No More Learning

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.
You bore this goblet, and it is not broken.

_Lor. _ Well, sir!

_Doge_. Then it is false, or you are true.
For my own part, I credit neither; 'tis
An idle legend.

_Mar. _ You talk wildly, and 300
Had better now be seated, nor as yet
Depart. Ah!
now you look as looked my husband!

_Bar. _ He sinks! --support him! --quick--a chair--support him!

_Doge_. The bell tolls on! --let's hence--my brain's on fire!

_Bar. _ I do beseech you, lean upon us!

_Doge_. No!
A Sovereign should die standing. My poor boy!
Off with your arms! --_That bell! _[80]
[_The_ DOGE _drops down and dies_.

_Mar. _ My God! My God!

_Bar. _ (_to Lor. _). Behold! your work's completed!

_Chief of the Ten_. Is there then
No aid? Call in assistance!

_Att. _ 'Tis all over.

_Chief of the Ten_. If it be so, at least his obsequies 310
Shall be such as befits his name and nation,
His rank and his devotion to the duties
Of the realm, while his age permitted him
To do himself and them full justice. Brethren,
Say, shall it not be so?

_Bar. _ He has not had
The misery to die a subject where[bv]
He reigned: then let his funeral rites be princely. [81]

_Chief of the Ten_. We are agreed, then?

_All, except Lor. , answer,_ Yes.

_Chief of the Ten_. Heaven's peace be with him!

_Mar. _ Signers, your pardon: this is mockery. 320
Juggle no more with that poor remnant, which,
A moment since, while yet it had a soul,
(A soul by whom you have increased your Empire,
And made your power as proud as was his glory),
You banished from his palace and tore down
From his high place, with such relentless coldness;
And now, when he can neither know these honours,
Nor would accept them if he could, you, Signors,
Purpose, with idle and superfluous pomp,
To make a pageant over what you trampled. 330
A princely funeral will be your reproach,
And not his honour.

_Chief of the Ten_. Lady, we revoke not
Our purposes so readily.

_Mar. _ I know it,
As far as touches torturing the living.
I thought the dead had been beyond even _you_,
Though (some, no doubt) consigned to powers which may
Resemble that you exercise on earth.
Leave him to me; you would have done so for
His dregs of life, which you have kindly shortened:
It is my last of duties, and may prove 340
A dreary comfort in my desolation. [bw]
Grief is fantastical, and loves the dead,
And the apparel of the grave.

_Chief of the Ten_. Do you
Pretend still to this office?

_Mar. _ I do, Signor.
Though his possessions have been all consumed
In the State's service, I have still my dowry,
Which shall be consecrated to his rites,
And those of---- [_She stops with agitation_.

_Chief of the Ten_. Best retain it for your children.

_Mar. _ Aye, they are fatherless, I thank you.

_Chief of the Ten_. We
Cannot comply with your request. His relics 350
Shall be exposed with wonted pomp, and followed
Unto their home by the new Doge, not clad
As _Doge_, but simply as a senator.

_Mar. _ I have heard of murderers, who have interred
Their victims; but ne'er heard, until this hour,
Of so much splendour in hypocrisy
O'er those they slew. [82] I've heard of widows' tears--
Alas! I have shed some--always thanks to you!
I've heard of _heirs_ in sables--you have left none
To the deceased, so you would act the part 360
Of such. Well, sirs, your will be done! as one day,
I trust, Heaven's will be done too! [bx]

_Chief of the Ten_. Know you, Lady,
To whom ye speak, and perils of such speech?

_Mar. _ I know the former better than yourselves;
The latter--like yourselves; and can face both.
Wish you more funerals?

_Bar. _ Heed not her rash words;
Her circumstances must excuse her bearing.

_Chief of the Ten_. We will not note them down.

_Bar. _ (_turning to Lor. , who is writing upon his tablets_).
What art thou writing,
With such an earnest brow, upon thy tablets?

_Lor. _ (_pointing to the Doge's body_). That _he_ has paid me! [83]

_Chief of the Ten_. What debt did he owe you? 370

_Lor. _ A long and just one; Nature's debt and _mine_. [84]
[_Curtain falls_[85]


FOOTNOTES:

[34] {113}[The MS. of _The Two Foscari_ is now in the possession of
H. R. H. the Princess of Wales. ]

[35] [Begun June the 12th, completed July the 9th, Ravenna,
1821. --_Byron MS_. ]

[36] [_Gov. _ "_The father softens--but the governor is fixed_. "
_Dingle_. "Aye that antithesis of persons is a most established
figure. "--_Critic_, act ii. sc. 2.

Byron may have guessed that this passage would be quoted against him,
and, by taking it as a motto, hoped to anticipate or disarm ridicule; or
he may have selected it out of bravado, as though, forsooth, the public
were too stupid to find him out. ]

[at] ----_too soon repeated_. --[MS. erased. ]

[37] {121}[It is a moot point whether Jacopo Foscari was placed on the
rack on the occasion of his third trial. The original document of the X.
(July 23, 1456) runs thus: "Si videtur vobis per ea quae dicta et lecta
sunt, quod _procedatur_ contra Ser Jacobum Foscari;" and it is argued
(see F. Berlan, _I due Foscari, etc. _, 1852, p. 57), (1) that the word
_procedatur_ is not a euphemism for "tortured," but should be rendered
"judgment be given against;" (2) that if the X had decreed torture,
torture would have been expressly enjoined; and (3) that as the decrees
of the Council were not divulged, there was no motive for ambiguity. S.
Romanin (_Storia Documentata, etc. _, 1853, iv. 284) and R. Senger (_Die
beiden Foscari_, 1878, p. 116) take the same view. On the other hand,
Miss A. Wiel (_Two Doges of Venice_, 1891, p. 107) points out that,
according to the _Dolfin Cronaca_, which Berlan did not consult, Jacopo
was in a "mutilated" condition when the trial was over, and he was
permitted to take a last farewell of his wife and children in
Torricella. Goethe (_Conversations_, 1874, pp. 264, 265) did not share
Eckermann's astonishment that Byron "could dwell so long on this
torturing subject. " "He was always a self-tormentor, and hence such
subjects were his darling theme. "]

[38] {122}[It is extremely improbable that Francesco Foscari was present
in person at the third or two preceding trials of his son. As may be
gathered from the _parte_ of the Council of Ten relating to the first
trial, there was a law which prescribed the contrary: "In ipsius Domini
Ducis praesentia de rebus ad ipsum, vel ad filios suos tangentibus non
tractetur, loquatur vel consulatur, sicut non potest (_fieri_) quando
tractatur de rebus tangentibus ad attinentes Domini Ducis. " The fact
that "Nos Franciscus Foscari," etc. , stood at the commencement of the
decree of exile may have given rise to the tradition that the Doge, like
a Roman father, tried and condemned his son. (See Berlan's _I due
Foscari_, p. 13. )]

[39] {123}[Pietro Loredano, admiral of the Venetian fleet, died November
11, 1438. His death was sudden and suspicious, for he was taken with
violent pains and spasms after presiding at a banquet in honour of his
victories over the Milanese; and, when his illness ended fatally, it was
remembered that the Doge had publicly declared that so long as the
admiral lived he would never be _de facto_ Prince of the Republic.
Jacopo Loredano chose to put his own interpretation on this outburst of
impatience, and inscribed on his father's monument in the Church of the
Monastery of Sant' Elena, in the Isola della Santa Lena, the words, "Per
insidias hostium veneno sublatus. " (See _Ecclesiae Venetae_, by Flaminio
Cornaro, 1749, ix. 193, 194; see, too, Cicogna's _Inscrizioni
Veneziane_, 1830, iii. 381. )

Not long afterwards Marco Loredano, the admiral's brother, met with a
somewhat similar fate. He had been despatched by the X. to Legnano, to
investigate the conduct of Andrea Donate, the Doge's brother-in-law, who
was suspected of having embezzled the public moneys. His report was
unfavourable to Donato, and, shortly after, he too fell sick and died.
It is most improbable that the Doge was directly or indirectly
responsible for the death of either brother; but there was an hereditary
feud, and the libellous epitaph was a move in the game. ]

[40] {124}[Daru gives Palazzi's _Fasti Ducales_ and _L'Histoire
Venitienne_ of Vianolo as his authorities for this story. ]

[au]4

----_checked by nought_
_The vessel that creaks_----. --[MS. M. erased. ]

[av] {125} ----_much pity_. --[MS. M. erased. ]

[41] ["This whole episode in the private life of the Foscari family is
valuable chiefly for the light it throws upon the internal history of
Venice. We are clearly in an atmosphere unknown before. The Council of
Ten is all-powerful; it even usurps functions which do not belong to it
by the constitution. The air is charged with plots, suspicion,
assassination, denunciation, spies,--all the paraphernalia which went to
confirm the popular legend as to the terrible nature of the
_Dieci_. "--_Venice, etc. _, by Horatio F. Brown, 1893, p. 305. ]

[aw] {126} _In this brief colloquy, and must redeem it_. --[MS. M. ]

[42] [Compare--

"And I have loved thee, Ocean! and my joy
Of youthful sports was on thy breast to be
Borne, like thy bubbles, onward: from a boy
I wantoned with thy breakers. "

_Childe Harold_, Canto IV. stanza clxxxiv. lines 1-4,
_Poetical Works_, 1899, ii. 461, note 2. ]

[43] {127}[The climate of Crete is genial and healthy; but the town of
Candia is exposed to winds from the north and north-west. ]

[ax] _I see your colour comes_. --[MS. M. ]

[44] {130}["She was a Contarini (her name was Lucrezia, not Marina)--

'A daughter of the house that now among
Its ancestors in monumental brass
Numbers eight Doges. '

On the occasion of her marriage the Bucentaur came out in its splendour;
and a bridge of boats was thrown across the Canal Grande for the
bridegroom and his retinue of three hundred horse. "--_Foscari_, by
Samuel Rogers, _Poems_, 1852, ii. 93, note.

According to another footnote (_ibid_. , p. 90), "this story (_Foscari_)
and the tragedy of the _Two Foscari_ were published within a few days of
each other, in November, 1821. " The first edition of _Italy_ was
published anonymously in 1822. According to the announcement of a
corrected and enlarged edition, which appeared in the _Morning
Chronicle_, April 11, 1823, "a few copies of this poem were printed off
the winter before last, while the author was abroad. "]

[ay] {132} _Do not deem so_. --[MS. M. ]

[45] {133}[Jacopo's plea, that the letter to the Duke of Milan was
written for the express purpose of being recalled to Venice, is
inadmissible for more reasons than one. In the first place, if on
suspicion of a letter written but never sent, the Ten had thought fit to
recall him, it by no means followed that they would have granted him an
interview with his wife and family; and, secondly, the fact that there
were letters in cypher found in his possession, and that a direct
invitation to the Sultan to rescue him by force was among the impounded
documents ("Quod requirebat dictum Teucrum ut mitteret ex galeis suis ad
accipiendum et levandum eum de dicto loco"), proves that the appeal to
the Duke of Milan was _bona fide_, and not a mere act of desperation.
(See _The Two Doges_, pp. 101, 102, and Berlan's _I due Poscari_, p. 53,
etc. )]

[46] {134}[There is no documentary evidence for this "confession," which
rests on a mere tradition. (_Vide_ Sanudo, _Vita Ducum Venetorum_,
_apud_ Muratori, _Rerum Ital. Script_. , 1733, xxii. col. 1139; see, too,
Berlan, _I due Foscari_, p. 37. ) Moreover, Almoro Donato was not chief
of the "Ten" at the date of his murder. The three "Capi" for November,
1450, were Ermolao Vallaresso, Giovanni Giustiniani, and Andrea Marcello
(_vide ibid. _, p.