SCENE II.

Prisoner . That was a dreadful toll! it brings me nearer
Unto the day of horror. Here am I
Deliver'd over to the fear of death
In cold and rueful solitude — shut out
By that black vault of stone from memory
Of human beings — and, as it would seem,
From the pity of my God! Who thinks on me?
The crowd that came to hear my sentence pass'd
Are scatter'd o'er the City, and my fate
Is by them all forgotten, or pronounced
With faces of indifference or of pleasure,
Among the chance discoursing of the day.
And yet my silent solitary cell
Is in the heart of life! — O joyful sound
Of life and freedom in a rushing tumult
Sweeping o'er the streets in the bright open day!
O that I were a beggar, clothed in rags!
Prey'd on by cold and hunger — and with wounds
Incurable, worn down unto a shadow,
So that I knew not when I was to die!
— I hear the blind man singing in the street
With a clear gladsome voice, a jocund song!
What is the loss of eyes! — Thou bawling wretch,
Disturb him not! With what a hideous twang
He howls out to the passing traveller,
" A full account of Francis Russel's trial,
The murderer's confession. " — — Save my soul —
O save me from that hideous skeleton!...

The Jailor enters with bread and water .
Jailor . Look up, my friend — I bring you some refreshment.
Prisoner , ( staring wildly .) Art thou the executioner?
Jailor . No. The Jailor.
Prisoner . Is the fatal hour arrived?
Jailor . I'm not the hangman.
Prisoner . One single drop of wine! These two last days
Have put my blood into a burning fever,
Yet the thought of water sickens at my heart.
One single drop of wine.
Jailor . I must not give it.
Prisoner . O that a want like this should seem a hardship
To one condemn'd to die! My wretched body
With fiery fever wastes my quaking soul,
And rather would I have one drop of wine
Than voice of friends or prayers of holy men,
So faint and thirsty is my very being.
Jailor . What must be must.
Prisoner . O cold and heavy chains!
How shockingly they glitter as they clank!
Jailor . You soon will get accustom'd to their weight.
Observe that ring there runs along the staunchel,
On the stone-floor — so you may drag your legs
From wall to wall with little difficulty,
And in a week or two you'll never heed
The clanking of the iron. The last criminal
Was but a lath of a man compared with you,
And yet whene'er I came into his cell
I found him always merrily at work,
Back back and forward whisking constantly
Like a bird in his cage.
Prisoner . Was he set free at last?
Jailor . Ay. Jack Ketch set him free.
Prisoner . What was his crime?
Jailor . A murderer, like yourself. He killed his sweetheart,
And threw her, though some six months gone with child,
Into a coal-pit.
Prisoner , ( sternly .) Leave me to myself.
Jailor . Why! Man, I wish to be on good terms with you.
I am your friend. What! many a noble fellow
Hath in his day done murder: in the name
There may be something awkward — but the act
Still varies with the change of circumstance —
I would as lief shake hands with thee, my friend,
As with the Judge himself.
Prisoner , ( eagerly .) Dost think me innocent?
Jailor , ( ironically .) O yes! as innocent as any lamb.
But hark ye! if that I allow your friends
To visit you at times, you in return
Will let me show you to the country-people
On a chance market-day.
Prisoner . O God of mercy!
Jailor . There will they stand beyond reach of your arm,
With open mouth and eyes like idiots.
Then look unto each other — shake their heads,
And crying out, " God bless us! " leave the cell,
No doubt much wiser than they came — quite proud
To think how they will make their neighbours shudder
At the picture of thy murderous countenance,
And eyes so like a demon's — we will share
The money, friend...
Prisoner . The money! — What of money?
Jailor . Why, you are surely deaf...
Prisoner . Give me the water.
Take — take the bread, that I may die of hunger.
I feel as if buried many a fathom deep
In a cave below the sea, or in some pit
Cover'd o'er with thorns amid a darksome wood,
Where one might lie from Sabbath unto Sabbath
Shrieking madly out for help, but all in vain,
Unto the solitary trees, or clouds
That pass unheeding o'er the far-off heavens!
Five weeks must drag their days and nights along
Through the damp silence of this lonesome cell,
And all that time must I be sitting here
In doleful dreams — or lying on this straw,
With nought but shivering terror in my soul —
Or hurrying up and down with clanking chains
In wrath and sickness and insanity,
A furious madman preying on myself,
And dash'd against the walls. — What spirit moves
These bolts? O welcome, whosoe'er thou art!
A very demon's presence in this dungeon
Would be a comfort.
Son of righteousness!
Let me fall down and worship at thy feet.
Clergyman . O man of trouble! put your trust in God.
Morning and evening will I seek your cell,
And read the Bible with you. Rise — O rise!
Prisoner . Despise me not that on this cruel pavement
I dash myself down in fear and agony,
And grovel at your feet! A pitiful wretch
Indeed am I; and to preserve my life
Would hang my head in everlasting shame,
Or a lonesome hunger'd in a desert dwell,
Doom'd never more to sleep.
Clergyman . Unhappy man!
Say what thou wilt, for I will listen to thee.
Prisoner , ( looking up .) Can you not save me? — On a quiet bed,
Surrounded by my weeping family,
I might have died like other mortal creatures
In awful resignation; but to stand
Upon a scaffold in my native parish,
With a base halter round my abject neck,
Stared at, and hiss'd at, shudder'd at, and scorn'd,
Put out of life, like a dog, with every insult
Cruelly forced on my immortal soul,
And then... O Christ, I hear a skeleton
Rattling in chains! — To a madhouse carry me,
Bind me to the floor, that when the day arrives
The hangman's hand may strive in vain to burst
The bolts that chain the Lunatic to life.
I will feign madness. No — Eternal God!
I need not feign, for like a tide it cometh,
Wave after wave, upon my choking spirit ...
I am bound to a stake within the mark o' the sea,
And the cold drowning mounts up from my feet.
Clergyman . Send peace, O Lord! unto the sufferer's heart.
Prisoner . Suddenly, suddenly in my happiness
The curse did smite me. O, my gentle Alice,
Is the sweet baby now upon thy breast?
The Mother and the Infant both will die.
The dreadful day of execution
Will murder us all, and Lea-side then will be
Silent as the grave. O fearful Providence,
Darken my brain, that I may think no more
On thy wild ways that only lead to death,
To misery, to madness, and to hell!
Is all I say not true? Didst hear him speak?
That savage Judge, who, with a hollow voice,
As If he had a pleasure in my anguish,
Continued speaking hours most bitterly
Against a quaking prisoner bow'd with shame?
He had forgotten that I was a Man!
And ever as he turn'd his harden'd eye
Towards the bar, it froze my very heart,
So proud, so cruel, and so full of scorn.
I think he might have wept, for many wept
When he pass'd sentence on me — but his voice
Was calm and steady, and his eye was clear,
Looking untroubled on the face of trouble.
I did not faint — No — though a sickening pang
Tugg'd at my heart, and made the cold sweat creep
Like ice-drops o'er my body — yet even then
Did conscious innocence uphold my soul,
And turn'd the horrid words to senseless sounds
That ought not to dismay — while he that sat
In pompous robes upon the judgment-seat,
Seem'd in his blind unfeeling ignorance
A verier wretch than I.
Clergyman . We are all blind,
And duty's brow is stern, and harsh his voice.
That Judge is famed for his humanity,
And though no tears were in his solemn eyes,
They flow'd within his heart.
Prisoner . I do forgive him.
What shrieks were these?
Clergyman . Of a poor criminal
In the next cell.
Prisoner . Condemn'd like me to die!
Clergyman . No! doom'd to drag out in a foreign land,
Unpitied years of misery and shame.
Prisoner . O happy lot! who would not leap with joy
Into the ship that bore him to the land
Of shame and toil, and crime and wickedness,
So that with all his load of misery
He might escape from death! May not I escape?
Bolts have been riven, and walls been undermined,
And the free winds have borne the prisoner
To the dark depths of safety — never more
To walk the streets of cities, but to dwell
As in the shadow of the grave, unknown
But to his own soul silent as the night!
I feel a wild hope springing from despair!
That shadow was not mine that stood all white
Shivering on a scaffold: — Sampson's strength is here,
And the hard stone to my unwearied hand
Will crumble into dust.
Clergyman . O let us pray!
Prisoner . Yes, I will pray! pray for deliverance,
And years to come! O be they what they may,
For life is sweet, embitter'd though it be
With the lowest dregs in the cup of misery!
Clergyman . Shall we kneel down?
Prisoner . Ay! they will dance and dance,
And smile and laugh, and talk of pleasant things,
And listen to sweet music all the night,
That I am lying fetter'd to the straw
In dire convulsions. They will speak of me
Amid their mirth and music, but will see not
My image in their souls, or it would strike them
With palsy 'mid their savage merriment,
Clanking these dreadful fetters in their ears.
Clergyman . I will return at night.
Prisoner . O leave me not,
For I am scarcely in my sober mind.
A thousand fiends are waiting to destroy me
Soon as you leave the cell, for innocence
Is found not proof against the pains of hell.
Clergyman . I will bring your wife to visit you.
Prisoner , ( kneeling .) O God
Of tender mercies, let thy countenance
Shine on that wretched one. Let this cell lie
Forsaken of thy presence — if thy will —
But, for His sake who died upon the cross,
Let heavenly sunshine fall into her soul!
Temper the wind to the shorn lamb that lies
Upon her breast in helpless infancy!
O! if our cottage could but rest in peace,
Here could I pass the remnant of my life
In lonely resignation to my fate.
Forsake not her and my sweet family.
Clergyman . Man forsakes man — that melancholy word
Applieth not to gracious Providence.
Prisoner . I am not then forsaken?
Clergyman . Fear it not!
Wrapt in the dark cloud of adversity,
Thou art indeed; but clouds are of the earth.
Lift up the eye of Faith, and thou wilt see
The clear blue sky of the untroubled heavens.
Prisoner . My soul at once is calm'd — now let us pray.