No More Learning

_Bar. _ How bears the Doge
This last calamity?

_Offi. _ With desperate firmness.
In presence of another he says little,
But I perceive his lips move now and then;
And once or twice I heard him, from the adjoining
Apartment, mutter forth the words--"My son! "
Scarce audibly. I must proceed. [_Exit Officer_.

_Bar. _ This stroke
Will move all Venice in his favour.

_Lor. _ Right! 350
We must be speedy: let us call together
The delegates appointed to convey
The Council's resolution.

_Bar. _ I protest
Against it at this moment.

_Lor. _ As you please--
I'll take their voices on it ne'ertheless,
And see whose most may sway them, yours or mine.
[_Exeunt_ BARBARIGO _and_ LOREDANO.




ACT V.


SCENE I. --_The_ DOGE'S _Apartment_.

_The_ DOGE _and Attendants_.

_Att. _ My Lord, the deputation is in waiting;
But add, that if another hour would better
Accord with your will, they will make it theirs.

_Doge_. To me all hours are like. Let them approach.
[_Exit Attendant_.

_An Officer_. Prince! I have done your bidding.

_Doge_. What command?

_Offi. _ A melancholy one--to call the attendance
Of----

_Doge_. True--true--true: I crave your pardon. I
Begin to fail in apprehension, and
Wax very old--old almost as my years.
Till now I fought them off, but they begin 10
To overtake me.

_Enter the Deputation, consisting of six of the Signory
and the Chief of the Ten_.

Noble men, your pleasure!

_Chief of the Ten_. In the first place, the Council doth condole
With the Doge on his late and private grief.

_Doge_. No more--no more of that.

_Chief of the Ten_. Will not the Duke
Accept the homage of respect?

_Doge_. I do
Accept it as 'tis given--proceed.

_Chief of the Ten_. "The Ten,"
With a selected giunta from the Senate
Of twenty-five of the best born patricians,
Having deliberated on the state
Of the Republic, and the o'erwhelming cares 20
Which, at this moment, doubly must oppress
Your years, so long devoted to your Country,
Have judged it fitting, with all reverence,
Now to solicit from your wisdom (which
Upon reflection must accord in this),
The resignation of the ducal ring,
Which you have worn so long and venerably:
And to prove that they are not ungrateful, nor
Cold to your years and services, they add
An appanage of twenty hundred golden 30
Ducats, to make retirement not less splendid
Than should become a Sovereign's retreat.

_Doge_. Did I hear rightly?

_Chief of the Ten_. Need I say again?

_Doge_. No. --Have you done?

_Chief of the Ten_. I have spoken. Twenty four[77]
Hours are accorded you to give an answer.

_Doge_. I shall not need so many seconds.

_Chief of the Ten_. We
Will now retire.

_Doge_. Stay! four and twenty hours
Will alter nothing which I have to say.

_Chief of the Ten_. Speak!

_Doge_. When I twice before reiterated
My wish to abdicate, it was refused me: 40
And not alone refused, but ye exacted
An oath from me that I would never more
Renew this instance. I have sworn to die
In full exertion of the functions, which
My Country called me here to exercise,
According to my honour and my conscience--
I cannot break _my_ oath.

_Chief of the Ten_. Reduce us not
To the alternative of a decree,
Instead of your compliance.

_Doge_. Providence
Prolongs my days to prove and chasten me; 50
But ye have no right to reproach my length
Of days, since every hour has been the Country's.
I am ready to lay down my life for her,
As I have laid down dearer things than life:
But for my dignity--I hold it of
The _whole_ Republic: when the _general_ will
Is manifest, then you shall all be answered.

_Chief of the Ten_. We grieve for such an answer; but it cannot
Avail you aught.

_Doge_. I can submit to all things,
But nothing will advance; no, not a moment. 60
What you decree--decree.

_Chief of the Ten_. With this, then, must we
Return to those who sent us?

_Doge_. You have heard me.

_Chief of the Ten_. With all due reverence we retire.
[_Exeunt the Deputation, etc. _

_Enter an Attendant_.

_Att. _ My Lord,
The noble dame Marina craves an audience.

_Doge_. My time is hers.

_Enter_ MARINA.

_Mar. _ My Lord, if I intrude--
Perhaps you fain would be alone?

_Doge_. Alone!
Alone, come all the world around me, I
Am now and evermore. But we will bear it.

_Mar. _ We will, and for the sake of those who are,
Endeavour----Oh, my husband!

_Doge_. Give it way: 70
I cannot comfort thee.

_Mar. _ He might have lived,
So formed for gentle privacy of life,
So loving, so beloved; the native of
Another land, and who so blest and blessing
As my poor Foscari? Nothing was wanting
Unto his happiness and mine save not
To be Venetian.

_Doge_. Or a Prince's son.

_Mar. _ Yes; all things which conduce to other men's
Imperfect happiness or high ambition,
By some strange destiny, to him proved deadly. 80
The Country and the People whom he loved,
The Prince of whom he was the elder born,
And----

_Doge_. Soon may be a Prince no longer.

_Mar. _ How?

_Doge_. They have taken my son from me, and now aim
At my too long worn diadem and ring.
Let them resume the gewgaws!

_Mar. _ Oh, the tyrants!
In such an hour too!

_Doge_. 'Tis the fittest time;
An hour ago I should have felt it.

_Mar. _ And
Will you not now resent it? --Oh, for vengeance!
But he, who, had he been enough protected, 90
Might have repaid protection in this moment,
Cannot assist his father.

_Doge_. Nor should do so
Against his Country, had he a thousand lives
Instead of that----

_Mar. _ They tortured from him. This
May be pure patriotism. I am a woman:
To me my husband and my children were
Country and home. I loved _him_--how I loved him!
I have seen him pass through such an ordeal as
The old martyrs would have shrunk from: he is gone,
And I, who would have given my blood for him, 100
Have nought to give but tears! But could I compass
The retribution of his wrongs! --Well, well!
I have sons, who shall be men.

_Doge_. Your grief distracts you.

_Mar. _ I thought I could have borne it, when I saw him
Bowed down by such oppression; yes, I thought
That I would rather look upon his corse
Than his prolonged captivity:--I am punished
For that thought now. Would I were in his grave!

_Doge_. I must look on him once more.

_Mar. _ Come with me!

_Doge_. Is he----

_Mar. _ Our bridal bed is now his bier, 110

_Doge_. And he is in his shroud!

_Mar. _ Come, come, old man!
[_Exeunt the_ DOGE _and_ MARINA.

_Enter_ BARBARIGO _and_ LOREDANO.

_Bar. _ (_to an Attendant_). Where is the Doge?

_Att. _ This instant retired hence,
With the illustrious lady his son's widow.

_Lor. _ Where?

_Att. _ To the chamber where the body lies.

_Bar. _ Let us return, then.

_Lor. _ You forget, you cannot.
We have the implicit order of the Giunta
To await their coming here, and join them in
Their office: they'll be here soon after us.

_Bar. _ And will they press their answer on the Doge?

_Lor. _ 'Twas his own wish that all should be done promptly. 120
He answered quickly, and must so be answered;
His dignity is looked to, his estate
Cared for--what would he more?

_Bar. _ Die in his robes:
He could not have lived long; but I have done
My best to save his honours, and opposed
This proposition to the last, though vainly.
Why would the general vote compel me hither?

_Lor. _ 'Twas fit that some one of such different thoughts
From ours should be a witness, lest false tongues
Should whisper that a harsh majority 130
Dreaded to have its acts beheld by others.

_Bar. _ And not less, I must needs think, for the sake
Of humbling me for my vain opposition.
You are ingenious, Loredano, in
Your modes of vengeance, nay, poetical,
A very Ovid in the art of _hating_;
'Tis thus (although a secondary object,
Yet hate has microscopic eyes), to you
I owe, by way of foil to the more zealous,
This undesired association in 140
Your Giunta's duties.

_Lor. _ How! --_my_ Giunta!

_Bar. _ _Yours! _
They speak your language, watch your nod, approve
Your plans, and do your work. Are they not _yours? _

_Lor. _ You talk unwarily. 'Twere best they hear not
This from you.

_Bar. _ Oh! they'll hear as much one day
From louder tongues than mine; they have gone beyond
Even their exorbitance of power: and when
This happens in the most contemned and abject
States, stung humanity will rise to check it.

_Lor. _ You talk but idly.

_Bar. _ That remains for proof. 150
Here come our colleagues.
_Enter the Deputation as before_.

_Chief of the Ten_. Is the Duke aware
We seek his presence?

_Att. _ He shall be informed.
[_Exit Attendant_.

_Bar. _ The Duke is with his son.

_Chief of the Ten_. If it be so,
We will remit him till the rites are over.
Let us return. 'Tis time enough to-morrow.

_Lor. _ (_aside to Bar_. ) Now the rich man's hell-fire upon your tongue,
Unquenched, unquenchable! I'll have it torn
From its vile babbling roots, till you shall utter
Nothing but sobs through blood, for this! Sage Signors,
I pray ye be not hasty. [_Aloud to the others_.

_Bar. _ But be human! 160

_Lor. _ See, the Duke comes!

_Enter the_ DOGE.

_Doge_. I have obeyed your summons.

_Chief of the Ten_. We come once more to urge our past request.

_Doge_. And I to answer.

_Chief of the Ten_. What?

_Doge_. My only answer.
You have heard it.

_Chief of the Ten_. Hear _you_ then the last decree,
Definitive and absolute!

_Doge_. To the point--
To the point! I know of old the forms of office,
And gentle preludes to strong acts. --Go on!

_Chief of the Ten_. You are no longer Doge; you are released
From your imperial oath as Sovereign;
Your ducal robes must be put off; but for 170
Your services, the State allots the appanage
Already mentioned in our former congress.
Three days are left you to remove from hence,
Under the penalty to see confiscated
All your own private fortune.

_Doge_. That last clause,
I am proud to say, would not enrich the treasury.

_Chief of the Ten_. Your answer, Duke!

_Lor. _ Your answer, Francis Foscari!

_Doge_. If I could have foreseen that my old age
Was prejudicial to the State, the Chief
Of the Republic never would have shown 180
Himself so far ungrateful, as to place
His own high dignity before his Country;
But this _life_ having been so many years
_Not_ useless to that Country, I would fain
Have consecrated my last moments to her.
But the decree being rendered, I obey. [bt][78]

_Chief of the Ten_. If you would have the three days named extended,
We willingly will lengthen them to eight,
As sign of our esteem.

_Doge_. Not eight hours, Signor,
Not even eight minutes--there's the ducal ring, 190
[_Taking off his ring and cap_.
And there the ducal diadem! And so
The Adriatic's free to wed another.

_Chief of the Ten_. Yet go not forth so quickly.

_Doge_. I am old, sir,
And even to move but slowly must begin
To move betimes. Methinks I see amongst you
A face I know not. --Senator! your name,
You, by your garb, Chief of the Forty!

_Mem. _ Signor,
I am the son of Marco Memmo.

_Doge_. Ah!
Your father was my friend. --But _sons_ and _fathers! _--
What, ho! my servants there!

_Atten. _ My Prince!

_Doge_. No Prince-- 200
There are the princes of the Prince!
[_Pointing to the Ten's Deputation_
--Prepare
To part from hence upon the instant.

_Chief of the Ten_. Why
So rashly? 'twill give scandal.

_Doge_ (_to the Ten_). Answer that;
It is your province.
[_To the Servants_.
--Sirs, bestir yourselves:
There is one burthen which I beg you bear
With care, although 'tis past all farther harm--
But I will look to that myself.

_Bar. _ He means
The body of his son.

_Doge_. And call Marina,
My daughter!

_Enter_ MARINA.

_Doge_. Get thee ready, we must mourn
Elsewhere.

_Mar. _ And everywhere.

_Doge_. True; but in freedom, 210
Without these jealous spies upon the great.
Signers, you may depart: what would you more?
We are going; do you fear that we shall bear
The palace with us? Its _old_ walls, ten times
As _old_ as I am, and I'm very old,
Have served you, so have I, and I and they
Could tell a tale; but I invoke them not
To fall upon you! else they would, as erst
The pillars of stone Dagon's temple on
The Israelite and his Philistine foes. 220
Such power I do believe there might exist
In such a curse as mine, provoked by such
As you; but I curse not. Adieu, good Signers!
May the next Duke be better than the present!

_Lor. _ The _present_ Duke is Paschal Malipiero.

_Doge_. Not till I pass the threshold of these doors.

_Lor. _ Saint Mark's great bell is soon about to toll
For his inauguration.

_Doge_. Earth and Heaven!
Ye will reverberate this peal; and I
Live to hear this! --the first Doge who e'er heard 230
Such sound for his successor: happier he,
My attainted predecessor, stern Faliero--
This insult at the least was spared him.

_Lor. _ What!
Do you regret a traitor?

_Doge_. No--I merely
Envy the dead.

_Chief of the Ten_. My Lord, if you indeed
Are bent upon this rash abandonment
Of the State's palace, at the least retire
By the private staircase, which conducts you towards
The landing-place of the canal.

_Doge_. No. I
Will now descend the stairs by which I mounted 240
To sovereignty--the Giants' Stairs, on whose
Broad eminence I was invested Duke.
My services have called me up those steps,
The malice of my foes will drive me down them. [79]
_There_ five and thirty years ago was I
Installed, and traversed these same halls, from which
I never thought to be divorced except
A corse--a corse, it might be, fighting for them--
But not pushed hence by fellow-citizens.
But come; my son and I will go together-- 250
He to his grave, and I to pray for mine.

_Chief of the Ten_. What! thus in public?

_Doge_. I was publicly
Elected, and so will I be deposed.
Marina! art thou willing?

_Mar. _ Here's my arm!

_Doge_. And here my _staff_: thus propped will I go forth.

_Chief of the Ten_. It must not be--the people will perceive it.

_Doge_. The people,--There's no people, you well know it,
Else you dare not deal thus by them or me.
There is a _populace_, perhaps, whose looks
May shame you; but they dare not groan nor curse you, 260
Save with their hearts and eyes.

_Chief of the Ten_. You speak in passion,
Else----

_Doge_. You have reason. I have spoken much
More than my wont: it is a foible which
Was not of mine, but more excuses you,
Inasmuch as it shows, that I approach
A dotage which may justify this deed
Of yours, although the law does not, nor will.
Farewell, sirs!

_Bar. _ You shall not depart without
An escort fitting past and present rank.
We will accompany, with due respect, 270
The Doge unto his private palace. Say!
My brethren, will we not?

_Different voices_. Aye! --Aye!

_Doge_. You shall not
Stir--in my train, at least. I entered here
As Sovereign--I go out as citizen
By the same portals, but as citizen.
All these vain ceremonies are base insults,
Which only ulcerate the heart the more,
Applying poisons there as antidotes.
Pomp is for Princes--I am none! --That's false,
I _am_, but only to these gates. --Ah!

_Lor. _ Hark! 280
[_The great bell of St. Mark's tolls_.

_Bar. _ The bell!

_Chief of the Ten_. St. Mark's, which tolls for the election
Of Malipiero.

_Doge_. Well I recognise
The sound! I heard it once, but once before,
And that is five and thirty years ago;
Even _then_ I _was not young_.

_Bar. _ Sit down, my Lord!
You tremble.

_Doge_. 'Tis the knell of my poor boy!
My heart aches bitterly.

_Bar. _ I pray you sit.

_Doge_. No; my seat here has been a throne till now.
Marina! let us go.

_Mar. _ Most readily.

_Doge_. (_walks a few steps, then stops_).
I feel athirst--will no one bring me here 290
A cup of water?

_Bar. _ I----

_Mar. _ And I----

_Lor. _ And I----
[_The Doge takes a goblet from the hand of_ LOREDANO.

_Doge_. I take _yours_, Loredano, from the hand
Most fit for such an hour as this. [bu]

_Lor. _ Why so?

_Doge_. 'Tis said that our Venetian crystal has
Such pure antipathy to poisons as
To burst, if aught of venom touches it.