SCENE.-Würzburg-a garden in the environs. 1512. FESTUS, PARACELSUS, MICHAL. Par. Come close to me, dear friends; still closer; thus! Close to the heart which, though long time roll by Ere it again beat quicker, pressed to yours, As now it beats-perchance a long, long timeAt least henceforth your memories shall make Quiet and fragrant as befits their home. Nor shall my memory want a home in yours― Alas, that it requires too well such free Forgiving love as shall embalm it there! Mich. Aureole! Par. Drop by drop!--she is weeping like a child! Not so! I am content-more than content Nay, Autumn wins you best by this its mute Appeal to sympathy for its decay! Look up, sweet Michal, nor esteem the less Your stained and drooping vines their grapes bow down, Nor blame those creaking trees bent with their fruit, That apple-tree with a rare after-birth Of peeping blooms sprinkled its wealth among! Alone by one old populous green wall, Gray crickets, and shy lizards, and quick spiders, Which, look through, near, this way, and it appears Mich. In truth we have lived carelessly and well! Shall you two walk, when I am far away, And wish me prosperous fortune? Stay! Whene'er That plant shall wave its tangles lightly and softly, As a queen's languid and imperial arm Which scatters crowns among her lovers, you Shall be reminded to predict to me Some great success! Ah, see! the sun sinks broad Fest. Now, Aureole, stay those wandering eyes awhile! As if, where'er you gazed, there stood a star! How far was Würzburg, with its church and spire, And garden-walls, and all things they contain, From that look's far alighting? Par. I but spoke And looked alike from simple joy, to see Encroaching trouble may have reached them too, Affects me as himself; that I have just As varied appetites for joy derived From common things; a stake in life, in short, |