_Ros._ (_Alone._) He never looked so strange before; His cheeks, asudden, are grown pale and thin; His very hair seems whiter than it did. Oh, surely, 'tis a fearful trade that crowds The work of years into a single day. It may be that the sadness which I wear Hath clothed him in its own peculiar hue. The very sunshine of this cloudless day Seemed but a world of broad, white desolation-- While in my ears small melancholy bells Knolled their long, solemn and prophetic chime;-- But hark! a louder and a holier toll, Shedding its benediction on the air, Proclaims the vesper hour-- Ave Maria! [_Exit Rosalia._ SCENE III. _Giacomo and Bernardo discovered in the laboratory._ _Gia._ What say'st thou now, Bernardo? _Ber._ Let me live Or die in drawing this delicious breath, I ask no more. _Gia._ (_Aside._) Mark, how with wondering eyes He gazes on the burning crucibles, As if to drink the rising vapor with His every sense. _Ber._ Is this the balm thou spak'st of? _Gia._ Ay, sir, the same. _Ber._ Oh, would that now my heart Were torn with every grief the earth has known, Then would this sense be sweeter by tenfold! Where didst thou learn the secret, and from whom? _Gia._ From Gebber down to Paracelsus, none Have mentioned the discovery of this-- The need of it was parent of the thought. _Ber._ How long will these small crucibles hold out? _Gia._ A little while, but there are two beside, That when thy sense is toned up to the point May then be fired; and when thou breathest their fumes, Nepenthe deeper it shall seem than that Which Helen gave the guests of Menelaus. But come, thou'lt weary of this thickening air, Let us depart. _Ber._ Not for the wealth of worlds! _Gia._ Nay, but thy bride awaits thee-- _Ber._ Go to her And say I shall be there anon. _Gia._ I will. (_Aside._) Now while he stands enchained within the spell I'll to Rosalia's room and don his cloak And cap, and sally forth to meet the duke. 'Tis now the hour, and if he come--so be it. [_Exit Giacomo._ _Ber._ (_Alone._) These delicate airs seem wafted from the fields Of some celestial world. I am alone-- Then wherefore not inhale that deeper draught, That sweet nepenthe which these other two, When burning, shall dispense? 'Twere quickly done, And I will do it! (_He places the two crucibles on the furnace._)