said the king to you?MARQUIS   Not much. Mere curiosity to learn   My history. The zeal of unknown friends —   I know not what. He offered me employment.CARLOS   Which you, of course, rejected?MARQUIS                    Yes, of courseCARLOS   How did you separate?MARQUIS               Oh, well enough!CARLOS   And was I mentioned?MARQUIS              Yes; in general terms.

[Taking out a pocketbook and giving it to the PRINCE.

   See here are two lines written by the queen,   To-morrow I will settle where and how.CARLOS (reads it carelessly, puts the tablet in his pocket, and is going)   You'll meet me at the prior's?MARQUIS                   Yes! But stay   Why in such haste? No one is coming hither.CARLOS (with a forced smile)   Have we in truth changed characters? To-day   You seem so bold and confident.MARQUIS                    To-day —   Wherefore to-day?CARLOS             What writes the queen to me?MARQUIS   Have you not read this instant?CARLOS                    I? Oh yes.MARQUIS   What is't disturbs you now?CARLOS (reads the tablet again, delighted and fervently)                  Angel of Heaven!   I will be so, – I will be worthy of thee.   Love elevates great minds. So come what may,   Whatever thou commandest, I'll perform.   She writes that I must hold myself prepared   For a great enterprise! What can she mean?   Dost thou not know?MARQUIS              And, Carlos, if I knew,   Say, art thou now prepared to hear it from me?CARLOS   Have I offended thee? I was distracted.   Roderigo, pardon me.MARQUIS              Distracted! How?CARLOS   I scarcely know! But may I keep this tablet?MARQUIS   Not so! I came to ask thee for thine own.CARLOS   My tablet! Why?MARQUIS            And whatsoever writings   You have, unfit to meet a stranger's eye —   Letters or memorandums, and in short,   Your whole portfolio.CARLOS               Why?MARQUIS                  That we may be   Prepared for accidents. Who can prevent   Surprise? They'll never seek them in my keeping.   Here, give them to me —CARLOS (uneasy)                Strange! What can it mean?MARQUIS   Be not alarmed! 'Tis nothing of importance   A mere precaution to prevent surprise.   You need not be alarmed!CARLOS (gives him the portfolio)                Be careful of it.MARQUIS   Be sure I will.CARLOS (looks at him significantly)            I give thee much, Roderigo!MARQUIS   Not more than I have often had from thee.   The rest we'll talk of yonder. Now farewell.

[Going.

CARLOS (struggling with himself, then calls him back)   Give me my letters back; there's one amongst them   The queen addressed to me at Alcala,   When I was sick to death. Still next my heart   I carry it; to take this letter from me   Goes to my very soul. But leave me that,   And take the rest.

[He takes it out, and returns the portfolio.

MARQUIS             I yield unwillingly —   For 'twas that letter which I most required.CARLOS   Farewell!

[He goes away slowly, stops a moment at the door, turns back again, and brings him the letter.