The Lady’s tomb
Enter Govianus in black, a book in his hand, his Page carrying a torch before him.
GOVIANUS
Already mine eye melts. The monument
No sooner stood before it but a tear
Ran swiftly from me to express her duty.
Temple of honour, I salute thee early,
The time that my griefs rise. Chamber of peace,
Where wounded virtue sleeps locked from the world,
I bring to be acquainted with thy silence
Sorrows that love no noise; they dwell all inward,
Where truth and love in every man should dwell.
Be ready, boy; give me the strain again.
‘Twill show well here; whilst in my grief’s devotion
At every rest mine eye lets fall a bead
To keep the number perfect.
Govianus kneels at the tomb [wondrous] passionately. His Page sings.
The song.
If ever pity were well placed
On true desert and virtuous honour,
It could ne’er be better graced;
Freely then bestow ‘t upon her.
Never lady earned her fame
In virtue’s war with greater strife;
To preserve her constant name
She gave up beauty, youth, and life.
There she sleeps,
And here he weeps,
The lord unto so rare a wife.
Weep, weep, and mourn lament,
You virgins that pass by her,
For if praise come by death again,
I doubt few will lie nigh her.
GOVIANUS
Thou art an honest boy. ’Tis done like one
That has a feeling of his master’s passions
And the unmatched worth of his dead mistress.
Thy better years shall find me good to thee,
When understanding ripens in thy soul,
Which truly makes the man, and not long time.
Prithee withdraw a little, and attend me
At cloister door.
PAGE
It shall be done, my lord.
[Exit.]
GOVIANUS
Eternal maid of honour, whose chaste body
Lies here like virtue’s close and hidden seed,
To spring forth glorious to eternity
At the everlasting harvest —
WITHIN
I am not here.
GOVIANUS
What’s that? Who is not here? I’m forced to question it.
Some idle sounds the beaten vaults send forth.
On a sudden, in a kind of noise like a wind, the doors clattering, the tombstone flies open, and a great light appears in the midst of the tomb; his Lady, as went out, standing just before him all in white, stuck with jewels, and a great crucifix on her breast.
Mercy, look to me! Faith, I fly to thee!
Keep a strong watch about me! Now thy friendship!
Oh, never came astonishment and fear
So pleasing to mankind! I take delight
To have my breast shake and my hair stand stiff.
If this be horror, let it never die!
Came all the pains of hell in that shape to me,
I should endure ‘em smiling. Keep me still
In terror, I beseech thee. I’d not change
This fever for felicity of man
Or all the pleasures of ten thousand ages.
LADY
Dear lord, I come to tell you all my wrongs.
GOVIANUS
Welcome! Who wrongs the spirit of my love?
Thou art above the injuries of blood;
They cannot reach thee now. What dares offend thee?
No life that has the weight of flesh upon’t
And treads as I do can now wrong my mistress.
LADY
The peace that death allows me is not mine;
The monument is robbed. Behold, I’m gone;
My body taken up.
GOVIANUS
’Tis gone indeed!
What villain dares so fearfully run in debt
To black eternity?
LADY
He that dares do more:
The tyrant!
GOVIANUS
All the miseries below
Reward his boldness!
LADY
I am now at court
In his own private chamber. There he woos me
And plies his suit to me with as serious pains
As if the short flame of mortality
Were lighted up again in my cold breast,
Folds me within his arms and often sets
A sinful kiss upon my senseless lip,
Weeps when he sees the paleness of my cheek,
And will send privately for a hand of art
That may dissemble life upon my face
To please his lustful eye.
GOVIANUS
Oh, piteous wrongs!
Inhuman injuries without grace or mercy!
LADY
I leave ‘em to thy thought, dearest of men.
My rest is lost; thou must restore ‘t again.
GOVIANUS
Oh, fly me not so soon!
LADY
Farewell, true lord.
Exit Lady.
GOVIANUS
I cannot spare thee yet. I’ll make myself
Over to death too, and we’ll walk together
Like loving spirits; I prithee let’s do so!
She’s snatched away by fate, and I talk sickly.
I must dispatch this business upon earth
Before I take that journey.
I’ll to my brother for his aid or counsel.
So wrong’d! Oh, heav’n, put armour on my spirit!
Her body I will place in her first rest,
Or in th’ attempt lock death into my breast.
Exit.