Julián, Governor of Ceuta, active 711 -- Drama; Spain -- History -- 711-1516 -- Drama; Tragedies (Drama)
[_Julian looks sternly on the ground and does not answer_.
Pardon me not, then—but with purer lips
Implore of God, who _would_ hear _thee_, to pardon.
_Jul._ Hope it I may—pronounce it—O Roderigo!
Ask it of him who can; I too will ask,
And, in my own transgressions, pray for thine.
_Rod._ One name I dare not—
_Jul._ Go—abstain from that,
I do conjure thee; raise not in my soul
Again the tempest that has wrecked my fame;
Thou shalt not breathe in the same clime with her.
Far o’er the unebbing sea thou shalt adore
The eastern star, and—may thy end be peace.
ACT IV. SCENE 2.
JULIAN _and_ HERNANDO.
_Her._ From the prince Tarik I am sent, my lord.
_Jul._ A welcome messager, my brave Hernando.
How fares it with the gallant soul of Tarik.
_Her._ Most joyfully; he scarcely had pronounced
Your glorious name, and bidden me urge your speed,
Than, with a voice as though it answered heaven,
_He shall confound them in their dark designs_
Cried he—and turn’d away, with that swift stride
Wherewith he meets and quells his enemies.
_Jul._ Alas, I cannot bear felicitation,
Who shunned it even in felicity.
_Her._ Often we hardly think ourselves the happy
Unless we hear it said by those around.
O my lord Julian, how your praises cheer’d
Our poor endeavours! sure, all hearts are open
Lofty and low, wise and unwise, to praise.
Even the departed spirit hovers round
Our blessings and our prayers; the corse itself
Hath shined with other light than the still stars
Shedd on its rest, or the dim taper, nigh.
My father, old men say, who saw him dead
And heard your lips pronounce him good and happy,
Smiled faintly thro’ the quiet gloom, that eve,
And the shroud throbbed upon his grateful breast.
Howe’er it be, many who tell the tale
Are good and happy from that voice of praise.
His guidance and example were denied
My youth and childhood: what I am I owe—
_Jul._ Hernando, look not back: a narrow path
And arduous lies before thee, if thou stop
Thou fallest; go right onward, nor observe
Closely and rigidly another’s way,
But, free and active, follow up thy own.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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