Amid emboldened lambs the wolf roams free; The forest sheds its leafage wild for thee; And thrice the delver stamps his foot in glee On earth, his foe. AN ENVOI Now have I reared memorial to last More durable than brass, and to o'ertop The pile of royal pyramids. No waste Of rain or ravening Boreas hath power To ruin it, nor lapse of time to come In the innumerable round of years. I shall not wholly die; great part of me Shall 'scape the Funeral Goddess. Evermore Fresh shall my honours grow, while pontiffs still Do climb the Capitol with silent maid. It shall be told where brawls the Aufidus In fury, and where Daunus poor in streams Once reigned o'er rural tribes, it shall be told That Horace rose from lowliness to fame And first adapted to Italian strains The Æolian lay. Assume the eminence, My own Melpomene, which merit won, And deign to wreath my hair in Delphic bays. VICTOR HUGO[I] Hernani _Persons in the Drama_ HERNANI A MOUNTAINEER CHARLES V. OF SPAIN A PAGE DON RICARDO SOLDIERS DON RUY GOMEZ CONSPIRATORS DOÑA SOL RETAINERS Date of action, 1519. ACT I SCENE--KING CHARLES _and some of his noblemen are creeping into the courtyard of the palace of_ DON RUY GOMEZ DE SILVA _at Saragossa. It is midnight, and the palace is dark, save for a dim light coming from a balcony window_. THE KING: Here will I wait till Doña Sol comes down. Guard every entrance. And if Hernani Attempts to fight you need not kill the man. Brigand although he is, he shall go free, If I can win his lady. DON RICARDO: Shoot the hawk If you would keep the dove. The mountaineer Is a most desperate outlaw. THE KING: Let him live. If I were not so passionately in love With Doña Sol I would help Hernani To rescue her from her old guardian. To think that Don Ruy Gomez should have kept So beautiful a girl a prisoner, And tried to marry her! Had Hernani Eloped with her before I fell in love I would have praised his courage. [_The balcony window opens, and as the noblemen retire_, DOÑA SOL _comes down_. DOÑA SOL: Hernani! THE KING (_holding her_): Sweet Doña Sol. DOÑA SOL: Oh, where is Hernani? THE KING: I am the king, King Charles. I worship you, And I will make you happy. DOÑA SOL: Hernani! Help! Help me, Hernani! [_She tries to escape_. THE KING: I am your king! I love you, Doña Sol. Come, you shall be A duchess. DOÑA SOL: No. THE KING: Princess. DOÑA SOL: No. THE KING: Queen of Spain! Yes; I will marry you if you will come. DOÑA SOL: I cannot; I love Hernani.