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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/9152-0.txt b/9152-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0e5b576 --- /dev/null +++ b/9152-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4826 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Imogen, by William Godwin + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most +other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of +the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have +to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. + +Title: Imogen + A Pastoral Romance + +Author: William Godwin + +Release Date: September 8, 2003 [EBook #9152] +[Most recently updated: April 6, 2020] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IMOGEN *** + + + + +Produced by Produced by Jonathan Ingram, David Garcia and Distributed Proofreaders + + + + +Imogen + +A Pastoral Romance +_From the Ancient British_ + +by William Godwin + + +Contents + + Preface + BOOK THE FIRST + BOOK THE SECOND + BOOK THE THIRD + BOOK THE FOURTH + BOOK THE FIFTH + BOOK THE SIXTH + + + + +Preface + +[_By_ WILLIAM GODWIN] + + +The following performance, as the title imports, was originally +composed in the Welch language. Its style is elegant and pure. And if +the translator has not, as many of his brethren have done, suffered the +spirit of the original totally to evaporate, he apprehends it will be +found to contain much novelty of conception, much classical taste, and +great spirit and beauty in the execution. It appears under the name of +Cadwallo, an ancient bard, who probably lived at least one hundred +years before the commencement of our common era. The manners of the +primitive times seem to be perfectly understood by the author, and are +described with the air of a man who was in the utmost degree familiar +with them. It is impossible to discover in any part of it the slightest +trace of Christianity. And we believe it will not be disputed, that in +a country so pious as that of Wales, it would have been next to +impossible for the poet, though ever so much upon his guard, to avoid +all allusion to the system of revelation. On the contrary, every thing +is Pagan, and in perfect conformity with the theology we are taught to +believe prevailed at that time. + +These reasons had induced us to admit, for a long time, that it was +perfectly genuine, and justly ascribed to the amiable Druid. With +respect to the difficulty in regard to the preservation of so long a +work for many centuries by the mere force of memory, the translator, +together with the rest of the world, had already got over that +objection in the case of the celebrated Poems of Ossian. And if he be +not blinded by that partiality, which the midwife is apt to conceive +for the productions, that she is the instrument of bringing into the +world, the Pastoral Romance contains as much originality, as much +poetical beauty, and is as happily calculated to make a deep impression +upon the memory, as either Fingal, or Temora. + +The first thing that led us to doubt its authenticity, was the striking +resemblance that appears between the plan of the work, and Milton’s +celebrated Masque at Ludlow Castle. We do not mean however to hold +forth this circumstance as decisive in its condemnation. The +pretensions of Cadwallo, or whoever was the author of the performance, +are very high to originality. If the date of the Romance be previous to +that of Comus, it may be truly said of the author, that he soared above +all imitation, and derived his merits from the inexhaustible source of +his own invention. But Milton, it is well known, proposed some +classical model to himself in all his productions. The Paradise Lost is +almost in every page an imitation of Virgil, or Homer. The Lycidas +treads closely in the steps of the Daphnis and Gallus of Virgil. The +Sampson Agonistes is formed upon the model of Sophocles. Even the +little pieces, L’Allegro and Il Penseroso have their source in a song +of Fletcher, and two beautiful little ballads that are ascribed to +Shakespeare. But the classical model upon which Comus was formed has +not yet been discovered. It is infinitely unlike the Pastoral Comedies +both of Italy and England. And if we could allow ourselves in that +licence of conjecture, which is become almost inseparable from the +character of an editor, we should say: That Milton having written it +upon the borders of Wales, might have had easy recourse to the +manuscript whose contents are now first given to the public: And that +the singularity of preserving the name of the place where it was first +performed in the title of his poem, was intended for an ingenuous and +well-bred acknowledgement of the source from whence he drew his +choicest materials. + +But notwithstanding the plausibility of these conjectures, we are now +inclined to give up our original opinion, and to ascribe the +performance to a gentleman of Wales, who lived so late as the reign of +king William the third. The name of this amiable person was Rice ap +Thomas. The romance was certainly at one time in his custody, and was +handed down as a valuable legacy to his descendants, among whom the +present translator has the honour to rank himself. Rice ap Thomas, +Esquire, was a man of a most sweet and inoffensive disposition, beloved +and respected by all his neighbours and tenants, and “passing rich with +‘sixty’ pounds a year.” In his domestic he was elegant, hospitable, and +even sumptuous, for the time and country in which he lived. He was +however naturally of an abstemious and recluse disposition. He abounded +in singularities, which were pardoned to his harmlessness and his +virtues; and his temper was full of sensibility, seriousness, and +melancholy. He devoted the greater part of his time to study; and he +boasted that he had almost a complete collection of the manuscript +remains of our Welch bards. He was often heard to prefer even to +Taliessin, Merlin, and Aneurim, the effusions of the immortal Cadwallo, +and indeed this was the only subject upon which he was ever known to +dispute with eagerness and fervour. In the midst of the controversy, he +would frequently produce passages from the Pastoral Romance, as +decisive of the question. And to confess the truth, I know not how to +excuse this piece of jockeyship and ill faith, even in Rice ap Thomas, +whom I regard as the father of my family, and the chief ornament of my +beloved country. + +Some readers will probably however be inclined to apologise for the +conduct of Mr. Thomas, and to lay an equivalent blame to my charge. +They will tell me, that nothing but the weakest partiality could blind +me to the genuine air of antiquity with which the composition is every +where impressed, and to ascribe it to a modern writer. But I am +conscious to my honesty and defy their malice. So far from being +sensible of any improper bias in favour of my ancestor, I am content to +strengthen their hands, by acknowledging that the manuscript, which I +am not at all desirous of refusing to their inspection, is richly +emblazoned with all the discoloration and rust they can possibly +desire. I confess that the wording has the purity of Taliessin, and the +expressiveness of Aneurim, and is such as I know of no modern Welchman +who could write. And yet, in spite as they will probably tell me of +evidence and common sense, I still aver my persuasion, that it is the +production of Rice ap Thomas. + +But enough, and perhaps too much, for the question of its antiquity. It +would be unfair to send it into the world without saying something of +the nature of its composition. It is unlike the Arcadia of sir Philip +Sidney, and unlike, what I have just taken the trouble of running over, +the Daphnis of Gessner. It neither on the one hand leaves behind it the +laws of criticism, and mixes together the different stages of +civilization; nor on the other will it perhaps be found frigid, +uninteresting, and insipid. The prevailing opinion of Pastoral seems to +have been, that it is a species of composition admirably fitted for the +size of an eclogue, but that either its nature will not be preserved, +or its simplicity will become surfeiting in a longer performance. And +accordingly, the Pastoral Dramas of Tasso, Guarini, and Fletcher, +however they may have been commended by the critics, and admired by +that credulous train who clap and stare whenever they are bid, have +when the recommendation of novelty has subsided been little attended to +and little read. But the great Milton has proved that this objection is +not insuperable. His Comus is a master-piece of poetical composition. +It is at least equal in its kind even to the Paradise Lost. It is +interesting, descriptive and pathetic. Its fame is continually +increasing, and it will be admired wherever the name of Britain is +repeated, and the language of Britain is understood. + +If our hypothesis respecting the date of the present performance is +admitted, it must be acknowleged that the ingenious Mr. Thomas has +taken the Masque of Milton for a model; and the reader with whom Comus +is a favourite, will certainly trace some literal imitations. With +respect to any objections that may be made on this score to the +Pastoral Romance, we will beg the reader to bear in mind, that the +volumes before him are not an original, but a translation. Recollecting +this, we may, beside the authority of Milton himself, and others as +great poets as ever existed who have imitated Homer and one another at +least as much as our author has done Comus, suggest two very weighty +apologies. In the first place, imitation in a certain degree, has ever +been considered as lawful when made from a different language: And in +the second, these imitations come to the reader exaggerated, by being +presented to him in English, and by a person who confesses, that he has +long been conversant with our greatest poets. The translator has always +admired Comus as much as the Pastoral Romance; he has read them +together, and been used to consider them as illustrating each other. +Any verbal coincidences into which he may have fallen, are therefore to +be ascribed where they are due, to him, and not to the author. And upon +the whole, let the imperfections of the Pastoral Romance be what they +will, he trusts he shall be regarded as making a valuable present to +the connoisseurs and the men of taste, and an agreeable addition to the +innocent amusements of the less laborious classes of the polite world. + + + + +BOOK THE FIRST + +CHARACTER OF THE SHEPHERDESS AND HER LOVER.—FEAST OF RUTHYN.—SONGS OF +THE BARDS. + + +Listen, O man! to the voice of wisdom. The world thou inhabitest was +not intended for a theatre of fruition, nor destined for a scene of +repose. False and treacherous is that happiness, which has been +preceded by no trial, and is connected with no desert. It is like the +gilded poison that undermines the human frame. It is like the hoarse +murmur of the winds that announces the brewing tempest. Virtue, for +such is the decree of the Most High, is evermore obliged to pass +through the ordeal of temptation, and the thorny paths of adversity. +If, in this day of her trial, no foul blot obscure her lustre, no +irresolution and instability tarnish the clearness of her spirit, then +may she rejoice in the view of her approaching reward, and receive with +an open heart the crown that shall be bestowed upon her. + +The extensive valley of Clwyd once boasted a considerable number of +inhabitants, distinguished for primeval innocence and pastoral +simplicity. Nature seemed to have prepared it for their reception with +all that luxuriant bounty, which characterises her most favoured spots. +The inclosure by which it was bounded, of ragged rocks and snow-topt +mountains, served but for a foil to the richness and fertility of this +happy plain. It was seated in the bosom of North Wales, the whole face +of which, with this one exception, was rugged and hilly. As far as the +eye could reach, you might see promontory rise above promontory. The +crags of Penmaenmawr were visible to the northwest, and the unequalled +steep of Snowden terminated the prospect to the south. In its farthest +extent the valley reached almost to the sea, and it was intersected, +from one end to the other, by the beautiful and translucent waters of +the river from which it receives its name. + +In this valley all was rectitude and guileless truth. The hoarse din of +war had never reached its happy bosom; its river had never been +impurpled with the stain of human blood. Its willows had not wept over +the crimes of its inhabitants, nor had the iron hand of tyranny taught +care and apprehension to seat themselves upon the brow of its +shepherds. They were strangers to riches, and to ambition, for they all +lived in a happy equality. He was the richest man among them, that +could boast of the greatest store of yellow apples and mellow pears. +And their only objects of rivalship were the skill of the pipe and the +favour of beauty. From morn to eve they tended their fleecy +possessions. Their reward was the blazing hearth, the nut-brown beer, +and the merry tale. But as they sought only the enjoyment of a humble +station, and the pleasures of society, their labours were often +relaxed. Often did the setting sun see the young men and the maidens of +contiguous villages, assembled round the venerable oak, or the +wide-spreading beech. The bells rung in the upland hamlets; the rebecs +sounded with rude harmony; they danced with twinkling feet upon the +level green or listened to the voice of the song, which was now gay and +exhilarating, and now soothed them into pleasing melancholy. + +Of all the sons of the plain, the bravest, and the most comely, was +Edwin. His forehead was open and ingenuous, his hair was auburn, and +flowed about his shoulders in wavy ringlets. His person was not less +athletic than it was beautiful. With a firm hand he grasped the +boar-spear, and in pursuit he outstripped the flying fawn. His voice +was strong and melodious, and whether upon the pipe or in the song, +there was no shepherd daring enough to enter the lists with Edwin. But +though he excelled all his competitors, in strength of body, and the +accomplishments of skill, yet was not his mind rough and boisterous. +Success had not taught him a despotic and untractable temper, applause +had not made him insolent and vain. He was gentle as the dove. He +listened with eager docility to the voice of hoary wisdom. He had +always a tear ready to drop over the simple narrative of pastoral +distress. Victor as he continually was in wrestling, in the race, and +in the song, the shout of triumph never escaped his lips, the +exultation of insult he was never heard to utter. On the contrary, with +mild and unfictitious friendship, he soothed the breast of +disappointment, and cheered the spirits of his adversary with honest +praise. + +But Edwin was not more distinguished among his brother shepherds, than +was Imogen among the fair. Her skin was clear and pellucid. The fall of +her shoulders was graceful beyond expression. Her eye-brows were +arched, and from her eyes shot forth the grateful rays of the rising +sun. Her waist was slender; and as she ran, she outstripped the winds, +and her footsteps were printless on the tender herb. Her mind, though +soft, was firm; and though yielding as wax to the precepts of wisdom, +and the persuasion of innocence, it was resolute and inflexible to the +blandishments of folly, and the sternness of despotism. Her ruling +passion was the love of virtue. Chastity was the first feature in her +character. It gave substance to her accents, and dignity to her +gestures. Conscious innocence ennobled all her reflexions, and gave to +her sentiments and manner of thinking, I know not what of celestial and +divine. + +Edwin and Imogen had been united in the sports of earliest infancy. +They had been mutual witnesses to the opening blossoms of understanding +and benevolence in each others breasts. While yet a boy, Edwin had +often rescued his mistress from the rude vivacity of his playmates, and +had bestowed upon her many of those little distinctions which were +calculated to excite the flame of envy among the infant daughters of +the plain. For her he gathered the vermeil-tinctured pearmain, and the +walnut with an unsavoury rind; for her he hoarded the brown filberd, +and the much prized earth-nut. When she was near, the quoit flew from +his arm with a stronger whirl, and his steps approached more swiftly to +the destined goal. With her he delighted to retire from the heat of the +sun to the centre of the glade, and to sooth her ear with the gaiety of +innocence, long before he taught her to hearken to the language of +love. For her sake he listened with greater eagerness to the mirthful +relation, to the moral fiction, and to the song of the bards. His store +of little narratives was in a manner inexhaustible. With them he +beguiled the hour of retirement, and with them he hastened the sun to +sink behind the western hill. + +But as he grew to manly stature, and the down of years had begun to +clothe his blushing cheek, he felt a new sensation in his breast +hitherto unexperienced. He could not now behold his favourite companion +without emotion; his eye sparkled when he approached her; he watched +her gestures; he hung upon her accents; he was interested in all her +motions. Sometimes he would catch the eye of prudent age or of +sharp-sighted rivalry observing him, and he instantly became +embarrassed and confused, and blushed he knew not why. He repaired to +the neighbouring wake, in order to exchange his young lambs and his +hoard of cheeses. Imogen was not there, and in the midst of traffic, +and in the midst of frolic merriment he was conscious to a vacancy and +a listlessness for which he could not account. When he tended his +flocks, and played upon his slender pipe, he would sink in reverie, and +form to himself a thousand schemes of imaginary happiness. Erewhile +they had been vague and general. His spirit was too gentle for him not +to represent to himself a fancied associate; his heart was not narrow +enough to know so much as the meaning of a solitary happiness. But +Imogen now formed the principal figure in these waking dreams. It was +Imogen with whom he wandered beside the brawling rill. It was Imogen +with whom he sat beneath the straw-built shed, and listened to the +pealing rain, and the hollow roaring of the northern blast. If a moment +of forlornness and despair fell to his lot, he wandered upon the heath +without his Imogen, and he climbed the upright precipice without her +harmonious voice to cheer and to animate him. In a word, passion had +taken up her abode in his guileless heart before he was aware of her +approach. Imogen was fair; and the eye of Edwin was enchanted. Imogen +was gentle; and Edwin loved. + +Simple as was the character of the inhabitants of this happy valley, it +is not to be supposed that Edwin found many obstacles to the enjoyment +of the society of his mistress. Though strait as the pine, and +beautiful as the gold-skirted clouds of a summer morning, the parents +of Imogen had not learned to make a traffic of the future happiness of +their care. They sought not to decide who should be the fortunate +shepherd that should carry her from the sons of the plain. They left +the choice to her penetrating wit, and her tried discretion. They +erected no rampart to defend her chastity; they planted no spies to +watch over her reputation. They entrusted her honour to her own +keeping. They were convinced, that the spotless dictates of conscious +innocence, and that divinity that dwells in virtue and awes the shaggy +satyr into mute admiration, were her sufficient defence. They left to +her the direction of her conduct. The shepherdess, unsuspicious by +nature, and untaught to view mankind with a wary and a jealous eye, was +a stranger to severity and caprice. She was all gentleness and +humanity. The sweetness of her temper led her to regard with an eye of +candour, and her benevolence to gratify all the innocent wishes, of +those about her. The character of a woman undistinguishing in her +favours, and whose darling employment is to increase the number of her +admirers, is in the highest degree unnatural. Such was not the +character of Imogen. She was artless and sincere. Her tongue evermore +expressed the sentiments of her heart. She drew the attention of no +swain from a rival; she employed no stratagems to inveigle the +affections; she mocked not the respect of the simple shepherd with +delusive encouragement. No man charged her with broken vows; no man +could justly accuse her of being cruel and unkind. + +It may therefore readily be supposed, that the subject of love rather +glided into the conversation of Edwin and Imogen, than was regularly +and designedly introduced. They were unknowing in the art of disguising +their feelings. When the tale spoke of peril and bravery, the eyes of +Edwin sparkled with congenial sentiments, and he was evermore ready to +start from the grassy hilloc upon which they sat. When the little +narrative told of the lovers pangs, and the tragic catastrophe of two +gentle hearts whom nature seemed to have formed for mildness and +tranquility, Imogen was melted into the softest distress. The breast of +her Edwin would heave with a sympathetic sigh, and he would even +sometimes venture, from mingled pity and approbation, to kiss away the +tear that impearled her cheek. Intrepid and adventurous with the hero, +he began also to take a new interest in the misfortunes of love. He +could not describe the passionate complaints, the ingenuous tenderness +of another, without insensibly making the case his own. “Had the lover +known my Imogen, he would no longer have sighed for one, who could not +have been so fair, so gentle, and so lovely.” Such were the thoughts of +Edwin; and till now Edwin had always expressed his thoughts. But now +the words fell half-formed from his trembling lips, and the sounds died +away before they were uttered. “Were I to speak, Imogen, who has always +beheld me with an aspect of benignity, might be offended. I should say +no more than the truth; but Imogen is modest. She does not suspect that +she possesses half the superiority over such as are called fair, which +I see in her. And who could bear to incur the resentment of Imogen? Who +would irritate a temper so amiable and mild? I should say no more than +the truth; but Imogen would think it flattery. Let Edwin be charged +with all other follies, but let that vice never find a harbour in his +bosom; let the imputation of that detested crime never blot his +untarnished name.” + +Edwin had received from nature the gift of an honest and artless +eloquence. His words were like the snow that falls beneath the beams of +the sun; _they melted as they fell_. Had it been his business to have +pleaded the cause of injured innocence or unmerited distress, his +generous sympathy and his manly persuasion must have won all hearts. +Had he solicited the pursuit of rectitude and happiness, his ingenuous +importunity could not have failed of success. But where the mind is too +deeply interested, there it is that the faculties are most treacherous. +Ardent were the sighs of Edwin, but his voice refused its assistance, +and his tongue faultered under the attempts that he made. Fluent and +voluble upon all other subjects, upon this he hesitated. For the first +time he was dissatisfied with the expressions that nature dictated. For +the first time he dreaded to utter the honest wishes of his heart, +apprehensive that he might do violence to the native delicacy of +Imogen. + +But he needed not have feared. Imogen was not blind to those +perfections which every mouth conspired to praise. Her heart was not +cold and unimpassioned; she could not see these perfections, united +with youth and personal beauty, without being attracted. The accents of +Edwin were music to her ear. The tale that Edwin told, interested her +twice as much as what she heard from vulgar lips. To wander with Edwin +along the flowery mead, to sit with Edwin in the cool alcove, had +charms for her for which she knew not how to account, and which she was +at first unwilling to acknowledge to her own heart. When she heard of +the feats of the generous lover, his gallantry in the rural sports, and +his reverence for the fair, it was under the amiable figure of Edwin +that he came painted to her treacherous imagination. She was a stranger +to artifice and disguise, and the renown of Edwin was to her the feast +of the soul, and with visible satisfaction she dwelt upon his praise. +Even in sleep her dreams were of the deserving shepherd. The delusive +pleasures that follow in the train of dark-browed night, all told of +Edwin. The unreal mockery of that capricious being, who cheats us with +scenes of fictitious wretchedness, was full of the unmerited +calamities, the heartbreaking woe, or the untimely death of Edwin. From +Edwin therefore the language of love would have created no disgust. +Imogen was not heedless and indiscreet; she would not have sacrificed +the dignity of innocence. Imogen was not coy; she would not have +treated her admirer with affected disdain. She had no guard but virgin +modesty and that conscious worth, _that would be wooed, and not +unsought be won_. + +Such was the yet immature attachment of our two lovers, when an +anniversary of religious mirth summoned them, together with their +neighbour shepherds of the adjacent hamlet, to the spot which had long +been consecrated to rural sports and guiltless festivity, near the +village of Ruthyn. The sun shone with unusual splendour; the Druidical +temples, composed of immense and shapeless stones, heaped upon each +other by a power stupendous and incomprehensible, reflected back his +radiant beams. The glade, the place of destination to the frolic +shepherds, was shrouded beneath two venerable groves that encircled it +on either side. The eye could not pierce beyond them, and the +imagination was in a manner embosomed in the vale. There were the +quivering alder, the upright fir, and the venerable oak crowned with +sacred mistletoe. They grew upon a natural declivity that descended +every way towards the plain. The deep green of the larger trees was +fringed towards the bottom with the pleasing paleness of the willow. +From one of the groves a little rivulet glided across the plain, and +was intersected on one side by a stream that flowed into it from a +point equally distant from either extremity of its course. Both these +streams were bordered with willows. In a word, upon the face of this +beautiful spot all appeared tranquility and peace. It was without a +path, and you would imagine that no human footsteps had ever invaded +the calmness of its solitude. It was the eternal retreat of the +venerable anchorite; it was the uninhabited paradise in the midst of +the trackless ocean. + +Such was the spot where the shepherds and shepherdesses of a hundred +cots were now assembled. In the larger compartiments of the vale, the +more muscular and vigorous swains pursued the flying ball, or contended +in the swift-footed race. The bards, venerable for their age and the +snowy whiteness of their hair, sat upon a little eminence as umpires of +the sports. In the smaller compartiments, the swains, mingled with the +fair, danced along the level green, or flew, with a velocity that +beguiled the eager sight, beneath the extended arms of their fellows. +Here a few shepherds, apart from the rest, flung the ponderous quoit +that sung along the air. There two youths, stronger and more athletic +than the throng, grasped each others arms with an eager hand, and +struggled for the victory. Now with manly vigour the one shook the +sinewy frame of the other; now they bended together almost to the +earth, and now with double force they reared again their gigantic +stature. At one time they held each other at the greatest possible +distance; and again, their arms, their legs and their whole bodies +entwined, they seemed as if they had grown together. When the weaker or +less skilful was overthrown, he tumbled like a vast and mountain oak, +that for ages had resisted the tumult of the winds; and the whole plain +resounded at his fall. Such as were unengaged formed a circle round the +wrestlers, and by their shouts and applause animated by turns the +flagging courage of either. + +And now the sun had gained his meridian height, and, fatigued with +labour and heat, they seated themselves upon the grass to partake of +their plain and rural feast. The parched wheat was set out in baskets, +and the new cheeses were heaped together. The blushing apple, the +golden pear, the shining plum, and the rough-coated chesnut were +scattered in attractive confusion. Here were the polished cherry and +the downy peach; and here the eager gooseberry, and the rich and +plenteous clusters of the purple grape. The neighbouring fountain +afforded them a cool and sparkling beverage, and the lowing herds +supplied the copious bowl with white and foaming draughts of milk. The +meaner bards accompanied the artless luxury of the feast with the +symphony of their harps. + +The repast being finished, the company now engaged in those less active +sports, that exercise the subtility of the wit, more than the agility +or strength of the body. Their untutored minds delighted themselves in +the sly enigma, and the quaint conundrum. Much was their laughter at +the wild guesses of the thoughtless and the giddy; and great the +triumph of the swain who penetrated the mystery, and successfully +removed the abstruseness of the problem. Many were the feats of skill +exhibited by the dextrous shepherd, and infinite were the wonder and +admiration of the gazing spectators. The whole scene indeed was +calculated to display the triumph of stratagem and invention. A +thousand deceits were practised upon the simple and unsuspecting, and +while he looked round to discover the object of the general mirth, it +was increased into bursts of merriment, and convulsive gaiety. At +length they rose from the verdant green, and chased each other in mock +pursuit. Many flew towards the adjoining grove; the pursued concealed +himself behind the dark and impervious thicket, or the broad trunk of +the oak, while the pursuers ran this way and that, and cast their wary +eyes on every side. Carefully they explored the bushes, and surveyed +each clump of tufted trees. And now the neighbouring echoes repeated +the universal shout, and proclaimed to the plain below, that the object +of their search was found. Fatigue however, in spite of the gaiety of +spirit with which their sports were pursued, began to assert his +empire, and they longed for that tranquility and repose which were +destined to succeed. + +At this instant the united sound of the lofty harp, the melodious +rebec, and the chearful pipe, summoned them once again to the plain. +From every side they hastened to the lawn, and surrounded, with ardent +eyes, and panting expectation, the honoured troop of the bards, crowned +with laurel and sacred mistletoe. And now they seated themselves upon +the tender herb; and now all was stilness and solemn silence. Not one +whisper floated on the breeze; not a murmur was heard. The tumultuous +winds were hushed, and all was placid composure, save where the gentle +zephyr fanned the leaves. The tinkling rill babbled at their feet; the +feathered choristers warbled in the grove; and the deep lowings of the +distant herds died away upon the ear. The solemn prelude began from a +full concert of the various instruments. It awakened attention in the +thoughtless, and composed the frolic and the gay into unbroken +heedfulness. The air was oppressed with symphonious sounds, and the ear +filled with a tumult of harmony. + +On a sudden the chorus ceased: Those instruments which had united their +force to fill the echoes of every grove, and of every hill, were +silent. And now a bard, of youthful appearance, but who was treated +with every mark of honour and distinction, and seated on the left hand +of the hoary Llewelyn, the prince of song, struck the lyre with a lofty +and daring hand. His eye sparkled with poetic rapture, and his +countenance beamed with the sublime smile of luxuriant fancy and +heaven-born inspiration. He sung of the wanton shepherd, that followed, +with ungenerous perseverance, the chaste and virgin daughter of +Cadwallo. The Gods took pity upon her distress, the Gods sent down +their swift and winged messenger to shield her virtue, and deliver her +from the persecution of Modred. With strong and eager steps the +ravisher pursued: timid apprehension, and unviolated honour, urged her +rapid flight. But Modred was in the pride of youth; muscular and sinewy +was the frame of Modred. Beauteous and snowy was the person of the +fair: her form was delicate, and her limbs were tender. If heaven had +not interposed, if the Gods had not been on her side, she must have +fallen a victim to savage fury and brutal lust. But, in the crisis of +her fate, she gradually sunk away before the astonished eyes of Modred. +That beauteous frame was now no more, and she started from before him, +swifter than the winds, a timid and listening hare. Still, still the +hunter pursued; he suspended not the velocity of his course. The speed +of Modred was like the roe upon the mountains; every moment he gained +upon the daughter of Cadwallo. But now the object of his pursuit +vanished from his sight, and eluded his eager search. In vain he +explored every thicket, and surveyed all the paths of the forest. While +he was thus employed, on a sudden there burst from a cave a hungry and +savage wolf; it was the daughter of Cadwallo. Modred started with +horror, and in his turn fled away swifter than the winds. The fierce +and ravenous animal pursued; fire flashed from the eye, and rage and +fury sat upon the crest. Mild and gentle was the daughter of Cadwallo; +her heart relented; her soft and tender spirit belied the savage form. +They approached the far famed stream of Conway. Modred cast behind him +a timid and uncertain eye; the virgin passed along, no longer terrible, +a fair and milk white hind. Modred inflamed with disappointment, reared +his ponderous boar spear, and hurled it from his hand. Too well, ah, +cruel and untutored swain! thou levelest thy aim. Her tender side is +gored; her spotless and snowy coat is deformed with blood. Agitated +with pain, superior to fear, she plunges in the flood. When lo! a +wonder; on the opposite shore she rises, radiant and unhurt, in her +native form. Modred contemplates the prodigy with astonishment; his +lust and his brutality inflame him more than ever. Eagerly he gazes on +her charms; in thought he devours her inexpressive beauties. And now he +can no longer restrain himself; with sudden start he leaps into the +river. The waves are wrought into a sudden tempest; they hurry him to +and fro. He buffets them with lusty arms; he rides upon the billows. +But vain is human strength; the unseen messenger of the Gods laughs at +the impotent efforts of Modred. At length the waters gape with a +frightful void; the bottom, strewed with shells, and overgrown with +sea-weed, is disclosed to the sight. Modred, unhappy Modred, sinks to +rise no more. His beauty is tarnished like the flower of the field; his +blooming cheek, his crimson lip, is pale and colourless. Learn hence, +ye swains, to fear the Gods, and to reverence the divinity of virtue. +Modred never melted for another’s woe; the tear of sympathy had not +moistened his cheek. The heart of Modred was haughty, insolent and +untractable; he turned a deaf ear to the supplication of the helpless, +he listened not to the thunder of the Gods. Let the fate of Modred be +remembered for a caution to the precipitate; let the children of the +valley learn wisdom. Heaven never deserts the cause of virtue; chastity +wherever she wanders (_be it not done in pride or in presumption_) is +sacred and invulnerable. + +Such was the song of the youthful bard. Every eye was fixed upon his +visage while he struck the lyre; the multitude of the shepherds +appeared to have no faculty but the ear. And now the murmur of applause +began; and the wondering swains seemed to ask each other, whether the +God of song were not descended among them. “Oh glorious youth,” cried +they, “how early is thy excellence! Ere manhood has given nerve and +vigour to thy limbs, ere yet the flowing beard adorns thy gallant +breast, nature has unlocked to thee her hidden treasures, the Gods have +enriched thee with all the charms of poetry. Great art thou among the +bards; illustrious in wisdom, where they all are wise. Should gracious +heaven spare thy life, we will cease to weep the death of Hoel; we will +lament no longer the growing infirmities of Llewelyn.” + +While they yet spoke, a bard, who sat upon the right hand of the +prince, prepared to sweep the string. He was in the prime of manhood. +His shining locks flowed in rich abundance upon his strong and graceful +shoulders. His eye expressed more of flame than gaiety, more of +enthusiasm than imagination. His brow, though manly, and, as it should +seem, by nature erect, bore an appearance of solemn and contemplative. +He had ever been distinguished by an attachment to solitude, and a love +for those grand and tremendous objects of uncultivated nature with +which his country abounded. His were the hanging precipice, and the +foaming cataract. His ear drank in the voice of the tempest; he was +rapt in attention to the roaring thunder. When the contention of the +elements seemed to threaten the destruction of the universe, when +Snowdon bowed to its deepest base, it was then that his mind was most +filled with sublime meditation. His lofty soul soared above the little +war of terrestrial objects, and rode expanded upon the wings of the +winds. Yet was the bard full of gentleness and sensibility; no breast +was more susceptible to the emotions of pity, no tongue was better +skilled in the soft and passionate touches of the melting and pathetic. +He possessed a key to unlock all the avenues of the heart. + +Such was the bard, and this was the subject of his song. He told of a +dreadful famine, that laid waste the shores of the Menai. Heaven, not +to punish the shepherds, for, alas, what had these innocent shepherds +done? but in the mysterious wisdom of its ways, had denied the +refreshing shower, and the soft-descending dew. From the top of +Penmaenmawr, as far as the eye could reach, all was uniform and waste. +The trees were leafless, not one flower adorned the ground, not one +tuft of verdure appeared to relieve the weary eye. The brooks were +dried up; their beds only remained to tell the melancholy tale, Here +once was water; the tender lambs hastened to the accustomed brink, and +lifted up their innocent eyes with anguish and disappointment. The +meadows no longer afforded pasture of the cattle; the trees denied +their fruits to man. In this hour of calamity the Druids came forth +from their secret cells, and assembled upon the heights of Mona. This +convention of the servants of the Gods, though intended to relieve the +general distress, for a moment increased it. The shepherds anticipated +the fatal decree; they knew that at times like this the blood of a +human victim was accustomed to be shed upon the altars of heaven. Every +swain trembled for himself or his friend; every parent feared to be +bereaved of the staff of his age. And now the holy priest had cast the +lots in the mysterious urn; and the lot fell upon the generous Arthur. +Arthur was beloved by all the shepherds that dwelt upon the margin of +the main; the praise of Arthur sat upon the lips of all that knew him. +But what served principally to enhance the distress, was the attachment +there existed between him and the beauteous Evelina. Mild was the +breast of Evelina, unused to encounter the harshness of opposition, or +the chilly hand and forbidding countenance of adversity. From twenty +shepherds she had chosen the gallant Arthur, to reward his pure and +constant love. Long had they been decreed to make each other happy. No +parent opposed himself to their virtuous desires; the blessing of +heaven awaited them from the hand of the sacred Druid. But in the +general calamity of their country they had no heart to rejoice; they +could not insult over the misery of all around them. “Soon, oh soon,” +cried the impatient shepherd, “may the wrath of heaven be overpast! +Extend, all-merciful divinity, thy benign influence to the shores of +Arvon! Once more may the rustling of the shower refresh our longing +ears! Once more may our eyes be gladdened with the pearly, orient dew! +May the fields be clothed afresh in cheerful green! May the flowers +enamel the verdant mead! May the brooks again brawl along their pebbly +bed! And may man and beast rejoice together!” Ah, short-sighted, +unapprehensive shepherd! thou dost not know the misfortune that is +reserved for thyself; thou dost not know, that thou shalt not live to +behold those smiling scenes which thy imagination forestallest; thou +dost not see the dart of immature and relentless death that is +suspended over thee. Think, O ye swains, what was the universal +astonishment and pity, when the awful voice of the Druid proclaimed the +decree of heaven! Terror sat upon every other countenance, tears +started into every other eye; but the mien of Arthur was placid and +serene. He came forward from the throng; his eyes glistened with the +fire of patriotism. “Hear me, my countrymen,” cried he, “for you I am +willing to die. What is my insignificant life, when weighed against the +happiness of Arvon? Be grateful to the Gods, that, for so poor a boon, +they are willing to spread wide the hand of bounty, and to exhaust upon +your favoured heads the horn of plenty.” While he spoke he turned his +head to the spot from which he had advanced, and beheld, a melting +object, Evelina, pale and breathless, supported in the arms of the +maidens. For a moment he forgot his elevated sentiments and his +heroism, and flew to raise her. “Evelina, mistress of my heart, awake. +Lift up thine eyes and bless thy Arthur. Be not too much subdued by my +catastrophe. Live to comfort the grey hairs, and to succour the +infirmities of your aged parent.” While the breast of Arthur was +animated with such sentiments, and dictated a conduct like this, the +priests were employed in the mournful preparations. The altar was made +ready; the lambent fire ascended from its surface; the air was perfumed +with the smoke of the incense; the fillets were brought forth; and the +sacred knife glittered in the hand of the chief of the Druids. The +bards had strung their harps, and began the song of death. The sounds +were lofty and animating, they were fitted to inspire gallantry and +enterprise into the trembling coward; they were fitted to breathe a +soul into the clay-cold corse. The spirit of Arthur was roused; his eye +gleamed with immortal fire. The aged oak, that strikes its root beneath +the soil, so defies the blast, and so rears its head in the midst of +the whirlwind. But oh, who can paint the distress of Evelina? Now she +dropped her head, like the tender lily whose stalk, by some vulgar and +careless hand has been broken; and now she was wild and ungovernable, +like the wild beast that has been robbed of its young. For an instant +the venerable name of religion awed her into mute submission. But when +the fatal moment approached, not the Gods, if the Gods had descended in +all their radiant brightness, could have restrained her any longer. The +air was rent with her piercing cries. She spoke not. Her eyes, in +silence turned towards heaven, distilled a plenteous shower. At length, +swifter than the winged hawk, she flew towards the spot, and seized the +sacred and inviolable arm of the holy Druid, which was lifted up to +strike the final blow. “Barbarous and inhuman priest,” she cried, +“cease your vile and impious mummery! No longer insult us with the name +of Gods. If there be Gods, they are merciful; but thou art a savage and +unrelenting monster. Or if some victim must expire, strike here, and I +will thank thee. Strike, and my bosom shall heave to meet the welcome +blow. Do any thing. But oh, spare me the killing, killing spectacle!” +During this action the maidens approached and hurried her from the +plain. “Go,” cried Arthur, “and let not the heart of Evelina be sad. My +Death has nothing in it that deserves to be deplored. It is glorious +and enviable. It shall be remembered when this frame is crumbled into +dust. The song of the bards shall preserve it to never dying fame.” The +inconsolable fair one had now been forced away. The intrepid shepherd +bared his breast to the sacred knife. His nerves trembled not. His +bosom panted not. And now behold the lovely youth, worthy to have lived +through revolving years, sunk on the ground, and weltering in his +blood. Yes, gallant Arthur, thou shalt possess that immortality which +was the first wish of thy heart! My song shall embalm thy precious +memory, thy generous, spotless fame! But, ah, it is not in the song of +the bards to sooth the rooted sorrow of Evelina. Every morning serves +only to renew it. Every night she bathes her couch in tears. Those +objects, which carry pleasure to the sense of every other fair, serve +only to renew thy unexhausted grief. The rustling shower, the pearly +dew, the brawling brook, the cheerful green, the flower-enameled mead, +all join to tell of the barbarous and untimely fate of Arthur. Smile no +more, O ye meads; mock not the grief of Evelina. Let the trees again be +leafless; let the rivers flow no longer in their empty beds. A scene +like this suits best the settled temper of Evelina. + +He ceased. And his pathetic strain had awakened the sympathy of the +universal throng. Every shepherd hung his mournful head, when the +untimely fate of Arthur was related; every maiden dropped a generous +tear over the sorrows of Evelina. They listened to the song, and forgot +the poet. Their souls were rapt with alternate passions, and they +perceived not the matchless skill by which they were excited. The lofty +bard hurried them along with the rapidity of his conceptions, and left +them no time for hesitation, and left them no time for reflection. He +ceased, and the melodious sounds still hung upon their ear, and they +still sat in the posture of eager attention. At length they recollected +themselves; and it was no longer the low and increasing murmur of +applause: it was the exclamation of rapture; it was the unpremeditated +shout of astonishment. + +In the mean time, the reverend Llewelyn, upon whose sacred head ninety +winters had scattered their snow, grasped the lyre, which had so often +confessed the master’s hand. Though far advanced in the vale of years, +there was a strength and vigour in his age, of which the degeneracy of +modern times can have little conception. The fire was not extinguished +in his flaming eye; it had only attained that degree of chasteness and +solemnity, which had in it by so much the more, all that is majestic, +and all that is celestial. His looks held commerce with his native +skies. No vulgar passion ever visited his heaven-born mind. No vulgar +emotion ever deformed the godlike tranquility of his soul. He had but +one passion; it was the love of harmony. He was conscious only to one +emotion; it was reverence for the immortal Gods. He sat like the +anchorite upon the summit of Snowdon. The tempests raise the foaming +ocean into one scene of horror, but he beholds it unmoved. The rains +descend, the thunder roars, and the lightnings play beneath his feet. + +Llewelyn struck the lyre, and the innumerable croud was noiseless and +silent as the chambers of death. They did not now wait for the pleasing +tale of a luxuriant imagination, or the pathetic and melting strain of +the mourner. They composed their spirits into the serenity of devotion. +They called together their innocent thoughts for the worship of heaven. +By anticipation their bosoms swelled with gratitude, and their hearts +dilated into praise. + +The pious Llewelyn began his song from the rude and shapeless chaos. He +magnified the almighty word that spoke it into form. He sung of the +loose and fenny soil which gradually acquired firmness and density. The +immeasurable, eternal caverns of the ocean were scooped. The waters +rushed along, and fell with resounding, foamy violence to the depth +below. The sun shone forth from his chamber in the east, and the earth +wondered at the object, and smiled beneath his beams. Suddenly the +whole face of it was adorned with a verdant, undulating robe. The +purple violet and the yellow crocus bestrewed the ground. The stately +oak reared its branchy head, and the trees and shrubs burst from the +surface of the earth. Impregnated by power divine, the soil was +prolific in other fruits than these. The clods appeared to be informed +with a conscious spirit, and gradually assumed a thousand various +forms. The animated earth seemed to paw the verdant mead, and to +despise the mould from which it came. A disdainful horse, it shook its +flowing mane, and snuffed the enlivening breeze, and stretched along +the plain. The red-eyed wolf and the unwieldy ox burst like the mole +the concealing continent, and threw the earth in hillocs. The stag +upreared his branching head. The thinly scattered animals wandered +among the unfrequented hills, and cropped the untasted herb. Meantime +the birds, with many coloured plumage, skimmed along the unploughed +air, and taught the silent woods and hills to echo with their song. + +Creatures, hymn the praises of your creator! Thou sun, prolific parent +of a thousand various productions, by whose genial heat they are +nurtured, and whose radiant beams give chearfulness and beauty to the +face of nature, first of all the existences of this material universe +acknowledge him thy superior, and while thou dispensest a thousand +benefits to the inferior creation, ascribe thine excellencies solely to +the great source of beauty and perfection! And when the sun has ceased +his wondrous course, do thou, O moon, in milder lustre show to people +of a thousand names the honours of thy maker! Thou loud and wintery +north wind, in majestic and tremendous tone declare his lofty praise! +Ye gentle zephyrs, whisper them to the modest, and softly breathe them +in the ears of the lowly! Ye towering pines, and humble shrubs, ye +fragrant flowers, and, more than all, ye broad and stately oaks, bind +your heads, and wave your branches, and adore! Ye warbling fountains, +warbling tune his praise! Praise him, ye beasts, in different strains! +And let the birds, that soar on lofty wings, and scale the path of +heaven, bear, in their various melody, the notes of adoration to the +skies! Mortals, ye favoured sons of the eternal father, be it yours in +articulate expressions of gratitude to interpret for the mute creation, +and to speak a sublimer and more rational homage. + +Heard ye not the music of the spheres? Know ye not the melody of +celestial voices? On yonder silver-skirted cloud I see them come. It +turns its brilliant lining on the setting day. And these are the +accents of their worship. “Ye sons of women, such as ye are now, such +once were we. Through many scenes of trial, through heroic constancy, +and ever-during patience, have we attained to this bright eminence. +Large and mysterious are the paths of heaven, just and immaculate his +ways. If ye listen to the siren voice of pleasure, if upon the neck of +heedless youth you throw the reins, that base and earth-born clay which +now you wear, shall assume despotic empire. And when you quit the +present narrow scene, ye shall wear a form congenial to your vices. The +fierce and lawless shall assume the figure of the unrelenting wolf. The +unreflecting tyrant, that raised a mistaken fame from scenes of +devastation and war, shall spurn the ground, a haughty and indignant +horse; and in that form, shall learn, by dear experience, what were the +sufferings and what the scourge that he inflicted on mankind. The +sensual shall wear the shaggy vesture of the goat, or foam and whet his +horrid tusks, a wild and untame’d boar. But virtue prepares its +possessor for the skies. Upon the upright and the good, attendant +angels wait. With heavenly spirits they converse. On them the dark +machinations of witchcraft, and the sullen spirits of darkness have no +power. Even the outward form is impressed with a beam of celestial +lustre. By slow, but never ceasing steps, they tread the path of +immortality and honour. Then, mortals, love, support, and cherish each +other. Fear the Gods, and reverence their holy, white-robed servants. +Let the sacred oak be your care. Worship the holy and everlasting +mistletoe. And when all the objects that you now behold shall be +involved in universal conflagration, and time shall be no more; ye +shall mix with Gods, ye shall partake their thrones, and be crowned +like them with never-fading laurel.” + + + + +BOOK THE SECOND + +THUNDER STORM.—THE RAPE OF IMOGEN.—EDWIN ARRIVES AT THE GROTTO OF +ELWY.—CHARACTER OF THE MAGICIAN.—THE END OF THE FIRST DAY. + + +The song of Llewelyn was heard by the shepherds with reverence and mute +attention. Their blameless hearts were lifted to the skies with the +sentiment of gratitude; their honest bosoms overflowed with the fervour +of devotion. They proved their sympathy with the feelings of the bard, +not by licentious shouts and wild huzzas, but by the composure of their +spirits, the serenity of their countenances, and the deep and +unutterable silence which universally prevailed. And now the hoary +minstrel rose from the little eminence, beneath the aged oak, from +whose branches depended the ivy and the honeysuckle, on which the +veneration of the multitude had placed him. He came into the midst of +the plain, and the sons and the daughters of the fertile Clwyd pressed +around him. Fervently they kissed the hem of his garment; eagerly with +their eyes they sought to encounter the benign rays of his countenance. +With the dignity of a magistrate, and the tenderness of a father, he +lifted his aged arms, and poured upon them his mild benediction. +“Children, I have met your fathers, and your fathers fathers, beneath +the hills of Ruthyn. Such as they were, such are ye, and such ever may +ye remain. The lily is not more spotless, the rose and the violet do +not boast a more fragrant odour, than the incense of your prayers when +it ascends to the footstool of the Gods. Guileless and undesigning are +you as the yearling lamb; gentle and affectionate as the cooing dove. +Qualities like these the Gods behold with approbation; to qualities +like these the Gods assign their choicest blessings. My sons, there is +a splendour that dazzles, rather than enlightens; there is a heat that +burns rather than fructifies. Let not characters like these excite your +ambition. Be yours the unfrequented sylvan scene. Be yours the shadowy +and unnoticed vale of obscurity. Here are the mild and unruffled +affections. Here are virtue, peace and happiness. _Here also are_ +GODS.” + +Having thus said, he dismissed the assembly, and the shepherds prepared +to return to their respective homes. Edwin and Imogen, as they had +come, so they returned together. The parents of the maiden had confided +her to the care of the gallant shepherds. “She is our only child,” said +they, “our only treasure, and our life is wrapt up in her safety. Watch +over her like her guardian genius. Bring her again to our arms adorned +with the cheerfulness of tranquility and innocence.” The breast of +Edwin was dilated with the charge; he felt a gentle undulation of pride +and conscious importance about his heart, at the honour conferred upon +him. + +The setting sun now gilded the western hills. His beams played upon +their summits, and were reflected in an irregular semi-circle of +splendour, spotless and radiant as the robes of the fairies. The heat +of the day was over, the atmosphere was mild, and all the objects round +them quiet and serene. A gentle zephyr fanned the leaves; and the +shadows of the trees, projecting to their utmost length, gave an +additional coolness and a soberer tint to the fields through which they +passed. + +The conversation of these innocent and guileless lovers was, as it +were, in unison with the placidness of the evening. The sports, in +which they had been engaged, had inspired them with gaiety, and the +songs they had heard, had raised their thoughts to a sublimer pitch +than was usual to them. They praised the miracles of the tale of +Modred; they sympathised with the affliction of Evelina; and they spoke +with the most unfeigned reverence of the pious and venerable Llewelyn. + +But the harmless chearfulness of their conversation did not last long. +The serenity that was around them was soon interrupted, and their +attention was diverted to external objects. Suddenly you might have +perceived a cloud, small and dark, that rose from the bosom of the sea. +By swift advances it became thicker and broader, till the whole heavens +were enveloped in its dismal shade. The gentle zephyr, that anon played +among the trees, was changed into a wind hollow and tumultuous. Its +course was irregular. Now all was still and silent as the caverns of +death; and again it burst forth in momentary blasts, or whirled the +straws and fallen leaves in circling eddies. The light of day was +shrouded and invisible. The slow and sober progress of evening was +forestalled. The woods and the hills were embosomed in darkness. Their +summits were no longer gilded. One by one the beams of the sun were +withdrawn from each; and at length Snowdon itself could not be +perceived. + +Our shepherd and his charge had at this moment reached the most +extensive and unprotected part of the plain. No friendly cot was near +to shield them from the coming storm. And now a solemn peal of thunder +seemed to roll along over their heads. They had begun to fly, but the +tender Imogen was terrified at the unexpected crash, and sunk, almost +breathless, into the arms of Edwin. In the mean time, the lightnings +seemed to fill the heavens with their shining flame. The claps of +thunder grew louder and more frequent. They reverberated from rock to +rock, and from hill to hill. If at any time, for a transitory interval, +the tremendous echoes died away upon the ear, it was filled with the +hollow roaring of the winds, and the boisterous dashing of the distant +waves. At length the pealing rain descended. It seemed as if all the +waters of heaven were exhausted upon their naked heads. The anxious and +afflicted Edwin took his beauteous and insensible companion in his +arms, and flew across the plain. + +But at this instant, a more extraordinary and terrifying object +engrossed his attention. An oak, the monarch of the plain, towards +which he bent his rapid course, was suddenly struck with the bolt of +heaven, and blasted in his sight. Its large and spreading branches were +withered; its leaves shrunk up and faded. In the very trunk a gaping +and tremendous rift appeared. At the same moment two huge and craggy +cliffs burst from the surrounding rocks, to which they had grown for +ages, and tumbling with a hideous noise, trundled along the plain. + +At length a third spectacle, more horrible than the rest, presented +itself to the affrighted eyes of Edwin. He saw a figure, larger than +the human, that walked among the clouds, and piloted the storm. Its +appearance was dreadful, and its shape, loose and undistinguishable, +seemed to be blended with the encircling darkness. From its coutenance +gleamed a barbarous smile, ten times more terrific than the frown of +any other being. Triumph, inhuman triumph, glistened in its eye, and, +with relentless delight, it brewed the tempest, and hurled the +destructive lightning. Edwin gazed upon this astonishing apparition, +and knew it for a goblin of darkness. The heart of Edwin, which no +human terror could appal, sunk within him; his nerves trembled, and the +objects that surrounded him, swam in confusion before his eyes. But it +is not for virtue to tremble; it is not for conscious innocence to fear +the power of elves and goblins. Edwin presently recollected himself, +and a gloomy kind of tranquility assumed the empire of his heart. He +was more watchful than ever for his beloved Imogen; he gazed with +threefold earnestness upon the fearful spectre. + +A sound now invaded his ear, from the shapeless rocks behind him. They +repeated it with all their echoes. It was hollow as the raging wind; +and yet it was not the raging wind. It was loud as the roaring thunder; +and yet it was not the voice of thunder. But he did not remain long in +suspense, from whence the voice proceeded. A wolf, whom hunger had made +superior to fear, leaped from the rock, upon the plain below. Edwin +turned his eyes upon the horrid monster; he grasped his boarspear in +his hand. The unconscious Imogen glided from his arms, and he advanced +before her. He met the savage in his fury, and plunged his weapon in +his side. He overturned the monster; he drew forth his lance reeking +with his blood; his enemy lay convulsed in the agonies of death. But +ere he could return, he heard the sound of a car rattling along the +plain. The reins were of silk, and the chariot shone with burnished +gold. Upon the top of it sat a man, tall, lusty, and youthful. His hair +flowed about his shoulders, his eyes sparkled with untamed fierceness, +and his brow was marked with the haughty insolence of pride. It was +Roderic, lord of a hundred hills; but Edwin knew him not. The goblin +descended from its eminence, and directed the course of Roderic. In a +moment, he seized the breathless and insensible Imogen, and lifted her +to his car. Edwin beheld the scene with grief and astonishment; his +senses were in a manner overwhelmed with so many successive prodigies. +But he did not long remain inactive; grief and astonishment soon gave +way to revenge. He took his javelin, still red with the blood of the +mountain wolf, and whirled it from his hand. Edwin was skilled to toss +the dart; from his hand it flew unerring to its aim. Forceful it sung +along the air; but the goblin advanced with hasty steps among the +clouds. It touched it with its hand, and it fell harmless and pointless +to the ground. During this action the car of Roderic disappeared. The +goblin immediately vanished; and Edwin was left in solitude. + +The storm however had not yet ceased. The rain descended with all its +former fury. The thunder roared with a strong and deafening sound. The +lightnings flamed from pole to pole. But the lightnings flamed, and the +thunder roared unregarded. The storm beat in vain upon the unsheltered +head of Edwin. “Where,” cried he, with the voice of anguish and +despair, “is my Imogen, my mistress, my wife, the charmer of my soul, +the solace of my heart?” Saying this, he sprung away like the roe upon +the mountains. His pace was swifter than that of the zephyr when it +sweeps along over the unbending corn. He soon reached the avenue by +which the chariot had disappeared from his sight. He leaped from rock +to rock; he ascended to the summit of the cliff. His eye glanced the +swift-flying car of Roderic; he knew him by his gilded carriage, and +his spangled vest. But he saw him only for a moment. His aching eye +pursued the triumphant flight in vain. “Stay, stay, base ravisher, +inglorious coward!” he exclaimed. “If thou art a man, return and meet +me. I will encounter thee hand to hand. I will not fear the strength of +thy shoulders, and the haughtiness of thy crest. If in such a cause, +with the pride of virtue on my side, with all the Gods to combat for +me, I am yet vanquished, then be Imogen thine: then let her be +submitted to thy despotic power, to thy brutal outrage, and I will not +murmur.” + +But his words were given to the winds of heaven. Roderic fled far, far +away. The heart of Edwin was wrung with anguish. “Ye kind and merciful +Gods!” exclaimed he, “grant but this one prayer, and the voice of Edwin +shall no more importune you with presumptuous vows. Blot from the book +of fate the tedious interval. Give me to find the potent villain. +Though he be hemmed in with guards behind guards; though his impious +mansion strike its foundations deep to the centre, and rear its head +above the clouds; though all the powers of hell combine on his side, I +will search him out, I will penetrate into his most hidden recess. I +can but die. Oh, if I am to be deprived of Imogen, how sweet, how +solacing is the thought of death! Let me die in her cause. That were +some comfort yet. Let me die in her presence, let her eyes witness the +fervour of my attachment, and I will die without a groan.” + +Having thus poured forth the anguish of his bosom, he resumed the +pursuit. But how could Edwin, alone, on foot, and wearied with the +journey of the day, hope to overtake the winged steeds of Roderic? And +indeed had his speed been tenfold greater than it was, it had been +exerted to no purpose. As the ravisher arrived at the edge of the +mountain, he struck into a narrow and devious path that led directly to +his mansion. But Edwin, who had for some time lost sight of the +chariot, took no notice of a way, covered with moss and overgrown with +bushes; and pursued the more beaten road. Swift was his course; but the +swifter he flew, the farther still he wandered from the object of his +search. A rapid brook flowed across his path, which the descending +rains had swelled into a river. Without a moment’s hesitation, +accoutered as he was, he plunged in. Instantly he gained the opposite +bank, and divided the air before him, like an arrow in its flight. + +In the mean time, the storm had ceased, the darkness was dispersed, and +only a few thin and fleecy clouds were scattered over the blue expanse. +The sun had for some time sunk beneath the western hills. The heavens, +clear and serene, had assumed a deeper tint, and were spangled over +with stars. The moon, in calm and silver lustre, lent her friendly +light to the weary traveller. Edwin was fatigued and faint. He tried to +give vent to his complaints; but his tongue cleaved to the roof of his +mouth: his spirits sunk within him. No sound now reached his ears but +the baying of the shepherds dogs, and the _drowsy tinklings_ of the +_distant folds_. The owl, the solemn bird of night, sat buried among +the branches of the aged oak, and with her melancholy hootings gave an +additional serenity to the scene. At a small distance, on his right +hand, he perceived a contiguous object that reflected the rays of the +moon, through the willows and the hazels, and chequered the view with a +clear and settled lustre. He approached it. It was the lake of Elwy; +and near it he discovered that huge pile of stones, so well known to +him, which had been reared ages since, by the holy Druids. It was upon +this spot that they worshipped the Gods. But they had no habitation +near it. They repaired thither at stated intervals from the woods of +Mona, and the shores of Arvon. One only Druid lived by the banks of the +silver flood, and watched the temple day and night, that no rude hand +might do violence to the sanctity of the place, and no profaner mortal, +with sacrilegious foot might enter the mysterious edifice. It was +surrounded with a wall of oaks. The humbler shrubs filled up their +interstices, and there was no avenue to the sacred shade, except by two +narrow paths on either side the lake. + +The solemn stilness of the scene for a moment hushed the sorrows of +Edwin into oblivion. Ah, short oblivion! scarcely had he gazed around +him, and drank of the quietness and peace of the scene, ere those +recent sorrows impressed his bosom with more anguish than before. +Recollecting himself however, he trod the mead with nimble feet, and +approached, trembling and with hesitation, to the eastern avenue. “Hear +me, sage and generous Madoc,” cried the shepherd, with a voice that +glided along the peaceful lake, “hear the sorrows of the most forlorn +of all the sons of Clwyd!” The hermit, who sat at the door of his +grotto, perceived the sound, and approached to the place from which it +proceeded. The accent was gentle; and he feared no boisterous +intrusion. The accent was tender and pathetic; and never was the breast +of Madoc steeled against the voice of anguish. “Approach, my son,” he +cried. “What disastrous event has brought thee hither, so far from thy +peaceful home, and at this still and silent hour of night? Has any lamb +wandered from thy fold, and art thou come hither in pursuit of it?” +Edwin was silent. His heart seemed full almost to bursting, and he +could not utter a word. “Hast thou wandered from thy companions and +missed the path that led to the well-known hamlet?” “Alas,” said Edwin, +“I had a companion once!” and he lifted up his eyes to heaven in +speechless despair. “Has thy mistress deserted thee, or have her +parents bestowed her on some happier swain?” “Yes,” said Edwin, “I have +lost her, who was dear to me as the _ruddy drops that visit my sad +heart._ But she was constant. Her parents approved of my passion, and +consigned her to my arms.” “Has sickness then overtaken her, or has +untimely death put a period to thy prospects, just as they began to +bloom?” “Oh, no,” said the disconsolate shepherd, “I have encountered a +disaster more comfortless and wasteful than sickness. I had a thousand +times rather have received her last sigh, and closed her eyes in +darkness!” + +During this conversation, they advanced along the banks of Elwy, and +drew towards the grotto of the hermit. The hospitable Madoc brought +some dried fruits and a few roots from his cell, and spread them before +his guest. He took a bowl of seasoned wood, and hastening to the +fountain, that fell with a murmuring noise down the neighing [sic] +rock, he presented the limpid beverage. “Such,” said he, “is my humble +fare; partake it with a contented heart, and it shall be more grateful +to thy taste, than the high flavoured viands of a monarch.” In the mean +time, Madoc, pleased with the benevolent pursuit, gathered some bits of +dry wood, and setting them on fire, besought the swain to refresh +himself from the weariness of his travel, and the inclemency of the +storm. But the heart of Edwin was too full to partake of the provisions +that his attentive host had prepared. The chearfulness however of the +blazing hearth and the generous officiousness of the hermit, seemed by +degrees to recover him from the insensibility and lethargy, that for a +time had swallowed up all his faculties. + +Madoc had hitherto contemplated his guest in silence. He permitted him +to refresh his wearied frame and to resume his dissipated spirits +uninterrupted; he suppressed the curiosity by which he was actuated, to +learn the story of the woes of Edwin. In the midst of his dejection, he +perceived the symptoms of a nobility of spirit that interested him; and +the anguish of the shepherd’s mind had not totally destroyed the traces +of that mild affability, and that manly frankness for which he was +esteemed. + +Edwin had no sooner appeared to shake off a small part of his +melancholy, his eye no sooner sparkled with returning fire, than Madoc +embraced the favourable omen. “My son,” said he, “you seem to be full +of dejection and grief. Grief is not an inmate of the plain; the hours +of the shepherd are sped in gaiety and mirth. Suspicion and design are +stranger to his bosom. With him the voice of discord is not heard. The +scourge of war never blasted his smiling fields; the terror of invasion +never banished him from the peaceful cot. You too are young and +uninured even to the misfortunes of the shepherd. No contagion has +destroyed your flock; no wolf has broken its slender barriers: you have +felt the anguish of no wound, and been witness to the death of no +friend. Say then, my son, why art thou thus dejected and forlorn?” + +“Alas,” replied Edwin, “our equal lot undoubtedly removes us from the +stroke of many misfortunes; but even to us adversity extends its rod. I +have been exposed to the ravages of an invader, more fearful than the +wolf, more detested than the conqueror. From an affliction like mine, +no occupation, no rank, no age can exempt. Sawest thou not the +descending storm? Did not the rain beat upon thy cavern, and the +thunder roar among the hills?” “It did,” cried Madoc, “and I was struck +with reverence, and worshipped the God who grasps the thunder in his +mighty hand. Wast thou, my son, exposed to its fury?” “I was upon the +bleak and wide extended heath. With Imogen, the fairest and most +constant of the daughters of Clwyd, I returned from the feast of +Ruthyn. But alas,” added the shepherd, “the storm had no terrors, when +compared with the scenes that accompanied it. I beheld, Madoc, nor are +the words I utter the words of shameless imposition, or coward +credulity; I beheld a phantom, that glided along the air, and rode +among the clouds. At his command, a wolf from the forest, with horrid +tusks, and eyes of fire, burst upon me. I advanced towards it, that I +might defend the fairest of her sex from its fury, and plunged my +javelin in its heart. But, oh! while I was thus engaged, a chariot +advanced on the opposite side! Its course was directed by the spectre. +The rider descended on the plain, and seized the spotless, helpless +Imogen; and never, never shall these eyes behold her more! Such, O thou +servant of the Gods, has been my adversity. The powers of darkness have +arrayed themselves against me. For me the storm has been brewed; all +the arrows of heaven have been directed against my weak, defenceless +head. For me the elements have mixed in tremendous confusion; portents +and prodigies have been accumulated for my destruction. Oh, then, +generous and hospitable Druid, what path is there, that is left for my +deliverance? What chance remains for me, now that a host of invisible +beings combats against me? Teach me, my friend, my father, what it is +that I must do. Tell me, is there any happiness in store for Edwin, or +must I sink, unresisting, into the arms of comfortless despair?” + +“My son,” cried the venerable hermit, “hope is at all times our duty, +and despair our crime. It is not in the power of events to undermine +the felicity of the virtuous. Goblins, and spirits of darkness, are +permitted a certain scope in this terrestrial scene; but their power is +bounded; beyond a certain line they cannot wander. In vain do they +threaten innocence and truth. Innocence is a wall of brass upon which +they can make no impression. Virtue is an adamant that is sacred and +secure from all their efforts. He whose thoughts are full of rectitude +and heaven, who knows no guile, may wander in safety through +uncultivated forests, or sandy plains, that have never known the trace +of human feet. Before him the robber is just, and the satyr tame; for +him the monsters of the desert are disarmed of their terrors, and he +shall lead the wild boar and the wolf in his hand. Such is the sanctity +that heaven has bestowed on unblemished truth.” + +“Alas, my father,” cried Edwin, “this is the lesson that was first +communicated to my childhood; and my infant heart bounded with the +sacred confidence it inspired. But excuse the presumption of a +distracted heart. This lesson, to which at another time I could have +listened with rapture and enthusiasm, seems now too loose and general +for a medicine to my woes. Innocence the Gods have made superior and +invulnerable. And, oh, in what have I transgressed? Yet, my father, I +am wounded in the tenderest part. Shall I ever recover my Imogen? Is +she not torn from me irreversibly? How shall I engage with powers +invisible, and supernatural? How shall I discover my unknown, human +enemy? No, Madoc, I am lost in impenetrable darkness. For me there is +no hope, no shadow of approaching ease.” + +“Be calm, my son,” rejoined the anchorite. “Arrogance and impatience +become not the weak and uninformed children of the earth. Be calm, and +I will administer a remedy more appropriate to your wrongs. But +remember this is your hour of trial. If now you forget the principles +of your youth, and the instructions of the sacred Druids, you shall +fall from happiness, never to regain it more. But if you come forth +pure and unblemished from the fierce assay, your Imogen shall be yours, +the Gods shall take you into their resistless protection, and in all +future ages, when men would cite an example of distinguished felicity, +they shall say, as fortunate as Edwin of the vale.” Edwin bended his +knee in mute submission. + +“Listen, my son,” continued the Druid. “I know your enemy, and can +point out to you his obscure retreat.” The shepherd lifted up his eyes, +lately so languid, that now flashed with fire. He eagerly grasped the +hand of Madoc. “Alas,” continued the hermit, “to know him would little +answer the purpose of thy bold and enterprising spirit. They adversary, +as thou mayest have conjectured, is in league with the powers of +darkness. Against them what can courage, what can adventure avail? They +can unthread thy joints, and crumble all thy sinews. They can chain up +thy limbs in marble. For how many perils, how many unforseen disasters +ought he to be prepared, who dares to encounter them?” + +“The name of him who has ravished from thee the dearest treasure of thy +heart, is Roderic. His mother—attend, oh Edwin, for whatever the +incredulous may pretend, the tales related by the bards in their +immortal songs, of ghosts, and fairies, and dire enchantment, are not +vain and fabulous.—You have heard of the inauspicious fame and the bad +eminence of Rodogune. She withdrew from the fields of Clwyd within the +memory of the elder of shepherds. Various were the conjectures +occasioned by her disappearance. Some imagined, that for the +haughtiness of her humour, and the malignity of her disposition, +characters that were wholly unexampled in the pastoral life, she had +been carried away before the period limited by nature to the place of +torment by the goblins of the abyss. Others believed that she concealed +herself in the top of the highest mountain that was near them, and by a +commerce with invisible, malignant beings, still exercised the same +gloomy temper in more potent, and therefore more inauspicious harm. The +blight that overspread the meadows, the destructive contagion that +diffused itself among the flocks, the raging tempest that rooted up the +oak, when the thunder roared among the hills, and the lightning flashed +from pole to pole, they ascribed to the machinations and the sorcery of +Rodogune. Their conjectures indeed were blind, but their notions were +not wholly mistaken. + +“Rodogune was the mother of Roderic. She was deeply skilled in those +dark and flagitious arts, which have cast a gloom upon this mortal +scene. The intellectual powers bestowed upon her by the Gods were great +and eminent, and were given for a far different purpose than to be +employed in these sinister pursuits. But all conspicuous talents are +liable, my son, to base perversion; and such was the fate of those of +Rodogune. She delighted in the actions which her dark and criminal +alliance with invisible powers enabled her to perform. It was her’s to +mislead the benighted shepherd. It was Sher’s to part the happy lovers. +For this purpose she would swell the waves, and toss the feeble bark. +She dispensed, according to the dictates of her caprice, the mildew +among the tender herb, and the pestilence among the folds of the +shepherds. By the stupendous powers of enchantment, she raised from the +bosom of a hill a wondrous edifice. The apartments were magnificent and +stately; unlike the shepherd’s cot, and not to be conceived by the +imagination of the rustic. Here she accumulated a thousand various +gratifications; here she wantoned in all the secret and licentious +desires of her heart. But her castle was not merely a scene of +thoughtless pleasure. Within its circle she held crouds of degenerate +shepherds, groveling through the omnipotence of her incantations in +every brutal form. Even the spectres and the elves that disobeyed her +authority, she held in the severest durance. She compressed their +tender forms in the narrowest prison, or gave them to the stormy winds, +to be whirled, _with restless violence, round about_ the ample globe. +In a word, her mansion was one uninterrupted scene of ingenious cruelty +and miserable despair. To be surrounded with the face of disappointment +and agony was the happiness of Rodogune. + +“When first by her art she raised that edifice which is now inhabited +by her son, she had been desirous to conceal it from the prying eyes of +the wanderer. In order to this, though it stood upon an eminence, she +chose an eminence that was surrounded by higher hills, and hills which, +according to the neighbouring shepherds, were impassable. No +adventurous step had ever since the day they were created pierced +beyond them. It was imagined that the space they surrounded was the +haunt of elves, and the resort of those who held commerce with evil +spirits. The curling smoke, which of late has frequently been seen to +ascend from their bosom, has confirmed this tradition. And in order to +render her habitation still more impervious, Rodogune surrounded it +with a deep grove of oaks, whose thick branches entwined together, +permitted no passage so much as to the light of day. + +“Roderic was her only child, the darling of her age, and the central +object of all her cares. At his birth the elves and the fairies were +summoned together. They bestowed upon him every beauty of person and +every subtlety of wit. To every weapon they made him invulnerable. And, +without demanding from him that care and persevering study, that had +planted wrinkles on his mother’s brow, they gave him to enjoy his +wishes instantly and uncontroled. One only goblin was daring enough to +pronounce a curse upon him. ‘WHEN RODERIC,’ cried he, ‘SHALL BE +OVERREACHED IN ALL HIS SPELLS BY A SIMPLE SWAIN, UNVERSED IN THE +VARIOUS ARTS OF SORCERY AND MAGIC: WHEN RODERIC SHALL SUE TO A SIMPLE +MAID, WHO BY HIS CHARMS SHALL BE MADE TO HATE THE SWAIN THAT ONCE SHE +LOVED, AND WHO YET SHALL RESIST ALL HIS PERSONAL ATTRACTIONS AND ALL +HIS POWER; THEN SHALL HIS POWER BE AT AN END. HIS PALACES SHALL BE +DISSOLVED, HIS RICHES SCATTERED, AND HE HIMSELF SHALL BECOME AN +UNFITTED, NECESSITOUS, MISERABLE VAGABOND.’ Such was the mysterious +threat; and dearly did the threatner abide it. In the mean time, an elf +more generous, more attached to Rodogune, and more potent than the +rest, bestowed upon the infant a mysterious ring. By means of this he +is empowered to assume what form he pleases. By means of this it was +hoped he would be able to subdue the most prepossessed, and melt the +most obdurate female heart. By means of this it was hoped, he might +evade not only the simple swain, but all the wiles of the most +experienced and subtle adversary. + +“Roderic now increased in age, and began to exhibit the promises of +that manly and graceful beauty that was destined for him. He inherited +his mother’s haughtiness, and his wishes and his passions were never +subjected to contradiction. A few years since that mother died, and the +youth has been too much engaged in voluptuousness and luxury to embark +in the malicious pursuits of Rodogune, Sensuality has been his aim, and +pleasure has been his God. To gratify his passions has been the sole +object of his attentions; and he has remitted no exertion that could +enhance to him the joys of the feast and the fruition of beauty. One +low-minded gratification has succeeded to another; pleasures of an +elevated and intellectual kind have been strangers to his heart; and +were it not that the subtlety of wit was a gift bestowed upon him by +supernatural existencies, he must long ere this have sunk his mind to +the lowest savageness and the most contemptible imbecility.” + +Edwin heard the tale of the Druid with the deepest attention. He was +interested in the information it contained; he was astonished at the +unfathomable witcheries of Rodogune; and he could not avoid the being +apprehensive of the unexpanded powers of Roderic. But the daring and +adventurous spirit of youth, and the anxiety that he felt for the +critical situation of Imogen, soon overpowered and obliterated these +impressions. The Druid finished; and he started from his seat. “Point +me, kind and generous Madoc, to the harbour of the usurper. I will +invade his palace. I will enter fearlessly the lime-twigs of his +spells. I will trust in the omnipotency of innocence. Though the +magician should be encircled with all the horrid forms that ingenious +fear ever created, though all the grizly legions of the infernal realm +should hem in, I will find him out, and force him to relinquish his +prize, or drag him by his shining hair to a death, ignominious and +accursed, as has been the conduct of his life.” + +The Druid assumed a sterner and a severer aspect. “How long, son of the +valley,” cried he, “wilt thou be deaf to the voice of instruction? When +wilt thou temper thy heedless and inconsiderate courage with the +coolness of wisdom and the moderation of docility? But go,” added he, +“I am to blame to endeavour to govern thy headlong spirit, or stem the +torrent of youthful folly. Go, and endure the punishment of thy +rashness. Encounter the magician in the midst of his spells. Expose thy +naked and unprotected head to glut his vengeance. Over thy life indeed, +he has no power. Deliberate guilt, not unreflecting folly, can deprive +thee of thy right to that. But, oh, shepherd, what avails it to live in +hopeless misery? With ease he shall shut thee up for revolving years in +darkness tangible; he shall plunge thee deep beneath the surface of the +mantled pool, the viscous spume shall draw over thy miserable head its +dank and dismal shroud; or perhaps, more ingenious in mischief, he +shall chain thee up in inactivity, a conscious statue, the silent and +passive witness of the usurped joys that once thou fondly fanciedst thy +own.” + +“Oh, pardon me, sage and venerable Madoc,” replied the shepherd. “Edwin +did not come from the hands of nature obstinate and untractable. But +grief agitates my spirits; anxiety and apprehension conjure up a +thousand horrid phantoms before my distracted imagination, and I am no +longer myself. I will however subdue my impatient resentments. I will +listen with coolness to the voice of native sagacity and hoary +experience. Tell me then, my father, and I will hearken with mute +attention, nor think the lesson long,—instruct me how I shall escape +those tremendous dangers thou hast described. Say, is there any remedy, +canst thou communicate any potent and unconquerable amulet, that shall +shield me from the arts of sorcery? Teach me, and my honest heart shall +thank thee. Communicate it, and the benefit shall be consecrated in my +memory to everlasting gratitude.” + +“My son,” replied Madoc, “I am indeed interested for thee. Thy heart is +ingenuous and sincere; thy misfortune is poignant and affecting. Listen +then to my directions. Receive and treasure up this small and sordid +root. In its external appearance, it is worthless and despicable; but, +Edwin, we must not judge by appearances; that which is most valuable +often delights to shroud itself under a coarse and unattractive +outside. In a richer climate, and under a more genial sun, it bears a +beauteous flower, whose broad leaves expand themselves to the day, and +are clothed with a deep and splendid purple, glossy as velvet, and +bedropped with gold. This root is a sovereign antidote against all +blasts, enchantments, witchcrafts, and magic. With this about thee, +thou mayest safely enter the haunts of Roderic; thou mayest hear his +incantations unappalled; thou mayest boldly dash from his hand his +magic glass, and shed the envenomed beverage on the ground. Then, when +he stands astonished at the unexpected phenomenon, wrest from him his +potent wand. Invoke not the unhallowed spirits of the abyss; invoke the +spotless synod of the Gods. Strike with his rod the walls of his +palace, and they shall turn to viewless air; the monster shall be +deprived of all his riches, and all his accumulated pleasures; and thou +and thy Imogen, delivered from the powers of enchantment, shall be, for +one long, uninterrupted day, happy in the enjoyment of each other. + +“Attend, my son, yet attend, to one more advice, upon which all thy +advantage and all thy success in this moment of crisis hang. Engage not +in so arduous and important an enterprise immaturely. Thou hast yet no +reason for despair. Thou art yet beheld with favour by propitious +heaven. But thou mayest have reason for despair. One false step may +ruin thee. One moment of heedless inconsideration may plunge thee in +years of calamity. One moment of complying guilt may shut upon thee the +door of enjoyment and happiness for ever.” + +Such was the sorrow, and such were the consolations of Edwin. But far +different was the situation, and far other scenes were prepared for his +faithful shepherdess. For some time after she had been seized by +Roderic, she had remained unconscious and supine. The terrors that had +preceded the fatal capture, had overpowered her delicate frame, and +sunk her into an alarming and obstinate fit of insensibility. They had +now almost reached the palace of the magician, when she discovered the +first symptoms of returning life. The colour gradually remounted into +her bloodless cheeks; her hands were raised with a feeble and +involuntary motion, and at length she lifted up her head, and opened +her languid, unobserving eyes. “Edwin,” she cried, “my friend, my +companion, where art thou? Where have we been? Oh, it is a long and +tedious evening!” Saying this, she looked upon the objects around her. +The sky was now become clear and smiling; the lowring clouds were +dissipated, and the blue expanse was stretched without limits over +their head. The sources of her former terror were indeed removed, but +the objects that presented themselves were equally alarming. All was +unexpected and all was unaccountable. Imogen had remained without +consciousness from the very beginning of the storm, and it was during +her insensibility that the goblin had been visible, and the magician +descended to the plains. She found herself mounted upon a car, and +hurried along by rapid steeds. She saw beside her a man whose face, +whose garb, and whose whole appearance were perfectly unknown to her. + +“Ah,” exclaimed the maiden, in a voice of amazement apprehension, +“where am I? What is become of my Edwin? And what art thou? What means +all this? These are not the well-known fields; this is not the brook of +Towey, nor these hills of Clwyd. Oh, whither, whither do we fly? This +track leads not to the cottage of my parents, and the groves of +Rhyddlan.” “Be not uneasy, my fair one,” answered Roderic. “We go, +though not by the usual path, to where your friends reside. I am not +your enemy, but a swain who esteems it his happiness to have come +between you and your distress, and to have rescued you from the pelting +of the storm. Suspend, my love, for a few moments your suspicions and +your anxiety, and we shall arrive where all your doubts will be +removed, and all I hope will be pleasure and felicitation.” While he +thus spoke the chariot hastened to the conclusion of their journey, and +entered the area in the front of the mansion of Roderic. + +The suspicions of Imogen were indeed removed, but in a manner too cruel +for her tender frame. The terror and fatigue she had previously +undergone had wasted her spirits, and the surprise she now experienced, +was more than she could sustain. As the chariot entered the court, she +cried out with a voice of horror and anguish, and sunk breathless into +the arms of her ravisher. Though the passion he had already conceived +for her, made this a circumstance of affliction, he yet in another view +rejoiced, that he was able, by its intervention, to conduct his prize +in a manner by stealth into his palace, and thus to prevent that +struggle and those painful sensations, which she must otherwise have +known. For could she have borne, without emotion, to see herself +conveyed into a wretched imprisonment? Could she have submitted, +without opposition, to be shut up, as it were, from the hope of +revisiting those scenes, where once her careless childhood played, and +those friends whom she valued more than life? + +The leading pursuit of Roderic, as it had been stated by the Druid of +Elwy, was the love of pleasure, an attachment to sensuality, luxury and +lust. He often spent whole days in the bosom of voluptuousness, +reposing upon couches of down, under ceilings of gold. His senses were +at intervals awakened, by the most exquisite music, to a variety of +delight. He often recreated his view with beholding, from a posture of +supineness and indolence, the frolic games, and the mazy dance. +Sometimes, in order to diversify the scene, he would mix in the sports, +and, by the graceful activity of his limbs, and the subtle keenness of +his wit, would communicate relish and novelty to that which before had +palled upon the performers. When he moved, every eye was fixed in +admiration. When he spoke all was tranquility of attention, and every +mouth was open to applaud. Then were set forth the luxuries of the +feast. Every artifice was employed to provoke the appetite. The viands +were savoury, and the fruits were blushing; the decorations were +sumptuous, and the halls shone with a profusion of tapers, whose rays +were reflected in a thousand directions by an innumerable multitude of +mirrors and lustres. And now the intoxicating beverage went swiftly +round the board. The conversation became more open and unrestrained. +Quick were the repartees and loud the mirth. Loose, meaning glances +were interchanged between the master of the feast and the mingled +beauties that adorned his board. With artful inadvertence the gauze +seemed to withdraw from their panting bosoms, and new and still newer +charms discovered themselves to enchant the eyes and inflame the heart. +The bed of enjoyment succeeded to the board of intemperance. Such was +the history of the life of Roderic. + +But man was not born for the indolence of pleasure and the uniformity +of fruition. No gratifications, but especially not those that address +themselves only to the senses, and pamper this brittle, worthless +mansion of the immortal mind, are calculated to entertain us for any +long duration. We need something to awaken our attention, to whet our +appetite, and to contrast our joys. Happiness in this sublunary state +can scarcely be felt, but by a comparison with misery. It is he only +that has escaped from sickness, that is conscious of health; it is he +only that has shaken off the chains of misfortune, that truly rejoices. +The wisdom of these maxims was felt by Roderic. Full of pleasures, +surrounded with objects of delight, he was not happy. Their uniformity +cloyed him. He had received, by supernatural endowment, an activity and +a venturousness of spirit, that were little formed for such scenes as +these. He was devoured with spleen. He sighed he knew not why; he was +peevish and ill-humoured in the midst of the most assiduous attention +and the most wakeful service. And the command he possessed over the +elements of nature was no remedy for sensations like these. + +Oppressed with these feelings, Roderic was accustomed to withdraw +himself from the pomps and luxuries that surrounded him, to fly from +the gilded palace and the fretted roofs, and to mix in the simple and +undebauched scenes of artless innocence that descended on every side +from the hills he inhabited. The name of Roderic was unknown to all the +shepherds of the vallies, and he was received by them with that +officiousness and hospitality which they were accustomed to exercise to +the stranger. It was his delight to give scope to his imagination by +inventing a thousand artful tales of misfortune, by which he awakened +the compassion, and engaged the attachment of the simple hinds. In +order the more effectually to evade that curiosity which would have +been fatal to his ease, he assumed every different time that he came +among them a different form. By this contrivance, he passed unobserved, +he partook freely of their pastimes, he made his observations +unmolested, and was perfectly at leisure for the reflections, not +always of the most pleasant description, that these scenes, of simple +virtue and honest poverty, were calculated to excite. “Oh, impotence of +power,” exclaimed he, wrapt up and secure in the disguise he assumed, +“to what purpose art thou desired? Ambition is surely the most foolish +and misjudging of all terrestrial passions. My condition appears +attractive. I am surrounded with riches and splendour; no man +approaches me but with homage and flattery; every object of +gratification solicits my acceptance. I am not only endowed with a +capacity of obtaining all that I can wish, and that by supernatural +means, but I am almost constantly forestalled in my wishes. Who would +not say, that I am blessed? Who that heard but a description of my +state, would not envy me? O ye shepherds, happy, thrice happy, in the +confinedness of your prospects, ye would then envy me! Instructed as I +am, instructed by too fatal experience, with reason I envy you. Hark to +that swain who is now leading his flock from the durance in which they +were held till the morning peeped over the eastern hills! The little +lambs frisk about him, thankful for the liberty they have regained, and +he stretches out his hand for them to lick. Now he drives them along +the extended green, and in a wild and thoughtless note carols a lively +lay. He sings perhaps of the kind, but bashful shepherdess. His hat is +bound about with ribbon; the memorial of her coy compliance and +much-prized favour. How light is his heart, how chearful his gait, and +how gay his countenance! He leads in a string a little frolic goat with +curving horns: I suppose the prize that he bore off in singing, which +is not yet tamed to his hand, and familiarised to his flock. What +though his coat be frieze? What though his labour constantly return +with the returning day? I wear the attire of kings; far from labouring +myself, thousands labour for my convenience. And yet he is happier than +I. Envied simplicity; venerable ignorance; plenteous poverty! How +gladly would I quit my sumptuous palace, and my magic arts, for the +careless, airy, and unreflecting joys of rural simplicity!” + +It was in a late excursion of this kind that he had beheld the +beauteous Imogen. His eye was struck with the charms of her person, and +the amiableness of her manners. Never had he seen a complexion so +transparent, or an eye so expressive. Her vermeil-tinctured lips were +new-blown roses that engrossed the sight, and seemed to solicit to be +plucked. His heart was caught in the tangles of her hair. Such an +unaffected bashfulness, and so modest a blush; such an harmonious and +meaning tone of voice, that expressed in the softest accents, the most +delicate sense and the most winning simplicity, could not but engage +the attention of a swain so versed in the science of the fair as +Roderic. From that distinguished moment, though he still felt +uneasiness, it was no longer vacuity, it was no longer an uneasiness +irrational and unaccountable. He had now an object to pursue. He was +not now subjected to the fatigue of forming wishes for the sake of +having them instantly gratified. When he reflected upon the present +object of his desires, new obstacles continually started in his mind. +Unused to encounter difficulty, he for a time imagined them +insurmountable. Had his desires been less pressing, had his passion +been less ardent, he would have given up the pursuit in despair. But +urged along by an unintermitted impulse, he could think of nothing +else, he could not abstract his attention to a foreign subject. He +determined at least once again to behold the peerless maiden. He +descended to the feast of Ruthyn; and though the interval had been but +short, from the time in which he had first observed her, in the eye of +love she seemed improved. The charms that erst had budded, were now +full blown. Her beauties were ripened, and her attractions spread +themselves in the face of day. Nor was this all. He beheld with a +watchful glance her slight and silent intercourse with the gallant +Edwin; an intercourse which no eye but that of a lover could have +penetrated. Hence his mind became pregnant with all the hateful brood +of dark suspicions; he was agitated with the fury of jealousy. Jealousy +evermore blows the flame it seems formed to extinguish. The passion of +Roderic was more violent than ever. His impatient spirit could not now +brook the absence of a moment. Luxury charmed no longer; the couch of +down was to him a bed of torture, and the solicitations of beauty, the +taunts and sarcasms of infernal furies. He invoked the spirit of his +mother; he brought together an assembly of elves and goblins. By their +direction he formed his plan; by their instrumentality the tempest was +immediately raised; and under the guidance of the chief of all the +throng he descended upon his prey, like the eagle from his eminence in +the sky. + +The success of his exploit has already been related. The scheme had +indeed been too deeply laid, and too artfully digested, to admit almost +the possibility of a miscarriage. Who but would have stood appalled, +when the storm descended upon our lovers in the midst of the plain, and +the thunders seemed to rock the whole circle of the neighbouring hills? +Who could have conducted himself at once with greater prudence and +gallantry than the youthful shepherd? Did he not display the highest +degree of heroism and address, when he laid the gaunt and haughty wolf +prostrate at his feet? But it was not for human skill to cope with the +opposition of infernal spirits. Accordingly Roderic had been +victorious. He had borne the tender maiden unresisted from the field; +he had outstripped the ardent pursuit of Edwin with a speed swifter +than the winds. In fine, he had conducted his lovely prize in safety to +his enchanted castle, and had introduced her within those walls, where +every thing human and supernatural obeyed his nod, in a state of +unresisting passivity. + +Roderic, immediately upon his entrance into the castle, had committed +the fair Imogen to the care of the attendant damsels. He charged them +by every means to endeavour to restore her to sense and tranquility, +and not to utter any thing in her hearing, which should have the +smallest tendency to discompose her spirits. In obedience to orders, +which they had never known what it was to dispute, they were so +unwearied in their assiduities to their amiable charge, that it was not +long before she began once again to exhibit the tokens of renewed +perception. She raised by degrees a leaden and inexpressive eye, to the +objects that were about her, without having as yet spirit and +recollectedness enough to distinguish them. “My mother,” cried she, “my +venerable Edith, I am not well. My head is quite confused and giddy. Do +press it with your friendly hand.” A female attendant, as she uttered +these words, drew near to obey them. “Go, go,” exclaimed Imogen, with a +feeble tone, and at the same time putting by the officious hand, “you +naughty girl. You are not my mother. Do not think to make me believe +you are.” + +While she spoke this she began gradually to gain a more entire +sedateness and self-command. She seemed to examine, with an eager and +inquisitive eye, first one object, and then another by turns. The +novelty of the whole scene appeared for an instant to engross her +attention. Every part of the furniture was unlike that of a shepherd’s +cot; and completely singular and unprecedented by any thing that her +memory could suggest. But this self-deception, this abstraction from +her feelings and her situation was of a continuance the shortest that +can be conceived. All seemed changed with her in a moment. Her eye, +which, from a state of languor and unexpressiveness, had assumed an air +of intent and restless curiosity, was now full of comfortless sorrow +and unprotected distress. “Powers that defend the innocent, support, +guard me! Where am I? What have I been doing? What is become of me? Oh, +Edwin, Edwin!” and she reclined her head upon the shoulder of the +female who was nearest her. + +Recovering however, in a moment, the dignity that was congenial to her, +she raised herself from this remiss and inactive posture, and seemed to +be immersed in reflection and thought. “Yes, yes,” exclaimed she, “I +know well enough how it is. You cannot imagine what a furious storm it +was: and so I sunk upon the ground terrified to death: and so Edwin +left me, and ran some where, I cannot tell where, for shelter. But sure +it could not be so neither. He could not be so barbarous. Well but +however somebody came and took me up, and so I am here. But what am I +here for, and what place is this? Tell me, ye kind shepherdesses, (if +shepherdesses you are) for indeed I am sick at heart.” + +The broken interrogatories of Imogen were heard with a profound +silence. “What,” said the lovely and apprehensive maiden, “will you not +answer me? No, not one word. Ah, then it must be bad indeed. But I have +done nothing that should make me be afraid. I am as harmless and as +chearly as the little red-breast that pecks out of my hand? So you will +not hurt me, will you? No, I dare swear. You do not frown upon me. Your +looks are quite sweet and good-natured. But then it was not kind not to +answer me, and tell me what I asked you.” “Fair stranger,” replied one +of the throng, “we would willingly do any thing to oblige you. But you +are weak and ill; and it is necessary that you should not exert +yourself, but try to sleep.” + +“Sleep,” replied the shepherdess, “what here in this strange place? No, +that I shall not, I can tell you. I never slept from under the thatch +of my father’s cottage in my life, but once, and that was at the +wedding of my dear, obliging Rovena. But perhaps,” added she, “my +father and mother will come to me here. So I will even try and be +compilable, for I never was obstinate. But indeed my head is strangely +confused; you must excuse me.” + +Such was the language, and such the affecting simplicity of the +innocent and uncultivated Imogen. She, who had been used to one narrow +round of chearful, rustic scenes, was too much perplexed to be able to +judge of her situation. Her repeated faintings had weakened her +spirits, and for a time disordered her understanding. She had always +lived among the simple; she had scarcely ever been witness to any thing +but sincerity and innocence. Suspicion therefore was the farthest in +the world from being an inmate of her breast. Suspicion is the latest +and most difficult lesson of the honest and uncrooked mind. Imogen +therefore willingly retired to rest, in compliance with the soliciation +of her attendants. She beheld no longer her ravisher, whose eye beamed +with ungovernable desires, and whose crest swelled with pride. Every +countenance was marked with apparent carefulness and sympathy. She was +even pleased with their officious and friendly-seeming demeanour. + +Tell me, ye vain cavillers, ye haughty adversaries of the omnipotence +of virtue, where could artful vice, where could invisible and hell-born +seduction, have found a fitter object for their triumph? Imogen was not +armed with the lessons of experience: Imogen was not accoutered with +the cautiousness of cultivation and refinement. She was all open to +every one that approached her. She carried her heart in her hand. Ye, I +doubt not, have already reckoned upon the triumph, and counted the +advantages. But, if I do not much mistake the divine lessons I am +commissioned to deliver, the muse shall tell a very different story. + + + + +BOOK THE THIRD + +PURPOSES OF RODERIC.—THE CARRIAGE OF IMOGEN.—HER CONTEMPT OF RICHES. + + +The fatigue which Imogen had undergone in the preceding day, prepared +her to rest during the night with more tranquility than could otherwise +have been expected. The scenes to which she had successively been +witness, and the objects that now surrounded her, were too novel and +extraordinary in their character, to allow much room for the severity +of reflection, and the coolness of meditation. Her frame was tired with +the various exercises in which she had engaged; her mind was hurried +and perplexed without knowing upon what to fix, or in what manner to +account for the events that had befallen her: she therefore sunk +presently into a sweet and profound sleep; and while every thing seemed +preparing for her destruction, while a thousand enchantments were +essayed, and a thousand schemes revolved in the busy mind of Roderic, +she remained composed and unapprehensive. Innocence was the sevenfold +shield that protected her from harm; her eyes were closed in darkness, +and a smile of placid benignity played upon the lovely features of her +countenance. + +Roderic in the mean time had retired to his chamber. His mind was +turbid and unquiet. So restless are the waves of the ocean before the +coming tempest. They assume a darker hue, and reflect a more cloudy +heaven. They roll this way and that in a continual motion, and yet +without any direction, till the loud and hoarse-echoing wind determines +their course and carries them in mountains to the sounding shore. The +mind of the victim was all quiet and unruffled; such is the kindly +influence of conscious truth. The mind of the ravisher exhibited +nothing but uneasiness and confusion; such are the boons which vice +bestows upon her misjudging votaries. + +The conqueror, doubly misled by fierce and unruly passions and by his +inauspicious commerce with the goblins of the abyss, retired not +immediately to his couch, but walked up and down his apartments, with a +hasty and irregular step. “Thanks to my favourable stars,” exclaimed +he, “I am triumphant! What power can resist me? Where is the being that +shall dare to say, that one wish of my heart shall go unfulfilled? Well +then, I have got the fair the charming she into my power. She is shut +up in a palace, unseen by every human eye, to which no human foot ever +found its way but at my bidding. She is closed round with spells and +enchantment. I can by a word deprive her every limb of motion. If I but +wave this wand, the leaden God of sleep shall sink her in a moment in +the arms of forgetfulness, whatever were before her anxieties and her +wakeful terrors. In what manner then shall I, thus absolute and +uncontroled in all I bid exist, proceed? Shall I press the unwilling +beauty to my bosom, and riot in her hoard of charms, without waiting +like meaner mortals to sue for the consent of her will? There is +something noble, royal, and independent, in the thought. Beauty never +appears so attractive as from behind a veil of tears. Oh, how I enjoy +infancy [sic] the anger that shall flush her lovely cheek! Perhaps she +will even kneel to me to deprecate that which an education of +prejudices has taught her to consider as the worst of evils. Yes, my +lovely maid, I will raise thee. Do not turn from me those scornful +indignant eyes. I will be thy best friend. I will not hurt a hair of +thy head. Oh, when her spotless bosom pants with disdain, how sweet to +beat the little chiders, and by a friendly violence, which true and +comprehensive wisdom cannot stigmatize, to teach her what is the true +value of beauty, and for what purpose such enchanting forms as her’s +were sent to dwell below!” + +Thus spoke the ravisher, and as he spoke he assumed, although alone, a +firmer stride and a more haughty crest. Upon the instant however his +ears were saluted with a low and continual sound, that became, by just +degrees, stronger and more strong. The walls of his palace shook; a +sudden and supernatural light gleamed along his apartment, and a +spectre stood before him. Roderic lifted up his eyes, and immediately +recognised the features of that goblin, who from the hour of his birth, +had declared himself his adversary. He had been repeatedly used to the +visits of this malicious spirit, who delighted to subvert all his +schemes, and to baffle his deepest projects. This was the only +misfortune, the sovereign of the hills had ever known; this was the +only instance in which he had at any time been taught what it was to +have his power controled and his nod unobeyed. He had often sought, by +means of the confederacy he held with other spirits of the infernal +regions, to restrain his enemy, or by punishment and suffering to make +him rue his opposition. But the goblin he had to encounter, though not +the most potent, was of all the rest the most crafty in his wiles, and +the most abundant in expedients. As many times as his fellows had by +the instigation of Roderic undertaken to encounter him, so often had +they in the end been eluded and defeated. The contest was now given up, +and the goblin was at liberty to haunt and threaten his impotant +adversary as much as he pleased. + +“Roderic,” cried he, with a harsh and unpleasant accent, “I am come to +humble the haughtiness of thy triumph, and to pull down thy aspiring +thoughts. Impotent and rancorous mortal! Know, that innocence is +defended with too strong a shield for thee to pierce! Boast not thyself +of the immensity of thy walls, and put no confidence in the subtlety of +thy enchantments. Before the mightiness that waits on innocence, they +are not less impotent than the liquid wax, or the crumbling ruin. +Learn, oh presumptuous mortal, that sacred and unyielding chastity is +invulnerable to all the violence of men, and all the stratagems of +goblins. I would not name to thee so salutary an advice as to dismiss +thy innocent and unsuspicious prize, did not I know thee too obstinate +and headstrong to listen to the voice of wisdom. Essay then thy base +and low-minded temptations, thy corrupt and sophistical reasonings, to +tarnish the unsullied purity of her mind, and it is well. If by such a +wretch as thee she can be seduced from the obedience of virtue and the +Gods, then let her fall. She were then a victim worthy of thee. But if +thou essayest the means of tyranny and force, the attempt will be fatal +to thee. I will in that case enjoy my vengeance; I will triumph in thy +desolation. In the hour then of action and enterprise, remember me!” + +With these words the spectre vanished from his sight. Roderic was +inflamed with anger and disgust; but he had none, upon whom to wreak +his revenge. His heart boiled with the impotence of malice. “What,” +cried he, “am I to be bounded and hedged in, in all my exploits? Am I +to be curbed and thwarted in every wish of my heart? This, this was +nearest to me. This was the first pursuit of my life in which my whole +heart was engaged; the first time I ever felt a passion that deserved +the name of love. But be it so: I was born with wild and impetuous +passions only to have them frustrated; I was endowed with supernatural +powers, and inherited all my mother’s skill, only to be the more +signally disappointed. Still however I will not shrink, I will not +yield an inch to my adversary. I am bid, it seems, to tempt her, and +endeavour to stain the purity of her mind. Yes, I will tempt her. It is +not for an artless and uninstructed shepherdess to defeat my wiles and +baffle all my incitements. I will dazzle her senses with all the +attractions that the globe of earth has to boast. I will wind me into +her secret heart. Thou damned, unpropitious goblin, who seekest to +oppose thyself to my happiness, I will but, by thy warning, gain a +completer triumph! I will subdue her will. She shall crown my wishes +with ripe, consenting beauty. Long shall she remain the empress of my +heart, and partner of my bed. In her I will hope to find those simple, +artless, and engaging charms, which in vain I have often sought in the +band of females, that reside beneath my roof, and wait upon my nod.” + +Imogen, though considerably indisposed by the fatigue and terrors of +the preceding day, shook off however that placid and refreshing sleep +which had weighed down her eyelids, long before Roderic deserted the +couch of luxury. Two of the female attendants belonging to the castle +had slept in the same apartment with her, and soon, perceiving her in +motion, followed her example, and officiously pressed around her. One +of them took up a part of the garb of the fair shepherdess, and offered +to assist her in adjusting it. “I thank you,” cried Imogen, with the +utmost simplicity, “for your good-nature; but I am pretty well now; and +every body dresses herself that is not sick.” The inartificial +decorations of her person were quickly adjusted. The delicate +proportion of her limbs was hid beneath a russet mantle; her fair and +flowing tresses were disposed in a braid round her head, and she took +her straw hat in her hand. “Well,” said she, “I am obliged to you for +your favours. I dare say it was best for me, though at the time I +thought otherwise. For my head ached very much, and I was so weak—It +was wrong for me to think of going any farther.—Ah, but then, what have +my poor father and mother done all the while? Have not they missed +their Imogen, and wondered what was become of her, and been quite sad +and forlorn for fear she should have come to any harm? Well, I do not +know whether I was not right too. For their ease was of more +consequence than mine. I cannot tell. However I will not now keep them +in pain. So good morning to you, my dear kind friends!” And saying this +she was tripping away. + +But as she drew towards the door, one of the attendants, with a gentle +force, took hold of her hand. “Do not go yet, sweet Imogen,” cried she. +“We want a little more of your company. We have done you all the +service in our power, and you have not paid us for it. We will not ask +any thing hard and unreasonable of you. Only comply with us in this one +thing, to stay with us a few hours, and let us know a little better the +worth of that amiable female we have endeavoured to oblige.” “Indeed, +indeed,” replied Imogen, “I cannot. I am not used to be obstinate; and +you are so kind and fair spoken, that it goes to my heart to refuse +you. But I would not for the world keep my dear, good Edith in a +moment’s suspense. But since you are so desirous of being acquainted +with me, repair as soon and as often as you please to my father’s cot, +that lies on the right hand side of the valley, about a mile from the +sea, and just beside the pretty brawling brook of Towey. There I will +treat you with the nicest apples and the richest cream. And I would +treat you with better, if I knew of any thing better, that I might +thank you for your goodness. Farewel!” added she, and affectionately +pressed the hand that was still untwined with her’s. + +“No, Imogen, no, you must not leave us thus. Though we would have done +a thousand times more than we have for your own sake, who are so simple +and so good, it is yet fit that you should know, that we are not +mistresses here, and that all we have done has been by the orders of +the lord of this rich mansion. He will not therefore forgive us, if we +suffer you to depart before he has seen you, and expressed for you that +kindness which induced him to take you under his protection.” +“Heavens!” replied the shepherdess “this is all ceremony and folly, and +therefore cannot be of so much consequence as the peace of my father, +and the consolation of my mother. Tell him, that I thank him, and that +my father shall thank him too, if he will come to our hut. Tell him +that I am sorry for my foolish weakness, that gave him so much trouble, +and made me be so needlessly frightened, when we came to a place where +I have met with nothing but kindness; but I could not help it. And so +that is enough; for if my Edwin had been in his place, and had seen a +stranger shepherdess in the distress that I was, he would surely have +done as much. + +“Say so to your lord, as you call him, for I would not seem ungrateful. +But yet I will thank you a great deal more than I do him. For what did +he do for me? He took me, and hurried me away, and paid no attention to +my tears and expostulations. Well, but I need not have been alarmed. So +it seems. But I did not like his looks; they were not kind and +good-natured, but fierce and frightful. And so as soon as he had +brought me here, much against my will, he went away and left me. So +much the better. And then you came and took care of me, and he desired +you to do so. That was well enough. But I am more obliged to you for +your kindness and assiduity, than I am to him only for thinking of it. +And then to tell you the truth, but I ought not to say so to you who +are his friends, there is something about him, I cannot tell what, that +does not please me at all. He looks discontented, and fierce, as if +there was no such thing as soothing and managing him. But why do I say +all this? Pray now let me go, let me go to my dear, dear mother.” + +“Sweet Imogen,” replied the attendant, who seemed to take the lead in +the circle, “how lovely and amiable are you even in your resentments! +They are not with you a morose and gloomy sullenness brooding over +imaginary wrongs, and collecting venom and malice from every corner to +the heart. In your breast anger itself takes a milder form, and is +gentle, generous and gay. Yet why, my Imogen, should you harbour any +anger against your protector?” + +Such was the honest and artless dialogue of Imogen. The attendants +rather endeavoured to beguile the time, by dexterously starting new +topics of conversation, upon which Imogen delivered her plain and +natural sentiments with the utmost sincerity, than to detain her by +open force. At length one of them slipped out, and hastened to acquaint +Roderic with the impatience of his prize, and to communicate to him the +substance of those artless hints, which, in the hands of so skilful and +potent an impostor, might be of the greatest service. Roderic +immediately rose. But as he was desirous to decorate his person with +the nicest skill, in order to make the most favourable impression upon +his mistress, he ordered the attendant, with some of her companions, to +wait upon Imogen. He commissioned them, if it were necessary, to inform +her of the absolute impossibility of her quitting the castle, and to +persuade her to walk in the meadows adjoining, that she might observe +the riches of their possessor; how fertile were the soil, and how fair +and numerous the flocks. + +The patience of Imogen, in the mean time, was nearly exhausted. Her +simplicity could no longer be duped. Though unused to art, it was +impossible for her not at length to perceive the art by which the +conversation was lengthened, and her ardent desire to set out for the +cottage of her father, eluded. She was just beginning to expostulate +upon this ungenerous stratagem, when three or four of those females, +whom Roderic had dispatched entered the apartment. “Well,” cried +Imogen, “you have borne my message to my deliverer, now then let me +go.” “Our lord,” replied the attendant, “is just risen. He will but +adjust his apparel, and will immediately pay you those respects in +person which he can by no means think of omitting.” “Alas, alas,” cried +the shepherdess, half distressed, “what is the meaning of all this? +What is intended by a language so foreign to the homeliness of the +shepherd’s cot, and the admirable simplicity of pastoral life? I know +not what title I have, a poor, unpretending virgin, to the respects of +this lord; but surely if they meaned me well, they would be less hollow +and absurd. Would there not be much more respect, much more civility, +in permitting me to follow my own inclinations, without this arbitrary +and ungrateful restraint?” “Shepherdess,” replied the attendant, “we +are not used to dispute the orders of our master. We would oblige you +if it were in our power. Impute not therefore to us any thing +unfriendly; and as for Roderic, he is too good, and too amiable, not to +be able to satisfy you about his conduct the moment he appears.” “Your +master! and your lord!” replied Imogen, with a tone of displeasure, “I +understand not these words. The Gods have made all their rational +creatures equal. If they have made one strong and another weak, it is +for the purpose of mutual benevolence and assistance, and not for that +of despotism and oppression. Of all the shepherds of the valley, there +is not one that claims dominion and command over another. There is +indeed an obedience due from children to their parents, and from a wife +to her husband. But ye cannot be his children; for he is young and +blooming. And but one of you can be his wife; so that that cannot be +the source of his authority. What a numerous family has this Roderic? +Does that I wonder, make him happier than his fellows?” + +“Imogen,” said one of the train, “will you walk with us along the +meadow, by the side of that hazel copse? The morning is delightful, the +sun shines with a mild and cheering heat, the lambs frisk along the +level green, and the birds, with their little throats, warble each a +different strain.” The mind of Imogen was highly susceptible to the +impression of rural beauties. She had that placid innocence, that sweet +serenity of heart, which best prepares us to relish them. Seeing +therefore, that she was a prisoner, and that it was in vain to struggle +and beat her wings against the wiry inclosure, she submitted. “Ah! +unjust, unkind associates!” exclaimed Imogen, “ye can obey the dictates +of a man, who has no right to your obedience, and ye can turn a deaf +ear to the voice of benevolence and justice! Set me at liberty. This +man has no right to see me, and I will not see him. I, that have been +used to wander as free as the inmates of the wood, or the winged +inhabitants of air, shall I be cooped up in a petty cage, have all my +motions dictated, and all my walks circumscribed? Indeed, indeed, I +will not. Imogen can never submit to so ignominious a restraint. She +will sooner die.” + +“Why, my lovely maiden,” replied the other, “will you think so harshly +of our lord? He does not deserve these uncandid constructions; he is +all gentleness and goodness. Suspend therefore your impatience for a +moment. By and by you may represent to him your uneasiness, and he will +grant you all the wishes of your heart. Till then, amiable girl, +compose your spirits, and give us cause to believe, that you place that +confidence in us, which for the world we would not deserve to forfeit.” + +During this conversation, they passed along a gallery, and, descending +by a flight of stairs, proceeded through one corner of a spacious +garden into the meadow. The mansion, as we have already said, stood +upon a rising ground, which was inclosed on every side by a circle of +hills, whose summits seemed to touch the clouds, and were covered with +eternal snow. Within this wider circumference was a second formed by an +impervious grove of oaks, which, though of no long standing, yet, +having been produced by magical art, had appeared from the first in +full maturity. Their vast trunks, which three men hand in hand could +scarcely span, were marked with many a scar, and their broad branches, +waving to the winds, inspired into the pious and the virtuous that +religious awe, which is one of the principal lessons of the Druidical +religion. + +At no great distance, and close on one side to the majestic grove, was +a terrace, raised by the hand of art, so elevated, as to overlook the +tops of the trees as well as the turrets of the castle, and to afford a +complete prospect of all the grounds on this side the precipices. To +this terrace the attendants of Imogen led their charge, and from it she +surveyed the farms and granges of their lord. The view was diversified +by a number of little rills, that flowed down from the mountains, and +gave fertility and cheerfulness to the fields through which they +passed. The inclosures were some of them covered with a fine and rich +herbage, whose appearance was bright and verdant, and its surface +besprinkled with cowslips, king-cups, and daisies. Others of them were +interspersed with sheep that exhibited the face of sleekness and ease, +their fleeces large and ponderous, and their wool of the finest and +most admirable texture. Elsewhere you might see the cattle grazing. The +ox dappled with a thousand spots, which nature seemed to have applied +with a wanton and playful hand; the cow, whose udders were distended +with milk, that appeared to call for the interposition of the maidens +to lighten them of their store; and the lordly and majestic bull. With +them was intermingled the horse, whose limbs seemed to be formed for +speed and beauty. At a small distance were the stag with branching +horns, the timid deer, and the sportive, frisking fawn. Even from the +rugged precipices, that seemed intended by nature to lie waste and +useless, depended the shaggy goat and the tender kid. Beside all this, +Roderic had had communicated to him, by a supernatural afflatus, that +wondrous art, as yet unknown in the plains of Albion, of turning up the +soil with a share of iron, and scattering it with a small quantity of +those grains which are most useful to man, to expect to gather, after a +short interval, a forty-fold increase. + +Every thing conspired to communicate to the prospect lustre and +attraction. The birds, with their various song, gave an air of +populousness and animation to the grove. By the side of the rivulets +were scattered here and there the huts of the shepherd and husbandman. +And though these swains were not, like the happy dwellers in the +valley, enlivened with freedom, and made careless and gay by conscious +innocence; yet were they skilful to give clearness and melody to the +slender reed; and the ploughman whistled as he drove afield. But that +in the landscape which most engrossed the attention and awakened the +curiosity of the tender Imogen, was the appearance of the fields of +corn. It was in her eye novel, agreeable, and interesting. The harvest +was near, and the effect of the object was at its greatest height. The +tall and unbending stalk overtopped by far the native herbage of the +meadow, and seemed to emulate the hawthorn and the hazel, which, +planted in even rows, secured the precious crop from the invasion of +the cattle. The ears were embrowned with the continual beams of the +sun, and, oppressed with the weight of their grain, bended from the +stalk. In a word, the whole presented to the astonished view a rich +scene of vegetable gold. Upon this delightful object the shepherdess +gazed with an unwearied regard. Respecting it she asked innumerable +questions, and made a thousand enquiries; and it almost seemed as if +her curiosity would never be satisfied. Such is the power of novelty +over the young and inexperienced, and such the influence of the +beautiful and transcendent beauties of nature upon the ingenuous and +uncorrupted mind. But it was not possible for the shepherdess, +interested as she was in the uneasiness, to which she knew that her +parents must be a prey, long to banish from her mind the affecting +consideration, or to divert her attention to another object, however +agreeable, or however fascinating. + +She had just begun to renew her representations upon this head, when +Roderic approached. While he was yet at a distance, he appeared +graceful and gay, as the messenger of the God that grasps the lightning +in his hand. His stature was above the common size. His limbs were +formed with perfect symmetry; the fall of his shoulders was graceful, +and the whole contour of his body was regular and pleasing. Such was +the general effect of his shape, that though his advance was hesitating +and respectful, it was impossible to contemplate his person without the +ideas being suggested of velocity and swiftness. His presence and air +had the appearance of frankness, ingenuousness, and manly confidence. +The natural fire and haughtiness of his eye were carefully subdued, and +he seemed, at least to a superficial view, the very model of +good-nature and disinterested complaisance. His bright and flowing hair +parted on his brow, and formed into a thousand ringlets, waved to the +zephyrs as he passed along. There was something so delicate and +enchanting in his whole figure, as to tempt you to compare it to the +unspotted beauty of the hyacinth; at the same time that you rejoiced, +that it was not a beauty, frail and transient, as the tender flower, +but which promised a manly ripeness and a protracted duration. + +Observing that the attention of those around her was suddenly diverted +from the intreaties she employed, Imogen turned her eye, in order to +discover the object that now engaged them. It was immediately met by +the graceful and amiable figure we have described. But to Imogen that +figure presented no such comeliness and beauty. For a moment indeed, +nature prevailed, and she could not avoid gazing, with a degree of +complacence, upon an object, to which the Goddess seemed to have +lavished all her treasures. But this sensation vanished, almost before +it was formed. The mind of the shepherdess was too deeply read in the +lessons of virtue, to acknowledge any beauty in that form, which was +not animated with truth, and in those features, which were not +illuminated with integrity and innocence. Notwithstanding her native +simplicity, and the unsuspecting confidence she was inclined to repose +in every individual of the human race, yet had the conduct of Roderic, +as she had already confessed, displeased her too deeply for her +immediately to assume towards him an unembarrassed and soothing +carriage. He had seized upon her by violence in a moment of +insensibility. He had carried her away without her consent. When she +recovered strength enough to expostulate upon this, he endeavoured, by +ambiguous expressions, to deceive her into an opinion, that he was +conducting her to the cottage of her father. Supposing that, for +reasons good and wise, he had introduced her into a strange place, she +could not be persuaded that those reasons subsisted for detaining her +contrary to her inclination. And independently of any individual +circumstances, there is a native and inexplicable antipathy between +virtue and vice. It is not in the nature of things, it is not within +the range of possibility, that they should coalesce and unite where +both of them exist in a decided manner, or an eminent degree. It was +not the babble of ignorance, it was by an unalterable law of her +nature, that Imogen had been displeased with the looks of him, who +meaned her destruction. The animation that dwells in the features of +virtue, is mild and friendly and lambent; but the sparkles that flash +from the eye of enterprising guilt, are momentary, and unrelenting, and +impetuous. The gentle and the inoffensive instantly feel how +uncongenial they are to their dispositions, and start back from them +with aversion and horror. Such were in some measure the sensations of +Imogen, upon the re-appearance of her betrayer. She turned from him +with unfeigned dislike, and was reluctantly kept in the same situation +till he ascended the terrace. As he drew nearer, Roderic seized the +hand of the lovely captive. In a tone of blandishment he expostulated +with her upon her unkind behaviour and unreasonable aversion. With all +that sophistry, that ingenious vice knows so well how to employ, he +endeavoured to evince that his conduct had been regulated by kindness, +rectitude and humanity. In the mean time the retinue withdrew to a +small distance. Imogen insisted upon not being left wholly alone with +her ravisher. + +Able to perplex but not to subvert the understanding of his prize, +Roderic addressed her with the language of love. Naturally eloquent, +all that he now said was accompanied with that ineffable sweetness, and +that soft insinuation, that must have shaken the integrity of Imogen, +had her heart been less constant, and her bosom less glowed with the +enthusiasm of virtue. Her betrayer was conscious to a real, though a +degenerate flame, and was not reduced to feign an ardour he did not +feel. Recollecting however the pure manners, and the delicate and +ingenuous language to which Imogen had been inured among the +inhabitants of Clwyd, the subtle sorcerer did not permit an expression +to escape him, that could offend the chastest ear, or alarm the most +suspicious virtue. His love, ardent as it appeared, seemed to be +entirely under the government of the strictest propriety, and the most +unfeigned rectitude. He knew that the inspirations of integrity and the +lessons of education were not to be eradicated at once; and he +attempted not to gain the acquiescence of his captive by gross and +unsuitable allurements, unconcealed with the gilding of dexterity and +speciousness. + +But his eloquence and his address were equally vain. In spite of the +beauty of his person and the urbanity of his manners, the shepherdess +received his declarations with coldness and aversion. She assured him +of the impossibility of his success, that she felt for him emotions +very different from those of partiality, and that her heart was +prepossessed for a more amiable swain. With that sweet simplicity, that +accompanied all she did, she endeavoured to dissuade him from the +pursuit of a hopeless and unreasonable passion; she enumerated to him +all the sources of enjoyment with which he was surrounded; she +intreated him not in the wantonness of opulence to disturb her humble +and narrow felicity; and she besought him in the most pathetic and +earnest language to dismiss her to freedom, contentment and her +parents. + +The more she exerted herself to bend his resolution, and the more scope +she gave to the unstudied expression of her artless sentiments, the +more inextricably was the magician caught, and the more firm and +inexorable was his purpose. Perceiving however that he had little to +hope from the most skilful detail of the pleas of passion, he turned +the attention of the shepherdess to a different topic. “Behold Imogen,” +cried he, “the richness of the landscape on our right hand! The spot in +my eye is farthest from the castle, and divided from the rest of the +prospect with a tall hedge of poplars and alders. It is full of the +finest grass, and its soil is rich and luxuriant. It is scattered with +fleckered cows and dappled fawns. In the hither part of it is a field +of the choicest wheat, whose stalks are so rank and pregnant, that the +timid hare and the untamed fox can scarcely force themselves a path +among them. Beside it is an inclosure of barley with strong and pointed +spikes; and another of oats, whose grain, uneared, spreads broader to +the eye. How beautiful the scene! I will not ask you, fairest of your +sex, to give your confidence to unauthorised words. I will afford the +most unquestionable demonstration of the veracity of my declarations. +All these, lovely Imogen, shall be yours: yours exclusively, to be +disposed of at your pleasure, without the interference or control of +any. All my other possessions shall not belong to myself more than to +you. You shall be the mistress of my heart, and the associate of my +counsels. All my business shall be your gratification, all my pleasure +your happiness. Forget then, dearest maiden, the poverty of your former +condition, and the connections you formed in an hour of ignorance and +obscurity. From this moment let a new era and better prospects +commence. Enjoy that wealth, which can no where so well be bestowed; +and those gratifications, which so obviously belong to that delicate +and enchanting form.” + +The proposal of Roderic called forth more than ever the spirit and the +resentment of Imogen. She did not feel herself in the slightest degree +attracted by the magnificence of his offers. She knew of no use for +superfluous riches. She felt no wants unsupplied, and no wishes +ungratified. What motive is there in the whole region of human +perceptions, that can excite the contented mind to the pursuit of +affluence? “And dost thou think,” said the fair one, with a gesture of +disdain that made her look ten times more amiable, “to seduce me with +baits like these? Know, mistaken man, that I am happy. I spin the +finest wool of our flocks, and drain the distended udders of our cows. +I superintend the dairies; the butter and the cheese are the produce of +my industry. In these employments my time is spent in chearfulness and +pleasure. Surrounded with our little possessions, I am conscious to no +deficiency; in the midst of my parents and friends, I desire not to +look beyond the narrow circle of the neighbouring hills. If you feel +those wants, which I do not so much as understand, enjoy your fond +mistake. Possess those riches which I will not envy you. Wander from +luxury to luxury unquestioned; I shall be sufficiently happy in the +narrow gratifications that nature has placed within my reach. The gifts +you offer me have no splendour in my eye, and I could not thank you for +them though offered with ever so much disinterestedness. The only gift +it is in your power to make is liberty. Allow me to partake of that +bounty, which nature has bestowed upon the choristers of the grove, to +wander where I will. Under a thousand of those privations that would +render the child of luxury inconsolable, I would support myself; +freedom and independence are the only boons which the whole course of +my life has taught me to cherish.” + +“Your ignorance,” rejoined Roderic, “is amiable, though unfortunate. +But your merit is too great not to deserve to be informed. Knowledge, +my lovely maiden, is always regarded as a desirable acquisition by the +prudent and the judicious. To what purpose was a mind so capacious, +competent to the greatest improvements, and formed to comprehend +subjects of the most extensive compass, or the sublimest reach, +bestowed upon us, if it be not employed in the pursuits of science and +experience? Your abilities, my Imogen, appear to be of the very first +description. How much then will you be to be blamed, if you do not +embrace this opportunity of improvement and instruction? Beauty, though +unseen, is not less excellent; and prudence, though unpossessed, is of +value inestimable. The poor man may be contented, because he knows not +the use of riches; but, in spite of this contentment, it were wise to +enlarge our sphere of sensation, and to extend the sources of +happiness. + +“If however you still maintain that lovely perverseness, decide if you +please upon your own fate, but let filial piety hinder you from +determining too hastily respecting that of your parents and your +friends. Consider what a new and unbounded scope will be afforded you, +by the participation of my riches, for the exercise of benevolent and +generous propensities. Your parents are now declining fast under the +weight of years and infirmity. It is in your power to make their bed of +down, and to enliven the ground they have yet to traverse with flowers. +It is yours to wrest the sheers from the hand of the weary and +over-laboured ancient, and to remove the distaff from the knees of your +venerable mother. Think, gentle shepherdess, before it be too late, of +the heart-felt pleasures that await the power to do good, when attended +with a virtuous inclination. When you wipe away the tear from the cheek +of distress, when you light up a smile in the eye of misery, think you, +that none of the comfort you administer will flow back in generous and +refreshing streams to your own heart? Are these exertions that Imogen +ought to contemplate with indifference? Is this a power that Imogen can +reject without deliberation?” + +Imogen stood for a moment in a sweet and ingenuous state of suspense. +She had a native and indefeasible reverence for every thing that had +the remotest analogy to virtue, and she could not answer a proposal +that came recommended to her by that name with unhesitating +promptitude. She was too good and modest to assume an air of decision +where she did not feel it; she was too simple and unaffected, to +disguise that hesitation to which she was really conscious. “How false +and treacherous,” exclaimed she, “are your reasonings! Among the +virtuous inhabitants of the plain, every one seeks to influence another +by motives which are of weight with himself, and utters the sentiments +of his own heart. Where have you learned the disingenuous and faithless +arts you employ? To what purpose have you cultivated them, and whose +good opinion do you flatter yourself they will obtain for you? False, +perfidious Roderic! the more I see of you, the more I fear and despise +you. + +“You would recommend to me your temptations under the colour of +knowlege. Has knowlege any charms for the debauched and luxurious? You +tell me we ought to enlarge our sphere of sensation, and to extend the +sources of happiness. Wisdom indeed, and mental improvements are +desirable. But the sage Druids have always taught me, that the mind is +the nobler part, that the body is to be kept in subjection, and that it +is not our business to seek its gratification beyond the bounds of +necessity and temperance. If I allowed myself to think that I wanted +more than I have, might not the possession of that more extend my +desires, till, from humble and bounded, they became insatiable? Were I +to dismiss those industrious pursuits by means of which my time now +glides so pleasantly, how am I sure that indolence and vacancy would +make me happier? + +“To succour indeed the necessitous, and particularly my parents and +relations, is a consideration of more value. But ah, Roderic! though +you talk it so well, I am afraid it is a consideration foreign to your +character. For my parents, they are as yet healthful and active; and +while they continue so, they wish, no more than myself for repose and +indolence. If ever they become incapable of industry, their little +flock will still contribute to their support. They are too much +respected, for the neighbouring shepherds not to watch over it in turn +out of pure love. And, I hope, as I will then exert myself with double +vigour, that the Gods will bless us, and we shall do very well. As to +general distress, heaven is too propitious to us, to permit the +inhabitants of the valley to be overwhelmed by it. And I shall always +have milk from my flocks, and a cheese from my store, to set before the +hungry and necessitous. + +“But were these advantages more valuable than they are, it would not be +my duty to purchase them so dear. What, shall I desert all the +connections it has been the business of my life to form, and that happy +state of simplicity I love so much? Shall I shake off the mutual vows I +have exchanged with the most amiable and generous of the swains, and +join myself to one, whose person I cannot love, and whose character I +cannot approve? No, Roderic, enjoy that happiness, if it deserve the +name of happiness, that is congenial to your inclination. Forget the +worthless and unreasonable passion, you pretend to have conceived, in +the multitude of gratifications that are within your reach. Envy not me +my straw-defended roof, my little flock, and my faithful shepherd. I +will never exchange them for all the temptations that the world can +furnish.” + + + + +BOOK THE FOURTH + +SONG IN HONOUR OF THE FAIR SEX.—HYPOCRISY OF THE MAGICIAN.—THE TRIUMPH +OF IMOGEN.—DESPAIR AND CONSOLATION OF RODERIC. + + +So much was Roderic discouraged by the apparent spirit and firmness of +these declarations, that at the conclusion of them he abruptly quitted +his captive, and released her for a moment from his unjust +persecutions. His pride however was too strongly piqued, and his +passions too much alarmed to permit her a real respite. “Where ever,” +cried he, as he trod with hasty and irregular steps the level +green,—“where ever were found such simplicity, and so much strength of +judgment, and gaiety of wit in union? Is it possible for the extreme of +simplicity and the perfection of intellect to meet together? These +surely are paradoxes, that not all the goblins of the abyss can solve, +and which, had they been related instead of seen, must have appeared to +constitute an absurd and impossible fiction. + +“Well then it is in vain to attack the inexorable fair one with +allurements that address themselves only to the understanding. She is +too well fortified with the prejudices of education, and the principles +of an imaginary virtue, to be reduced by an assault like this. The +pride of her virtue is alarmed, the little train of her sophistries are +awakened, and with that artless rhetoric, of the value of which she is +doubtless sensible, she set[s] all her enemies at defiance. My future +enticements shall therefore address themselves to her senses. Thus +approaching her, it is impossible that success should not follow my +undertaking. Even the most wary, circumspect, and suspicious, might +thus be overcome. But she is innocence itself. She apprehends no +danger, she suspects no ambuscade. Young and unexperienced, and the +little experience she has attained, derived only from scenes of +pastoral simplicity, she knows not the meaning of insincerity and +treachery; she dreads not the serpent that lurks beneath the flower.” + +Having determined the plan of his machinations, and given the necessary +orders, he privately signified to the attendants, that they should +propose to their lovely charge to direct her course once again to the +mansion; and as she perceived that Roderic still continued upon a +distant part of the lawn; and as she saw no means of present escape +from her confinement, she consented to do as they desired. + +They now entered the mansion, and passing through several splendid +apartments, at length reached a large and magnificent saloon. It was +hung with tapestry, upon which were represented the figures of Sappho +sweeping the lyre; of the Spartan mother bending over the body, and +counting the wounds of her son; of Penelope in the midst of her +maidens, carefully unravelling the funeral web of her husband; of +Lucretia inflicting upon herself a glorious and voluntary death; and of +Arria teaching her husband in what manner a Roman should expire. These +stories had been miraculously communicated to Roderic, and were now +explained by the attendants to the wondering Imogen. At the same time a +band of music, that was placed at the lower end of the hall, struck at +once their various instruments, and, without any previous preparation, +began the lofty chorus. At the upper end of the saloon stood a throne +of ivory, hung round with trappings of gold, and placed upon a floor of +marble, of which a numerous flight of steps, also of marble, composed +the ascent. The hangings were of crimson velvet, and the canopy of the +richest purple. With the musicians were intermingled a number of +supernatural beings under the command of Roderic. Their voices were +melodious beyond all example of human power; they were by turns lofty +and majestic, and by turns tender and melting; and the strain was +divine. + +“Such are the honours of the tender sex; and who can speak their +praise? The lily is not so fair, the rose is not so attractive, the +violet and the jessamine have not so elegant a simplicity. By their +charms, by their eloquence, and by their merit, they have assumed an +empire over the bolder sex. How auspicious is the empire! They hold +them in silken chains. They govern, not by harsh decrees, and rigorous +penalties; but by smiles and soft compliances, and winning, +irresistible persuasion. The rewards they bestow are sweet, and +ravishing, and indescribable. + +“What were man without the fair? A wild beast of the forest; a rough +and untamed savage; a hungry lion bursting from his den. Without them, +they are gloomy, morose, unfeeling, and unsociable. To them they owe +every civilization, and every improvement. Did Amphion, from the rude +and shapeless stones, raise by his power a regular edifice, houses, +palaces, and cities? Did Orpheus by his lay humanize the rugged beasts +and teach the forests to listen? No, these are wild, unmeaning fables. +It was woman, charming woman, that led unpolished man forth from the +forests and the dens, and taught him to bend before thy shrine, +humanity! See how the face of nature changes! Where late the slough +mantled, or the serpent hissed among the briars and the reeds, all is +pasture and fertility. The cottages arise. The shepherds assume the +guise of gentleness and simplicity. They attire themselves with care, +they braid the garland, and they tune the pipe. Wherefore do they braid +the garland? Why are their manners soft and blandishing? And why do the +hills re-echo the notes of the slender reed? It is to win thy graces, +woman, charming woman! + +“When nature formed a man, she formed a creature rational, and erect; +ten times more noble than the birds of the air, and the beasts of the +field. But when she formed a woman—it was then first, that she outdid +herself, and improved her own design. What are the broad and nervous +shoulders, what the compacted figure, and the vigorous step, when +contrasted with the well-turned limbs, the slender waist, the graceful +shoulders, and the soft and panting bosom? What are the manly front, +the stern, commanding eye, and the down-clad cheek, if we compare them +with the smooth, transparent complexion, the soft, faint blushes, and +the pretty, dimpled mouth? What are the strong, slow reason, the deep, +unfathomed science, and the grave and solemn wisdom, if they are +brought into competition with the sprightly sense, the penetrating wit, +and the inexhaustible invention? Does the stronger sex boast of its +learning, its deep researches, its sagacious discoveries? and have they +a coolness, a self-command, a never baffled prudence like that which +woman has exhibited? Do they pique themselves upon their courage, their +gallantry, and their adventure? Where shall we find among them a +patience, a mildness, a fortitude, a heroism, equal to that of the +fair? + +“Virtue has dwelt beneath the sun. Themis has left her throne on the +right hand of Jove, and descended to the globe of earth. We have seen +examples of disinterested rectitude, of inviolable truth, of sublime +and heaven-born benevolence. They are written in the roll of fame; they +are handed down from age to age. They are the song of the poet, and the +favourite theme of the servants of the Gods. By whom were they +exhibited, or with whom did they originate? With woman, charming woman? +Well have justice and rectitude been represented under a female form, +for without the softer sex, all had been anarchy and confusion; every +man had preyed upon his neighbour; men, like beasts, had devoured each +other, and virtue fled affrighted to her native skies. This is the +source of all that is good and all that is excellent; of all that is +beautiful and all that is sublime: woman, charming woman!” + +At this place the chorus ceased for a moment, and the attendants +observing, that Imogen was standing, intreated her to seat herself. She +was rendered weak and languid by the unexperienced anxieties and +terrors she had undergone, and she did not refuse their request. There +was no seat in the centre of the hall, or nearer than the sumptuous +throne that was placed at the upper end. Thither therefore they led +her. Imogen had been unused to the distinctions of rank and precedence. +Among the shepherds of the valley, every one, except the bards and the +priests, seated himself promiscuously; none sought to take the upper +hand of his neighbour; age was not distinguished by priority of place; +and youth thought not of ceding the _pas_. The shepherdess, as she +advanced towards the chair, paused for an instant, impressed with that +blaze of magnificence which is equally formed to strike every human +eye. She looked round her with an air of timidity and suspense, and +then going forward, ascended the steps and placed herself in the +throne. At this action, as at a signal, the song recommenced. + +“Simplicity, child of nature, daughter of the plains, with thee alone +the queen of beauty dwells! What is it that adorns and enhances all the +wild and uncultivated scenes of nature? It is plainness and artless +simplicity. What is it that renders lovely and amiable her most +favourite productions in the animal creation: the tender lamb, the +cooing dove, and the vocal nightingale? It is simplicity; it is, that +all their gestures wear the guise, and their voice speaks the artless, +and unaffected language of nature. What is is that renders venerable +the characters of mankind; that ennobles the song of the bards; that +gives lustre and attraction to immortal, never-fading virtue? It is +simplicity, unaffected simplicity. Of the last and crowning work of +nature, woman, the form is grace; the visage is beauty; the eye +sparkles with intelligence, and smiles with soft and winning graces; +the tongue is clothed with persuasion and eloquence. But what are +these? A body without a soul, a combination of soft and harmonious +names without a meaning; a multitude of rich inestimable gifts, heaped +together in rude and inartificial confusion without the powers of +enchantment and attraction. What is it that can animate the mass, that +can give force and value to the whole, and reduce the shapeless chaos +into form? It is simplicity, unaffected simplicity. Without thee, child +of nature, daughter of the plains, beauty were no more. With thee she +dwells, and in thy mansion can she only dwell. Then be the palm +reserved for thee, and given to thee alone, simplicity, unaffected +simplicity!” + +At these words, two supernatural figures appeared below the canopy of +the throne. They had the form of children; their figures appeared so +soft and waxen, that you would imagine they might be indented by the +smallest touch; upon their countenances sat the lively and unexpressive +smile, the sports, and the graces; and their shoulders were furnished +with wings of the softest plumage, variegated with all the colours of +the bow of heaven. In their hands they bore a coronet, at once rich +with jewels, and light and inconsiderable in its weight. The circle was +of gold, and studded with diamonds. With the diamonds were intermingled +every precious gem, the topaz, the jasper, the emerald, the chrysolite, +and the sapphire. The head was of Persian silk, and dyed with Tyrian +purple. This coronet they placed upon the head of Imogen, and then +descending to the footstool of the throne, bowed upon her feet. The +song immediately recommenced. + +“Imogen is under the guardianship of simplicity, her favourite pupil. +Pollute not the ear of Imogen with the praises of beauty. What though +her eye be full of amiableness and eloquence; what though her cheeks +rival the peach, and her lips the coral; what though her bosom be soft +as wax and fairer than the face of honour; what though her tresses are +brighter than the shooting star? These are the bounties of nature; +these are the gifts of heaven, in which she claims no merit; these are +not the praises of Imogen. But this is her praise, that the graces +dwell upon her lips; that her words are attired with the garb of sense +and fancy; and that all her conduct is governed by the largest prudence +and the nicest discretion. Heard you the sound of merriment and +applause? They were the gay and unlaboured sallies of the wit of Imogen +that called them forth. Saw you the look of wonder and astonishment, +and the gaze of involuntary approbation and reverence? They were +excited by the modesty, the circumspection, and the virtue of Imogen. +And yet Imogen is artless, unaffected and innocent; her wit is +unconscious of itself, and her virtue the unstudied dictate of nature. +Imogen is under the guardianship of simplicity, her favourite pupil. Be +hers then the crown that simplicity alone can deserve. Simplicity +descends not in person to the surface of the earth; her abode is among +the Gods. But Imogen is her representative, her perfect resemblance. +Should simplicity descend upon the earth, she would not know herself; +she would be astonished to behold another divinity, equally beautiful, +equally excellent. The divinity is Imogen. Be hers then the crown, that +simplicity alone can deserve.” + +This was a trying moment to the lovely and generous Imogen. Praise is +congenial to every human sense; the voice of praise is ever grateful to +the ear of virtue. The glory of the shepherd indeed lies within a +narrow compass. But let immortality be named, and the heart of man is +naturally attracted: it is impossible that the good and generous bosom +should not long for such a prize. Nor was this all. Imogen, though +loved and honoured by the borderers of Towey, had been little used to +studied commendation and laboured applause. Pastoral simplicity does +not deal in these; and though it seek to oblige, its endeavours are +unostentatious and silent. Beside, her reverence for song was radical +and deep. It had been instilled into her from her earliest infancy; +from earliest infancy she had considered poetry as the vehicle of +divine and eternal truth. How strange and tremendous an advantage must +he gain over the ear of simplicity, who can present his fascinations +under the garb of all that is sacred and all that is honourable? + +The song had begun with celebrating a theme, that must for ever be +congenial to every female breast. The heart of the shepherdess had +instinctively vibrated to the praises of simplicity. Even the +commendations bestowed upon herself were not improper, or +indiscriminate; they had distinguished between the inanity of personal +charms, and the value of prudence, the beauty of innocence and the +merit of virtue. Even the honours she had received were attributed to +these, and not to the other. Were they not therefore such as virtue +would aspire to, and discretion accept? + +Alas, Imogen, be not deceived with airy shadows! The reasoning may be +plausible, but it is no better than sophistry. Thou must be taught, +fair and unsuspecting virgin, under a beautiful outside to apprehend +deceit; and to guard against the thorn which closely environs the +flower. Thou must learn, loveliest of thy sex, to dread the poison of +flattery. It is more venemous than the adder, it is more destructive +than hebenon or madragora. It annihilates every respectable quality in +the very act of extolling it; it undermines all that adorns and +elevates the human character. Even now that thou listenest to it, and +drinkest in, without apprehension, its opiate sounds, thou art too near +to the sacrifice of those very excellencies it pretends to admire. For +the head of Imogen was made giddy by the applauses she heard; drunk +with admiration, she was no longer conscious of the things around her, +or of herself; she sunk vanquished and supine, and was supported by one +of the attendants. + +At this moment Roderic came forth from an adjoining apartment, and +caught in his arms the vanquished beauty. In the mean time the +attendants, the musicians, and the supernatural beings disappeared, and +she was left alone with her betrayer. + +Roderic surveyed his victim with an eye of avidity and triumph. His +eager curiosity wandered over her hoard of charms; and his brutal +passion was soothed with the contemplation of her disorder. Already in +imagination, he had possessed himself of a decisive advantage over so +apparent a weakness; and his breast was steeled against the emotions of +pity. + +Imogen cast around her a languid and passive regard, and was in a +moment roused from her supineness by the sight of Roderic. Her subtle +adversary did not however allow her time for complete recollection, +before he discovered an apparent revolution in his sentiments and +language. He had heard, he said, the supernatural and celestial chorus, +and been caught in the extremest degree by the praises of innocence and +the triumph of virtue. He now felt the vanity and folly of those +pursuits in which he had been so deeply immersed, and was determined to +abjure the littleness of pride, and the emptiness of sensual +gratification. He did not now address his destined prize with the +commendations of beauty. He bestowed upon her with profusion the +epithets of discretion, integrity, and heroism; and poured into her ear +the insidious flattery, that was most soothing to her temper. Full, as +he pretended, of the infant purposes of virtue, he besought his captive +in the most importunate manner, to remain with him for a time, to +confirm his wavering rectitude, to instruct him in duty, and thus to +gain one human being to the standard of integrity, and to render so +extensive possessions subservient to the happiness of mankind. All this +he expressed with that ardour, which is congenial to the simplicity of +truth; and with that enthusiasm, which in all instances accompanies +recent conviction. + +Imogen was totally uninured to the contemplation of hypocrisy, and +immediately yielded the most unreserved credit to these professions. +Her joy was extreme at the change in the dispositions of Roderic, and +her admiration of the irresistible charms of rectitude pious and +profound. The praises bestowed upon her seemed distinguishing and +sincere, and she drank them in with the most visible complacency. She +expressed however an ingenuous diffidence of her capacity for the task +of an instructor, and she intreated at any rate to be permitted to +withdraw for a short time to dry up the tears of her disconsolate +parents. + +These difficulties were too obvious to create any embarrassment to so +consummate a deceiver. He described the danger of that vicious mistrust +of our powers, that is the enemy of all generous and heroic action. He +reminded his captive how recent were his purposes, and how many +unforeseen incidents might be crowded into so eventful a moment. There +were goblins, he said, ever ready to seduce the wanderer from his +wished return; and he had been too much their prey not to have every +thing to dread from the subtlety of their machinations. On the other +hand, no character was suspended on the longer or shorter duration of +the uneasiness of the parents of Imogen; and the joyful surprise they +would ere long experience, might abundantly compensate for any +temporary anxiety and solicitude. He told her of the worship and +reverence that were due to the immortal Gods. Could she imagine that +the scene that had just passed was produced for the mere honour and +gratification of a virtuous character, than for the instruction of the +ignorant, and the restoration of the wandering? Shall she be thus +honoured, and shall this be her gratitude? + +Though the web of the sophistry woven by her betrayer might seem +inextricable, though Imogen had no sentiments more predominant than the +love of virtue, and the fear of the Gods, yet her heart involuntarily +resisted his persuasions, and she felt the yearnings of affection still +active in her bosom towards those, to whom she owed her existence. + +“And cannot you,” cried the lovely maiden, “attend me in the short +absense I demand? That would prevent every danger, and supersede every +objection.” “Ah, shepherdess,” replied the magician, “this reluctance, +these studied expedients imply diffidence and disobedience. But +diffidence is much unworthy of the heart of Imogen. Your life has been +marked with one tenour of piety. Do not then begin to disobey. Do not +sully the unspotted whiteness of your character.” + +“This,” rejoined Imogen, “is too much. This is mere savageness of +virtue. Why in the act of persuading me do you bestow upon me those +laboured commendations, which the very persuasions you employ are +intended to prove that I little deserve? Is it necessary, Roderic, that +your manners should be so strange and unaccountable, as to supply food +for eternal jealousy and suspicion? And what must be that conduct, that +inspires jealousy into a heart unguarded as mine? I talk of suspicion, +but I scarcely know the meaning of the term. And yet there is in your +carriage something precise, plausible and composed, that I have seldom +observed in any other man. Oh, shepherd! you know not what you do, when +you awake all these ideas in a maiden’s breast, when you thus confound +things that heaven and earth put asunder.” + +“Ungenerous Imogen,” replied the magician, “wherefore this? Do I claim +any thing more of you than rectitude demands, and your own bosom will +another day approve? Am I not your better genius to guard you against +the errors that might be prompted by too tender a heart? Beside, does +the conduct of beings of a higher order depend upon my nod? Can I +control the spheres, and call down celestial essences from their bright +abodes? And will they be rendered subservient to the purposes of +treachery and guilt?” + +“Roderic here break we off our conference. Sure I am that your conduct +is not dictated by a regard for my ease or my welfare. How unworthy +then, as well as how unjust is the pretence? With respect to the +supernatural scenes I have beheld, the question is more difficult. Of +such I have heard from the mouth of the consecrated priests, but never +till this day did I see them. At present however my mind is too much +distracted, to be able to decide. I have already gone far enough; as +far as my heart will permit me. I must now retire.’ + +“One thing however I will add. From the resolutions you at first +professed, and the impressions you appeared to feel, I had conceived +the most sanguine hopes, and the sincerest pleasure. These are all now +vanished. I cannot account for this. But your conduct is now as +mysterious to my comprehension, as it was before disgusting to my +judgment. I am bewildered in a maze of uncertainty. I am lost in +unwelcome obscurity. May your resolutions and designs be better than my +hopes! But ah, Roderic, for how much have you to answer, how deep must +be your guilt, if all this be mummery, dissimulation, and hypocrisy!” + +The magician perceived that it was in vain to urge the stratagem any +further, and he retired from the presence of the shepherdess in +silence. If he had been able to distract her ingenuous mind between +contending duties, he had not however succeeded in his principal +object, that of undermining her virtue, and lessening her attachment to +her parents and her lover. If Imogen were perplexed and confounded, +Roderic was scarcely more happy. He looked back upon the scene with +mortification and astonishment. It was difficult for him to determine +where it had digressed from the auspicious appearances it had at first +exhibited, and yet he found himself in the conclusion of it wide, very +wide indeed, of the success of which he had aimed. + +“To what purpose,” exclaimed he, with a voice of anguish and rage, +“have I inherited the most inexhaustible riches? To what purpose is the +command which I boast over the goblins of the abyss, if one weak, +simple, and uninstructed woman shall thus defy my arts? I call the +hills my own. I mount upon the turrets of my castle, and as far as my +eye can survey, the bending corn and the grazing herds belong to me. My +palace is adorned with all that can sooth the wearied frame, or gratify +the luxurious desire. Couches of purple, and services of gold, the most +exquisite viands, and the blandishments of enticing beauty, charms of +which the ruggedness of pastoral life has not so much as the idea, all +these are circled within my walls. Beyond all this, I command myriads +of spirits, invisible, and reputedly omnipotent. If I but stamp my +foot, if I but wave this wand, they fly swifter than the wings of +thought to my presence. One look of favour inspires them with +tranquility and exultation; one frown of displeasure terrifies them +into despair. I dispatch them far as the corners of the moon. At my +bidding they engage in the most toilsome enterprises, and undertake the +labour of revolving years. Oh impotence of power! oh mockery of state! +what end can ye now serve but to teach me to be miserable? Power, the +hands of which are chained and fettered in links of iron; state, which +is bestowed only like a paper crown to adorn the brows of a baby, are +the most cruel aggravations of disappointment, the most fearful insults +upon the weak. But shall I always obey the imperious mandate?” + +“Yes, Roderic, thou shalt obey,” exclaimed the inimical goblin, who at +this moment burst through a condensed cloud, that had arisen +unperceived in one corner of the apartment, and appeared before him. +“In vain dost thou struggle with the links of destiny. In vain dost +thou exert thyself to escape from the fillets that on every side +surround thee. The greater and the more obstinate are thy efforts, the +more closely art thou bound, and the more inextricably engaged. This is +the situation in which I wished to see thee. Every pang it wrings from +thy heart, every exclamation it forces from thy tongue, is solace to my +thoughts, and music to my ears. And wert thou vain and weak enough to +imagine, that riches would purchase thee every pleasure, that riches +would furnish an inexhaustible source of enjoyment? Of all mortal +possessions they are the most useless, mischievous, and baleful. The +Gods, when the Gods are willing to perfect a character of depravity, in +order to make vice consummately detestable, or to administer an +exemplary punishment to distinguished wickedness, bestow upon that man, +as the last of curses, and the most refined of tortures, extensive +possessions and unbounded riches. Indulge to the mistaken pride which +these inspire, and wrap thyself up in the littleness of thy heart.—But +no, rise above them. Suffer thy desires to wander into a larger and +more dangerous field. Run with open eyes into the mouth of that +destruction that gapes to devour thee! Why shouldst thou attend to the +voice of destiny, to the immutable laws of the Gods, and the curse that +is suspended over thee? Be a man. Bravely defy all that is most +venerable, and all that is most unchangeable. Oh how I long for thy +ruin! How my heart pants for the illustrious hour in which thy _palaces +shall be crumbled down to the dust of the balance, thy riches +scattered, and thyself become an unpitied, necessitous, miserable +vagabond_! In the mean time, remember, that riches like thine are not +bestowed with u[n]reserving hand, that commerce is not permitted with +the shadows of darkness, without some trifling fall to ill amid this +immensity of uniform happiness. For this end I am commissioned from +time to time to appear before thee in the midst of thy triumph, and to +mingle with thy exultations the boding voice of prophetic woe.” + +Roderic did not listen to these bitter sarcasms without exhibiting +every mark of fury and impatience. At length he commanded the spectre +to depart, with a voice so fierce and stern as to terrify him into +submission. For though the authority of the magician was not formidable +enough to make him desist from persecuting him, yet the penalties he +had frequently been able to inflict, inspired the goblin in spite of +himself, with the fear of so potent an adversary. Still choaked however +with agony and resentment, Roderic waved his wand, and summoned his +favourite instrument and the prime minister of his pleasures, the +goblin Medoro, to his presence. The moment he appeared the magician was +relieved from that violent gust of passion, which had held him +motionless, a statue of horror, and throwing himself upon his couch, he +burst into a flood of tears. + +Medoro was the goblin that had appeared to Edwin in his return from the +feast of the bards, and had brewed the fatal storm that had preceded +the rape of Imogen. The figure of the spectre was uncouth, and his +countenance was full of savage and shapeless deformity. Nor did his +appearance bely his character. To all other beings, whether of the +terrestrial or the invisible world, his temper was hard, impracticable +and remorseless. To Rodogune alone, a similitude of minds, and a +congenial ferocity of heart had attached him; and the attachment had +descended to her son; though not equally destitute of every agreeable +and every plausible quality. He therefore beheld the affliction of +Roderic with sympathy and compassion. + +“Wherefore,” cried Medoro, modulating a voice, that nature had made up +of dissonance and horror, into the most gentle and soothing accent of +which it was capable, and hanging over his couch, “wherefore this +sorrow? What is it that has seemed to mar a happiness so enviable? Art +thou not possessed”—“Talk not to me of possessions,” exclaimed Roderic, +with a tone of frenzy, and starting from his posture, “I give them to +the winds. I banish them from my thoughts for ever. Oh that the earth +would open and swallow them up! Oh that unburdened from them all, I +were free as the children of the vallies, and careless as the shepherd +that carols to the rising day. I had not then been thus entangled in +misfortune, thus every way closed in to remediless despair. I had not +then been a monument of impotence and misery for the world to gaze at. +Ye are all combined against me! Under a specious, smiling countenance +you all conceal a heart of gall. But your hypocrisy and your mummery +shall serve you to little purpose. Point me, this instant point me, to +a path for the gratification of my wishes, or dearly shall you rue the +shallowness of your invention and the treachery of your professions.” + +Medoro was astonished at the vehemence of the passion of Roderic, +unusual even in a youth who had never been refused demands the most +unreasonable, and who had been inured to see all the powers of nature +bend to his will. “Is this,” cried he, “a return for services so +unwearied and sincere as mine? Foolish and ungrateful youth! Rut I will +point you to a remedy. Had you not been blinded with fury and +impatience, you would have seen that your situation was not yet +irremediable, by means the most obviously in your power. Did I not at +your birth bestow upon you a ring, that communicates to the wearer the +power of assuming what form he please? I gave it, in order to elude the +curse of the malignant goblin, to subdue the most obdurate female, and +to evade the most subtle adversary. The uses in which thou hast +hitherto employed it have been idle and capricious, governed by whim, +and dictated by the sallies of a sportive fancy. It is now first that +an opportunity is offered to turn it to those purposes for which it was +more immediately destined. Dost thou not now address an obdurate maid? +Is she not full of constancy and attachment for another? What avails it +then to a heart, simple and unvitiated as hers, to offer the bribe of +riches, and to lavish the incense of flattery and adulation. Attack her +in her love. Appear to her in the form of him to whom she is most +ardently attached. If Imogen is vulnerable, this is the quarter from +which she must be approached. Thus far Roderic thou mayest try thy +power; but if by this avenue thou canst not surprise her heart and +overpower her virtue, be then wise. Recollect thy courage, strengthen +thy resolution, and shake off for ever a capricious inclination, which +interrupts the tenour of a life that might otherwise wear the uniform +colour of happiness.” + +The information of a new measure for the furthering his darling +pursuit, was a communication of the most reviving kind to the heart of +Roderic. The gloom and petulance that had collected upon his +countenance were dissipated in a moment. His cheek caught anew the +flush of expectation; his eye sparkled anew with the insolence of +victory. His gratitude to the propitious Medoro was now as immoderate +as his displeasure had lately been unreasonable. He walked along the +apartments with the stride of exultation and triumph. He forgot the +pathetic exclamations he had lately uttered upon the impotence of +power, and he was full of congratulation in the possession of that +which he had treated with contempt. The moral lessons which it was his +destiny to have from time to time poured into an unwilling ear were +erased for ever. He exclaimed upon his own stupidity and want of +invention, and he remembered not that vehemence of passion, which had +distracted his understanding, and drawn a cloud over all his ideas. It +was not instantly that he could assume a sufficient degree of +collectedness and composure to put into execution the scheme with which +he was so highly delighted. Presently however the ebriety of unexpected +hope dissipated, and he prepared for that scene which was to be +regarded as the summit of his power, and the irrevocable crisis of his +fate. + + + + +BOOK THE FIFTH + +THE GARDEN OF RODOGUNE DESCRIBED.—THE HOPES AND DANGER OF IMOGEN.—HER +INCONSOLABLE DISTRESS. + + +Imogen, immediately after the interview that had so deeply perplexed +her, returning to her apartment, had shut herself up in solitude. Her +reflections were gloomy and unpleasing; the new obscurity that hung +about them had not contributed to lighten their pressure. But though +she was melancholy, her melancholy was of a different hue from that of +her ravisher. If virtue can ever be deprived of those glorious +distinctions that exclusively belong to her, it must be when she is +precluded from the illuminations of duty, and is no longer able to +discern the path in which she ought to tread. But even here, where +distinction seems most annihilated, it yet remains. The cruel +sensations of Imogen were not aggravated by despair, but heightened by +hope. Through them all she was sustained by the consciousness of her +rectitude. The chearfulness of innocence supported her under every +calamity. + +She had not long remained alone before she was summoned to partake of +that plainer repast, which in the economy of Roderic usually occupied +the middle of the day, and preceded the sumptuous and splendid +entertainment of the evening, by which the soul was instigated to +prolong the indulgence of the table, and to throw the reins upon the +neck of enjoyment. But Imogen, whose thoughts were dark, and whose mind +brooded over a thousand sad ideas, was desirous of that solitude, which +in the simplicity of pastoral life is ever at hand. She could not away +with the freedom of society, and the levity of mirth. It was painful to +her to have any witnesses of her new sensations, and she wished to +remove herself for ever from the inspection of the officious and the +inquisitive. In compliance with her humour a few viands were served to +her in her own apartment. She was induced by the entreaties of her +attendant, to call up a momentary smile upon her countenance, and to +endeavour to partake of the refreshment that was offered her. But the +effort was vain. It was the sunshine of an April day; her repast in +spite of her was bedewed with tears, and she ate the bread of sorrow. + +As soon as it was concluded, she was invited to a short excursion in +the garden of the mansion. Unused to refusal, the natural mildness of +her temper inclined to comply. She saw the necessity of not yielding +herself up to passive and unresisting melancholy. The natural serenity +of innocence did not yet permit her to be insensible to the attractions +of enjoyment; and the transient view she had had of the garden, as she +passed to the terrace, led her to expect from it, something that might +sooth her pensive thoughts, and something that might divert her +affliction. + +The garden of Rodogune was an inclosure in a bottom glade, at the +entrance of which, though nigh to the castle, and upon a lower ground, +you wholly lost sight of the mansion, and every external object. But +though these were excluded, the sorceress by her art had also excluded +the appearance of limits and boundaries. The scene was not terminated +by walls and espaliers, but by the entrance on either side of a wild, +meandring wood. The side by which you were introduced was protected by +trees of the thickest foliage; and the gate was masqued with a clump of +hazels and alders, which permitted only two narrow passages on either +side. The eye was shut in, but the imagination was permitted to range +in perfect freedom. Nor was this seeming confinement calculated to +disgust; on the contrary you willingly believed that every charm and +every grace was shut up in the circle, and you trembled lest the +smallest outlet should take off from the richness of the scene. In +entering you were struck with a sensation of coolness, that impervious +shades, a bright and animated verdure, flowers scattered here and there +in agreeable disorder, the prattling of the stream, and the song of a +thousand birds, impressed as strongly upon the imagination, as the +senses. But this did not appear the result of art. Every thing had the +face of uncultivated luxuriance, and impenetrable solitude. You could +not believe that you were not the first mortal that had ever found his +way into the enchanting desert. + +The scene however had been solely produced by the skill of Rodogune. +Erewhile the grass had appeared dry and parched; a few solitary and +leafless trees had been scattered up and down; there was no gaiety of +colours to relieve the eye; and not one drop of water to give freshness +to the prospect. But with the operations of magic Rodogune had +delighted to supersede the parsimony of nature. She caused the tree and +the shrub to spring forth in the richest abundance; the sturdiness of +whose trunks, or the deepness of their verdure, cheated the eye with +the semblance of the ripening hand of time. She sprinkled the turf, +short, fine, and vivid, with flowers both native and exotic. She called +forth a thousand fountains to enrich the scene. Sometimes they crept +beneath the turf in almost imperceptible threads; sometimes they ran +beside the alleys, or crossed them in sportive wantonness; and +sometimes you might see them in broader and more limpid currents +rolling over a smooth and spotted bed. Now they rose from the soil in +foamy violence, and fell upon the chalk and pebbly ground beneath; and +anon they formed themselves into the deeper bason [sic], whose calm and +even surface reflected back the reeds and shrubs that were planted +round. There was nothing strait and nothing level; the rule and the +line had never entered the delicious spot; the irregularities of the +soil, and the fantastic, gradual windings of the alleys, were +calculated to give length to the passage, and immensity to the scene. + +From time to time you encountered tufts of trees closely planted, and +that cast as brown a shade as the thickest forest. These were partly +composed of wood of the most pliant texture, the extremities of whose +branches, bending to the earth, took root a second time in her bosom. +Elsewhere the rasberry [sic], the rose, the lilac, and a thousand +flowering shrubs, appeared in thickets without either regularity or +symmetry, and contributed at once to adorn, and to give an air of +rudeness and wildness to the prospect. Round the body of the trees, +planted some at their root, and some upon the different parts of the +trunk, crept the withy, the snakeweed, the ivy, and the hop, and +intermingled with them the jessamine and the honeysuckle, in the most +unbounded profusion. Their tendrils hung from the branches, and waved +to the wind; and suggested to you the appearance of garlands scattered +from tree to tree by the nymphs of the grove. All was inexpressible +luxuriance, and a thousand different shades of verdure were placed, one +upon another, in regular confusion, and attractive disorder. An +exuberance of this sort was calculated in a vulgar scene to have +checked the fertility of the plants, and to have given a sickly and +withered appearance to their productions; but it was not so in the +garden of Rodogune. There the cherry and the grape, the downy peach and +the purple plum were half discovered amid the foliage of the hop, and +the clusters of the woodbine. Beneath the delicious shade you wandered +over beds of moss, undeformed with barren sands and intrusive weeds, +and smooth as the level face of ocean when all the winds of heaven +sleep. + +Nor was this all. Inanimate and vegetable nature (and the observation +had not escaped the penetration of Rodogune) adorn and arrange it as +you will, infallibly suggests an idea of solitude, that communicates +sadness to the mind. Accordingly your path was here beguiled with the +warbling of a thousand birds, the full-toned blackbird, the mellow +thrush, and the pensive nightingale. The sorceress had invited them to +her retreat, by innumerable assiduities and innumerable conveniences of +food and residence, and had suffered no rude intrusion to disturb the +sacredness of their haunts. Unused to molestation in all their +pursuits, they now showed no terror of human approach, but flew, and +hopped, and sung, and played among the branches and along the ground, +in thoughtless security and wanton defiance. + +For a few moments Imogen was immersed in the contemplation of the +beauties of the place, and its delightful coolness and mingled +fragrance were balm and softness to her wounded soul. The domestic who +accompanied her, perceived her propensity to reflection and fell back +to a small distance. The shepherdess, as soon as she found herself +disengaged and alone, revolved with the utmost displeasure her present +situation. “How happy,” cried she, “are the virgins of the vale! To +them every hour is winged with tranquility and pleasure. They laugh at +sorrow; they trill the wild, unfettered lay, or wander, chearful and +happy, with the faithful swain beneath the woodland shade. They fear no +coming mischief; they know not the very meaning of an enemy. Innocent +themselves, they apprehend not guilt and treachery in those around +them. Nor have they reason. Simplicity and frankness are the unvaried +character of the natives of the plain. Liberty, immortal, unvalued +liberty, is the daughter of the mountains. We suspected not that +deceit, insidiousness, and slavery were to be found beneath the sun. +Ah, why was I selected from the rest to learn the fatal lesson! +Unwished, unfortunate distinction! Was I, who am simple and undisguised +as the light of day, who know not how to conceal one sentiment of my +heart, or arm myself with the shield of vigilance and incredulity, was +I fitted by nature for a scene like this? In the mean time have not the +Gods encouraged me by the most splendid appearance, and the most +animating praises? I would not impeach their venerable counsels. But +was this a time for applauses so seducing? How greatly have they +perplexed, and how deeply distressed me! In what manner, alas! are they +to be obeyed, and what am I to think of the professions of my ravisher? +But, no; I dare not permit my purpose to be thus suspended. My danger +here is too imminent. The deliverance of my own honour and the felicity +of my parents are motives too sacred, not to annihilate every ambiguity +and every doubt. Oh, that I could escape at once! Oh, that like the +tender bird, that hops before me in my path, I could flit away along +the trackless air! Why should the little birds that carol among the +trees be the only beings in the domains of Roderic, that know the +sweets of liberty? But it will not be. Still, still I am under the eye +and guardianship of heaven. Wise are the ways of heaven, and I submit +myself with reverence. Only do ye, propitious Gods, support, sustain, +deliver me! Never was frail and trembling mortal less prepared to +encounter with machination, and to brave unheard of dangers. How +fearful are those I have already encountered; and how much have I to +apprehend from what may yet remain! But if I am weak, the omnipotent +support to which I look is strong. I will not give way to impious +despondence. It has delivered, and it may yet deliver me.” + +By such virtuous and ingenuous reflections the shepherdess endeavoured +to solace her distress, and to fortify her courage. Now by revolving +her dangers she sought to prepare for their encounter; and now she +dismissed the recollection as too depressing and too melancholy. The +confinedness of the prospect, though rich infinitely beyond any thing +she had yet seen, and though not naturally calculated to fatigue and +disgust, was destructive of all its beauty in the eyes of Imogen. It +presented to her too just an image of the thraldom, which was the +subject of all her complaints. She desired to fling her eye through a +wider prospect; and though unable even from the loftiest ground to +discover the happy valley, she coveted the slender gratification of +beholding the utmost boundaries of the magic circle, and extending her +view as near as possible to her beloved home. She therefore advanced +farther in the garden, and presently arrived at a clear and open brow, +where a beautiful alcove was erected to catch the point of view, from +which the surrounding objects appeared in the greatest variety, and +with the happiest effect. She entered; and the domestic that attended +her remained in a distant part of the garden. + +Scarcely had Imogen seated herself, before she discovered, by a casual +glance over the prospect, and at some distance, a youth, who seemed to +advance with hasty steps towards the castle. At first she was tempted +to turn away her eye with carelessness and inattention. There was +however something in his figure, that led her, by a kind of fascination +for which she could not account, to cast upon him a second glance and a +third. He drew nearer. He leaped with an active bound over the fence +that separated him from the garden. It was the form of Edwin. His hair +hung carelessly about his shoulders. His shepherd’s pipe was slung in +his belt. His clear and manly cheeks glowed with the warmth of the day, +and the anxiety of love. He entered the alcove. + +Had a ghost risen before Imogen, surrounded with all the horrors of the +abyss, she could not have been struck with greater astonishment. As he +advanced, she gazed in silence. She could not utter a word. Her very +breath seemed suppressed. At length he entered, and for a moment she +had voice enough to utter her surprise. “Gracious powers!” exclaimed +she—“is it possible?—what is it that I see?—Edwin, beloved Edwin!”—and +she sunk breathless upon her seat. The fictitious shepherd approached +her, folded her in his arms, and with repeated, burning kisses, which +he had never before ventured to ravish from his disdainful captive, +restored her to life and perception. The confusion of Imogen did not +allow her to animadvert upon his freedoms. She had the utmost +confidence in the person whose form he wore, and the guileless +simplicity of pastoral life is accustomed to permit many undesigning +liberties, and is slow to take the alarm, or to suspect a sinister +purpose. + +Roderic, anxious and timid respecting the success of his adventure, was +backward to enter into conversation. Imogen, on the other hand, charmed +with so unexpected an appearance, and presaging from it the most +auspicious consequences, full of her situation and sufferings, and +having a thousand things that pressed at once to be told, was eager and +impatient to communicate them to her faithful shepherd. She was also +desirous of learning by what undiscoverable means, by what happy +fortune, he had been conducted to this impervious retreat, and at so +critical a juncture. “Edwin,—my gallant Edwin,—how came you +hither?—Sure it was some propitious power,—some unseen angel,—that +conducted you.—Oh, my friend,—I have been +miserable,—perplexed—tortured—but it is now no more—I will not think of +it—Thanks to the immortal Gods, I have no occasion—no room—but for +gratitude.—Edwin—what have you done—and how did you escape the +tempest?—Was it not a fearful storm?—But I ask you a thousand +questions—and you do not answer me.—You seem abashed—uncertain—what is +the meaning of this?—Did you not come to succour my distress?—Was it +not pity for your poor—forlorn—desolate Imogen—that directed your +steps?” + +“Yes, loveliest of thy sex,” replied her betrayer. “I flew upon the +wings of love. I was brought along by a celestial, impulsive guidance, +which I followed I knew not why. Oh how gracious the condescension, how +happy the obedience, how grateful the interview! Yes, Imogen, I was in +despair. I was terrified at the concurring prodigies by which we were +separated, and I feared never, never to behold that beauteous form +again. Come then and let me clasp thee to my bosom. Oh, thou art +sweeter than the incense-breathing rose, and brighter than the lily of +the vale!” + +For a moment, the affectionate and unsuspicious shepherdess received +his caresses with complacence and pleasure. Suddenly however she +recollected herself; instinctively and without reflection she repulsed +the undue warmth of his attentions. “This,” cried she, “is no time for +fond indulgence, and careless dalliance—Fate is on the wing.—Our +situation is arduous—and we are in the midst of enemies.—Every thing +that surrounds us is full of danger—all is deceit and +treachery—appearances are insidious—all is frightful suspense and +headlong precipice.—The plotter of my ruin is as potent as he is—Ah! +every hour is big with calamity and destruction—every moment that we +stay here is in the last degree hazardous and decisive.—My keepers may +be alarmed—Those eyes that never close may be summoned to attention—we +may be hemmed in—prevented—Oh, Edwin, how fearful is this place—and how +unhoped—how joyful to me—must be an escape.—I thought this hated seat +had been impervious and impassable—Hark!—Did you not hear the sound of +feet?—No—every thing is still—Let us go this way—Say, by what path did +you come—Let us hasten our flight—let us make no delay—not look +behind.” + +“Yes, Imogen,” replied Roderic, detaining her, “we will escape—But +this, my lovely maiden, is not the time—I am not yet prepared—We may +remain here in security—already the shades of evening begin to draw. +Every thing is now busy and active. We cannot pass from hence without +observation. In the silence of the night the attempt will be more +practicable. And you, Imogen, are a heroine. The Gods will watch over +us. Silence and darkness have nothing in them at which innocence should +be terrified. Till then let us reconcile ourselves to our situation. +Let us endeavour, by secrecy and stilness, not to attract to us the +attention of the enemies with which we are surrounded. Let us banish +from them curiosity and suspicion. And let us trust in the Gods, +propitious to rectitude, that they will look down with favour upon a +design prompted by virtue and urged by oppression.” + +“Alas, Edwin,” replied the shepherdess “it is with regret that I +consent to remain one moment longer in this fatal spot. But I will +submit to your direction, I will confide in your prudence; I will trust +in your fidelity, and your zeal, for the deliverance I so ardently +desire. Here however we cannot long remain undiscovered.—My absence +will be suspicious.—I will return once again to the hated mansion.—You, +my swain, must conceal yourself in the mazes of this friendly +wilderness. It shall not be long ere I come to you again.—With motives +like mine to inspire ingenuity, I shall easily find a way to elude the +strictest guard, and escape from the closest thraldom.—Say, my +Edwin!—this stratagem shall suffice,—and you shall lead me in safety +under the friendly cover of the night to liberty and innocence!” + +“Yes,” exclaimed Roderic, suddenly recollecting himself, “you may be +assured that by me nothing shall be omitted, that can further your +escape from this detested prison. The perils I have already incurred +may well convince you of this. It has been through the most fearful +dangers, ready every moment to be overwhelmed with omnipotent mischief, +that I have reached you. I have approached by the most devious and +undiscovered paths. Though the greatest hazards are to be encountered +in the cause of innocence and honour, the conduct we should pursue is +therefore ambiguous, and our success involved in uncertainty and +darkness. Oh Imogen, I may now behold thee for the last time. The +moment we sally from this retreat, I may be discovered by that enemy +from whom we have so much to fear. I may be confined to all the +wantonness of inventive torture, and that beauteous form, and the +smiles of that bewitching countenance may be torn from these longing +eyes for ever. But here, my shepherdess, we are safe. We may here +secure ourselves from sudden intrusion, and a thousand means of +concealment are here in our power. This Imogen is the moment of our +ascendancy, this little period is all our own. In a short time the +precious hours will be elapsed, the invaluable instants will be run +out. Oh, my love, fairest, most angelic of thy sex, while they are yet +ours, let us improve them.”—He ceased; and his countenance glistened +with the anticipations of enjoyment, and his eyes emitted the sparkles +of lust. + +But the imagination of Imogen was not sullied with the impressions of +indecency, and the baseness of looser desires. She understood not the +innuendos of Roderic, and she remarked not with an eager and +inquisitive eye the distraction of his visage. She replied therefore +only to the more obvious tendency of what he said. “And is this, Edwin, +all the consolation you bring me? Ah how poor, how heartless, and how +cold! If we accomplish not that flight upon which my hopes and wishes +are suspended, what utility and what pleasure can we derive from this +interview? It will then only be a bitter aggravation of all my trials, +and all my miseries. If a prospect so unexpected and desirable +terminate in no advantage, for what purpose was it opened before me? It +will but render my sensations more poignant, and give a new refinement +to the exquisiteness of despair. + +“But no, my Edwin, let us not give way to despondence. The Gods, my +generous swain, the same Gods that give luxuriance and felicity to the +plain, and that have guided you through every hazard to this impervious +spot, will assuredly deliver us. Remember the lessons of the +heaven-taught Druids. There is an innate dignity and omnipotence in +virtue. She may be surrounded with variety of woes, but none of them +shall approach her. The darts of calamity may assail her on every side, +but she is invulnerable to them all. Before her majesty, the fierceness +of all the tenants of the wood is disarmed, and the more untamed +brutality of savage man is awed into mute obedience. She may not indeed +put on the insolence of pride, and the fool-hardiness of presumption. +But wherever her duty calls, she may proceed fearless and unhurt. She +may be attacked, but she cannot be wounded: she may be surprised, but +she cannot be enslaved: she may be obscured for a moment, but it shall +only be to burst forth again more illustrious than ever. + +“But you, Edwin, are much better acquainted with these things, and more +able to instruct than I. They were ever the favourite subject of your +attention. I have seen you with rooted eye fixed for hours in listening +admiration of the sublime dictates of the hoary Llewelyn.—It is little +to learn, to understand, and to admire. A barren and ineffectual +enthusiasm for the speculations of truth, was never respectable and was +never venerable. Now, my swain, is the moment in which these sacred +lessons are to be called into action, and in which, beyond all others, +reputation is to be asserted and character fixed. Leave not then to me +the business of inciting and animating you. Be you my leader and +protector.” + +“Alas, my charming mistress,” replied her admirer, “I would to God it +were in my power to inspire you with hope and fill you with courage. I +confess that while peril was at a distance, and I sat secure in the +tranquil vale, I received without distinction the doctrines of the +Druids, and bowed assent to their sacred lessons. But practice, my +Imogen, and the scenes of danger differ beyond conception from the +ideas we form of them in the calmness of repose. Something must be +allowed to the unruffled solitude of these sacred men, and something to +the sublime of poetry. Surely it is no part of comprehensive prudence +to banish the idea of those hazards that must be encountered, and to +refuse to survey the snares and the difficulties with which our path is +surrounded. Remember, my fair one, the malignant suspiciousness of your +jailer, and the comfortless darkness of the night.”— + +“Oh Edwin, and is this the strain in which you were wont to talk? Why +are you thus altered, and what means this inauspicious +quick-sightedness and alarm? We should indeed survey and prepare for +danger, but we should never suffer it to overwhelm us. The cause of +integrity should never be despaired of. What avails the suspicions of +my keeper? The ever wakeful eye of heaven can make them slumber. Why +should we reck the gloom and loneliness of the night? Virtue is the +ever-burning lamp of the sacred groves. No darkness can cast a shadow +on her beams. Though the sun and moon were hurled below the bosom of +the circling ocean, virtue could see to perform her purposes, and +execute her great designs. Alas, my swain, my voice is weak, and +broken, and powerless. But willingly would I breathe a soul to animate +your timidity. Oh Edwin,” and she folded him in her alabaster arms to +her heaving, anxious bosom, “let me not exhort you in vain! It is but +for a little while, it is but for one short effort, and if the powers +above smile propitious on our purpose, we are happy for ever! Think how +great and beautiful is our adventure. Comfortless and desponding as I +am now, ready to sink without life and animation at your feet, I may be +in a few hours happier than ever.—Oh Edwin, lead on!—Can you +hesitate?—Would it were in my power to reward the virtue I would excite +as it deserves to be rewarded. But the Gods will reward you, Edwin.”— + +As she uttered these words, her action was unspeakably graceful, her +countenance was full of persuasion, and her voice was soft, and +eloquent, and fascinating. Roderic gazed upon her with insatiate +curiosity, and drank her accents with a greedy ear. For a moment, +charmed with the loftiness of her discourse and the heroism of her +soul, he was half persuaded to relent, and abjure his diabolical +purpose. It was only by summoning up all the fierceness of his temper, +all the impatience of his passions, and all the mistaken haughtiness +and inflexibility of his purpose, that he could resist the artless +enchantment. During the internal struggle, his countenance by no means +answered to the simplicity of pastoral sentiments. It was now fierce, +and now unprotected and despairing. Anon it was pale with envy, and +anon it was flushed with the triumph of brutal passion. Transitions +like these could not pass unobserved. Imogen beheld them with anxiety +and astonishment, but suspicion was too foreign in her breast, to be +thus excited. + +“Imogen,” cried the traitor, “it is in your power to reward the noblest +acts of heroism that human courage can perform. Who in the midst of all +the exultation and applause that triumphant rectitude can inspire, +could look to a nobler prize than the condescension of your smiles and +the heaven of your embraces? No, too amiable shepherdess, it is not for +myself I fear; witness every action of my life; witness all those +dangers that I have this moment unhesitatingly encountered, that I +might fly to your arms. But, oh, when your safety is brought to hazard, +I feel that I am indeed a coward. Think, my fair one, of the dangers +that surround us. Let us calmly revolve, before we immediately meet +them. No sooner shall we set our foot beyond this threshold, than they +will commence. Tyranny is ever full of apprehensions and environed with +guards. Along the gallery, and through the protracted hall, centinels +are placed with every setting sun. Could you escape their observations, +an hundred bolts, and an hundred massive chains secure the hinges of +the impious mansion. Beyond it all will be dark, and the solitude +inviolate. But suppose we meet again,—by what path to cross the wide +extended glade, and to reach the only avenue that can lead us safely +through this horrid cincture, will then be undiscoverable. Amid the +untamed forest and untrod precipices that lie beyond, all the beasts +most inimical to man reside. There the hills re-echo the tremendous +roarings of the boar; the serpents hiss among the thickets; and the +gaunt and hungry wolf roams for prey. Oh, Imogen, how fearful is the +picture! And can your tender frame, and your timid spirits support the +reality?” + +Imogen had now preserved the character of heroism and fortitude for a +considerable time. All the energies of her soul had been exerted to +encounter the trials and surmount the difficulties which she felt to be +unavoidable. When the beloved form of Edwin had appeared before her, +she relaxed in some degree from the caution and vigilance she had +hitherto preserved. It is the very nature of joyful surprize to unbend +as it were the strings of the mind, and to throw wide the doors of +unguarded confidence. Before, she had felt herself alone; she saw no +resource but in her own virtue, and could lean upon no pillar but her +own resolution. Now she had trusted to meet with an external support; +she had poured out her heart into the bosom of him in whom she +confided, and she looked to him for prudence, for suggestion and +courage. But, instead of support, she had found debility, and instead +of assistance the resources of her own mind were dried up, and her +native fortitude was overwhelmed and depressed. She turned pale at the +recital of Roderic, her knees trembled, her eyes forgot their wonted +lustre, and she was immersed in the supineness and imbecility of +despair. + +“Edwin!”—she cried, with a tone of perturbation; but her utterance +failed her. Her voice was low, hoarse, and inaudible. The fictitious +shepherd supported her in his arms. Her distress was a new +gratification and stimulus to her betrayer. “Edwin, ah, wherefore this +fearful recital? Did you come here for no other purpose than to sink me +ten times deeper in despair? Alas, I had conceived far other +expectations, and far other hopes fluttered in my anxious bosom, when I +first beheld your well known form. I said I have been hitherto constant +and determined, though unsupported and melancholy. I shall now be +triumphant. I shall experience that heaven-descended favour, which ever +attends the upright. Edwin, my firm, heroic Edwin, will perform what I +wished, and finish what I began. And, oh, generous and amiable +shepherd, is it thus that my presages are fulfilled? No, I cannot, will +not bear it. If the courage of Edwin fail, I will show him what he +ought to be. If you dare not lead, think whether you dare follow +whither I guide. You shall see what an injured and oppressed woman can +do. Feeble and tender as we are formed by nature, you shall see that we +are capable of some fortitude and some exertion.” As she said this she +had risen, and was advancing towards the door. But recollecting herself +with a sudden pang, “Alas,” cried she, “whither do I go?—What am I +doing?—What shall I do?—Oh, Edwin!” and, falling at his feet, she +embraced his knees, “do not, do no [sic] not desert me in this sad, +tremendous moment!” + +“I will not, my Imogen, I will never desert you. One fate shall attend +us both. And if you are called to calamity, to torture, and to death, +Edwin will not be supine and inactive.” “Oh, now,” cried she, her eyes +moistened with rapture, “I recognize my noble and gallant swain. Come +then, and let us fly. If we must encounter peril and disaster, what +avails it to suspend the trial for a few niggard hours? This, my +friend, my guardian,—this is the time—Now the master dragon +sleeps—Roderic is now unconscious and distant—and I fear him too much +to apprehend any thing from a meaner adversary—Let us fly—let us +escape—let our speed outstrip the rapid winds!” + +During their conversation, the heavens had been covered with clouds, +and the rain descended with violence. But the change had not been +noticed by Imogen. “Well then, my fair one, we will depart. What though +the wind whistles along the heath, and the rain patters among the elms? +We will defy their fury. Let us go! But, ah, my Imogen, look there! The +hinds are flying across the plain for shelter; and see! two of them +approach to the clump of trees directly before us on the outside of the +garden. No, shepherdess, it is in vain that we resolve, and in vain +that we struggle: we cannot escape.” + +The mind of Imogen was now wrought up to the extremest distress. Her +heart was wrung with anguish. She was ready to charge the immortals +with conspiring against her, had not her piety forbad it. She saw the +reality of what Roderic stated, and yet she was ready to charge him +with raising eternal obstacles. She cast upon him a look of despair and +agony. But she did not read in the countenance of the imaginary +shepherd congenial sentiments. “Methinks,” said she, with a voice full +of reproachful blandishment, and inimitable sweetness, “methinks it is +not with the tenderness of sympathy, that you tell me we must desist. +Sure it is only the mist of tears through which I behold you, that +makes me see the suppressed emotion of pleasure in your countenance. +No, it is not in the heart of Edwin to harbour for a moment the +sentiments of barbarity and insult—But if we cannot now escape—if the +dangers to which we must submit may be diminished by delay—indeed, +Edwin, something must be attempted—at least let us now fix upon a plan, +and determine what to do. Let not delay relax the spirit of enterprise, +or shake the firmness of our purpose.” + +“And what plan,” cried the pretended shepherd, “can we form? I have +already trod the intricate and dangerous road, and there is nothing +better for us than to tread my footsteps back again. The day is +particularly unfavourable, as it is accompanied with activity and +business. We must therefore wait for the night. Then we must watch our +opportunities, and embrace the favourable interval. Imogen, I feel not +for myself. I do not throw away a thought upon my own safety, and I am +ready to submit to every evil for your service and your defence. But +yet, my gentle, noble-minded shepherdess, I cannot promise any very +flattering probability of success. Indeed my hopes are not sanguine. +The difficulties that are before us appear to me insurmountable. One +mountain peeps through the breaches of another, and they are like a +wall built by the hand of nature, and reaching to the skies. +Penmaenmawr is heaped upon Snowdon, and Plinlimmon nods upon the summit +of Penmaenmawr. It is only by the intervention of a miracle that we can +ever revisit the dear, lamented fields of Clwyd. Let us then, my +Imogen, compose ourselves to the sedateness of despair. Let us +surrender the success of our future efforts to fate. And let us +endeavor to solace the short and only certain interval that we yet can +call our own, by the recollection of our virtuous loves.” + +“Alas,” cried Imogen, “I understand not in what the sedateness of +despair consists. In the prospect of every horrid mischief, mischief +that threatens not merely my personal happiness or mortal existence, +but which bears a malignant aspect upon the dignity of honour and the +peace of integrity, I cannot calmly recollect our virtuous loves, or +derive from that recollection sedateness and composure. Edwin, your +language is dissonant, and the thoughts you seek to inspire, jarring +and incompatible. If you must tell me to despair, at least point me to +some nobler source of consolation, than the coldness of memory; at +least let us prepare for the fate that awaits us in a manner decent, +manly, and heroic.” + +“Yes, too amiable shepherdess, if I were worthy to advise, I would +recommend a more generous source of consolation, and teach you to +prepare for futurity in a manner worthy of the simplicity of your +heart; and worthy of that disinterested affection we have ever borne to +each other. Think of those sacred ties that have united us. Think of +the soft and gentle commerce of mutual glances; the chaste and innocent +communication with which we have so often beguiled the noontide hour; +the intercourse of pleasures, of sentiments, of feelings that we have +held; the mingling of the soul. Did not heaven design us for each +other? Is not, by a long probation of simplicity and innocence, the +possession of each other become a mutual purchase? An impious and +arbitrary tyrant has torn us asunder. But do the Gods smile upon his +hated purpose? Does he not rather act in opposition to their decrees, +and in defiance of their authority?” + +The magician paused. “Alas,” replied the shepherdess, “what is it you +mean? Whither would you lead me? I understand you not. These indeed +were motives for fortitude and exertion, but what consolation can they +impart to the desponding heart?” “I will tell you,” replied her +seducer, folding her slender waist with one of his arms as he spoke. +“Since the Gods are on our side, since heaven and earth approve our +honest attachment, let us sit here and laugh at the tyrant. While he +doubles his guards, and employs all his vigilance, let us mock his +impotent efforts.” + +“Ah,” replied the shepherdess, her eye moistened with despair, and +beaming with unapprehensiveness, “how strange and impracticable an +advice do you suggest! Full of terror, full of despair, you bid me +laugh at fear. Threatened by a tyrant whose power is irresistible, and +whose arts you yourself assure me are not to be evaded, you would have +me mock at those arts, and this dreaded power. Is not his power +triumphant? Is not all his vigilance crowned with a fatal success? Are +we not his miserable, trembling, death-expecting victims? Can we leave +this apartment, can we almost move our hand, or utter our voice, for +solicitude and terror? Oh Edwin, in what mould must that heart have +been cast, what must be its hard and unsusceptible texture, that can +laugh at sorrow, and be full of the sensations of joy, though +surrounded with all the engines of wretchedness?” + +“Imogen, your fears are too great, your anxieties exaggerate the +indigence of our condition. Though we are prisoners, yet even the +misfortunes of a prison have their compensations. The activity of the +immaterial mind, will not indeed submit long without reluctance to +confinement and restraint. But we have not yet experienced lassitude +and disgust.” “Alas, Edwin, how strange and foreign are thoughts like +these! Whither do they tend? What would you infer from them?” + +“This my love I would infer. That within one little cincture we are yet +absolute. No prying eye can penetrate here. Of our words, of our +actions, during a few remaining hours, we can dispose without +controul.” + +“Ah,” exclaimed the shepherdess, struck with a sudden suspicion of the +treacherous purpose, and starting from her betrayer, “ah, Edwin, yet, +yet explain yourself! A thousand horrid thoughts—a thousand dire and +shapeless phantoms—But Edwin,—sure—is plain, and artless, and +innocent.—What boots it that we can dispose of our words and actions +within this cincture?—Will that enable us to escape?—No, no, no, +no.—Escape you say is hopeless—What is it you mean?—Say—explain +yourself—Oh, Edwin!”— + +“Be not alarmed,” cried the remorseless villain. “Listen, yet listen +with calmness to the suggestions of my deliberate mind. Imogen, you are +too beautiful—I have beheld you too long—I have admired you with too +fierce an ardour. The Gods—the Gods have joined us. It is guilt and +malignity alone that oppose their purpose.—Let us beat them +down—trample them under our feet—employ worthily the moment that yet +remains.”— + +As the magician pronounced these words, he advanced towards his +captive, and endeavoured to seize her in his arms. But she thrust him +from her with the warmest indignation; and contemplating him with an +eye of infinite disdain, “Base unworthy swain!”—she cried—“Insidious +traitor!—abhorred destroyer!—And is it thus that you would approach +me?—Is it thus that you would creep into the weakness of my heart?—But +fly—I know you not—One mark of compassion I will yet exhibit, which you +little deserve—Fly—I will not deliver you into the hands of your rival, +whom yet my soul does not so much loath and abhor—Fly—Live to be +pointed at as an example of degeneracy—Live to blush for and repent of +that crime, which, Edwin!—cannot be expiated.” + +Roderic had advanced too far to be thus deterred. He did not wish to +manage the character under which he appeared. His passions by this +interview, more private, and in which his captive had beheld him with +an eye of greater complacency than ever, were inflamed to the extremest +degree. The charms of Imogen had been in turn heightened with joy, and +mellowed with distress. Even the conscious dignity, and haughty air she +now assumed, gave new attractions to her form, and new grace to her +manner. Her muscles trembled with horror and disdain. Her eloquent +blood wrought distinctly in her veins, and spoke in a tone, not more +dignified than enchanting. Her whole figure had a life, an expression, +a loveliness, that it is impossible to conceive. + +Roderic rushed forward unappalled, and unsubdued. He had already seized +his unwilling victim. In vain she resisted his violence; in vain she +strove to escape from her betrayer. “For pity’s sake—for mercy’s +sake—for the sake of all our past endearments—spare me!—relent—and +spare me—spare me!—” For a time she struggled; but her tender frame was +soon overcome by the strength of her destroyer. She became cold and +insensible in his arms. + +At this moment a flood of splendid lightning filled the apartment. The +air was rent with the hoarse and deafening roar of the thunder, the +door flew open, and the form of that spectre that he most abhorred +stood before Roderic. “Go on,” cried the phantom, “complete thy heroic +purpose. Scorn the tremendous sounds that now appal thee. They are but +the prelude of that scene that shall shortly feast my eyes. Perceivest +thou not the earth to tremble beneath thy feet? Hearest thou not the +walls of thy hated mansion cracking to their ruin? Confusion is at +hand. _Chaos is come again._ Go on then, Roderic. Complete thy heroic +purpose.” The spectre vanished, and all was uninterrupted silence. + +The whole mind of Roderic was transformed from what it was. For the +impotence of lust, and the cruelty of inexorable triumph, he felt the +terrors of annihilation, and all the cold, damp tremblings of despair. +But the victory of innocence was not yet complete. + +Imogen had sunk for a moment under the horrors that threatened her, but +she had not been so far impercipient as not to hear the murmuring of +the thunder, and to see the gleam of the lightning. The form however +that terrified Roderic, and the voice that addressed him, were +perceived by him alone. + +The shepherdess opened her eyes, and beheld the degenerate ravisher +pale, aghast, and trembling. “It is well, Edwin. The Gods have declared +themselves. The Gods have suspended their thunder over the head of the +apostate. Rut, oh Edwin, could I have imagined it! Desolate and +oppressed as I have been, could I have supposed, that that form was +destined to fill up the measure of my woes! I once beheld it as the +harbinger of happiness, as the temple of integrity and innocence. Oh, +how wretched you have made me! How you have shaken all my most rooted +opinions of the residence of virtue among mankind! Am I alone, and +unsupported in her cause? How forlorn and solitary do I seem to myself! +I suffered—once I suffered the thought of Edwin to mix with the love of +rectitude, and the obedience of heaven. They all together confirmed me +in the path I had chalked out for myself. Mistake not these reproaches +for the weakness of returning passion. And yet, Edwin, though I loath, +I pity you! Go, and repent! Go, and blot from the records of your +memory the cold insinuation, the aggravated guilt that you have this +day practised! Go, and let me never, never see you more!” + +As she uttered these words, congratulation, reproach, wretchedness, +abhorrence and pity succeeded each other in her countenance. Rut they +were all accompanied with an ineffable dignity, and an angelic purity. +The savage and the satyr might have beheld, and been awed into +reverence. Roderic slunk away, guilty, mortified, and confounded. And +such was the success of this other attempt upon the virtue of Imogen. + + + + +BOOK THE SIXTH + +IMOGEN ENDEAVOURS TO SUBDUE THE ATTENDANTS OF RODERIC.—THE SUPPER OF +THE HALL.—JOURNEY AND ARRIVAL OF EDWIN.—SUBTLETY OF THE MAGICIAN.—HE IS +DEFEATED.—END OF THE SECOND DAY. + + +The magician, overwhelmed and confounded with uninterrupted +disappointment, was now ready to give himself up to despair. “I have +approached the inflexible fair one,” cried he, “by every avenue that +leads to the female heart. And what is the amount of the advantages I +have gained? I tempted her with riches. But riches she considered with +disdain; they had nothing analogous to the temper of her mind, and her +uncultivated simplicity regarded them as superfluous and cumbersome. I +taught her to listen to the voice of flattery; I clothed it in all that +is plausible and insinuating; but to no purpose. She was still upon her +guard; all her suspicions were awake; and her integrity and her +innocence were as vigilant as ever. Incapable of effecting any thing +under that form she had learned to detest, I laid it aside. I assumed a +form most prepossessing and most amiable in her eyes. Surely if her +breast had not been as cold as the snow that clothes the summit of +Snowdon; if her virtue had not been impregnable as the groves of Mona, +a stratagem, omnipotent and impenetrable as this, must have succeeded. +She beheld the figure of him she loved, and this was calculated in a +moment of distress to draw forth all her softness. She beheld the +person of him in whom she had been wont to find all integrity, and +place all confidence, and this might have induced her to apprehend no +danger. And yet with how much tender passion, with how distressful an +indignation, with what tumultuous sorrow did she witness his supposed +crime? What then must I do? What yet remains? I love her with a more +frantic and irresistible passion than ever. I cannot abstain from +her.—I cannot dismiss her.—I cannot forget her. Oh Imogen, too lovely, +all-attractive Imogen, for you I stand upon the very brink of fate! Nor +is this all. Soon should I leap the gulph, soon should forget every +prudent and colder prospect in the tumult of my soul, did not that +cursed spectre ever shoot across my path to dash my transports, and to +mar my enjoyments. Which way shall I turn? To leave her, that is +impossible. To possess her by open force and manly violence, that my +fate forbids. My understanding is bewildered, and my invention is +lost.—Medoro!”— + +Medoro received the well known signal, and stood before Roderic. He +waited not to be addressed, he read the purposes of the heart of the +magician. “Roderic,” cried he, “this moment is the crisis of you[r] +destiny. The occasion, to which the curse pronounced upon you by the +inimical spectre refers, has already in part taken place. YOU HAVE SUED +TO A SIMPLE MAID, WHO BY YOUR CHARMS HAS BEEN TAUGHT TO HATE THE SWAIN +THAT ONCE SHE LOVED. It only remains that she should persevere in the +resistance she has hitherto made, and that A SIMPLE SWAIN, perhaps her +favoured Edwin, should defy your enchantments. Think then of the +precipice on which you stand. Yet, yet return, while it is in your +power. One step in advance beyond those you have already taken may be +irretrievable. Alas, Roderic, it is thus that I advise! but I foresee +that my advice will be neglected. The Gods permit to the invisible +inhabitants of air, when strongly invoked by a mortal voice, to assist +their vices and teach adroitness to their passions; but they do not +permit an invocation like this to receive for its reward the lesson of +moderation, and the attainment of happiness. + +“Go on then, Roderic, in the path upon which you are inflexibly +determined. You succeeded not in the stratagem of flattery; but it +served to take off the keenness of the aversion of Imogen. She +contemplates you now with somewhat less of horror, and with a virtuous +and ingenuous fear of uncandidness and injustice upon your account. +Neither have you succeeded in that deeper stratagem and less penetrable +deceit, the assumption of the form of him she loved. It has however +served to weaken her prepossessions, and relax the chains of her +attachment. She is now the better prepared to receive openly and +impartially the addresses of a stranger swain. Thus even your +miscarriages have furthered your design. Thus may a wise general +convert his defeats into the means of victory. Think not however again +to approach her in the coolness of reason, and the sobriety of the +judgment. Hope not by temptation, by flattery, by prejudice, to shake +the immutable character of her mind. There is yet one way unessayed. +You must advance, if you would form the slightest expectations of +victory, by secret and invisible steps. Her virtue must be surrounded, +entangled and enmeshed, or ever her suspicions be awakened, or her +integrity alarmed. This can be effected only by the instrumentality of +pleasure. Pleasure has risen triumphant over many a heart that riches +could not conquer, and that ambition could not subdue. What though she +has resisted temptation under the most alluring form, when her thoughts +were collected and all around was silence?—Let the board of luxury be +spread. Let the choicest dainties be heaped together in unbounded +profusion. Let the most skilful musicians awake the softest +instruments. Let neatness, and elegance, and beauty exhibit their +proudest charms. Let every path that leads to delight, let every +gratification that inebriates the soul be discovered. If at that moment +temptation approach, even a meaner and less potent temptation may then +succeed. The night advances with hasty feet. Night is the season of +dissipation and luxury. Be this the hour of experiment, and let the +apprehensive mind of Imogen be first assiduously lulled to repose. +Here, Roderic, you must rest your remaining hopes. There is not another +instrument can be discovered, to disarm and vanquish the human mind. If +here you fail, the Gods have decreed it—they will be obeyed—Imogen must +be dismissed from the enchanted halls of Rodogune.” + +With these words the goblin disappeared. The warning he had uttered +passed unheeded, but the magician immediately prepared to employ this +last of stratagems. Summoning the train of attendants of either sex +that resided in the castle, he directed them some to make ready the +intended feast, and some to repair to the apartment of Imogen. The +preparations of the enchanted castle were not like those of a vulgar +entertainment. Every thing was accelerated by invisible agents. The +intervention of the retinue of Roderic was scarcely admitted. The most +savoury viands, the most high flavoured ragouts, and the most delicious +wines presented themselves spontaneously to the expecting attendant. +The hall was illuminated with a thousand lustres that depended like +stars from the concave roof, and were multiplied by the reflection of +innumerable mirrors. The whole was arranged with inconceivable +expedition. + +In the mean time a few of the more distinguished attendants of her own +sex repaired to the presence of Imogen. They found her feeble, +spiritless and disconsolate. “Come,” exclaimed their leader, in an +accent of persuasion; “comply, my lovely girl, let not us alone have +reason to complain of your unfriendliness and inflexibility.” + +Imogen was fatigued and she wished not for repose. Grief and +persecution had in a former instance inspired her with the love of +solitude. But her feelings were now of another kind. The disgrace and +ingratitude of Edwin had wounded her in the tenderest point, and she +could not think of it but with inexpressible anguish. She was for the +first time afraid of her own reflections, and desirous to fly from +herself. “Yes,” exclaimed she, “and I would go, if you will promise me +that it shall not be to the presence of Roderic. The castle and the +fields, the freshness of the morning air and the gloom of a dungeon, +are equal to me, provided I must be kept back from the arms of my +beloved parents, and their anxious and tender spirits must still be +held in suspence. But indeed I must not, I will not, be continually +dragged to the presence of the man I hate. It is ungenerous, +unreasonable, and indecent. What is the meaning of all this compulsion? +Why am I kept here so much against my will? Why am I dragged from place +to place, and from object to object? Surely all this cannot be mere +caprice and tyranny. There must be in it some dark and guilty meaning +that I cannot comprehend. Oh shepherdesses! if ye had any friendship, +if any pity dwelt within your bosoms, ye would surely assist me to +escape this hated confinement. Point but the way, show me but the +smallest hole, by which I might get away to ease and liberty, and I +would thank you a thousand times. You, who appear the leader of the +throng, your brow is smooth, your eyes are gentle and serene, and the +bloom of youth still dwells upon your face. Oh,” added the apprehensive +Imogen, and she threw herself upon her knees—“do not bely the stamp of +benevolence and clemency that nature has planted there. Think if you +had parents as I have, whose happiness, whose existence, are suspended +upon mine, if you abbhorred, and detested, and feared your jailor as I +do, what would be your feelings then, and how you would wish to be +treated by a person in your situation. Grant me only the poor and +scanty boon, that you would then conceive your right. Dismiss me, I +intreat you. I cannot bear my situation. My former days have all been +sunshine, my former companions have all been kindness. I have not been +educated to encounter persecution, and misfortunes, and horrors. I +cannot encounter them. I cannot survive it.” + +As she pronounced these words, she sunk, feeble, languid, and +breathless, upon the knees of the attendant. They hastened to raise +her. They soothed her ingenuous affliction, and assured her that she +should not be intruded upon by him of whom she had formed so groundless +apprehensions. Since then she was invited to partake of a slight +refreshment accompanied only by persons of her own sex, she did not +long hesitate, and was easily persuaded to acquiesce. The +unostentatious kindness of the invitation, and the modesty of the +entertainment she expected, dissipated her fears. It was from solitude +that she now wished to escape; and it was to that simple and temperate +relaxation that she had experienced among the inhabitants of Clwyd, to +which she was desirous to repair. + +She was conducted towards a saloon, which had less indeed of a +sumptuous and royal appearance, but was more beautiful, more gay, more +voluptuous, and more extatic than that which had been the scene of the +temptation of the morning. The profuseness of the illuminations outdid +the brightness of the meridian sun. The table was spread in a manner to +engage the eye and allure the appetite. Every vessel that was placed +upon it was of massive silver. And in different corners of the +apartment heaps of the most fragrant incense were burning in urns of +gold. The viands were of a nature the most stimulating and delicious; +and the wines were bright and sparkling and gay. As Imogen approached, +a stream of music burst upon her ear of a kind which hitherto she had +never witnessed. It was not the sonorous and swelling notes of praise; +it was not the enthusiastic rapture of the younger bards; it was not +the elevated and celestial sounds that she had been used to hear from +the lyre of Llewelyn. But if it was not so swelling and sublime, it was +soft, and melodious, and insinuating, and overpowering beyond all +conception. You could not listen to it without feeling all the strings +of your frame relaxed, and the nobler powers of your soul lulled into a +pleasing slumber. It was madness all. The ear that heard it could not +cease to attend. The mind that listened to it was no longer master of +itself. + +Imogen entered the hall, and was received by a train of nymphs, some of +them more beautiful than any she had yet seen, and all attired with +every refinement of elegance and grace. Their hair was in part braided +round their bright and polished foreheads, and in part it hung in wavy +and careless ringlets about their slender necks, and heaving bosoms. +Their forms were veiled in loose and flowing folds of silk of the +finest texture, and whiter than the driven snow. The robes were not +embroidered with gold and silver; they were not studded with emeralds +and diamonds; but were adorned on every side with chaplets of the +fairest and freshest flowers. Their heads were crowned with garlands of +amaranth and roses. Though their conduct were tainted with +lasciviousness, and their minds were full of looser thoughts, yet, awed +by the virtuous dignity of Imogen, they suppressed the air of dissolute +frolic, and taught by the guileful lessons of their lord, endeavoured +to assume the manners of chaste and harmless joy. + +The shepherdess, struck with the objects which so unexpectedly +presented themselves to her eyes and her ears, started back with +involuntary astonishment. “Is this,” cried she, “the artless feast, and +this the simple fare of which you invited me to partake?” “Imogen,” +replied the principal nymph, “we were willing to do you honour, and the +preparation we have made is slight compared with that which the roof +can afford. We considered your fatigue and your extraordinary +abstinence, and we were willing to compensate them by pleasant food, +and a grateful refreshment.” + +“And is such the grateful refreshment, and such the simple and +unaffected relaxation that your minds suggested? Alas, were I to +approach this board, it would be to me a business and not an amusement, +an exertion and not a relief. A feast like this is an object foreign +and unpleasing to my eyes. The feasts of the valley are chesnuts, and +cheeses, and apples. Our drink is the water of the limpid brook, or the +fair and foaming beverage that our flocks afford. Such are the +enjoyments of sobriety; such are the gratifications of innocence. +Virgins, I am not weary of the simplicity of the pastoral life. I hug +it to my bosom closer, more fondly than ever.” + +“Amiable, spotless maiden! we admire your opinions, and we love your +person. But virtue is not allied to rigour and austerity. Its +boundaries are unconstrained, and graceful, and sweeping. It is a robe +which sits easily on those who are formed to wear it. It gives no +awkwardness to their manner, and puts no force upon their actions. +Partake then, my Imogen, in those refreshments we have prepared for +your gratification. If this be not duty, it is not crime. It is a +venial and a harmless indulgence. Do not then mortify friends that have +sought to please you, and refuse your attention to the assiduities we +have demonstrated.” + +“No, my gentle shepherdess, it is in vain you plead. I would willingly +qualify my refusal; but I must withdraw. The more you press me, the +farther it is necessary for me to recede. In the morning of this very +day, I was simple, and incautious, and complying. But now I have +experienced so many wiles and escaped so many snares, that this heart, +formerly so gentle and susceptible, is cased in triple steel. I can +shut my eyes upon the most splendid attractions. I can turn a deaf ear +to enticements the most alluring, and sounds the most insinuating. This +is the lesson—I thank him for it—that your lord has taught me. You must +not then detain me. I must be permitted to retire.” And saying this she +withdrew with trembling speed. In vain they insisted, in vain they +pursued. Imogen escaped like a bird from the fowler, nor looked behind. +Imogen was deaf to their expostulations, and indurate and callous as +adamant to their persuasions. + +The disappointment of Roderic, when he learned of this miscarriage of +his great and final attempt was extreme. He coursed up and down the +saloon with all the impatience of a wild boar pierced by the spear of +the hunter, or a wolf from whom they have torn away her young. He +vented his fury upon things inanimate. He tore his hair, and beat his +breast, with tumultuous agony. He imprecated with a hoarse and furious +voice a thousand curses upon those attendants who had permitted his +captive to escape. Through the spacious hall, where every thing a +moment before had worn the face of laboured gaiety and studied smiles, +all was now desolation, and disquiet, and uproar. And urged as the +magician had been by successive provocations, he was ready to overstep +every limit he might once have respected, and to proceed to the most +fatal extremities. + +In this situation, and as Roderic was hastening with a determined +resolution to follow to the apartment of Imogen, information was +suddenly brought to him, that a young stranger, tall and graceful in +his form, and of a frank and noble countenance, had by some unknown +means penetrated beyond the precipices with which the enchanted castle +was surrounded, and in spite of the resistance of the retinue of the +magician had entered the mansion. The dark and guilty heart of Roderic +immediately whispered him—“It is Edwin.—It is well.—I thank the Gods +that they do not hold this aspiring soul in a long and dreary suspence! +Let the destinies overtake me. I am prepared to receive them. Death, or +any of the thousand ills that fortune stores for them she hates, could +not come in a more welcome hour.—Oh Imogen, lovely, adorable Imogen, +how vain has been my authority, how vain the space of my command! Let +then my palaces tumble into ruin—Let that wand which once I boasted, +shivered in a thousand fragments, be cast to all the winds of heaven! I +will glory in desolation and forlornness. I will wrap myself in my +poverty. I will retire to some horrid cave in the midst of the untamed +desart, and shagged with horrid shades, that outgloom the blackness of +the infernal regions. There I will ruminate upon my past felicity. +There I will tell over enjoyments never to return. I will make myself a +little universe, and a new and unheard of satisfaction in the darkness +of my reflections, and the depth of my despair. + +“And yet surely, surely the Gods have treated me severely, and measured +out to me a hard and merciless fate. What are all the felicities I talk +of, and have prized so much? Oh, they were seasoned, each of them, with +a bitter infusion! Little, little indeed have I tasted of a pure and +unmixed happiness. In my choicest delights, I have felt a vacancy. They +have become irksome and tedious. I have fled from myself; I have fled +from the magnificence of my retinue, to find variety. And yet how +dearly am I to pay for a few gratifications which were in fact no +better than specious allurements to destruction, and flowers that +slightly covered the pit of ruin! In the bloom of manhood, in the full +career of youth to be cast forth an UNPITIED, NECESSITOUS, MISERABLE +VAGABOND! All but this I could have borne without a sigh. Were I +threatened with death, in this opening scene of life, I could submit +with cheerfulness. But to drag along a protracted misery, to be shut +out from hope, and yet ever awake to every cruel reflection and every +bitter remorse—This is too much!” + +From this dream of unmanly lamentations Roderic was with difficulty +recovered by the assiduities of the attendants. At length incited by +their expostulations to the collectedness of reflection and the +fortitude of exertion, he determined, with that quickness of invention +with which he had been endowed at his birth, upon a plan to elude, if +possible, the perseverance of Edwin, and the menaces of his fate. +Recollecting that his person was not unknown to the swain, he +communicated his instructions to those who were about him, and withdrew +himself into a private apartment. + +It was Edwin. The instructions of the Druid of Elwy had relieved him +from the insupportable burden that had begun to oppress his mind. +Persuaded by him he had submitted to seek the refreshment of sleep. But +sleep shed not her poppies upon his busy, anxious head. His mind was +crouded with a thousand fearful phantoms. A child of the valley, he was +a stranger to misfortune and misery. Upon the favoured sons of nature +calamity makes her deepest impression, and an impression least capable +of being erased. And yet Edwin was full of courage and adventure; he +asked no larger boon than to be permitted to face his rival. But his +inquietude was the offspring of love; and his wariness and caution +originated in the docility of his mind, and his anxious attachment to +innocence and spotless rectitude. + +Having passed the watches of the night in uneasy and inexhaustible +reflections, he sprung from his couch as soon as the first dawn of day +proclaimed the approaching sun, and took a hasty leave of the +hospitable hermit. Issuing from the grotto, he bent his steps, in +obedience to the direction of Madoc, to that secret path, which had +never before been discovered by any mortal unassisted by the goblins of +the abyss. Before he reached it the golden sun had begun to decline +from his meridian height. He passed along the winding way beneath the +impending precipices, which formed a dark and sullen vault over his +head. Ever and anon large pieces of stone, broken from their native +mass, and tumbling among the craggy caverns, saluted his ear. Now and +then he heard a bubbling fountain bursting from the rock, which +presently fell with a loud and dashing noise along the declivity, and +was lost in the pebbles below. The only light by which his steps were +guided, was that which fell in partial and scanty streams through the +fissures of the mountain, and served to discover little more than the +shapelessness of the rocks, and the uncultivated horrors of the scene. + +Through these Edwin passed unappalled. His heart was naturally firm and +intrepid, and he now cased himself round with the armour of untainted +innocence and unsullied truth. It was not long before he came forth +from this scene of desolation to that beautiful and cultivated prospect +which had already enchanted the heart of Imogen. To him it had +advantages which in the former case it could not boast. He could +contrast its gaiety and brightness with the obscure and dismal scene +from which he had escaped. Nor was he struck only by the verdure of the +prospect, and the vividness of its colours, he also beheld the +inclosure, not, as his amiable mistress had done, from a terrace +adjoining to the mansion; but from the last point of the rock from +which he was ready to descend. The mansion therefore was his principal +point of view from this situation. It stood upon a bold and upright +brow that beetled over the plain below. The ascent was by a large and +spacious flight of marble steps. Its architecture was grand, and +simple, and commanding. It was supported by pillars of the Ionic order. +They were constructed of ivory and jet, and their capitals were +overlaid with the purest gold. An object like this to one who had never +before seen any nobler edifice than a shepherd’s cot, or the throne of +turf upon which the bards were elevated at the feast of the Gods, was +surprising, and admirable, and sublime in the highest degree. + +“And this,” exclaimed the gallant shepherd, “is the residence prepared +for infamy and lust. The sun pours upon it his light with as large a +hand, the herbage, the flowers and the fruits as fully partake of the +bounteous care of nature, as the vales of simplicity and the fields of +innocence. How venerable and alluring is the edifice I behold! Does not +peace dwell within, and are not the hours of its possessor winged with +happiness? Had my youth been spent among the beasts of the forests, had +not my ears drank in the sacred instructions of the godlike Druids, I +might have thought so. But, no. In vain in the extensive empire that +the arts of sorcery and magic afford, shall felicity be sought. What +avails all this splendour? and to what purpose this mighty profusion? +All the possessions that I can boast, are my little flock, my wattled +cottage, and my slender pipe. And yet I carol as jocound a lay, my +heart is as light and frolic, and the tranquility of self-acquittal +spreads her wings as wide over my bosom, as they could were I lord of a +hundred hills, and called all the streamlets of the valley my own. The +magician possesses a large hoard of beauty, and he can wander from fair +to fair with unlimited and fearless licence. All merciful and benign +beings, who dwell above this azure concave, give me my Imogen! Restore +her safe and unhurt to these longing, faithful arms! Let not this +arbitrary and imperious tyrant, who grasps wide the fairest productions +of thy creation with a hundred hands,—let him not wrest from me my +solitary lamb,—let him not seize for ever upon that companion, in whom +the most expansive and romantic wishes of my heart had learned to be +satisfied.” + +Such were the beautiful and virtuous sentiments of Edwin, as he beheld +the empire of his rival from the head of the rock, and as he crossed +the glade that still divided him from the object of all his exertions. +From the eminence upon which he had paused for a few contemplative +moments, the distance had appeared narrow and trifling. But the equal +height of the ground upon which he stood, and of that which afforded a +situation for the palaces of Roderic, had deceived him. When he looked +towards the scene that was to form the termination of his journey, the +glade below escaped from his sight. But when he descended to the plain, +it was otherwise. One swell of the surface he had to traverse succeeded +another; and the irregularity of the ground caused him sometimes to be +lost, in a manner, in the length of the way, and took from him the +consolation of being able so much as to perceive the object of his +destination. As he passed the hills, and climbed each successive +ascent, a murmur rose in his bosom; his impatience grew more and more +ungovernable, and the eagerness of his pursuit taught him to imagine, +that his little labour would never be done. + +Every performance however of human exertion has its period; and Edwin +had at length surmounted the greater part of the distance, and now +gained a larger and more distinct view of the castle. But by this time +the sun was ready to hide himself in the ocean, and his last rays now +gleamed along the valley, and played in the party-coloured clouds. +Meanwhile a dark spot, which had for some time blotted the brightness +of the surrounding azure, expanded itself. The shades gathered, the +light of the sun was hid, and the blackness of the night forestaled. +The wind roared among the mountains, and its terrors were increased by +the hollow bellowings of the beasts they harboured. The shower began; +it descended with fury, and Edwin had scarcely time to gain the +protection of an impervious thicket that crowned the lawn. Here he +stood and ruminated. The solemnity of the scene accorded with the +importance of his undertaking. The pause was friendly. He composed his +understanding, and recollected the lessons of the hospitable hermit. He +fortified himself in the habits of virtue; and, with a manly and +conscious humility, recommended this crisis of his innocence to the +protection of heaven. + +The shower ceased, but the darkness continued. He had too well marked +however the bent of his journey during the continuance of the day, to +permit this to be any considerable obstacle. In the mean time it +doubled and rendered more affecting the stilness of the night. Nothing +was to be heard but the low whispers of the falling breeze, and the +murmurs of the prowling wolf that now languished and died away upon the +ear. This was the moment in which magic lords it supreme, in which the +goblin breaks forth from his confinement, and ranges unlimited in the +nether globe; and in which all that is regular and all that is +beautiful give place to the hunger of the savage brute, and the +witcheries of the sorcerer. But Roderic was otherwise engaged. His +heart was employed in inventing guile, and was lulled into +unapprehensive security. But Edwin was heroic. His bosom swelled with +the most generous purposes; and he trusted unwaveringly in that +guardianship that is every where present, and that eye that never +slumbers. + +He entered the walls of the enchanted castle. The novelty of the +appearance of a stranger within the circle of those mountains, which no +vulgar mortal had yet penetrated, the dignity of his appearance, and +the boldness of his manner, at first distracted the attendants from the +performance of that, which might have seemed most natural in their +situation, and awed them into passiveness. He still wore that flowing +and graceful garb, which was appropriated by the inhabitants of Clwyd +to the celebration of public solemnities. He had passed through the +midst of the shower, and yet one thread of his garment was not +moistened with the impetuousness of its descent. His face wore a more +beautiful and roseat glow than was native to its complexion. His eye +was full of animation and expressiveness. Expectation, and hope, and +dignity, and resolution had their entire effect in his appearance. “It +is a celestial spirit!” cried they. “It is a messenger from the unseen +regions!” and they sought in his person for the insignia that might +confirm and establish their conjecture. + +But such was not the imagination of Roderic. The master-guilt to which +he was conscious, was ever ready to take the alarm upon any unexpected +event; and he had immediately conjectured, by a kind of instinctive +impression, who was this new and unwelcome guest. However unguarded and +unprepared had been his retinue, they had recollected themselves +sufficiently to detain Edwin in the avenue of the mansion, till they +had received the orders of their lord. These were immediately +communicated; and the magician withdrew himself till the proper period +should arrive for his appearance to the swain. + +Edwin, when he had entered the palace of Roderic, had been desirous, if +it were possible, to push forward to the presence of his rival, without +making any previous enquiries, or admitting of a moment’s pause. The +frequency however of the domestics had disappointed his purpose, and he +was detained by them in spite of his efforts. “What means,” cried he, +“this violence? I must enter here. I will not be delayed. My purpose +admits not of trifling and parley. To me every moment is big with +fate.” He said. For Edwin disdained the employment of falsehood and +disguise. He lifted the javelin in his hand, but his heart was too full +of gentleness and humanity rashly to employ the instrument of death. +His tone however was resolute, and his gesture commanding, and the +astonished attendants were uncertain in what manner to conduct +themselves. + +At this instant a domestic, who had received the instructions of his +lord, entered the court. He had the appearance of superior dignity; and +removing the attendants who pressed with rudeness upon the shepherd, he +enquired of him the cause of his intrusion. “Lead me,” cried Edwin, “to +the lord of your mansion. My business is important and pressing, and +will not admit of being communicated to any other ear. Whence this +difficulty? Innocence does not withdraw from the observation of those +who are desirous to approach it; and a manly courage is not +apprehensive of an enemy.” + +“Young stranger,” replied the domestic, “you are misinformed. This +mansion knows not a lord. It belongs solely to proprietors of the +softer sex, whom fortune has indulged as you perceive with every thing +that is calculated to give new relish to the pursuits of life, and +beguile the lazy foot of time. It is our boast and our honour to serve +these damsels. And could my report add one ray to their lustre, I would +tell you, that they are fair as the peep of the morning, and more +fragrant than beds of violets and roses. It is their command, that +humanity should be extended by all around them, not only to man, but to +the humblest and weakest animals. Though you have entered their +residence by mistake, we shall but fulfil the service they expect in +furnishing you with every assistance and every accommodation in our +power. If you are hungry, come in and partake of the liberal plenty the +castle affords. If you thirst, we will cheerfully offer you the +capacious goblet and the richest wines. If you are fatigued with the +travel of the day, or have wandered from your path and are benighted in +your journey, enter their mansion. The accommodations are large, and +they are all free for the use of the poor, the necessitous, the +unfortunate and the miserable.” + +Edwin listened with astonishment to the narration. He was not used to +the address of falshood; and strongly warned as he had previously been +of the iniquity of the train, the ingenuousness of his mind induced him +at first without reflection to yield an easy credit to the story that +was told him. It was related with fluency, plausibility, and gravity; +and it was accompanied with a manner seemingly artless and humane, +which it was scarcely possible for one unhackneyed in the stratagems of +deceit to distrust and contradict. + +“Surely,” replied Edwin, “I cannot be wholly mistaken. At least has +there not a young shepherdess just arrived here, tall, tender and +beautiful, and whose flaxen tresses are more bright than gold, and more +abundant than the blossoms in the spring?” + +Before the officious domestic could reply to his enquiries, two of the +nymphs, who had been attired for the feast of Imogen, came into the +outer apartment in which the shepherd was, and advanced toward him. +“These are my mistresses,” cried the attendant. Edwin approached them +with respect, and repeated his former enquiries. They were the most +beautiful of the train of Roderic. They were clad in garments of the +whitest silk, and profusely adorned with chaplets of flowers. Their +appearance therefore was calculated to give them, in a shepherd’s eye, +an air of sweetness and simplicity that could not easily be resisted. + +One of them was tall and majestic, and the other low, and of a shape +and figure the most alluring. This appeared to be like a blossom in +May, whose colours discovered to the attentive observer all their +attractions, without being expanded to the careless eye: And that might +be supposed to be a few summers farther advanced to a delicious +maturity. The majesty of the one had nothing in it of the gross, the +indelicate, and the forbidding; and the softness of the other was +attempered with inexpressible propriety and grace. Both of them were +gentle and affable. But the affability of the former took the name of +benignity and condescension, and the affability of the latter was full +of harmless gaiety, and a cheerful and unpretending spirit of society. + +“We cannot,” replied the elder, “attend to your enquiries here. The +apartment is comfortless and inhospitable. You appear fatigued. And we +pretend not, young stranger, merely to contribute what is in our power +to relieve the uneasiness of your mind, we would also refresh your +wearied frame. Come in then, and we will afford you every satisfaction +we are able. Enter the mansion, and partake of the plenty the Gods have +bestowed upon us, and which we desire not to engross to ourselves.” +During these words Edwin surveyed his fair entertainers with wonder and +admiration. But enchanting as they were, they found not the avenue to +his heart. There Imogen reigned alone, and could not admit of a rival. +Even though upon a slighter occasion, and at less important moment, the +purity of his mind, that virtue so much esteemed among the swains, +could have been tainted, yet now that his undertaking whispered him, +“Imogen alone is fair!” now that he feared for her safety, and hoped +every moment to arrive at the dreaded, pleasing period of his anxiety, +he could but be constant and be faithful. He recollected the sage +instructions of the Druid of Elwy: and his resolutions were unshaken as +the roots of Snowdon. + +He accepted their invitation. Immediately, as upon a signal, an hundred +flambeaux lighted the area and lined the passage to the saloon of +pleasure. The nymphs placed themselves on each side of the shepherd, +and in this manner they passed along. If Imogen had been struck with +the profuseness of the illumination, the richness of the plate, the +sumptuousness of the viands and the wines, and the fragrant clouds of +incense that filled the apartment, how much more were they calculated +to astonish the soul of Edwin! He had comparatively passed through no +previous scenes; he had not been led on step by step; and the +voluptuousness of the objects that now presented themselves before him +had been unknown and unexpected. The train of the subordinate +attendants of the magician filled the apartment with beauty and with +grace, and seemed to pay the most unreserved obedience to the nymphs +that at first addressed him. + +But before the shepherd had time to examine the objects that surrounded +him, the musicians awaked their instruments, and all his faculties were +engrossed with soft melody and enchanting sounds. The instrumental +performance was illustrated and completed with a multitude of +harmonious voices, and those who sang were each of them of the softer +sex. + +“What are the possessions most eagerly courted among mankind? Which are +the divinities by mortals most assiduously adored? This goodly universe +was intended for the seat of pleasure, unmixed pleasure. But a +sportive, malicious divinity sent among men a gaudy phantom, an empty +bubble, and called the shadow Honour. In pursuit of a fancied +distinction and a sounding name, the children of the earth have +deserted all that is bland and all that is delicious. Labour, naked, +deformed, and offensive, they willingly embrace. They brave hardship +and severity. They laugh at danger. From hence they derive the virtue +of resolution, the merit of self-denial, and the excellence of +mortification. + +“But heaven did not open wide its hand, and scatter delight through +every corner of the universe, without intending that they should be +enjoyed. Enjoyment, indulgence, and felicity are not crimes. +Abstinence, self-denial and mortification have only a specious mien and +a fictitious merit. Did all mankind obey their fallacious dictates, the +unlimited bounties of nature would become a burden to the earth, and +fill it with pestilence and contagion. The soil would be oppressed with +her own fertility; the herds would overmultitude their lords; and the +crouded air would be darkened with the plumes of its numerous +inhabitants. The very gems that now lie buried in the bosom of the +ocean, would then bespangle its surface, and the dumb tenants of the +watery tracts, inured to their blaze, would learn to leave the caverns +of the sea and gaze upon the sun. + +“Mortals, open your hearts to the divinity of pleasure! Why should he +be in love with labour, who has a capacious hoard of choice delights +within his reach? Why should we fly from a present good that we +possess, to a future that we do not comprehend? Is this the praise we +owe the bounteous Gods? Can neglect and indifference to their gifts be +gratitude? This were to serve them like a timorous and trembling slave +beneath the eye of an austere and capricious tyrant; and not with that +generosity, that enthusiasm, that liberal self-confidence, which are +worthy of a father, a patron and a friend. + +“Ye that are wise, ye that are favoured of propitious heaven, drink +deep of the cup of pleasure. The sun has now withdrawn his splendid +lustre, and his flaring beams. The period of exercise is past, and the +lids of prying curiosity is [are] closed. Night is the season of feast +and the season of gaiety. In the graver hours of activity and industry, +sobriety may be proper. It may then be fit to listen to the dictates of +prudence, and pay some attention to the prejudices of mankind. The +sternness of age and the austerity of censoriousness are now silent. +Now pleasure wears a freer garb; and the manners of enjoyment are more +frank and unrestrained. The thinness of indiscretion and the airy forms +of inadvertence are lost and annihilated amid the shadows of the night. + +“Now the numerous inhabitants of the waters come forth from their oozy +beds and play and flounce in the beams of the moon. Round the luminary +of the night the stars lead up the mystic dance, and compose the music +of the spheres. The deities of the woods and the deities of the rivers +come out from their secret haunts, and keep their pastimes +unapprehensive of human intrusion. The elves and the fairies repair to +their sports, and trip along the velvet green with many-twinkling feet. +Let us imitate their amiable alacrity and their cheerful amusements. + +“What has sleep to do with the secrecy and silence of the night? It is +the hour of pleasure unrestrained and free. It is the hour in which the +empire of beauty is complete, and those mysteries are disclosed which +the profaner eye of day must never behold. Ye that are wise, ye that +are favoured of propitious heaven, drink deep of the cup of pleasure! +The festive board is spread before you; the flowing bowl is proffered +for your acceptance. Beauty, the crown of enjoyment, the last +perfection of society, is within your reach. Be wise and taste. Partake +of the munificence the Gods vouchsafe.” + +As the song proceeded the two nymphs, who had first appeared to Edwin, +and since attended him with the extremest officiousness, endeavoured by +every artful blandishment to engage his attention, and rivet his +partiality. They exerted themselves to suppress the grossness, +inelegance and sensuality to which they had commonly been habituated, +and to cover the looseness of the passions with the veil of simplicity, +delicacy, and softness. As the music ceased, the master of the +spectacle came forth from his retreat. But his figure was no longer +that which bespoke the magician, and which Edwin had already seen. He +appeared in the form of a youth of that age in which the frolic +insignificance of childhood gives place to the eagerness, the +enthusiasm and the engaging manners of blooming manhood. His habit was +that of a cupbearer. His robes were of azure silk, and floated in +graceful folds as he passed along. The beauty of his person was worthy +of the synod of the Gods. His features had all the softness of woman +without effeminacy; and in his eye there sat a lambent fire which +bespoke the man, without roughness, and without ferocity. In one hand +he bore a crystal goblet full of every potent enchantment, and which +rendered him who drank for ever a slave to the most menial offices and +the most wanton caprices of his seducer. In the other hand he held +loosely, and as if it had been intended merely to give a completeness +to his figure and a gracefulness to his step, that irresistible wand by +which the majesty of man had often been degraded, and the reluctant +spirit had been conjured up from the caverns of the abyss. The goblet +he delivered to the elder nymph, who presented it, with inimitable +grace and a bewitching condescension, to the gallant shepherd. + +Edwin had the fortitude of a hero, but he had also the feelings of a +man. He could not but be struck with the beauty of the nymphs, he could +not but be surprised with the profuseness of the entertainment, and the +richness of the preparations. The soul of Edwin was full of harmony. It +had been one of his earliest and most ruling passions. No shepherd +excelled him in the skill of the pipe, no shepherd with a sweeter or +more sonorous voice could carol the rustic lay. Even the figure assumed +by Roderic, his garb, his step, his gesture had something in them of +angelic and celestial without the blaze of divinity, and without the +awfulness that surrounds the godlike existencies, that sometimes +condescend to visit this sublunary scene. The shepherd took into his +hand the fatal bowl. + +In the midst however of all that was attractive, and all that was +unknown, Edwin had not forgotten the business that had brought him +hither and the lessons of Madoc. The visage of Imogen, ever present to +his soul, suggested these salutary reflections. By her assistance he +strengthened all his resolutions, and gave vigour to the heroism of his +mind. Through the memory of Imogen he derived a body, and communicated +a visible form to the precepts of rectitude; and virtue wore all those +charms that had the most uncontroled empire in his bosom. Half way to +his lips he raised the cup of vice, and inexorable fate sat smiling on +the brim. He paused; he hesitated. By an irresistible impulse of +goodness he withdrew the fatal draught. He shed the noxious composition +upon the ground, and hurled from him with indignation the vessel in +which it had been contained. + +Roderic beheld the scene with deep emotion, and was agitated by turns +with a thousand passions. He saw the issue with confusion, despondence +and fury. The roseat smiles of the cupbearer vanished; and, without the +notice and consent of his mind, his limbs resumed their wonted form, +and his features confirmed the suspicions of the shepherd, that he was +now confronted with his mortal enemy. Thrice the magician invoked the +spirit of his mother, and thrice he conjured the goblins, the most +potent that ever mix in the mortal scene. He lifted the wand in his +hand. It was the fiery ordeal that summons human character to the +severest trial. It was the _judgment of God_ in which the lots are +devoutly committed to the disposal of heaven, and the enthroned +Divinity, guided by his omniscience of the innocence of the brave, or +the guilt of the presumptuous, points the barbed spear, and gives a +triple edge to the shining steel. If the shepherd had one base and +earth-born particle in his frame, if his soul confessed one sordid and +sensual desire, now was the time in which for his prospects to be +annihilated and his reputation blotted for ever, and the state and +empire of his rival to be fixed beyond the power of human machinations +to shake or subvert it. “Presumptuous swain!” cried the sorcerer, “what +folly, what unmeaning rashness has brought you within the circle of my +incantations? Know that from them no mortal has escaped; that by them +every swain, whom adventurousness, ignorance, or stratagem has +introduced within these limits, has been impelled to assume the savage +form, and to herd with the most detestable of brutes. Let then thy +foolhardiness pay the penalty which my voice has ever annexed to it. +Hence to thy fellows! Go, and let their hated form bely the reason thou +shalt still retain, and thy own voice affright thee, when thou shalt +groan under irremediable misery!” + +The incantation that had never yet failed of its hated purpose was +pronounced in vain. Edwin had heard it unappalled. He wore the amulet +of Madoc. He opposed to it the unconquered shield of spotless +innocence. Even in the midst of the lordly despotism and the imperious +haughtiness of his rival, he had been conscious to the triumph which +nothing but the calmness of fortitude and the serenity of virtue can +inspire. He was mindful of the precepts of the Druid. While Roderic was +overwhelmed with disappointment and despair, he seized the wand of the +magician, and with irresistible vigour wrenched it from his hand. He +struck it with violence upon the ground, and it burst into a thousand +shivers. The castle rocked over his head. Those caverns, which for +revolving years had served to hide the iniquity and the cruelty of +their possessor, disclosed their secret horrors. The whole stupendous +pile seemed rushing to the ground. A flood of lightning streamed across +the scene. A peal of thunder, deafening and tremendous, followed it. +All now was vacancy. Not a trace of those costly scenes and that +magnificent architecture remained. The heaven over-canopied the head of +Edwin. The clouds were dissipated. The light of innumerable stars gave +grandeur to the scene. And the silver moon communicated a milder +lustre, and created a softer shade. Roderic and his train, full of +pusillanimity and consternation, had fled from the direful scene, and +vanished like shadows at the rising of the sun. + +No mortal, but our lovers, had ever entered the enchanted mansion +without having their characters disgraced, and their hearts thronged +with all those hateful and dissolute passions, which distinguished the +band of Roderic. No mortal was there, but our lovers, of the numerous +inhabitants of this bad edifice, who had not shrunk from the earthquake +and the solemnities that accompanied its sub-version. Edwin and Imogen +were alone. The shepherdess had listened to all the horrors of the +scene with a gloomy kind of satisfaction. “What new wonders,” cried +she, “are now to be disclosed? What purpose are they intended to +answer! The amendment, or the destruction of my betrayer? But it is +well. Though the elements mix in inextricable confusion, though the +earth be destroyed, yet has innocence no cause to fear. Alas, though I +myself should be buried in the ruin, why should I apprehend, or why +lament it? I was happy; untaintedly, uninterruptedly happy. But I am +miserable. I am confined here in a loathsome, detested prison. Even my +conduct is shut up with difficulties, and my bosom disquieted with the +conflict of seeming duties. Even Edwin, the swain to whom my heart was +united, and from whose memory my integrity derived new strength is +corrupted, depraved and base. Let then destruction come. I will not +lament the being cut off in the bloom of youth. I will not shed one +tear, or feel one fond regret, but for the calamity and disappointment +of my parents.” + +But however the despair of Imogen armed her courage against the +concussions of nature, she yet felt that delicacy of constitution which +characterises the most lovely of her sex, and that amiable timidity +which often accompanies the most invincible fortitude. When the thunder +roared with so fearful violence, when the mansion burst in ruins over +her head, she stood, trembling and breathless, at the tumult around +her. Her safety was the first object of the attention of Edwin; and +when she recovered her recollection she found herself in the arms of +her lover. “_My fair one, my Imogen_,” cried he, “have I recovered you +through so many obstacles, and in the midst of so numerous dangers? Oh, +how must our affection, the purest, brightest, that ever lighted a +human breast, be endeared by our mutual calamities! But virtue is ever +triumphant, virtue is never deserted of the watchful care of heaven. My +trials, my lovely shepherdess, have been feeble indeed, when compared +with yours. Your integrity is unrivalled, and your innocence has +surpassed all that the bards have sung in their immortal lays. Come +then, oh, dearer, far dearer than ever to this constant heart, come to +my arms! Let delay be banished. Let the veil of virgin bashfulness be +laid aside. And let us repair together to the presence of your parents +to ask an united blessing.” + +While Edwin thus poured forth the raptures of his heart, Imogen turned +towards him a languid eye, full of soft and silent reproach. She +retired from him with involuntary horror. “No, shepherd,” cried she, +and waved her hand with graceful indignation. “Like you I approve the +justice of the Gods in the banishment of Roderic. But I think that +justice would have been more complete, had it included in its +vindictive appearance the punishment of the base, degenerate Edwin. +Unworthy Edwin, to how vile and earth born sentiments has your heart +been conscious! But go. Hence from my sight! The very spectacle of that +form which I had learned to love is mildew and contagion to my eyes. +Oh, Edwin, for your sake I will distrust every attractive form and +every ingenuous appearance. The separation, my swain, is hard. The arts +of Roderic came not near my soul, but your baseness has fixed an +indelible wound. But think not—cherish not the fond mistake—that I will +ever forget your ungenerousness in the hour of my distress and +forlornness, or receive that serpent to my heart again.” + +As she pronounced these words, she hastened to fly from her imaginary +enemy. Edwin detained her by a gentle violence. With much intreaty and +a thousand soft blandishments, he wrung from her the story of her +indignation. He related to her the tale of Madoc, and told her of the +magic arts of his rival. He fully explained the scene of the pretended +repentance of Roderic, and the seduction he had attempted to practise +under the form of Edwin. As she listened to the wondrous story, Imogen +trembled at the unknown dangers with which she had been environed, and +admired more than ever the omnipotence of that virtue which had been +able to lead her safely through them all. The conviction she received +of the rectitude and fidelity of Edwin was to her, like the calm breath +of zephyr, which succeeds the tremendous storm upon the surface of the +ocean; and like that sovereign balm, which the sage Druids pour into +the wounds of the shepherd, and restore him at once to salubrity and +vigour. The amiable pair repaired with speed, and arrived with the dawn +of the sun to the cottage of Imogen. At the sight of them the venerable +Edith reared her drooping, desponding head, and the cheeks of the hoary +father were bedewed with the tears of transport. Such were the trials +of our lovers, and of correspondent worth was the reward they received. +Long did they dwell together in the vale of Clwyd, with that simplicity +and attachment which no scenes but those of pastoral life can know. +Their happiness was more sensible than that of the swains around them +in that they had known a reverse of fortune. And their virtue was the +purer and the more benevolent, in that they had passed through the +fields of trial; and that only through the ordeal of temptation, and an +approved fortitude, they had arrived to the unmixed felicity, and the +uninterrupted enjoyment they at length possessed. + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Imogen, by William Godwin + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IMOGEN *** + +***** This file should be named 9152-0.txt or 9152-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/9/1/5/9152/ + +Produced by Produced by Jonathan Ingram, David Garcia and Distributed Proofreaders + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of +the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have +to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. + +Title: Imogen + A Pastoral Romance + +Author: William Godwin + +Release Date: September 8, 2003 [EBook #9152] +[Most recently updated: April 6, 2020] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IMOGEN *** + + + + +Produced by Produced by Jonathan Ingram, David Garcia and Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + + +</pre> + +<h1>Imogen</h1> + +<h4>A Pastoral Romance<br/> +<i>From the Ancient British</i></h4> + +<h2>by William Godwin</h2> + +<hr /> + +<h2>Contents</h2> + +<table summary="" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto"> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#pref01">Preface</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap01">BOOK THE FIRST</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap02">BOOK THE SECOND</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap03">BOOK THE THIRD</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap04">BOOK THE FOURTH</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap05">BOOK THE FIFTH</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap06">BOOK THE SIXTH</a></td> +</tr> + +</table> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="pref01"></a>Preface</h2> + +<p class="center"> +[<i>By</i> WILLIAM GODWIN] +</p> + +<p> +The following performance, as the title imports, was originally composed in the +Welch language. Its style is elegant and pure. And if the translator has not, +as many of his brethren have done, suffered the spirit of the original totally +to evaporate, he apprehends it will be found to contain much novelty of +conception, much classical taste, and great spirit and beauty in the execution. +It appears under the name of Cadwallo, an ancient bard, who probably lived at +least one hundred years before the commencement of our common era. The manners +of the primitive times seem to be perfectly understood by the author, and are +described with the air of a man who was in the utmost degree familiar with +them. It is impossible to discover in any part of it the slightest trace of +Christianity. And we believe it will not be disputed, that in a country so +pious as that of Wales, it would have been next to impossible for the poet, +though ever so much upon his guard, to avoid all allusion to the system of +revelation. On the contrary, every thing is Pagan, and in perfect conformity +with the theology we are taught to believe prevailed at that time. +</p> + +<p> +These reasons had induced us to admit, for a long time, that it was perfectly +genuine, and justly ascribed to the amiable Druid. With respect to the +difficulty in regard to the preservation of so long a work for many centuries +by the mere force of memory, the translator, together with the rest of the +world, had already got over that objection in the case of the celebrated Poems +of Ossian. And if he be not blinded by that partiality, which the midwife is +apt to conceive for the productions, that she is the instrument of bringing +into the world, the Pastoral Romance contains as much originality, as much +poetical beauty, and is as happily calculated to make a deep impression upon +the memory, as either Fingal, or Temora. +</p> + +<p> +The first thing that led us to doubt its authenticity, was the striking +resemblance that appears between the plan of the work, and Milton’s +celebrated Masque at Ludlow Castle. We do not mean however to hold forth this +circumstance as decisive in its condemnation. The pretensions of Cadwallo, or +whoever was the author of the performance, are very high to originality. If the +date of the Romance be previous to that of Comus, it may be truly said of the +author, that he soared above all imitation, and derived his merits from the +inexhaustible source of his own invention. But Milton, it is well known, +proposed some classical model to himself in all his productions. The Paradise +Lost is almost in every page an imitation of Virgil, or Homer. The Lycidas +treads closely in the steps of the Daphnis and Gallus of Virgil. The Sampson +Agonistes is formed upon the model of Sophocles. Even the little pieces, +L’Allegro and Il Penseroso have their source in a song of Fletcher, and +two beautiful little ballads that are ascribed to Shakespeare. But the +classical model upon which Comus was formed has not yet been discovered. It is +infinitely unlike the Pastoral Comedies both of Italy and England. And if we +could allow ourselves in that licence of conjecture, which is become almost +inseparable from the character of an editor, we should say: That Milton having +written it upon the borders of Wales, might have had easy recourse to the +manuscript whose contents are now first given to the public: And that the +singularity of preserving the name of the place where it was first performed in +the title of his poem, was intended for an ingenuous and well-bred +acknowledgement of the source from whence he drew his choicest materials. +</p> + +<p> +But notwithstanding the plausibility of these conjectures, we are now inclined +to give up our original opinion, and to ascribe the performance to a gentleman +of Wales, who lived so late as the reign of king William the third. The name of +this amiable person was Rice ap Thomas. The romance was certainly at one time +in his custody, and was handed down as a valuable legacy to his descendants, +among whom the present translator has the honour to rank himself. Rice ap +Thomas, Esquire, was a man of a most sweet and inoffensive disposition, beloved +and respected by all his neighbours and tenants, and “passing rich with +‘sixty’ pounds a year.” In his domestic he was elegant, +hospitable, and even sumptuous, for the time and country in which he lived. He +was however naturally of an abstemious and recluse disposition. He abounded in +singularities, which were pardoned to his harmlessness and his virtues; and his +temper was full of sensibility, seriousness, and melancholy. He devoted the +greater part of his time to study; and he boasted that he had almost a complete +collection of the manuscript remains of our Welch bards. He was often heard to +prefer even to Taliessin, Merlin, and Aneurim, the effusions of the immortal +Cadwallo, and indeed this was the only subject upon which he was ever known to +dispute with eagerness and fervour. In the midst of the controversy, he would +frequently produce passages from the Pastoral Romance, as decisive of the +question. And to confess the truth, I know not how to excuse this piece of +jockeyship and ill faith, even in Rice ap Thomas, whom I regard as the father +of my family, and the chief ornament of my beloved country. +</p> + +<p> +Some readers will probably however be inclined to apologise for the conduct of +Mr. Thomas, and to lay an equivalent blame to my charge. They will tell me, +that nothing but the weakest partiality could blind me to the genuine air of +antiquity with which the composition is every where impressed, and to ascribe +it to a modern writer. But I am conscious to my honesty and defy their malice. +So far from being sensible of any improper bias in favour of my ancestor, I am +content to strengthen their hands, by acknowledging that the manuscript, which +I am not at all desirous of refusing to their inspection, is richly emblazoned +with all the discoloration and rust they can possibly desire. I confess that +the wording has the purity of Taliessin, and the expressiveness of Aneurim, and +is such as I know of no modern Welchman who could write. And yet, in spite as +they will probably tell me of evidence and common sense, I still aver my +persuasion, that it is the production of Rice ap Thomas. +</p> + +<p> +But enough, and perhaps too much, for the question of its antiquity. It would +be unfair to send it into the world without saying something of the nature of +its composition. It is unlike the Arcadia of sir Philip Sidney, and unlike, +what I have just taken the trouble of running over, the Daphnis of Gessner. It +neither on the one hand leaves behind it the laws of criticism, and mixes +together the different stages of civilization; nor on the other will it perhaps +be found frigid, uninteresting, and insipid. The prevailing opinion of Pastoral +seems to have been, that it is a species of composition admirably fitted for +the size of an eclogue, but that either its nature will not be preserved, or +its simplicity will become surfeiting in a longer performance. And accordingly, +the Pastoral Dramas of Tasso, Guarini, and Fletcher, however they may have been +commended by the critics, and admired by that credulous train who clap and +stare whenever they are bid, have when the recommendation of novelty has +subsided been little attended to and little read. But the great Milton has +proved that this objection is not insuperable. His Comus is a master-piece of +poetical composition. It is at least equal in its kind even to the Paradise +Lost. It is interesting, descriptive and pathetic. Its fame is continually +increasing, and it will be admired wherever the name of Britain is repeated, +and the language of Britain is understood. +</p> + +<p> +If our hypothesis respecting the date of the present performance is admitted, +it must be acknowleged that the ingenious Mr. Thomas has taken the Masque of +Milton for a model; and the reader with whom Comus is a favourite, will +certainly trace some literal imitations. With respect to any objections that +may be made on this score to the Pastoral Romance, we will beg the reader to +bear in mind, that the volumes before him are not an original, but a +translation. Recollecting this, we may, beside the authority of Milton himself, +and others as great poets as ever existed who have imitated Homer and one +another at least as much as our author has done Comus, suggest two very weighty +apologies. In the first place, imitation in a certain degree, has ever been +considered as lawful when made from a different language: And in the second, +these imitations come to the reader exaggerated, by being presented to him in +English, and by a person who confesses, that he has long been conversant with +our greatest poets. The translator has always admired Comus as much as the +Pastoral Romance; he has read them together, and been used to consider them as +illustrating each other. Any verbal coincidences into which he may have fallen, +are therefore to be ascribed where they are due, to him, and not to the author. +And upon the whole, let the imperfections of the Pastoral Romance be what they +will, he trusts he shall be regarded as making a valuable present to the +connoisseurs and the men of taste, and an agreeable addition to the innocent +amusements of the less laborious classes of the polite world. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap01"></a>BOOK THE FIRST</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +CHARACTER OF THE SHEPHERDESS AND HER LOVER.—FEAST OF RUTHYN.—SONGS +OF THE BARDS. +</p> + +<p> +Listen, O man! to the voice of wisdom. The world thou inhabitest was not +intended for a theatre of fruition, nor destined for a scene of repose. False +and treacherous is that happiness, which has been preceded by no trial, and is +connected with no desert. It is like the gilded poison that undermines the +human frame. It is like the hoarse murmur of the winds that announces the +brewing tempest. Virtue, for such is the decree of the Most High, is evermore +obliged to pass through the ordeal of temptation, and the thorny paths of +adversity. If, in this day of her trial, no foul blot obscure her lustre, no +irresolution and instability tarnish the clearness of her spirit, then may she +rejoice in the view of her approaching reward, and receive with an open heart +the crown that shall be bestowed upon her. +</p> + +<p> +The extensive valley of Clwyd once boasted a considerable number of +inhabitants, distinguished for primeval innocence and pastoral simplicity. +Nature seemed to have prepared it for their reception with all that luxuriant +bounty, which characterises her most favoured spots. The inclosure by which it +was bounded, of ragged rocks and snow-topt mountains, served but for a foil to +the richness and fertility of this happy plain. It was seated in the bosom of +North Wales, the whole face of which, with this one exception, was rugged and +hilly. As far as the eye could reach, you might see promontory rise above +promontory. The crags of Penmaenmawr were visible to the northwest, and the +unequalled steep of Snowden terminated the prospect to the south. In its +farthest extent the valley reached almost to the sea, and it was intersected, +from one end to the other, by the beautiful and translucent waters of the river +from which it receives its name. +</p> + +<p> +In this valley all was rectitude and guileless truth. The hoarse din of war had +never reached its happy bosom; its river had never been impurpled with the +stain of human blood. Its willows had not wept over the crimes of its +inhabitants, nor had the iron hand of tyranny taught care and apprehension to +seat themselves upon the brow of its shepherds. They were strangers to riches, +and to ambition, for they all lived in a happy equality. He was the richest man +among them, that could boast of the greatest store of yellow apples and mellow +pears. And their only objects of rivalship were the skill of the pipe and the +favour of beauty. From morn to eve they tended their fleecy possessions. Their +reward was the blazing hearth, the nut-brown beer, and the merry tale. But as +they sought only the enjoyment of a humble station, and the pleasures of +society, their labours were often relaxed. Often did the setting sun see the +young men and the maidens of contiguous villages, assembled round the venerable +oak, or the wide-spreading beech. The bells rung in the upland hamlets; the +rebecs sounded with rude harmony; they danced with twinkling feet upon the +level green or listened to the voice of the song, which was now gay and +exhilarating, and now soothed them into pleasing melancholy. +</p> + +<p> +Of all the sons of the plain, the bravest, and the most comely, was Edwin. His +forehead was open and ingenuous, his hair was auburn, and flowed about his +shoulders in wavy ringlets. His person was not less athletic than it was +beautiful. With a firm hand he grasped the boar-spear, and in pursuit he +outstripped the flying fawn. His voice was strong and melodious, and whether +upon the pipe or in the song, there was no shepherd daring enough to enter the +lists with Edwin. But though he excelled all his competitors, in strength of +body, and the accomplishments of skill, yet was not his mind rough and +boisterous. Success had not taught him a despotic and untractable temper, +applause had not made him insolent and vain. He was gentle as the dove. He +listened with eager docility to the voice of hoary wisdom. He had always a tear +ready to drop over the simple narrative of pastoral distress. Victor as he +continually was in wrestling, in the race, and in the song, the shout of +triumph never escaped his lips, the exultation of insult he was never heard to +utter. On the contrary, with mild and unfictitious friendship, he soothed the +breast of disappointment, and cheered the spirits of his adversary with honest +praise. +</p> + +<p> +But Edwin was not more distinguished among his brother shepherds, than was +Imogen among the fair. Her skin was clear and pellucid. The fall of her +shoulders was graceful beyond expression. Her eye-brows were arched, and from +her eyes shot forth the grateful rays of the rising sun. Her waist was slender; +and as she ran, she outstripped the winds, and her footsteps were printless on +the tender herb. Her mind, though soft, was firm; and though yielding as wax to +the precepts of wisdom, and the persuasion of innocence, it was resolute and +inflexible to the blandishments of folly, and the sternness of despotism. Her +ruling passion was the love of virtue. Chastity was the first feature in her +character. It gave substance to her accents, and dignity to her gestures. +Conscious innocence ennobled all her reflexions, and gave to her sentiments and +manner of thinking, I know not what of celestial and divine. +</p> + +<p> +Edwin and Imogen had been united in the sports of earliest infancy. They had +been mutual witnesses to the opening blossoms of understanding and benevolence +in each others breasts. While yet a boy, Edwin had often rescued his mistress +from the rude vivacity of his playmates, and had bestowed upon her many of +those little distinctions which were calculated to excite the flame of envy +among the infant daughters of the plain. For her he gathered the +vermeil-tinctured pearmain, and the walnut with an unsavoury rind; for her he +hoarded the brown filberd, and the much prized earth-nut. When she was near, +the quoit flew from his arm with a stronger whirl, and his steps approached +more swiftly to the destined goal. With her he delighted to retire from the +heat of the sun to the centre of the glade, and to sooth her ear with the +gaiety of innocence, long before he taught her to hearken to the language of +love. For her sake he listened with greater eagerness to the mirthful relation, +to the moral fiction, and to the song of the bards. His store of little +narratives was in a manner inexhaustible. With them he beguiled the hour of +retirement, and with them he hastened the sun to sink behind the western hill. +</p> + +<p> +But as he grew to manly stature, and the down of years had begun to clothe his +blushing cheek, he felt a new sensation in his breast hitherto unexperienced. +He could not now behold his favourite companion without emotion; his eye +sparkled when he approached her; he watched her gestures; he hung upon her +accents; he was interested in all her motions. Sometimes he would catch the eye +of prudent age or of sharp-sighted rivalry observing him, and he instantly +became embarrassed and confused, and blushed he knew not why. He repaired to +the neighbouring wake, in order to exchange his young lambs and his hoard of +cheeses. Imogen was not there, and in the midst of traffic, and in the midst of +frolic merriment he was conscious to a vacancy and a listlessness for which he +could not account. When he tended his flocks, and played upon his slender pipe, +he would sink in reverie, and form to himself a thousand schemes of imaginary +happiness. Erewhile they had been vague and general. His spirit was too gentle +for him not to represent to himself a fancied associate; his heart was not +narrow enough to know so much as the meaning of a solitary happiness. But +Imogen now formed the principal figure in these waking dreams. It was Imogen +with whom he wandered beside the brawling rill. It was Imogen with whom he sat +beneath the straw-built shed, and listened to the pealing rain, and the hollow +roaring of the northern blast. If a moment of forlornness and despair fell to +his lot, he wandered upon the heath without his Imogen, and he climbed the +upright precipice without her harmonious voice to cheer and to animate him. In +a word, passion had taken up her abode in his guileless heart before he was +aware of her approach. Imogen was fair; and the eye of Edwin was enchanted. +Imogen was gentle; and Edwin loved. +</p> + +<p> +Simple as was the character of the inhabitants of this happy valley, it is not +to be supposed that Edwin found many obstacles to the enjoyment of the society +of his mistress. Though strait as the pine, and beautiful as the gold-skirted +clouds of a summer morning, the parents of Imogen had not learned to make a +traffic of the future happiness of their care. They sought not to decide who +should be the fortunate shepherd that should carry her from the sons of the +plain. They left the choice to her penetrating wit, and her tried discretion. +They erected no rampart to defend her chastity; they planted no spies to watch +over her reputation. They entrusted her honour to her own keeping. They were +convinced, that the spotless dictates of conscious innocence, and that divinity +that dwells in virtue and awes the shaggy satyr into mute admiration, were her +sufficient defence. They left to her the direction of her conduct. The +shepherdess, unsuspicious by nature, and untaught to view mankind with a wary +and a jealous eye, was a stranger to severity and caprice. She was all +gentleness and humanity. The sweetness of her temper led her to regard with an +eye of candour, and her benevolence to gratify all the innocent wishes, of +those about her. The character of a woman undistinguishing in her favours, and +whose darling employment is to increase the number of her admirers, is in the +highest degree unnatural. Such was not the character of Imogen. She was artless +and sincere. Her tongue evermore expressed the sentiments of her heart. She +drew the attention of no swain from a rival; she employed no stratagems to +inveigle the affections; she mocked not the respect of the simple shepherd with +delusive encouragement. No man charged her with broken vows; no man could +justly accuse her of being cruel and unkind. +</p> + +<p> +It may therefore readily be supposed, that the subject of love rather glided +into the conversation of Edwin and Imogen, than was regularly and designedly +introduced. They were unknowing in the art of disguising their feelings. When +the tale spoke of peril and bravery, the eyes of Edwin sparkled with congenial +sentiments, and he was evermore ready to start from the grassy hilloc upon +which they sat. When the little narrative told of the lovers pangs, and the +tragic catastrophe of two gentle hearts whom nature seemed to have formed for +mildness and tranquility, Imogen was melted into the softest distress. The +breast of her Edwin would heave with a sympathetic sigh, and he would even +sometimes venture, from mingled pity and approbation, to kiss away the tear +that impearled her cheek. Intrepid and adventurous with the hero, he began also +to take a new interest in the misfortunes of love. He could not describe the +passionate complaints, the ingenuous tenderness of another, without insensibly +making the case his own. “Had the lover known my Imogen, he would no +longer have sighed for one, who could not have been so fair, so gentle, and so +lovely.” Such were the thoughts of Edwin; and till now Edwin had always +expressed his thoughts. But now the words fell half-formed from his trembling +lips, and the sounds died away before they were uttered. “Were I to +speak, Imogen, who has always beheld me with an aspect of benignity, might be +offended. I should say no more than the truth; but Imogen is modest. She does +not suspect that she possesses half the superiority over such as are called +fair, which I see in her. And who could bear to incur the resentment of Imogen? +Who would irritate a temper so amiable and mild? I should say no more than the +truth; but Imogen would think it flattery. Let Edwin be charged with all other +follies, but let that vice never find a harbour in his bosom; let the +imputation of that detested crime never blot his untarnished name.” +</p> + +<p> +Edwin had received from nature the gift of an honest and artless eloquence. His +words were like the snow that falls beneath the beams of the sun; <i>they +melted as they fell</i>. Had it been his business to have pleaded the cause of +injured innocence or unmerited distress, his generous sympathy and his manly +persuasion must have won all hearts. Had he solicited the pursuit of rectitude +and happiness, his ingenuous importunity could not have failed of success. But +where the mind is too deeply interested, there it is that the faculties are +most treacherous. Ardent were the sighs of Edwin, but his voice refused its +assistance, and his tongue faultered under the attempts that he made. Fluent +and voluble upon all other subjects, upon this he hesitated. For the first time +he was dissatisfied with the expressions that nature dictated. For the first +time he dreaded to utter the honest wishes of his heart, apprehensive that he +might do violence to the native delicacy of Imogen. +</p> + +<p> +But he needed not have feared. Imogen was not blind to those perfections which +every mouth conspired to praise. Her heart was not cold and unimpassioned; she +could not see these perfections, united with youth and personal beauty, without +being attracted. The accents of Edwin were music to her ear. The tale that +Edwin told, interested her twice as much as what she heard from vulgar lips. To +wander with Edwin along the flowery mead, to sit with Edwin in the cool alcove, +had charms for her for which she knew not how to account, and which she was at +first unwilling to acknowledge to her own heart. When she heard of the feats of +the generous lover, his gallantry in the rural sports, and his reverence for +the fair, it was under the amiable figure of Edwin that he came painted to her +treacherous imagination. She was a stranger to artifice and disguise, and the +renown of Edwin was to her the feast of the soul, and with visible satisfaction +she dwelt upon his praise. Even in sleep her dreams were of the deserving +shepherd. The delusive pleasures that follow in the train of dark-browed night, +all told of Edwin. The unreal mockery of that capricious being, who cheats us +with scenes of fictitious wretchedness, was full of the unmerited calamities, +the heartbreaking woe, or the untimely death of Edwin. From Edwin therefore the +language of love would have created no disgust. Imogen was not heedless and +indiscreet; she would not have sacrificed the dignity of innocence. Imogen was +not coy; she would not have treated her admirer with affected disdain. She had +no guard but virgin modesty and that conscious worth, <i>that would be wooed, +and not unsought be won</i>. +</p> + +<p> +Such was the yet immature attachment of our two lovers, when an anniversary of +religious mirth summoned them, together with their neighbour shepherds of the +adjacent hamlet, to the spot which had long been consecrated to rural sports +and guiltless festivity, near the village of Ruthyn. The sun shone with unusual +splendour; the Druidical temples, composed of immense and shapeless stones, +heaped upon each other by a power stupendous and incomprehensible, reflected +back his radiant beams. The glade, the place of destination to the frolic +shepherds, was shrouded beneath two venerable groves that encircled it on +either side. The eye could not pierce beyond them, and the imagination was in a +manner embosomed in the vale. There were the quivering alder, the upright fir, +and the venerable oak crowned with sacred mistletoe. They grew upon a natural +declivity that descended every way towards the plain. The deep green of the +larger trees was fringed towards the bottom with the pleasing paleness of the +willow. From one of the groves a little rivulet glided across the plain, and +was intersected on one side by a stream that flowed into it from a point +equally distant from either extremity of its course. Both these streams were +bordered with willows. In a word, upon the face of this beautiful spot all +appeared tranquility and peace. It was without a path, and you would imagine +that no human footsteps had ever invaded the calmness of its solitude. It was +the eternal retreat of the venerable anchorite; it was the uninhabited paradise +in the midst of the trackless ocean. +</p> + +<p> +Such was the spot where the shepherds and shepherdesses of a hundred cots were +now assembled. In the larger compartiments of the vale, the more muscular and +vigorous swains pursued the flying ball, or contended in the swift-footed race. +The bards, venerable for their age and the snowy whiteness of their hair, sat +upon a little eminence as umpires of the sports. In the smaller compartiments, +the swains, mingled with the fair, danced along the level green, or flew, with +a velocity that beguiled the eager sight, beneath the extended arms of their +fellows. Here a few shepherds, apart from the rest, flung the ponderous quoit +that sung along the air. There two youths, stronger and more athletic than the +throng, grasped each others arms with an eager hand, and struggled for the +victory. Now with manly vigour the one shook the sinewy frame of the other; now +they bended together almost to the earth, and now with double force they reared +again their gigantic stature. At one time they held each other at the greatest +possible distance; and again, their arms, their legs and their whole bodies +entwined, they seemed as if they had grown together. When the weaker or less +skilful was overthrown, he tumbled like a vast and mountain oak, that for ages +had resisted the tumult of the winds; and the whole plain resounded at his +fall. Such as were unengaged formed a circle round the wrestlers, and by their +shouts and applause animated by turns the flagging courage of either. +</p> + +<p> +And now the sun had gained his meridian height, and, fatigued with labour and +heat, they seated themselves upon the grass to partake of their plain and rural +feast. The parched wheat was set out in baskets, and the new cheeses were +heaped together. The blushing apple, the golden pear, the shining plum, and the +rough-coated chesnut were scattered in attractive confusion. Here were the +polished cherry and the downy peach; and here the eager gooseberry, and the +rich and plenteous clusters of the purple grape. The neighbouring fountain +afforded them a cool and sparkling beverage, and the lowing herds supplied the +copious bowl with white and foaming draughts of milk. The meaner bards +accompanied the artless luxury of the feast with the symphony of their harps. +</p> + +<p> +The repast being finished, the company now engaged in those less active sports, +that exercise the subtility of the wit, more than the agility or strength of +the body. Their untutored minds delighted themselves in the sly enigma, and the +quaint conundrum. Much was their laughter at the wild guesses of the +thoughtless and the giddy; and great the triumph of the swain who penetrated +the mystery, and successfully removed the abstruseness of the problem. Many +were the feats of skill exhibited by the dextrous shepherd, and infinite were +the wonder and admiration of the gazing spectators. The whole scene indeed was +calculated to display the triumph of stratagem and invention. A thousand +deceits were practised upon the simple and unsuspecting, and while he looked +round to discover the object of the general mirth, it was increased into bursts +of merriment, and convulsive gaiety. At length they rose from the verdant +green, and chased each other in mock pursuit. Many flew towards the adjoining +grove; the pursued concealed himself behind the dark and impervious thicket, or +the broad trunk of the oak, while the pursuers ran this way and that, and cast +their wary eyes on every side. Carefully they explored the bushes, and surveyed +each clump of tufted trees. And now the neighbouring echoes repeated the +universal shout, and proclaimed to the plain below, that the object of their +search was found. Fatigue however, in spite of the gaiety of spirit with which +their sports were pursued, began to assert his empire, and they longed for that +tranquility and repose which were destined to succeed. +</p> + +<p> +At this instant the united sound of the lofty harp, the melodious rebec, and +the chearful pipe, summoned them once again to the plain. From every side they +hastened to the lawn, and surrounded, with ardent eyes, and panting +expectation, the honoured troop of the bards, crowned with laurel and sacred +mistletoe. And now they seated themselves upon the tender herb; and now all was +stilness and solemn silence. Not one whisper floated on the breeze; not a +murmur was heard. The tumultuous winds were hushed, and all was placid +composure, save where the gentle zephyr fanned the leaves. The tinkling rill +babbled at their feet; the feathered choristers warbled in the grove; and the +deep lowings of the distant herds died away upon the ear. The solemn prelude +began from a full concert of the various instruments. It awakened attention in +the thoughtless, and composed the frolic and the gay into unbroken heedfulness. +The air was oppressed with symphonious sounds, and the ear filled with a tumult +of harmony. +</p> + +<p> +On a sudden the chorus ceased: Those instruments which had united their force +to fill the echoes of every grove, and of every hill, were silent. And now a +bard, of youthful appearance, but who was treated with every mark of honour and +distinction, and seated on the left hand of the hoary Llewelyn, the prince of +song, struck the lyre with a lofty and daring hand. His eye sparkled with +poetic rapture, and his countenance beamed with the sublime smile of luxuriant +fancy and heaven-born inspiration. He sung of the wanton shepherd, that +followed, with ungenerous perseverance, the chaste and virgin daughter of +Cadwallo. The Gods took pity upon her distress, the Gods sent down their swift +and winged messenger to shield her virtue, and deliver her from the persecution +of Modred. With strong and eager steps the ravisher pursued: timid +apprehension, and unviolated honour, urged her rapid flight. But Modred was in +the pride of youth; muscular and sinewy was the frame of Modred. Beauteous and +snowy was the person of the fair: her form was delicate, and her limbs were +tender. If heaven had not interposed, if the Gods had not been on her side, she +must have fallen a victim to savage fury and brutal lust. But, in the crisis of +her fate, she gradually sunk away before the astonished eyes of Modred. That +beauteous frame was now no more, and she started from before him, swifter than +the winds, a timid and listening hare. Still, still the hunter pursued; he +suspended not the velocity of his course. The speed of Modred was like the roe +upon the mountains; every moment he gained upon the daughter of Cadwallo. But +now the object of his pursuit vanished from his sight, and eluded his eager +search. In vain he explored every thicket, and surveyed all the paths of the +forest. While he was thus employed, on a sudden there burst from a cave a +hungry and savage wolf; it was the daughter of Cadwallo. Modred started with +horror, and in his turn fled away swifter than the winds. The fierce and +ravenous animal pursued; fire flashed from the eye, and rage and fury sat upon +the crest. Mild and gentle was the daughter of Cadwallo; her heart relented; +her soft and tender spirit belied the savage form. They approached the far +famed stream of Conway. Modred cast behind him a timid and uncertain eye; the +virgin passed along, no longer terrible, a fair and milk white hind. Modred +inflamed with disappointment, reared his ponderous boar spear, and hurled it +from his hand. Too well, ah, cruel and untutored swain! thou levelest thy aim. +Her tender side is gored; her spotless and snowy coat is deformed with blood. +Agitated with pain, superior to fear, she plunges in the flood. When lo! a +wonder; on the opposite shore she rises, radiant and unhurt, in her native +form. Modred contemplates the prodigy with astonishment; his lust and his +brutality inflame him more than ever. Eagerly he gazes on her charms; in +thought he devours her inexpressive beauties. And now he can no longer restrain +himself; with sudden start he leaps into the river. The waves are wrought into +a sudden tempest; they hurry him to and fro. He buffets them with lusty arms; +he rides upon the billows. But vain is human strength; the unseen messenger of +the Gods laughs at the impotent efforts of Modred. At length the waters gape +with a frightful void; the bottom, strewed with shells, and overgrown with +sea-weed, is disclosed to the sight. Modred, unhappy Modred, sinks to rise no +more. His beauty is tarnished like the flower of the field; his blooming cheek, +his crimson lip, is pale and colourless. Learn hence, ye swains, to fear the +Gods, and to reverence the divinity of virtue. Modred never melted for +another’s woe; the tear of sympathy had not moistened his cheek. The +heart of Modred was haughty, insolent and untractable; he turned a deaf ear to +the supplication of the helpless, he listened not to the thunder of the Gods. +Let the fate of Modred be remembered for a caution to the precipitate; let the +children of the valley learn wisdom. Heaven never deserts the cause of virtue; +chastity wherever she wanders (<i>be it not done in pride or in +presumption</i>) is sacred and invulnerable. +</p> + +<p> +Such was the song of the youthful bard. Every eye was fixed upon his visage +while he struck the lyre; the multitude of the shepherds appeared to have no +faculty but the ear. And now the murmur of applause began; and the wondering +swains seemed to ask each other, whether the God of song were not descended +among them. “Oh glorious youth,” cried they, “how early is +thy excellence! Ere manhood has given nerve and vigour to thy limbs, ere yet +the flowing beard adorns thy gallant breast, nature has unlocked to thee her +hidden treasures, the Gods have enriched thee with all the charms of poetry. +Great art thou among the bards; illustrious in wisdom, where they all are wise. +Should gracious heaven spare thy life, we will cease to weep the death of Hoel; +we will lament no longer the growing infirmities of Llewelyn.” +</p> + +<p> +While they yet spoke, a bard, who sat upon the right hand of the prince, +prepared to sweep the string. He was in the prime of manhood. His shining locks +flowed in rich abundance upon his strong and graceful shoulders. His eye +expressed more of flame than gaiety, more of enthusiasm than imagination. His +brow, though manly, and, as it should seem, by nature erect, bore an appearance +of solemn and contemplative. He had ever been distinguished by an attachment to +solitude, and a love for those grand and tremendous objects of uncultivated +nature with which his country abounded. His were the hanging precipice, and the +foaming cataract. His ear drank in the voice of the tempest; he was rapt in +attention to the roaring thunder. When the contention of the elements seemed to +threaten the destruction of the universe, when Snowdon bowed to its deepest +base, it was then that his mind was most filled with sublime meditation. His +lofty soul soared above the little war of terrestrial objects, and rode +expanded upon the wings of the winds. Yet was the bard full of gentleness and +sensibility; no breast was more susceptible to the emotions of pity, no tongue +was better skilled in the soft and passionate touches of the melting and +pathetic. He possessed a key to unlock all the avenues of the heart. +</p> + +<p> +Such was the bard, and this was the subject of his song. He told of a dreadful +famine, that laid waste the shores of the Menai. Heaven, not to punish the +shepherds, for, alas, what had these innocent shepherds done? but in the +mysterious wisdom of its ways, had denied the refreshing shower, and the +soft-descending dew. From the top of Penmaenmawr, as far as the eye could +reach, all was uniform and waste. The trees were leafless, not one flower +adorned the ground, not one tuft of verdure appeared to relieve the weary eye. +The brooks were dried up; their beds only remained to tell the melancholy tale, +Here once was water; the tender lambs hastened to the accustomed brink, and +lifted up their innocent eyes with anguish and disappointment. The meadows no +longer afforded pasture of the cattle; the trees denied their fruits to man. In +this hour of calamity the Druids came forth from their secret cells, and +assembled upon the heights of Mona. This convention of the servants of the +Gods, though intended to relieve the general distress, for a moment increased +it. The shepherds anticipated the fatal decree; they knew that at times like +this the blood of a human victim was accustomed to be shed upon the altars of +heaven. Every swain trembled for himself or his friend; every parent feared to +be bereaved of the staff of his age. And now the holy priest had cast the lots +in the mysterious urn; and the lot fell upon the generous Arthur. Arthur was +beloved by all the shepherds that dwelt upon the margin of the main; the praise +of Arthur sat upon the lips of all that knew him. But what served principally +to enhance the distress, was the attachment there existed between him and the +beauteous Evelina. Mild was the breast of Evelina, unused to encounter the +harshness of opposition, or the chilly hand and forbidding countenance of +adversity. From twenty shepherds she had chosen the gallant Arthur, to reward +his pure and constant love. Long had they been decreed to make each other +happy. No parent opposed himself to their virtuous desires; the blessing of +heaven awaited them from the hand of the sacred Druid. But in the general +calamity of their country they had no heart to rejoice; they could not insult +over the misery of all around them. “Soon, oh soon,” cried the +impatient shepherd, “may the wrath of heaven be overpast! Extend, +all-merciful divinity, thy benign influence to the shores of Arvon! Once more +may the rustling of the shower refresh our longing ears! Once more may our eyes +be gladdened with the pearly, orient dew! May the fields be clothed afresh in +cheerful green! May the flowers enamel the verdant mead! May the brooks again +brawl along their pebbly bed! And may man and beast rejoice together!” +Ah, short-sighted, unapprehensive shepherd! thou dost not know the misfortune +that is reserved for thyself; thou dost not know, that thou shalt not live to +behold those smiling scenes which thy imagination forestallest; thou dost not +see the dart of immature and relentless death that is suspended over thee. +Think, O ye swains, what was the universal astonishment and pity, when the +awful voice of the Druid proclaimed the decree of heaven! Terror sat upon every +other countenance, tears started into every other eye; but the mien of Arthur +was placid and serene. He came forward from the throng; his eyes glistened with +the fire of patriotism. “Hear me, my countrymen,” cried he, +“for you I am willing to die. What is my insignificant life, when weighed +against the happiness of Arvon? Be grateful to the Gods, that, for so poor a +boon, they are willing to spread wide the hand of bounty, and to exhaust upon +your favoured heads the horn of plenty.” While he spoke he turned his +head to the spot from which he had advanced, and beheld, a melting object, +Evelina, pale and breathless, supported in the arms of the maidens. For a +moment he forgot his elevated sentiments and his heroism, and flew to raise +her. “Evelina, mistress of my heart, awake. Lift up thine eyes and bless +thy Arthur. Be not too much subdued by my catastrophe. Live to comfort the grey +hairs, and to succour the infirmities of your aged parent.” While the +breast of Arthur was animated with such sentiments, and dictated a conduct like +this, the priests were employed in the mournful preparations. The altar was +made ready; the lambent fire ascended from its surface; the air was perfumed +with the smoke of the incense; the fillets were brought forth; and the sacred +knife glittered in the hand of the chief of the Druids. The bards had strung +their harps, and began the song of death. The sounds were lofty and animating, +they were fitted to inspire gallantry and enterprise into the trembling coward; +they were fitted to breathe a soul into the clay-cold corse. The spirit of +Arthur was roused; his eye gleamed with immortal fire. The aged oak, that +strikes its root beneath the soil, so defies the blast, and so rears its head +in the midst of the whirlwind. But oh, who can paint the distress of Evelina? +Now she dropped her head, like the tender lily whose stalk, by some vulgar and +careless hand has been broken; and now she was wild and ungovernable, like the +wild beast that has been robbed of its young. For an instant the venerable name +of religion awed her into mute submission. But when the fatal moment +approached, not the Gods, if the Gods had descended in all their radiant +brightness, could have restrained her any longer. The air was rent with her +piercing cries. She spoke not. Her eyes, in silence turned towards heaven, +distilled a plenteous shower. At length, swifter than the winged hawk, she flew +towards the spot, and seized the sacred and inviolable arm of the holy Druid, +which was lifted up to strike the final blow. “Barbarous and inhuman +priest,” she cried, “cease your vile and impious mummery! No longer +insult us with the name of Gods. If there be Gods, they are merciful; but thou +art a savage and unrelenting monster. Or if some victim must expire, strike +here, and I will thank thee. Strike, and my bosom shall heave to meet the +welcome blow. Do any thing. But oh, spare me the killing, killing +spectacle!” During this action the maidens approached and hurried her +from the plain. “Go,” cried Arthur, “and let not the heart of +Evelina be sad. My Death has nothing in it that deserves to be deplored. It is +glorious and enviable. It shall be remembered when this frame is crumbled into +dust. The song of the bards shall preserve it to never dying fame.” The +inconsolable fair one had now been forced away. The intrepid shepherd bared his +breast to the sacred knife. His nerves trembled not. His bosom panted not. And +now behold the lovely youth, worthy to have lived through revolving years, sunk +on the ground, and weltering in his blood. Yes, gallant Arthur, thou shalt +possess that immortality which was the first wish of thy heart! My song shall +embalm thy precious memory, thy generous, spotless fame! But, ah, it is not in +the song of the bards to sooth the rooted sorrow of Evelina. Every morning +serves only to renew it. Every night she bathes her couch in tears. Those +objects, which carry pleasure to the sense of every other fair, serve only to +renew thy unexhausted grief. The rustling shower, the pearly dew, the brawling +brook, the cheerful green, the flower-enameled mead, all join to tell of the +barbarous and untimely fate of Arthur. Smile no more, O ye meads; mock not the +grief of Evelina. Let the trees again be leafless; let the rivers flow no +longer in their empty beds. A scene like this suits best the settled temper of +Evelina. +</p> + +<p> +He ceased. And his pathetic strain had awakened the sympathy of the universal +throng. Every shepherd hung his mournful head, when the untimely fate of Arthur +was related; every maiden dropped a generous tear over the sorrows of Evelina. +They listened to the song, and forgot the poet. Their souls were rapt with +alternate passions, and they perceived not the matchless skill by which they +were excited. The lofty bard hurried them along with the rapidity of his +conceptions, and left them no time for hesitation, and left them no time for +reflection. He ceased, and the melodious sounds still hung upon their ear, and +they still sat in the posture of eager attention. At length they recollected +themselves; and it was no longer the low and increasing murmur of applause: it +was the exclamation of rapture; it was the unpremeditated shout of +astonishment. +</p> + +<p> +In the mean time, the reverend Llewelyn, upon whose sacred head ninety winters +had scattered their snow, grasped the lyre, which had so often confessed the +master’s hand. Though far advanced in the vale of years, there was a +strength and vigour in his age, of which the degeneracy of modern times can +have little conception. The fire was not extinguished in his flaming eye; it +had only attained that degree of chasteness and solemnity, which had in it by +so much the more, all that is majestic, and all that is celestial. His looks +held commerce with his native skies. No vulgar passion ever visited his +heaven-born mind. No vulgar emotion ever deformed the godlike tranquility of +his soul. He had but one passion; it was the love of harmony. He was conscious +only to one emotion; it was reverence for the immortal Gods. He sat like the +anchorite upon the summit of Snowdon. The tempests raise the foaming ocean into +one scene of horror, but he beholds it unmoved. The rains descend, the thunder +roars, and the lightnings play beneath his feet. +</p> + +<p> +Llewelyn struck the lyre, and the innumerable croud was noiseless and silent as +the chambers of death. They did not now wait for the pleasing tale of a +luxuriant imagination, or the pathetic and melting strain of the mourner. They +composed their spirits into the serenity of devotion. They called together +their innocent thoughts for the worship of heaven. By anticipation their bosoms +swelled with gratitude, and their hearts dilated into praise. +</p> + +<p> +The pious Llewelyn began his song from the rude and shapeless chaos. He +magnified the almighty word that spoke it into form. He sung of the loose and +fenny soil which gradually acquired firmness and density. The immeasurable, +eternal caverns of the ocean were scooped. The waters rushed along, and fell +with resounding, foamy violence to the depth below. The sun shone forth from +his chamber in the east, and the earth wondered at the object, and smiled +beneath his beams. Suddenly the whole face of it was adorned with a verdant, +undulating robe. The purple violet and the yellow crocus bestrewed the ground. +The stately oak reared its branchy head, and the trees and shrubs burst from +the surface of the earth. Impregnated by power divine, the soil was prolific in +other fruits than these. The clods appeared to be informed with a conscious +spirit, and gradually assumed a thousand various forms. The animated earth +seemed to paw the verdant mead, and to despise the mould from which it came. A +disdainful horse, it shook its flowing mane, and snuffed the enlivening breeze, +and stretched along the plain. The red-eyed wolf and the unwieldy ox burst like +the mole the concealing continent, and threw the earth in hillocs. The stag +upreared his branching head. The thinly scattered animals wandered among the +unfrequented hills, and cropped the untasted herb. Meantime the birds, with +many coloured plumage, skimmed along the unploughed air, and taught the silent +woods and hills to echo with their song. +</p> + +<p> +Creatures, hymn the praises of your creator! Thou sun, prolific parent of a +thousand various productions, by whose genial heat they are nurtured, and whose +radiant beams give chearfulness and beauty to the face of nature, first of all +the existences of this material universe acknowledge him thy superior, and +while thou dispensest a thousand benefits to the inferior creation, ascribe +thine excellencies solely to the great source of beauty and perfection! And +when the sun has ceased his wondrous course, do thou, O moon, in milder lustre +show to people of a thousand names the honours of thy maker! Thou loud and +wintery north wind, in majestic and tremendous tone declare his lofty praise! +Ye gentle zephyrs, whisper them to the modest, and softly breathe them in the +ears of the lowly! Ye towering pines, and humble shrubs, ye fragrant flowers, +and, more than all, ye broad and stately oaks, bind your heads, and wave your +branches, and adore! Ye warbling fountains, warbling tune his praise! Praise +him, ye beasts, in different strains! And let the birds, that soar on lofty +wings, and scale the path of heaven, bear, in their various melody, the notes +of adoration to the skies! Mortals, ye favoured sons of the eternal father, be +it yours in articulate expressions of gratitude to interpret for the mute +creation, and to speak a sublimer and more rational homage. +</p> + +<p> +Heard ye not the music of the spheres? Know ye not the melody of celestial +voices? On yonder silver-skirted cloud I see them come. It turns its brilliant +lining on the setting day. And these are the accents of their worship. +“Ye sons of women, such as ye are now, such once were we. Through many +scenes of trial, through heroic constancy, and ever-during patience, have we +attained to this bright eminence. Large and mysterious are the paths of heaven, +just and immaculate his ways. If ye listen to the siren voice of pleasure, if +upon the neck of heedless youth you throw the reins, that base and earth-born +clay which now you wear, shall assume despotic empire. And when you quit the +present narrow scene, ye shall wear a form congenial to your vices. The fierce +and lawless shall assume the figure of the unrelenting wolf. The unreflecting +tyrant, that raised a mistaken fame from scenes of devastation and war, shall +spurn the ground, a haughty and indignant horse; and in that form, shall learn, +by dear experience, what were the sufferings and what the scourge that he +inflicted on mankind. The sensual shall wear the shaggy vesture of the goat, or +foam and whet his horrid tusks, a wild and untame’d boar. But virtue +prepares its possessor for the skies. Upon the upright and the good, attendant +angels wait. With heavenly spirits they converse. On them the dark machinations +of witchcraft, and the sullen spirits of darkness have no power. Even the +outward form is impressed with a beam of celestial lustre. By slow, but never +ceasing steps, they tread the path of immortality and honour. Then, mortals, +love, support, and cherish each other. Fear the Gods, and reverence their holy, +white-robed servants. Let the sacred oak be your care. Worship the holy and +everlasting mistletoe. And when all the objects that you now behold shall be +involved in universal conflagration, and time shall be no more; ye shall mix +with Gods, ye shall partake their thrones, and be crowned like them with +never-fading laurel.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap02"></a>BOOK THE SECOND</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +THUNDER STORM.—THE RAPE OF IMOGEN.—EDWIN ARRIVES AT THE GROTTO OF +ELWY.—CHARACTER OF THE MAGICIAN.—THE END OF THE FIRST DAY. +</p> + +<p> +The song of Llewelyn was heard by the shepherds with reverence and mute +attention. Their blameless hearts were lifted to the skies with the sentiment +of gratitude; their honest bosoms overflowed with the fervour of devotion. They +proved their sympathy with the feelings of the bard, not by licentious shouts +and wild huzzas, but by the composure of their spirits, the serenity of their +countenances, and the deep and unutterable silence which universally prevailed. +And now the hoary minstrel rose from the little eminence, beneath the aged oak, +from whose branches depended the ivy and the honeysuckle, on which the +veneration of the multitude had placed him. He came into the midst of the +plain, and the sons and the daughters of the fertile Clwyd pressed around him. +Fervently they kissed the hem of his garment; eagerly with their eyes they +sought to encounter the benign rays of his countenance. With the dignity of a +magistrate, and the tenderness of a father, he lifted his aged arms, and poured +upon them his mild benediction. “Children, I have met your fathers, and +your fathers fathers, beneath the hills of Ruthyn. Such as they were, such are +ye, and such ever may ye remain. The lily is not more spotless, the rose and +the violet do not boast a more fragrant odour, than the incense of your prayers +when it ascends to the footstool of the Gods. Guileless and undesigning are you +as the yearling lamb; gentle and affectionate as the cooing dove. Qualities +like these the Gods behold with approbation; to qualities like these the Gods +assign their choicest blessings. My sons, there is a splendour that dazzles, +rather than enlightens; there is a heat that burns rather than fructifies. Let +not characters like these excite your ambition. Be yours the unfrequented +sylvan scene. Be yours the shadowy and unnoticed vale of obscurity. Here are +the mild and unruffled affections. Here are virtue, peace and happiness. +<i>Here also are</i> GODS.” +</p> + +<p> +Having thus said, he dismissed the assembly, and the shepherds prepared to +return to their respective homes. Edwin and Imogen, as they had come, so they +returned together. The parents of the maiden had confided her to the care of +the gallant shepherds. “She is our only child,” said they, +“our only treasure, and our life is wrapt up in her safety. Watch over +her like her guardian genius. Bring her again to our arms adorned with the +cheerfulness of tranquility and innocence.” The breast of Edwin was +dilated with the charge; he felt a gentle undulation of pride and conscious +importance about his heart, at the honour conferred upon him. +</p> + +<p> +The setting sun now gilded the western hills. His beams played upon their +summits, and were reflected in an irregular semi-circle of splendour, spotless +and radiant as the robes of the fairies. The heat of the day was over, the +atmosphere was mild, and all the objects round them quiet and serene. A gentle +zephyr fanned the leaves; and the shadows of the trees, projecting to their +utmost length, gave an additional coolness and a soberer tint to the fields +through which they passed. +</p> + +<p> +The conversation of these innocent and guileless lovers was, as it were, in +unison with the placidness of the evening. The sports, in which they had been +engaged, had inspired them with gaiety, and the songs they had heard, had +raised their thoughts to a sublimer pitch than was usual to them. They praised +the miracles of the tale of Modred; they sympathised with the affliction of +Evelina; and they spoke with the most unfeigned reverence of the pious and +venerable Llewelyn. +</p> + +<p> +But the harmless chearfulness of their conversation did not last long. The +serenity that was around them was soon interrupted, and their attention was +diverted to external objects. Suddenly you might have perceived a cloud, small +and dark, that rose from the bosom of the sea. By swift advances it became +thicker and broader, till the whole heavens were enveloped in its dismal shade. +The gentle zephyr, that anon played among the trees, was changed into a wind +hollow and tumultuous. Its course was irregular. Now all was still and silent +as the caverns of death; and again it burst forth in momentary blasts, or +whirled the straws and fallen leaves in circling eddies. The light of day was +shrouded and invisible. The slow and sober progress of evening was forestalled. +The woods and the hills were embosomed in darkness. Their summits were no +longer gilded. One by one the beams of the sun were withdrawn from each; and at +length Snowdon itself could not be perceived. +</p> + +<p> +Our shepherd and his charge had at this moment reached the most extensive and +unprotected part of the plain. No friendly cot was near to shield them from the +coming storm. And now a solemn peal of thunder seemed to roll along over their +heads. They had begun to fly, but the tender Imogen was terrified at the +unexpected crash, and sunk, almost breathless, into the arms of Edwin. In the +mean time, the lightnings seemed to fill the heavens with their shining flame. +The claps of thunder grew louder and more frequent. They reverberated from rock +to rock, and from hill to hill. If at any time, for a transitory interval, the +tremendous echoes died away upon the ear, it was filled with the hollow roaring +of the winds, and the boisterous dashing of the distant waves. At length the +pealing rain descended. It seemed as if all the waters of heaven were exhausted +upon their naked heads. The anxious and afflicted Edwin took his beauteous and +insensible companion in his arms, and flew across the plain. +</p> + +<p> +But at this instant, a more extraordinary and terrifying object engrossed his +attention. An oak, the monarch of the plain, towards which he bent his rapid +course, was suddenly struck with the bolt of heaven, and blasted in his sight. +Its large and spreading branches were withered; its leaves shrunk up and faded. +In the very trunk a gaping and tremendous rift appeared. At the same moment two +huge and craggy cliffs burst from the surrounding rocks, to which they had +grown for ages, and tumbling with a hideous noise, trundled along the plain. +</p> + +<p> +At length a third spectacle, more horrible than the rest, presented itself to +the affrighted eyes of Edwin. He saw a figure, larger than the human, that +walked among the clouds, and piloted the storm. Its appearance was dreadful, +and its shape, loose and undistinguishable, seemed to be blended with the +encircling darkness. From its coutenance gleamed a barbarous smile, ten times +more terrific than the frown of any other being. Triumph, inhuman triumph, +glistened in its eye, and, with relentless delight, it brewed the tempest, and +hurled the destructive lightning. Edwin gazed upon this astonishing apparition, +and knew it for a goblin of darkness. The heart of Edwin, which no human terror +could appal, sunk within him; his nerves trembled, and the objects that +surrounded him, swam in confusion before his eyes. But it is not for virtue to +tremble; it is not for conscious innocence to fear the power of elves and +goblins. Edwin presently recollected himself, and a gloomy kind of tranquility +assumed the empire of his heart. He was more watchful than ever for his beloved +Imogen; he gazed with threefold earnestness upon the fearful spectre. +</p> + +<p> +A sound now invaded his ear, from the shapeless rocks behind him. They repeated +it with all their echoes. It was hollow as the raging wind; and yet it was not +the raging wind. It was loud as the roaring thunder; and yet it was not the +voice of thunder. But he did not remain long in suspense, from whence the voice +proceeded. A wolf, whom hunger had made superior to fear, leaped from the rock, +upon the plain below. Edwin turned his eyes upon the horrid monster; he grasped +his boarspear in his hand. The unconscious Imogen glided from his arms, and he +advanced before her. He met the savage in his fury, and plunged his weapon in +his side. He overturned the monster; he drew forth his lance reeking with his +blood; his enemy lay convulsed in the agonies of death. But ere he could +return, he heard the sound of a car rattling along the plain. The reins were of +silk, and the chariot shone with burnished gold. Upon the top of it sat a man, +tall, lusty, and youthful. His hair flowed about his shoulders, his eyes +sparkled with untamed fierceness, and his brow was marked with the haughty +insolence of pride. It was Roderic, lord of a hundred hills; but Edwin knew him +not. The goblin descended from its eminence, and directed the course of +Roderic. In a moment, he seized the breathless and insensible Imogen, and +lifted her to his car. Edwin beheld the scene with grief and astonishment; his +senses were in a manner overwhelmed with so many successive prodigies. But he +did not long remain inactive; grief and astonishment soon gave way to revenge. +He took his javelin, still red with the blood of the mountain wolf, and whirled +it from his hand. Edwin was skilled to toss the dart; from his hand it flew +unerring to its aim. Forceful it sung along the air; but the goblin advanced +with hasty steps among the clouds. It touched it with its hand, and it fell +harmless and pointless to the ground. During this action the car of Roderic +disappeared. The goblin immediately vanished; and Edwin was left in solitude. +</p> + +<p> +The storm however had not yet ceased. The rain descended with all its former +fury. The thunder roared with a strong and deafening sound. The lightnings +flamed from pole to pole. But the lightnings flamed, and the thunder roared +unregarded. The storm beat in vain upon the unsheltered head of Edwin. +“Where,” cried he, with the voice of anguish and despair, “is +my Imogen, my mistress, my wife, the charmer of my soul, the solace of my +heart?” Saying this, he sprung away like the roe upon the mountains. His +pace was swifter than that of the zephyr when it sweeps along over the +unbending corn. He soon reached the avenue by which the chariot had disappeared +from his sight. He leaped from rock to rock; he ascended to the summit of the +cliff. His eye glanced the swift-flying car of Roderic; he knew him by his +gilded carriage, and his spangled vest. But he saw him only for a moment. His +aching eye pursued the triumphant flight in vain. “Stay, stay, base +ravisher, inglorious coward!” he exclaimed. “If thou art a man, +return and meet me. I will encounter thee hand to hand. I will not fear the +strength of thy shoulders, and the haughtiness of thy crest. If in such a +cause, with the pride of virtue on my side, with all the Gods to combat for me, +I am yet vanquished, then be Imogen thine: then let her be submitted to thy +despotic power, to thy brutal outrage, and I will not murmur.” +</p> + +<p> +But his words were given to the winds of heaven. Roderic fled far, far away. +The heart of Edwin was wrung with anguish. “Ye kind and merciful +Gods!” exclaimed he, “grant but this one prayer, and the voice of +Edwin shall no more importune you with presumptuous vows. Blot from the book of +fate the tedious interval. Give me to find the potent villain. Though he be +hemmed in with guards behind guards; though his impious mansion strike its +foundations deep to the centre, and rear its head above the clouds; though all +the powers of hell combine on his side, I will search him out, I will penetrate +into his most hidden recess. I can but die. Oh, if I am to be deprived of +Imogen, how sweet, how solacing is the thought of death! Let me die in her +cause. That were some comfort yet. Let me die in her presence, let her eyes +witness the fervour of my attachment, and I will die without a groan.” +</p> + +<p> +Having thus poured forth the anguish of his bosom, he resumed the pursuit. But +how could Edwin, alone, on foot, and wearied with the journey of the day, hope +to overtake the winged steeds of Roderic? And indeed had his speed been tenfold +greater than it was, it had been exerted to no purpose. As the ravisher arrived +at the edge of the mountain, he struck into a narrow and devious path that led +directly to his mansion. But Edwin, who had for some time lost sight of the +chariot, took no notice of a way, covered with moss and overgrown with bushes; +and pursued the more beaten road. Swift was his course; but the swifter he +flew, the farther still he wandered from the object of his search. A rapid +brook flowed across his path, which the descending rains had swelled into a +river. Without a moment’s hesitation, accoutered as he was, he plunged +in. Instantly he gained the opposite bank, and divided the air before him, like +an arrow in its flight. +</p> + +<p> +In the mean time, the storm had ceased, the darkness was dispersed, and only a +few thin and fleecy clouds were scattered over the blue expanse. The sun had +for some time sunk beneath the western hills. The heavens, clear and serene, +had assumed a deeper tint, and were spangled over with stars. The moon, in calm +and silver lustre, lent her friendly light to the weary traveller. Edwin was +fatigued and faint. He tried to give vent to his complaints; but his tongue +cleaved to the roof of his mouth: his spirits sunk within him. No sound now +reached his ears but the baying of the shepherds dogs, and the <i>drowsy +tinklings</i> of the <i>distant folds</i>. The owl, the solemn bird of night, +sat buried among the branches of the aged oak, and with her melancholy hootings +gave an additional serenity to the scene. At a small distance, on his right +hand, he perceived a contiguous object that reflected the rays of the moon, +through the willows and the hazels, and chequered the view with a clear and +settled lustre. He approached it. It was the lake of Elwy; and near it he +discovered that huge pile of stones, so well known to him, which had been +reared ages since, by the holy Druids. It was upon this spot that they +worshipped the Gods. But they had no habitation near it. They repaired thither +at stated intervals from the woods of Mona, and the shores of Arvon. One only +Druid lived by the banks of the silver flood, and watched the temple day and +night, that no rude hand might do violence to the sanctity of the place, and no +profaner mortal, with sacrilegious foot might enter the mysterious edifice. It +was surrounded with a wall of oaks. The humbler shrubs filled up their +interstices, and there was no avenue to the sacred shade, except by two narrow +paths on either side the lake. +</p> + +<p> +The solemn stilness of the scene for a moment hushed the sorrows of Edwin into +oblivion. Ah, short oblivion! scarcely had he gazed around him, and drank of +the quietness and peace of the scene, ere those recent sorrows impressed his +bosom with more anguish than before. Recollecting himself however, he trod the +mead with nimble feet, and approached, trembling and with hesitation, to the +eastern avenue. “Hear me, sage and generous Madoc,” cried the +shepherd, with a voice that glided along the peaceful lake, “hear the +sorrows of the most forlorn of all the sons of Clwyd!” The hermit, who +sat at the door of his grotto, perceived the sound, and approached to the place +from which it proceeded. The accent was gentle; and he feared no boisterous +intrusion. The accent was tender and pathetic; and never was the breast of +Madoc steeled against the voice of anguish. “Approach, my son,” he +cried. “What disastrous event has brought thee hither, so far from thy +peaceful home, and at this still and silent hour of night? Has any lamb +wandered from thy fold, and art thou come hither in pursuit of it?” Edwin +was silent. His heart seemed full almost to bursting, and he could not utter a +word. “Hast thou wandered from thy companions and missed the path that +led to the well-known hamlet?” “Alas,” said Edwin, “I +had a companion once!” and he lifted up his eyes to heaven in speechless +despair. “Has thy mistress deserted thee, or have her parents bestowed +her on some happier swain?” “Yes,” said Edwin, “I have +lost her, who was dear to me as the <i>ruddy drops that visit my sad heart.</i> +But she was constant. Her parents approved of my passion, and consigned her to +my arms.” “Has sickness then overtaken her, or has untimely death +put a period to thy prospects, just as they began to bloom?” “Oh, +no,” said the disconsolate shepherd, “I have encountered a disaster +more comfortless and wasteful than sickness. I had a thousand times rather have +received her last sigh, and closed her eyes in darkness!” +</p> + +<p> +During this conversation, they advanced along the banks of Elwy, and drew +towards the grotto of the hermit. The hospitable Madoc brought some dried +fruits and a few roots from his cell, and spread them before his guest. He took +a bowl of seasoned wood, and hastening to the fountain, that fell with a +murmuring noise down the neighing [sic] rock, he presented the limpid beverage. +“Such,” said he, “is my humble fare; partake it with a +contented heart, and it shall be more grateful to thy taste, than the high +flavoured viands of a monarch.” In the mean time, Madoc, pleased with the +benevolent pursuit, gathered some bits of dry wood, and setting them on fire, +besought the swain to refresh himself from the weariness of his travel, and the +inclemency of the storm. But the heart of Edwin was too full to partake of the +provisions that his attentive host had prepared. The chearfulness however of +the blazing hearth and the generous officiousness of the hermit, seemed by +degrees to recover him from the insensibility and lethargy, that for a time had +swallowed up all his faculties. +</p> + +<p> +Madoc had hitherto contemplated his guest in silence. He permitted him to +refresh his wearied frame and to resume his dissipated spirits uninterrupted; +he suppressed the curiosity by which he was actuated, to learn the story of the +woes of Edwin. In the midst of his dejection, he perceived the symptoms of a +nobility of spirit that interested him; and the anguish of the shepherd’s +mind had not totally destroyed the traces of that mild affability, and that +manly frankness for which he was esteemed. +</p> + +<p> +Edwin had no sooner appeared to shake off a small part of his melancholy, his +eye no sooner sparkled with returning fire, than Madoc embraced the favourable +omen. “My son,” said he, “you seem to be full of dejection +and grief. Grief is not an inmate of the plain; the hours of the shepherd are +sped in gaiety and mirth. Suspicion and design are stranger to his bosom. With +him the voice of discord is not heard. The scourge of war never blasted his +smiling fields; the terror of invasion never banished him from the peaceful +cot. You too are young and uninured even to the misfortunes of the shepherd. No +contagion has destroyed your flock; no wolf has broken its slender barriers: +you have felt the anguish of no wound, and been witness to the death of no +friend. Say then, my son, why art thou thus dejected and forlorn?” +</p> + +<p> +“Alas,” replied Edwin, “our equal lot undoubtedly removes us +from the stroke of many misfortunes; but even to us adversity extends its rod. +I have been exposed to the ravages of an invader, more fearful than the wolf, +more detested than the conqueror. From an affliction like mine, no occupation, +no rank, no age can exempt. Sawest thou not the descending storm? Did not the +rain beat upon thy cavern, and the thunder roar among the hills?” +“It did,” cried Madoc, “and I was struck with reverence, and +worshipped the God who grasps the thunder in his mighty hand. Wast thou, my +son, exposed to its fury?” “I was upon the bleak and wide extended +heath. With Imogen, the fairest and most constant of the daughters of Clwyd, I +returned from the feast of Ruthyn. But alas,” added the shepherd, +“the storm had no terrors, when compared with the scenes that accompanied +it. I beheld, Madoc, nor are the words I utter the words of shameless +imposition, or coward credulity; I beheld a phantom, that glided along the air, +and rode among the clouds. At his command, a wolf from the forest, with horrid +tusks, and eyes of fire, burst upon me. I advanced towards it, that I might +defend the fairest of her sex from its fury, and plunged my javelin in its +heart. But, oh! while I was thus engaged, a chariot advanced on the opposite +side! Its course was directed by the spectre. The rider descended on the plain, +and seized the spotless, helpless Imogen; and never, never shall these eyes +behold her more! Such, O thou servant of the Gods, has been my adversity. The +powers of darkness have arrayed themselves against me. For me the storm has +been brewed; all the arrows of heaven have been directed against my weak, +defenceless head. For me the elements have mixed in tremendous confusion; +portents and prodigies have been accumulated for my destruction. Oh, then, +generous and hospitable Druid, what path is there, that is left for my +deliverance? What chance remains for me, now that a host of invisible beings +combats against me? Teach me, my friend, my father, what it is that I must do. +Tell me, is there any happiness in store for Edwin, or must I sink, +unresisting, into the arms of comfortless despair?” +</p> + +<p> +“My son,” cried the venerable hermit, “hope is at all times +our duty, and despair our crime. It is not in the power of events to undermine +the felicity of the virtuous. Goblins, and spirits of darkness, are permitted a +certain scope in this terrestrial scene; but their power is bounded; beyond a +certain line they cannot wander. In vain do they threaten innocence and truth. +Innocence is a wall of brass upon which they can make no impression. Virtue is +an adamant that is sacred and secure from all their efforts. He whose thoughts +are full of rectitude and heaven, who knows no guile, may wander in safety +through uncultivated forests, or sandy plains, that have never known the trace +of human feet. Before him the robber is just, and the satyr tame; for him the +monsters of the desert are disarmed of their terrors, and he shall lead the +wild boar and the wolf in his hand. Such is the sanctity that heaven has +bestowed on unblemished truth.” +</p> + +<p> +“Alas, my father,” cried Edwin, “this is the lesson that was +first communicated to my childhood; and my infant heart bounded with the sacred +confidence it inspired. But excuse the presumption of a distracted heart. This +lesson, to which at another time I could have listened with rapture and +enthusiasm, seems now too loose and general for a medicine to my woes. +Innocence the Gods have made superior and invulnerable. And, oh, in what have I +transgressed? Yet, my father, I am wounded in the tenderest part. Shall I ever +recover my Imogen? Is she not torn from me irreversibly? How shall I engage +with powers invisible, and supernatural? How shall I discover my unknown, human +enemy? No, Madoc, I am lost in impenetrable darkness. For me there is no hope, +no shadow of approaching ease.” +</p> + +<p> +“Be calm, my son,” rejoined the anchorite. “Arrogance and +impatience become not the weak and uninformed children of the earth. Be calm, +and I will administer a remedy more appropriate to your wrongs. But remember +this is your hour of trial. If now you forget the principles of your youth, and +the instructions of the sacred Druids, you shall fall from happiness, never to +regain it more. But if you come forth pure and unblemished from the fierce +assay, your Imogen shall be yours, the Gods shall take you into their +resistless protection, and in all future ages, when men would cite an example +of distinguished felicity, they shall say, as fortunate as Edwin of the +vale.” Edwin bended his knee in mute submission. +</p> + +<p> +“Listen, my son,” continued the Druid. “I know your enemy, +and can point out to you his obscure retreat.” The shepherd lifted up his +eyes, lately so languid, that now flashed with fire. He eagerly grasped the +hand of Madoc. “Alas,” continued the hermit, “to know him +would little answer the purpose of thy bold and enterprising spirit. They +adversary, as thou mayest have conjectured, is in league with the powers of +darkness. Against them what can courage, what can adventure avail? They can +unthread thy joints, and crumble all thy sinews. They can chain up thy limbs in +marble. For how many perils, how many unforseen disasters ought he to be +prepared, who dares to encounter them?” +</p> + +<p> +“The name of him who has ravished from thee the dearest treasure of thy +heart, is Roderic. His mother—attend, oh Edwin, for whatever the +incredulous may pretend, the tales related by the bards in their immortal +songs, of ghosts, and fairies, and dire enchantment, are not vain and +fabulous.—You have heard of the inauspicious fame and the bad eminence of +Rodogune. She withdrew from the fields of Clwyd within the memory of the elder +of shepherds. Various were the conjectures occasioned by her disappearance. +Some imagined, that for the haughtiness of her humour, and the malignity of her +disposition, characters that were wholly unexampled in the pastoral life, she +had been carried away before the period limited by nature to the place of +torment by the goblins of the abyss. Others believed that she concealed herself +in the top of the highest mountain that was near them, and by a commerce with +invisible, malignant beings, still exercised the same gloomy temper in more +potent, and therefore more inauspicious harm. The blight that overspread the +meadows, the destructive contagion that diffused itself among the flocks, the +raging tempest that rooted up the oak, when the thunder roared among the hills, +and the lightning flashed from pole to pole, they ascribed to the machinations +and the sorcery of Rodogune. Their conjectures indeed were blind, but their +notions were not wholly mistaken. +</p> + +<p> +“Rodogune was the mother of Roderic. She was deeply skilled in those dark +and flagitious arts, which have cast a gloom upon this mortal scene. The +intellectual powers bestowed upon her by the Gods were great and eminent, and +were given for a far different purpose than to be employed in these sinister +pursuits. But all conspicuous talents are liable, my son, to base perversion; +and such was the fate of those of Rodogune. She delighted in the actions which +her dark and criminal alliance with invisible powers enabled her to perform. It +was her’s to mislead the benighted shepherd. It was Sher’s to part +the happy lovers. For this purpose she would swell the waves, and toss the +feeble bark. She dispensed, according to the dictates of her caprice, the +mildew among the tender herb, and the pestilence among the folds of the +shepherds. By the stupendous powers of enchantment, she raised from the bosom +of a hill a wondrous edifice. The apartments were magnificent and stately; +unlike the shepherd’s cot, and not to be conceived by the imagination of +the rustic. Here she accumulated a thousand various gratifications; here she +wantoned in all the secret and licentious desires of her heart. But her castle +was not merely a scene of thoughtless pleasure. Within its circle she held +crouds of degenerate shepherds, groveling through the omnipotence of her +incantations in every brutal form. Even the spectres and the elves that +disobeyed her authority, she held in the severest durance. She compressed their +tender forms in the narrowest prison, or gave them to the stormy winds, to be +whirled, <i>with restless violence, round about</i> the ample globe. In a word, +her mansion was one uninterrupted scene of ingenious cruelty and miserable +despair. To be surrounded with the face of disappointment and agony was the +happiness of Rodogune. +</p> + +<p> +“When first by her art she raised that edifice which is now inhabited by +her son, she had been desirous to conceal it from the prying eyes of the +wanderer. In order to this, though it stood upon an eminence, she chose an +eminence that was surrounded by higher hills, and hills which, according to the +neighbouring shepherds, were impassable. No adventurous step had ever since the +day they were created pierced beyond them. It was imagined that the space they +surrounded was the haunt of elves, and the resort of those who held commerce +with evil spirits. The curling smoke, which of late has frequently been seen to +ascend from their bosom, has confirmed this tradition. And in order to render +her habitation still more impervious, Rodogune surrounded it with a deep grove +of oaks, whose thick branches entwined together, permitted no passage so much +as to the light of day. +</p> + +<p> +“Roderic was her only child, the darling of her age, and the central +object of all her cares. At his birth the elves and the fairies were summoned +together. They bestowed upon him every beauty of person and every subtlety of +wit. To every weapon they made him invulnerable. And, without demanding from +him that care and persevering study, that had planted wrinkles on his +mother’s brow, they gave him to enjoy his wishes instantly and +uncontroled. One only goblin was daring enough to pronounce a curse upon him. +‘WHEN RODERIC,’ cried he, ‘SHALL BE OVERREACHED IN ALL HIS +SPELLS BY A SIMPLE SWAIN, UNVERSED IN THE VARIOUS ARTS OF SORCERY AND MAGIC: +WHEN RODERIC SHALL SUE TO A SIMPLE MAID, WHO BY HIS CHARMS SHALL BE MADE TO +HATE THE SWAIN THAT ONCE SHE LOVED, AND WHO YET SHALL RESIST ALL HIS PERSONAL +ATTRACTIONS AND ALL HIS POWER; THEN SHALL HIS POWER BE AT AN END. HIS PALACES +SHALL BE DISSOLVED, HIS RICHES SCATTERED, AND HE HIMSELF SHALL BECOME AN +UNFITTED, NECESSITOUS, MISERABLE VAGABOND.’ Such was the mysterious +threat; and dearly did the threatner abide it. In the mean time, an elf more +generous, more attached to Rodogune, and more potent than the rest, bestowed +upon the infant a mysterious ring. By means of this he is empowered to assume +what form he pleases. By means of this it was hoped he would be able to subdue +the most prepossessed, and melt the most obdurate female heart. By means of +this it was hoped, he might evade not only the simple swain, but all the wiles +of the most experienced and subtle adversary. +</p> + +<p> +“Roderic now increased in age, and began to exhibit the promises of that +manly and graceful beauty that was destined for him. He inherited his +mother’s haughtiness, and his wishes and his passions were never +subjected to contradiction. A few years since that mother died, and the youth +has been too much engaged in voluptuousness and luxury to embark in the +malicious pursuits of Rodogune, Sensuality has been his aim, and pleasure has +been his God. To gratify his passions has been the sole object of his +attentions; and he has remitted no exertion that could enhance to him the joys +of the feast and the fruition of beauty. One low-minded gratification has +succeeded to another; pleasures of an elevated and intellectual kind have been +strangers to his heart; and were it not that the subtlety of wit was a gift +bestowed upon him by supernatural existencies, he must long ere this have sunk +his mind to the lowest savageness and the most contemptible imbecility.” +</p> + +<p> +Edwin heard the tale of the Druid with the deepest attention. He was interested +in the information it contained; he was astonished at the unfathomable +witcheries of Rodogune; and he could not avoid the being apprehensive of the +unexpanded powers of Roderic. But the daring and adventurous spirit of youth, +and the anxiety that he felt for the critical situation of Imogen, soon +overpowered and obliterated these impressions. The Druid finished; and he +started from his seat. “Point me, kind and generous Madoc, to the harbour +of the usurper. I will invade his palace. I will enter fearlessly the +lime-twigs of his spells. I will trust in the omnipotency of innocence. Though +the magician should be encircled with all the horrid forms that ingenious fear +ever created, though all the grizly legions of the infernal realm should hem +in, I will find him out, and force him to relinquish his prize, or drag him by +his shining hair to a death, ignominious and accursed, as has been the conduct +of his life.” +</p> + +<p> +The Druid assumed a sterner and a severer aspect. “How long, son of the +valley,” cried he, “wilt thou be deaf to the voice of instruction? +When wilt thou temper thy heedless and inconsiderate courage with the coolness +of wisdom and the moderation of docility? But go,” added he, “I am +to blame to endeavour to govern thy headlong spirit, or stem the torrent of +youthful folly. Go, and endure the punishment of thy rashness. Encounter the +magician in the midst of his spells. Expose thy naked and unprotected head to +glut his vengeance. Over thy life indeed, he has no power. Deliberate guilt, +not unreflecting folly, can deprive thee of thy right to that. But, oh, +shepherd, what avails it to live in hopeless misery? With ease he shall shut +thee up for revolving years in darkness tangible; he shall plunge thee deep +beneath the surface of the mantled pool, the viscous spume shall draw over thy +miserable head its dank and dismal shroud; or perhaps, more ingenious in +mischief, he shall chain thee up in inactivity, a conscious statue, the silent +and passive witness of the usurped joys that once thou fondly fanciedst thy +own.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, pardon me, sage and venerable Madoc,” replied the shepherd. +“Edwin did not come from the hands of nature obstinate and untractable. +But grief agitates my spirits; anxiety and apprehension conjure up a thousand +horrid phantoms before my distracted imagination, and I am no longer myself. I +will however subdue my impatient resentments. I will listen with coolness to +the voice of native sagacity and hoary experience. Tell me then, my father, and +I will hearken with mute attention, nor think the lesson long,—instruct +me how I shall escape those tremendous dangers thou hast described. Say, is +there any remedy, canst thou communicate any potent and unconquerable amulet, +that shall shield me from the arts of sorcery? Teach me, and my honest heart +shall thank thee. Communicate it, and the benefit shall be consecrated in my +memory to everlasting gratitude.” +</p> + +<p> +“My son,” replied Madoc, “I am indeed interested for thee. +Thy heart is ingenuous and sincere; thy misfortune is poignant and affecting. +Listen then to my directions. Receive and treasure up this small and sordid +root. In its external appearance, it is worthless and despicable; but, Edwin, +we must not judge by appearances; that which is most valuable often delights to +shroud itself under a coarse and unattractive outside. In a richer climate, and +under a more genial sun, it bears a beauteous flower, whose broad leaves expand +themselves to the day, and are clothed with a deep and splendid purple, glossy +as velvet, and bedropped with gold. This root is a sovereign antidote against +all blasts, enchantments, witchcrafts, and magic. With this about thee, thou +mayest safely enter the haunts of Roderic; thou mayest hear his incantations +unappalled; thou mayest boldly dash from his hand his magic glass, and shed the +envenomed beverage on the ground. Then, when he stands astonished at the +unexpected phenomenon, wrest from him his potent wand. Invoke not the +unhallowed spirits of the abyss; invoke the spotless synod of the Gods. Strike +with his rod the walls of his palace, and they shall turn to viewless air; the +monster shall be deprived of all his riches, and all his accumulated pleasures; +and thou and thy Imogen, delivered from the powers of enchantment, shall be, +for one long, uninterrupted day, happy in the enjoyment of each other. +</p> + +<p> +“Attend, my son, yet attend, to one more advice, upon which all thy +advantage and all thy success in this moment of crisis hang. Engage not in so +arduous and important an enterprise immaturely. Thou hast yet no reason for +despair. Thou art yet beheld with favour by propitious heaven. But thou mayest +have reason for despair. One false step may ruin thee. One moment of heedless +inconsideration may plunge thee in years of calamity. One moment of complying +guilt may shut upon thee the door of enjoyment and happiness for ever.” +</p> + +<p> +Such was the sorrow, and such were the consolations of Edwin. But far different +was the situation, and far other scenes were prepared for his faithful +shepherdess. For some time after she had been seized by Roderic, she had +remained unconscious and supine. The terrors that had preceded the fatal +capture, had overpowered her delicate frame, and sunk her into an alarming and +obstinate fit of insensibility. They had now almost reached the palace of the +magician, when she discovered the first symptoms of returning life. The colour +gradually remounted into her bloodless cheeks; her hands were raised with a +feeble and involuntary motion, and at length she lifted up her head, and opened +her languid, unobserving eyes. “Edwin,” she cried, “my +friend, my companion, where art thou? Where have we been? Oh, it is a long and +tedious evening!” Saying this, she looked upon the objects around her. +The sky was now become clear and smiling; the lowring clouds were dissipated, +and the blue expanse was stretched without limits over their head. The sources +of her former terror were indeed removed, but the objects that presented +themselves were equally alarming. All was unexpected and all was unaccountable. +Imogen had remained without consciousness from the very beginning of the storm, +and it was during her insensibility that the goblin had been visible, and the +magician descended to the plains. She found herself mounted upon a car, and +hurried along by rapid steeds. She saw beside her a man whose face, whose garb, +and whose whole appearance were perfectly unknown to her. +</p> + +<p> +“Ah,” exclaimed the maiden, in a voice of amazement apprehension, +“where am I? What is become of my Edwin? And what art thou? What means +all this? These are not the well-known fields; this is not the brook of Towey, +nor these hills of Clwyd. Oh, whither, whither do we fly? This track leads not +to the cottage of my parents, and the groves of Rhyddlan.” “Be not +uneasy, my fair one,” answered Roderic. “We go, though not by the +usual path, to where your friends reside. I am not your enemy, but a swain who +esteems it his happiness to have come between you and your distress, and to +have rescued you from the pelting of the storm. Suspend, my love, for a few +moments your suspicions and your anxiety, and we shall arrive where all your +doubts will be removed, and all I hope will be pleasure and +felicitation.” While he thus spoke the chariot hastened to the conclusion +of their journey, and entered the area in the front of the mansion of Roderic. +</p> + +<p> +The suspicions of Imogen were indeed removed, but in a manner too cruel for her +tender frame. The terror and fatigue she had previously undergone had wasted +her spirits, and the surprise she now experienced, was more than she could +sustain. As the chariot entered the court, she cried out with a voice of horror +and anguish, and sunk breathless into the arms of her ravisher. Though the +passion he had already conceived for her, made this a circumstance of +affliction, he yet in another view rejoiced, that he was able, by its +intervention, to conduct his prize in a manner by stealth into his palace, and +thus to prevent that struggle and those painful sensations, which she must +otherwise have known. For could she have borne, without emotion, to see herself +conveyed into a wretched imprisonment? Could she have submitted, without +opposition, to be shut up, as it were, from the hope of revisiting those +scenes, where once her careless childhood played, and those friends whom she +valued more than life? +</p> + +<p> +The leading pursuit of Roderic, as it had been stated by the Druid of Elwy, was +the love of pleasure, an attachment to sensuality, luxury and lust. He often +spent whole days in the bosom of voluptuousness, reposing upon couches of down, +under ceilings of gold. His senses were at intervals awakened, by the most +exquisite music, to a variety of delight. He often recreated his view with +beholding, from a posture of supineness and indolence, the frolic games, and +the mazy dance. Sometimes, in order to diversify the scene, he would mix in the +sports, and, by the graceful activity of his limbs, and the subtle keenness of +his wit, would communicate relish and novelty to that which before had palled +upon the performers. When he moved, every eye was fixed in admiration. When he +spoke all was tranquility of attention, and every mouth was open to applaud. +Then were set forth the luxuries of the feast. Every artifice was employed to +provoke the appetite. The viands were savoury, and the fruits were blushing; +the decorations were sumptuous, and the halls shone with a profusion of tapers, +whose rays were reflected in a thousand directions by an innumerable multitude +of mirrors and lustres. And now the intoxicating beverage went swiftly round +the board. The conversation became more open and unrestrained. Quick were the +repartees and loud the mirth. Loose, meaning glances were interchanged between +the master of the feast and the mingled beauties that adorned his board. With +artful inadvertence the gauze seemed to withdraw from their panting bosoms, and +new and still newer charms discovered themselves to enchant the eyes and +inflame the heart. The bed of enjoyment succeeded to the board of intemperance. +Such was the history of the life of Roderic. +</p> + +<p> +But man was not born for the indolence of pleasure and the uniformity of +fruition. No gratifications, but especially not those that address themselves +only to the senses, and pamper this brittle, worthless mansion of the immortal +mind, are calculated to entertain us for any long duration. We need something +to awaken our attention, to whet our appetite, and to contrast our joys. +Happiness in this sublunary state can scarcely be felt, but by a comparison +with misery. It is he only that has escaped from sickness, that is conscious of +health; it is he only that has shaken off the chains of misfortune, that truly +rejoices. The wisdom of these maxims was felt by Roderic. Full of pleasures, +surrounded with objects of delight, he was not happy. Their uniformity cloyed +him. He had received, by supernatural endowment, an activity and a +venturousness of spirit, that were little formed for such scenes as these. He +was devoured with spleen. He sighed he knew not why; he was peevish and +ill-humoured in the midst of the most assiduous attention and the most wakeful +service. And the command he possessed over the elements of nature was no remedy +for sensations like these. +</p> + +<p> +Oppressed with these feelings, Roderic was accustomed to withdraw himself from +the pomps and luxuries that surrounded him, to fly from the gilded palace and +the fretted roofs, and to mix in the simple and undebauched scenes of artless +innocence that descended on every side from the hills he inhabited. The name of +Roderic was unknown to all the shepherds of the vallies, and he was received by +them with that officiousness and hospitality which they were accustomed to +exercise to the stranger. It was his delight to give scope to his imagination +by inventing a thousand artful tales of misfortune, by which he awakened the +compassion, and engaged the attachment of the simple hinds. In order the more +effectually to evade that curiosity which would have been fatal to his ease, he +assumed every different time that he came among them a different form. By this +contrivance, he passed unobserved, he partook freely of their pastimes, he made +his observations unmolested, and was perfectly at leisure for the reflections, +not always of the most pleasant description, that these scenes, of simple +virtue and honest poverty, were calculated to excite. “Oh, impotence of +power,” exclaimed he, wrapt up and secure in the disguise he assumed, +“to what purpose art thou desired? Ambition is surely the most foolish +and misjudging of all terrestrial passions. My condition appears attractive. I +am surrounded with riches and splendour; no man approaches me but with homage +and flattery; every object of gratification solicits my acceptance. I am not +only endowed with a capacity of obtaining all that I can wish, and that by +supernatural means, but I am almost constantly forestalled in my wishes. Who +would not say, that I am blessed? Who that heard but a description of my state, +would not envy me? O ye shepherds, happy, thrice happy, in the confinedness of +your prospects, ye would then envy me! Instructed as I am, instructed by too +fatal experience, with reason I envy you. Hark to that swain who is now leading +his flock from the durance in which they were held till the morning peeped over +the eastern hills! The little lambs frisk about him, thankful for the liberty +they have regained, and he stretches out his hand for them to lick. Now he +drives them along the extended green, and in a wild and thoughtless note carols +a lively lay. He sings perhaps of the kind, but bashful shepherdess. His hat is +bound about with ribbon; the memorial of her coy compliance and much-prized +favour. How light is his heart, how chearful his gait, and how gay his +countenance! He leads in a string a little frolic goat with curving horns: I +suppose the prize that he bore off in singing, which is not yet tamed to his +hand, and familiarised to his flock. What though his coat be frieze? What +though his labour constantly return with the returning day? I wear the attire +of kings; far from labouring myself, thousands labour for my convenience. And +yet he is happier than I. Envied simplicity; venerable ignorance; plenteous +poverty! How gladly would I quit my sumptuous palace, and my magic arts, for +the careless, airy, and unreflecting joys of rural simplicity!” +</p> + +<p> +It was in a late excursion of this kind that he had beheld the beauteous +Imogen. His eye was struck with the charms of her person, and the amiableness +of her manners. Never had he seen a complexion so transparent, or an eye so +expressive. Her vermeil-tinctured lips were new-blown roses that engrossed the +sight, and seemed to solicit to be plucked. His heart was caught in the tangles +of her hair. Such an unaffected bashfulness, and so modest a blush; such an +harmonious and meaning tone of voice, that expressed in the softest accents, +the most delicate sense and the most winning simplicity, could not but engage +the attention of a swain so versed in the science of the fair as Roderic. From +that distinguished moment, though he still felt uneasiness, it was no longer +vacuity, it was no longer an uneasiness irrational and unaccountable. He had +now an object to pursue. He was not now subjected to the fatigue of forming +wishes for the sake of having them instantly gratified. When he reflected upon +the present object of his desires, new obstacles continually started in his +mind. Unused to encounter difficulty, he for a time imagined them +insurmountable. Had his desires been less pressing, had his passion been less +ardent, he would have given up the pursuit in despair. But urged along by an +unintermitted impulse, he could think of nothing else, he could not abstract +his attention to a foreign subject. He determined at least once again to behold +the peerless maiden. He descended to the feast of Ruthyn; and though the +interval had been but short, from the time in which he had first observed her, +in the eye of love she seemed improved. The charms that erst had budded, were +now full blown. Her beauties were ripened, and her attractions spread +themselves in the face of day. Nor was this all. He beheld with a watchful +glance her slight and silent intercourse with the gallant Edwin; an intercourse +which no eye but that of a lover could have penetrated. Hence his mind became +pregnant with all the hateful brood of dark suspicions; he was agitated with +the fury of jealousy. Jealousy evermore blows the flame it seems formed to +extinguish. The passion of Roderic was more violent than ever. His impatient +spirit could not now brook the absence of a moment. Luxury charmed no longer; +the couch of down was to him a bed of torture, and the solicitations of beauty, +the taunts and sarcasms of infernal furies. He invoked the spirit of his +mother; he brought together an assembly of elves and goblins. By their +direction he formed his plan; by their instrumentality the tempest was +immediately raised; and under the guidance of the chief of all the throng he +descended upon his prey, like the eagle from his eminence in the sky. +</p> + +<p> +The success of his exploit has already been related. The scheme had indeed been +too deeply laid, and too artfully digested, to admit almost the possibility of +a miscarriage. Who but would have stood appalled, when the storm descended upon +our lovers in the midst of the plain, and the thunders seemed to rock the whole +circle of the neighbouring hills? Who could have conducted himself at once with +greater prudence and gallantry than the youthful shepherd? Did he not display +the highest degree of heroism and address, when he laid the gaunt and haughty +wolf prostrate at his feet? But it was not for human skill to cope with the +opposition of infernal spirits. Accordingly Roderic had been victorious. He had +borne the tender maiden unresisted from the field; he had outstripped the +ardent pursuit of Edwin with a speed swifter than the winds. In fine, he had +conducted his lovely prize in safety to his enchanted castle, and had +introduced her within those walls, where every thing human and supernatural +obeyed his nod, in a state of unresisting passivity. +</p> + +<p> +Roderic, immediately upon his entrance into the castle, had committed the fair +Imogen to the care of the attendant damsels. He charged them by every means to +endeavour to restore her to sense and tranquility, and not to utter any thing +in her hearing, which should have the smallest tendency to discompose her +spirits. In obedience to orders, which they had never known what it was to +dispute, they were so unwearied in their assiduities to their amiable charge, +that it was not long before she began once again to exhibit the tokens of +renewed perception. She raised by degrees a leaden and inexpressive eye, to the +objects that were about her, without having as yet spirit and recollectedness +enough to distinguish them. “My mother,” cried she, “my +venerable Edith, I am not well. My head is quite confused and giddy. Do press +it with your friendly hand.” A female attendant, as she uttered these +words, drew near to obey them. “Go, go,” exclaimed Imogen, with a +feeble tone, and at the same time putting by the officious hand, “you +naughty girl. You are not my mother. Do not think to make me believe you +are.” +</p> + +<p> +While she spoke this she began gradually to gain a more entire sedateness and +self-command. She seemed to examine, with an eager and inquisitive eye, first +one object, and then another by turns. The novelty of the whole scene appeared +for an instant to engross her attention. Every part of the furniture was unlike +that of a shepherd’s cot; and completely singular and unprecedented by +any thing that her memory could suggest. But this self-deception, this +abstraction from her feelings and her situation was of a continuance the +shortest that can be conceived. All seemed changed with her in a moment. Her +eye, which, from a state of languor and unexpressiveness, had assumed an air of +intent and restless curiosity, was now full of comfortless sorrow and +unprotected distress. “Powers that defend the innocent, support, guard +me! Where am I? What have I been doing? What is become of me? Oh, Edwin, +Edwin!” and she reclined her head upon the shoulder of the female who was +nearest her. +</p> + +<p> +Recovering however, in a moment, the dignity that was congenial to her, she +raised herself from this remiss and inactive posture, and seemed to be immersed +in reflection and thought. “Yes, yes,” exclaimed she, “I know +well enough how it is. You cannot imagine what a furious storm it was: and so I +sunk upon the ground terrified to death: and so Edwin left me, and ran some +where, I cannot tell where, for shelter. But sure it could not be so neither. +He could not be so barbarous. Well but however somebody came and took me up, +and so I am here. But what am I here for, and what place is this? Tell me, ye +kind shepherdesses, (if shepherdesses you are) for indeed I am sick at +heart.” +</p> + +<p> +The broken interrogatories of Imogen were heard with a profound silence. +“What,” said the lovely and apprehensive maiden, “will you +not answer me? No, not one word. Ah, then it must be bad indeed. But I have +done nothing that should make me be afraid. I am as harmless and as chearly as +the little red-breast that pecks out of my hand? So you will not hurt me, will +you? No, I dare swear. You do not frown upon me. Your looks are quite sweet and +good-natured. But then it was not kind not to answer me, and tell me what I +asked you.” “Fair stranger,” replied one of the throng, +“we would willingly do any thing to oblige you. But you are weak and ill; +and it is necessary that you should not exert yourself, but try to +sleep.” +</p> + +<p> +“Sleep,” replied the shepherdess, “what here in this strange +place? No, that I shall not, I can tell you. I never slept from under the +thatch of my father’s cottage in my life, but once, and that was at the +wedding of my dear, obliging Rovena. But perhaps,” added she, “my +father and mother will come to me here. So I will even try and be compilable, +for I never was obstinate. But indeed my head is strangely confused; you must +excuse me.” +</p> + +<p> +Such was the language, and such the affecting simplicity of the innocent and +uncultivated Imogen. She, who had been used to one narrow round of chearful, +rustic scenes, was too much perplexed to be able to judge of her situation. Her +repeated faintings had weakened her spirits, and for a time disordered her +understanding. She had always lived among the simple; she had scarcely ever +been witness to any thing but sincerity and innocence. Suspicion therefore was +the farthest in the world from being an inmate of her breast. Suspicion is the +latest and most difficult lesson of the honest and uncrooked mind. Imogen +therefore willingly retired to rest, in compliance with the soliciation of her +attendants. She beheld no longer her ravisher, whose eye beamed with +ungovernable desires, and whose crest swelled with pride. Every countenance was +marked with apparent carefulness and sympathy. She was even pleased with their +officious and friendly-seeming demeanour. +</p> + +<p> +Tell me, ye vain cavillers, ye haughty adversaries of the omnipotence of +virtue, where could artful vice, where could invisible and hell-born seduction, +have found a fitter object for their triumph? Imogen was not armed with the +lessons of experience: Imogen was not accoutered with the cautiousness of +cultivation and refinement. She was all open to every one that approached her. +She carried her heart in her hand. Ye, I doubt not, have already reckoned upon +the triumph, and counted the advantages. But, if I do not much mistake the +divine lessons I am commissioned to deliver, the muse shall tell a very +different story. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap03"></a>BOOK THE THIRD</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +PURPOSES OF RODERIC.—THE CARRIAGE OF IMOGEN.—HER CONTEMPT OF +RICHES. +</p> + +<p> +The fatigue which Imogen had undergone in the preceding day, prepared her to +rest during the night with more tranquility than could otherwise have been +expected. The scenes to which she had successively been witness, and the +objects that now surrounded her, were too novel and extraordinary in their +character, to allow much room for the severity of reflection, and the coolness +of meditation. Her frame was tired with the various exercises in which she had +engaged; her mind was hurried and perplexed without knowing upon what to fix, +or in what manner to account for the events that had befallen her: she +therefore sunk presently into a sweet and profound sleep; and while every thing +seemed preparing for her destruction, while a thousand enchantments were +essayed, and a thousand schemes revolved in the busy mind of Roderic, she +remained composed and unapprehensive. Innocence was the sevenfold shield that +protected her from harm; her eyes were closed in darkness, and a smile of +placid benignity played upon the lovely features of her countenance. +</p> + +<p> +Roderic in the mean time had retired to his chamber. His mind was turbid and +unquiet. So restless are the waves of the ocean before the coming tempest. They +assume a darker hue, and reflect a more cloudy heaven. They roll this way and +that in a continual motion, and yet without any direction, till the loud and +hoarse-echoing wind determines their course and carries them in mountains to +the sounding shore. The mind of the victim was all quiet and unruffled; such is +the kindly influence of conscious truth. The mind of the ravisher exhibited +nothing but uneasiness and confusion; such are the boons which vice bestows +upon her misjudging votaries. +</p> + +<p> +The conqueror, doubly misled by fierce and unruly passions and by his +inauspicious commerce with the goblins of the abyss, retired not immediately to +his couch, but walked up and down his apartments, with a hasty and irregular +step. “Thanks to my favourable stars,” exclaimed he, “I am +triumphant! What power can resist me? Where is the being that shall dare to +say, that one wish of my heart shall go unfulfilled? Well then, I have got the +fair the charming she into my power. She is shut up in a palace, unseen by +every human eye, to which no human foot ever found its way but at my bidding. +She is closed round with spells and enchantment. I can by a word deprive her +every limb of motion. If I but wave this wand, the leaden God of sleep shall +sink her in a moment in the arms of forgetfulness, whatever were before her +anxieties and her wakeful terrors. In what manner then shall I, thus absolute +and uncontroled in all I bid exist, proceed? Shall I press the unwilling beauty +to my bosom, and riot in her hoard of charms, without waiting like meaner +mortals to sue for the consent of her will? There is something noble, royal, +and independent, in the thought. Beauty never appears so attractive as from +behind a veil of tears. Oh, how I enjoy infancy [sic] the anger that shall +flush her lovely cheek! Perhaps she will even kneel to me to deprecate that +which an education of prejudices has taught her to consider as the worst of +evils. Yes, my lovely maid, I will raise thee. Do not turn from me those +scornful indignant eyes. I will be thy best friend. I will not hurt a hair of +thy head. Oh, when her spotless bosom pants with disdain, how sweet to beat the +little chiders, and by a friendly violence, which true and comprehensive wisdom +cannot stigmatize, to teach her what is the true value of beauty, and for what +purpose such enchanting forms as her’s were sent to dwell below!” +</p> + +<p> +Thus spoke the ravisher, and as he spoke he assumed, although alone, a firmer +stride and a more haughty crest. Upon the instant however his ears were saluted +with a low and continual sound, that became, by just degrees, stronger and more +strong. The walls of his palace shook; a sudden and supernatural light gleamed +along his apartment, and a spectre stood before him. Roderic lifted up his +eyes, and immediately recognised the features of that goblin, who from the hour +of his birth, had declared himself his adversary. He had been repeatedly used +to the visits of this malicious spirit, who delighted to subvert all his +schemes, and to baffle his deepest projects. This was the only misfortune, the +sovereign of the hills had ever known; this was the only instance in which he +had at any time been taught what it was to have his power controled and his nod +unobeyed. He had often sought, by means of the confederacy he held with other +spirits of the infernal regions, to restrain his enemy, or by punishment and +suffering to make him rue his opposition. But the goblin he had to encounter, +though not the most potent, was of all the rest the most crafty in his wiles, +and the most abundant in expedients. As many times as his fellows had by the +instigation of Roderic undertaken to encounter him, so often had they in the +end been eluded and defeated. The contest was now given up, and the goblin was +at liberty to haunt and threaten his impotant adversary as much as he pleased. +</p> + +<p> +“Roderic,” cried he, with a harsh and unpleasant accent, “I +am come to humble the haughtiness of thy triumph, and to pull down thy aspiring +thoughts. Impotent and rancorous mortal! Know, that innocence is defended with +too strong a shield for thee to pierce! Boast not thyself of the immensity of +thy walls, and put no confidence in the subtlety of thy enchantments. Before +the mightiness that waits on innocence, they are not less impotent than the +liquid wax, or the crumbling ruin. Learn, oh presumptuous mortal, that sacred +and unyielding chastity is invulnerable to all the violence of men, and all the +stratagems of goblins. I would not name to thee so salutary an advice as to +dismiss thy innocent and unsuspicious prize, did not I know thee too obstinate +and headstrong to listen to the voice of wisdom. Essay then thy base and +low-minded temptations, thy corrupt and sophistical reasonings, to tarnish the +unsullied purity of her mind, and it is well. If by such a wretch as thee she +can be seduced from the obedience of virtue and the Gods, then let her fall. +She were then a victim worthy of thee. But if thou essayest the means of +tyranny and force, the attempt will be fatal to thee. I will in that case enjoy +my vengeance; I will triumph in thy desolation. In the hour then of action and +enterprise, remember me!” +</p> + +<p> +With these words the spectre vanished from his sight. Roderic was inflamed with +anger and disgust; but he had none, upon whom to wreak his revenge. His heart +boiled with the impotence of malice. “What,” cried he, “am I +to be bounded and hedged in, in all my exploits? Am I to be curbed and thwarted +in every wish of my heart? This, this was nearest to me. This was the first +pursuit of my life in which my whole heart was engaged; the first time I ever +felt a passion that deserved the name of love. But be it so: I was born with +wild and impetuous passions only to have them frustrated; I was endowed with +supernatural powers, and inherited all my mother’s skill, only to be the +more signally disappointed. Still however I will not shrink, I will not yield +an inch to my adversary. I am bid, it seems, to tempt her, and endeavour to +stain the purity of her mind. Yes, I will tempt her. It is not for an artless +and uninstructed shepherdess to defeat my wiles and baffle all my incitements. +I will dazzle her senses with all the attractions that the globe of earth has +to boast. I will wind me into her secret heart. Thou damned, unpropitious +goblin, who seekest to oppose thyself to my happiness, I will but, by thy +warning, gain a completer triumph! I will subdue her will. She shall crown my +wishes with ripe, consenting beauty. Long shall she remain the empress of my +heart, and partner of my bed. In her I will hope to find those simple, artless, +and engaging charms, which in vain I have often sought in the band of females, +that reside beneath my roof, and wait upon my nod.” +</p> + +<p> +Imogen, though considerably indisposed by the fatigue and terrors of the +preceding day, shook off however that placid and refreshing sleep which had +weighed down her eyelids, long before Roderic deserted the couch of luxury. Two +of the female attendants belonging to the castle had slept in the same +apartment with her, and soon, perceiving her in motion, followed her example, +and officiously pressed around her. One of them took up a part of the garb of +the fair shepherdess, and offered to assist her in adjusting it. “I thank +you,” cried Imogen, with the utmost simplicity, “for your +good-nature; but I am pretty well now; and every body dresses herself that is +not sick.” The inartificial decorations of her person were quickly +adjusted. The delicate proportion of her limbs was hid beneath a russet mantle; +her fair and flowing tresses were disposed in a braid round her head, and she +took her straw hat in her hand. “Well,” said she, “I am +obliged to you for your favours. I dare say it was best for me, though at the +time I thought otherwise. For my head ached very much, and I was so +weak—It was wrong for me to think of going any farther.—Ah, but +then, what have my poor father and mother done all the while? Have not they +missed their Imogen, and wondered what was become of her, and been quite sad +and forlorn for fear she should have come to any harm? Well, I do not know +whether I was not right too. For their ease was of more consequence than mine. +I cannot tell. However I will not now keep them in pain. So good morning to +you, my dear kind friends!” And saying this she was tripping away. +</p> + +<p> +But as she drew towards the door, one of the attendants, with a gentle force, +took hold of her hand. “Do not go yet, sweet Imogen,” cried she. +“We want a little more of your company. We have done you all the service +in our power, and you have not paid us for it. We will not ask any thing hard +and unreasonable of you. Only comply with us in this one thing, to stay with us +a few hours, and let us know a little better the worth of that amiable female +we have endeavoured to oblige.” “Indeed, indeed,” replied +Imogen, “I cannot. I am not used to be obstinate; and you are so kind and +fair spoken, that it goes to my heart to refuse you. But I would not for the +world keep my dear, good Edith in a moment’s suspense. But since you are +so desirous of being acquainted with me, repair as soon and as often as you +please to my father’s cot, that lies on the right hand side of the +valley, about a mile from the sea, and just beside the pretty brawling brook of +Towey. There I will treat you with the nicest apples and the richest cream. And +I would treat you with better, if I knew of any thing better, that I might +thank you for your goodness. Farewel!” added she, and affectionately +pressed the hand that was still untwined with her’s. +</p> + +<p> +“No, Imogen, no, you must not leave us thus. Though we would have done a +thousand times more than we have for your own sake, who are so simple and so +good, it is yet fit that you should know, that we are not mistresses here, and +that all we have done has been by the orders of the lord of this rich mansion. +He will not therefore forgive us, if we suffer you to depart before he has seen +you, and expressed for you that kindness which induced him to take you under +his protection.” “Heavens!” replied the shepherdess +“this is all ceremony and folly, and therefore cannot be of so much +consequence as the peace of my father, and the consolation of my mother. Tell +him, that I thank him, and that my father shall thank him too, if he will come +to our hut. Tell him that I am sorry for my foolish weakness, that gave him so +much trouble, and made me be so needlessly frightened, when we came to a place +where I have met with nothing but kindness; but I could not help it. And so +that is enough; for if my Edwin had been in his place, and had seen a stranger +shepherdess in the distress that I was, he would surely have done as much. +</p> + +<p> +“Say so to your lord, as you call him, for I would not seem ungrateful. +But yet I will thank you a great deal more than I do him. For what did he do +for me? He took me, and hurried me away, and paid no attention to my tears and +expostulations. Well, but I need not have been alarmed. So it seems. But I did +not like his looks; they were not kind and good-natured, but fierce and +frightful. And so as soon as he had brought me here, much against my will, he +went away and left me. So much the better. And then you came and took care of +me, and he desired you to do so. That was well enough. But I am more obliged to +you for your kindness and assiduity, than I am to him only for thinking of it. +And then to tell you the truth, but I ought not to say so to you who are his +friends, there is something about him, I cannot tell what, that does not please +me at all. He looks discontented, and fierce, as if there was no such thing as +soothing and managing him. But why do I say all this? Pray now let me go, let +me go to my dear, dear mother.” +</p> + +<p> +“Sweet Imogen,” replied the attendant, who seemed to take the lead +in the circle, “how lovely and amiable are you even in your resentments! +They are not with you a morose and gloomy sullenness brooding over imaginary +wrongs, and collecting venom and malice from every corner to the heart. In your +breast anger itself takes a milder form, and is gentle, generous and gay. Yet +why, my Imogen, should you harbour any anger against your protector?” +</p> + +<p> +Such was the honest and artless dialogue of Imogen. The attendants rather +endeavoured to beguile the time, by dexterously starting new topics of +conversation, upon which Imogen delivered her plain and natural sentiments with +the utmost sincerity, than to detain her by open force. At length one of them +slipped out, and hastened to acquaint Roderic with the impatience of his prize, +and to communicate to him the substance of those artless hints, which, in the +hands of so skilful and potent an impostor, might be of the greatest service. +Roderic immediately rose. But as he was desirous to decorate his person with +the nicest skill, in order to make the most favourable impression upon his +mistress, he ordered the attendant, with some of her companions, to wait upon +Imogen. He commissioned them, if it were necessary, to inform her of the +absolute impossibility of her quitting the castle, and to persuade her to walk +in the meadows adjoining, that she might observe the riches of their possessor; +how fertile were the soil, and how fair and numerous the flocks. +</p> + +<p> +The patience of Imogen, in the mean time, was nearly exhausted. Her simplicity +could no longer be duped. Though unused to art, it was impossible for her not +at length to perceive the art by which the conversation was lengthened, and her +ardent desire to set out for the cottage of her father, eluded. She was just +beginning to expostulate upon this ungenerous stratagem, when three or four of +those females, whom Roderic had dispatched entered the apartment. +“Well,” cried Imogen, “you have borne my message to my +deliverer, now then let me go.” “Our lord,” replied the +attendant, “is just risen. He will but adjust his apparel, and will +immediately pay you those respects in person which he can by no means think of +omitting.” “Alas, alas,” cried the shepherdess, half +distressed, “what is the meaning of all this? What is intended by a +language so foreign to the homeliness of the shepherd’s cot, and the +admirable simplicity of pastoral life? I know not what title I have, a poor, +unpretending virgin, to the respects of this lord; but surely if they meaned me +well, they would be less hollow and absurd. Would there not be much more +respect, much more civility, in permitting me to follow my own inclinations, +without this arbitrary and ungrateful restraint?” +“Shepherdess,” replied the attendant, “we are not used to +dispute the orders of our master. We would oblige you if it were in our power. +Impute not therefore to us any thing unfriendly; and as for Roderic, he is too +good, and too amiable, not to be able to satisfy you about his conduct the +moment he appears.” “Your master! and your lord!” replied +Imogen, with a tone of displeasure, “I understand not these words. The +Gods have made all their rational creatures equal. If they have made one strong +and another weak, it is for the purpose of mutual benevolence and assistance, +and not for that of despotism and oppression. Of all the shepherds of the +valley, there is not one that claims dominion and command over another. There +is indeed an obedience due from children to their parents, and from a wife to +her husband. But ye cannot be his children; for he is young and blooming. And +but one of you can be his wife; so that that cannot be the source of his +authority. What a numerous family has this Roderic? Does that I wonder, make +him happier than his fellows?” +</p> + +<p> +“Imogen,” said one of the train, “will you walk with us along +the meadow, by the side of that hazel copse? The morning is delightful, the sun +shines with a mild and cheering heat, the lambs frisk along the level green, +and the birds, with their little throats, warble each a different +strain.” The mind of Imogen was highly susceptible to the impression of +rural beauties. She had that placid innocence, that sweet serenity of heart, +which best prepares us to relish them. Seeing therefore, that she was a +prisoner, and that it was in vain to struggle and beat her wings against the +wiry inclosure, she submitted. “Ah! unjust, unkind associates!” +exclaimed Imogen, “ye can obey the dictates of a man, who has no right to +your obedience, and ye can turn a deaf ear to the voice of benevolence and +justice! Set me at liberty. This man has no right to see me, and I will not see +him. I, that have been used to wander as free as the inmates of the wood, or +the winged inhabitants of air, shall I be cooped up in a petty cage, have all +my motions dictated, and all my walks circumscribed? Indeed, indeed, I will +not. Imogen can never submit to so ignominious a restraint. She will sooner +die.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why, my lovely maiden,” replied the other, “will you think +so harshly of our lord? He does not deserve these uncandid constructions; he is +all gentleness and goodness. Suspend therefore your impatience for a moment. By +and by you may represent to him your uneasiness, and he will grant you all the +wishes of your heart. Till then, amiable girl, compose your spirits, and give +us cause to believe, that you place that confidence in us, which for the world +we would not deserve to forfeit.” +</p> + +<p> +During this conversation, they passed along a gallery, and, descending by a +flight of stairs, proceeded through one corner of a spacious garden into the +meadow. The mansion, as we have already said, stood upon a rising ground, which +was inclosed on every side by a circle of hills, whose summits seemed to touch +the clouds, and were covered with eternal snow. Within this wider circumference +was a second formed by an impervious grove of oaks, which, though of no long +standing, yet, having been produced by magical art, had appeared from the first +in full maturity. Their vast trunks, which three men hand in hand could +scarcely span, were marked with many a scar, and their broad branches, waving +to the winds, inspired into the pious and the virtuous that religious awe, +which is one of the principal lessons of the Druidical religion. +</p> + +<p> +At no great distance, and close on one side to the majestic grove, was a +terrace, raised by the hand of art, so elevated, as to overlook the tops of the +trees as well as the turrets of the castle, and to afford a complete prospect +of all the grounds on this side the precipices. To this terrace the attendants +of Imogen led their charge, and from it she surveyed the farms and granges of +their lord. The view was diversified by a number of little rills, that flowed +down from the mountains, and gave fertility and cheerfulness to the fields +through which they passed. The inclosures were some of them covered with a fine +and rich herbage, whose appearance was bright and verdant, and its surface +besprinkled with cowslips, king-cups, and daisies. Others of them were +interspersed with sheep that exhibited the face of sleekness and ease, their +fleeces large and ponderous, and their wool of the finest and most admirable +texture. Elsewhere you might see the cattle grazing. The ox dappled with a +thousand spots, which nature seemed to have applied with a wanton and playful +hand; the cow, whose udders were distended with milk, that appeared to call for +the interposition of the maidens to lighten them of their store; and the lordly +and majestic bull. With them was intermingled the horse, whose limbs seemed to +be formed for speed and beauty. At a small distance were the stag with +branching horns, the timid deer, and the sportive, frisking fawn. Even from the +rugged precipices, that seemed intended by nature to lie waste and useless, +depended the shaggy goat and the tender kid. Beside all this, Roderic had had +communicated to him, by a supernatural afflatus, that wondrous art, as yet +unknown in the plains of Albion, of turning up the soil with a share of iron, +and scattering it with a small quantity of those grains which are most useful +to man, to expect to gather, after a short interval, a forty-fold increase. +</p> + +<p> +Every thing conspired to communicate to the prospect lustre and attraction. The +birds, with their various song, gave an air of populousness and animation to +the grove. By the side of the rivulets were scattered here and there the huts +of the shepherd and husbandman. And though these swains were not, like the +happy dwellers in the valley, enlivened with freedom, and made careless and gay +by conscious innocence; yet were they skilful to give clearness and melody to +the slender reed; and the ploughman whistled as he drove afield. But that in +the landscape which most engrossed the attention and awakened the curiosity of +the tender Imogen, was the appearance of the fields of corn. It was in her eye +novel, agreeable, and interesting. The harvest was near, and the effect of the +object was at its greatest height. The tall and unbending stalk overtopped by +far the native herbage of the meadow, and seemed to emulate the hawthorn and +the hazel, which, planted in even rows, secured the precious crop from the +invasion of the cattle. The ears were embrowned with the continual beams of the +sun, and, oppressed with the weight of their grain, bended from the stalk. In a +word, the whole presented to the astonished view a rich scene of vegetable +gold. Upon this delightful object the shepherdess gazed with an unwearied +regard. Respecting it she asked innumerable questions, and made a thousand +enquiries; and it almost seemed as if her curiosity would never be satisfied. +Such is the power of novelty over the young and inexperienced, and such the +influence of the beautiful and transcendent beauties of nature upon the +ingenuous and uncorrupted mind. But it was not possible for the shepherdess, +interested as she was in the uneasiness, to which she knew that her parents +must be a prey, long to banish from her mind the affecting consideration, or to +divert her attention to another object, however agreeable, or however +fascinating. +</p> + +<p> +She had just begun to renew her representations upon this head, when Roderic +approached. While he was yet at a distance, he appeared graceful and gay, as +the messenger of the God that grasps the lightning in his hand. His stature was +above the common size. His limbs were formed with perfect symmetry; the fall of +his shoulders was graceful, and the whole contour of his body was regular and +pleasing. Such was the general effect of his shape, that though his advance was +hesitating and respectful, it was impossible to contemplate his person without +the ideas being suggested of velocity and swiftness. His presence and air had +the appearance of frankness, ingenuousness, and manly confidence. The natural +fire and haughtiness of his eye were carefully subdued, and he seemed, at least +to a superficial view, the very model of good-nature and disinterested +complaisance. His bright and flowing hair parted on his brow, and formed into a +thousand ringlets, waved to the zephyrs as he passed along. There was something +so delicate and enchanting in his whole figure, as to tempt you to compare it +to the unspotted beauty of the hyacinth; at the same time that you rejoiced, +that it was not a beauty, frail and transient, as the tender flower, but which +promised a manly ripeness and a protracted duration. +</p> + +<p> +Observing that the attention of those around her was suddenly diverted from the +intreaties she employed, Imogen turned her eye, in order to discover the object +that now engaged them. It was immediately met by the graceful and amiable +figure we have described. But to Imogen that figure presented no such +comeliness and beauty. For a moment indeed, nature prevailed, and she could not +avoid gazing, with a degree of complacence, upon an object, to which the +Goddess seemed to have lavished all her treasures. But this sensation vanished, +almost before it was formed. The mind of the shepherdess was too deeply read in +the lessons of virtue, to acknowledge any beauty in that form, which was not +animated with truth, and in those features, which were not illuminated with +integrity and innocence. Notwithstanding her native simplicity, and the +unsuspecting confidence she was inclined to repose in every individual of the +human race, yet had the conduct of Roderic, as she had already confessed, +displeased her too deeply for her immediately to assume towards him an +unembarrassed and soothing carriage. He had seized upon her by violence in a +moment of insensibility. He had carried her away without her consent. When she +recovered strength enough to expostulate upon this, he endeavoured, by +ambiguous expressions, to deceive her into an opinion, that he was conducting +her to the cottage of her father. Supposing that, for reasons good and wise, he +had introduced her into a strange place, she could not be persuaded that those +reasons subsisted for detaining her contrary to her inclination. And +independently of any individual circumstances, there is a native and +inexplicable antipathy between virtue and vice. It is not in the nature of +things, it is not within the range of possibility, that they should coalesce +and unite where both of them exist in a decided manner, or an eminent degree. +It was not the babble of ignorance, it was by an unalterable law of her nature, +that Imogen had been displeased with the looks of him, who meaned her +destruction. The animation that dwells in the features of virtue, is mild and +friendly and lambent; but the sparkles that flash from the eye of enterprising +guilt, are momentary, and unrelenting, and impetuous. The gentle and the +inoffensive instantly feel how uncongenial they are to their dispositions, and +start back from them with aversion and horror. Such were in some measure the +sensations of Imogen, upon the re-appearance of her betrayer. She turned from +him with unfeigned dislike, and was reluctantly kept in the same situation till +he ascended the terrace. As he drew nearer, Roderic seized the hand of the +lovely captive. In a tone of blandishment he expostulated with her upon her +unkind behaviour and unreasonable aversion. With all that sophistry, that +ingenious vice knows so well how to employ, he endeavoured to evince that his +conduct had been regulated by kindness, rectitude and humanity. In the mean +time the retinue withdrew to a small distance. Imogen insisted upon not being +left wholly alone with her ravisher. +</p> + +<p> +Able to perplex but not to subvert the understanding of his prize, Roderic +addressed her with the language of love. Naturally eloquent, all that he now +said was accompanied with that ineffable sweetness, and that soft insinuation, +that must have shaken the integrity of Imogen, had her heart been less +constant, and her bosom less glowed with the enthusiasm of virtue. Her betrayer +was conscious to a real, though a degenerate flame, and was not reduced to +feign an ardour he did not feel. Recollecting however the pure manners, and the +delicate and ingenuous language to which Imogen had been inured among the +inhabitants of Clwyd, the subtle sorcerer did not permit an expression to +escape him, that could offend the chastest ear, or alarm the most suspicious +virtue. His love, ardent as it appeared, seemed to be entirely under the +government of the strictest propriety, and the most unfeigned rectitude. He +knew that the inspirations of integrity and the lessons of education were not +to be eradicated at once; and he attempted not to gain the acquiescence of his +captive by gross and unsuitable allurements, unconcealed with the gilding of +dexterity and speciousness. +</p> + +<p> +But his eloquence and his address were equally vain. In spite of the beauty of +his person and the urbanity of his manners, the shepherdess received his +declarations with coldness and aversion. She assured him of the impossibility +of his success, that she felt for him emotions very different from those of +partiality, and that her heart was prepossessed for a more amiable swain. With +that sweet simplicity, that accompanied all she did, she endeavoured to +dissuade him from the pursuit of a hopeless and unreasonable passion; she +enumerated to him all the sources of enjoyment with which he was surrounded; +she intreated him not in the wantonness of opulence to disturb her humble and +narrow felicity; and she besought him in the most pathetic and earnest language +to dismiss her to freedom, contentment and her parents. +</p> + +<p> +The more she exerted herself to bend his resolution, and the more scope she +gave to the unstudied expression of her artless sentiments, the more +inextricably was the magician caught, and the more firm and inexorable was his +purpose. Perceiving however that he had little to hope from the most skilful +detail of the pleas of passion, he turned the attention of the shepherdess to a +different topic. “Behold Imogen,” cried he, “the richness of +the landscape on our right hand! The spot in my eye is farthest from the +castle, and divided from the rest of the prospect with a tall hedge of poplars +and alders. It is full of the finest grass, and its soil is rich and luxuriant. +It is scattered with fleckered cows and dappled fawns. In the hither part of it +is a field of the choicest wheat, whose stalks are so rank and pregnant, that +the timid hare and the untamed fox can scarcely force themselves a path among +them. Beside it is an inclosure of barley with strong and pointed spikes; and +another of oats, whose grain, uneared, spreads broader to the eye. How +beautiful the scene! I will not ask you, fairest of your sex, to give your +confidence to unauthorised words. I will afford the most unquestionable +demonstration of the veracity of my declarations. All these, lovely Imogen, +shall be yours: yours exclusively, to be disposed of at your pleasure, without +the interference or control of any. All my other possessions shall not belong +to myself more than to you. You shall be the mistress of my heart, and the +associate of my counsels. All my business shall be your gratification, all my +pleasure your happiness. Forget then, dearest maiden, the poverty of your +former condition, and the connections you formed in an hour of ignorance and +obscurity. From this moment let a new era and better prospects commence. Enjoy +that wealth, which can no where so well be bestowed; and those gratifications, +which so obviously belong to that delicate and enchanting form.” +</p> + +<p> +The proposal of Roderic called forth more than ever the spirit and the +resentment of Imogen. She did not feel herself in the slightest degree +attracted by the magnificence of his offers. She knew of no use for superfluous +riches. She felt no wants unsupplied, and no wishes ungratified. What motive is +there in the whole region of human perceptions, that can excite the contented +mind to the pursuit of affluence? “And dost thou think,” said the +fair one, with a gesture of disdain that made her look ten times more amiable, +“to seduce me with baits like these? Know, mistaken man, that I am happy. +I spin the finest wool of our flocks, and drain the distended udders of our +cows. I superintend the dairies; the butter and the cheese are the produce of +my industry. In these employments my time is spent in chearfulness and +pleasure. Surrounded with our little possessions, I am conscious to no +deficiency; in the midst of my parents and friends, I desire not to look beyond +the narrow circle of the neighbouring hills. If you feel those wants, which I +do not so much as understand, enjoy your fond mistake. Possess those riches +which I will not envy you. Wander from luxury to luxury unquestioned; I shall +be sufficiently happy in the narrow gratifications that nature has placed +within my reach. The gifts you offer me have no splendour in my eye, and I +could not thank you for them though offered with ever so much +disinterestedness. The only gift it is in your power to make is liberty. Allow +me to partake of that bounty, which nature has bestowed upon the choristers of +the grove, to wander where I will. Under a thousand of those privations that +would render the child of luxury inconsolable, I would support myself; freedom +and independence are the only boons which the whole course of my life has +taught me to cherish.” +</p> + +<p> +“Your ignorance,” rejoined Roderic, “is amiable, though +unfortunate. But your merit is too great not to deserve to be informed. +Knowledge, my lovely maiden, is always regarded as a desirable acquisition by +the prudent and the judicious. To what purpose was a mind so capacious, +competent to the greatest improvements, and formed to comprehend subjects of +the most extensive compass, or the sublimest reach, bestowed upon us, if it be +not employed in the pursuits of science and experience? Your abilities, my +Imogen, appear to be of the very first description. How much then will you be +to be blamed, if you do not embrace this opportunity of improvement and +instruction? Beauty, though unseen, is not less excellent; and prudence, though +unpossessed, is of value inestimable. The poor man may be contented, because he +knows not the use of riches; but, in spite of this contentment, it were wise to +enlarge our sphere of sensation, and to extend the sources of happiness. +</p> + +<p> +“If however you still maintain that lovely perverseness, decide if you +please upon your own fate, but let filial piety hinder you from determining too +hastily respecting that of your parents and your friends. Consider what a new +and unbounded scope will be afforded you, by the participation of my riches, +for the exercise of benevolent and generous propensities. Your parents are now +declining fast under the weight of years and infirmity. It is in your power to +make their bed of down, and to enliven the ground they have yet to traverse +with flowers. It is yours to wrest the sheers from the hand of the weary and +over-laboured ancient, and to remove the distaff from the knees of your +venerable mother. Think, gentle shepherdess, before it be too late, of the +heart-felt pleasures that await the power to do good, when attended with a +virtuous inclination. When you wipe away the tear from the cheek of distress, +when you light up a smile in the eye of misery, think you, that none of the +comfort you administer will flow back in generous and refreshing streams to +your own heart? Are these exertions that Imogen ought to contemplate with +indifference? Is this a power that Imogen can reject without +deliberation?” +</p> + +<p> +Imogen stood for a moment in a sweet and ingenuous state of suspense. She had a +native and indefeasible reverence for every thing that had the remotest analogy +to virtue, and she could not answer a proposal that came recommended to her by +that name with unhesitating promptitude. She was too good and modest to assume +an air of decision where she did not feel it; she was too simple and +unaffected, to disguise that hesitation to which she was really conscious. +“How false and treacherous,” exclaimed she, “are your +reasonings! Among the virtuous inhabitants of the plain, every one seeks to +influence another by motives which are of weight with himself, and utters the +sentiments of his own heart. Where have you learned the disingenuous and +faithless arts you employ? To what purpose have you cultivated them, and whose +good opinion do you flatter yourself they will obtain for you? False, +perfidious Roderic! the more I see of you, the more I fear and despise you. +</p> + +<p> +“You would recommend to me your temptations under the colour of knowlege. +Has knowlege any charms for the debauched and luxurious? You tell me we ought +to enlarge our sphere of sensation, and to extend the sources of happiness. +Wisdom indeed, and mental improvements are desirable. But the sage Druids have +always taught me, that the mind is the nobler part, that the body is to be kept +in subjection, and that it is not our business to seek its gratification beyond +the bounds of necessity and temperance. If I allowed myself to think that I +wanted more than I have, might not the possession of that more extend my +desires, till, from humble and bounded, they became insatiable? Were I to +dismiss those industrious pursuits by means of which my time now glides so +pleasantly, how am I sure that indolence and vacancy would make me happier? +</p> + +<p> +“To succour indeed the necessitous, and particularly my parents and +relations, is a consideration of more value. But ah, Roderic! though you talk +it so well, I am afraid it is a consideration foreign to your character. For my +parents, they are as yet healthful and active; and while they continue so, they +wish, no more than myself for repose and indolence. If ever they become +incapable of industry, their little flock will still contribute to their +support. They are too much respected, for the neighbouring shepherds not to +watch over it in turn out of pure love. And, I hope, as I will then exert +myself with double vigour, that the Gods will bless us, and we shall do very +well. As to general distress, heaven is too propitious to us, to permit the +inhabitants of the valley to be overwhelmed by it. And I shall always have milk +from my flocks, and a cheese from my store, to set before the hungry and +necessitous. +</p> + +<p> +“But were these advantages more valuable than they are, it would not be +my duty to purchase them so dear. What, shall I desert all the connections it +has been the business of my life to form, and that happy state of simplicity I +love so much? Shall I shake off the mutual vows I have exchanged with the most +amiable and generous of the swains, and join myself to one, whose person I +cannot love, and whose character I cannot approve? No, Roderic, enjoy that +happiness, if it deserve the name of happiness, that is congenial to your +inclination. Forget the worthless and unreasonable passion, you pretend to have +conceived, in the multitude of gratifications that are within your reach. Envy +not me my straw-defended roof, my little flock, and my faithful shepherd. I +will never exchange them for all the temptations that the world can +furnish.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap04"></a>BOOK THE FOURTH</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +SONG IN HONOUR OF THE FAIR SEX.—HYPOCRISY OF THE MAGICIAN.—THE +TRIUMPH OF IMOGEN.—DESPAIR AND CONSOLATION OF RODERIC. +</p> + +<p> +So much was Roderic discouraged by the apparent spirit and firmness of these +declarations, that at the conclusion of them he abruptly quitted his captive, +and released her for a moment from his unjust persecutions. His pride however +was too strongly piqued, and his passions too much alarmed to permit her a real +respite. “Where ever,” cried he, as he trod with hasty and +irregular steps the level green,—“where ever were found such +simplicity, and so much strength of judgment, and gaiety of wit in union? Is it +possible for the extreme of simplicity and the perfection of intellect to meet +together? These surely are paradoxes, that not all the goblins of the abyss can +solve, and which, had they been related instead of seen, must have appeared to +constitute an absurd and impossible fiction. +</p> + +<p> +“Well then it is in vain to attack the inexorable fair one with +allurements that address themselves only to the understanding. She is too well +fortified with the prejudices of education, and the principles of an imaginary +virtue, to be reduced by an assault like this. The pride of her virtue is +alarmed, the little train of her sophistries are awakened, and with that +artless rhetoric, of the value of which she is doubtless sensible, she set[s] +all her enemies at defiance. My future enticements shall therefore address +themselves to her senses. Thus approaching her, it is impossible that success +should not follow my undertaking. Even the most wary, circumspect, and +suspicious, might thus be overcome. But she is innocence itself. She apprehends +no danger, she suspects no ambuscade. Young and unexperienced, and the little +experience she has attained, derived only from scenes of pastoral simplicity, +she knows not the meaning of insincerity and treachery; she dreads not the +serpent that lurks beneath the flower.” +</p> + +<p> +Having determined the plan of his machinations, and given the necessary orders, +he privately signified to the attendants, that they should propose to their +lovely charge to direct her course once again to the mansion; and as she +perceived that Roderic still continued upon a distant part of the lawn; and as +she saw no means of present escape from her confinement, she consented to do as +they desired. +</p> + +<p> +They now entered the mansion, and passing through several splendid apartments, +at length reached a large and magnificent saloon. It was hung with tapestry, +upon which were represented the figures of Sappho sweeping the lyre; of the +Spartan mother bending over the body, and counting the wounds of her son; of +Penelope in the midst of her maidens, carefully unravelling the funeral web of +her husband; of Lucretia inflicting upon herself a glorious and voluntary +death; and of Arria teaching her husband in what manner a Roman should expire. +These stories had been miraculously communicated to Roderic, and were now +explained by the attendants to the wondering Imogen. At the same time a band of +music, that was placed at the lower end of the hall, struck at once their +various instruments, and, without any previous preparation, began the lofty +chorus. At the upper end of the saloon stood a throne of ivory, hung round with +trappings of gold, and placed upon a floor of marble, of which a numerous +flight of steps, also of marble, composed the ascent. The hangings were of +crimson velvet, and the canopy of the richest purple. With the musicians were +intermingled a number of supernatural beings under the command of Roderic. +Their voices were melodious beyond all example of human power; they were by +turns lofty and majestic, and by turns tender and melting; and the strain was +divine. +</p> + +<p> +“Such are the honours of the tender sex; and who can speak their praise? +The lily is not so fair, the rose is not so attractive, the violet and the +jessamine have not so elegant a simplicity. By their charms, by their +eloquence, and by their merit, they have assumed an empire over the bolder sex. +How auspicious is the empire! They hold them in silken chains. They govern, not +by harsh decrees, and rigorous penalties; but by smiles and soft compliances, +and winning, irresistible persuasion. The rewards they bestow are sweet, and +ravishing, and indescribable. +</p> + +<p> +“What were man without the fair? A wild beast of the forest; a rough and +untamed savage; a hungry lion bursting from his den. Without them, they are +gloomy, morose, unfeeling, and unsociable. To them they owe every civilization, +and every improvement. Did Amphion, from the rude and shapeless stones, raise +by his power a regular edifice, houses, palaces, and cities? Did Orpheus by his +lay humanize the rugged beasts and teach the forests to listen? No, these are +wild, unmeaning fables. It was woman, charming woman, that led unpolished man +forth from the forests and the dens, and taught him to bend before thy shrine, +humanity! See how the face of nature changes! Where late the slough mantled, or +the serpent hissed among the briars and the reeds, all is pasture and +fertility. The cottages arise. The shepherds assume the guise of gentleness and +simplicity. They attire themselves with care, they braid the garland, and they +tune the pipe. Wherefore do they braid the garland? Why are their manners soft +and blandishing? And why do the hills re-echo the notes of the slender reed? It +is to win thy graces, woman, charming woman! +</p> + +<p> +“When nature formed a man, she formed a creature rational, and erect; ten +times more noble than the birds of the air, and the beasts of the field. But +when she formed a woman—it was then first, that she outdid herself, and +improved her own design. What are the broad and nervous shoulders, what the +compacted figure, and the vigorous step, when contrasted with the well-turned +limbs, the slender waist, the graceful shoulders, and the soft and panting +bosom? What are the manly front, the stern, commanding eye, and the down-clad +cheek, if we compare them with the smooth, transparent complexion, the soft, +faint blushes, and the pretty, dimpled mouth? What are the strong, slow reason, +the deep, unfathomed science, and the grave and solemn wisdom, if they are +brought into competition with the sprightly sense, the penetrating wit, and the +inexhaustible invention? Does the stronger sex boast of its learning, its deep +researches, its sagacious discoveries? and have they a coolness, a +self-command, a never baffled prudence like that which woman has exhibited? Do +they pique themselves upon their courage, their gallantry, and their adventure? +Where shall we find among them a patience, a mildness, a fortitude, a heroism, +equal to that of the fair? +</p> + +<p> +“Virtue has dwelt beneath the sun. Themis has left her throne on the +right hand of Jove, and descended to the globe of earth. We have seen examples +of disinterested rectitude, of inviolable truth, of sublime and heaven-born +benevolence. They are written in the roll of fame; they are handed down from +age to age. They are the song of the poet, and the favourite theme of the +servants of the Gods. By whom were they exhibited, or with whom did they +originate? With woman, charming woman? Well have justice and rectitude been +represented under a female form, for without the softer sex, all had been +anarchy and confusion; every man had preyed upon his neighbour; men, like +beasts, had devoured each other, and virtue fled affrighted to her native +skies. This is the source of all that is good and all that is excellent; of all +that is beautiful and all that is sublime: woman, charming woman!” +</p> + +<p> +At this place the chorus ceased for a moment, and the attendants observing, +that Imogen was standing, intreated her to seat herself. She was rendered weak +and languid by the unexperienced anxieties and terrors she had undergone, and +she did not refuse their request. There was no seat in the centre of the hall, +or nearer than the sumptuous throne that was placed at the upper end. Thither +therefore they led her. Imogen had been unused to the distinctions of rank and +precedence. Among the shepherds of the valley, every one, except the bards and +the priests, seated himself promiscuously; none sought to take the upper hand +of his neighbour; age was not distinguished by priority of place; and youth +thought not of ceding the <i>pas</i>. The shepherdess, as she advanced towards +the chair, paused for an instant, impressed with that blaze of magnificence +which is equally formed to strike every human eye. She looked round her with an +air of timidity and suspense, and then going forward, ascended the steps and +placed herself in the throne. At this action, as at a signal, the song +recommenced. +</p> + +<p> +“Simplicity, child of nature, daughter of the plains, with thee alone the +queen of beauty dwells! What is it that adorns and enhances all the wild and +uncultivated scenes of nature? It is plainness and artless simplicity. What is +it that renders lovely and amiable her most favourite productions in the animal +creation: the tender lamb, the cooing dove, and the vocal nightingale? It is +simplicity; it is, that all their gestures wear the guise, and their voice +speaks the artless, and unaffected language of nature. What is is that renders +venerable the characters of mankind; that ennobles the song of the bards; that +gives lustre and attraction to immortal, never-fading virtue? It is simplicity, +unaffected simplicity. Of the last and crowning work of nature, woman, the form +is grace; the visage is beauty; the eye sparkles with intelligence, and smiles +with soft and winning graces; the tongue is clothed with persuasion and +eloquence. But what are these? A body without a soul, a combination of soft and +harmonious names without a meaning; a multitude of rich inestimable gifts, +heaped together in rude and inartificial confusion without the powers of +enchantment and attraction. What is it that can animate the mass, that can give +force and value to the whole, and reduce the shapeless chaos into form? It is +simplicity, unaffected simplicity. Without thee, child of nature, daughter of +the plains, beauty were no more. With thee she dwells, and in thy mansion can +she only dwell. Then be the palm reserved for thee, and given to thee alone, +simplicity, unaffected simplicity!” +</p> + +<p> +At these words, two supernatural figures appeared below the canopy of the +throne. They had the form of children; their figures appeared so soft and +waxen, that you would imagine they might be indented by the smallest touch; +upon their countenances sat the lively and unexpressive smile, the sports, and +the graces; and their shoulders were furnished with wings of the softest +plumage, variegated with all the colours of the bow of heaven. In their hands +they bore a coronet, at once rich with jewels, and light and inconsiderable in +its weight. The circle was of gold, and studded with diamonds. With the +diamonds were intermingled every precious gem, the topaz, the jasper, the +emerald, the chrysolite, and the sapphire. The head was of Persian silk, and +dyed with Tyrian purple. This coronet they placed upon the head of Imogen, and +then descending to the footstool of the throne, bowed upon her feet. The song +immediately recommenced. +</p> + +<p> +“Imogen is under the guardianship of simplicity, her favourite pupil. +Pollute not the ear of Imogen with the praises of beauty. What though her eye +be full of amiableness and eloquence; what though her cheeks rival the peach, +and her lips the coral; what though her bosom be soft as wax and fairer than +the face of honour; what though her tresses are brighter than the shooting +star? These are the bounties of nature; these are the gifts of heaven, in which +she claims no merit; these are not the praises of Imogen. But this is her +praise, that the graces dwell upon her lips; that her words are attired with +the garb of sense and fancy; and that all her conduct is governed by the +largest prudence and the nicest discretion. Heard you the sound of merriment +and applause? They were the gay and unlaboured sallies of the wit of Imogen +that called them forth. Saw you the look of wonder and astonishment, and the +gaze of involuntary approbation and reverence? They were excited by the +modesty, the circumspection, and the virtue of Imogen. And yet Imogen is +artless, unaffected and innocent; her wit is unconscious of itself, and her +virtue the unstudied dictate of nature. Imogen is under the guardianship of +simplicity, her favourite pupil. Be hers then the crown that simplicity alone +can deserve. Simplicity descends not in person to the surface of the earth; her +abode is among the Gods. But Imogen is her representative, her perfect +resemblance. Should simplicity descend upon the earth, she would not know +herself; she would be astonished to behold another divinity, equally beautiful, +equally excellent. The divinity is Imogen. Be hers then the crown, that +simplicity alone can deserve.” +</p> + +<p> +This was a trying moment to the lovely and generous Imogen. Praise is congenial +to every human sense; the voice of praise is ever grateful to the ear of +virtue. The glory of the shepherd indeed lies within a narrow compass. But let +immortality be named, and the heart of man is naturally attracted: it is +impossible that the good and generous bosom should not long for such a prize. +Nor was this all. Imogen, though loved and honoured by the borderers of Towey, +had been little used to studied commendation and laboured applause. Pastoral +simplicity does not deal in these; and though it seek to oblige, its endeavours +are unostentatious and silent. Beside, her reverence for song was radical and +deep. It had been instilled into her from her earliest infancy; from earliest +infancy she had considered poetry as the vehicle of divine and eternal truth. +How strange and tremendous an advantage must he gain over the ear of +simplicity, who can present his fascinations under the garb of all that is +sacred and all that is honourable? +</p> + +<p> +The song had begun with celebrating a theme, that must for ever be congenial to +every female breast. The heart of the shepherdess had instinctively vibrated to +the praises of simplicity. Even the commendations bestowed upon herself were +not improper, or indiscriminate; they had distinguished between the inanity of +personal charms, and the value of prudence, the beauty of innocence and the +merit of virtue. Even the honours she had received were attributed to these, +and not to the other. Were they not therefore such as virtue would aspire to, +and discretion accept? +</p> + +<p> +Alas, Imogen, be not deceived with airy shadows! The reasoning may be +plausible, but it is no better than sophistry. Thou must be taught, fair and +unsuspecting virgin, under a beautiful outside to apprehend deceit; and to +guard against the thorn which closely environs the flower. Thou must learn, +loveliest of thy sex, to dread the poison of flattery. It is more venemous than +the adder, it is more destructive than hebenon or madragora. It annihilates +every respectable quality in the very act of extolling it; it undermines all +that adorns and elevates the human character. Even now that thou listenest to +it, and drinkest in, without apprehension, its opiate sounds, thou art too near +to the sacrifice of those very excellencies it pretends to admire. For the head +of Imogen was made giddy by the applauses she heard; drunk with admiration, she +was no longer conscious of the things around her, or of herself; she sunk +vanquished and supine, and was supported by one of the attendants. +</p> + +<p> +At this moment Roderic came forth from an adjoining apartment, and caught in +his arms the vanquished beauty. In the mean time the attendants, the musicians, +and the supernatural beings disappeared, and she was left alone with her +betrayer. +</p> + +<p> +Roderic surveyed his victim with an eye of avidity and triumph. His eager +curiosity wandered over her hoard of charms; and his brutal passion was soothed +with the contemplation of her disorder. Already in imagination, he had +possessed himself of a decisive advantage over so apparent a weakness; and his +breast was steeled against the emotions of pity. +</p> + +<p> +Imogen cast around her a languid and passive regard, and was in a moment roused +from her supineness by the sight of Roderic. Her subtle adversary did not +however allow her time for complete recollection, before he discovered an +apparent revolution in his sentiments and language. He had heard, he said, the +supernatural and celestial chorus, and been caught in the extremest degree by +the praises of innocence and the triumph of virtue. He now felt the vanity and +folly of those pursuits in which he had been so deeply immersed, and was +determined to abjure the littleness of pride, and the emptiness of sensual +gratification. He did not now address his destined prize with the commendations +of beauty. He bestowed upon her with profusion the epithets of discretion, +integrity, and heroism; and poured into her ear the insidious flattery, that +was most soothing to her temper. Full, as he pretended, of the infant purposes +of virtue, he besought his captive in the most importunate manner, to remain +with him for a time, to confirm his wavering rectitude, to instruct him in +duty, and thus to gain one human being to the standard of integrity, and to +render so extensive possessions subservient to the happiness of mankind. All +this he expressed with that ardour, which is congenial to the simplicity of +truth; and with that enthusiasm, which in all instances accompanies recent +conviction. +</p> + +<p> +Imogen was totally uninured to the contemplation of hypocrisy, and immediately +yielded the most unreserved credit to these professions. Her joy was extreme at +the change in the dispositions of Roderic, and her admiration of the +irresistible charms of rectitude pious and profound. The praises bestowed upon +her seemed distinguishing and sincere, and she drank them in with the most +visible complacency. She expressed however an ingenuous diffidence of her +capacity for the task of an instructor, and she intreated at any rate to be +permitted to withdraw for a short time to dry up the tears of her disconsolate +parents. +</p> + +<p> +These difficulties were too obvious to create any embarrassment to so +consummate a deceiver. He described the danger of that vicious mistrust of our +powers, that is the enemy of all generous and heroic action. He reminded his +captive how recent were his purposes, and how many unforeseen incidents might +be crowded into so eventful a moment. There were goblins, he said, ever ready +to seduce the wanderer from his wished return; and he had been too much their +prey not to have every thing to dread from the subtlety of their machinations. +On the other hand, no character was suspended on the longer or shorter duration +of the uneasiness of the parents of Imogen; and the joyful surprise they would +ere long experience, might abundantly compensate for any temporary anxiety and +solicitude. He told her of the worship and reverence that were due to the +immortal Gods. Could she imagine that the scene that had just passed was +produced for the mere honour and gratification of a virtuous character, than +for the instruction of the ignorant, and the restoration of the wandering? +Shall she be thus honoured, and shall this be her gratitude? +</p> + +<p> +Though the web of the sophistry woven by her betrayer might seem inextricable, +though Imogen had no sentiments more predominant than the love of virtue, and +the fear of the Gods, yet her heart involuntarily resisted his persuasions, and +she felt the yearnings of affection still active in her bosom towards those, to +whom she owed her existence. +</p> + +<p> +“And cannot you,” cried the lovely maiden, “attend me in the +short absense I demand? That would prevent every danger, and supersede every +objection.” “Ah, shepherdess,” replied the magician, +“this reluctance, these studied expedients imply diffidence and +disobedience. But diffidence is much unworthy of the heart of Imogen. Your life +has been marked with one tenour of piety. Do not then begin to disobey. Do not +sully the unspotted whiteness of your character.” +</p> + +<p> +“This,” rejoined Imogen, “is too much. This is mere +savageness of virtue. Why in the act of persuading me do you bestow upon me +those laboured commendations, which the very persuasions you employ are +intended to prove that I little deserve? Is it necessary, Roderic, that your +manners should be so strange and unaccountable, as to supply food for eternal +jealousy and suspicion? And what must be that conduct, that inspires jealousy +into a heart unguarded as mine? I talk of suspicion, but I scarcely know the +meaning of the term. And yet there is in your carriage something precise, +plausible and composed, that I have seldom observed in any other man. Oh, +shepherd! you know not what you do, when you awake all these ideas in a +maiden’s breast, when you thus confound things that heaven and earth put +asunder.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ungenerous Imogen,” replied the magician, “wherefore this? +Do I claim any thing more of you than rectitude demands, and your own bosom +will another day approve? Am I not your better genius to guard you against the +errors that might be prompted by too tender a heart? Beside, does the conduct +of beings of a higher order depend upon my nod? Can I control the spheres, and +call down celestial essences from their bright abodes? And will they be +rendered subservient to the purposes of treachery and guilt?” +</p> + +<p> +“Roderic here break we off our conference. Sure I am that your conduct is +not dictated by a regard for my ease or my welfare. How unworthy then, as well +as how unjust is the pretence? With respect to the supernatural scenes I have +beheld, the question is more difficult. Of such I have heard from the mouth of +the consecrated priests, but never till this day did I see them. At present +however my mind is too much distracted, to be able to decide. I have already +gone far enough; as far as my heart will permit me. I must now retire.’ +</p> + +<p> +“One thing however I will add. From the resolutions you at first +professed, and the impressions you appeared to feel, I had conceived the most +sanguine hopes, and the sincerest pleasure. These are all now vanished. I +cannot account for this. But your conduct is now as mysterious to my +comprehension, as it was before disgusting to my judgment. I am bewildered in a +maze of uncertainty. I am lost in unwelcome obscurity. May your resolutions and +designs be better than my hopes! But ah, Roderic, for how much have you to +answer, how deep must be your guilt, if all this be mummery, dissimulation, and +hypocrisy!” +</p> + +<p> +The magician perceived that it was in vain to urge the stratagem any further, +and he retired from the presence of the shepherdess in silence. If he had been +able to distract her ingenuous mind between contending duties, he had not +however succeeded in his principal object, that of undermining her virtue, and +lessening her attachment to her parents and her lover. If Imogen were perplexed +and confounded, Roderic was scarcely more happy. He looked back upon the scene +with mortification and astonishment. It was difficult for him to determine +where it had digressed from the auspicious appearances it had at first +exhibited, and yet he found himself in the conclusion of it wide, very wide +indeed, of the success of which he had aimed. +</p> + +<p> +“To what purpose,” exclaimed he, with a voice of anguish and rage, +“have I inherited the most inexhaustible riches? To what purpose is the +command which I boast over the goblins of the abyss, if one weak, simple, and +uninstructed woman shall thus defy my arts? I call the hills my own. I mount +upon the turrets of my castle, and as far as my eye can survey, the bending +corn and the grazing herds belong to me. My palace is adorned with all that can +sooth the wearied frame, or gratify the luxurious desire. Couches of purple, +and services of gold, the most exquisite viands, and the blandishments of +enticing beauty, charms of which the ruggedness of pastoral life has not so +much as the idea, all these are circled within my walls. Beyond all this, I +command myriads of spirits, invisible, and reputedly omnipotent. If I but stamp +my foot, if I but wave this wand, they fly swifter than the wings of thought to +my presence. One look of favour inspires them with tranquility and exultation; +one frown of displeasure terrifies them into despair. I dispatch them far as +the corners of the moon. At my bidding they engage in the most toilsome +enterprises, and undertake the labour of revolving years. Oh impotence of +power! oh mockery of state! what end can ye now serve but to teach me to be +miserable? Power, the hands of which are chained and fettered in links of iron; +state, which is bestowed only like a paper crown to adorn the brows of a baby, +are the most cruel aggravations of disappointment, the most fearful insults +upon the weak. But shall I always obey the imperious mandate?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Roderic, thou shalt obey,” exclaimed the inimical goblin, who +at this moment burst through a condensed cloud, that had arisen unperceived in +one corner of the apartment, and appeared before him. “In vain dost thou +struggle with the links of destiny. In vain dost thou exert thyself to escape +from the fillets that on every side surround thee. The greater and the more +obstinate are thy efforts, the more closely art thou bound, and the more +inextricably engaged. This is the situation in which I wished to see thee. +Every pang it wrings from thy heart, every exclamation it forces from thy +tongue, is solace to my thoughts, and music to my ears. And wert thou vain and +weak enough to imagine, that riches would purchase thee every pleasure, that +riches would furnish an inexhaustible source of enjoyment? Of all mortal +possessions they are the most useless, mischievous, and baleful. The Gods, when +the Gods are willing to perfect a character of depravity, in order to make vice +consummately detestable, or to administer an exemplary punishment to +distinguished wickedness, bestow upon that man, as the last of curses, and the +most refined of tortures, extensive possessions and unbounded riches. Indulge +to the mistaken pride which these inspire, and wrap thyself up in the +littleness of thy heart.—But no, rise above them. Suffer thy desires to +wander into a larger and more dangerous field. Run with open eyes into the +mouth of that destruction that gapes to devour thee! Why shouldst thou attend +to the voice of destiny, to the immutable laws of the Gods, and the curse that +is suspended over thee? Be a man. Bravely defy all that is most venerable, and +all that is most unchangeable. Oh how I long for thy ruin! How my heart pants +for the illustrious hour in which thy <i>palaces shall be crumbled down to the +dust of the balance, thy riches scattered, and thyself become an unpitied, +necessitous, miserable vagabond</i>! In the mean time, remember, that riches +like thine are not bestowed with u[n]reserving hand, that commerce is not +permitted with the shadows of darkness, without some trifling fall to ill amid +this immensity of uniform happiness. For this end I am commissioned from time +to time to appear before thee in the midst of thy triumph, and to mingle with +thy exultations the boding voice of prophetic woe.” +</p> + +<p> +Roderic did not listen to these bitter sarcasms without exhibiting every mark +of fury and impatience. At length he commanded the spectre to depart, with a +voice so fierce and stern as to terrify him into submission. For though the +authority of the magician was not formidable enough to make him desist from +persecuting him, yet the penalties he had frequently been able to inflict, +inspired the goblin in spite of himself, with the fear of so potent an +adversary. Still choaked however with agony and resentment, Roderic waved his +wand, and summoned his favourite instrument and the prime minister of his +pleasures, the goblin Medoro, to his presence. The moment he appeared the +magician was relieved from that violent gust of passion, which had held him +motionless, a statue of horror, and throwing himself upon his couch, he burst +into a flood of tears. +</p> + +<p> +Medoro was the goblin that had appeared to Edwin in his return from the feast +of the bards, and had brewed the fatal storm that had preceded the rape of +Imogen. The figure of the spectre was uncouth, and his countenance was full of +savage and shapeless deformity. Nor did his appearance bely his character. To +all other beings, whether of the terrestrial or the invisible world, his temper +was hard, impracticable and remorseless. To Rodogune alone, a similitude of +minds, and a congenial ferocity of heart had attached him; and the attachment +had descended to her son; though not equally destitute of every agreeable and +every plausible quality. He therefore beheld the affliction of Roderic with +sympathy and compassion. +</p> + +<p> +“Wherefore,” cried Medoro, modulating a voice, that nature had made +up of dissonance and horror, into the most gentle and soothing accent of which +it was capable, and hanging over his couch, “wherefore this sorrow? What +is it that has seemed to mar a happiness so enviable? Art thou not +possessed”—“Talk not to me of possessions,” exclaimed +Roderic, with a tone of frenzy, and starting from his posture, “I give +them to the winds. I banish them from my thoughts for ever. Oh that the earth +would open and swallow them up! Oh that unburdened from them all, I were free +as the children of the vallies, and careless as the shepherd that carols to the +rising day. I had not then been thus entangled in misfortune, thus every way +closed in to remediless despair. I had not then been a monument of impotence +and misery for the world to gaze at. Ye are all combined against me! Under a +specious, smiling countenance you all conceal a heart of gall. But your +hypocrisy and your mummery shall serve you to little purpose. Point me, this +instant point me, to a path for the gratification of my wishes, or dearly shall +you rue the shallowness of your invention and the treachery of your +professions.” +</p> + +<p> +Medoro was astonished at the vehemence of the passion of Roderic, unusual even +in a youth who had never been refused demands the most unreasonable, and who +had been inured to see all the powers of nature bend to his will. “Is +this,” cried he, “a return for services so unwearied and sincere as +mine? Foolish and ungrateful youth! Rut I will point you to a remedy. Had you +not been blinded with fury and impatience, you would have seen that your +situation was not yet irremediable, by means the most obviously in your power. +Did I not at your birth bestow upon you a ring, that communicates to the wearer +the power of assuming what form he please? I gave it, in order to elude the +curse of the malignant goblin, to subdue the most obdurate female, and to evade +the most subtle adversary. The uses in which thou hast hitherto employed it +have been idle and capricious, governed by whim, and dictated by the sallies of +a sportive fancy. It is now first that an opportunity is offered to turn it to +those purposes for which it was more immediately destined. Dost thou not now +address an obdurate maid? Is she not full of constancy and attachment for +another? What avails it then to a heart, simple and unvitiated as hers, to +offer the bribe of riches, and to lavish the incense of flattery and adulation. +Attack her in her love. Appear to her in the form of him to whom she is most +ardently attached. If Imogen is vulnerable, this is the quarter from which she +must be approached. Thus far Roderic thou mayest try thy power; but if by this +avenue thou canst not surprise her heart and overpower her virtue, be then +wise. Recollect thy courage, strengthen thy resolution, and shake off for ever +a capricious inclination, which interrupts the tenour of a life that might +otherwise wear the uniform colour of happiness.” +</p> + +<p> +The information of a new measure for the furthering his darling pursuit, was a +communication of the most reviving kind to the heart of Roderic. The gloom and +petulance that had collected upon his countenance were dissipated in a moment. +His cheek caught anew the flush of expectation; his eye sparkled anew with the +insolence of victory. His gratitude to the propitious Medoro was now as +immoderate as his displeasure had lately been unreasonable. He walked along the +apartments with the stride of exultation and triumph. He forgot the pathetic +exclamations he had lately uttered upon the impotence of power, and he was full +of congratulation in the possession of that which he had treated with contempt. +The moral lessons which it was his destiny to have from time to time poured +into an unwilling ear were erased for ever. He exclaimed upon his own stupidity +and want of invention, and he remembered not that vehemence of passion, which +had distracted his understanding, and drawn a cloud over all his ideas. It was +not instantly that he could assume a sufficient degree of collectedness and +composure to put into execution the scheme with which he was so highly +delighted. Presently however the ebriety of unexpected hope dissipated, and he +prepared for that scene which was to be regarded as the summit of his power, +and the irrevocable crisis of his fate. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap05"></a>BOOK THE FIFTH</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +THE GARDEN OF RODOGUNE DESCRIBED.—THE HOPES AND DANGER OF +IMOGEN.—HER INCONSOLABLE DISTRESS. +</p> + +<p> +Imogen, immediately after the interview that had so deeply perplexed her, +returning to her apartment, had shut herself up in solitude. Her reflections +were gloomy and unpleasing; the new obscurity that hung about them had not +contributed to lighten their pressure. But though she was melancholy, her +melancholy was of a different hue from that of her ravisher. If virtue can ever +be deprived of those glorious distinctions that exclusively belong to her, it +must be when she is precluded from the illuminations of duty, and is no longer +able to discern the path in which she ought to tread. But even here, where +distinction seems most annihilated, it yet remains. The cruel sensations of +Imogen were not aggravated by despair, but heightened by hope. Through them all +she was sustained by the consciousness of her rectitude. The chearfulness of +innocence supported her under every calamity. +</p> + +<p> +She had not long remained alone before she was summoned to partake of that +plainer repast, which in the economy of Roderic usually occupied the middle of +the day, and preceded the sumptuous and splendid entertainment of the evening, +by which the soul was instigated to prolong the indulgence of the table, and to +throw the reins upon the neck of enjoyment. But Imogen, whose thoughts were +dark, and whose mind brooded over a thousand sad ideas, was desirous of that +solitude, which in the simplicity of pastoral life is ever at hand. She could +not away with the freedom of society, and the levity of mirth. It was painful +to her to have any witnesses of her new sensations, and she wished to remove +herself for ever from the inspection of the officious and the inquisitive. In +compliance with her humour a few viands were served to her in her own +apartment. She was induced by the entreaties of her attendant, to call up a +momentary smile upon her countenance, and to endeavour to partake of the +refreshment that was offered her. But the effort was vain. It was the sunshine +of an April day; her repast in spite of her was bedewed with tears, and she ate +the bread of sorrow. +</p> + +<p> +As soon as it was concluded, she was invited to a short excursion in the garden +of the mansion. Unused to refusal, the natural mildness of her temper inclined +to comply. She saw the necessity of not yielding herself up to passive and +unresisting melancholy. The natural serenity of innocence did not yet permit +her to be insensible to the attractions of enjoyment; and the transient view +she had had of the garden, as she passed to the terrace, led her to expect from +it, something that might sooth her pensive thoughts, and something that might +divert her affliction. +</p> + +<p> +The garden of Rodogune was an inclosure in a bottom glade, at the entrance of +which, though nigh to the castle, and upon a lower ground, you wholly lost +sight of the mansion, and every external object. But though these were +excluded, the sorceress by her art had also excluded the appearance of limits +and boundaries. The scene was not terminated by walls and espaliers, but by the +entrance on either side of a wild, meandring wood. The side by which you were +introduced was protected by trees of the thickest foliage; and the gate was +masqued with a clump of hazels and alders, which permitted only two narrow +passages on either side. The eye was shut in, but the imagination was permitted +to range in perfect freedom. Nor was this seeming confinement calculated to +disgust; on the contrary you willingly believed that every charm and every +grace was shut up in the circle, and you trembled lest the smallest outlet +should take off from the richness of the scene. In entering you were struck +with a sensation of coolness, that impervious shades, a bright and animated +verdure, flowers scattered here and there in agreeable disorder, the prattling +of the stream, and the song of a thousand birds, impressed as strongly upon the +imagination, as the senses. But this did not appear the result of art. Every +thing had the face of uncultivated luxuriance, and impenetrable solitude. You +could not believe that you were not the first mortal that had ever found his +way into the enchanting desert. +</p> + +<p> +The scene however had been solely produced by the skill of Rodogune. Erewhile +the grass had appeared dry and parched; a few solitary and leafless trees had +been scattered up and down; there was no gaiety of colours to relieve the eye; +and not one drop of water to give freshness to the prospect. But with the +operations of magic Rodogune had delighted to supersede the parsimony of +nature. She caused the tree and the shrub to spring forth in the richest +abundance; the sturdiness of whose trunks, or the deepness of their verdure, +cheated the eye with the semblance of the ripening hand of time. She sprinkled +the turf, short, fine, and vivid, with flowers both native and exotic. She +called forth a thousand fountains to enrich the scene. Sometimes they crept +beneath the turf in almost imperceptible threads; sometimes they ran beside the +alleys, or crossed them in sportive wantonness; and sometimes you might see +them in broader and more limpid currents rolling over a smooth and spotted bed. +Now they rose from the soil in foamy violence, and fell upon the chalk and +pebbly ground beneath; and anon they formed themselves into the deeper bason +[sic], whose calm and even surface reflected back the reeds and shrubs that +were planted round. There was nothing strait and nothing level; the rule and +the line had never entered the delicious spot; the irregularities of the soil, +and the fantastic, gradual windings of the alleys, were calculated to give +length to the passage, and immensity to the scene. +</p> + +<p> +From time to time you encountered tufts of trees closely planted, and that cast +as brown a shade as the thickest forest. These were partly composed of wood of +the most pliant texture, the extremities of whose branches, bending to the +earth, took root a second time in her bosom. Elsewhere the rasberry [sic], the +rose, the lilac, and a thousand flowering shrubs, appeared in thickets without +either regularity or symmetry, and contributed at once to adorn, and to give an +air of rudeness and wildness to the prospect. Round the body of the trees, +planted some at their root, and some upon the different parts of the trunk, +crept the withy, the snakeweed, the ivy, and the hop, and intermingled with +them the jessamine and the honeysuckle, in the most unbounded profusion. Their +tendrils hung from the branches, and waved to the wind; and suggested to you +the appearance of garlands scattered from tree to tree by the nymphs of the +grove. All was inexpressible luxuriance, and a thousand different shades of +verdure were placed, one upon another, in regular confusion, and attractive +disorder. An exuberance of this sort was calculated in a vulgar scene to have +checked the fertility of the plants, and to have given a sickly and withered +appearance to their productions; but it was not so in the garden of Rodogune. +There the cherry and the grape, the downy peach and the purple plum were half +discovered amid the foliage of the hop, and the clusters of the woodbine. +Beneath the delicious shade you wandered over beds of moss, undeformed with +barren sands and intrusive weeds, and smooth as the level face of ocean when +all the winds of heaven sleep. +</p> + +<p> +Nor was this all. Inanimate and vegetable nature (and the observation had not +escaped the penetration of Rodogune) adorn and arrange it as you will, +infallibly suggests an idea of solitude, that communicates sadness to the mind. +Accordingly your path was here beguiled with the warbling of a thousand birds, +the full-toned blackbird, the mellow thrush, and the pensive nightingale. The +sorceress had invited them to her retreat, by innumerable assiduities and +innumerable conveniences of food and residence, and had suffered no rude +intrusion to disturb the sacredness of their haunts. Unused to molestation in +all their pursuits, they now showed no terror of human approach, but flew, and +hopped, and sung, and played among the branches and along the ground, in +thoughtless security and wanton defiance. +</p> + +<p> +For a few moments Imogen was immersed in the contemplation of the beauties of +the place, and its delightful coolness and mingled fragrance were balm and +softness to her wounded soul. The domestic who accompanied her, perceived her +propensity to reflection and fell back to a small distance. The shepherdess, as +soon as she found herself disengaged and alone, revolved with the utmost +displeasure her present situation. “How happy,” cried she, +“are the virgins of the vale! To them every hour is winged with +tranquility and pleasure. They laugh at sorrow; they trill the wild, unfettered +lay, or wander, chearful and happy, with the faithful swain beneath the +woodland shade. They fear no coming mischief; they know not the very meaning of +an enemy. Innocent themselves, they apprehend not guilt and treachery in those +around them. Nor have they reason. Simplicity and frankness are the unvaried +character of the natives of the plain. Liberty, immortal, unvalued liberty, is +the daughter of the mountains. We suspected not that deceit, insidiousness, and +slavery were to be found beneath the sun. Ah, why was I selected from the rest +to learn the fatal lesson! Unwished, unfortunate distinction! Was I, who am +simple and undisguised as the light of day, who know not how to conceal one +sentiment of my heart, or arm myself with the shield of vigilance and +incredulity, was I fitted by nature for a scene like this? In the mean time +have not the Gods encouraged me by the most splendid appearance, and the most +animating praises? I would not impeach their venerable counsels. But was this a +time for applauses so seducing? How greatly have they perplexed, and how deeply +distressed me! In what manner, alas! are they to be obeyed, and what am I to +think of the professions of my ravisher? But, no; I dare not permit my purpose +to be thus suspended. My danger here is too imminent. The deliverance of my own +honour and the felicity of my parents are motives too sacred, not to annihilate +every ambiguity and every doubt. Oh, that I could escape at once! Oh, that like +the tender bird, that hops before me in my path, I could flit away along the +trackless air! Why should the little birds that carol among the trees be the +only beings in the domains of Roderic, that know the sweets of liberty? But it +will not be. Still, still I am under the eye and guardianship of heaven. Wise +are the ways of heaven, and I submit myself with reverence. Only do ye, +propitious Gods, support, sustain, deliver me! Never was frail and trembling +mortal less prepared to encounter with machination, and to brave unheard of +dangers. How fearful are those I have already encountered; and how much have I +to apprehend from what may yet remain! But if I am weak, the omnipotent support +to which I look is strong. I will not give way to impious despondence. It has +delivered, and it may yet deliver me.” +</p> + +<p> +By such virtuous and ingenuous reflections the shepherdess endeavoured to +solace her distress, and to fortify her courage. Now by revolving her dangers +she sought to prepare for their encounter; and now she dismissed the +recollection as too depressing and too melancholy. The confinedness of the +prospect, though rich infinitely beyond any thing she had yet seen, and though +not naturally calculated to fatigue and disgust, was destructive of all its +beauty in the eyes of Imogen. It presented to her too just an image of the +thraldom, which was the subject of all her complaints. She desired to fling her +eye through a wider prospect; and though unable even from the loftiest ground +to discover the happy valley, she coveted the slender gratification of +beholding the utmost boundaries of the magic circle, and extending her view as +near as possible to her beloved home. She therefore advanced farther in the +garden, and presently arrived at a clear and open brow, where a beautiful +alcove was erected to catch the point of view, from which the surrounding +objects appeared in the greatest variety, and with the happiest effect. She +entered; and the domestic that attended her remained in a distant part of the +garden. +</p> + +<p> +Scarcely had Imogen seated herself, before she discovered, by a casual glance +over the prospect, and at some distance, a youth, who seemed to advance with +hasty steps towards the castle. At first she was tempted to turn away her eye +with carelessness and inattention. There was however something in his figure, +that led her, by a kind of fascination for which she could not account, to cast +upon him a second glance and a third. He drew nearer. He leaped with an active +bound over the fence that separated him from the garden. It was the form of +Edwin. His hair hung carelessly about his shoulders. His shepherd’s pipe +was slung in his belt. His clear and manly cheeks glowed with the warmth of the +day, and the anxiety of love. He entered the alcove. +</p> + +<p> +Had a ghost risen before Imogen, surrounded with all the horrors of the abyss, +she could not have been struck with greater astonishment. As he advanced, she +gazed in silence. She could not utter a word. Her very breath seemed +suppressed. At length he entered, and for a moment she had voice enough to +utter her surprise. “Gracious powers!” exclaimed +she—“is it possible?—what is it that I see?—Edwin, +beloved Edwin!”—and she sunk breathless upon her seat. The +fictitious shepherd approached her, folded her in his arms, and with repeated, +burning kisses, which he had never before ventured to ravish from his +disdainful captive, restored her to life and perception. The confusion of +Imogen did not allow her to animadvert upon his freedoms. She had the utmost +confidence in the person whose form he wore, and the guileless simplicity of +pastoral life is accustomed to permit many undesigning liberties, and is slow +to take the alarm, or to suspect a sinister purpose. +</p> + +<p> +Roderic, anxious and timid respecting the success of his adventure, was +backward to enter into conversation. Imogen, on the other hand, charmed with so +unexpected an appearance, and presaging from it the most auspicious +consequences, full of her situation and sufferings, and having a thousand +things that pressed at once to be told, was eager and impatient to communicate +them to her faithful shepherd. She was also desirous of learning by what +undiscoverable means, by what happy fortune, he had been conducted to this +impervious retreat, and at so critical a juncture. “Edwin,—my +gallant Edwin,—how came you hither?—Sure it was some propitious +power,—some unseen angel,—that conducted you.—Oh, my +friend,—I have been miserable,—perplexed—tortured—but +it is now no more—I will not think of it—Thanks to the immortal +Gods, I have no occasion—no room—but for +gratitude.—Edwin—what have you done—and how did you escape +the tempest?—Was it not a fearful storm?—But I ask you a thousand +questions—and you do not answer me.—You seem +abashed—uncertain—what is the meaning of this?—Did you not +come to succour my distress?—Was it not pity for your +poor—forlorn—desolate Imogen—that directed your steps?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, loveliest of thy sex,” replied her betrayer. “I flew +upon the wings of love. I was brought along by a celestial, impulsive guidance, +which I followed I knew not why. Oh how gracious the condescension, how happy +the obedience, how grateful the interview! Yes, Imogen, I was in despair. I was +terrified at the concurring prodigies by which we were separated, and I feared +never, never to behold that beauteous form again. Come then and let me clasp +thee to my bosom. Oh, thou art sweeter than the incense-breathing rose, and +brighter than the lily of the vale!” +</p> + +<p> +For a moment, the affectionate and unsuspicious shepherdess received his +caresses with complacence and pleasure. Suddenly however she recollected +herself; instinctively and without reflection she repulsed the undue warmth of +his attentions. “This,” cried she, “is no time for fond +indulgence, and careless dalliance—Fate is on the wing.—Our +situation is arduous—and we are in the midst of enemies.—Every +thing that surrounds us is full of danger—all is deceit and +treachery—appearances are insidious—all is frightful suspense and +headlong precipice.—The plotter of my ruin is as potent as he +is—Ah! every hour is big with calamity and destruction—every moment +that we stay here is in the last degree hazardous and decisive.—My +keepers may be alarmed—Those eyes that never close may be summoned to +attention—we may be hemmed in—prevented—Oh, Edwin, how +fearful is this place—and how unhoped—how joyful to me—must +be an escape.—I thought this hated seat had been impervious and +impassable—Hark!—Did you not hear the sound of +feet?—No—every thing is still—Let us go this way—Say, +by what path did you come—Let us hasten our flight—let us make no +delay—not look behind.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Imogen,” replied Roderic, detaining her, “we will +escape—But this, my lovely maiden, is not the time—I am not yet +prepared—We may remain here in security—already the shades of +evening begin to draw. Every thing is now busy and active. We cannot pass from +hence without observation. In the silence of the night the attempt will be more +practicable. And you, Imogen, are a heroine. The Gods will watch over us. +Silence and darkness have nothing in them at which innocence should be +terrified. Till then let us reconcile ourselves to our situation. Let us +endeavour, by secrecy and stilness, not to attract to us the attention of the +enemies with which we are surrounded. Let us banish from them curiosity and +suspicion. And let us trust in the Gods, propitious to rectitude, that they +will look down with favour upon a design prompted by virtue and urged by +oppression.” +</p> + +<p> +“Alas, Edwin,” replied the shepherdess “it is with regret +that I consent to remain one moment longer in this fatal spot. But I will +submit to your direction, I will confide in your prudence; I will trust in your +fidelity, and your zeal, for the deliverance I so ardently desire. Here however +we cannot long remain undiscovered.—My absence will be +suspicious.—I will return once again to the hated mansion.—You, my +swain, must conceal yourself in the mazes of this friendly wilderness. It shall +not be long ere I come to you again.—With motives like mine to inspire +ingenuity, I shall easily find a way to elude the strictest guard, and escape +from the closest thraldom.—Say, my Edwin!—this stratagem shall +suffice,—and you shall lead me in safety under the friendly cover of the +night to liberty and innocence!” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” exclaimed Roderic, suddenly recollecting himself, “you +may be assured that by me nothing shall be omitted, that can further your +escape from this detested prison. The perils I have already incurred may well +convince you of this. It has been through the most fearful dangers, ready every +moment to be overwhelmed with omnipotent mischief, that I have reached you. I +have approached by the most devious and undiscovered paths. Though the greatest +hazards are to be encountered in the cause of innocence and honour, the conduct +we should pursue is therefore ambiguous, and our success involved in +uncertainty and darkness. Oh Imogen, I may now behold thee for the last time. +The moment we sally from this retreat, I may be discovered by that enemy from +whom we have so much to fear. I may be confined to all the wantonness of +inventive torture, and that beauteous form, and the smiles of that bewitching +countenance may be torn from these longing eyes for ever. But here, my +shepherdess, we are safe. We may here secure ourselves from sudden intrusion, +and a thousand means of concealment are here in our power. This Imogen is the +moment of our ascendancy, this little period is all our own. In a short time +the precious hours will be elapsed, the invaluable instants will be run out. +Oh, my love, fairest, most angelic of thy sex, while they are yet ours, let us +improve them.”—He ceased; and his countenance glistened with the +anticipations of enjoyment, and his eyes emitted the sparkles of lust. +</p> + +<p> +But the imagination of Imogen was not sullied with the impressions of +indecency, and the baseness of looser desires. She understood not the innuendos +of Roderic, and she remarked not with an eager and inquisitive eye the +distraction of his visage. She replied therefore only to the more obvious +tendency of what he said. “And is this, Edwin, all the consolation you +bring me? Ah how poor, how heartless, and how cold! If we accomplish not that +flight upon which my hopes and wishes are suspended, what utility and what +pleasure can we derive from this interview? It will then only be a bitter +aggravation of all my trials, and all my miseries. If a prospect so unexpected +and desirable terminate in no advantage, for what purpose was it opened before +me? It will but render my sensations more poignant, and give a new refinement +to the exquisiteness of despair. +</p> + +<p> +“But no, my Edwin, let us not give way to despondence. The Gods, my +generous swain, the same Gods that give luxuriance and felicity to the plain, +and that have guided you through every hazard to this impervious spot, will +assuredly deliver us. Remember the lessons of the heaven-taught Druids. There +is an innate dignity and omnipotence in virtue. She may be surrounded with +variety of woes, but none of them shall approach her. The darts of calamity may +assail her on every side, but she is invulnerable to them all. Before her +majesty, the fierceness of all the tenants of the wood is disarmed, and the +more untamed brutality of savage man is awed into mute obedience. She may not +indeed put on the insolence of pride, and the fool-hardiness of presumption. +But wherever her duty calls, she may proceed fearless and unhurt. She may be +attacked, but she cannot be wounded: she may be surprised, but she cannot be +enslaved: she may be obscured for a moment, but it shall only be to burst forth +again more illustrious than ever. +</p> + +<p> +“But you, Edwin, are much better acquainted with these things, and more +able to instruct than I. They were ever the favourite subject of your +attention. I have seen you with rooted eye fixed for hours in listening +admiration of the sublime dictates of the hoary Llewelyn.—It is little to +learn, to understand, and to admire. A barren and ineffectual enthusiasm for +the speculations of truth, was never respectable and was never venerable. Now, +my swain, is the moment in which these sacred lessons are to be called into +action, and in which, beyond all others, reputation is to be asserted and +character fixed. Leave not then to me the business of inciting and animating +you. Be you my leader and protector.” +</p> + +<p> +“Alas, my charming mistress,” replied her admirer, “I would +to God it were in my power to inspire you with hope and fill you with courage. +I confess that while peril was at a distance, and I sat secure in the tranquil +vale, I received without distinction the doctrines of the Druids, and bowed +assent to their sacred lessons. But practice, my Imogen, and the scenes of +danger differ beyond conception from the ideas we form of them in the calmness +of repose. Something must be allowed to the unruffled solitude of these sacred +men, and something to the sublime of poetry. Surely it is no part of +comprehensive prudence to banish the idea of those hazards that must be +encountered, and to refuse to survey the snares and the difficulties with which +our path is surrounded. Remember, my fair one, the malignant suspiciousness of +your jailer, and the comfortless darkness of the night.”— +</p> + +<p> +“Oh Edwin, and is this the strain in which you were wont to talk? Why are +you thus altered, and what means this inauspicious quick-sightedness and alarm? +We should indeed survey and prepare for danger, but we should never suffer it +to overwhelm us. The cause of integrity should never be despaired of. What +avails the suspicions of my keeper? The ever wakeful eye of heaven can make +them slumber. Why should we reck the gloom and loneliness of the night? Virtue +is the ever-burning lamp of the sacred groves. No darkness can cast a shadow on +her beams. Though the sun and moon were hurled below the bosom of the circling +ocean, virtue could see to perform her purposes, and execute her great designs. +Alas, my swain, my voice is weak, and broken, and powerless. But willingly +would I breathe a soul to animate your timidity. Oh Edwin,” and she +folded him in her alabaster arms to her heaving, anxious bosom, “let me +not exhort you in vain! It is but for a little while, it is but for one short +effort, and if the powers above smile propitious on our purpose, we are happy +for ever! Think how great and beautiful is our adventure. Comfortless and +desponding as I am now, ready to sink without life and animation at your feet, +I may be in a few hours happier than ever.—Oh Edwin, lead on!—Can +you hesitate?—Would it were in my power to reward the virtue I would +excite as it deserves to be rewarded. But the Gods will reward you, +Edwin.”— +</p> + +<p> +As she uttered these words, her action was unspeakably graceful, her +countenance was full of persuasion, and her voice was soft, and eloquent, and +fascinating. Roderic gazed upon her with insatiate curiosity, and drank her +accents with a greedy ear. For a moment, charmed with the loftiness of her +discourse and the heroism of her soul, he was half persuaded to relent, and +abjure his diabolical purpose. It was only by summoning up all the fierceness +of his temper, all the impatience of his passions, and all the mistaken +haughtiness and inflexibility of his purpose, that he could resist the artless +enchantment. During the internal struggle, his countenance by no means answered +to the simplicity of pastoral sentiments. It was now fierce, and now +unprotected and despairing. Anon it was pale with envy, and anon it was flushed +with the triumph of brutal passion. Transitions like these could not pass +unobserved. Imogen beheld them with anxiety and astonishment, but suspicion was +too foreign in her breast, to be thus excited. +</p> + +<p> +“Imogen,” cried the traitor, “it is in your power to reward +the noblest acts of heroism that human courage can perform. Who in the midst of +all the exultation and applause that triumphant rectitude can inspire, could +look to a nobler prize than the condescension of your smiles and the heaven of +your embraces? No, too amiable shepherdess, it is not for myself I fear; +witness every action of my life; witness all those dangers that I have this +moment unhesitatingly encountered, that I might fly to your arms. But, oh, when +your safety is brought to hazard, I feel that I am indeed a coward. Think, my +fair one, of the dangers that surround us. Let us calmly revolve, before we +immediately meet them. No sooner shall we set our foot beyond this threshold, +than they will commence. Tyranny is ever full of apprehensions and environed +with guards. Along the gallery, and through the protracted hall, centinels are +placed with every setting sun. Could you escape their observations, an hundred +bolts, and an hundred massive chains secure the hinges of the impious mansion. +Beyond it all will be dark, and the solitude inviolate. But suppose we meet +again,—by what path to cross the wide extended glade, and to reach the +only avenue that can lead us safely through this horrid cincture, will then be +undiscoverable. Amid the untamed forest and untrod precipices that lie beyond, +all the beasts most inimical to man reside. There the hills re-echo the +tremendous roarings of the boar; the serpents hiss among the thickets; and the +gaunt and hungry wolf roams for prey. Oh, Imogen, how fearful is the picture! +And can your tender frame, and your timid spirits support the reality?” +</p> + +<p> +Imogen had now preserved the character of heroism and fortitude for a +considerable time. All the energies of her soul had been exerted to encounter +the trials and surmount the difficulties which she felt to be unavoidable. When +the beloved form of Edwin had appeared before her, she relaxed in some degree +from the caution and vigilance she had hitherto preserved. It is the very +nature of joyful surprize to unbend as it were the strings of the mind, and to +throw wide the doors of unguarded confidence. Before, she had felt herself +alone; she saw no resource but in her own virtue, and could lean upon no pillar +but her own resolution. Now she had trusted to meet with an external support; +she had poured out her heart into the bosom of him in whom she confided, and +she looked to him for prudence, for suggestion and courage. But, instead of +support, she had found debility, and instead of assistance the resources of her +own mind were dried up, and her native fortitude was overwhelmed and depressed. +She turned pale at the recital of Roderic, her knees trembled, her eyes forgot +their wonted lustre, and she was immersed in the supineness and imbecility of +despair. +</p> + +<p> +“Edwin!”—she cried, with a tone of perturbation; but her +utterance failed her. Her voice was low, hoarse, and inaudible. The fictitious +shepherd supported her in his arms. Her distress was a new gratification and +stimulus to her betrayer. “Edwin, ah, wherefore this fearful recital? Did +you come here for no other purpose than to sink me ten times deeper in despair? +Alas, I had conceived far other expectations, and far other hopes fluttered in +my anxious bosom, when I first beheld your well known form. I said I have been +hitherto constant and determined, though unsupported and melancholy. I shall +now be triumphant. I shall experience that heaven-descended favour, which ever +attends the upright. Edwin, my firm, heroic Edwin, will perform what I wished, +and finish what I began. And, oh, generous and amiable shepherd, is it thus +that my presages are fulfilled? No, I cannot, will not bear it. If the courage +of Edwin fail, I will show him what he ought to be. If you dare not lead, think +whether you dare follow whither I guide. You shall see what an injured and +oppressed woman can do. Feeble and tender as we are formed by nature, you shall +see that we are capable of some fortitude and some exertion.” As she said +this she had risen, and was advancing towards the door. But recollecting +herself with a sudden pang, “Alas,” cried she, “whither do I +go?—What am I doing?—What shall I do?—Oh, Edwin!” and, +falling at his feet, she embraced his knees, “do not, do no [sic] not +desert me in this sad, tremendous moment!” +</p> + +<p> +“I will not, my Imogen, I will never desert you. One fate shall attend us +both. And if you are called to calamity, to torture, and to death, Edwin will +not be supine and inactive.” “Oh, now,” cried she, her eyes +moistened with rapture, “I recognize my noble and gallant swain. Come +then, and let us fly. If we must encounter peril and disaster, what avails it +to suspend the trial for a few niggard hours? This, my friend, my +guardian,—this is the time—Now the master dragon +sleeps—Roderic is now unconscious and distant—and I fear him too +much to apprehend any thing from a meaner adversary—Let us fly—let +us escape—let our speed outstrip the rapid winds!” +</p> + +<p> +During their conversation, the heavens had been covered with clouds, and the +rain descended with violence. But the change had not been noticed by Imogen. +“Well then, my fair one, we will depart. What though the wind whistles +along the heath, and the rain patters among the elms? We will defy their fury. +Let us go! But, ah, my Imogen, look there! The hinds are flying across the +plain for shelter; and see! two of them approach to the clump of trees directly +before us on the outside of the garden. No, shepherdess, it is in vain that we +resolve, and in vain that we struggle: we cannot escape.” +</p> + +<p> +The mind of Imogen was now wrought up to the extremest distress. Her heart was +wrung with anguish. She was ready to charge the immortals with conspiring +against her, had not her piety forbad it. She saw the reality of what Roderic +stated, and yet she was ready to charge him with raising eternal obstacles. She +cast upon him a look of despair and agony. But she did not read in the +countenance of the imaginary shepherd congenial sentiments. +“Methinks,” said she, with a voice full of reproachful +blandishment, and inimitable sweetness, “methinks it is not with the +tenderness of sympathy, that you tell me we must desist. Sure it is only the +mist of tears through which I behold you, that makes me see the suppressed +emotion of pleasure in your countenance. No, it is not in the heart of Edwin to +harbour for a moment the sentiments of barbarity and insult—But if we +cannot now escape—if the dangers to which we must submit may be +diminished by delay—indeed, Edwin, something must be attempted—at +least let us now fix upon a plan, and determine what to do. Let not delay relax +the spirit of enterprise, or shake the firmness of our purpose.” +</p> + +<p> +“And what plan,” cried the pretended shepherd, “can we form? +I have already trod the intricate and dangerous road, and there is nothing +better for us than to tread my footsteps back again. The day is particularly +unfavourable, as it is accompanied with activity and business. We must +therefore wait for the night. Then we must watch our opportunities, and embrace +the favourable interval. Imogen, I feel not for myself. I do not throw away a +thought upon my own safety, and I am ready to submit to every evil for your +service and your defence. But yet, my gentle, noble-minded shepherdess, I +cannot promise any very flattering probability of success. Indeed my hopes are +not sanguine. The difficulties that are before us appear to me insurmountable. +One mountain peeps through the breaches of another, and they are like a wall +built by the hand of nature, and reaching to the skies. Penmaenmawr is heaped +upon Snowdon, and Plinlimmon nods upon the summit of Penmaenmawr. It is only by +the intervention of a miracle that we can ever revisit the dear, lamented +fields of Clwyd. Let us then, my Imogen, compose ourselves to the sedateness of +despair. Let us surrender the success of our future efforts to fate. And let us +endeavor to solace the short and only certain interval that we yet can call our +own, by the recollection of our virtuous loves.” +</p> + +<p> +“Alas,” cried Imogen, “I understand not in what the +sedateness of despair consists. In the prospect of every horrid mischief, +mischief that threatens not merely my personal happiness or mortal existence, +but which bears a malignant aspect upon the dignity of honour and the peace of +integrity, I cannot calmly recollect our virtuous loves, or derive from that +recollection sedateness and composure. Edwin, your language is dissonant, and +the thoughts you seek to inspire, jarring and incompatible. If you must tell me +to despair, at least point me to some nobler source of consolation, than the +coldness of memory; at least let us prepare for the fate that awaits us in a +manner decent, manly, and heroic.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, too amiable shepherdess, if I were worthy to advise, I would +recommend a more generous source of consolation, and teach you to prepare for +futurity in a manner worthy of the simplicity of your heart; and worthy of that +disinterested affection we have ever borne to each other. Think of those sacred +ties that have united us. Think of the soft and gentle commerce of mutual +glances; the chaste and innocent communication with which we have so often +beguiled the noontide hour; the intercourse of pleasures, of sentiments, of +feelings that we have held; the mingling of the soul. Did not heaven design us +for each other? Is not, by a long probation of simplicity and innocence, the +possession of each other become a mutual purchase? An impious and arbitrary +tyrant has torn us asunder. But do the Gods smile upon his hated purpose? Does +he not rather act in opposition to their decrees, and in defiance of their +authority?” +</p> + +<p> +The magician paused. “Alas,” replied the shepherdess, “what +is it you mean? Whither would you lead me? I understand you not. These indeed +were motives for fortitude and exertion, but what consolation can they impart +to the desponding heart?” “I will tell you,” replied her +seducer, folding her slender waist with one of his arms as he spoke. +“Since the Gods are on our side, since heaven and earth approve our +honest attachment, let us sit here and laugh at the tyrant. While he doubles +his guards, and employs all his vigilance, let us mock his impotent +efforts.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ah,” replied the shepherdess, her eye moistened with despair, and +beaming with unapprehensiveness, “how strange and impracticable an advice +do you suggest! Full of terror, full of despair, you bid me laugh at fear. +Threatened by a tyrant whose power is irresistible, and whose arts you yourself +assure me are not to be evaded, you would have me mock at those arts, and this +dreaded power. Is not his power triumphant? Is not all his vigilance crowned +with a fatal success? Are we not his miserable, trembling, death-expecting +victims? Can we leave this apartment, can we almost move our hand, or utter our +voice, for solicitude and terror? Oh Edwin, in what mould must that heart have +been cast, what must be its hard and unsusceptible texture, that can laugh at +sorrow, and be full of the sensations of joy, though surrounded with all the +engines of wretchedness?” +</p> + +<p> +“Imogen, your fears are too great, your anxieties exaggerate the +indigence of our condition. Though we are prisoners, yet even the misfortunes +of a prison have their compensations. The activity of the immaterial mind, will +not indeed submit long without reluctance to confinement and restraint. But we +have not yet experienced lassitude and disgust.” “Alas, Edwin, how +strange and foreign are thoughts like these! Whither do they tend? What would +you infer from them?” +</p> + +<p> +“This my love I would infer. That within one little cincture we are yet +absolute. No prying eye can penetrate here. Of our words, of our actions, +during a few remaining hours, we can dispose without controul.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ah,” exclaimed the shepherdess, struck with a sudden suspicion of +the treacherous purpose, and starting from her betrayer, “ah, Edwin, yet, +yet explain yourself! A thousand horrid thoughts—a thousand dire and +shapeless phantoms—But Edwin,—sure—is plain, and artless, and +innocent.—What boots it that we can dispose of our words and actions +within this cincture?—Will that enable us to escape?—No, no, no, +no.—Escape you say is hopeless—What is it you +mean?—Say—explain yourself—Oh, Edwin!”— +</p> + +<p> +“Be not alarmed,” cried the remorseless villain. “Listen, yet +listen with calmness to the suggestions of my deliberate mind. Imogen, you are +too beautiful—I have beheld you too long—I have admired you with +too fierce an ardour. The Gods—the Gods have joined us. It is guilt and +malignity alone that oppose their purpose.—Let us beat them +down—trample them under our feet—employ worthily the moment that +yet remains.”— +</p> + +<p> +As the magician pronounced these words, he advanced towards his captive, and +endeavoured to seize her in his arms. But she thrust him from her with the +warmest indignation; and contemplating him with an eye of infinite disdain, +“Base unworthy swain!”—she cried—“Insidious +traitor!—abhorred destroyer!—And is it thus that you would approach +me?—Is it thus that you would creep into the weakness of my +heart?—But fly—I know you not—One mark of compassion I will +yet exhibit, which you little deserve—Fly—I will not deliver you +into the hands of your rival, whom yet my soul does not so much loath and +abhor—Fly—Live to be pointed at as an example of +degeneracy—Live to blush for and repent of that crime, which, +Edwin!—cannot be expiated.” +</p> + +<p> +Roderic had advanced too far to be thus deterred. He did not wish to manage the +character under which he appeared. His passions by this interview, more +private, and in which his captive had beheld him with an eye of greater +complacency than ever, were inflamed to the extremest degree. The charms of +Imogen had been in turn heightened with joy, and mellowed with distress. Even +the conscious dignity, and haughty air she now assumed, gave new attractions to +her form, and new grace to her manner. Her muscles trembled with horror and +disdain. Her eloquent blood wrought distinctly in her veins, and spoke in a +tone, not more dignified than enchanting. Her whole figure had a life, an +expression, a loveliness, that it is impossible to conceive. +</p> + +<p> +Roderic rushed forward unappalled, and unsubdued. He had already seized his +unwilling victim. In vain she resisted his violence; in vain she strove to +escape from her betrayer. “For pity’s sake—for mercy’s +sake—for the sake of all our past endearments—spare +me!—relent—and spare me—spare me!—” For a time +she struggled; but her tender frame was soon overcome by the strength of her +destroyer. She became cold and insensible in his arms. +</p> + +<p> +At this moment a flood of splendid lightning filled the apartment. The air was +rent with the hoarse and deafening roar of the thunder, the door flew open, and +the form of that spectre that he most abhorred stood before Roderic. “Go +on,” cried the phantom, “complete thy heroic purpose. Scorn the +tremendous sounds that now appal thee. They are but the prelude of that scene +that shall shortly feast my eyes. Perceivest thou not the earth to tremble +beneath thy feet? Hearest thou not the walls of thy hated mansion cracking to +their ruin? Confusion is at hand. <i>Chaos is come again.</i> Go on then, +Roderic. Complete thy heroic purpose.” The spectre vanished, and all was +uninterrupted silence. +</p> + +<p> +The whole mind of Roderic was transformed from what it was. For the impotence +of lust, and the cruelty of inexorable triumph, he felt the terrors of +annihilation, and all the cold, damp tremblings of despair. But the victory of +innocence was not yet complete. +</p> + +<p> +Imogen had sunk for a moment under the horrors that threatened her, but she had +not been so far impercipient as not to hear the murmuring of the thunder, and +to see the gleam of the lightning. The form however that terrified Roderic, and +the voice that addressed him, were perceived by him alone. +</p> + +<p> +The shepherdess opened her eyes, and beheld the degenerate ravisher pale, +aghast, and trembling. “It is well, Edwin. The Gods have declared +themselves. The Gods have suspended their thunder over the head of the +apostate. Rut, oh Edwin, could I have imagined it! Desolate and oppressed as I +have been, could I have supposed, that that form was destined to fill up the +measure of my woes! I once beheld it as the harbinger of happiness, as the +temple of integrity and innocence. Oh, how wretched you have made me! How you +have shaken all my most rooted opinions of the residence of virtue among +mankind! Am I alone, and unsupported in her cause? How forlorn and solitary do +I seem to myself! I suffered—once I suffered the thought of Edwin to mix +with the love of rectitude, and the obedience of heaven. They all together +confirmed me in the path I had chalked out for myself. Mistake not these +reproaches for the weakness of returning passion. And yet, Edwin, though I +loath, I pity you! Go, and repent! Go, and blot from the records of your memory +the cold insinuation, the aggravated guilt that you have this day practised! +Go, and let me never, never see you more!” +</p> + +<p> +As she uttered these words, congratulation, reproach, wretchedness, abhorrence +and pity succeeded each other in her countenance. Rut they were all accompanied +with an ineffable dignity, and an angelic purity. The savage and the satyr +might have beheld, and been awed into reverence. Roderic slunk away, guilty, +mortified, and confounded. And such was the success of this other attempt upon +the virtue of Imogen. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap06"></a>BOOK THE SIXTH</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +IMOGEN ENDEAVOURS TO SUBDUE THE ATTENDANTS OF RODERIC.—THE SUPPER OF THE +HALL.—JOURNEY AND ARRIVAL OF EDWIN.—SUBTLETY OF THE +MAGICIAN.—HE IS DEFEATED.—END OF THE SECOND DAY. +</p> + +<p> +The magician, overwhelmed and confounded with uninterrupted disappointment, was +now ready to give himself up to despair. “I have approached the +inflexible fair one,” cried he, “by every avenue that leads to the +female heart. And what is the amount of the advantages I have gained? I tempted +her with riches. But riches she considered with disdain; they had nothing +analogous to the temper of her mind, and her uncultivated simplicity regarded +them as superfluous and cumbersome. I taught her to listen to the voice of +flattery; I clothed it in all that is plausible and insinuating; but to no +purpose. She was still upon her guard; all her suspicions were awake; and her +integrity and her innocence were as vigilant as ever. Incapable of effecting +any thing under that form she had learned to detest, I laid it aside. I assumed +a form most prepossessing and most amiable in her eyes. Surely if her breast +had not been as cold as the snow that clothes the summit of Snowdon; if her +virtue had not been impregnable as the groves of Mona, a stratagem, omnipotent +and impenetrable as this, must have succeeded. She beheld the figure of him she +loved, and this was calculated in a moment of distress to draw forth all her +softness. She beheld the person of him in whom she had been wont to find all +integrity, and place all confidence, and this might have induced her to +apprehend no danger. And yet with how much tender passion, with how distressful +an indignation, with what tumultuous sorrow did she witness his supposed crime? +What then must I do? What yet remains? I love her with a more frantic and +irresistible passion than ever. I cannot abstain from her.—I cannot +dismiss her.—I cannot forget her. Oh Imogen, too lovely, all-attractive +Imogen, for you I stand upon the very brink of fate! Nor is this all. Soon +should I leap the gulph, soon should forget every prudent and colder prospect +in the tumult of my soul, did not that cursed spectre ever shoot across my path +to dash my transports, and to mar my enjoyments. Which way shall I turn? To +leave her, that is impossible. To possess her by open force and manly violence, +that my fate forbids. My understanding is bewildered, and my invention is +lost.—Medoro!”— +</p> + +<p> +Medoro received the well known signal, and stood before Roderic. He waited not +to be addressed, he read the purposes of the heart of the magician. +“Roderic,” cried he, “this moment is the crisis of you[r] +destiny. The occasion, to which the curse pronounced upon you by the inimical +spectre refers, has already in part taken place. YOU HAVE SUED TO A SIMPLE +MAID, WHO BY YOUR CHARMS HAS BEEN TAUGHT TO HATE THE SWAIN THAT ONCE SHE LOVED. +It only remains that she should persevere in the resistance she has hitherto +made, and that A SIMPLE SWAIN, perhaps her favoured Edwin, should defy your +enchantments. Think then of the precipice on which you stand. Yet, yet return, +while it is in your power. One step in advance beyond those you have already +taken may be irretrievable. Alas, Roderic, it is thus that I advise! but I +foresee that my advice will be neglected. The Gods permit to the invisible +inhabitants of air, when strongly invoked by a mortal voice, to assist their +vices and teach adroitness to their passions; but they do not permit an +invocation like this to receive for its reward the lesson of moderation, and +the attainment of happiness. +</p> + +<p> +“Go on then, Roderic, in the path upon which you are inflexibly +determined. You succeeded not in the stratagem of flattery; but it served to +take off the keenness of the aversion of Imogen. She contemplates you now with +somewhat less of horror, and with a virtuous and ingenuous fear of uncandidness +and injustice upon your account. Neither have you succeeded in that deeper +stratagem and less penetrable deceit, the assumption of the form of him she +loved. It has however served to weaken her prepossessions, and relax the chains +of her attachment. She is now the better prepared to receive openly and +impartially the addresses of a stranger swain. Thus even your miscarriages have +furthered your design. Thus may a wise general convert his defeats into the +means of victory. Think not however again to approach her in the coolness of +reason, and the sobriety of the judgment. Hope not by temptation, by flattery, +by prejudice, to shake the immutable character of her mind. There is yet one +way unessayed. You must advance, if you would form the slightest expectations +of victory, by secret and invisible steps. Her virtue must be surrounded, +entangled and enmeshed, or ever her suspicions be awakened, or her integrity +alarmed. This can be effected only by the instrumentality of pleasure. Pleasure +has risen triumphant over many a heart that riches could not conquer, and that +ambition could not subdue. What though she has resisted temptation under the +most alluring form, when her thoughts were collected and all around was +silence?—Let the board of luxury be spread. Let the choicest dainties be +heaped together in unbounded profusion. Let the most skilful musicians awake +the softest instruments. Let neatness, and elegance, and beauty exhibit their +proudest charms. Let every path that leads to delight, let every gratification +that inebriates the soul be discovered. If at that moment temptation approach, +even a meaner and less potent temptation may then succeed. The night advances +with hasty feet. Night is the season of dissipation and luxury. Be this the +hour of experiment, and let the apprehensive mind of Imogen be first +assiduously lulled to repose. Here, Roderic, you must rest your remaining +hopes. There is not another instrument can be discovered, to disarm and +vanquish the human mind. If here you fail, the Gods have decreed it—they +will be obeyed—Imogen must be dismissed from the enchanted halls of +Rodogune.” +</p> + +<p> +With these words the goblin disappeared. The warning he had uttered passed +unheeded, but the magician immediately prepared to employ this last of +stratagems. Summoning the train of attendants of either sex that resided in the +castle, he directed them some to make ready the intended feast, and some to +repair to the apartment of Imogen. The preparations of the enchanted castle +were not like those of a vulgar entertainment. Every thing was accelerated by +invisible agents. The intervention of the retinue of Roderic was scarcely +admitted. The most savoury viands, the most high flavoured ragouts, and the +most delicious wines presented themselves spontaneously to the expecting +attendant. The hall was illuminated with a thousand lustres that depended like +stars from the concave roof, and were multiplied by the reflection of +innumerable mirrors. The whole was arranged with inconceivable expedition. +</p> + +<p> +In the mean time a few of the more distinguished attendants of her own sex +repaired to the presence of Imogen. They found her feeble, spiritless and +disconsolate. “Come,” exclaimed their leader, in an accent of +persuasion; “comply, my lovely girl, let not us alone have reason to +complain of your unfriendliness and inflexibility.” +</p> + +<p> +Imogen was fatigued and she wished not for repose. Grief and persecution had in +a former instance inspired her with the love of solitude. But her feelings were +now of another kind. The disgrace and ingratitude of Edwin had wounded her in +the tenderest point, and she could not think of it but with inexpressible +anguish. She was for the first time afraid of her own reflections, and desirous +to fly from herself. “Yes,” exclaimed she, “and I would go, +if you will promise me that it shall not be to the presence of Roderic. The +castle and the fields, the freshness of the morning air and the gloom of a +dungeon, are equal to me, provided I must be kept back from the arms of my +beloved parents, and their anxious and tender spirits must still be held in +suspence. But indeed I must not, I will not, be continually dragged to the +presence of the man I hate. It is ungenerous, unreasonable, and indecent. What +is the meaning of all this compulsion? Why am I kept here so much against my +will? Why am I dragged from place to place, and from object to object? Surely +all this cannot be mere caprice and tyranny. There must be in it some dark and +guilty meaning that I cannot comprehend. Oh shepherdesses! if ye had any +friendship, if any pity dwelt within your bosoms, ye would surely assist me to +escape this hated confinement. Point but the way, show me but the smallest +hole, by which I might get away to ease and liberty, and I would thank you a +thousand times. You, who appear the leader of the throng, your brow is smooth, +your eyes are gentle and serene, and the bloom of youth still dwells upon your +face. Oh,” added the apprehensive Imogen, and she threw herself upon her +knees—“do not bely the stamp of benevolence and clemency that +nature has planted there. Think if you had parents as I have, whose happiness, +whose existence, are suspended upon mine, if you abbhorred, and detested, and +feared your jailor as I do, what would be your feelings then, and how you would +wish to be treated by a person in your situation. Grant me only the poor and +scanty boon, that you would then conceive your right. Dismiss me, I intreat +you. I cannot bear my situation. My former days have all been sunshine, my +former companions have all been kindness. I have not been educated to encounter +persecution, and misfortunes, and horrors. I cannot encounter them. I cannot +survive it.” +</p> + +<p> +As she pronounced these words, she sunk, feeble, languid, and breathless, upon +the knees of the attendant. They hastened to raise her. They soothed her +ingenuous affliction, and assured her that she should not be intruded upon by +him of whom she had formed so groundless apprehensions. Since then she was +invited to partake of a slight refreshment accompanied only by persons of her +own sex, she did not long hesitate, and was easily persuaded to acquiesce. The +unostentatious kindness of the invitation, and the modesty of the entertainment +she expected, dissipated her fears. It was from solitude that she now wished to +escape; and it was to that simple and temperate relaxation that she had +experienced among the inhabitants of Clwyd, to which she was desirous to +repair. +</p> + +<p> +She was conducted towards a saloon, which had less indeed of a sumptuous and +royal appearance, but was more beautiful, more gay, more voluptuous, and more +extatic than that which had been the scene of the temptation of the morning. +The profuseness of the illuminations outdid the brightness of the meridian sun. +The table was spread in a manner to engage the eye and allure the appetite. +Every vessel that was placed upon it was of massive silver. And in different +corners of the apartment heaps of the most fragrant incense were burning in +urns of gold. The viands were of a nature the most stimulating and delicious; +and the wines were bright and sparkling and gay. As Imogen approached, a stream +of music burst upon her ear of a kind which hitherto she had never witnessed. +It was not the sonorous and swelling notes of praise; it was not the +enthusiastic rapture of the younger bards; it was not the elevated and +celestial sounds that she had been used to hear from the lyre of Llewelyn. But +if it was not so swelling and sublime, it was soft, and melodious, and +insinuating, and overpowering beyond all conception. You could not listen to it +without feeling all the strings of your frame relaxed, and the nobler powers of +your soul lulled into a pleasing slumber. It was madness all. The ear that +heard it could not cease to attend. The mind that listened to it was no longer +master of itself. +</p> + +<p> +Imogen entered the hall, and was received by a train of nymphs, some of them +more beautiful than any she had yet seen, and all attired with every refinement +of elegance and grace. Their hair was in part braided round their bright and +polished foreheads, and in part it hung in wavy and careless ringlets about +their slender necks, and heaving bosoms. Their forms were veiled in loose and +flowing folds of silk of the finest texture, and whiter than the driven snow. +The robes were not embroidered with gold and silver; they were not studded with +emeralds and diamonds; but were adorned on every side with chaplets of the +fairest and freshest flowers. Their heads were crowned with garlands of +amaranth and roses. Though their conduct were tainted with lasciviousness, and +their minds were full of looser thoughts, yet, awed by the virtuous dignity of +Imogen, they suppressed the air of dissolute frolic, and taught by the guileful +lessons of their lord, endeavoured to assume the manners of chaste and harmless +joy. +</p> + +<p> +The shepherdess, struck with the objects which so unexpectedly presented +themselves to her eyes and her ears, started back with involuntary +astonishment. “Is this,” cried she, “the artless feast, and +this the simple fare of which you invited me to partake?” +“Imogen,” replied the principal nymph, “we were willing to do +you honour, and the preparation we have made is slight compared with that which +the roof can afford. We considered your fatigue and your extraordinary +abstinence, and we were willing to compensate them by pleasant food, and a +grateful refreshment.” +</p> + +<p> +“And is such the grateful refreshment, and such the simple and unaffected +relaxation that your minds suggested? Alas, were I to approach this board, it +would be to me a business and not an amusement, an exertion and not a relief. A +feast like this is an object foreign and unpleasing to my eyes. The feasts of +the valley are chesnuts, and cheeses, and apples. Our drink is the water of the +limpid brook, or the fair and foaming beverage that our flocks afford. Such are +the enjoyments of sobriety; such are the gratifications of innocence. Virgins, +I am not weary of the simplicity of the pastoral life. I hug it to my bosom +closer, more fondly than ever.” +</p> + +<p> +“Amiable, spotless maiden! we admire your opinions, and we love your +person. But virtue is not allied to rigour and austerity. Its boundaries are +unconstrained, and graceful, and sweeping. It is a robe which sits easily on +those who are formed to wear it. It gives no awkwardness to their manner, and +puts no force upon their actions. Partake then, my Imogen, in those +refreshments we have prepared for your gratification. If this be not duty, it +is not crime. It is a venial and a harmless indulgence. Do not then mortify +friends that have sought to please you, and refuse your attention to the +assiduities we have demonstrated.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, my gentle shepherdess, it is in vain you plead. I would willingly +qualify my refusal; but I must withdraw. The more you press me, the farther it +is necessary for me to recede. In the morning of this very day, I was simple, +and incautious, and complying. But now I have experienced so many wiles and +escaped so many snares, that this heart, formerly so gentle and susceptible, is +cased in triple steel. I can shut my eyes upon the most splendid attractions. I +can turn a deaf ear to enticements the most alluring, and sounds the most +insinuating. This is the lesson—I thank him for it—that your lord +has taught me. You must not then detain me. I must be permitted to +retire.” And saying this she withdrew with trembling speed. In vain they +insisted, in vain they pursued. Imogen escaped like a bird from the fowler, nor +looked behind. Imogen was deaf to their expostulations, and indurate and +callous as adamant to their persuasions. +</p> + +<p> +The disappointment of Roderic, when he learned of this miscarriage of his great +and final attempt was extreme. He coursed up and down the saloon with all the +impatience of a wild boar pierced by the spear of the hunter, or a wolf from +whom they have torn away her young. He vented his fury upon things inanimate. +He tore his hair, and beat his breast, with tumultuous agony. He imprecated +with a hoarse and furious voice a thousand curses upon those attendants who had +permitted his captive to escape. Through the spacious hall, where every thing a +moment before had worn the face of laboured gaiety and studied smiles, all was +now desolation, and disquiet, and uproar. And urged as the magician had been by +successive provocations, he was ready to overstep every limit he might once +have respected, and to proceed to the most fatal extremities. +</p> + +<p> +In this situation, and as Roderic was hastening with a determined resolution to +follow to the apartment of Imogen, information was suddenly brought to him, +that a young stranger, tall and graceful in his form, and of a frank and noble +countenance, had by some unknown means penetrated beyond the precipices with +which the enchanted castle was surrounded, and in spite of the resistance of +the retinue of the magician had entered the mansion. The dark and guilty heart +of Roderic immediately whispered him—“It is Edwin.—It is +well.—I thank the Gods that they do not hold this aspiring soul in a long +and dreary suspence! Let the destinies overtake me. I am prepared to receive +them. Death, or any of the thousand ills that fortune stores for them she +hates, could not come in a more welcome hour.—Oh Imogen, lovely, adorable +Imogen, how vain has been my authority, how vain the space of my command! Let +then my palaces tumble into ruin—Let that wand which once I boasted, +shivered in a thousand fragments, be cast to all the winds of heaven! I will +glory in desolation and forlornness. I will wrap myself in my poverty. I will +retire to some horrid cave in the midst of the untamed desart, and shagged with +horrid shades, that outgloom the blackness of the infernal regions. There I +will ruminate upon my past felicity. There I will tell over enjoyments never to +return. I will make myself a little universe, and a new and unheard of +satisfaction in the darkness of my reflections, and the depth of my despair. +</p> + +<p> +“And yet surely, surely the Gods have treated me severely, and measured +out to me a hard and merciless fate. What are all the felicities I talk of, and +have prized so much? Oh, they were seasoned, each of them, with a bitter +infusion! Little, little indeed have I tasted of a pure and unmixed happiness. +In my choicest delights, I have felt a vacancy. They have become irksome and +tedious. I have fled from myself; I have fled from the magnificence of my +retinue, to find variety. And yet how dearly am I to pay for a few +gratifications which were in fact no better than specious allurements to +destruction, and flowers that slightly covered the pit of ruin! In the bloom of +manhood, in the full career of youth to be cast forth an UNPITIED, NECESSITOUS, +MISERABLE VAGABOND! All but this I could have borne without a sigh. Were I +threatened with death, in this opening scene of life, I could submit with +cheerfulness. But to drag along a protracted misery, to be shut out from hope, +and yet ever awake to every cruel reflection and every bitter +remorse—This is too much!” +</p> + +<p> +From this dream of unmanly lamentations Roderic was with difficulty recovered +by the assiduities of the attendants. At length incited by their expostulations +to the collectedness of reflection and the fortitude of exertion, he +determined, with that quickness of invention with which he had been endowed at +his birth, upon a plan to elude, if possible, the perseverance of Edwin, and +the menaces of his fate. Recollecting that his person was not unknown to the +swain, he communicated his instructions to those who were about him, and +withdrew himself into a private apartment. +</p> + +<p> +It was Edwin. The instructions of the Druid of Elwy had relieved him from the +insupportable burden that had begun to oppress his mind. Persuaded by him he +had submitted to seek the refreshment of sleep. But sleep shed not her poppies +upon his busy, anxious head. His mind was crouded with a thousand fearful +phantoms. A child of the valley, he was a stranger to misfortune and misery. +Upon the favoured sons of nature calamity makes her deepest impression, and an +impression least capable of being erased. And yet Edwin was full of courage and +adventure; he asked no larger boon than to be permitted to face his rival. But +his inquietude was the offspring of love; and his wariness and caution +originated in the docility of his mind, and his anxious attachment to innocence +and spotless rectitude. +</p> + +<p> +Having passed the watches of the night in uneasy and inexhaustible reflections, +he sprung from his couch as soon as the first dawn of day proclaimed the +approaching sun, and took a hasty leave of the hospitable hermit. Issuing from +the grotto, he bent his steps, in obedience to the direction of Madoc, to that +secret path, which had never before been discovered by any mortal unassisted by +the goblins of the abyss. Before he reached it the golden sun had begun to +decline from his meridian height. He passed along the winding way beneath the +impending precipices, which formed a dark and sullen vault over his head. Ever +and anon large pieces of stone, broken from their native mass, and tumbling +among the craggy caverns, saluted his ear. Now and then he heard a bubbling +fountain bursting from the rock, which presently fell with a loud and dashing +noise along the declivity, and was lost in the pebbles below. The only light by +which his steps were guided, was that which fell in partial and scanty streams +through the fissures of the mountain, and served to discover little more than +the shapelessness of the rocks, and the uncultivated horrors of the scene. +</p> + +<p> +Through these Edwin passed unappalled. His heart was naturally firm and +intrepid, and he now cased himself round with the armour of untainted innocence +and unsullied truth. It was not long before he came forth from this scene of +desolation to that beautiful and cultivated prospect which had already +enchanted the heart of Imogen. To him it had advantages which in the former +case it could not boast. He could contrast its gaiety and brightness with the +obscure and dismal scene from which he had escaped. Nor was he struck only by +the verdure of the prospect, and the vividness of its colours, he also beheld +the inclosure, not, as his amiable mistress had done, from a terrace adjoining +to the mansion; but from the last point of the rock from which he was ready to +descend. The mansion therefore was his principal point of view from this +situation. It stood upon a bold and upright brow that beetled over the plain +below. The ascent was by a large and spacious flight of marble steps. Its +architecture was grand, and simple, and commanding. It was supported by pillars +of the Ionic order. They were constructed of ivory and jet, and their capitals +were overlaid with the purest gold. An object like this to one who had never +before seen any nobler edifice than a shepherd’s cot, or the throne of +turf upon which the bards were elevated at the feast of the Gods, was +surprising, and admirable, and sublime in the highest degree. +</p> + +<p> +“And this,” exclaimed the gallant shepherd, “is the residence +prepared for infamy and lust. The sun pours upon it his light with as large a +hand, the herbage, the flowers and the fruits as fully partake of the bounteous +care of nature, as the vales of simplicity and the fields of innocence. How +venerable and alluring is the edifice I behold! Does not peace dwell within, +and are not the hours of its possessor winged with happiness? Had my youth been +spent among the beasts of the forests, had not my ears drank in the sacred +instructions of the godlike Druids, I might have thought so. But, no. In vain +in the extensive empire that the arts of sorcery and magic afford, shall +felicity be sought. What avails all this splendour? and to what purpose this +mighty profusion? All the possessions that I can boast, are my little flock, my +wattled cottage, and my slender pipe. And yet I carol as jocound a lay, my +heart is as light and frolic, and the tranquility of self-acquittal spreads her +wings as wide over my bosom, as they could were I lord of a hundred hills, and +called all the streamlets of the valley my own. The magician possesses a large +hoard of beauty, and he can wander from fair to fair with unlimited and +fearless licence. All merciful and benign beings, who dwell above this azure +concave, give me my Imogen! Restore her safe and unhurt to these longing, +faithful arms! Let not this arbitrary and imperious tyrant, who grasps wide the +fairest productions of thy creation with a hundred hands,—let him not +wrest from me my solitary lamb,—let him not seize for ever upon that +companion, in whom the most expansive and romantic wishes of my heart had +learned to be satisfied.” +</p> + +<p> +Such were the beautiful and virtuous sentiments of Edwin, as he beheld the +empire of his rival from the head of the rock, and as he crossed the glade that +still divided him from the object of all his exertions. From the eminence upon +which he had paused for a few contemplative moments, the distance had appeared +narrow and trifling. But the equal height of the ground upon which he stood, +and of that which afforded a situation for the palaces of Roderic, had deceived +him. When he looked towards the scene that was to form the termination of his +journey, the glade below escaped from his sight. But when he descended to the +plain, it was otherwise. One swell of the surface he had to traverse succeeded +another; and the irregularity of the ground caused him sometimes to be lost, in +a manner, in the length of the way, and took from him the consolation of being +able so much as to perceive the object of his destination. As he passed the +hills, and climbed each successive ascent, a murmur rose in his bosom; his +impatience grew more and more ungovernable, and the eagerness of his pursuit +taught him to imagine, that his little labour would never be done. +</p> + +<p> +Every performance however of human exertion has its period; and Edwin had at +length surmounted the greater part of the distance, and now gained a larger and +more distinct view of the castle. But by this time the sun was ready to hide +himself in the ocean, and his last rays now gleamed along the valley, and +played in the party-coloured clouds. Meanwhile a dark spot, which had for some +time blotted the brightness of the surrounding azure, expanded itself. The +shades gathered, the light of the sun was hid, and the blackness of the night +forestaled. The wind roared among the mountains, and its terrors were increased +by the hollow bellowings of the beasts they harboured. The shower began; it +descended with fury, and Edwin had scarcely time to gain the protection of an +impervious thicket that crowned the lawn. Here he stood and ruminated. The +solemnity of the scene accorded with the importance of his undertaking. The +pause was friendly. He composed his understanding, and recollected the lessons +of the hospitable hermit. He fortified himself in the habits of virtue; and, +with a manly and conscious humility, recommended this crisis of his innocence +to the protection of heaven. +</p> + +<p> +The shower ceased, but the darkness continued. He had too well marked however +the bent of his journey during the continuance of the day, to permit this to be +any considerable obstacle. In the mean time it doubled and rendered more +affecting the stilness of the night. Nothing was to be heard but the low +whispers of the falling breeze, and the murmurs of the prowling wolf that now +languished and died away upon the ear. This was the moment in which magic lords +it supreme, in which the goblin breaks forth from his confinement, and ranges +unlimited in the nether globe; and in which all that is regular and all that is +beautiful give place to the hunger of the savage brute, and the witcheries of +the sorcerer. But Roderic was otherwise engaged. His heart was employed in +inventing guile, and was lulled into unapprehensive security. But Edwin was +heroic. His bosom swelled with the most generous purposes; and he trusted +unwaveringly in that guardianship that is every where present, and that eye +that never slumbers. +</p> + +<p> +He entered the walls of the enchanted castle. The novelty of the appearance of +a stranger within the circle of those mountains, which no vulgar mortal had yet +penetrated, the dignity of his appearance, and the boldness of his manner, at +first distracted the attendants from the performance of that, which might have +seemed most natural in their situation, and awed them into passiveness. He +still wore that flowing and graceful garb, which was appropriated by the +inhabitants of Clwyd to the celebration of public solemnities. He had passed +through the midst of the shower, and yet one thread of his garment was not +moistened with the impetuousness of its descent. His face wore a more beautiful +and roseat glow than was native to its complexion. His eye was full of +animation and expressiveness. Expectation, and hope, and dignity, and +resolution had their entire effect in his appearance. “It is a celestial +spirit!” cried they. “It is a messenger from the unseen +regions!” and they sought in his person for the insignia that might +confirm and establish their conjecture. +</p> + +<p> +But such was not the imagination of Roderic. The master-guilt to which he was +conscious, was ever ready to take the alarm upon any unexpected event; and he +had immediately conjectured, by a kind of instinctive impression, who was this +new and unwelcome guest. However unguarded and unprepared had been his retinue, +they had recollected themselves sufficiently to detain Edwin in the avenue of +the mansion, till they had received the orders of their lord. These were +immediately communicated; and the magician withdrew himself till the proper +period should arrive for his appearance to the swain. +</p> + +<p> +Edwin, when he had entered the palace of Roderic, had been desirous, if it were +possible, to push forward to the presence of his rival, without making any +previous enquiries, or admitting of a moment’s pause. The frequency +however of the domestics had disappointed his purpose, and he was detained by +them in spite of his efforts. “What means,” cried he, “this +violence? I must enter here. I will not be delayed. My purpose admits not of +trifling and parley. To me every moment is big with fate.” He said. For +Edwin disdained the employment of falsehood and disguise. He lifted the javelin +in his hand, but his heart was too full of gentleness and humanity rashly to +employ the instrument of death. His tone however was resolute, and his gesture +commanding, and the astonished attendants were uncertain in what manner to +conduct themselves. +</p> + +<p> +At this instant a domestic, who had received the instructions of his lord, +entered the court. He had the appearance of superior dignity; and removing the +attendants who pressed with rudeness upon the shepherd, he enquired of him the +cause of his intrusion. “Lead me,” cried Edwin, “to the lord +of your mansion. My business is important and pressing, and will not admit of +being communicated to any other ear. Whence this difficulty? Innocence does not +withdraw from the observation of those who are desirous to approach it; and a +manly courage is not apprehensive of an enemy.” +</p> + +<p> +“Young stranger,” replied the domestic, “you are misinformed. +This mansion knows not a lord. It belongs solely to proprietors of the softer +sex, whom fortune has indulged as you perceive with every thing that is +calculated to give new relish to the pursuits of life, and beguile the lazy +foot of time. It is our boast and our honour to serve these damsels. And could +my report add one ray to their lustre, I would tell you, that they are fair as +the peep of the morning, and more fragrant than beds of violets and roses. It +is their command, that humanity should be extended by all around them, not only +to man, but to the humblest and weakest animals. Though you have entered their +residence by mistake, we shall but fulfil the service they expect in furnishing +you with every assistance and every accommodation in our power. If you are +hungry, come in and partake of the liberal plenty the castle affords. If you +thirst, we will cheerfully offer you the capacious goblet and the richest +wines. If you are fatigued with the travel of the day, or have wandered from +your path and are benighted in your journey, enter their mansion. The +accommodations are large, and they are all free for the use of the poor, the +necessitous, the unfortunate and the miserable.” +</p> + +<p> +Edwin listened with astonishment to the narration. He was not used to the +address of falshood; and strongly warned as he had previously been of the +iniquity of the train, the ingenuousness of his mind induced him at first +without reflection to yield an easy credit to the story that was told him. It +was related with fluency, plausibility, and gravity; and it was accompanied +with a manner seemingly artless and humane, which it was scarcely possible for +one unhackneyed in the stratagems of deceit to distrust and contradict. +</p> + +<p> +“Surely,” replied Edwin, “I cannot be wholly mistaken. At +least has there not a young shepherdess just arrived here, tall, tender and +beautiful, and whose flaxen tresses are more bright than gold, and more +abundant than the blossoms in the spring?” +</p> + +<p> +Before the officious domestic could reply to his enquiries, two of the nymphs, +who had been attired for the feast of Imogen, came into the outer apartment in +which the shepherd was, and advanced toward him. “These are my +mistresses,” cried the attendant. Edwin approached them with respect, and +repeated his former enquiries. They were the most beautiful of the train of +Roderic. They were clad in garments of the whitest silk, and profusely adorned +with chaplets of flowers. Their appearance therefore was calculated to give +them, in a shepherd’s eye, an air of sweetness and simplicity that could +not easily be resisted. +</p> + +<p> +One of them was tall and majestic, and the other low, and of a shape and figure +the most alluring. This appeared to be like a blossom in May, whose colours +discovered to the attentive observer all their attractions, without being +expanded to the careless eye: And that might be supposed to be a few summers +farther advanced to a delicious maturity. The majesty of the one had nothing in +it of the gross, the indelicate, and the forbidding; and the softness of the +other was attempered with inexpressible propriety and grace. Both of them were +gentle and affable. But the affability of the former took the name of benignity +and condescension, and the affability of the latter was full of harmless +gaiety, and a cheerful and unpretending spirit of society. +</p> + +<p> +“We cannot,” replied the elder, “attend to your enquiries +here. The apartment is comfortless and inhospitable. You appear fatigued. And +we pretend not, young stranger, merely to contribute what is in our power to +relieve the uneasiness of your mind, we would also refresh your wearied frame. +Come in then, and we will afford you every satisfaction we are able. Enter the +mansion, and partake of the plenty the Gods have bestowed upon us, and which we +desire not to engross to ourselves.” During these words Edwin surveyed +his fair entertainers with wonder and admiration. But enchanting as they were, +they found not the avenue to his heart. There Imogen reigned alone, and could +not admit of a rival. Even though upon a slighter occasion, and at less +important moment, the purity of his mind, that virtue so much esteemed among +the swains, could have been tainted, yet now that his undertaking whispered +him, “Imogen alone is fair!” now that he feared for her safety, and +hoped every moment to arrive at the dreaded, pleasing period of his anxiety, he +could but be constant and be faithful. He recollected the sage instructions of +the Druid of Elwy: and his resolutions were unshaken as the roots of Snowdon. +</p> + +<p> +He accepted their invitation. Immediately, as upon a signal, an hundred +flambeaux lighted the area and lined the passage to the saloon of pleasure. The +nymphs placed themselves on each side of the shepherd, and in this manner they +passed along. If Imogen had been struck with the profuseness of the +illumination, the richness of the plate, the sumptuousness of the viands and +the wines, and the fragrant clouds of incense that filled the apartment, how +much more were they calculated to astonish the soul of Edwin! He had +comparatively passed through no previous scenes; he had not been led on step by +step; and the voluptuousness of the objects that now presented themselves +before him had been unknown and unexpected. The train of the subordinate +attendants of the magician filled the apartment with beauty and with grace, and +seemed to pay the most unreserved obedience to the nymphs that at first +addressed him. +</p> + +<p> +But before the shepherd had time to examine the objects that surrounded him, +the musicians awaked their instruments, and all his faculties were engrossed +with soft melody and enchanting sounds. The instrumental performance was +illustrated and completed with a multitude of harmonious voices, and those who +sang were each of them of the softer sex. +</p> + +<p> +“What are the possessions most eagerly courted among mankind? Which are +the divinities by mortals most assiduously adored? This goodly universe was +intended for the seat of pleasure, unmixed pleasure. But a sportive, malicious +divinity sent among men a gaudy phantom, an empty bubble, and called the shadow +Honour. In pursuit of a fancied distinction and a sounding name, the children +of the earth have deserted all that is bland and all that is delicious. Labour, +naked, deformed, and offensive, they willingly embrace. They brave hardship and +severity. They laugh at danger. From hence they derive the virtue of +resolution, the merit of self-denial, and the excellence of mortification. +</p> + +<p> +“But heaven did not open wide its hand, and scatter delight through every +corner of the universe, without intending that they should be enjoyed. +Enjoyment, indulgence, and felicity are not crimes. Abstinence, self-denial and +mortification have only a specious mien and a fictitious merit. Did all mankind +obey their fallacious dictates, the unlimited bounties of nature would become a +burden to the earth, and fill it with pestilence and contagion. The soil would +be oppressed with her own fertility; the herds would overmultitude their lords; +and the crouded air would be darkened with the plumes of its numerous +inhabitants. The very gems that now lie buried in the bosom of the ocean, would +then bespangle its surface, and the dumb tenants of the watery tracts, inured +to their blaze, would learn to leave the caverns of the sea and gaze upon the +sun. +</p> + +<p> +“Mortals, open your hearts to the divinity of pleasure! Why should he be +in love with labour, who has a capacious hoard of choice delights within his +reach? Why should we fly from a present good that we possess, to a future that +we do not comprehend? Is this the praise we owe the bounteous Gods? Can neglect +and indifference to their gifts be gratitude? This were to serve them like a +timorous and trembling slave beneath the eye of an austere and capricious +tyrant; and not with that generosity, that enthusiasm, that liberal +self-confidence, which are worthy of a father, a patron and a friend. +</p> + +<p> +“Ye that are wise, ye that are favoured of propitious heaven, drink deep +of the cup of pleasure. The sun has now withdrawn his splendid lustre, and his +flaring beams. The period of exercise is past, and the lids of prying curiosity +is [are] closed. Night is the season of feast and the season of gaiety. In the +graver hours of activity and industry, sobriety may be proper. It may then be +fit to listen to the dictates of prudence, and pay some attention to the +prejudices of mankind. The sternness of age and the austerity of censoriousness +are now silent. Now pleasure wears a freer garb; and the manners of enjoyment +are more frank and unrestrained. The thinness of indiscretion and the airy +forms of inadvertence are lost and annihilated amid the shadows of the night. +</p> + +<p> +“Now the numerous inhabitants of the waters come forth from their oozy +beds and play and flounce in the beams of the moon. Round the luminary of the +night the stars lead up the mystic dance, and compose the music of the spheres. +The deities of the woods and the deities of the rivers come out from their +secret haunts, and keep their pastimes unapprehensive of human intrusion. The +elves and the fairies repair to their sports, and trip along the velvet green +with many-twinkling feet. Let us imitate their amiable alacrity and their +cheerful amusements. +</p> + +<p> +“What has sleep to do with the secrecy and silence of the night? It is +the hour of pleasure unrestrained and free. It is the hour in which the empire +of beauty is complete, and those mysteries are disclosed which the profaner eye +of day must never behold. Ye that are wise, ye that are favoured of propitious +heaven, drink deep of the cup of pleasure! The festive board is spread before +you; the flowing bowl is proffered for your acceptance. Beauty, the crown of +enjoyment, the last perfection of society, is within your reach. Be wise and +taste. Partake of the munificence the Gods vouchsafe.” +</p> + +<p> +As the song proceeded the two nymphs, who had first appeared to Edwin, and +since attended him with the extremest officiousness, endeavoured by every +artful blandishment to engage his attention, and rivet his partiality. They +exerted themselves to suppress the grossness, inelegance and sensuality to +which they had commonly been habituated, and to cover the looseness of the +passions with the veil of simplicity, delicacy, and softness. As the music +ceased, the master of the spectacle came forth from his retreat. But his figure +was no longer that which bespoke the magician, and which Edwin had already +seen. He appeared in the form of a youth of that age in which the frolic +insignificance of childhood gives place to the eagerness, the enthusiasm and +the engaging manners of blooming manhood. His habit was that of a cupbearer. +His robes were of azure silk, and floated in graceful folds as he passed along. +The beauty of his person was worthy of the synod of the Gods. His features had +all the softness of woman without effeminacy; and in his eye there sat a +lambent fire which bespoke the man, without roughness, and without ferocity. In +one hand he bore a crystal goblet full of every potent enchantment, and which +rendered him who drank for ever a slave to the most menial offices and the most +wanton caprices of his seducer. In the other hand he held loosely, and as if it +had been intended merely to give a completeness to his figure and a +gracefulness to his step, that irresistible wand by which the majesty of man +had often been degraded, and the reluctant spirit had been conjured up from the +caverns of the abyss. The goblet he delivered to the elder nymph, who presented +it, with inimitable grace and a bewitching condescension, to the gallant +shepherd. +</p> + +<p> +Edwin had the fortitude of a hero, but he had also the feelings of a man. He +could not but be struck with the beauty of the nymphs, he could not but be +surprised with the profuseness of the entertainment, and the richness of the +preparations. The soul of Edwin was full of harmony. It had been one of his +earliest and most ruling passions. No shepherd excelled him in the skill of the +pipe, no shepherd with a sweeter or more sonorous voice could carol the rustic +lay. Even the figure assumed by Roderic, his garb, his step, his gesture had +something in them of angelic and celestial without the blaze of divinity, and +without the awfulness that surrounds the godlike existencies, that sometimes +condescend to visit this sublunary scene. The shepherd took into his hand the +fatal bowl. +</p> + +<p> +In the midst however of all that was attractive, and all that was unknown, +Edwin had not forgotten the business that had brought him hither and the +lessons of Madoc. The visage of Imogen, ever present to his soul, suggested +these salutary reflections. By her assistance he strengthened all his +resolutions, and gave vigour to the heroism of his mind. Through the memory of +Imogen he derived a body, and communicated a visible form to the precepts of +rectitude; and virtue wore all those charms that had the most uncontroled +empire in his bosom. Half way to his lips he raised the cup of vice, and +inexorable fate sat smiling on the brim. He paused; he hesitated. By an +irresistible impulse of goodness he withdrew the fatal draught. He shed the +noxious composition upon the ground, and hurled from him with indignation the +vessel in which it had been contained. +</p> + +<p> +Roderic beheld the scene with deep emotion, and was agitated by turns with a +thousand passions. He saw the issue with confusion, despondence and fury. The +roseat smiles of the cupbearer vanished; and, without the notice and consent of +his mind, his limbs resumed their wonted form, and his features confirmed the +suspicions of the shepherd, that he was now confronted with his mortal enemy. +Thrice the magician invoked the spirit of his mother, and thrice he conjured +the goblins, the most potent that ever mix in the mortal scene. He lifted the +wand in his hand. It was the fiery ordeal that summons human character to the +severest trial. It was the <i>judgment of God</i> in which the lots are +devoutly committed to the disposal of heaven, and the enthroned Divinity, +guided by his omniscience of the innocence of the brave, or the guilt of the +presumptuous, points the barbed spear, and gives a triple edge to the shining +steel. If the shepherd had one base and earth-born particle in his frame, if +his soul confessed one sordid and sensual desire, now was the time in which for +his prospects to be annihilated and his reputation blotted for ever, and the +state and empire of his rival to be fixed beyond the power of human +machinations to shake or subvert it. “Presumptuous swain!” cried +the sorcerer, “what folly, what unmeaning rashness has brought you within +the circle of my incantations? Know that from them no mortal has escaped; that +by them every swain, whom adventurousness, ignorance, or stratagem has +introduced within these limits, has been impelled to assume the savage form, +and to herd with the most detestable of brutes. Let then thy foolhardiness pay +the penalty which my voice has ever annexed to it. Hence to thy fellows! Go, +and let their hated form bely the reason thou shalt still retain, and thy own +voice affright thee, when thou shalt groan under irremediable misery!” +</p> + +<p> +The incantation that had never yet failed of its hated purpose was pronounced +in vain. Edwin had heard it unappalled. He wore the amulet of Madoc. He opposed +to it the unconquered shield of spotless innocence. Even in the midst of the +lordly despotism and the imperious haughtiness of his rival, he had been +conscious to the triumph which nothing but the calmness of fortitude and the +serenity of virtue can inspire. He was mindful of the precepts of the Druid. +While Roderic was overwhelmed with disappointment and despair, he seized the +wand of the magician, and with irresistible vigour wrenched it from his hand. +He struck it with violence upon the ground, and it burst into a thousand +shivers. The castle rocked over his head. Those caverns, which for revolving +years had served to hide the iniquity and the cruelty of their possessor, +disclosed their secret horrors. The whole stupendous pile seemed rushing to the +ground. A flood of lightning streamed across the scene. A peal of thunder, +deafening and tremendous, followed it. All now was vacancy. Not a trace of +those costly scenes and that magnificent architecture remained. The heaven +over-canopied the head of Edwin. The clouds were dissipated. The light of +innumerable stars gave grandeur to the scene. And the silver moon communicated +a milder lustre, and created a softer shade. Roderic and his train, full of +pusillanimity and consternation, had fled from the direful scene, and vanished +like shadows at the rising of the sun. +</p> + +<p> +No mortal, but our lovers, had ever entered the enchanted mansion without +having their characters disgraced, and their hearts thronged with all those +hateful and dissolute passions, which distinguished the band of Roderic. No +mortal was there, but our lovers, of the numerous inhabitants of this bad +edifice, who had not shrunk from the earthquake and the solemnities that +accompanied its sub-version. Edwin and Imogen were alone. The shepherdess had +listened to all the horrors of the scene with a gloomy kind of satisfaction. +“What new wonders,” cried she, “are now to be disclosed? What +purpose are they intended to answer! The amendment, or the destruction of my +betrayer? But it is well. Though the elements mix in inextricable confusion, +though the earth be destroyed, yet has innocence no cause to fear. Alas, though +I myself should be buried in the ruin, why should I apprehend, or why lament +it? I was happy; untaintedly, uninterruptedly happy. But I am miserable. I am +confined here in a loathsome, detested prison. Even my conduct is shut up with +difficulties, and my bosom disquieted with the conflict of seeming duties. Even +Edwin, the swain to whom my heart was united, and from whose memory my +integrity derived new strength is corrupted, depraved and base. Let then +destruction come. I will not lament the being cut off in the bloom of youth. I +will not shed one tear, or feel one fond regret, but for the calamity and +disappointment of my parents.” +</p> + +<p> +But however the despair of Imogen armed her courage against the concussions of +nature, she yet felt that delicacy of constitution which characterises the most +lovely of her sex, and that amiable timidity which often accompanies the most +invincible fortitude. When the thunder roared with so fearful violence, when +the mansion burst in ruins over her head, she stood, trembling and breathless, +at the tumult around her. Her safety was the first object of the attention of +Edwin; and when she recovered her recollection she found herself in the arms of +her lover. “<i>My fair one, my Imogen</i>,” cried he, “have I +recovered you through so many obstacles, and in the midst of so numerous +dangers? Oh, how must our affection, the purest, brightest, that ever lighted a +human breast, be endeared by our mutual calamities! But virtue is ever +triumphant, virtue is never deserted of the watchful care of heaven. My trials, +my lovely shepherdess, have been feeble indeed, when compared with yours. Your +integrity is unrivalled, and your innocence has surpassed all that the bards +have sung in their immortal lays. Come then, oh, dearer, far dearer than ever +to this constant heart, come to my arms! Let delay be banished. Let the veil of +virgin bashfulness be laid aside. And let us repair together to the presence of +your parents to ask an united blessing.” +</p> + +<p> +While Edwin thus poured forth the raptures of his heart, Imogen turned towards +him a languid eye, full of soft and silent reproach. She retired from him with +involuntary horror. “No, shepherd,” cried she, and waved her hand +with graceful indignation. “Like you I approve the justice of the Gods in +the banishment of Roderic. But I think that justice would have been more +complete, had it included in its vindictive appearance the punishment of the +base, degenerate Edwin. Unworthy Edwin, to how vile and earth born sentiments +has your heart been conscious! But go. Hence from my sight! The very spectacle +of that form which I had learned to love is mildew and contagion to my eyes. +Oh, Edwin, for your sake I will distrust every attractive form and every +ingenuous appearance. The separation, my swain, is hard. The arts of Roderic +came not near my soul, but your baseness has fixed an indelible wound. But +think not—cherish not the fond mistake—that I will ever forget your +ungenerousness in the hour of my distress and forlornness, or receive that +serpent to my heart again.” +</p> + +<p> +As she pronounced these words, she hastened to fly from her imaginary enemy. +Edwin detained her by a gentle violence. With much intreaty and a thousand soft +blandishments, he wrung from her the story of her indignation. He related to +her the tale of Madoc, and told her of the magic arts of his rival. He fully +explained the scene of the pretended repentance of Roderic, and the seduction +he had attempted to practise under the form of Edwin. As she listened to the +wondrous story, Imogen trembled at the unknown dangers with which she had been +environed, and admired more than ever the omnipotence of that virtue which had +been able to lead her safely through them all. The conviction she received of +the rectitude and fidelity of Edwin was to her, like the calm breath of zephyr, +which succeeds the tremendous storm upon the surface of the ocean; and like +that sovereign balm, which the sage Druids pour into the wounds of the +shepherd, and restore him at once to salubrity and vigour. The amiable pair +repaired with speed, and arrived with the dawn of the sun to the cottage of +Imogen. At the sight of them the venerable Edith reared her drooping, +desponding head, and the cheeks of the hoary father were bedewed with the tears +of transport. Such were the trials of our lovers, and of correspondent worth +was the reward they received. Long did they dwell together in the vale of +Clwyd, with that simplicity and attachment which no scenes but those of +pastoral life can know. Their happiness was more sensible than that of the +swains around them in that they had known a reverse of fortune. And their +virtue was the purer and the more benevolent, in that they had passed through +the fields of trial; and that only through the ordeal of temptation, and an +approved fortitude, they had arrived to the unmixed felicity, and the +uninterrupted enjoyment they at length possessed. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Imogen, by William Godwin + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IMOGEN *** + +***** This file should be named 9152-h.htm or 9152-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/9/1/5/9152/ + +Produced by Produced by Jonathan Ingram, David Garcia and Distributed Proofreaders + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Imogen + A Pastoral Romance + +Author: William Godwin + +Posting Date: August 7, 2012 [EBook #9152] +Release Date: October, 2005 +First Posted: September 8, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IMOGEN *** + + + + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, David Garcia and Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + + + + + + +IMOGEN + +A Pastoral Romance + +_From the Ancient British_ + +By WILLIAM GODWIN + + + + + + +Preface + +[_By_ WILLIAM GODWIN] + + +The following performance, as the title imports, was originally composed +in the Welch language. Its style is elegant and pure. And if the +translator has not, as many of his brethren have done, suffered the +spirit of the original totally to evaporate, he apprehends it will be +found to contain much novelty of conception, much classical taste, and +great spirit and beauty in the execution. It appears under the name of +Cadwallo, an ancient bard, who probably lived at least one hundred years +before the commencement of our common era. The manners of the primitive +times seem to be perfectly understood by the author, and are described +with the air of a man who was in the utmost degree familiar with them. +It is impossible to discover in any part of it the slightest trace of +Christianity. And we believe it will not be disputed, that in a country +so pious as that of Wales, it would have been next to impossible for the +poet, though ever so much upon his guard, to avoid all allusion to the +system of revelation. On the contrary, every thing is Pagan, and in +perfect conformity with the theology we are taught to believe prevailed +at that time. + +These reasons had induced us to admit, for a long time, that it was +perfectly genuine, and justly ascribed to the amiable Druid. With +respect to the difficulty in regard to the preservation of so long a +work for many centuries by the mere force of memory, the translator, +together with the rest of the world, had already got over that objection +in the case of the celebrated Poems of Ossian. And if he be not blinded +by that partiality, which the midwife is apt to conceive for the +productions, that she is the instrument of bringing into the world, the +Pastoral Romance contains as much originality, as much poetical beauty, +and is as happily calculated to make a deep impression upon the memory, +as either Fingal, or Temora. + +The first thing that led us to doubt its authenticity, was the striking +resemblance that appears between the plan of the work, and Milton's +celebrated Masque at Ludlow Castle. We do not mean however to hold forth +this circumstance as decisive in its condemnation. The pretensions of +Cadwallo, or whoever was the author of the performance, are very high to +originality. If the date of the Romance be previous to that of Comus, it +may be truly said of the author, that he soared above all imitation, and +derived his merits from the inexhaustible source of his own invention. +But Milton, it is well known, proposed some classical model to himself +in all his productions. The Paradise Lost is almost in every page an +imitation of Virgil, or Homer. The Lycidas treads closely in the steps +of the Daphnis and Gallus of Virgil. The Sampson Agonistes is formed +upon the model of Sophocles. Even the little pieces, L'Allegro and Il +Penseroso have their source in a song of Fletcher, and two beautiful +little ballads that are ascribed to Shakespeare. But the classical model +upon which Comus was formed has not yet been discovered. It is +infinitely unlike the Pastoral Comedies both of Italy and England. And +if we could allow ourselves in that licence of conjecture, which is +become almost inseparable from the character of an editor, we should +say: That Milton having written it upon the borders of Wales, might have +had easy recourse to the manuscript whose contents are now first given +to the public: And that the singularity of preserving the name of the +place where it was first performed in the title of his poem, was +intended for an ingenuous and well-bred acknowledgement of the source +from whence he drew his choicest materials. + +But notwithstanding the plausibility of these conjectures, we are now +inclined to give up our original opinion, and to ascribe the performance +to a gentleman of Wales, who lived so late as the reign of king William +the third. The name of this amiable person was Rice ap Thomas. The +romance was certainly at one time in his custody, and was handed down as +a valuable legacy to his descendants, among whom the present translator +has the honour to rank himself. Rice ap Thomas, Esquire, was a man of a +most sweet and inoffensive disposition, beloved and respected by all his +neighbours and tenants, and "passing rich with 'sixty' pounds a year." +In his domestic he was elegant, hospitable, and even sumptuous, for the +time and country in which he lived. He was however naturally of an +abstemious and recluse disposition. He abounded in singularities, which +were pardoned to his harmlessness and his virtues; and his temper was +full of sensibility, seriousness, and melancholy. He devoted the greater +part of his time to study; and he boasted that he had almost a complete +collection of the manuscript remains of our Welch bards. He was often +heard to prefer even to Taliessin, Merlin, and Aneurim, the effusions of +the immortal Cadwallo, and indeed this was the only subject upon which +he was ever known to dispute with eagerness and fervour. In the midst of +the controversy, he would frequently produce passages from the Pastoral +Romance, as decisive of the question. And to confess the truth, I know +not how to excuse this piece of jockeyship and ill faith, even in Rice +ap Thomas, whom I regard as the father of my family, and the chief +ornament of my beloved country. + +Some readers will probably however be inclined to apologise for the +conduct of Mr. Thomas, and to lay an equivalent blame to my charge. They +will tell me, that nothing but the weakest partiality could blind me to +the genuine air of antiquity with which the composition is every where +impressed, and to ascribe it to a modern writer. But I am conscious to +my honesty and defy their malice. So far from being sensible of any +improper bias in favour of my ancestor, I am content to strengthen their +hands, by acknowledging that the manuscript, which I am not at all +desirous of refusing to their inspection, is richly emblazoned with all +the discoloration and rust they can possibly desire. I confess that the +wording has the purity of Taliessin, and the expressiveness of Aneurim, +and is such as I know of no modern Welchman who could write. And yet, in +spite as they will probably tell me of evidence and common sense, I +still aver my persuasion, that it is the production of Rice ap Thomas. + +But enough, and perhaps too much, for the question of its antiquity. It +would be unfair to send it into the world without saying something of +the nature of its composition. It is unlike the Arcadia of sir Philip +Sidney, and unlike, what I have just taken the trouble of running over, +the Daphnis of Gessner. It neither on the one hand leaves behind it the +laws of criticism, and mixes together the different stages of +civilization; nor on the other will it perhaps be found frigid, +uninteresting, and insipid. The prevailing opinion of Pastoral seems to +have been, that it is a species of composition admirably fitted for the +size of an eclogue, but that either its nature will not be preserved, or +its simplicity will become surfeiting in a longer performance. And +accordingly, the Pastoral Dramas of Tasso, Guarini, and Fletcher, +however they may have been commended by the critics, and admired by that +credulous train who clap and stare whenever they are bid, have when the +recommendation of novelty has subsided been little attended to and +little read. But the great Milton has proved that this objection is not +insuperable. His Comus is a master-piece of poetical composition. It is +at least equal in its kind even to the Paradise Lost. It is interesting, +descriptive and pathetic. Its fame is continually increasing, and it +will be admired wherever the name of Britain is repeated, and the +language of Britain is understood. + +If our hypothesis respecting the date of the present performance is +admitted, it must be acknowleged that the ingenious Mr. Thomas has +taken the Masque of Milton for a model; and the reader with whom Comus +is a favourite, will certainly trace some literal imitations. With +respect to any objections that may be made on this score to the Pastoral +Romance, we will beg the reader to bear in mind, that the volumes before +him are not an original, but a translation. Recollecting this, we may, +beside the authority of Milton himself, and others as great poets as +ever existed who have imitated Homer and one another at least as much as +our author has done Comus, suggest two very weighty apologies. In the +first place, imitation in a certain degree, has ever been considered as +lawful when made from a different language: And in the second, these +imitations come to the reader exaggerated, by being presented to him in +English, and by a person who confesses, that he has long been conversant +with our greatest poets. The translator has always admired Comus as much +as the Pastoral Romance; he has read them together, and been used to +consider them as illustrating each other. Any verbal coincidences into +which he may have fallen, are therefore to be ascribed where they are +due, to him, and not to the author. And upon the whole, let the +imperfections of the Pastoral Romance be what they will, he trusts he +shall be regarded as making a valuable present to the connoisseurs and +the men of taste, and an agreeable addition to the innocent amusements +of the less laborious classes of the polite world. + + + + + + +BOOK THE FIRST + +CHARACTER OF THE SHEPHERDESS AND HER LOVER.--FEAST OF RUTHYN.--SONGS OF +THE BARDS. + + +Listen, O man! to the voice of wisdom. The world thou inhabitest was not +intended for a theatre of fruition, nor destined for a scene of repose. +False and treacherous is that happiness, which has been preceded by no +trial, and is connected with no desert. It is like the gilded poison +that undermines the human frame. It is like the hoarse murmur of the +winds that announces the brewing tempest. Virtue, for such is the decree +of the Most High, is evermore obliged to pass through the ordeal of +temptation, and the thorny paths of adversity. If, in this day of her +trial, no foul blot obscure her lustre, no irresolution and instability +tarnish the clearness of her spirit, then may she rejoice in the view of +her approaching reward, and receive with an open heart the crown that +shall be bestowed upon her. + +The extensive valley of Clwyd once boasted a considerable number of +inhabitants, distinguished for primeval innocence and pastoral +simplicity. Nature seemed to have prepared it for their reception with +all that luxuriant bounty, which characterises her most favoured spots. +The inclosure by which it was bounded, of ragged rocks and snow-topt +mountains, served but for a foil to the richness and fertility of this +happy plain. It was seated in the bosom of North Wales, the whole face +of which, with this one exception, was rugged and hilly. As far as the +eye could reach, you might see promontory rise above promontory. The +crags of Penmaenmawr were visible to the northwest, and the unequalled +steep of Snowden terminated the prospect to the south. In its farthest +extent the valley reached almost to the sea, and it was intersected, +from one end to the other, by the beautiful and translucent waters of +the river from which it receives its name. + +In this valley all was rectitude and guileless truth. The hoarse din of +war had never reached its happy bosom; its river had never been +impurpled with the stain of human blood. Its willows had not wept over +the crimes of its inhabitants, nor had the iron hand of tyranny taught +care and apprehension to seat themselves upon the brow of its shepherds. +They were strangers to riches, and to ambition, for they all lived in a +happy equality. He was the richest man among them, that could boast of +the greatest store of yellow apples and mellow pears. And their only +objects of rivalship were the skill of the pipe and the favour of +beauty. From morn to eve they tended their fleecy possessions. Their +reward was the blazing hearth, the nut-brown beer, and the merry tale. +But as they sought only the enjoyment of a humble station, and the +pleasures of society, their labours were often relaxed. Often did the +setting sun see the young men and the maidens of contiguous villages, +assembled round the venerable oak, or the wide-spreading beech. The +bells rung in the upland hamlets; the rebecs sounded with rude harmony; +they danced with twinkling feet upon the level green or listened to the +voice of the song, which was now gay and exhilarating, and now soothed +them into pleasing melancholy. + +Of all the sons of the plain, the bravest, and the most comely, was +Edwin. His forehead was open and ingenuous, his hair was auburn, and +flowed about his shoulders in wavy ringlets. His person was not less +athletic than it was beautiful. With a firm hand he grasped the +boar-spear, and in pursuit he outstripped the flying fawn. His voice was +strong and melodious, and whether upon the pipe or in the song, there +was no shepherd daring enough to enter the lists with Edwin. But though +he excelled all his competitors, in strength of body, and the +accomplishments of skill, yet was not his mind rough and boisterous. +Success had not taught him a despotic and untractable temper, applause +had not made him insolent and vain. He was gentle as the dove. He +listened with eager docility to the voice of hoary wisdom. He had always +a tear ready to drop over the simple narrative of pastoral distress. +Victor as he continually was in wrestling, in the race, and in the song, +the shout of triumph never escaped his lips, the exultation of insult he +was never heard to utter. On the contrary, with mild and unfictitious +friendship, he soothed the breast of disappointment, and cheered the +spirits of his adversary with honest praise. + +But Edwin was not more distinguished among his brother shepherds, than +was Imogen among the fair. Her skin was clear and pellucid. The fall of +her shoulders was graceful beyond expression. Her eye-brows were arched, +and from her eyes shot forth the grateful rays of the rising sun. Her +waist was slender; and as she ran, she outstripped the winds, and her +footsteps were printless on the tender herb. Her mind, though soft, was +firm; and though yielding as wax to the precepts of wisdom, and the +persuasion of innocence, it was resolute and inflexible to the +blandishments of folly, and the sternness of despotism. Her ruling +passion was the love of virtue. Chastity was the first feature in her +character. It gave substance to her accents, and dignity to her +gestures. Conscious innocence ennobled all her reflexions, and gave to +her sentiments and manner of thinking, I know not what of celestial and +divine. + +Edwin and Imogen had been united in the sports of earliest infancy. They +had been mutual witnesses to the opening blossoms of understanding and +benevolence in each others breasts. While yet a boy, Edwin had often +rescued his mistress from the rude vivacity of his playmates, and had +bestowed upon her many of those little distinctions which were +calculated to excite the flame of envy among the infant daughters of the +plain. For her he gathered the vermeil-tinctured pearmain, and the +walnut with an unsavoury rind; for her he hoarded the brown filberd, and +the much prized earth-nut. When she was near, the quoit flew from his +arm with a stronger whirl, and his steps approached more swiftly to the +destined goal. With her he delighted to retire from the heat of the sun +to the centre of the glade, and to sooth her ear with the gaiety of +innocence, long before he taught her to hearken to the language of love. +For her sake he listened with greater eagerness to the mirthful +relation, to the moral fiction, and to the song of the bards. His store +of little narratives was in a manner inexhaustible. With them he +beguiled the hour of retirement, and with them he hastened the sun to +sink behind the western hill. + +But as he grew to manly stature, and the down of years had begun to +clothe his blushing cheek, he felt a new sensation in his breast +hitherto unexperienced. He could not now behold his favourite companion +without emotion; his eye sparkled when he approached her; he watched her +gestures; he hung upon her accents; he was interested in all her +motions. Sometimes he would catch the eye of prudent age or of +sharp-sighted rivalry observing him, and he instantly became embarrassed +and confused, and blushed he knew not why. He repaired to the +neighbouring wake, in order to exchange his young lambs and his hoard of +cheeses. Imogen was not there, and in the midst of traffic, and in the +midst of frolic merriment he was conscious to a vacancy and a +listlessness for which he could not account. When he tended his flocks, +and played upon his slender pipe, he would sink in reverie, and form to +himself a thousand schemes of imaginary happiness. Erewhile they had +been vague and general. His spirit was too gentle for him not to +represent to himself a fancied associate; his heart was not narrow +enough to know so much as the meaning of a solitary happiness. But +Imogen now formed the principal figure in these waking dreams. It was +Imogen with whom he wandered beside the brawling rill. It was Imogen +with whom he sat beneath the straw-built shed, and listened to the +pealing rain, and the hollow roaring of the northern blast. If a moment +of forlornness and despair fell to his lot, he wandered upon the heath +without his Imogen, and he climbed the upright precipice without her +harmonious voice to cheer and to animate him. In a word, passion had +taken up her abode in his guileless heart before he was aware of her +approach. Imogen was fair; and the eye of Edwin was enchanted. Imogen +was gentle; and Edwin loved. + +Simple as was the character of the inhabitants of this happy valley, it +is not to be supposed that Edwin found many obstacles to the enjoyment +of the society of his mistress. Though strait as the pine, and beautiful +as the gold-skirted clouds of a summer morning, the parents of Imogen +had not learned to make a traffic of the future happiness of their care. +They sought not to decide who should be the fortunate shepherd that +should carry her from the sons of the plain. They left the choice to her +penetrating wit, and her tried discretion. They erected no rampart to +defend her chastity; they planted no spies to watch over her reputation. +They entrusted her honour to her own keeping. They were convinced, that +the spotless dictates of conscious innocence, and that divinity that +dwells in virtue and awes the shaggy satyr into mute admiration, were +her sufficient defence. They left to her the direction of her conduct. +The shepherdess, unsuspicious by nature, and untaught to view mankind +with a wary and a jealous eye, was a stranger to severity and caprice. +She was all gentleness and humanity. The sweetness of her temper led her +to regard with an eye of candour, and her benevolence to gratify all the +innocent wishes, of those about her. The character of a woman +undistinguishing in her favours, and whose darling employment is to +increase the number of her admirers, is in the highest degree unnatural. +Such was not the character of Imogen. She was artless and sincere. Her +tongue evermore expressed the sentiments of her heart. She drew the +attention of no swain from a rival; she employed no stratagems to +inveigle the affections; she mocked not the respect of the simple +shepherd with delusive encouragement. No man charged her with broken +vows; no man could justly accuse her of being cruel and unkind. + +It may therefore readily be supposed, that the subject of love rather +glided into the conversation of Edwin and Imogen, than was regularly and +designedly introduced. They were unknowing in the art of disguising +their feelings. When the tale spoke of peril and bravery, the eyes of +Edwin sparkled with congenial sentiments, and he was evermore ready to +start from the grassy hilloc upon which they sat. When the little +narrative told of the lovers pangs, and the tragic catastrophe of two +gentle hearts whom nature seemed to have formed for mildness and +tranquility, Imogen was melted into the softest distress. The breast of +her Edwin would heave with a sympathetic sigh, and he would even +sometimes venture, from mingled pity and approbation, to kiss away the +tear that impearled her cheek. Intrepid and adventurous with the hero, +he began also to take a new interest in the misfortunes of love. He +could not describe the passionate complaints, the ingenuous tenderness +of another, without insensibly making the case his own. "Had the lover +known my Imogen, he would no longer have sighed for one, who could not +have been so fair, so gentle, and so lovely." Such were the thoughts of +Edwin; and till now Edwin had always expressed his thoughts. But now the +words fell half-formed from his trembling lips, and the sounds died away +before they were uttered. "Were I to speak, Imogen, who has always +beheld me with an aspect of benignity, might be offended. I should say +no more than the truth; but Imogen is modest. She does not suspect that +she possesses half the superiority over such as are called fair, which I +see in her. And who could bear to incur the resentment of Imogen? Who +would irritate a temper so amiable and mild? I should say no more than +the truth; but Imogen would think it flattery. Let Edwin be charged with +all other follies, but let that vice never find a harbour in his bosom; +let the imputation of that detested crime never blot his untarnished +name." + +Edwin had received from nature the gift of an honest and artless +eloquence. His words were like the snow that falls beneath the beams of +the sun; _they melted as they fell_. Had it been his business to +have pleaded the cause of injured innocence or unmerited distress, his +generous sympathy and his manly persuasion must have won all hearts. Had +he solicited the pursuit of rectitude and happiness, his ingenuous +importunity could not have failed of success. But where the mind is too +deeply interested, there it is that the faculties are most treacherous. +Ardent were the sighs of Edwin, but his voice refused its assistance, +and his tongue faultered under the attempts that he made. Fluent and +voluble upon all other subjects, upon this he hesitated. For the first +time he was dissatisfied with the expressions that nature dictated. For +the first time he dreaded to utter the honest wishes of his heart, +apprehensive that he might do violence to the native delicacy of Imogen. + +But he needed not have feared. Imogen was not blind to those perfections +which every mouth conspired to praise. Her heart was not cold and +unimpassioned; she could not see these perfections, united with youth +and personal beauty, without being attracted. The accents of Edwin were +music to her ear. The tale that Edwin told, interested her twice as much +as what she heard from vulgar lips. To wander with Edwin along the +flowery mead, to sit with Edwin in the cool alcove, had charms for her +for which she knew not how to account, and which she was at first +unwilling to acknowledge to her own heart. When she heard of the feats +of the generous lover, his gallantry in the rural sports, and his +reverence for the fair, it was under the amiable figure of Edwin that he +came painted to her treacherous imagination. She was a stranger to +artifice and disguise, and the renown of Edwin was to her the feast of +the soul, and with visible satisfaction she dwelt upon his praise. Even +in sleep her dreams were of the deserving shepherd. The delusive +pleasures that follow in the train of dark-browed night, all told of +Edwin. The unreal mockery of that capricious being, who cheats us with +scenes of fictitious wretchedness, was full of the unmerited calamities, +the heartbreaking woe, or the untimely death of Edwin. From Edwin +therefore the language of love would have created no disgust. Imogen was +not heedless and indiscreet; she would not have sacrificed the dignity +of innocence. Imogen was not coy; she would not have treated her admirer +with affected disdain. She had no guard but virgin modesty and that +conscious worth, _that would be wooed, and not unsought be won_. + +Such was the yet immature attachment of our two lovers, when an +anniversary of religious mirth summoned them, together with their +neighbour shepherds of the adjacent hamlet, to the spot which had long +been consecrated to rural sports and guiltless festivity, near the +village of Ruthyn. The sun shone with unusual splendour; the Druidical +temples, composed of immense and shapeless stones, heaped upon each +other by a power stupendous and incomprehensible, reflected back his +radiant beams. The glade, the place of destination to the frolic +shepherds, was shrouded beneath two venerable groves that encircled it +on either side. The eye could not pierce beyond them, and the +imagination was in a manner embosomed in the vale. There were the +quivering alder, the upright fir, and the venerable oak crowned with +sacred mistletoe. They grew upon a natural declivity that descended +every way towards the plain. The deep green of the larger trees was +fringed towards the bottom with the pleasing paleness of the willow. +From one of the groves a little rivulet glided across the plain, and was +intersected on one side by a stream that flowed into it from a point +equally distant from either extremity of its course. Both these streams +were bordered with willows. In a word, upon the face of this beautiful +spot all appeared tranquility and peace. It was without a path, and you +would imagine that no human footsteps had ever invaded the calmness of +its solitude. It was the eternal retreat of the venerable anchorite; it +was the uninhabited paradise in the midst of the trackless ocean. + +Such was the spot where the shepherds and shepherdesses of a hundred +cots were now assembled. In the larger compartiments of the vale, the +more muscular and vigorous swains pursued the flying ball, or contended +in the swift-footed race. The bards, venerable for their age and the +snowy whiteness of their hair, sat upon a little eminence as umpires of +the sports. In the smaller compartiments, the swains, mingled with the +fair, danced along the level green, or flew, with a velocity that +beguiled the eager sight, beneath the extended arms of their fellows. +Here a few shepherds, apart from the rest, flung the ponderous quoit +that sung along the air. There two youths, stronger and more athletic +than the throng, grasped each others arms with an eager hand, and +struggled for the victory. Now with manly vigour the one shook the +sinewy frame of the other; now they bended together almost to the earth, +and now with double force they reared again their gigantic stature. At +one time they held each other at the greatest possible distance; and +again, their arms, their legs and their whole bodies entwined, they +seemed as if they had grown together. When the weaker or less skilful +was overthrown, he tumbled like a vast and mountain oak, that for ages +had resisted the tumult of the winds; and the whole plain resounded at +his fall. Such as were unengaged formed a circle round the wrestlers, +and by their shouts and applause animated by turns the flagging courage +of either. + +And now the sun had gained his meridian height, and, fatigued with +labour and heat, they seated themselves upon the grass to partake of +their plain and rural feast. The parched wheat was set out in baskets, +and the new cheeses were heaped together. The blushing apple, the golden +pear, the shining plum, and the rough-coated chesnut were scattered in +attractive confusion. Here were the polished cherry and the downy peach; +and here the eager gooseberry, and the rich and plenteous clusters of +the purple grape. The neighbouring fountain afforded them a cool and +sparkling beverage, and the lowing herds supplied the copious bowl with +white and foaming draughts of milk. The meaner bards accompanied the +artless luxury of the feast with the symphony of their harps. + +The repast being finished, the company now engaged in those less active +sports, that exercise the subtility of the wit, more than the agility or +strength of the body. Their untutored minds delighted themselves in the +sly enigma, and the quaint conundrum. Much was their laughter at the +wild guesses of the thoughtless and the giddy; and great the triumph of +the swain who penetrated the mystery, and successfully removed the +abstruseness of the problem. Many were the feats of skill exhibited by +the dextrous shepherd, and infinite were the wonder and admiration of +the gazing spectators. The whole scene indeed was calculated to display +the triumph of stratagem and invention. A thousand deceits were +practised upon the simple and unsuspecting, and while he looked round to +discover the object of the general mirth, it was increased into bursts +of merriment, and convulsive gaiety. At length they rose from the +verdant green, and chased each other in mock pursuit. Many flew towards +the adjoining grove; the pursued concealed himself behind the dark and +impervious thicket, or the broad trunk of the oak, while the pursuers ran +this way and that, and cast their wary eyes on every side. Carefully +they explored the bushes, and surveyed each clump of tufted trees. And +now the neighbouring echoes repeated the universal shout, and proclaimed +to the plain below, that the object of their search was found. Fatigue +however, in spite of the gaiety of spirit with which their sports were +pursued, began to assert his empire, and they longed for that +tranquility and repose which were destined to succeed. + +At this instant the united sound of the lofty harp, the melodious rebec, +and the chearful pipe, summoned them once again to the plain. From every +side they hastened to the lawn, and surrounded, with ardent eyes, and +panting expectation, the honoured troop of the bards, crowned with +laurel and sacred mistletoe. And now they seated themselves upon the +tender herb; and now all was stilness and solemn silence. Not one +whisper floated on the breeze; not a murmur was heard. The tumultuous +winds were hushed, and all was placid composure, save where the gentle +zephyr fanned the leaves. The tinkling rill babbled at their feet; the +feathered choristers warbled in the grove; and the deep lowings of the +distant herds died away upon the ear. The solemn prelude began from a +full concert of the various instruments. It awakened attention in the +thoughtless, and composed the frolic and the gay into unbroken +heedfulness. The air was oppressed with symphonious sounds, and the ear +filled with a tumult of harmony. + +On a sudden the chorus ceased: Those instruments which had united their +force to fill the echoes of every grove, and of every hill, were silent. +And now a bard, of youthful appearance, but who was treated with every +mark of honour and distinction, and seated on the left hand of the hoary +Llewelyn, the prince of song, struck the lyre with a lofty and daring +hand. His eye sparkled with poetic rapture, and his countenance beamed +with the sublime smile of luxuriant fancy and heaven-born inspiration. +He sung of the wanton shepherd, that followed, with ungenerous +perseverance, the chaste and virgin daughter of Cadwallo. The Gods took +pity upon her distress, the Gods sent down their swift and winged +messenger to shield her virtue, and deliver her from the persecution of +Modred. With strong and eager steps the ravisher pursued: timid +apprehension, and unviolated honour, urged her rapid flight. But Modred +was in the pride of youth; muscular and sinewy was the frame of Modred. +Beauteous and snowy was the person of the fair: her form was delicate, +and her limbs were tender. If heaven had not interposed, if the Gods had +not been on her side, she must have fallen a victim to savage fury and +brutal lust. But, in the crisis of her fate, she gradually sunk away +before the astonished eyes of Modred. That beauteous frame was now no +more, and she started from before him, swifter than the winds, a timid +and listening hare. Still, still the hunter pursued; he suspended not +the velocity of his course. The speed of Modred was like the roe upon +the mountains; every moment he gained upon the daughter of Cadwallo. But +now the object of his pursuit vanished from his sight, and eluded his +eager search. In vain he explored every thicket, and surveyed all the +paths of the forest. While he was thus employed, on a sudden there burst +from a cave a hungry and savage wolf; it was the daughter of Cadwallo. +Modred started with horror, and in his turn fled away swifter than the +winds. The fierce and ravenous animal pursued; fire flashed from the +eye, and rage and fury sat upon the crest. Mild and gentle was the +daughter of Cadwallo; her heart relented; her soft and tender spirit +belied the savage form. They approached the far famed stream of Conway. +Modred cast behind him a timid and uncertain eye; the virgin passed +along, no longer terrible, a fair and milk white hind. Modred inflamed +with disappointment, reared his ponderous boar spear, and hurled it from +his hand. Too well, ah, cruel and untutored swain! thou levelest thy +aim. Her tender side is gored; her spotless and snowy coat is deformed +with blood. Agitated with pain, superior to fear, she plunges in the +flood. When lo! a wonder; on the opposite shore she rises, radiant and +unhurt, in her native form. Modred contemplates the prodigy with +astonishment; his lust and his brutality inflame him more than ever. +Eagerly he gazes on her charms; in thought he devours her inexpressive +beauties. And now he can no longer restrain himself; with sudden start +he leaps into the river. The waves are wrought into a sudden tempest; +they hurry him to and fro. He buffets them with lusty arms; he rides +upon the billows. But vain is human strength; the unseen messenger of +the Gods laughs at the impotent efforts of Modred. At length the waters +gape with a frightful void; the bottom, strewed with shells, and +overgrown with sea-weed, is disclosed to the sight. Modred, unhappy +Modred, sinks to rise no more. His beauty is tarnished like the flower +of the field; his blooming cheek, his crimson lip, is pale and +colourless. Learn hence, ye swains, to fear the Gods, and to reverence +the divinity of virtue. Modred never melted for another's woe; the tear +of sympathy had not moistened his cheek. The heart of Modred was +haughty, insolent and untractable; he turned a deaf ear to the +supplication of the helpless, he listened not to the thunder of the +Gods. Let the fate of Modred be remembered for a caution to the +precipitate; let the children of the valley learn wisdom. Heaven never +deserts the cause of virtue; chastity wherever she wanders (_be it not +done in pride or in presumption_) is sacred and invulnerable. + +Such was the song of the youthful bard. Every eye was fixed upon his +visage while he struck the lyre; the multitude of the shepherds appeared +to have no faculty but the ear. And now the murmur of applause began; +and the wondering swains seemed to ask each other, whether the God of +song were not descended among them. "Oh glorious youth," cried they, +"how early is thy excellence! Ere manhood has given nerve and vigour to +thy limbs, ere yet the flowing beard adorns thy gallant breast, nature +has unlocked to thee her hidden treasures, the Gods have enriched thee +with all the charms of poetry. Great art thou among the bards; +illustrious in wisdom, where they all are wise. Should gracious heaven +spare thy life, we will cease to weep the death of Hoel; we will lament +no longer the growing infirmities of Llewelyn." + +While they yet spoke, a bard, who sat upon the right hand of the prince, +prepared to sweep the string. He was in the prime of manhood. His +shining locks flowed in rich abundance upon his strong and graceful +shoulders. His eye expressed more of flame than gaiety, more of +enthusiasm than imagination. His brow, though manly, and, as it should +seem, by nature erect, bore an appearance of solemn and contemplative. +He had ever been distinguished by an attachment to solitude, and a love +for those grand and tremendous objects of uncultivated nature with which +his country abounded. His were the hanging precipice, and the foaming +cataract. His ear drank in the voice of the tempest; he was rapt in +attention to the roaring thunder. When the contention of the elements +seemed to threaten the destruction of the universe, when Snowdon bowed +to its deepest base, it was then that his mind was most filled with +sublime meditation. His lofty soul soared above the little war of +terrestrial objects, and rode expanded upon the wings of the winds. Yet +was the bard full of gentleness and sensibility; no breast was more +susceptible to the emotions of pity, no tongue was better skilled in the +soft and passionate touches of the melting and pathetic. He possessed a +key to unlock all the avenues of the heart. + +Such was the bard, and this was the subject of his song. He told of a +dreadful famine, that laid waste the shores of the Menai. Heaven, not to +punish the shepherds, for, alas, what had these innocent shepherds done? +but in the mysterious wisdom of its ways, had denied the refreshing +shower, and the soft-descending dew. From the top of Penmaenmawr, as far +as the eye could reach, all was uniform and waste. The trees were +leafless, not one flower adorned the ground, not one tuft of verdure +appeared to relieve the weary eye. The brooks were dried up; their beds +only remained to tell the melancholy tale, Here once was water; the +tender lambs hastened to the accustomed brink, and lifted up their +innocent eyes with anguish and disappointment. The meadows no longer +afforded pasture of the cattle; the trees denied their fruits to man. In +this hour of calamity the Druids came forth from their secret cells, and +assembled upon the heights of Mona. This convention of the servants of +the Gods, though intended to relieve the general distress, for a moment +increased it. The shepherds anticipated the fatal decree; they knew that +at times like this the blood of a human victim was accustomed to be shed +upon the altars of heaven. Every swain trembled for himself or his +friend; every parent feared to be bereaved of the staff of his age. And +now the holy priest had cast the lots in the mysterious urn; and the lot +fell upon the generous Arthur. Arthur was beloved by all the shepherds +that dwelt upon the margin of the main; the praise of Arthur sat upon +the lips of all that knew him. But what served principally to enhance +the distress, was the attachment there existed between him and the +beauteous Evelina. Mild was the breast of Evelina, unused to encounter +the harshness of opposition, or the chilly hand and forbidding +countenance of adversity. From twenty shepherds she had chosen the +gallant Arthur, to reward his pure and constant love. Long had they been +decreed to make each other happy. No parent opposed himself to their +virtuous desires; the blessing of heaven awaited them from the hand of +the sacred Druid. But in the general calamity of their country they had +no heart to rejoice; they could not insult over the misery of all around +them. "Soon, oh soon," cried the impatient shepherd, "may the wrath of +heaven be overpast! Extend, all-merciful divinity, thy benign influence +to the shores of Arvon! Once more may the rustling of the shower refresh +our longing ears! Once more may our eyes be gladdened with the pearly, +orient dew! May the fields be clothed afresh in cheerful green! May the +flowers enamel the verdant mead! May the brooks again brawl along their +pebbly bed! And may man and beast rejoice together!" Ah, short-sighted, +unapprehensive shepherd! thou dost not know the misfortune that is +reserved for thyself; thou dost not know, that thou shalt not live to +behold those smiling scenes which thy imagination forestallest; thou +dost not see the dart of immature and relentless death that is suspended +over thee. Think, O ye swains, what was the universal astonishment and +pity, when the awful voice of the Druid proclaimed the decree of heaven! +Terror sat upon every other countenance, tears started into every other +eye; but the mien of Arthur was placid and serene. He came forward from +the throng; his eyes glistened with the fire of patriotism. "Hear me, my +countrymen," cried he, "for you I am willing to die. What is my +insignificant life, when weighed against the happiness of Arvon? Be +grateful to the Gods, that, for so poor a boon, they are willing to +spread wide the hand of bounty, and to exhaust upon your favoured heads +the horn of plenty." While he spoke he turned his head to the spot from +which he had advanced, and beheld, a melting object, Evelina, pale and +breathless, supported in the arms of the maidens. For a moment he forgot +his elevated sentiments and his heroism, and flew to raise her. +"Evelina, mistress of my heart, awake. Lift up thine eyes and bless thy +Arthur. Be not too much subdued by my catastrophe. Live to comfort the +grey hairs, and to succour the infirmities of your aged parent." While +the breast of Arthur was animated with such sentiments, and dictated a +conduct like this, the priests were employed in the mournful +preparations. The altar was made ready; the lambent fire ascended from +its surface; the air was perfumed with the smoke of the incense; the +fillets were brought forth; and the sacred knife glittered in the hand +of the chief of the Druids. The bards had strung their harps, and began +the song of death. The sounds were lofty and animating, they were fitted +to inspire gallantry and enterprise into the trembling coward; they were +fitted to breathe a soul into the clay-cold corse. The spirit of Arthur +was roused; his eye gleamed with immortal fire. The aged oak, that +strikes its root beneath the soil, so defies the blast, and so rears its +head in the midst of the whirlwind. But oh, who can paint the distress +of Evelina? Now she dropped her head, like the tender lily whose stalk, +by some vulgar and careless hand has been broken; and now she was wild +and ungovernable, like the wild beast that has been robbed of its young. +For an instant the venerable name of religion awed her into mute +submission. But when the fatal moment approached, not the Gods, if the +Gods had descended in all their radiant brightness, could have +restrained her any longer. The air was rent with her piercing cries. She +spoke not. Her eyes, in silence turned towards heaven, distilled a +plenteous shower. At length, swifter than the winged hawk, she flew +towards the spot, and seized the sacred and inviolable arm of the holy +Druid, which was lifted up to strike the final blow. "Barbarous and +inhuman priest," she cried, "cease your vile and impious mummery! No +longer insult us with the name of Gods. If there be Gods, they are +merciful; but thou art a savage and unrelenting monster. Or if some +victim must expire, strike here, and I will thank thee. Strike, and my +bosom shall heave to meet the welcome blow. Do any thing. But oh, spare +me the killing, killing spectacle!" During this action the maidens +approached and hurried her from the plain. "Go," cried Arthur, "and let +not the heart of Evelina be sad. My Death has nothing in it that +deserves to be deplored. It is glorious and enviable. It shall be +remembered when this frame is crumbled into dust. The song of the bards +shall preserve it to never dying fame." The inconsolable fair one had +now been forced away. The intrepid shepherd bared his breast to the +sacred knife. His nerves trembled not. His bosom panted not. And now +behold the lovely youth, worthy to have lived through revolving years, +sunk on the ground, and weltering in his blood. Yes, gallant Arthur, +thou shalt possess that immortality which was the first wish of thy +heart! My song shall embalm thy precious memory, thy generous, spotless +fame! But, ah, it is not in the song of the bards to sooth the rooted +sorrow of Evelina. Every morning serves only to renew it. Every night +she bathes her couch in tears. Those objects, which carry pleasure to +the sense of every other fair, serve only to renew thy unexhausted +grief. The rustling shower, the pearly dew, the brawling brook, the +cheerful green, the flower-enameled mead, all join to tell of the +barbarous and untimely fate of Arthur. Smile no more, O ye meads; mock +not the grief of Evelina. Let the trees again be leafless; let the +rivers flow no longer in their empty beds. A scene like this suits best +the settled temper of Evelina. + +He ceased. And his pathetic strain had awakened the sympathy of the +universal throng. Every shepherd hung his mournful head, when the +untimely fate of Arthur was related; every maiden dropped a generous +tear over the sorrows of Evelina. They listened to the song, and forgot +the poet. Their souls were rapt with alternate passions, and they +perceived not the matchless skill by which they were excited. The lofty +bard hurried them along with the rapidity of his conceptions, and left +them no time for hesitation, and left them no time for reflection. He +ceased, and the melodious sounds still hung upon their ear, and they +still sat in the posture of eager attention. At length they recollected +themselves; and it was no longer the low and increasing murmur of +applause: it was the exclamation of rapture; it was the unpremeditated +shout of astonishment. + +In the mean time, the reverend Llewelyn, upon whose sacred head ninety +winters had scattered their snow, grasped the lyre, which had so often +confessed the master's hand. Though far advanced in the vale of years, +there was a strength and vigour in his age, of which the degeneracy of +modern times can have little conception. The fire was not extinguished +in his flaming eye; it had only attained that degree of chasteness and +solemnity, which had in it by so much the more, all that is majestic, +and all that is celestial. His looks held commerce with his native +skies. No vulgar passion ever visited his heaven-born mind. No vulgar +emotion ever deformed the godlike tranquility of his soul. He had but +one passion; it was the love of harmony. He was conscious only to one +emotion; it was reverence for the immortal Gods. He sat like the +anchorite upon the summit of Snowdon. The tempests raise the foaming +ocean into one scene of horror, but he beholds it unmoved. The rains +descend, the thunder roars, and the lightnings play beneath his feet. + +Llewelyn struck the lyre, and the innumerable croud was noiseless and +silent as the chambers of death. They did not now wait for the pleasing +tale of a luxuriant imagination, or the pathetic and melting strain of +the mourner. They composed their spirits into the serenity of devotion. +They called together their innocent thoughts for the worship of heaven. +By anticipation their bosoms swelled with gratitude, and their hearts +dilated into praise. + +The pious Llewelyn began his song from the rude and shapeless chaos. He +magnified the almighty word that spoke it into form. He sung of the +loose and fenny soil which gradually acquired firmness and density. The +immeasurable, eternal caverns of the ocean were scooped. The waters +rushed along, and fell with resounding, foamy violence to the depth +below. The sun shone forth from his chamber in the east, and the earth +wondered at the object, and smiled beneath his beams. Suddenly the +whole face of it was adorned with a verdant, undulating robe. The purple +violet and the yellow crocus bestrewed the ground. The stately oak +reared its branchy head, and the trees and shrubs burst from the surface +of the earth. Impregnated by power divine, the soil was prolific in +other fruits than these. The clods appeared to be informed with a +conscious spirit, and gradually assumed a thousand various forms. The +animated earth seemed to paw the verdant mead, and to despise the mould +from which it came. A disdainful horse, it shook its flowing mane, and +snuffed the enlivening breeze, and stretched along the plain. The +red-eyed wolf and the unwieldy ox burst like the mole the concealing +continent, and threw the earth in hillocs. The stag upreared his +branching head. The thinly scattered animals wandered among the +unfrequented hills, and cropped the untasted herb. Meantime the birds, +with many coloured plumage, skimmed along the unploughed air, and taught +the silent woods and hills to echo with their song. + +Creatures, hymn the praises of your creator! Thou sun, prolific parent +of a thousand various productions, by whose genial heat they are +nurtured, and whose radiant beams give chearfulness and beauty to the +face of nature, first of all the existences of this material universe +acknowledge him thy superior, and while thou dispensest a thousand +benefits to the inferior creation, ascribe thine excellencies solely to +the great source of beauty and perfection! And when the sun has ceased +his wondrous course, do thou, O moon, in milder lustre show to people of +a thousand names the honours of thy maker! Thou loud and wintery north +wind, in majestic and tremendous tone declare his lofty praise! Ye +gentle zephyrs, whisper them to the modest, and softly breathe them in +the ears of the lowly! Ye towering pines, and humble shrubs, ye fragrant +flowers, and, more than all, ye broad and stately oaks, bind your heads, +and wave your branches, and adore! Ye warbling fountains, warbling tune +his praise! Praise him, ye beasts, in different strains! And let the +birds, that soar on lofty wings, and scale the path of heaven, bear, in +their various melody, the notes of adoration to the skies! Mortals, ye +favoured sons of the eternal father, be it yours in articulate +expressions of gratitude to interpret for the mute creation, and to +speak a sublimer and more rational homage. + +Heard ye not the music of the spheres? Know ye not the melody of +celestial voices? On yonder silver-skirted cloud I see them come. It +turns its brilliant lining on the setting day. And these are the accents +of their worship. "Ye sons of women, such as ye are now, such once were +we. Through many scenes of trial, through heroic constancy, and +ever-during patience, have we attained to this bright eminence. Large +and mysterious are the paths of heaven, just and immaculate his ways. If +ye listen to the siren voice of pleasure, if upon the neck of heedless +youth you throw the reins, that base and earth-born clay which now you +wear, shall assume despotic empire. And when you quit the present narrow +scene, ye shall wear a form congenial to your vices. The fierce and +lawless shall assume the figure of the unrelenting wolf. The +unreflecting tyrant, that raised a mistaken fame from scenes of +devastation and war, shall spurn the ground, a haughty and indignant +horse; and in that form, shall learn, by dear experience, what were the +sufferings and what the scourge that he inflicted on mankind. The +sensual shall wear the shaggy vesture of the goat, or foam and whet his +horrid tusks, a wild and untame'd boar. But virtue prepares its +possessor for the skies. Upon the upright and the good, attendant angels +wait. With heavenly spirits they converse. On them the dark machinations +of witchcraft, and the sullen spirits of darkness have no power. Even +the outward form is impressed with a beam of celestial lustre. By slow, +but never ceasing steps, they tread the path of immortality and honour. +Then, mortals, love, support, and cherish each other. Fear the Gods, and +reverence their holy, white-robed servants. Let the sacred oak be your +care. Worship the holy and everlasting mistletoe. And when all the +objects that you now behold shall be involved in universal +conflagration, and time shall be no more; ye shall mix with Gods, ye +shall partake their thrones, and be crowned like them with never-fading +laurel." + +[Illustration] + + + + + + +BOOK THE SECOND + +THUNDER STORM.--THE RAPE OF IMOGEN.--EDWIN ARRIVES AT THE GROTTO OF +ELWY.--CHARACTER OF THE MAGICIAN.--THE END OF THE FIRST DAY. + + +The song of Llewelyn was heard by the shepherds with reverence and mute +attention. Their blameless hearts were lifted to the skies with the +sentiment of gratitude; their honest bosoms overflowed with the fervour +of devotion. They proved their sympathy with the feelings of the bard, +not by licentious shouts and wild huzzas, but by the composure of their +spirits, the serenity of their countenances, and the deep and +unutterable silence which universally prevailed. And now the hoary +minstrel rose from the little eminence, beneath the aged oak, from whose +branches depended the ivy and the honeysuckle, on which the veneration +of the multitude had placed him. He came into the midst of the plain, +and the sons and the daughters of the fertile Clwyd pressed around him. +Fervently they kissed the hem of his garment; eagerly with their eyes +they sought to encounter the benign rays of his countenance. With the +dignity of a magistrate, and the tenderness of a father, he lifted his +aged arms, and poured upon them his mild benediction. "Children, I have +met your fathers, and your fathers fathers, beneath the hills of Ruthyn. +Such as they were, such are ye, and such ever may ye remain. The lily is +not more spotless, the rose and the violet do not boast a more fragrant +odour, than the incense of your prayers when it ascends to the footstool +of the Gods. Guileless and undesigning are you as the yearling lamb; +gentle and affectionate as the cooing dove. Qualities like these the +Gods behold with approbation; to qualities like these the Gods assign +their choicest blessings. My sons, there is a splendour that dazzles, +rather than enlightens; there is a heat that burns rather than +fructifies. Let not characters like these excite your ambition. Be yours +the unfrequented sylvan scene. Be yours the shadowy and unnoticed vale +of obscurity. Here are the mild and unruffled affections. Here are +virtue, peace and happiness. _Here also are_ GODS." + +Having thus said, he dismissed the assembly, and the shepherds prepared +to return to their respective homes. Edwin and Imogen, as they had come, +so they returned together. The parents of the maiden had confided her to +the care of the gallant shepherds. "She is our only child," said they, +"our only treasure, and our life is wrapt up in her safety. Watch over +her like her guardian genius. Bring her again to our arms adorned with +the cheerfulness of tranquility and innocence." The breast of Edwin was +dilated with the charge; he felt a gentle undulation of pride and +conscious importance about his heart, at the honour conferred upon him. + +The setting sun now gilded the western hills. His beams played upon +their summits, and were reflected in an irregular semi-circle of +splendour, spotless and radiant as the robes of the fairies. The heat of +the day was over, the atmosphere was mild, and all the objects round +them quiet and serene. A gentle zephyr fanned the leaves; and the +shadows of the trees, projecting to their utmost length, gave an +additional coolness and a soberer tint to the fields through which they +passed. + +The conversation of these innocent and guileless lovers was, as it were, +in unison with the placidness of the evening. The sports, in which they +had been engaged, had inspired them with gaiety, and the songs they had +heard, had raised their thoughts to a sublimer pitch than was usual to +them. They praised the miracles of the tale of Modred; they sympathised +with the affliction of Evelina; and they spoke with the most unfeigned +reverence of the pious and venerable Llewelyn. + +But the harmless chearfulness of their conversation did not last long. +The serenity that was around them was soon interrupted, and their +attention was diverted to external objects. Suddenly you might have +perceived a cloud, small and dark, that rose from the bosom of the sea. +By swift advances it became thicker and broader, till the whole heavens +were enveloped in its dismal shade. The gentle zephyr, that anon played +among the trees, was changed into a wind hollow and tumultuous. Its +course was irregular. Now all was still and silent as the caverns of +death; and again it burst forth in momentary blasts, or whirled the +straws and fallen leaves in circling eddies. The light of day was +shrouded and invisible. The slow and sober progress of evening was +forestalled. The woods and the hills were embosomed in darkness. Their +summits were no longer gilded. One by one the beams of the sun were +withdrawn from each; and at length Snowdon itself could not be +perceived. + +Our shepherd and his charge had at this moment reached the most +extensive and unprotected part of the plain. No friendly cot was near to +shield them from the coming storm. And now a solemn peal of thunder +seemed to roll along over their heads. They had begun to fly, but the +tender Imogen was terrified at the unexpected crash, and sunk, almost +breathless, into the arms of Edwin. In the mean time, the lightnings +seemed to fill the heavens with their shining flame. The claps of +thunder grew louder and more frequent. They reverberated from rock to +rock, and from hill to hill. If at any time, for a transitory interval, +the tremendous echoes died away upon the ear, it was filled with the +hollow roaring of the winds, and the boisterous dashing of the distant +waves. At length the pealing rain descended. It seemed as if all the +waters of heaven were exhausted upon their naked heads. The anxious and +afflicted Edwin took his beauteous and insensible companion in his arms, +and flew across the plain. + +But at this instant, a more extraordinary and terrifying object +engrossed his attention. An oak, the monarch of the plain, towards which +he bent his rapid course, was suddenly struck with the bolt of heaven, +and blasted in his sight. Its large and spreading branches were +withered; its leaves shrunk up and faded. In the very trunk a gaping and +tremendous rift appeared. At the same moment two huge and craggy cliffs +burst from the surrounding rocks, to which they had grown for ages, and +tumbling with a hideous noise, trundled along the plain. + +At length a third spectacle, more horrible than the rest, presented +itself to the affrighted eyes of Edwin. He saw a figure, larger than the +human, that walked among the clouds, and piloted the storm. Its +appearance was dreadful, and its shape, loose and undistinguishable, +seemed to be blended with the encircling darkness. From its coutenance +gleamed a barbarous smile, ten times more terrific than the frown of any +other being. Triumph, inhuman triumph, glistened in its eye, and, with +relentless delight, it brewed the tempest, and hurled the destructive +lightning. Edwin gazed upon this astonishing apparition, and knew it for +a goblin of darkness. The heart of Edwin, which no human terror could +appal, sunk within him; his nerves trembled, and the objects that +surrounded him, swam in confusion before his eyes. But it is not for +virtue to tremble; it is not for conscious innocence to fear the power +of elves and goblins. Edwin presently recollected himself, and a gloomy +kind of tranquility assumed the empire of his heart. He was more +watchful than ever for his beloved Imogen; he gazed with threefold +earnestness upon the fearful spectre. + +A sound now invaded his ear, from the shapeless rocks behind him. They +repeated it with all their echoes. It was hollow as the raging wind; and +yet it was not the raging wind. It was loud as the roaring thunder; and +yet it was not the voice of thunder. But he did not remain long in +suspense, from whence the voice proceeded. A wolf, whom hunger had made +superior to fear, leaped from the rock, upon the plain below. Edwin +turned his eyes upon the horrid monster; he grasped his boarspear in his +hand. The unconscious Imogen glided from his arms, and he advanced +before her. He met the savage in his fury, and plunged his weapon in his +side. He overturned the monster; he drew forth his lance reeking with +his blood; his enemy lay convulsed in the agonies of death. But ere he +could return, he heard the sound of a car rattling along the plain. The +reins were of silk, and the chariot shone with burnished gold. Upon the +top of it sat a man, tall, lusty, and youthful. His hair flowed about +his shoulders, his eyes sparkled with untamed fierceness, and his brow +was marked with the haughty insolence of pride. It was Roderic, lord of +a hundred hills; but Edwin knew him not. The goblin descended from its +eminence, and directed the course of Roderic. In a moment, he seized the +breathless and insensible Imogen, and lifted her to his car. Edwin +beheld the scene with grief and astonishment; his senses were in a +manner overwhelmed with so many successive prodigies. But he did not +long remain inactive; grief and astonishment soon gave way to revenge. +He took his javelin, still red with the blood of the mountain wolf, and +whirled it from his hand. Edwin was skilled to toss the dart; from his +hand it flew unerring to its aim. Forceful it sung along the air; but +the goblin advanced with hasty steps among the clouds. It touched it +with its hand, and it fell harmless and pointless to the ground. During +this action the car of Roderic disappeared. The goblin immediately +vanished; and Edwin was left in solitude. + +The storm however had not yet ceased. The rain descended with all its +former fury. The thunder roared with a strong and deafening sound. The +lightnings flamed from pole to pole. But the lightnings flamed, and the +thunder roared unregarded. The storm beat in vain upon the unsheltered +head of Edwin. "Where," cried he, with the voice of anguish and despair, +"is my Imogen, my mistress, my wife, the charmer of my soul, the solace +of my heart?" Saying this, he sprung away like the roe upon the +mountains. His pace was swifter than that of the zephyr when it sweeps +along over the unbending corn. He soon reached the avenue by which the +chariot had disappeared from his sight. He leaped from rock to rock; he +ascended to the summit of the cliff. His eye glanced the swift-flying +car of Roderic; he knew him by his gilded carriage, and his spangled +vest. But he saw him only for a moment. His aching eye pursued the +triumphant flight in vain. "Stay, stay, base ravisher, inglorious +coward!" he exclaimed. "If thou art a man, return and meet me. I will +encounter thee hand to hand. I will not fear the strength of thy +shoulders, and the haughtiness of thy crest. If in such a cause, with +the pride of virtue on my side, with all the Gods to combat for me, I am +yet vanquished, then be Imogen thine: then let her be submitted to thy +despotic power, to thy brutal outrage, and I will not murmur." + +But his words were given to the winds of heaven. Roderic fled far, far +away. The heart of Edwin was wrung with anguish. "Ye kind and merciful +Gods!" exclaimed he, "grant but this one prayer, and the voice of Edwin +shall no more importune you with presumptuous vows. Blot from the book +of fate the tedious interval. Give me to find the potent villain. Though +he be hemmed in with guards behind guards; though his impious mansion +strike its foundations deep to the centre, and rear its head above the +clouds; though all the powers of hell combine on his side, I will search +him out, I will penetrate into his most hidden recess. I can but die. +Oh, if I am to be deprived of Imogen, how sweet, how solacing is the +thought of death! Let me die in her cause. That were some comfort yet. +Let me die in her presence, let her eyes witness the fervour of my +attachment, and I will die without a groan." + +Having thus poured forth the anguish of his bosom, he resumed the +pursuit. But how could Edwin, alone, on foot, and wearied with the +journey of the day, hope to overtake the winged steeds of Roderic? And +indeed had his speed been tenfold greater than it was, it had been +exerted to no purpose. As the ravisher arrived at the edge of the +mountain, he struck into a narrow and devious path that led directly to +his mansion. But Edwin, who had for some time lost sight of the chariot, +took no notice of a way, covered with moss and overgrown with bushes; +and pursued the more beaten road. Swift was his course; but the swifter +he flew, the farther still he wandered from the object of his search. A +rapid brook flowed across his path, which the descending rains had +swelled into a river. Without a moment's hesitation, accoutered as he +was, he plunged in. Instantly he gained the opposite bank, and divided +the air before him, like an arrow in its flight. + +In the mean time, the storm had ceased, the darkness was dispersed, and +only a few thin and fleecy clouds were scattered over the blue expanse. +The sun had for some time sunk beneath the western hills. The heavens, +clear and serene, had assumed a deeper tint, and were spangled over with +stars. The moon, in calm and silver lustre, lent her friendly light to +the weary traveller. Edwin was fatigued and faint. He tried to give vent +to his complaints; but his tongue cleaved to the roof of his mouth: his +spirits sunk within him. No sound now reached his ears but the baying of +the shepherds dogs, and the _drowsy tinklings_ of the _distant +folds_. The owl, the solemn bird of night, sat buried among the +branches of the aged oak, and with her melancholy hootings gave an +additional serenity to the scene. At a small distance, on his right +hand, he perceived a contiguous object that reflected the rays of the +moon, through the willows and the hazels, and chequered the view with a +clear and settled lustre. He approached it. It was the lake of Elwy; and +near it he discovered that huge pile of stones, so well known to him, +which had been reared ages since, by the holy Druids. It was upon this +spot that they worshipped the Gods. But they had no habitation near it. +They repaired thither at stated intervals from the woods of Mona, and +the shores of Arvon. One only Druid lived by the banks of the silver +flood, and watched the temple day and night, that no rude hand might do +violence to the sanctity of the place, and no profaner mortal, with +sacrilegious foot might enter the mysterious edifice. It was surrounded +with a wall of oaks. The humbler shrubs filled up their interstices, and +there was no avenue to the sacred shade, except by two narrow paths on +either side the lake. + +The solemn stilness of the scene for a moment hushed the sorrows of +Edwin into oblivion. Ah, short oblivion! scarcely had he gazed around +him, and drank of the quietness and peace of the scene, ere those recent +sorrows impressed his bosom with more anguish than before. Recollecting +himself however, he trod the mead with nimble feet, and approached, +trembling and with hesitation, to the eastern avenue. "Hear me, sage and +generous Madoc," cried the shepherd, with a voice that glided along the +peaceful lake, "hear the sorrows of the most forlorn of all the sons of +Clwyd!" The hermit, who sat at the door of his grotto, perceived the +sound, and approached to the place from which it proceeded. The accent +was gentle; and he feared no boisterous intrusion. The accent was tender +and pathetic; and never was the breast of Madoc steeled against the +voice of anguish. "Approach, my son," he cried. "What disastrous event +has brought thee hither, so far from thy peaceful home, and at this +still and silent hour of night? Has any lamb wandered from thy fold, and +art thou come hither in pursuit of it?" Edwin was silent. His heart +seemed full almost to bursting, and he could not utter a word. "Hast +thou wandered from thy companions and missed the path that led to the +well-known hamlet?" "Alas," said Edwin, "I had a companion once!" and he +lifted up his eyes to heaven in speechless despair. "Has thy mistress +deserted thee, or have her parents bestowed her on some happier swain?" +"Yes," said Edwin, "I have lost her, who was dear to me as the _ruddy +drops that visit my sad heart._ But she was constant. Her parents +approved of my passion, and consigned her to my arms." "Has sickness +then overtaken her, or has untimely death put a period to thy prospects, +just as they began to bloom?" "Oh, no," said the disconsolate shepherd, +"I have encountered a disaster more comfortless and wasteful than +sickness. I had a thousand times rather have received her last sigh, and +closed her eyes in darkness!" + +During this conversation, they advanced along the banks of Elwy, and +drew towards the grotto of the hermit. The hospitable Madoc brought some +dried fruits and a few roots from his cell, and spread them before his +guest. He took a bowl of seasoned wood, and hastening to the fountain, +that fell with a murmuring noise down the neighing [sic] rock, he +presented the limpid beverage. "Such," said he, "is my humble fare; +partake it with a contented heart, and it shall be more grateful to thy +taste, than the high flavoured viands of a monarch." In the mean time, +Madoc, pleased with the benevolent pursuit, gathered some bits of dry +wood, and setting them on fire, besought the swain to refresh himself +from the weariness of his travel, and the inclemency of the storm. But +the heart of Edwin was too full to partake of the provisions that his +attentive host had prepared. The chearfulness however of the blazing +hearth and the generous officiousness of the hermit, seemed by degrees +to recover him from the insensibility and lethargy, that for a time had +swallowed up all his faculties. + +Madoc had hitherto contemplated his guest in silence. He permitted him +to refresh his wearied frame and to resume his dissipated spirits +uninterrupted; he suppressed the curiosity by which he was actuated, to +learn the story of the woes of Edwin. In the midst of his dejection, he +perceived the symptoms of a nobility of spirit that interested him; and +the anguish of the shepherd's mind had not totally destroyed the traces +of that mild affability, and that manly frankness for which he was +esteemed. + +Edwin had no sooner appeared to shake off a small part of his +melancholy, his eye no sooner sparkled with returning fire, than Madoc +embraced the favourable omen. "My son," said he, "you seem to be full of +dejection and grief. Grief is not an inmate of the plain; the hours of +the shepherd are sped in gaiety and mirth. Suspicion and design are +stranger to his bosom. With him the voice of discord is not heard. The +scourge of war never blasted his smiling fields; the terror of invasion +never banished him from the peaceful cot. You too are young and uninured +even to the misfortunes of the shepherd. No contagion has destroyed your +flock; no wolf has broken its slender barriers: you have felt the +anguish of no wound, and been witness to the death of no friend. Say +then, my son, why art thou thus dejected and forlorn?" + +"Alas," replied Edwin, "our equal lot undoubtedly removes us from the +stroke of many misfortunes; but even to us adversity extends its rod. I +have been exposed to the ravages of an invader, more fearful than the +wolf, more detested than the conqueror. From an affliction like mine, no +occupation, no rank, no age can exempt. Sawest thou not the descending +storm? Did not the rain beat upon thy cavern, and the thunder roar among +the hills?" "It did," cried Madoc, "and I was struck with reverence, and +worshipped the God who grasps the thunder in his mighty hand. Wast thou, +my son, exposed to its fury?" "I was upon the bleak and wide extended +heath. With Imogen, the fairest and most constant of the daughters of +Clwyd, I returned from the feast of Ruthyn. But alas," added the +shepherd, "the storm had no terrors, when compared with the scenes that +accompanied it. I beheld, Madoc, nor are the words I utter the words of +shameless imposition, or coward credulity; I beheld a phantom, that +glided along the air, and rode among the clouds. At his command, a wolf +from the forest, with horrid tusks, and eyes of fire, burst upon me. I +advanced towards it, that I might defend the fairest of her sex from its +fury, and plunged my javelin in its heart. But, oh! while I was thus +engaged, a chariot advanced on the opposite side! Its course was +directed by the spectre. The rider descended on the plain, and seized +the spotless, helpless Imogen; and never, never shall these eyes behold +her more! Such, O thou servant of the Gods, has been my adversity. The +powers of darkness have arrayed themselves against me. For me the storm +has been brewed; all the arrows of heaven have been directed against my +weak, defenceless head. For me the elements have mixed in tremendous +confusion; portents and prodigies have been accumulated for my +destruction. Oh, then, generous and hospitable Druid, what path is +there, that is left for my deliverance? What chance remains for me, now +that a host of invisible beings combats against me? Teach me, my friend, +my father, what it is that I must do. Tell me, is there any happiness in +store for Edwin, or must I sink, unresisting, into the arms of +comfortless despair?" + +"My son," cried the venerable hermit, "hope is at all times our duty, +and despair our crime. It is not in the power of events to undermine the +felicity of the virtuous. Goblins, and spirits of darkness, are +permitted a certain scope in this terrestrial scene; but their power is +bounded; beyond a certain line they cannot wander. In vain do they +threaten innocence and truth. Innocence is a wall of brass upon which +they can make no impression. Virtue is an adamant that is sacred and +secure from all their efforts. He whose thoughts are full of rectitude +and heaven, who knows no guile, may wander in safety through +uncultivated forests, or sandy plains, that have never known the trace +of human feet. Before him the robber is just, and the satyr tame; for +him the monsters of the desert are disarmed of their terrors, and he +shall lead the wild boar and the wolf in his hand. Such is the sanctity +that heaven has bestowed on unblemished truth." + +"Alas, my father," cried Edwin, "this is the lesson that was first +communicated to my childhood; and my infant heart bounded with the +sacred confidence it inspired. But excuse the presumption of a +distracted heart. This lesson, to which at another time I could have +listened with rapture and enthusiasm, seems now too loose and general +for a medicine to my woes. Innocence the Gods have made superior and +invulnerable. And, oh, in what have I transgressed? Yet, my father, I am +wounded in the tenderest part. Shall I ever recover my Imogen? Is she +not torn from me irreversibly? How shall I engage with powers invisible, +and supernatural? How shall I discover my unknown, human enemy? No, +Madoc, I am lost in impenetrable darkness. For me there is no hope, no +shadow of approaching ease." + +"Be calm, my son," rejoined the anchorite. "Arrogance and impatience +become not the weak and uninformed children of the earth. Be calm, and I +will administer a remedy more appropriate to your wrongs. But remember +this is your hour of trial. If now you forget the principles of your +youth, and the instructions of the sacred Druids, you shall fall from +happiness, never to regain it more. But if you come forth pure and +unblemished from the fierce assay, your Imogen shall be yours, the Gods +shall take you into their resistless protection, and in all future ages, +when men would cite an example of distinguished felicity, they shall +say, as fortunate as Edwin of the vale." Edwin bended his knee in mute +submission. + +"Listen, my son," continued the Druid. "I know your enemy, and can point +out to you his obscure retreat." The shepherd lifted up his eyes, lately +so languid, that now flashed with fire. He eagerly grasped the hand of +Madoc. "Alas," continued the hermit, "to know him would little answer +the purpose of thy bold and enterprising spirit. They adversary, as thou +mayest have conjectured, is in league with the powers of darkness. +Against them what can courage, what can adventure avail? They can +unthread thy joints, and crumble all thy sinews. They can chain up thy +limbs in marble. For how many perils, how many unforseen disasters ought +he to be prepared, who dares to encounter them?" + +"The name of him who has ravished from thee the dearest treasure of thy +heart, is Roderic. His mother--attend, oh Edwin, for whatever the +incredulous may pretend, the tales related by the bards in their +immortal songs, of ghosts, and fairies, and dire enchantment, are not +vain and fabulous.--You have heard of the inauspicious fame and the bad +eminence of Rodogune. She withdrew from the fields of Clwyd within the +memory of the elder of shepherds. Various were the conjectures +occasioned by her disappearance. Some imagined, that for the haughtiness +of her humour, and the malignity of her disposition, characters that +were wholly unexampled in the pastoral life, she had been carried away +before the period limited by nature to the place of torment by the +goblins of the abyss. Others believed that she concealed herself in the +top of the highest mountain that was near them, and by a commerce with +invisible, malignant beings, still exercised the same gloomy temper in +more potent, and therefore more inauspicious harm. The blight that +overspread the meadows, the destructive contagion that diffused itself +among the flocks, the raging tempest that rooted up the oak, when the +thunder roared among the hills, and the lightning flashed from pole to +pole, they ascribed to the machinations and the sorcery of Rodogune. +Their conjectures indeed were blind, but their notions were not wholly +mistaken. + +"Rodogune was the mother of Roderic. She was deeply skilled in those +dark and flagitious arts, which have cast a gloom upon this mortal +scene. The intellectual powers bestowed upon her by the Gods were great +and eminent, and were given for a far different purpose than to be +employed in these sinister pursuits. But all conspicuous talents are +liable, my son, to base perversion; and such was the fate of those of +Rodogune. She delighted in the actions which her dark and criminal +alliance with invisible powers enabled her to perform. It was her's to +mislead the benighted shepherd. It was Sher's to part the happy lovers. +For this purpose she would swell the waves, and toss the feeble bark. +She dispensed, according to the dictates of her caprice, the mildew +among the tender herb, and the pestilence among the folds of the +shepherds. By the stupendous powers of enchantment, she raised from the +bosom of a hill a wondrous edifice. The apartments were magnificent and +stately; unlike the shepherd's cot, and not to be conceived by the +imagination of the rustic. Here she accumulated a thousand various +gratifications; here she wantoned in all the secret and licentious +desires of her heart. But her castle was not merely a scene of +thoughtless pleasure. Within its circle she held crouds of degenerate +shepherds, groveling through the omnipotence of her incantations in +every brutal form. Even the spectres and the elves that disobeyed her +authority, she held in the severest durance. She compressed their tender +forms in the narrowest prison, or gave them to the stormy winds, to be +whirled, _with restless violence, round about_ the ample globe. In +a word, her mansion was one uninterrupted scene of ingenious cruelty and +miserable despair. To be surrounded with the face of disappointment and +agony was the happiness of Rodogune. + +"When first by her art she raised that edifice which is now inhabited by +her son, she had been desirous to conceal it from the prying eyes of the +wanderer. In order to this, though it stood upon an eminence, she chose +an eminence that was surrounded by higher hills, and hills which, +according to the neighbouring shepherds, were impassable. No adventurous +step had ever since the day they were created pierced beyond them. It +was imagined that the space they surrounded was the haunt of elves, and +the resort of those who held commerce with evil spirits. The curling +smoke, which of late has frequently been seen to ascend from their +bosom, has confirmed this tradition. And in order to render her +habitation still more impervious, Rodogune surrounded it with a deep +grove of oaks, whose thick branches entwined together, permitted no +passage so much as to the light of day. + +"Roderic was her only child, the darling of her age, and the central +object of all her cares. At his birth the elves and the fairies were +summoned together. They bestowed upon him every beauty of person and +every subtlety of wit. To every weapon they made him invulnerable. And, +without demanding from him that care and persevering study, that had +planted wrinkles on his mother's brow, they gave him to enjoy his wishes +instantly and uncontroled. One only goblin was daring enough to +pronounce a curse upon him. 'WHEN RODERIC,' cried he, 'SHALL BE +OVERREACHED IN ALL HIS SPELLS BY A SIMPLE SWAIN, UNVERSED IN THE VARIOUS +ARTS OF SORCERY AND MAGIC: WHEN RODERIC SHALL SUE TO A SIMPLE MAID, WHO +BY HIS CHARMS SHALL BE MADE TO HATE THE SWAIN THAT ONCE SHE LOVED, AND +WHO YET SHALL RESIST ALL HIS PERSONAL ATTRACTIONS AND ALL HIS POWER; +THEN SHALL HIS POWER BE AT AN END. HIS PALACES SHALL BE DISSOLVED, HIS +RICHES SCATTERED, AND HE HIMSELF SHALL BECOME AN UNFITTED, NECESSITOUS, +MISERABLE VAGABOND.' Such was the mysterious threat; and dearly did the +threatner abide it. In the mean time, an elf more generous, more +attached to Rodogune, and more potent than the rest, bestowed upon the +infant a mysterious ring. By means of this he is empowered to assume +what form he pleases. By means of this it was hoped he would be able to +subdue the most prepossessed, and melt the most obdurate female heart. +By means of this it was hoped, he might evade not only the simple swain, +but all the wiles of the most experienced and subtle adversary. + +"Roderic now increased in age, and began to exhibit the promises of that +manly and graceful beauty that was destined for him. He inherited his +mother's haughtiness, and his wishes and his passions were never +subjected to contradiction. A few years since that mother died, and the +youth has been too much engaged in voluptuousness and luxury to embark +in the malicious pursuits of Rodogune, Sensuality has been his aim, and +pleasure has been his God. To gratify his passions has been the sole +object of his attentions; and he has remitted no exertion that could +enhance to him the joys of the feast and the fruition of beauty. One +low-minded gratification has succeeded to another; pleasures of an +elevated and intellectual kind have been strangers to his heart; and +were it not that the subtlety of wit was a gift bestowed upon him by +supernatural existencies, he must long ere this have sunk his mind to +the lowest savageness and the most contemptible imbecility." + +Edwin heard the tale of the Druid with the deepest attention. He was +interested in the information it contained; he was astonished at the +unfathomable witcheries of Rodogune; and he could not avoid the being +apprehensive of the unexpanded powers of Roderic. But the daring and +adventurous spirit of youth, and the anxiety that he felt for the +critical situation of Imogen, soon overpowered and obliterated these +impressions. The Druid finished; and he started from his seat. "Point +me, kind and generous Madoc, to the harbour of the usurper. I will +invade his palace. I will enter fearlessly the lime-twigs of his spells. +I will trust in the omnipotency of innocence. Though the magician should +be encircled with all the horrid forms that ingenious fear ever created, +though all the grizly legions of the infernal realm should hem in, I +will find him out, and force him to relinquish his prize, or drag him by +his shining hair to a death, ignominious and accursed, as has been the +conduct of his life." + +The Druid assumed a sterner and a severer aspect. "How long, son of the +valley," cried he, "wilt thou be deaf to the voice of instruction? When +wilt thou temper thy heedless and inconsiderate courage with the +coolness of wisdom and the moderation of docility? But go," added he, "I +am to blame to endeavour to govern thy headlong spirit, or stem the +torrent of youthful folly. Go, and endure the punishment of thy +rashness. Encounter the magician in the midst of his spells. Expose thy +naked and unprotected head to glut his vengeance. Over thy life indeed, +he has no power. Deliberate guilt, not unreflecting folly, can deprive +thee of thy right to that. But, oh, shepherd, what avails it to live in +hopeless misery? With ease he shall shut thee up for revolving years in +darkness tangible; he shall plunge thee deep beneath the surface of the +mantled pool, the viscous spume shall draw over thy miserable head its +dank and dismal shroud; or perhaps, more ingenious in mischief, he shall +chain thee up in inactivity, a conscious statue, the silent and passive +witness of the usurped joys that once thou fondly fanciedst thy own." + +"Oh, pardon me, sage and venerable Madoc," replied the shepherd. "Edwin +did not come from the hands of nature obstinate and untractable. But +grief agitates my spirits; anxiety and apprehension conjure up a +thousand horrid phantoms before my distracted imagination, and I am no +longer myself. I will however subdue my impatient resentments. I will +listen with coolness to the voice of native sagacity and hoary +experience. Tell me then, my father, and I will hearken with mute +attention, nor think the lesson long,--instruct me how I shall escape +those tremendous dangers thou hast described. Say, is there any remedy, +canst thou communicate any potent and unconquerable amulet, that shall +shield me from the arts of sorcery? Teach me, and my honest heart shall +thank thee. Communicate it, and the benefit shall be consecrated in my +memory to everlasting gratitude." + +"My son," replied Madoc, "I am indeed interested for thee. Thy heart is +ingenuous and sincere; thy misfortune is poignant and affecting. Listen +then to my directions. Receive and treasure up this small and sordid +root. In its external appearance, it is worthless and despicable; but, +Edwin, we must not judge by appearances; that which is most valuable +often delights to shroud itself under a coarse and unattractive outside. +In a richer climate, and under a more genial sun, it bears a beauteous +flower, whose broad leaves expand themselves to the day, and are clothed +with a deep and splendid purple, glossy as velvet, and bedropped with +gold. This root is a sovereign antidote against all blasts, +enchantments, witchcrafts, and magic. With this about thee, thou mayest +safely enter the haunts of Roderic; thou mayest hear his incantations +unappalled; thou mayest boldly dash from his hand his magic glass, and +shed the envenomed beverage on the ground. Then, when he stands +astonished at the unexpected phenomenon, wrest from him his potent wand. +Invoke not the unhallowed spirits of the abyss; invoke the spotless +synod of the Gods. Strike with his rod the walls of his palace, and they +shall turn to viewless air; the monster shall be deprived of all his +riches, and all his accumulated pleasures; and thou and thy Imogen, +delivered from the powers of enchantment, shall be, for one long, +uninterrupted day, happy in the enjoyment of each other. + +"Attend, my son, yet attend, to one more advice, upon which all thy +advantage and all thy success in this moment of crisis hang. Engage not +in so arduous and important an enterprise immaturely. Thou hast yet no +reason for despair. Thou art yet beheld with favour by propitious +heaven. But thou mayest have reason for despair. One false step may ruin +thee. One moment of heedless inconsideration may plunge thee in years of +calamity. One moment of complying guilt may shut upon thee the door of +enjoyment and happiness for ever." + +Such was the sorrow, and such were the consolations of Edwin. But far +different was the situation, and far other scenes were prepared for his +faithful shepherdess. For some time after she had been seized by +Roderic, she had remained unconscious and supine. The terrors that had +preceded the fatal capture, had overpowered her delicate frame, and sunk +her into an alarming and obstinate fit of insensibility. They had now +almost reached the palace of the magician, when she discovered the first +symptoms of returning life. The colour gradually remounted into her +bloodless cheeks; her hands were raised with a feeble and involuntary +motion, and at length she lifted up her head, and opened her languid, +unobserving eyes. "Edwin," she cried, "my friend, my companion, where +art thou? Where have we been? Oh, it is a long and tedious evening!" +Saying this, she looked upon the objects around her. The sky was now +become clear and smiling; the lowring clouds were dissipated, and the +blue expanse was stretched without limits over their head. The sources +of her former terror were indeed removed, but the objects that presented +themselves were equally alarming. All was unexpected and all was +unaccountable. Imogen had remained without consciousness from the very +beginning of the storm, and it was during her insensibility that the +goblin had been visible, and the magician descended to the plains. She +found herself mounted upon a car, and hurried along by rapid steeds. She +saw beside her a man whose face, whose garb, and whose whole appearance +were perfectly unknown to her. + +"Ah," exclaimed the maiden, in a voice of amazement apprehension, "where +am I? What is become of my Edwin? And what art thou? What means all +this? These are not the well-known fields; this is not the brook of +Towey, nor these hills of Clwyd. Oh, whither, whither do we fly? This +track leads not to the cottage of my parents, and the groves of +Rhyddlan." "Be not uneasy, my fair one," answered Roderic. "We go, +though not by the usual path, to where your friends reside. I am not +your enemy, but a swain who esteems it his happiness to have come +between you and your distress, and to have rescued you from the pelting +of the storm. Suspend, my love, for a few moments your suspicions and +your anxiety, and we shall arrive where all your doubts will be removed, +and all I hope will be pleasure and felicitation." While he thus spoke +the chariot hastened to the conclusion of their journey, and entered the +area in the front of the mansion of Roderic. + +The suspicions of Imogen were indeed removed, but in a manner too cruel +for her tender frame. The terror and fatigue she had previously +undergone had wasted her spirits, and the surprise she now experienced, +was more than she could sustain. As the chariot entered the court, she +cried out with a voice of horror and anguish, and sunk breathless into +the arms of her ravisher. Though the passion he had already conceived +for her, made this a circumstance of affliction, he yet in another view +rejoiced, that he was able, by its intervention, to conduct his prize in +a manner by stealth into his palace, and thus to prevent that struggle +and those painful sensations, which she must otherwise have known. For +could she have borne, without emotion, to see herself conveyed into a +wretched imprisonment? Could she have submitted, without opposition, to +be shut up, as it were, from the hope of revisiting those scenes, where +once her careless childhood played, and those friends whom she valued +more than life? + +The leading pursuit of Roderic, as it had been stated by the Druid of +Elwy, was the love of pleasure, an attachment to sensuality, luxury and +lust. He often spent whole days in the bosom of voluptuousness, reposing +upon couches of down, under ceilings of gold. His senses were at +intervals awakened, by the most exquisite music, to a variety of +delight. He often recreated his view with beholding, from a posture of +supineness and indolence, the frolic games, and the mazy dance. +Sometimes, in order to diversify the scene, he would mix in the sports, +and, by the graceful activity of his limbs, and the subtle keenness of +his wit, would communicate relish and novelty to that which before had +palled upon the performers. When he moved, every eye was fixed in +admiration. When he spoke all was tranquility of attention, and every +mouth was open to applaud. Then were set forth the luxuries of the +feast. Every artifice was employed to provoke the appetite. The viands +were savoury, and the fruits were blushing; the decorations were +sumptuous, and the halls shone with a profusion of tapers, whose rays +were reflected in a thousand directions by an innumerable multitude of +mirrors and lustres. And now the intoxicating beverage went swiftly +round the board. The conversation became more open and unrestrained. +Quick were the repartees and loud the mirth. Loose, meaning glances were +interchanged between the master of the feast and the mingled beauties +that adorned his board. With artful inadvertence the gauze seemed to +withdraw from their panting bosoms, and new and still newer charms +discovered themselves to enchant the eyes and inflame the heart. The bed +of enjoyment succeeded to the board of intemperance. Such was the +history of the life of Roderic. + +But man was not born for the indolence of pleasure and the uniformity of +fruition. No gratifications, but especially not those that address +themselves only to the senses, and pamper this brittle, worthless +mansion of the immortal mind, are calculated to entertain us for any +long duration. We need something to awaken our attention, to whet our +appetite, and to contrast our joys. Happiness in this sublunary state +can scarcely be felt, but by a comparison with misery. It is he only +that has escaped from sickness, that is conscious of health; it is he +only that has shaken off the chains of misfortune, that truly rejoices. +The wisdom of these maxims was felt by Roderic. Full of pleasures, +surrounded with objects of delight, he was not happy. Their uniformity +cloyed him. He had received, by supernatural endowment, an activity and +a venturousness of spirit, that were little formed for such scenes as +these. He was devoured with spleen. He sighed he knew not why; he was +peevish and ill-humoured in the midst of the most assiduous attention +and the most wakeful service. And the command he possessed over the +elements of nature was no remedy for sensations like these. + +Oppressed with these feelings, Roderic was accustomed to withdraw +himself from the pomps and luxuries that surrounded him, to fly from the +gilded palace and the fretted roofs, and to mix in the simple and +undebauched scenes of artless innocence that descended on every side +from the hills he inhabited. The name of Roderic was unknown to all the +shepherds of the vallies, and he was received by them with that +officiousness and hospitality which they were accustomed to exercise to +the stranger. It was his delight to give scope to his imagination by +inventing a thousand artful tales of misfortune, by which he awakened +the compassion, and engaged the attachment of the simple hinds. In order +the more effectually to evade that curiosity which would have been fatal +to his ease, he assumed every different time that he came among them a +different form. By this contrivance, he passed unobserved, he partook +freely of their pastimes, he made his observations unmolested, and was +perfectly at leisure for the reflections, not always of the most +pleasant description, that these scenes, of simple virtue and honest +poverty, were calculated to excite. "Oh, impotence of power," exclaimed +he, wrapt up and secure in the disguise he assumed, "to what purpose art +thou desired? Ambition is surely the most foolish and misjudging of all +terrestrial passions. My condition appears attractive. I am surrounded +with riches and splendour; no man approaches me but with homage and +flattery; every object of gratification solicits my acceptance. I am not +only endowed with a capacity of obtaining all that I can wish, and that +by supernatural means, but I am almost constantly forestalled in my +wishes. Who would not say, that I am blessed? Who that heard but a +description of my state, would not envy me? O ye shepherds, happy, +thrice happy, in the confinedness of your prospects, ye would then envy +me! Instructed as I am, instructed by too fatal experience, with reason +I envy you. Hark to that swain who is now leading his flock from the +durance in which they were held till the morning peeped over the eastern +hills! The little lambs frisk about him, thankful for the liberty they +have regained, and he stretches out his hand for them to lick. Now he +drives them along the extended green, and in a wild and thoughtless note +carols a lively lay. He sings perhaps of the kind, but bashful +shepherdess. His hat is bound about with ribbon; the memorial of her coy +compliance and much-prized favour. How light is his heart, how chearful +his gait, and how gay his countenance! He leads in a string a little +frolic goat with curving horns: I suppose the prize that he bore off in +singing, which is not yet tamed to his hand, and familiarised to his +flock. What though his coat be frieze? What though his labour constantly +return with the returning day? I wear the attire of kings; far from +labouring myself, thousands labour for my convenience. And yet he is +happier than I. Envied simplicity; venerable ignorance; plenteous +poverty! How gladly would I quit my sumptuous palace, and my magic arts, +for the careless, airy, and unreflecting joys of rural simplicity!" + +It was in a late excursion of this kind that he had beheld the beauteous +Imogen. His eye was struck with the charms of her person, and the +amiableness of her manners. Never had he seen a complexion so +transparent, or an eye so expressive. Her vermeil-tinctured lips were +new-blown roses that engrossed the sight, and seemed to solicit to be +plucked. His heart was caught in the tangles of her hair. Such an +unaffected bashfulness, and so modest a blush; such an harmonious and +meaning tone of voice, that expressed in the softest accents, the most +delicate sense and the most winning simplicity, could not but engage the +attention of a swain so versed in the science of the fair as Roderic. +From that distinguished moment, though he still felt uneasiness, it was +no longer vacuity, it was no longer an uneasiness irrational and +unaccountable. He had now an object to pursue. He was not now subjected +to the fatigue of forming wishes for the sake of having them instantly +gratified. When he reflected upon the present object of his desires, new +obstacles continually started in his mind. Unused to encounter +difficulty, he for a time imagined them insurmountable. Had his desires +been less pressing, had his passion been less ardent, he would have +given up the pursuit in despair. But urged along by an unintermitted +impulse, he could think of nothing else, he could not abstract his +attention to a foreign subject. He determined at least once again to +behold the peerless maiden. He descended to the feast of Ruthyn; and +though the interval had been but short, from the time in which he had +first observed her, in the eye of love she seemed improved. The charms +that erst had budded, were now full blown. Her beauties were ripened, +and her attractions spread themselves in the face of day. Nor was this +all. He beheld with a watchful glance her slight and silent intercourse +with the gallant Edwin; an intercourse which no eye but that of a lover +could have penetrated. Hence his mind became pregnant with all the +hateful brood of dark suspicions; he was agitated with the fury of +jealousy. Jealousy evermore blows the flame it seems formed to +extinguish. The passion of Roderic was more violent than ever. His +impatient spirit could not now brook the absence of a moment. Luxury +charmed no longer; the couch of down was to him a bed of torture, and +the solicitations of beauty, the taunts and sarcasms of infernal furies. +He invoked the spirit of his mother; he brought together an assembly of +elves and goblins. By their direction he formed his plan; by their +instrumentality the tempest was immediately raised; and under the +guidance of the chief of all the throng he descended upon his prey, like +the eagle from his eminence in the sky. + +The success of his exploit has already been related. The scheme had +indeed been too deeply laid, and too artfully digested, to admit almost +the possibility of a miscarriage. Who but would have stood appalled, +when the storm descended upon our lovers in the midst of the plain, and +the thunders seemed to rock the whole circle of the neighbouring hills? +Who could have conducted himself at once with greater prudence and +gallantry than the youthful shepherd? Did he not display the highest +degree of heroism and address, when he laid the gaunt and haughty wolf +prostrate at his feet? But it was not for human skill to cope with the +opposition of infernal spirits. Accordingly Roderic had been victorious. +He had borne the tender maiden unresisted from the field; he had +outstripped the ardent pursuit of Edwin with a speed swifter than the +winds. In fine, he had conducted his lovely prize in safety to his +enchanted castle, and had introduced her within those walls, where every +thing human and supernatural obeyed his nod, in a state of unresisting +passivity. + +Roderic, immediately upon his entrance into the castle, had committed +the fair Imogen to the care of the attendant damsels. He charged them by +every means to endeavour to restore her to sense and tranquility, and +not to utter any thing in her hearing, which should have the smallest +tendency to discompose her spirits. In obedience to orders, which they +had never known what it was to dispute, they were so unwearied in their +assiduities to their amiable charge, that it was not long before she +began once again to exhibit the tokens of renewed perception. She raised +by degrees a leaden and inexpressive eye, to the objects that were about +her, without having as yet spirit and recollectedness enough to +distinguish them. "My mother," cried she, "my venerable Edith, I am not +well. My head is quite confused and giddy. Do press it with your +friendly hand." A female attendant, as she uttered these words, drew +near to obey them. "Go, go," exclaimed Imogen, with a feeble tone, and +at the same time putting by the officious hand, "you naughty girl. You +are not my mother. Do not think to make me believe you are." + +While she spoke this she began gradually to gain a more entire +sedateness and self-command. She seemed to examine, with an eager and +inquisitive eye, first one object, and then another by turns. The +novelty of the whole scene appeared for an instant to engross her +attention. Every part of the furniture was unlike that of a shepherd's +cot; and completely singular and unprecedented by any thing that her +memory could suggest. But this self-deception, this abstraction from her +feelings and her situation was of a continuance the shortest that can be +conceived. All seemed changed with her in a moment. Her eye, which, from +a state of languor and unexpressiveness, had assumed an air of intent +and restless curiosity, was now full of comfortless sorrow and +unprotected distress. "Powers that defend the innocent, support, guard +me! Where am I? What have I been doing? What is become of me? Oh, Edwin, +Edwin!" and she reclined her head upon the shoulder of the female who +was nearest her. + +Recovering however, in a moment, the dignity that was congenial to her, +she raised herself from this remiss and inactive posture, and seemed to +be immersed in reflection and thought. "Yes, yes," exclaimed she, "I +know well enough how it is. You cannot imagine what a furious storm it +was: and so I sunk upon the ground terrified to death: and so Edwin left +me, and ran some where, I cannot tell where, for shelter. But sure it +could not be so neither. He could not be so barbarous. Well but however +somebody came and took me up, and so I am here. But what am I here for, +and what place is this? Tell me, ye kind shepherdesses, (if +shepherdesses you are) for indeed I am sick at heart." + +The broken interrogatories of Imogen were heard with a profound silence. +"What," said the lovely and apprehensive maiden, "will you not answer +me? No, not one word. Ah, then it must be bad indeed. But I have done +nothing that should make me be afraid. I am as harmless and as chearly +as the little red-breast that pecks out of my hand? So you will not hurt +me, will you? No, I dare swear. You do not frown upon me. Your looks are +quite sweet and good-natured. But then it was not kind not to answer me, +and tell me what I asked you." "Fair stranger," replied one of the +throng, "we would willingly do any thing to oblige you. But you are weak +and ill; and it is necessary that you should not exert yourself, but try +to sleep." + +"Sleep," replied the shepherdess, "what here in this strange place? No, +that I shall not, I can tell you. I never slept from under the thatch of +my father's cottage in my life, but once, and that was at the wedding of +my dear, obliging Rovena. But perhaps," added she, "my father and mother +will come to me here. So I will even try and be compilable, for I never +was obstinate. But indeed my head is strangely confused; you must excuse +me." + +Such was the language, and such the affecting simplicity of the innocent +and uncultivated Imogen. She, who had been used to one narrow round of +chearful, rustic scenes, was too much perplexed to be able to judge of +her situation. Her repeated faintings had weakened her spirits, and for +a time disordered her understanding. She had always lived among the +simple; she had scarcely ever been witness to any thing but sincerity +and innocence. Suspicion therefore was the farthest in the world from +being an inmate of her breast. Suspicion is the latest and most +difficult lesson of the honest and uncrooked mind. Imogen therefore +willingly retired to rest, in compliance with the soliciation of her +attendants. She beheld no longer her ravisher, whose eye beamed with +ungovernable desires, and whose crest swelled with pride. Every +countenance was marked with apparent carefulness and sympathy. She was +even pleased with their officious and friendly-seeming demeanour. + +Tell me, ye vain cavillers, ye haughty adversaries of the omnipotence of +virtue, where could artful vice, where could invisible and hell-born +seduction, have found a fitter object for their triumph? Imogen was not +armed with the lessons of experience: Imogen was not accoutered with the +cautiousness of cultivation and refinement. She was all open to every +one that approached her. She carried her heart in her hand. Ye, I doubt +not, have already reckoned upon the triumph, and counted the advantages. +But, if I do not much mistake the divine lessons I am commissioned to +deliver, the muse shall tell a very different story. + +[Illustration] + + + + + + +BOOK THE THIRD + +PURPOSES OF RODERIC.--THE CARRIAGE OF IMOGEN.--HER CONTEMPT OF RICHES. + + +The fatigue which Imogen had undergone in the preceding day, prepared +her to rest during the night with more tranquility than could otherwise +have been expected. The scenes to which she had successively been +witness, and the objects that now surrounded her, were too novel and +extraordinary in their character, to allow much room for the severity of +reflection, and the coolness of meditation. Her frame was tired with the +various exercises in which she had engaged; her mind was hurried and +perplexed without knowing upon what to fix, or in what manner to account +for the events that had befallen her: she therefore sunk presently into +a sweet and profound sleep; and while every thing seemed preparing for +her destruction, while a thousand enchantments were essayed, and a +thousand schemes revolved in the busy mind of Roderic, she remained +composed and unapprehensive. Innocence was the sevenfold shield that +protected her from harm; her eyes were closed in darkness, and a smile +of placid benignity played upon the lovely features of her countenance. + +Roderic in the mean time had retired to his chamber. His mind was turbid +and unquiet. So restless are the waves of the ocean before the coming +tempest. They assume a darker hue, and reflect a more cloudy heaven. +They roll this way and that in a continual motion, and yet without any +direction, till the loud and hoarse-echoing wind determines their course +and carries them in mountains to the sounding shore. The mind of the +victim was all quiet and unruffled; such is the kindly influence of +conscious truth. The mind of the ravisher exhibited nothing but +uneasiness and confusion; such are the boons which vice bestows upon her +misjudging votaries. + +The conqueror, doubly misled by fierce and unruly passions and by his +inauspicious commerce with the goblins of the abyss, retired not +immediately to his couch, but walked up and down his apartments, with a +hasty and irregular step. "Thanks to my favourable stars," exclaimed he, +"I am triumphant! What power can resist me? Where is the being that +shall dare to say, that one wish of my heart shall go unfulfilled? Well +then, I have got the fair the charming she into my power. She is shut up +in a palace, unseen by every human eye, to which no human foot ever +found its way but at my bidding. She is closed round with spells and +enchantment. I can by a word deprive her every limb of motion. If I but +wave this wand, the leaden God of sleep shall sink her in a moment in +the arms of forgetfulness, whatever were before her anxieties and her +wakeful terrors. In what manner then shall I, thus absolute and +uncontroled in all I bid exist, proceed? Shall I press the unwilling +beauty to my bosom, and riot in her hoard of charms, without waiting +like meaner mortals to sue for the consent of her will? There is +something noble, royal, and independent, in the thought. Beauty never +appears so attractive as from behind a veil of tears. Oh, how I enjoy +infancy [sic] the anger that shall flush her lovely cheek! Perhaps she +will even kneel to me to deprecate that which an education of prejudices +has taught her to consider as the worst of evils. Yes, my lovely maid, I +will raise thee. Do not turn from me those scornful indignant eyes. I +will be thy best friend. I will not hurt a hair of thy head. Oh, when +her spotless bosom pants with disdain, how sweet to beat the little +chiders, and by a friendly violence, which true and comprehensive wisdom +cannot stigmatize, to teach her what is the true value of beauty, and +for what purpose such enchanting forms as her's were sent to dwell +below!" + +Thus spoke the ravisher, and as he spoke he assumed, although alone, a +firmer stride and a more haughty crest. Upon the instant however his +ears were saluted with a low and continual sound, that became, by just +degrees, stronger and more strong. The walls of his palace shook; a +sudden and supernatural light gleamed along his apartment, and a spectre +stood before him. Roderic lifted up his eyes, and immediately recognised +the features of that goblin, who from the hour of his birth, had +declared himself his adversary. He had been repeatedly used to the +visits of this malicious spirit, who delighted to subvert all his +schemes, and to baffle his deepest projects. This was the only +misfortune, the sovereign of the hills had ever known; this was the only +instance in which he had at any time been taught what it was to have his +power controled and his nod unobeyed. He had often sought, by means of +the confederacy he held with other spirits of the infernal regions, to +restrain his enemy, or by punishment and suffering to make him rue his +opposition. But the goblin he had to encounter, though not the most +potent, was of all the rest the most crafty in his wiles, and the most +abundant in expedients. As many times as his fellows had by the +instigation of Roderic undertaken to encounter him, so often had they in +the end been eluded and defeated. The contest was now given up, and the +goblin was at liberty to haunt and threaten his impotant adversary as +much as he pleased. + +"Roderic," cried he, with a harsh and unpleasant accent, "I am come to +humble the haughtiness of thy triumph, and to pull down thy aspiring +thoughts. Impotent and rancorous mortal! Know, that innocence is +defended with too strong a shield for thee to pierce! Boast not thyself +of the immensity of thy walls, and put no confidence in the subtlety of +thy enchantments. Before the mightiness that waits on innocence, they +are not less impotent than the liquid wax, or the crumbling ruin. Learn, +oh presumptuous mortal, that sacred and unyielding chastity is +invulnerable to all the violence of men, and all the stratagems of +goblins. I would not name to thee so salutary an advice as to dismiss +thy innocent and unsuspicious prize, did not I know thee too obstinate +and headstrong to listen to the voice of wisdom. Essay then thy base and +low-minded temptations, thy corrupt and sophistical reasonings, to +tarnish the unsullied purity of her mind, and it is well. If by such a +wretch as thee she can be seduced from the obedience of virtue and the +Gods, then let her fall. She were then a victim worthy of thee. But if +thou essayest the means of tyranny and force, the attempt will be fatal +to thee. I will in that case enjoy my vengeance; I will triumph in thy +desolation. In the hour then of action and enterprise, remember me!" + +With these words the spectre vanished from his sight. Roderic was +inflamed with anger and disgust; but he had none, upon whom to wreak his +revenge. His heart boiled with the impotence of malice. "What," cried +he, "am I to be bounded and hedged in, in all my exploits? Am I to be +curbed and thwarted in every wish of my heart? This, this was nearest to +me. This was the first pursuit of my life in which my whole heart was +engaged; the first time I ever felt a passion that deserved the name of +love. But be it so: I was born with wild and impetuous passions only to +have them frustrated; I was endowed with supernatural powers, and +inherited all my mother's skill, only to be the more signally +disappointed. Still however I will not shrink, I will not yield an inch +to my adversary. I am bid, it seems, to tempt her, and endeavour to +stain the purity of her mind. Yes, I will tempt her. It is not for an +artless and uninstructed shepherdess to defeat my wiles and baffle all +my incitements. I will dazzle her senses with all the attractions that +the globe of earth has to boast. I will wind me into her secret heart. +Thou damned, unpropitious goblin, who seekest to oppose thyself to my +happiness, I will but, by thy warning, gain a completer triumph! I will +subdue her will. She shall crown my wishes with ripe, consenting beauty. +Long shall she remain the empress of my heart, and partner of my bed. In +her I will hope to find those simple, artless, and engaging charms, +which in vain I have often sought in the band of females, that reside +beneath my roof, and wait upon my nod." + +Imogen, though considerably indisposed by the fatigue and terrors of the +preceding day, shook off however that placid and refreshing sleep which +had weighed down her eyelids, long before Roderic deserted the couch of +luxury. Two of the female attendants belonging to the castle had slept +in the same apartment with her, and soon, perceiving her in motion, +followed her example, and officiously pressed around her. One of them +took up a part of the garb of the fair shepherdess, and offered to +assist her in adjusting it. "I thank you," cried Imogen, with the utmost +simplicity, "for your good-nature; but I am pretty well now; and every +body dresses herself that is not sick." The inartificial decorations of +her person were quickly adjusted. The delicate proportion of her limbs +was hid beneath a russet mantle; her fair and flowing tresses were +disposed in a braid round her head, and she took her straw hat in her +hand. "Well," said she, "I am obliged to you for your favours. I dare +say it was best for me, though at the time I thought otherwise. For my +head ached very much, and I was so weak--It was wrong for me to think of +going any farther.--Ah, but then, what have my poor father and mother +done all the while? Have not they missed their Imogen, and wondered what +was become of her, and been quite sad and forlorn for fear she should +have come to any harm? Well, I do not know whether I was not right too. +For their ease was of more consequence than mine. I cannot tell. However +I will not now keep them in pain. So good morning to you, my dear kind +friends!" And saying this she was tripping away. + +But as she drew towards the door, one of the attendants, with a gentle +force, took hold of her hand. "Do not go yet, sweet Imogen," cried she. +"We want a little more of your company. We have done you all the service +in our power, and you have not paid us for it. We will not ask any thing +hard and unreasonable of you. Only comply with us in this one thing, to +stay with us a few hours, and let us know a little better the worth of +that amiable female we have endeavoured to oblige." "Indeed, indeed," +replied Imogen, "I cannot. I am not used to be obstinate; and you are so +kind and fair spoken, that it goes to my heart to refuse you. But I +would not for the world keep my dear, good Edith in a moment's suspense. +But since you are so desirous of being acquainted with me, repair as +soon and as often as you please to my father's cot, that lies on the +right hand side of the valley, about a mile from the sea, and just +beside the pretty brawling brook of Towey. There I will treat you with +the nicest apples and the richest cream. And I would treat you with +better, if I knew of any thing better, that I might thank you for your +goodness. Farewel!" added she, and affectionately pressed the hand that +was still untwined with her's. + +"No, Imogen, no, you must not leave us thus. Though we would have done a +thousand times more than we have for your own sake, who are so simple +and so good, it is yet fit that you should know, that we are not +mistresses here, and that all we have done has been by the orders of the +lord of this rich mansion. He will not therefore forgive us, if we +suffer you to depart before he has seen you, and expressed for you that +kindness which induced him to take you under his protection." "Heavens!" +replied the shepherdess "this is all ceremony and folly, and therefore +cannot be of so much consequence as the peace of my father, and the +consolation of my mother. Tell him, that I thank him, and that my father +shall thank him too, if he will come to our hut. Tell him that I am +sorry for my foolish weakness, that gave him so much trouble, and made +me be so needlessly frightened, when we came to a place where I have met +with nothing but kindness; but I could not help it. And so that is +enough; for if my Edwin had been in his place, and had seen a stranger +shepherdess in the distress that I was, he would surely have done as +much. + +"Say so to your lord, as you call him, for I would not seem ungrateful. +But yet I will thank you a great deal more than I do him. For what did +he do for me? He took me, and hurried me away, and paid no attention to +my tears and expostulations. Well, but I need not have been alarmed. So +it seems. But I did not like his looks; they were not kind and +good-natured, but fierce and frightful. And so as soon as he had brought +me here, much against my will, he went away and left me. So much the +better. And then you came and took care of me, and he desired you to do +so. That was well enough. But I am more obliged to you for your kindness +and assiduity, than I am to him only for thinking of it. And then to +tell you the truth, but I ought not to say so to you who are his +friends, there is something about him, I cannot tell what, that does not +please me at all. He looks discontented, and fierce, as if there was no +such thing as soothing and managing him. But why do I say all this? Pray +now let me go, let me go to my dear, dear mother." + +"Sweet Imogen," replied the attendant, who seemed to take the lead in +the circle, "how lovely and amiable are you even in your resentments! +They are not with you a morose and gloomy sullenness brooding over +imaginary wrongs, and collecting venom and malice from every corner to +the heart. In your breast anger itself takes a milder form, and is +gentle, generous and gay. Yet why, my Imogen, should you harbour any +anger against your protector?" + +Such was the honest and artless dialogue of Imogen. The attendants +rather endeavoured to beguile the time, by dexterously starting new +topics of conversation, upon which Imogen delivered her plain and +natural sentiments with the utmost sincerity, than to detain her by open +force. At length one of them slipped out, and hastened to acquaint +Roderic with the impatience of his prize, and to communicate to him the +substance of those artless hints, which, in the hands of so skilful and +potent an impostor, might be of the greatest service. Roderic +immediately rose. But as he was desirous to decorate his person with the +nicest skill, in order to make the most favourable impression upon his +mistress, he ordered the attendant, with some of her companions, to wait +upon Imogen. He commissioned them, if it were necessary, to inform her +of the absolute impossibility of her quitting the castle, and to +persuade her to walk in the meadows adjoining, that she might observe +the riches of their possessor; how fertile were the soil, and how fair +and numerous the flocks. + +The patience of Imogen, in the mean time, was nearly exhausted. Her +simplicity could no longer be duped. Though unused to art, it was +impossible for her not at length to perceive the art by which the +conversation was lengthened, and her ardent desire to set out for the +cottage of her father, eluded. She was just beginning to expostulate +upon this ungenerous stratagem, when three or four of those females, +whom Roderic had dispatched entered the apartment. "Well," cried Imogen, +"you have borne my message to my deliverer, now then let me go." "Our +lord," replied the attendant, "is just risen. He will but adjust his +apparel, and will immediately pay you those respects in person which he +can by no means think of omitting." "Alas, alas," cried the shepherdess, +half distressed, "what is the meaning of all this? What is intended by a +language so foreign to the homeliness of the shepherd's cot, and the +admirable simplicity of pastoral life? I know not what title I have, a +poor, unpretending virgin, to the respects of this lord; but surely if +they meaned me well, they would be less hollow and absurd. Would there +not be much more respect, much more civility, in permitting me to follow +my own inclinations, without this arbitrary and ungrateful restraint?" +"Shepherdess," replied the attendant, "we are not used to dispute the +orders of our master. We would oblige you if it were in our power. +Impute not therefore to us any thing unfriendly; and as for Roderic, he +is too good, and too amiable, not to be able to satisfy you about his +conduct the moment he appears." "Your master! and your lord!" replied +Imogen, with a tone of displeasure, "I understand not these words. The +Gods have made all their rational creatures equal. If they have made one +strong and another weak, it is for the purpose of mutual benevolence and +assistance, and not for that of despotism and oppression. Of all the +shepherds of the valley, there is not one that claims dominion and +command over another. There is indeed an obedience due from children to +their parents, and from a wife to her husband. But ye cannot be his +children; for he is young and blooming. And but one of you can be his +wife; so that that cannot be the source of his authority. What a +numerous family has this Roderic? Does that I wonder, make him happier +than his fellows?" + +"Imogen," said one of the train, "will you walk with us along the +meadow, by the side of that hazel copse? The morning is delightful, the +sun shines with a mild and cheering heat, the lambs frisk along the +level green, and the birds, with their little throats, warble each a +different strain." The mind of Imogen was highly susceptible to the +impression of rural beauties. She had that placid innocence, that sweet +serenity of heart, which best prepares us to relish them. Seeing +therefore, that she was a prisoner, and that it was in vain to struggle +and beat her wings against the wiry inclosure, she submitted. "Ah! +unjust, unkind associates!" exclaimed Imogen, "ye can obey the dictates +of a man, who has no right to your obedience, and ye can turn a deaf ear +to the voice of benevolence and justice! Set me at liberty. This man has +no right to see me, and I will not see him. I, that have been used to +wander as free as the inmates of the wood, or the winged inhabitants of +air, shall I be cooped up in a petty cage, have all my motions dictated, +and all my walks circumscribed? Indeed, indeed, I will not. Imogen can +never submit to so ignominious a restraint. She will sooner die." + +"Why, my lovely maiden," replied the other, "will you think so harshly +of our lord? He does not deserve these uncandid constructions; he is all +gentleness and goodness. Suspend therefore your impatience for a moment. +By and by you may represent to him your uneasiness, and he will grant +you all the wishes of your heart. Till then, amiable girl, compose your +spirits, and give us cause to believe, that you place that confidence in +us, which for the world we would not deserve to forfeit." + +During this conversation, they passed along a gallery, and, descending +by a flight of stairs, proceeded through one corner of a spacious garden +into the meadow. The mansion, as we have already said, stood upon a +rising ground, which was inclosed on every side by a circle of hills, +whose summits seemed to touch the clouds, and were covered with eternal +snow. Within this wider circumference was a second formed by an +impervious grove of oaks, which, though of no long standing, yet, having +been produced by magical art, had appeared from the first in full +maturity. Their vast trunks, which three men hand in hand could scarcely +span, were marked with many a scar, and their broad branches, waving to +the winds, inspired into the pious and the virtuous that religious awe, +which is one of the principal lessons of the Druidical religion. + +At no great distance, and close on one side to the majestic grove, was a +terrace, raised by the hand of art, so elevated, as to overlook the tops +of the trees as well as the turrets of the castle, and to afford a +complete prospect of all the grounds on this side the precipices. To +this terrace the attendants of Imogen led their charge, and from it she +surveyed the farms and granges of their lord. The view was diversified +by a number of little rills, that flowed down from the mountains, and +gave fertility and cheerfulness to the fields through which they passed. +The inclosures were some of them covered with a fine and rich herbage, +whose appearance was bright and verdant, and its surface besprinkled +with cowslips, king-cups, and daisies. Others of them were interspersed +with sheep that exhibited the face of sleekness and ease, their fleeces +large and ponderous, and their wool of the finest and most admirable +texture. Elsewhere you might see the cattle grazing. The ox dappled with +a thousand spots, which nature seemed to have applied with a wanton and +playful hand; the cow, whose udders were distended with milk, that +appeared to call for the interposition of the maidens to lighten them of +their store; and the lordly and majestic bull. With them was +intermingled the horse, whose limbs seemed to be formed for speed and +beauty. At a small distance were the stag with branching horns, the +timid deer, and the sportive, frisking fawn. Even from the rugged +precipices, that seemed intended by nature to lie waste and useless, +depended the shaggy goat and the tender kid. Beside all this, Roderic +had had communicated to him, by a supernatural afflatus, that wondrous +art, as yet unknown in the plains of Albion, of turning up the soil with +a share of iron, and scattering it with a small quantity of those grains +which are most useful to man, to expect to gather, after a short +interval, a forty-fold increase. + +Every thing conspired to communicate to the prospect lustre and +attraction. The birds, with their various song, gave an air of +populousness and animation to the grove. By the side of the rivulets +were scattered here and there the huts of the shepherd and husbandman. +And though these swains were not, like the happy dwellers in the valley, +enlivened with freedom, and made careless and gay by conscious +innocence; yet were they skilful to give clearness and melody to the +slender reed; and the ploughman whistled as he drove afield. But that in +the landscape which most engrossed the attention and awakened the +curiosity of the tender Imogen, was the appearance of the fields of +corn. It was in her eye novel, agreeable, and interesting. The harvest +was near, and the effect of the object was at its greatest height. The +tall and unbending stalk overtopped by far the native herbage of the +meadow, and seemed to emulate the hawthorn and the hazel, which, planted +in even rows, secured the precious crop from the invasion of the cattle. +The ears were embrowned with the continual beams of the sun, and, +oppressed with the weight of their grain, bended from the stalk. In a +word, the whole presented to the astonished view a rich scene of +vegetable gold. Upon this delightful object the shepherdess gazed with +an unwearied regard. Respecting it she asked innumerable questions, and +made a thousand enquiries; and it almost seemed as if her curiosity +would never be satisfied. Such is the power of novelty over the young +and inexperienced, and such the influence of the beautiful and +transcendent beauties of nature upon the ingenuous and uncorrupted mind. +But it was not possible for the shepherdess, interested as she was in +the uneasiness, to which she knew that her parents must be a prey, long +to banish from her mind the affecting consideration, or to divert her +attention to another object, however agreeable, or however fascinating. + +She had just begun to renew her representations upon this head, when +Roderic approached. While he was yet at a distance, he appeared graceful +and gay, as the messenger of the God that grasps the lightning in his +hand. His stature was above the common size. His limbs were formed with +perfect symmetry; the fall of his shoulders was graceful, and the whole +contour of his body was regular and pleasing. Such was the general +effect of his shape, that though his advance was hesitating and +respectful, it was impossible to contemplate his person without the +ideas being suggested of velocity and swiftness. His presence and air +had the appearance of frankness, ingenuousness, and manly confidence. +The natural fire and haughtiness of his eye were carefully subdued, and +he seemed, at least to a superficial view, the very model of good-nature +and disinterested complaisance. His bright and flowing hair parted on +his brow, and formed into a thousand ringlets, waved to the zephyrs as +he passed along. There was something so delicate and enchanting in his +whole figure, as to tempt you to compare it to the unspotted beauty of +the hyacinth; at the same time that you rejoiced, that it was not a +beauty, frail and transient, as the tender flower, but which promised a +manly ripeness and a protracted duration. + +Observing that the attention of those around her was suddenly diverted +from the intreaties she employed, Imogen turned her eye, in order to +discover the object that now engaged them. It was immediately met by the +graceful and amiable figure we have described. But to Imogen that figure +presented no such comeliness and beauty. For a moment indeed, nature +prevailed, and she could not avoid gazing, with a degree of complacence, +upon an object, to which the Goddess seemed to have lavished all her +treasures. But this sensation vanished, almost before it was formed. The +mind of the shepherdess was too deeply read in the lessons of virtue, to +acknowledge any beauty in that form, which was not animated with truth, +and in those features, which were not illuminated with integrity and +innocence. Notwithstanding her native simplicity, and the unsuspecting +confidence she was inclined to repose in every individual of the human +race, yet had the conduct of Roderic, as she had already confessed, +displeased her too deeply for her immediately to assume towards him an +unembarrassed and soothing carriage. He had seized upon her by violence +in a moment of insensibility. He had carried her away without her +consent. When she recovered strength enough to expostulate upon this, he +endeavoured, by ambiguous expressions, to deceive her into an opinion, +that he was conducting her to the cottage of her father. Supposing that, +for reasons good and wise, he had introduced her into a strange place, +she could not be persuaded that those reasons subsisted for detaining +her contrary to her inclination. And independently of any individual +circumstances, there is a native and inexplicable antipathy between +virtue and vice. It is not in the nature of things, it is not within the +range of possibility, that they should coalesce and unite where both of +them exist in a decided manner, or an eminent degree. It was not the +babble of ignorance, it was by an unalterable law of her nature, that +Imogen had been displeased with the looks of him, who meaned her +destruction. The animation that dwells in the features of virtue, is +mild and friendly and lambent; but the sparkles that flash from the eye +of enterprising guilt, are momentary, and unrelenting, and impetuous. +The gentle and the inoffensive instantly feel how uncongenial they are +to their dispositions, and start back from them with aversion and +horror. Such were in some measure the sensations of Imogen, upon the +re-appearance of her betrayer. She turned from him with unfeigned +dislike, and was reluctantly kept in the same situation till he ascended +the terrace. As he drew nearer, Roderic seized the hand of the lovely +captive. In a tone of blandishment he expostulated with her upon her +unkind behaviour and unreasonable aversion. With all that sophistry, +that ingenious vice knows so well how to employ, he endeavoured to +evince that his conduct had been regulated by kindness, rectitude and +humanity. In the mean time the retinue withdrew to a small distance. +Imogen insisted upon not being left wholly alone with her ravisher. + +Able to perplex but not to subvert the understanding of his prize, +Roderic addressed her with the language of love. Naturally eloquent, all +that he now said was accompanied with that ineffable sweetness, and that +soft insinuation, that must have shaken the integrity of Imogen, had her +heart been less constant, and her bosom less glowed with the enthusiasm +of virtue. Her betrayer was conscious to a real, though a degenerate +flame, and was not reduced to feign an ardour he did not feel. +Recollecting however the pure manners, and the delicate and ingenuous +language to which Imogen had been inured among the inhabitants of Clwyd, +the subtle sorcerer did not permit an expression to escape him, that +could offend the chastest ear, or alarm the most suspicious virtue. His +love, ardent as it appeared, seemed to be entirely under the government +of the strictest propriety, and the most unfeigned rectitude. He knew +that the inspirations of integrity and the lessons of education were not +to be eradicated at once; and he attempted not to gain the acquiescence +of his captive by gross and unsuitable allurements, unconcealed with the +gilding of dexterity and speciousness. + +But his eloquence and his address were equally vain. In spite of the +beauty of his person and the urbanity of his manners, the shepherdess +received his declarations with coldness and aversion. She assured him of +the impossibility of his success, that she felt for him emotions very +different from those of partiality, and that her heart was prepossessed +for a more amiable swain. With that sweet simplicity, that accompanied +all she did, she endeavoured to dissuade him from the pursuit of a +hopeless and unreasonable passion; she enumerated to him all the sources +of enjoyment with which he was surrounded; she intreated him not in the +wantonness of opulence to disturb her humble and narrow felicity; and +she besought him in the most pathetic and earnest language to dismiss +her to freedom, contentment and her parents. + +The more she exerted herself to bend his resolution, and the more scope +she gave to the unstudied expression of her artless sentiments, the more +inextricably was the magician caught, and the more firm and inexorable +was his purpose. Perceiving however that he had little to hope from the +most skilful detail of the pleas of passion, he turned the attention of +the shepherdess to a different topic. "Behold Imogen," cried he, "the +richness of the landscape on our right hand! The spot in my eye is +farthest from the castle, and divided from the rest of the prospect with +a tall hedge of poplars and alders. It is full of the finest grass, and +its soil is rich and luxuriant. It is scattered with fleckered cows and +dappled fawns. In the hither part of it is a field of the choicest +wheat, whose stalks are so rank and pregnant, that the timid hare and +the untamed fox can scarcely force themselves a path among them. Beside +it is an inclosure of barley with strong and pointed spikes; and another +of oats, whose grain, uneared, spreads broader to the eye. How beautiful +the scene! I will not ask you, fairest of your sex, to give your +confidence to unauthorised words. I will afford the most unquestionable +demonstration of the veracity of my declarations. All these, lovely +Imogen, shall be yours: yours exclusively, to be disposed of at your +pleasure, without the interference or control of any. All my other +possessions shall not belong to myself more than to you. You shall be +the mistress of my heart, and the associate of my counsels. All my +business shall be your gratification, all my pleasure your happiness. +Forget then, dearest maiden, the poverty of your former condition, and +the connections you formed in an hour of ignorance and obscurity. From +this moment let a new era and better prospects commence. Enjoy that +wealth, which can no where so well be bestowed; and those +gratifications, which so obviously belong to that delicate and +enchanting form." + +The proposal of Roderic called forth more than ever the spirit and the +resentment of Imogen. She did not feel herself in the slightest degree +attracted by the magnificence of his offers. She knew of no use for +superfluous riches. She felt no wants unsupplied, and no wishes +ungratified. What motive is there in the whole region of human +perceptions, that can excite the contented mind to the pursuit of +affluence? "And dost thou think," said the fair one, with a gesture of +disdain that made her look ten times more amiable, "to seduce me with +baits like these? Know, mistaken man, that I am happy. I spin the finest +wool of our flocks, and drain the distended udders of our cows. I +superintend the dairies; the butter and the cheese are the produce of my +industry. In these employments my time is spent in chearfulness and +pleasure. Surrounded with our little possessions, I am conscious to no +deficiency; in the midst of my parents and friends, I desire not to look +beyond the narrow circle of the neighbouring hills. If you feel those +wants, which I do not so much as understand, enjoy your fond mistake. +Possess those riches which I will not envy you. Wander from luxury to +luxury unquestioned; I shall be sufficiently happy in the narrow +gratifications that nature has placed within my reach. The gifts you +offer me have no splendour in my eye, and I could not thank you for them +though offered with ever so much disinterestedness. The only gift it is +in your power to make is liberty. Allow me to partake of that bounty, +which nature has bestowed upon the choristers of the grove, to wander +where I will. Under a thousand of those privations that would render the +child of luxury inconsolable, I would support myself; freedom and +independence are the only boons which the whole course of my life has +taught me to cherish." + +"Your ignorance," rejoined Roderic, "is amiable, though unfortunate. But +your merit is too great not to deserve to be informed. Knowledge, my +lovely maiden, is always regarded as a desirable acquisition by the +prudent and the judicious. To what purpose was a mind so capacious, +competent to the greatest improvements, and formed to comprehend +subjects of the most extensive compass, or the sublimest reach, bestowed +upon us, if it be not employed in the pursuits of science and +experience? Your abilities, my Imogen, appear to be of the very first +description. How much then will you be to be blamed, if you do not +embrace this opportunity of improvement and instruction? Beauty, though +unseen, is not less excellent; and prudence, though unpossessed, is of +value inestimable. The poor man may be contented, because he knows not +the use of riches; but, in spite of this contentment, it were wise to +enlarge our sphere of sensation, and to extend the sources of happiness. + +"If however you still maintain that lovely perverseness, decide if you +please upon your own fate, but let filial piety hinder you from +determining too hastily respecting that of your parents and your +friends. Consider what a new and unbounded scope will be afforded you, +by the participation of my riches, for the exercise of benevolent and +generous propensities. Your parents are now declining fast under the +weight of years and infirmity. It is in your power to make their bed of +down, and to enliven the ground they have yet to traverse with flowers. +It is yours to wrest the sheers from the hand of the weary and +over-laboured ancient, and to remove the distaff from the knees of your +venerable mother. Think, gentle shepherdess, before it be too late, of +the heart-felt pleasures that await the power to do good, when attended +with a virtuous inclination. When you wipe away the tear from the cheek +of distress, when you light up a smile in the eye of misery, think you, +that none of the comfort you administer will flow back in generous and +refreshing streams to your own heart? Are these exertions that Imogen +ought to contemplate with indifference? Is this a power that Imogen can +reject without deliberation?" + +Imogen stood for a moment in a sweet and ingenuous state of suspense. +She had a native and indefeasible reverence for every thing that had the +remotest analogy to virtue, and she could not answer a proposal that +came recommended to her by that name with unhesitating promptitude. She +was too good and modest to assume an air of decision where she did not +feel it; she was too simple and unaffected, to disguise that hesitation +to which she was really conscious. "How false and treacherous," +exclaimed she, "are your reasonings! Among the virtuous inhabitants of +the plain, every one seeks to influence another by motives which are of +weight with himself, and utters the sentiments of his own heart. Where +have you learned the disingenuous and faithless arts you employ? To what +purpose have you cultivated them, and whose good opinion do you flatter +yourself they will obtain for you? False, perfidious Roderic! the more I +see of you, the more I fear and despise you. + +"You would recommend to me your temptations under the colour of +knowlege. Has knowlege any charms for the debauched and luxurious? You +tell me we ought to enlarge our sphere of sensation, and to extend the +sources of happiness. Wisdom indeed, and mental improvements are +desirable. But the sage Druids have always taught me, that the mind is +the nobler part, that the body is to be kept in subjection, and that it +is not our business to seek its gratification beyond the bounds of +necessity and temperance. If I allowed myself to think that I wanted +more than I have, might not the possession of that more extend my +desires, till, from humble and bounded, they became insatiable? Were I +to dismiss those industrious pursuits by means of which my time now +glides so pleasantly, how am I sure that indolence and vacancy would +make me happier? + +"To succour indeed the necessitous, and particularly my parents and +relations, is a consideration of more value. But ah, Roderic! though you +talk it so well, I am afraid it is a consideration foreign to your +character. For my parents, they are as yet healthful and active; and +while they continue so, they wish, no more than myself for repose and +indolence. If ever they become incapable of industry, their little flock +will still contribute to their support. They are too much respected, for +the neighbouring shepherds not to watch over it in turn out of pure +love. And, I hope, as I will then exert myself with double vigour, that +the Gods will bless us, and we shall do very well. As to general +distress, heaven is too propitious to us, to permit the inhabitants of +the valley to be overwhelmed by it. And I shall always have milk from my +flocks, and a cheese from my store, to set before the hungry and +necessitous. + +"But were these advantages more valuable than they are, it would not be +my duty to purchase them so dear. What, shall I desert all the +connections it has been the business of my life to form, and that happy +state of simplicity I love so much? Shall I shake off the mutual vows I +have exchanged with the most amiable and generous of the swains, and +join myself to one, whose person I cannot love, and whose character I +cannot approve? No, Roderic, enjoy that happiness, if it deserve the +name of happiness, that is congenial to your inclination. Forget the +worthless and unreasonable passion, you pretend to have conceived, in +the multitude of gratifications that are within your reach. Envy not me +my straw-defended roof, my little flock, and my faithful shepherd. I +will never exchange them for all the temptations that the world can +furnish." + + + + + + +BOOK THE FOURTH + +SONG IN HONOUR OF THE FAIR SEX.--HYPOCRISY OF THE MAGICIAN.--THE TRIUMPH +OF IMOGEN.--DESPAIR AND CONSOLATION OF RODERIC. + + +So much was Roderic discouraged by the apparent spirit and firmness of +these declarations, that at the conclusion of them he abruptly quitted +his captive, and released her for a moment from his unjust persecutions. +His pride however was too strongly piqued, and his passions too much +alarmed to permit her a real respite. "Where ever," cried he, as he trod +with hasty and irregular steps the level green,--"where ever were found +such simplicity, and so much strength of judgment, and gaiety of wit in +union? Is it possible for the extreme of simplicity and the perfection +of intellect to meet together? These surely are paradoxes, that not all +the goblins of the abyss can solve, and which, had they been related +instead of seen, must have appeared to constitute an absurd and +impossible fiction. + +"Well then it is in vain to attack the inexorable fair one with +allurements that address themselves only to the understanding. She is +too well fortified with the prejudices of education, and the principles +of an imaginary virtue, to be reduced by an assault like this. The pride +of her virtue is alarmed, the little train of her sophistries are +awakened, and with that artless rhetoric, of the value of which she is +doubtless sensible, she set[s] all her enemies at defiance. My future +enticements shall therefore address themselves to her senses. Thus +approaching her, it is impossible that success should not follow my +undertaking. Even the most wary, circumspect, and suspicious, might thus +be overcome. But she is innocence itself. She apprehends no danger, she +suspects no ambuscade. Young and unexperienced, and the little +experience she has attained, derived only from scenes of pastoral +simplicity, she knows not the meaning of insincerity and treachery; she +dreads not the serpent that lurks beneath the flower." + +Having determined the plan of his machinations, and given the necessary +orders, he privately signified to the attendants, that they should +propose to their lovely charge to direct her course once again to the +mansion; and as she perceived that Roderic still continued upon a +distant part of the lawn; and as she saw no means of present escape from +her confinement, she consented to do as they desired. + +They now entered the mansion, and passing through several splendid +apartments, at length reached a large and magnificent saloon. It was +hung with tapestry, upon which were represented the figures of Sappho +sweeping the lyre; of the Spartan mother bending over the body, and +counting the wounds of her son; of Penelope in the midst of her maidens, +carefully unravelling the funeral web of her husband; of Lucretia +inflicting upon herself a glorious and voluntary death; and of Arria +teaching her husband in what manner a Roman should expire. These stories +had been miraculously communicated to Roderic, and were now explained by +the attendants to the wondering Imogen. At the same time a band of +music, that was placed at the lower end of the hall, struck at once +their various instruments, and, without any previous preparation, began +the lofty chorus. At the upper end of the saloon stood a throne of +ivory, hung round with trappings of gold, and placed upon a floor of +marble, of which a numerous flight of steps, also of marble, composed +the ascent. The hangings were of crimson velvet, and the canopy of the +richest purple. With the musicians were intermingled a number of +supernatural beings under the command of Roderic. Their voices were +melodious beyond all example of human power; they were by turns lofty +and majestic, and by turns tender and melting; and the strain was +divine. + +"Such are the honours of the tender sex; and who can speak their praise? +The lily is not so fair, the rose is not so attractive, the violet and +the jessamine have not so elegant a simplicity. By their charms, by +their eloquence, and by their merit, they have assumed an empire over +the bolder sex. How auspicious is the empire! They hold them in silken +chains. They govern, not by harsh decrees, and rigorous penalties; but +by smiles and soft compliances, and winning, irresistible persuasion. +The rewards they bestow are sweet, and ravishing, and indescribable. + +"What were man without the fair? A wild beast of the forest; a rough and +untamed savage; a hungry lion bursting from his den. Without them, they +are gloomy, morose, unfeeling, and unsociable. To them they owe every +civilization, and every improvement. Did Amphion, from the rude and +shapeless stones, raise by his power a regular edifice, houses, palaces, +and cities? Did Orpheus by his lay humanize the rugged beasts and teach +the forests to listen? No, these are wild, unmeaning fables. It was +woman, charming woman, that led unpolished man forth from the forests +and the dens, and taught him to bend before thy shrine, humanity! See +how the face of nature changes! Where late the slough mantled, or the +serpent hissed among the briars and the reeds, all is pasture and +fertility. The cottages arise. The shepherds assume the guise of +gentleness and simplicity. They attire themselves with care, they braid +the garland, and they tune the pipe. Wherefore do they braid the +garland? Why are their manners soft and blandishing? And why do the +hills re-echo the notes of the slender reed? It is to win thy graces, +woman, charming woman! + +"When nature formed a man, she formed a creature rational, and erect; +ten times more noble than the birds of the air, and the beasts of the +field. But when she formed a woman--it was then first, that she outdid +herself, and improved her own design. What are the broad and nervous +shoulders, what the compacted figure, and the vigorous step, when +contrasted with the well-turned limbs, the slender waist, the graceful +shoulders, and the soft and panting bosom? What are the manly front, the +stern, commanding eye, and the down-clad cheek, if we compare them with +the smooth, transparent complexion, the soft, faint blushes, and the +pretty, dimpled mouth? What are the strong, slow reason, the deep, +unfathomed science, and the grave and solemn wisdom, if they are brought +into competition with the sprightly sense, the penetrating wit, and the +inexhaustible invention? Does the stronger sex boast of its learning, +its deep researches, its sagacious discoveries? and have they a +coolness, a self-command, a never baffled prudence like that which woman +has exhibited? Do they pique themselves upon their courage, their +gallantry, and their adventure? Where shall we find among them a +patience, a mildness, a fortitude, a heroism, equal to that of the fair? + +"Virtue has dwelt beneath the sun. Themis has left her throne on the +right hand of Jove, and descended to the globe of earth. We have seen +examples of disinterested rectitude, of inviolable truth, of sublime and +heaven-born benevolence. They are written in the roll of fame; they are +handed down from age to age. They are the song of the poet, and the +favourite theme of the servants of the Gods. By whom were they +exhibited, or with whom did they originate? With woman, charming woman? +Well have justice and rectitude been represented under a female form, +for without the softer sex, all had been anarchy and confusion; every +man had preyed upon his neighbour; men, like beasts, had devoured each +other, and virtue fled affrighted to her native skies. This is the +source of all that is good and all that is excellent; of all that is +beautiful and all that is sublime: woman, charming woman!" + +At this place the chorus ceased for a moment, and the attendants +observing, that Imogen was standing, intreated her to seat herself. She +was rendered weak and languid by the unexperienced anxieties and terrors +she had undergone, and she did not refuse their request. There was no +seat in the centre of the hall, or nearer than the sumptuous throne that +was placed at the upper end. Thither therefore they led her. Imogen had +been unused to the distinctions of rank and precedence. Among the +shepherds of the valley, every one, except the bards and the priests, +seated himself promiscuously; none sought to take the upper hand of his +neighbour; age was not distinguished by priority of place; and youth +thought not of ceding the _pas_. The shepherdess, as she advanced +towards the chair, paused for an instant, impressed with that blaze of +magnificence which is equally formed to strike every human eye. She +looked round her with an air of timidity and suspense, and then going +forward, ascended the steps and placed herself in the throne. At this +action, as at a signal, the song recommenced. + +"Simplicity, child of nature, daughter of the plains, with thee alone +the queen of beauty dwells! What is it that adorns and enhances all the +wild and uncultivated scenes of nature? It is plainness and artless +simplicity. What is it that renders lovely and amiable her most +favourite productions in the animal creation: the tender lamb, the +cooing dove, and the vocal nightingale? It is simplicity; it is, that +all their gestures wear the guise, and their voice speaks the artless, +and unaffected language of nature. What is is that renders venerable the +characters of mankind; that ennobles the song of the bards; that gives +lustre and attraction to immortal, never-fading virtue? It is +simplicity, unaffected simplicity. Of the last and crowning work of +nature, woman, the form is grace; the visage is beauty; the eye sparkles +with intelligence, and smiles with soft and winning graces; the tongue +is clothed with persuasion and eloquence. But what are these? A body +without a soul, a combination of soft and harmonious names without a +meaning; a multitude of rich inestimable gifts, heaped together in rude +and inartificial confusion without the powers of enchantment and +attraction. What is it that can animate the mass, that can give force +and value to the whole, and reduce the shapeless chaos into form? It is +simplicity, unaffected simplicity. Without thee, child of nature, +daughter of the plains, beauty were no more. With thee she dwells, and +in thy mansion can she only dwell. Then be the palm reserved for thee, +and given to thee alone, simplicity, unaffected simplicity!" + +At these words, two supernatural figures appeared below the canopy of +the throne. They had the form of children; their figures appeared so +soft and waxen, that you would imagine they might be indented by the +smallest touch; upon their countenances sat the lively and unexpressive +smile, the sports, and the graces; and their shoulders were furnished +with wings of the softest plumage, variegated with all the colours of +the bow of heaven. In their hands they bore a coronet, at once rich with +jewels, and light and inconsiderable in its weight. The circle was of +gold, and studded with diamonds. With the diamonds were intermingled +every precious gem, the topaz, the jasper, the emerald, the chrysolite, +and the sapphire. The head was of Persian silk, and dyed with Tyrian +purple. This coronet they placed upon the head of Imogen, and then +descending to the footstool of the throne, bowed upon her feet. The song +immediately recommenced. + +"Imogen is under the guardianship of simplicity, her favourite pupil. +Pollute not the ear of Imogen with the praises of beauty. What though +her eye be full of amiableness and eloquence; what though her cheeks +rival the peach, and her lips the coral; what though her bosom be soft +as wax and fairer than the face of honour; what though her tresses are +brighter than the shooting star? These are the bounties of nature; these +are the gifts of heaven, in which she claims no merit; these are not the +praises of Imogen. But this is her praise, that the graces dwell upon +her lips; that her words are attired with the garb of sense and fancy; +and that all her conduct is governed by the largest prudence and the +nicest discretion. Heard you the sound of merriment and applause? They +were the gay and unlaboured sallies of the wit of Imogen that called +them forth. Saw you the look of wonder and astonishment, and the gaze of +involuntary approbation and reverence? They were excited by the modesty, +the circumspection, and the virtue of Imogen. And yet Imogen is artless, +unaffected and innocent; her wit is unconscious of itself, and her +virtue the unstudied dictate of nature. Imogen is under the guardianship +of simplicity, her favourite pupil. Be hers then the crown that +simplicity alone can deserve. Simplicity descends not in person to the +surface of the earth; her abode is among the Gods. But Imogen is her +representative, her perfect resemblance. Should simplicity descend upon +the earth, she would not know herself; she would be astonished to behold +another divinity, equally beautiful, equally excellent. The divinity is +Imogen. Be hers then the crown, that simplicity alone can deserve." + +This was a trying moment to the lovely and generous Imogen. Praise is +congenial to every human sense; the voice of praise is ever grateful to +the ear of virtue. The glory of the shepherd indeed lies within a narrow +compass. But let immortality be named, and the heart of man is naturally +attracted: it is impossible that the good and generous bosom should not +long for such a prize. Nor was this all. Imogen, though loved and +honoured by the borderers of Towey, had been little used to studied +commendation and laboured applause. Pastoral simplicity does not deal in +these; and though it seek to oblige, its endeavours are unostentatious +and silent. Beside, her reverence for song was radical and deep. It had +been instilled into her from her earliest infancy; from earliest infancy +she had considered poetry as the vehicle of divine and eternal truth. +How strange and tremendous an advantage must he gain over the ear of +simplicity, who can present his fascinations under the garb of all that +is sacred and all that is honourable? + +The song had begun with celebrating a theme, that must for ever be +congenial to every female breast. The heart of the shepherdess had +instinctively vibrated to the praises of simplicity. Even the +commendations bestowed upon herself were not improper, or +indiscriminate; they had distinguished between the inanity of personal +charms, and the value of prudence, the beauty of innocence and the merit +of virtue. Even the honours she had received were attributed to these, +and not to the other. Were they not therefore such as virtue would +aspire to, and discretion accept? + +Alas, Imogen, be not deceived with airy shadows! The reasoning may be +plausible, but it is no better than sophistry. Thou must be taught, fair +and unsuspecting virgin, under a beautiful outside to apprehend deceit; +and to guard against the thorn which closely environs the flower. Thou +must learn, loveliest of thy sex, to dread the poison of flattery. It is +more venemous than the adder, it is more destructive than hebenon or +madragora. It annihilates every respectable quality in the very act of +extolling it; it undermines all that adorns and elevates the human +character. Even now that thou listenest to it, and drinkest in, without +apprehension, its opiate sounds, thou art too near to the sacrifice of +those very excellencies it pretends to admire. For the head of Imogen +was made giddy by the applauses she heard; drunk with admiration, she +was no longer conscious of the things around her, or of herself; she +sunk vanquished and supine, and was supported by one of the attendants. + +At this moment Roderic came forth from an adjoining apartment, and +caught in his arms the vanquished beauty. In the mean time the +attendants, the musicians, and the supernatural beings disappeared, and +she was left alone with her betrayer. + +Roderic surveyed his victim with an eye of avidity and triumph. His +eager curiosity wandered over her hoard of charms; and his brutal +passion was soothed with the contemplation of her disorder. Already in +imagination, he had possessed himself of a decisive advantage over so +apparent a weakness; and his breast was steeled against the emotions of +pity. + +Imogen cast around her a languid and passive regard, and was in a moment +roused from her supineness by the sight of Roderic. Her subtle adversary +did not however allow her time for complete recollection, before he +discovered an apparent revolution in his sentiments and language. He had +heard, he said, the supernatural and celestial chorus, and been caught +in the extremest degree by the praises of innocence and the triumph of +virtue. He now felt the vanity and folly of those pursuits in which he +had been so deeply immersed, and was determined to abjure the littleness +of pride, and the emptiness of sensual gratification. He did not now +address his destined prize with the commendations of beauty. He bestowed +upon her with profusion the epithets of discretion, integrity, and +heroism; and poured into her ear the insidious flattery, that was most +soothing to her temper. Full, as he pretended, of the infant purposes of +virtue, he besought his captive in the most importunate manner, to +remain with him for a time, to confirm his wavering rectitude, to +instruct him in duty, and thus to gain one human being to the standard +of integrity, and to render so extensive possessions subservient to the +happiness of mankind. All this he expressed with that ardour, which is +congenial to the simplicity of truth; and with that enthusiasm, which in +all instances accompanies recent conviction. + +Imogen was totally uninured to the contemplation of hypocrisy, and +immediately yielded the most unreserved credit to these professions. Her +joy was extreme at the change in the dispositions of Roderic, and her +admiration of the irresistible charms of rectitude pious and profound. +The praises bestowed upon her seemed distinguishing and sincere, and she +drank them in with the most visible complacency. She expressed however +an ingenuous diffidence of her capacity for the task of an instructor, +and she intreated at any rate to be permitted to withdraw for a short +time to dry up the tears of her disconsolate parents. + +These difficulties were too obvious to create any embarrassment to so +consummate a deceiver. He described the danger of that vicious mistrust +of our powers, that is the enemy of all generous and heroic action. He +reminded his captive how recent were his purposes, and how many +unforeseen incidents might be crowded into so eventful a moment. There +were goblins, he said, ever ready to seduce the wanderer from his wished +return; and he had been too much their prey not to have every thing to +dread from the subtlety of their machinations. On the other hand, no +character was suspended on the longer or shorter duration of the +uneasiness of the parents of Imogen; and the joyful surprise they would +ere long experience, might abundantly compensate for any temporary +anxiety and solicitude. He told her of the worship and reverence that +were due to the immortal Gods. Could she imagine that the scene that had +just passed was produced for the mere honour and gratification of a +virtuous character, than for the instruction of the ignorant, and the +restoration of the wandering? Shall she be thus honoured, and shall this +be her gratitude? + +Though the web of the sophistry woven by her betrayer might seem +inextricable, though Imogen had no sentiments more predominant than the +love of virtue, and the fear of the Gods, yet her heart involuntarily +resisted his persuasions, and she felt the yearnings of affection still +active in her bosom towards those, to whom she owed her existence. + +"And cannot you," cried the lovely maiden, "attend me in the short +absense I demand? That would prevent every danger, and supersede every +objection." "Ah, shepherdess," replied the magician, "this reluctance, +these studied expedients imply diffidence and disobedience. But +diffidence is much unworthy of the heart of Imogen. Your life has been +marked with one tenour of piety. Do not then begin to disobey. Do not +sully the unspotted whiteness of your character." + +"This," rejoined Imogen, "is too much. This is mere savageness of +virtue. Why in the act of persuading me do you bestow upon me those +laboured commendations, which the very persuasions you employ are +intended to prove that I little deserve? Is it necessary, Roderic, that +your manners should be so strange and unaccountable, as to supply food +for eternal jealousy and suspicion? And what must be that conduct, that +inspires jealousy into a heart unguarded as mine? I talk of suspicion, +but I scarcely know the meaning of the term. And yet there is in your +carriage something precise, plausible and composed, that I have seldom +observed in any other man. Oh, shepherd! you know not what you do, when +you awake all these ideas in a maiden's breast, when you thus confound +things that heaven and earth put asunder." + +"Ungenerous Imogen," replied the magician, "wherefore this? Do I claim +any thing more of you than rectitude demands, and your own bosom will +another day approve? Am I not your better genius to guard you against +the errors that might be prompted by too tender a heart? Beside, does +the conduct of beings of a higher order depend upon my nod? Can I +control the spheres, and call down celestial essences from their bright +abodes? And will they be rendered subservient to the purposes of +treachery and guilt?" + +"Roderic here break we off our conference. Sure I am that your conduct +is not dictated by a regard for my ease or my welfare. How unworthy +then, as well as how unjust is the pretence? With respect to the +supernatural scenes I have beheld, the question is more difficult. Of +such I have heard from the mouth of the consecrated priests, but never +till this day did I see them. At present however my mind is too much +distracted, to be able to decide. I have already gone far enough; as far +as my heart will permit me. I must now retire.' + +"One thing however I will add. From the resolutions you at first +professed, and the impressions you appeared to feel, I had conceived the +most sanguine hopes, and the sincerest pleasure. These are all now +vanished. I cannot account for this. But your conduct is now as +mysterious to my comprehension, as it was before disgusting to my +judgment. I am bewildered in a maze of uncertainty. I am lost in +unwelcome obscurity. May your resolutions and designs be better than my +hopes! But ah, Roderic, for how much have you to answer, how deep must +be your guilt, if all this be mummery, dissimulation, and hypocrisy!" + +The magician perceived that it was in vain to urge the stratagem any +further, and he retired from the presence of the shepherdess in silence. +If he had been able to distract her ingenuous mind between contending +duties, he had not however succeeded in his principal object, that of +undermining her virtue, and lessening her attachment to her parents and +her lover. If Imogen were perplexed and confounded, Roderic was scarcely +more happy. He looked back upon the scene with mortification and +astonishment. It was difficult for him to determine where it had +digressed from the auspicious appearances it had at first exhibited, and +yet he found himself in the conclusion of it wide, very wide indeed, of +the success of which he had aimed. + +"To what purpose," exclaimed he, with a voice of anguish and rage, "have +I inherited the most inexhaustible riches? To what purpose is the +command which I boast over the goblins of the abyss, if one weak, +simple, and uninstructed woman shall thus defy my arts? I call the hills +my own. I mount upon the turrets of my castle, and as far as my eye can +survey, the bending corn and the grazing herds belong to me. My palace +is adorned with all that can sooth the wearied frame, or gratify the +luxurious desire. Couches of purple, and services of gold, the most +exquisite viands, and the blandishments of enticing beauty, charms of +which the ruggedness of pastoral life has not so much as the idea, all +these are circled within my walls. Beyond all this, I command myriads of +spirits, invisible, and reputedly omnipotent. If I but stamp my foot, if +I but wave this wand, they fly swifter than the wings of thought to my +presence. One look of favour inspires them with tranquility and +exultation; one frown of displeasure terrifies them into despair. I +dispatch them far as the corners of the moon. At my bidding they engage +in the most toilsome enterprises, and undertake the labour of revolving +years. Oh impotence of power! oh mockery of state! what end can ye now +serve but to teach me to be miserable? Power, the hands of which are +chained and fettered in links of iron; state, which is bestowed only +like a paper crown to adorn the brows of a baby, are the most cruel +aggravations of disappointment, the most fearful insults upon the weak. +But shall I always obey the imperious mandate?" + +"Yes, Roderic, thou shalt obey," exclaimed the inimical goblin, who at +this moment burst through a condensed cloud, that had arisen unperceived +in one corner of the apartment, and appeared before him. "In vain dost +thou struggle with the links of destiny. In vain dost thou exert thyself +to escape from the fillets that on every side surround thee. The greater +and the more obstinate are thy efforts, the more closely art thou bound, +and the more inextricably engaged. This is the situation in which I +wished to see thee. Every pang it wrings from thy heart, every +exclamation it forces from thy tongue, is solace to my thoughts, and +music to my ears. And wert thou vain and weak enough to imagine, that +riches would purchase thee every pleasure, that riches would furnish an +inexhaustible source of enjoyment? Of all mortal possessions they are +the most useless, mischievous, and baleful. The Gods, when the Gods are +willing to perfect a character of depravity, in order to make vice +consummately detestable, or to administer an exemplary punishment to +distinguished wickedness, bestow upon that man, as the last of curses, +and the most refined of tortures, extensive possessions and unbounded +riches. Indulge to the mistaken pride which these inspire, and wrap +thyself up in the littleness of thy heart.--But no, rise above them. +Suffer thy desires to wander into a larger and more dangerous field. Run +with open eyes into the mouth of that destruction that gapes to devour +thee! Why shouldst thou attend to the voice of destiny, to the immutable +laws of the Gods, and the curse that is suspended over thee? Be a man. +Bravely defy all that is most venerable, and all that is most +unchangeable. Oh how I long for thy ruin! How my heart pants for the +illustrious hour in which thy _palaces shall be crumbled down to the +dust of the balance, thy riches scattered, and thyself become an +unpitied, necessitous, miserable vagabond_! In the mean time, +remember, that riches like thine are not bestowed with u[n]reserving +hand, that commerce is not permitted with the shadows of darkness, +without some trifling fall to ill amid this immensity of uniform +happiness. For this end I am commissioned from time to time to appear +before thee in the midst of thy triumph, and to mingle with thy +exultations the boding voice of prophetic woe." + +Roderic did not listen to these bitter sarcasms without exhibiting every +mark of fury and impatience. At length he commanded the spectre to +depart, with a voice so fierce and stern as to terrify him into +submission. For though the authority of the magician was not formidable +enough to make him desist from persecuting him, yet the penalties he had +frequently been able to inflict, inspired the goblin in spite of +himself, with the fear of so potent an adversary. Still choaked however +with agony and resentment, Roderic waved his wand, and summoned his +favourite instrument and the prime minister of his pleasures, the goblin +Medoro, to his presence. The moment he appeared the magician was +relieved from that violent gust of passion, which had held him +motionless, a statue of horror, and throwing himself upon his couch, he +burst into a flood of tears. + +Medoro was the goblin that had appeared to Edwin in his return from the +feast of the bards, and had brewed the fatal storm that had preceded the +rape of Imogen. The figure of the spectre was uncouth, and his +countenance was full of savage and shapeless deformity. Nor did his +appearance bely his character. To all other beings, whether of the +terrestrial or the invisible world, his temper was hard, impracticable +and remorseless. To Rodogune alone, a similitude of minds, and a +congenial ferocity of heart had attached him; and the attachment had +descended to her son; though not equally destitute of every agreeable +and every plausible quality. He therefore beheld the affliction of +Roderic with sympathy and compassion. + +"Wherefore," cried Medoro, modulating a voice, that nature had made up +of dissonance and horror, into the most gentle and soothing accent of +which it was capable, and hanging over his couch, "wherefore this +sorrow? What is it that has seemed to mar a happiness so enviable? Art +thou not possessed"--"Talk not to me of possessions," exclaimed Roderic, +with a tone of frenzy, and starting from his posture, "I give them to +the winds. I banish them from my thoughts for ever. Oh that the earth +would open and swallow them up! Oh that unburdened from them all, I were +free as the children of the vallies, and careless as the shepherd that +carols to the rising day. I had not then been thus entangled in +misfortune, thus every way closed in to remediless despair. I had not +then been a monument of impotence and misery for the world to gaze at. +Ye are all combined against me! Under a specious, smiling countenance +you all conceal a heart of gall. But your hypocrisy and your mummery +shall serve you to little purpose. Point me, this instant point me, to a +path for the gratification of my wishes, or dearly shall you rue the +shallowness of your invention and the treachery of your professions." + +Medoro was astonished at the vehemence of the passion of Roderic, +unusual even in a youth who had never been refused demands the most +unreasonable, and who had been inured to see all the powers of nature +bend to his will. "Is this," cried he, "a return for services so +unwearied and sincere as mine? Foolish and ungrateful youth! Rut I will +point you to a remedy. Had you not been blinded with fury and +impatience, you would have seen that your situation was not yet +irremediable, by means the most obviously in your power. Did I not at +your birth bestow upon you a ring, that communicates to the wearer the +power of assuming what form he please? I gave it, in order to elude the +curse of the malignant goblin, to subdue the most obdurate female, and +to evade the most subtle adversary. The uses in which thou hast hitherto +employed it have been idle and capricious, governed by whim, and +dictated by the sallies of a sportive fancy. It is now first that an +opportunity is offered to turn it to those purposes for which it was +more immediately destined. Dost thou not now address an obdurate maid? +Is she not full of constancy and attachment for another? What avails it +then to a heart, simple and unvitiated as hers, to offer the bribe of +riches, and to lavish the incense of flattery and adulation. Attack her +in her love. Appear to her in the form of him to whom she is most +ardently attached. If Imogen is vulnerable, this is the quarter from +which she must be approached. Thus far Roderic thou mayest try thy +power; but if by this avenue thou canst not surprise her heart and +overpower her virtue, be then wise. Recollect thy courage, strengthen +thy resolution, and shake off for ever a capricious inclination, which +interrupts the tenour of a life that might otherwise wear the uniform +colour of happiness." + +The information of a new measure for the furthering his darling pursuit, +was a communication of the most reviving kind to the heart of Roderic. +The gloom and petulance that had collected upon his countenance were +dissipated in a moment. His cheek caught anew the flush of expectation; +his eye sparkled anew with the insolence of victory. His gratitude to +the propitious Medoro was now as immoderate as his displeasure had +lately been unreasonable. He walked along the apartments with the stride +of exultation and triumph. He forgot the pathetic exclamations he had +lately uttered upon the impotence of power, and he was full of +congratulation in the possession of that which he had treated with +contempt. The moral lessons which it was his destiny to have from time +to time poured into an unwilling ear were erased for ever. He exclaimed +upon his own stupidity and want of invention, and he remembered not that +vehemence of passion, which had distracted his understanding, and drawn +a cloud over all his ideas. It was not instantly that he could assume a +sufficient degree of collectedness and composure to put into execution +the scheme with which he was so highly delighted. Presently however the +ebriety of unexpected hope dissipated, and he prepared for that scene +which was to be regarded as the summit of his power, and the irrevocable +crisis of his fate. + +[Illustration] + + + + + + +BOOK THE FIFTH + +THE GARDEN OF RODOGUNE DESCRIBED.--THE HOPES AND DANGER OF IMOGEN.--HER +INCONSOLABLE DISTRESS. + + +Imogen, immediately after the interview that had so deeply perplexed +her, returning to her apartment, had shut herself up in solitude. Her +reflections were gloomy and unpleasing; the new obscurity that hung +about them had not contributed to lighten their pressure. But though she +was melancholy, her melancholy was of a different hue from that of her +ravisher. If virtue can ever be deprived of those glorious distinctions +that exclusively belong to her, it must be when she is precluded from +the illuminations of duty, and is no longer able to discern the path in +which she ought to tread. But even here, where distinction seems most +annihilated, it yet remains. The cruel sensations of Imogen were not +aggravated by despair, but heightened by hope. Through them all she was +sustained by the consciousness of her rectitude. The chearfulness of +innocence supported her under every calamity. + +She had not long remained alone before she was summoned to partake of +that plainer repast, which in the economy of Roderic usually occupied +the middle of the day, and preceded the sumptuous and splendid +entertainment of the evening, by which the soul was instigated to +prolong the indulgence of the table, and to throw the reins upon the +neck of enjoyment. But Imogen, whose thoughts were dark, and whose mind +brooded over a thousand sad ideas, was desirous of that solitude, which +in the simplicity of pastoral life is ever at hand. She could not away +with the freedom of society, and the levity of mirth. It was painful to +her to have any witnesses of her new sensations, and she wished to +remove herself for ever from the inspection of the officious and the +inquisitive. In compliance with her humour a few viands were served to +her in her own apartment. She was induced by the entreaties of her +attendant, to call up a momentary smile upon her countenance, and to +endeavour to partake of the refreshment that was offered her. But the +effort was vain. It was the sunshine of an April day; her repast in +spite of her was bedewed with tears, and she ate the bread of sorrow. + +As soon as it was concluded, she was invited to a short excursion in the +garden of the mansion. Unused to refusal, the natural mildness of her +temper inclined to comply. She saw the necessity of not yielding herself +up to passive and unresisting melancholy. The natural serenity of +innocence did not yet permit her to be insensible to the attractions of +enjoyment; and the transient view she had had of the garden, as she +passed to the terrace, led her to expect from it, something that might +sooth her pensive thoughts, and something that might divert her +affliction. + +The garden of Rodogune was an inclosure in a bottom glade, at the +entrance of which, though nigh to the castle, and upon a lower ground, +you wholly lost sight of the mansion, and every external object. But +though these were excluded, the sorceress by her art had also excluded +the appearance of limits and boundaries. The scene was not terminated by +walls and espaliers, but by the entrance on either side of a wild, +meandring wood. The side by which you were introduced was protected by +trees of the thickest foliage; and the gate was masqued with a clump of +hazels and alders, which permitted only two narrow passages on either +side. The eye was shut in, but the imagination was permitted to range in +perfect freedom. Nor was this seeming confinement calculated to disgust; +on the contrary you willingly believed that every charm and every grace +was shut up in the circle, and you trembled lest the smallest outlet +should take off from the richness of the scene. In entering you were +struck with a sensation of coolness, that impervious shades, a bright +and animated verdure, flowers scattered here and there in agreeable +disorder, the prattling of the stream, and the song of a thousand birds, +impressed as strongly upon the imagination, as the senses. But this did +not appear the result of art. Every thing had the face of uncultivated +luxuriance, and impenetrable solitude. You could not believe that you +were not the first mortal that had ever found his way into the +enchanting desert. + +The scene however had been solely produced by the skill of Rodogune. +Erewhile the grass had appeared dry and parched; a few solitary and +leafless trees had been scattered up and down; there was no gaiety of +colours to relieve the eye; and not one drop of water to give freshness +to the prospect. But with the operations of magic Rodogune had delighted +to supersede the parsimony of nature. She caused the tree and the shrub +to spring forth in the richest abundance; the sturdiness of whose +trunks, or the deepness of their verdure, cheated the eye with the +semblance of the ripening hand of time. She sprinkled the turf, short, +fine, and vivid, with flowers both native and exotic. She called forth a +thousand fountains to enrich the scene. Sometimes they crept beneath the +turf in almost imperceptible threads; sometimes they ran beside the +alleys, or crossed them in sportive wantonness; and sometimes you might +see them in broader and more limpid currents rolling over a smooth and +spotted bed. Now they rose from the soil in foamy violence, and fell +upon the chalk and pebbly ground beneath; and anon they formed +themselves into the deeper bason [sic], whose calm and even surface +reflected back the reeds and shrubs that were planted round. There was +nothing strait and nothing level; the rule and the line had never +entered the delicious spot; the irregularities of the soil, and the +fantastic, gradual windings of the alleys, were calculated to give +length to the passage, and immensity to the scene. + +From time to time you encountered tufts of trees closely planted, and +that cast as brown a shade as the thickest forest. These were partly +composed of wood of the most pliant texture, the extremities of whose +branches, bending to the earth, took root a second time in her bosom. +Elsewhere the rasberry [sic], the rose, the lilac, and a thousand +flowering shrubs, appeared in thickets without either regularity or +symmetry, and contributed at once to adorn, and to give an air of +rudeness and wildness to the prospect. Round the body of the trees, +planted some at their root, and some upon the different parts of the +trunk, crept the withy, the snakeweed, the ivy, and the hop, and +intermingled with them the jessamine and the honeysuckle, in the most +unbounded profusion. Their tendrils hung from the branches, and waved to +the wind; and suggested to you the appearance of garlands scattered from +tree to tree by the nymphs of the grove. All was inexpressible +luxuriance, and a thousand different shades of verdure were placed, one +upon another, in regular confusion, and attractive disorder. An +exuberance of this sort was calculated in a vulgar scene to have checked +the fertility of the plants, and to have given a sickly and withered +appearance to their productions; but it was not so in the garden of +Rodogune. There the cherry and the grape, the downy peach and the purple +plum were half discovered amid the foliage of the hop, and the clusters +of the woodbine. Beneath the delicious shade you wandered over beds of +moss, undeformed with barren sands and intrusive weeds, and smooth as +the level face of ocean when all the winds of heaven sleep. + +Nor was this all. Inanimate and vegetable nature (and the observation +had not escaped the penetration of Rodogune) adorn and arrange it as you +will, infallibly suggests an idea of solitude, that communicates sadness +to the mind. Accordingly your path was here beguiled with the warbling +of a thousand birds, the full-toned blackbird, the mellow thrush, and +the pensive nightingale. The sorceress had invited them to her retreat, +by innumerable assiduities and innumerable conveniences of food and +residence, and had suffered no rude intrusion to disturb the sacredness +of their haunts. Unused to molestation in all their pursuits, they now +showed no terror of human approach, but flew, and hopped, and sung, and +played among the branches and along the ground, in thoughtless security +and wanton defiance. + +For a few moments Imogen was immersed in the contemplation of the +beauties of the place, and its delightful coolness and mingled fragrance +were balm and softness to her wounded soul. The domestic who accompanied +her, perceived her propensity to reflection and fell back to a small +distance. The shepherdess, as soon as she found herself disengaged and +alone, revolved with the utmost displeasure her present situation. "How +happy," cried she, "are the virgins of the vale! To them every hour is +winged with tranquility and pleasure. They laugh at sorrow; they trill +the wild, unfettered lay, or wander, chearful and happy, with the +faithful swain beneath the woodland shade. They fear no coming mischief; +they know not the very meaning of an enemy. Innocent themselves, they +apprehend not guilt and treachery in those around them. Nor have they +reason. Simplicity and frankness are the unvaried character of the +natives of the plain. Liberty, immortal, unvalued liberty, is the +daughter of the mountains. We suspected not that deceit, insidiousness, +and slavery were to be found beneath the sun. Ah, why was I selected +from the rest to learn the fatal lesson! Unwished, unfortunate +distinction! Was I, who am simple and undisguised as the light of day, +who know not how to conceal one sentiment of my heart, or arm myself +with the shield of vigilance and incredulity, was I fitted by nature for +a scene like this? In the mean time have not the Gods encouraged me by +the most splendid appearance, and the most animating praises? I would +not impeach their venerable counsels. But was this a time for applauses +so seducing? How greatly have they perplexed, and how deeply distressed +me! In what manner, alas! are they to be obeyed, and what am I to think +of the professions of my ravisher? But, no; I dare not permit my purpose +to be thus suspended. My danger here is too imminent. The deliverance of +my own honour and the felicity of my parents are motives too sacred, not +to annihilate every ambiguity and every doubt. Oh, that I could escape +at once! Oh, that like the tender bird, that hops before me in my path, +I could flit away along the trackless air! Why should the little birds +that carol among the trees be the only beings in the domains of Roderic, +that know the sweets of liberty? But it will not be. Still, still I am +under the eye and guardianship of heaven. Wise are the ways of heaven, +and I submit myself with reverence. Only do ye, propitious Gods, +support, sustain, deliver me! Never was frail and trembling mortal less +prepared to encounter with machination, and to brave unheard of dangers. +How fearful are those I have already encountered; and how much have I to +apprehend from what may yet remain! But if I am weak, the omnipotent +support to which I look is strong. I will not give way to impious +despondence. It has delivered, and it may yet deliver me." + +By such virtuous and ingenuous reflections the shepherdess endeavoured +to solace her distress, and to fortify her courage. Now by revolving her +dangers she sought to prepare for their encounter; and now she dismissed +the recollection as too depressing and too melancholy. The confinedness +of the prospect, though rich infinitely beyond any thing she had yet +seen, and though not naturally calculated to fatigue and disgust, was +destructive of all its beauty in the eyes of Imogen. It presented to her +too just an image of the thraldom, which was the subject of all her +complaints. She desired to fling her eye through a wider prospect; and +though unable even from the loftiest ground to discover the happy +valley, she coveted the slender gratification of beholding the utmost +boundaries of the magic circle, and extending her view as near as +possible to her beloved home. She therefore advanced farther in the +garden, and presently arrived at a clear and open brow, where a +beautiful alcove was erected to catch the point of view, from which the +surrounding objects appeared in the greatest variety, and with the +happiest effect. She entered; and the domestic that attended her +remained in a distant part of the garden. + +Scarcely had Imogen seated herself, before she discovered, by a casual +glance over the prospect, and at some distance, a youth, who seemed to +advance with hasty steps towards the castle. At first she was tempted to +turn away her eye with carelessness and inattention. There was however +something in his figure, that led her, by a kind of fascination for +which she could not account, to cast upon him a second glance and a +third. He drew nearer. He leaped with an active bound over the fence +that separated him from the garden. It was the form of Edwin. His hair +hung carelessly about his shoulders. His shepherd's pipe was slung in +his belt. His clear and manly cheeks glowed with the warmth of the day, +and the anxiety of love. He entered the alcove. + +Had a ghost risen before Imogen, surrounded with all the horrors of the +abyss, she could not have been struck with greater astonishment. As he +advanced, she gazed in silence. She could not utter a word. Her very +breath seemed suppressed. At length he entered, and for a moment she had +voice enough to utter her surprise. "Gracious powers!" exclaimed +she--"is it possible?--what is it that I see?--Edwin, beloved +Edwin!"--and she sunk breathless upon her seat. The fictitious shepherd +approached her, folded her in his arms, and with repeated, burning +kisses, which he had never before ventured to ravish from his disdainful +captive, restored her to life and perception. The confusion of Imogen +did not allow her to animadvert upon his freedoms. She had the utmost +confidence in the person whose form he wore, and the guileless +simplicity of pastoral life is accustomed to permit many undesigning +liberties, and is slow to take the alarm, or to suspect a sinister +purpose. + +Roderic, anxious and timid respecting the success of his adventure, was +backward to enter into conversation. Imogen, on the other hand, charmed +with so unexpected an appearance, and presaging from it the most auspicious +consequences, full of her situation and sufferings, and having a thousand +things that pressed at once to be told, was eager and impatient to +communicate them to her faithful shepherd. She was also desirous of +learning by what undiscoverable means, by what happy fortune, he had been +conducted to this impervious retreat, and at so critical a juncture. +"Edwin,--my gallant Edwin,--how came you hither?--Sure it was some +propitious power,--some unseen angel,--that conducted you.--Oh, my +friend,--I have been miserable,--perplexed--tortured--but it is now +no more--I will not think of it--Thanks to the immortal Gods, I have no +occasion--no room--but for gratitude.--Edwin--what have you done--and +how did you escape the tempest?--Was it not a fearful storm?--But I +ask you a thousand questions--and you do not answer me.--You seem +abashed--uncertain--what is the meaning of this?--Did you not come +to succour my distress?--Was it not pity for your poor--forlorn--desolate +Imogen--that directed your steps?" + +"Yes, loveliest of thy sex," replied her betrayer. "I flew upon the +wings of love. I was brought along by a celestial, impulsive guidance, +which I followed I knew not why. Oh how gracious the condescension, how +happy the obedience, how grateful the interview! Yes, Imogen, I was in +despair. I was terrified at the concurring prodigies by which we were +separated, and I feared never, never to behold that beauteous form +again. Come then and let me clasp thee to my bosom. Oh, thou art sweeter +than the incense-breathing rose, and brighter than the lily of the +vale!" + +For a moment, the affectionate and unsuspicious shepherdess received his +caresses with complacence and pleasure. Suddenly however she recollected +herself; instinctively and without reflection she repulsed the undue +warmth of his attentions. "This," cried she, "is no time for fond +indulgence, and careless dalliance--Fate is on the wing.--Our situation +is arduous--and we are in the midst of enemies.--Every thing that +surrounds us is full of danger--all is deceit and treachery--appearances +are insidious--all is frightful suspense and headlong precipice.--The +plotter of my ruin is as potent as he is--Ah! every hour is big with +calamity and destruction--every moment that we stay here is in the last +degree hazardous and decisive.--My keepers may be alarmed--Those eyes +that never close may be summoned to attention--we may be hemmed +in--prevented--Oh, Edwin, how fearful is this place--and how +unhoped--how joyful to me--must be an escape.--I thought this hated seat +had been impervious and impassable--Hark!--Did you not hear the sound of +feet?--No--every thing is still--Let us go this way--Say, by what path +did you come--Let us hasten our flight--let us make no delay--not look +behind." + +"Yes, Imogen," replied Roderic, detaining her, "we will escape--But +this, my lovely maiden, is not the time--I am not yet prepared--We may +remain here in security--already the shades of evening begin to draw. +Every thing is now busy and active. We cannot pass from hence without +observation. In the silence of the night the attempt will be more +practicable. And you, Imogen, are a heroine. The Gods will watch over +us. Silence and darkness have nothing in them at which innocence should +be terrified. Till then let us reconcile ourselves to our situation. Let +us endeavour, by secrecy and stilness, not to attract to us the +attention of the enemies with which we are surrounded. Let us banish +from them curiosity and suspicion. And let us trust in the Gods, +propitious to rectitude, that they will look down with favour upon a +design prompted by virtue and urged by oppression." + +"Alas, Edwin," replied the shepherdess "it is with regret that I consent +to remain one moment longer in this fatal spot. But I will submit to +your direction, I will confide in your prudence; I will trust in your +fidelity, and your zeal, for the deliverance I so ardently desire. Here +however we cannot long remain undiscovered.--My absence will be +suspicious.--I will return once again to the hated mansion.--You, my +swain, must conceal yourself in the mazes of this friendly wilderness. +It shall not be long ere I come to you again.--With motives like mine to +inspire ingenuity, I shall easily find a way to elude the strictest +guard, and escape from the closest thraldom.--Say, my Edwin!--this +stratagem shall suffice,--and you shall lead me in safety under the +friendly cover of the night to liberty and innocence!" + +"Yes," exclaimed Roderic, suddenly recollecting himself, "you may be +assured that by me nothing shall be omitted, that can further your +escape from this detested prison. The perils I have already incurred may +well convince you of this. It has been through the most fearful dangers, +ready every moment to be overwhelmed with omnipotent mischief, that I +have reached you. I have approached by the most devious and undiscovered +paths. Though the greatest hazards are to be encountered in the cause of +innocence and honour, the conduct we should pursue is therefore +ambiguous, and our success involved in uncertainty and darkness. Oh +Imogen, I may now behold thee for the last time. The moment we sally +from this retreat, I may be discovered by that enemy from whom we have +so much to fear. I may be confined to all the wantonness of inventive +torture, and that beauteous form, and the smiles of that bewitching +countenance may be torn from these longing eyes for ever. But here, my +shepherdess, we are safe. We may here secure ourselves from sudden +intrusion, and a thousand means of concealment are here in our power. +This Imogen is the moment of our ascendancy, this little period is all +our own. In a short time the precious hours will be elapsed, the +invaluable instants will be run out. Oh, my love, fairest, most angelic +of thy sex, while they are yet ours, let us improve them."--He ceased; +and his countenance glistened with the anticipations of enjoyment, and +his eyes emitted the sparkles of lust. + +But the imagination of Imogen was not sullied with the impressions of +indecency, and the baseness of looser desires. She understood not the +innuendos of Roderic, and she remarked not with an eager and inquisitive +eye the distraction of his visage. She replied therefore only to the +more obvious tendency of what he said. "And is this, Edwin, all the +consolation you bring me? Ah how poor, how heartless, and how cold! If +we accomplish not that flight upon which my hopes and wishes are +suspended, what utility and what pleasure can we derive from this +interview? It will then only be a bitter aggravation of all my trials, +and all my miseries. If a prospect so unexpected and desirable terminate +in no advantage, for what purpose was it opened before me? It will but +render my sensations more poignant, and give a new refinement to the +exquisiteness of despair. + +"But no, my Edwin, let us not give way to despondence. The Gods, my +generous swain, the same Gods that give luxuriance and felicity to the +plain, and that have guided you through every hazard to this impervious +spot, will assuredly deliver us. Remember the lessons of the +heaven-taught Druids. There is an innate dignity and omnipotence in +virtue. She may be surrounded with variety of woes, but none of them +shall approach her. The darts of calamity may assail her on every side, +but she is invulnerable to them all. Before her majesty, the fierceness +of all the tenants of the wood is disarmed, and the more untamed +brutality of savage man is awed into mute obedience. She may not indeed +put on the insolence of pride, and the fool-hardiness of presumption. +But wherever her duty calls, she may proceed fearless and unhurt. She +may be attacked, but she cannot be wounded: she may be surprised, but +she cannot be enslaved: she may be obscured for a moment, but it shall +only be to burst forth again more illustrious than ever. + +"But you, Edwin, are much better acquainted with these things, and more +able to instruct than I. They were ever the favourite subject of your +attention. I have seen you with rooted eye fixed for hours in listening +admiration of the sublime dictates of the hoary Llewelyn.--It is little +to learn, to understand, and to admire. A barren and ineffectual +enthusiasm for the speculations of truth, was never respectable and was +never venerable. Now, my swain, is the moment in which these sacred +lessons are to be called into action, and in which, beyond all others, +reputation is to be asserted and character fixed. Leave not then to me +the business of inciting and animating you. Be you my leader and +protector." + +"Alas, my charming mistress," replied her admirer, "I would to God it +were in my power to inspire you with hope and fill you with courage. I +confess that while peril was at a distance, and I sat secure in the +tranquil vale, I received without distinction the doctrines of the +Druids, and bowed assent to their sacred lessons. But practice, my +Imogen, and the scenes of danger differ beyond conception from the ideas +we form of them in the calmness of repose. Something must be allowed to +the unruffled solitude of these sacred men, and something to the sublime +of poetry. Surely it is no part of comprehensive prudence to banish the +idea of those hazards that must be encountered, and to refuse to survey +the snares and the difficulties with which our path is surrounded. +Remember, my fair one, the malignant suspiciousness of your jailer, and +the comfortless darkness of the night."-- + +"Oh Edwin, and is this the strain in which you were wont to talk? Why +are you thus altered, and what means this inauspicious quick-sightedness +and alarm? We should indeed survey and prepare for danger, but we should +never suffer it to overwhelm us. The cause of integrity should never be +despaired of. What avails the suspicions of my keeper? The ever wakeful +eye of heaven can make them slumber. Why should we reck the gloom and +loneliness of the night? Virtue is the ever-burning lamp of the sacred +groves. No darkness can cast a shadow on her beams. Though the sun and +moon were hurled below the bosom of the circling ocean, virtue could see +to perform her purposes, and execute her great designs. Alas, my swain, +my voice is weak, and broken, and powerless. But willingly would I +breathe a soul to animate your timidity. Oh Edwin," and she folded him +in her alabaster arms to her heaving, anxious bosom, "let me not exhort +you in vain! It is but for a little while, it is but for one short +effort, and if the powers above smile propitious on our purpose, we are +happy for ever! Think how great and beautiful is our adventure. +Comfortless and desponding as I am now, ready to sink without life and +animation at your feet, I may be in a few hours happier than ever.--Oh +Edwin, lead on!--Can you hesitate?--Would it were in my power to reward +the virtue I would excite as it deserves to be rewarded. But the Gods +will reward you, Edwin."-- + +As she uttered these words, her action was unspeakably graceful, her +countenance was full of persuasion, and her voice was soft, and +eloquent, and fascinating. Roderic gazed upon her with insatiate +curiosity, and drank her accents with a greedy ear. For a moment, +charmed with the loftiness of her discourse and the heroism of her soul, +he was half persuaded to relent, and abjure his diabolical purpose. It +was only by summoning up all the fierceness of his temper, all the +impatience of his passions, and all the mistaken haughtiness and +inflexibility of his purpose, that he could resist the artless +enchantment. During the internal struggle, his countenance by no means +answered to the simplicity of pastoral sentiments. It was now fierce, +and now unprotected and despairing. Anon it was pale with envy, and anon +it was flushed with the triumph of brutal passion. Transitions like +these could not pass unobserved. Imogen beheld them with anxiety and +astonishment, but suspicion was too foreign in her breast, to be thus +excited. + +"Imogen," cried the traitor, "it is in your power to reward the noblest +acts of heroism that human courage can perform. Who in the midst of all +the exultation and applause that triumphant rectitude can inspire, could +look to a nobler prize than the condescension of your smiles and the +heaven of your embraces? No, too amiable shepherdess, it is not for +myself I fear; witness every action of my life; witness all those +dangers that I have this moment unhesitatingly encountered, that I might +fly to your arms. But, oh, when your safety is brought to hazard, I feel +that I am indeed a coward. Think, my fair one, of the dangers that +surround us. Let us calmly revolve, before we immediately meet them. No +sooner shall we set our foot beyond this threshold, than they will +commence. Tyranny is ever full of apprehensions and environed with +guards. Along the gallery, and through the protracted hall, centinels +are placed with every setting sun. Could you escape their observations, +an hundred bolts, and an hundred massive chains secure the hinges of the +impious mansion. Beyond it all will be dark, and the solitude inviolate. +But suppose we meet again,--by what path to cross the wide extended +glade, and to reach the only avenue that can lead us safely through this +horrid cincture, will then be undiscoverable. Amid the untamed forest +and untrod precipices that lie beyond, all the beasts most inimical to +man reside. There the hills re-echo the tremendous roarings of the boar; +the serpents hiss among the thickets; and the gaunt and hungry wolf +roams for prey. Oh, Imogen, how fearful is the picture! And can your +tender frame, and your timid spirits support the reality?" + +Imogen had now preserved the character of heroism and fortitude for a +considerable time. All the energies of her soul had been exerted to +encounter the trials and surmount the difficulties which she felt to be +unavoidable. When the beloved form of Edwin had appeared before her, she +relaxed in some degree from the caution and vigilance she had hitherto +preserved. It is the very nature of joyful surprize to unbend as it were +the strings of the mind, and to throw wide the doors of unguarded +confidence. Before, she had felt herself alone; she saw no resource but +in her own virtue, and could lean upon no pillar but her own resolution. +Now she had trusted to meet with an external support; she had poured out +her heart into the bosom of him in whom she confided, and she looked to +him for prudence, for suggestion and courage. But, instead of support, +she had found debility, and instead of assistance the resources of her +own mind were dried up, and her native fortitude was overwhelmed and +depressed. She turned pale at the recital of Roderic, her knees +trembled, her eyes forgot their wonted lustre, and she was immersed in +the supineness and imbecility of despair. + +"Edwin!"--she cried, with a tone of perturbation; but her utterance +failed her. Her voice was low, hoarse, and inaudible. The fictitious +shepherd supported her in his arms. Her distress was a new gratification +and stimulus to her betrayer. "Edwin, ah, wherefore this fearful +recital? Did you come here for no other purpose than to sink me ten +times deeper in despair? Alas, I had conceived far other expectations, +and far other hopes fluttered in my anxious bosom, when I first beheld +your well known form. I said I have been hitherto constant and +determined, though unsupported and melancholy. I shall now be +triumphant. I shall experience that heaven-descended favour, which ever +attends the upright. Edwin, my firm, heroic Edwin, will perform what I +wished, and finish what I began. And, oh, generous and amiable shepherd, +is it thus that my presages are fulfilled? No, I cannot, will not bear +it. If the courage of Edwin fail, I will show him what he ought to be. +If you dare not lead, think whether you dare follow whither I guide. You +shall see what an injured and oppressed woman can do. Feeble and tender +as we are formed by nature, you shall see that we are capable of some +fortitude and some exertion." As she said this she had risen, and was +advancing towards the door. But recollecting herself with a sudden pang, +"Alas," cried she, "whither do I go?--What am I doing?--What shall I +do?--Oh, Edwin!" and, falling at his feet, she embraced his knees, "do +not, do no [sic] not desert me in this sad, tremendous moment!" + +"I will not, my Imogen, I will never desert you. One fate shall attend +us both. And if you are called to calamity, to torture, and to death, +Edwin will not be supine and inactive." "Oh, now," cried she, her eyes +moistened with rapture, "I recognize my noble and gallant swain. Come +then, and let us fly. If we must encounter peril and disaster, what +avails it to suspend the trial for a few niggard hours? This, my friend, +my guardian,--this is the time--Now the master dragon sleeps--Roderic is +now unconscious and distant--and I fear him too much to apprehend any +thing from a meaner adversary--Let us fly--let us escape--let our speed +outstrip the rapid winds!" + +During their conversation, the heavens had been covered with clouds, and +the rain descended with violence. But the change had not been noticed by +Imogen. "Well then, my fair one, we will depart. What though the wind +whistles along the heath, and the rain patters among the elms? We will +defy their fury. Let us go! But, ah, my Imogen, look there! The hinds +are flying across the plain for shelter; and see! two of them approach +to the clump of trees directly before us on the outside of the garden. +No, shepherdess, it is in vain that we resolve, and in vain that we +struggle: we cannot escape." + +The mind of Imogen was now wrought up to the extremest distress. Her +heart was wrung with anguish. She was ready to charge the immortals with +conspiring against her, had not her piety forbad it. She saw the reality +of what Roderic stated, and yet she was ready to charge him with raising +eternal obstacles. She cast upon him a look of despair and agony. But +she did not read in the countenance of the imaginary shepherd congenial +sentiments. "Methinks," said she, with a voice full of reproachful +blandishment, and inimitable sweetness, "methinks it is not with the +tenderness of sympathy, that you tell me we must desist. Sure it is only +the mist of tears through which I behold you, that makes me see the +suppressed emotion of pleasure in your countenance. No, it is not in the +heart of Edwin to harbour for a moment the sentiments of barbarity and +insult--But if we cannot now escape--if the dangers to which we must +submit may be diminished by delay--indeed, Edwin, something must be +attempted--at least let us now fix upon a plan, and determine what to +do. Let not delay relax the spirit of enterprise, or shake the firmness +of our purpose." + +"And what plan," cried the pretended shepherd, "can we form? I have +already trod the intricate and dangerous road, and there is nothing +better for us than to tread my footsteps back again. The day is +particularly unfavourable, as it is accompanied with activity and +business. We must therefore wait for the night. Then we must watch our +opportunities, and embrace the favourable interval. Imogen, I feel not +for myself. I do not throw away a thought upon my own safety, and I am +ready to submit to every evil for your service and your defence. But +yet, my gentle, noble-minded shepherdess, I cannot promise any very +flattering probability of success. Indeed my hopes are not sanguine. The +difficulties that are before us appear to me insurmountable. One +mountain peeps through the breaches of another, and they are like a wall +built by the hand of nature, and reaching to the skies. Penmaenmawr is +heaped upon Snowdon, and Plinlimmon nods upon the summit of Penmaenmawr. +It is only by the intervention of a miracle that we can ever revisit the +dear, lamented fields of Clwyd. Let us then, my Imogen, compose +ourselves to the sedateness of despair. Let us surrender the success of +our future efforts to fate. And let us endeavor to solace the short and +only certain interval that we yet can call our own, by the recollection +of our virtuous loves." + +"Alas," cried Imogen, "I understand not in what the sedateness of +despair consists. In the prospect of every horrid mischief, mischief +that threatens not merely my personal happiness or mortal existence, but +which bears a malignant aspect upon the dignity of honour and the peace +of integrity, I cannot calmly recollect our virtuous loves, or derive +from that recollection sedateness and composure. Edwin, your language is +dissonant, and the thoughts you seek to inspire, jarring and +incompatible. If you must tell me to despair, at least point me to some +nobler source of consolation, than the coldness of memory; at least let +us prepare for the fate that awaits us in a manner decent, manly, and +heroic." + +"Yes, too amiable shepherdess, if I were worthy to advise, I would +recommend a more generous source of consolation, and teach you to +prepare for futurity in a manner worthy of the simplicity of your heart; +and worthy of that disinterested affection we have ever borne to each +other. Think of those sacred ties that have united us. Think of the soft +and gentle commerce of mutual glances; the chaste and innocent +communication with which we have so often beguiled the noontide hour; +the intercourse of pleasures, of sentiments, of feelings that we have +held; the mingling of the soul. Did not heaven design us for each other? +Is not, by a long probation of simplicity and innocence, the possession +of each other become a mutual purchase? An impious and arbitrary tyrant +has torn us asunder. But do the Gods smile upon his hated purpose? Does +he not rather act in opposition to their decrees, and in defiance of +their authority?" + +The magician paused. "Alas," replied the shepherdess, "what is it you +mean? Whither would you lead me? I understand you not. These indeed were +motives for fortitude and exertion, but what consolation can they impart +to the desponding heart?" "I will tell you," replied her seducer, +folding her slender waist with one of his arms as he spoke. "Since the +Gods are on our side, since heaven and earth approve our honest +attachment, let us sit here and laugh at the tyrant. While he doubles +his guards, and employs all his vigilance, let us mock his impotent +efforts." + +"Ah," replied the shepherdess, her eye moistened with despair, and +beaming with unapprehensiveness, "how strange and impracticable an +advice do you suggest! Full of terror, full of despair, you bid me laugh +at fear. Threatened by a tyrant whose power is irresistible, and whose +arts you yourself assure me are not to be evaded, you would have me mock +at those arts, and this dreaded power. Is not his power triumphant? Is +not all his vigilance crowned with a fatal success? Are we not his +miserable, trembling, death-expecting victims? Can we leave this +apartment, can we almost move our hand, or utter our voice, for +solicitude and terror? Oh Edwin, in what mould must that heart have been +cast, what must be its hard and unsusceptible texture, that can laugh at +sorrow, and be full of the sensations of joy, though surrounded with all +the engines of wretchedness?" + +"Imogen, your fears are too great, your anxieties exaggerate the +indigence of our condition. Though we are prisoners, yet even the +misfortunes of a prison have their compensations. The activity of the +immaterial mind, will not indeed submit long without reluctance to +confinement and restraint. But we have not yet experienced lassitude and +disgust." "Alas, Edwin, how strange and foreign are thoughts like these! +Whither do they tend? What would you infer from them?" + +"This my love I would infer. That within one little cincture we are yet +absolute. No prying eye can penetrate here. Of our words, of our +actions, during a few remaining hours, we can dispose without controul." + +"Ah," exclaimed the shepherdess, struck with a sudden suspicion of the +treacherous purpose, and starting from her betrayer, "ah, Edwin, yet, +yet explain yourself! A thousand horrid thoughts--a thousand dire and +shapeless phantoms--But Edwin,--sure--is plain, and artless, and +innocent.--What boots it that we can dispose of our words and actions +within this cincture?--Will that enable us to escape?--No, no, no, +no.--Escape you say is hopeless--What is it you mean?--Say--explain +yourself--Oh, Edwin!"-- + +"Be not alarmed," cried the remorseless villain. "Listen, yet listen +with calmness to the suggestions of my deliberate mind. Imogen, you are +too beautiful--I have beheld you too long--I have admired you with too +fierce an ardour. The Gods--the Gods have joined us. It is guilt and +malignity alone that oppose their purpose.--Let us beat them +down--trample them under our feet--employ worthily the moment that yet +remains."-- + +As the magician pronounced these words, he advanced towards his captive, +and endeavoured to seize her in his arms. But she thrust him from her +with the warmest indignation; and contemplating him with an eye of +infinite disdain, "Base unworthy swain!"--she cried--"Insidious +traitor!--abhorred destroyer!--And is it thus that you would approach +me?--Is it thus that you would creep into the weakness of my heart?--But +fly--I know you not--One mark of compassion I will yet exhibit, which +you little deserve--Fly--I will not deliver you into the hands of your +rival, whom yet my soul does not so much loath and abhor--Fly--Live to +be pointed at as an example of degeneracy--Live to blush for and repent +of that crime, which, Edwin!--cannot be expiated." + +Roderic had advanced too far to be thus deterred. He did not wish to +manage the character under which he appeared. His passions by this +interview, more private, and in which his captive had beheld him with an +eye of greater complacency than ever, were inflamed to the extremest +degree. The charms of Imogen had been in turn heightened with joy, and +mellowed with distress. Even the conscious dignity, and haughty air she +now assumed, gave new attractions to her form, and new grace to her +manner. Her muscles trembled with horror and disdain. Her eloquent blood +wrought distinctly in her veins, and spoke in a tone, not more dignified +than enchanting. Her whole figure had a life, an expression, a +loveliness, that it is impossible to conceive. + +Roderic rushed forward unappalled, and unsubdued. He had already seized +his unwilling victim. In vain she resisted his violence; in vain she +strove to escape from her betrayer. "For pity's sake--for mercy's +sake--for the sake of all our past endearments--spare me!--relent--and +spare me--spare me!--" For a time she struggled; but her tender frame +was soon overcome by the strength of her destroyer. She became cold and +insensible in his arms. + +At this moment a flood of splendid lightning filled the apartment. The +air was rent with the hoarse and deafening roar of the thunder, the door +flew open, and the form of that spectre that he most abhorred stood +before Roderic. "Go on," cried the phantom, "complete thy heroic +purpose. Scorn the tremendous sounds that now appal thee. They are but +the prelude of that scene that shall shortly feast my eyes. Perceivest +thou not the earth to tremble beneath thy feet? Hearest thou not the +walls of thy hated mansion cracking to their ruin? Confusion is at hand. +_Chaos is come again._ Go on then, Roderic. Complete thy heroic +purpose." The spectre vanished, and all was uninterrupted silence. + +The whole mind of Roderic was transformed from what it was. For the +impotence of lust, and the cruelty of inexorable triumph, he felt the +terrors of annihilation, and all the cold, damp tremblings of despair. +But the victory of innocence was not yet complete. + +Imogen had sunk for a moment under the horrors that threatened her, but +she had not been so far impercipient as not to hear the murmuring of the +thunder, and to see the gleam of the lightning. The form however that +terrified Roderic, and the voice that addressed him, were perceived by +him alone. + +The shepherdess opened her eyes, and beheld the degenerate ravisher +pale, aghast, and trembling. "It is well, Edwin. The Gods have declared +themselves. The Gods have suspended their thunder over the head of the +apostate. Rut, oh Edwin, could I have imagined it! Desolate and +oppressed as I have been, could I have supposed, that that form was +destined to fill up the measure of my woes! I once beheld it as the +harbinger of happiness, as the temple of integrity and innocence. Oh, +how wretched you have made me! How you have shaken all my most rooted +opinions of the residence of virtue among mankind! Am I alone, and +unsupported in her cause? How forlorn and solitary do I seem to myself! +I suffered--once I suffered the thought of Edwin to mix with the love of +rectitude, and the obedience of heaven. They all together confirmed me +in the path I had chalked out for myself. Mistake not these reproaches +for the weakness of returning passion. And yet, Edwin, though I loath, I +pity you! Go, and repent! Go, and blot from the records of your memory +the cold insinuation, the aggravated guilt that you have this day +practised! Go, and let me never, never see you more!" + +As she uttered these words, congratulation, reproach, wretchedness, +abhorrence and pity succeeded each other in her countenance. Rut they +were all accompanied with an ineffable dignity, and an angelic purity. +The savage and the satyr might have beheld, and been awed into +reverence. Roderic slunk away, guilty, mortified, and confounded. And +such was the success of this other attempt upon the virtue of Imogen. + +[Illustration] + + + + + + +BOOK THE SIXTH + +IMOGEN ENDEAVOURS TO SUBDUE THE ATTENDANTS OF RODERIC.--THE SUPPER OF +THE HALL.--JOURNEY AND ARRIVAL OF EDWIN.--SUBTLETY OF THE MAGICIAN.--HE +IS DEFEATED.--END OF THE SECOND DAY. + + +The magician, overwhelmed and confounded with uninterrupted +disappointment, was now ready to give himself up to despair. "I have +approached the inflexible fair one," cried he, "by every avenue that +leads to the female heart. And what is the amount of the advantages I +have gained? I tempted her with riches. But riches she considered with +disdain; they had nothing analogous to the temper of her mind, and her +uncultivated simplicity regarded them as superfluous and cumbersome. I +taught her to listen to the voice of flattery; I clothed it in all that +is plausible and insinuating; but to no purpose. She was still upon her +guard; all her suspicions were awake; and her integrity and her +innocence were as vigilant as ever. Incapable of effecting any thing +under that form she had learned to detest, I laid it aside. I assumed a +form most prepossessing and most amiable in her eyes. Surely if her +breast had not been as cold as the snow that clothes the summit of +Snowdon; if her virtue had not been impregnable as the groves of Mona, a +stratagem, omnipotent and impenetrable as this, must have succeeded. She +beheld the figure of him she loved, and this was calculated in a moment +of distress to draw forth all her softness. She beheld the person of him +in whom she had been wont to find all integrity, and place all +confidence, and this might have induced her to apprehend no danger. And +yet with how much tender passion, with how distressful an indignation, +with what tumultuous sorrow did she witness his supposed crime? What +then must I do? What yet remains? I love her with a more frantic and +irresistible passion than ever. I cannot abstain from her.--I cannot +dismiss her.--I cannot forget her. Oh Imogen, too lovely, all-attractive +Imogen, for you I stand upon the very brink of fate! Nor is this all. +Soon should I leap the gulph, soon should forget every prudent and +colder prospect in the tumult of my soul, did not that cursed spectre +ever shoot across my path to dash my transports, and to mar my +enjoyments. Which way shall I turn? To leave her, that is impossible. To +possess her by open force and manly violence, that my fate forbids. My +understanding is bewildered, and my invention is lost.--Medoro!"-- + +Medoro received the well known signal, and stood before Roderic. He +waited not to be addressed, he read the purposes of the heart of the +magician. "Roderic," cried he, "this moment is the crisis of you[r] +destiny. The occasion, to which the curse pronounced upon you by the +inimical spectre refers, has already in part taken place. YOU HAVE SUED +TO A SIMPLE MAID, WHO BY YOUR CHARMS HAS BEEN TAUGHT TO HATE THE SWAIN +THAT ONCE SHE LOVED. It only remains that she should persevere in the +resistance she has hitherto made, and that A SIMPLE SWAIN, perhaps her +favoured Edwin, should defy your enchantments. Think then of the +precipice on which you stand. Yet, yet return, while it is in your +power. One step in advance beyond those you have already taken may be +irretrievable. Alas, Roderic, it is thus that I advise! but I foresee +that my advice will be neglected. The Gods permit to the invisible +inhabitants of air, when strongly invoked by a mortal voice, to assist +their vices and teach adroitness to their passions; but they do not +permit an invocation like this to receive for its reward the lesson of +moderation, and the attainment of happiness. + +"Go on then, Roderic, in the path upon which you are inflexibly +determined. You succeeded not in the stratagem of flattery; but it +served to take off the keenness of the aversion of Imogen. She +contemplates you now with somewhat less of horror, and with a virtuous +and ingenuous fear of uncandidness and injustice upon your account. +Neither have you succeeded in that deeper stratagem and less penetrable +deceit, the assumption of the form of him she loved. It has however +served to weaken her prepossessions, and relax the chains of her +attachment. She is now the better prepared to receive openly and +impartially the addresses of a stranger swain. Thus even your +miscarriages have furthered your design. Thus may a wise general convert +his defeats into the means of victory. Think not however again to +approach her in the coolness of reason, and the sobriety of the +judgment. Hope not by temptation, by flattery, by prejudice, to shake +the immutable character of her mind. There is yet one way unessayed. You +must advance, if you would form the slightest expectations of victory, +by secret and invisible steps. Her virtue must be surrounded, entangled +and enmeshed, or ever her suspicions be awakened, or her integrity +alarmed. This can be effected only by the instrumentality of pleasure. +Pleasure has risen triumphant over many a heart that riches could not +conquer, and that ambition could not subdue. What though she has +resisted temptation under the most alluring form, when her thoughts were +collected and all around was silence?--Let the board of luxury be +spread. Let the choicest dainties be heaped together in unbounded +profusion. Let the most skilful musicians awake the softest instruments. +Let neatness, and elegance, and beauty exhibit their proudest charms. +Let every path that leads to delight, let every gratification that +inebriates the soul be discovered. If at that moment temptation +approach, even a meaner and less potent temptation may then succeed. The +night advances with hasty feet. Night is the season of dissipation and +luxury. Be this the hour of experiment, and let the apprehensive mind of +Imogen be first assiduously lulled to repose. Here, Roderic, you must +rest your remaining hopes. There is not another instrument can be +discovered, to disarm and vanquish the human mind. If here you fail, the +Gods have decreed it--they will be obeyed--Imogen must be dismissed from +the enchanted halls of Rodogune." + +With these words the goblin disappeared. The warning he had uttered +passed unheeded, but the magician immediately prepared to employ this +last of stratagems. Summoning the train of attendants of either sex that +resided in the castle, he directed them some to make ready the intended +feast, and some to repair to the apartment of Imogen. The preparations +of the enchanted castle were not like those of a vulgar entertainment. +Every thing was accelerated by invisible agents. The intervention of the +retinue of Roderic was scarcely admitted. The most savoury viands, the +most high flavoured ragouts, and the most delicious wines presented +themselves spontaneously to the expecting attendant. The hall was +illuminated with a thousand lustres that depended like stars from the +concave roof, and were multiplied by the reflection of innumerable +mirrors. The whole was arranged with inconceivable expedition. + +In the mean time a few of the more distinguished attendants of her own +sex repaired to the presence of Imogen. They found her feeble, +spiritless and disconsolate. "Come," exclaimed their leader, in an +accent of persuasion; "comply, my lovely girl, let not us alone have +reason to complain of your unfriendliness and inflexibility." + +Imogen was fatigued and she wished not for repose. Grief and persecution +had in a former instance inspired her with the love of solitude. But her +feelings were now of another kind. The disgrace and ingratitude of Edwin +had wounded her in the tenderest point, and she could not think of it +but with inexpressible anguish. She was for the first time afraid of her +own reflections, and desirous to fly from herself. "Yes," exclaimed she, +"and I would go, if you will promise me that it shall not be to the +presence of Roderic. The castle and the fields, the freshness of the +morning air and the gloom of a dungeon, are equal to me, provided I must +be kept back from the arms of my beloved parents, and their anxious and +tender spirits must still be held in suspence. But indeed I must not, I +will not, be continually dragged to the presence of the man I hate. It +is ungenerous, unreasonable, and indecent. What is the meaning of all +this compulsion? Why am I kept here so much against my will? Why am I +dragged from place to place, and from object to object? Surely all this +cannot be mere caprice and tyranny. There must be in it some dark and +guilty meaning that I cannot comprehend. Oh shepherdesses! if ye had any +friendship, if any pity dwelt within your bosoms, ye would surely assist +me to escape this hated confinement. Point but the way, show me but the +smallest hole, by which I might get away to ease and liberty, and I +would thank you a thousand times. You, who appear the leader of the +throng, your brow is smooth, your eyes are gentle and serene, and the +bloom of youth still dwells upon your face. Oh," added the apprehensive +Imogen, and she threw herself upon her knees--"do not bely the stamp of +benevolence and clemency that nature has planted there. Think if you had +parents as I have, whose happiness, whose existence, are suspended upon +mine, if you abbhorred, and detested, and feared your jailor as I do, +what would be your feelings then, and how you would wish to be treated +by a person in your situation. Grant me only the poor and scanty boon, +that you would then conceive your right. Dismiss me, I intreat you. I +cannot bear my situation. My former days have all been sunshine, my +former companions have all been kindness. I have not been educated to +encounter persecution, and misfortunes, and horrors. I cannot encounter +them. I cannot survive it." + +As she pronounced these words, she sunk, feeble, languid, and +breathless, upon the knees of the attendant. They hastened to raise her. +They soothed her ingenuous affliction, and assured her that she should +not be intruded upon by him of whom she had formed so groundless +apprehensions. Since then she was invited to partake of a slight +refreshment accompanied only by persons of her own sex, she did not long +hesitate, and was easily persuaded to acquiesce. The unostentatious +kindness of the invitation, and the modesty of the entertainment she +expected, dissipated her fears. It was from solitude that she now wished +to escape; and it was to that simple and temperate relaxation that she +had experienced among the inhabitants of Clwyd, to which she was +desirous to repair. + +She was conducted towards a saloon, which had less indeed of a sumptuous +and royal appearance, but was more beautiful, more gay, more voluptuous, +and more extatic than that which had been the scene of the temptation of +the morning. The profuseness of the illuminations outdid the brightness +of the meridian sun. The table was spread in a manner to engage the eye +and allure the appetite. Every vessel that was placed upon it was of +massive silver. And in different corners of the apartment heaps of the +most fragrant incense were burning in urns of gold. The viands were of a +nature the most stimulating and delicious; and the wines were bright and +sparkling and gay. As Imogen approached, a stream of music burst upon +her ear of a kind which hitherto she had never witnessed. It was not the +sonorous and swelling notes of praise; it was not the enthusiastic +rapture of the younger bards; it was not the elevated and celestial +sounds that she had been used to hear from the lyre of Llewelyn. But if +it was not so swelling and sublime, it was soft, and melodious, and +insinuating, and overpowering beyond all conception. You could not +listen to it without feeling all the strings of your frame relaxed, and +the nobler powers of your soul lulled into a pleasing slumber. It was +madness all. The ear that heard it could not cease to attend. The mind +that listened to it was no longer master of itself. + +Imogen entered the hall, and was received by a train of nymphs, some of +them more beautiful than any she had yet seen, and all attired with +every refinement of elegance and grace. Their hair was in part braided +round their bright and polished foreheads, and in part it hung in wavy +and careless ringlets about their slender necks, and heaving bosoms. +Their forms were veiled in loose and flowing folds of silk of the finest +texture, and whiter than the driven snow. The robes were not embroidered +with gold and silver; they were not studded with emeralds and diamonds; +but were adorned on every side with chaplets of the fairest and freshest +flowers. Their heads were crowned with garlands of amaranth and roses. +Though their conduct were tainted with lasciviousness, and their minds +were full of looser thoughts, yet, awed by the virtuous dignity of +Imogen, they suppressed the air of dissolute frolic, and taught by the +guileful lessons of their lord, endeavoured to assume the manners of +chaste and harmless joy. + +The shepherdess, struck with the objects which so unexpectedly presented +themselves to her eyes and her ears, started back with involuntary +astonishment. "Is this," cried she, "the artless feast, and this the +simple fare of which you invited me to partake?" "Imogen," replied the +principal nymph, "we were willing to do you honour, and the preparation +we have made is slight compared with that which the roof can afford. We +considered your fatigue and your extraordinary abstinence, and we were +willing to compensate them by pleasant food, and a grateful +refreshment." + +"And is such the grateful refreshment, and such the simple and +unaffected relaxation that your minds suggested? Alas, were I to +approach this board, it would be to me a business and not an amusement, +an exertion and not a relief. A feast like this is an object foreign and +unpleasing to my eyes. The feasts of the valley are chesnuts, and +cheeses, and apples. Our drink is the water of the limpid brook, or the +fair and foaming beverage that our flocks afford. Such are the +enjoyments of sobriety; such are the gratifications of innocence. +Virgins, I am not weary of the simplicity of the pastoral life. I hug it +to my bosom closer, more fondly than ever." + +"Amiable, spotless maiden! we admire your opinions, and we love your +person. But virtue is not allied to rigour and austerity. Its boundaries +are unconstrained, and graceful, and sweeping. It is a robe which sits +easily on those who are formed to wear it. It gives no awkwardness to +their manner, and puts no force upon their actions. Partake then, my +Imogen, in those refreshments we have prepared for your gratification. +If this be not duty, it is not crime. It is a venial and a harmless +indulgence. Do not then mortify friends that have sought to please you, +and refuse your attention to the assiduities we have demonstrated." + +"No, my gentle shepherdess, it is in vain you plead. I would willingly +qualify my refusal; but I must withdraw. The more you press me, the +farther it is necessary for me to recede. In the morning of this very +day, I was simple, and incautious, and complying. But now I have +experienced so many wiles and escaped so many snares, that this heart, +formerly so gentle and susceptible, is cased in triple steel. I can shut +my eyes upon the most splendid attractions. I can turn a deaf ear to +enticements the most alluring, and sounds the most insinuating. This is +the lesson--I thank him for it--that your lord has taught me. You must +not then detain me. I must be permitted to retire." And saying this she +withdrew with trembling speed. In vain they insisted, in vain they +pursued. Imogen escaped like a bird from the fowler, nor looked behind. +Imogen was deaf to their expostulations, and indurate and callous as +adamant to their persuasions. + +The disappointment of Roderic, when he learned of this miscarriage of +his great and final attempt was extreme. He coursed up and down the +saloon with all the impatience of a wild boar pierced by the spear of +the hunter, or a wolf from whom they have torn away her young. He vented +his fury upon things inanimate. He tore his hair, and beat his breast, +with tumultuous agony. He imprecated with a hoarse and furious voice a +thousand curses upon those attendants who had permitted his captive to +escape. Through the spacious hall, where every thing a moment before had +worn the face of laboured gaiety and studied smiles, all was now +desolation, and disquiet, and uproar. And urged as the magician had been +by successive provocations, he was ready to overstep every limit he +might once have respected, and to proceed to the most fatal extremities. + +In this situation, and as Roderic was hastening with a determined +resolution to follow to the apartment of Imogen, information was +suddenly brought to him, that a young stranger, tall and graceful in his +form, and of a frank and noble countenance, had by some unknown means +penetrated beyond the precipices with which the enchanted castle was +surrounded, and in spite of the resistance of the retinue of the +magician had entered the mansion. The dark and guilty heart of Roderic +immediately whispered him--"It is Edwin.--It is well.--I thank the Gods +that they do not hold this aspiring soul in a long and dreary suspence! +Let the destinies overtake me. I am prepared to receive them. Death, or +any of the thousand ills that fortune stores for them she hates, could +not come in a more welcome hour.--Oh Imogen, lovely, adorable Imogen, +how vain has been my authority, how vain the space of my command! Let +then my palaces tumble into ruin--Let that wand which once I boasted, +shivered in a thousand fragments, be cast to all the winds of heaven! I +will glory in desolation and forlornness. I will wrap myself in my +poverty. I will retire to some horrid cave in the midst of the untamed +desart, and shagged with horrid shades, that outgloom the blackness of +the infernal regions. There I will ruminate upon my past felicity. There +I will tell over enjoyments never to return. I will make myself a little +universe, and a new and unheard of satisfaction in the darkness of my +reflections, and the depth of my despair. + +"And yet surely, surely the Gods have treated me severely, and measured +out to me a hard and merciless fate. What are all the felicities I talk +of, and have prized so much? Oh, they were seasoned, each of them, with +a bitter infusion! Little, little indeed have I tasted of a pure and +unmixed happiness. In my choicest delights, I have felt a vacancy. They +have become irksome and tedious. I have fled from myself; I have fled +from the magnificence of my retinue, to find variety. And yet how dearly +am I to pay for a few gratifications which were in fact no better than +specious allurements to destruction, and flowers that slightly covered +the pit of ruin! In the bloom of manhood, in the full career of youth to +be cast forth an UNPITIED, NECESSITOUS, MISERABLE VAGABOND! All but this +I could have borne without a sigh. Were I threatened with death, in this +opening scene of life, I could submit with cheerfulness. But to drag +along a protracted misery, to be shut out from hope, and yet ever awake +to every cruel reflection and every bitter remorse--This is too much!" + +From this dream of unmanly lamentations Roderic was with difficulty +recovered by the assiduities of the attendants. At length incited by +their expostulations to the collectedness of reflection and the +fortitude of exertion, he determined, with that quickness of invention +with which he had been endowed at his birth, upon a plan to elude, if +possible, the perseverance of Edwin, and the menaces of his fate. +Recollecting that his person was not unknown to the swain, he +communicated his instructions to those who were about him, and withdrew +himself into a private apartment. + +It was Edwin. The instructions of the Druid of Elwy had relieved him +from the insupportable burden that had begun to oppress his mind. +Persuaded by him he had submitted to seek the refreshment of sleep. But +sleep shed not her poppies upon his busy, anxious head. His mind was +crouded with a thousand fearful phantoms. A child of the valley, he was +a stranger to misfortune and misery. Upon the favoured sons of nature +calamity makes her deepest impression, and an impression least capable +of being erased. And yet Edwin was full of courage and adventure; he +asked no larger boon than to be permitted to face his rival. But his +inquietude was the offspring of love; and his wariness and caution +originated in the docility of his mind, and his anxious attachment to +innocence and spotless rectitude. + +Having passed the watches of the night in uneasy and inexhaustible +reflections, he sprung from his couch as soon as the first dawn of day +proclaimed the approaching sun, and took a hasty leave of the hospitable +hermit. Issuing from the grotto, he bent his steps, in obedience to the +direction of Madoc, to that secret path, which had never before been +discovered by any mortal unassisted by the goblins of the abyss. Before +he reached it the golden sun had begun to decline from his meridian +height. He passed along the winding way beneath the impending +precipices, which formed a dark and sullen vault over his head. Ever and +anon large pieces of stone, broken from their native mass, and tumbling +among the craggy caverns, saluted his ear. Now and then he heard a +bubbling fountain bursting from the rock, which presently fell with a +loud and dashing noise along the declivity, and was lost in the pebbles +below. The only light by which his steps were guided, was that which +fell in partial and scanty streams through the fissures of the mountain, +and served to discover little more than the shapelessness of the rocks, +and the uncultivated horrors of the scene. + +Through these Edwin passed unappalled. His heart was naturally firm and +intrepid, and he now cased himself round with the armour of untainted +innocence and unsullied truth. It was not long before he came forth from +this scene of desolation to that beautiful and cultivated prospect which +had already enchanted the heart of Imogen. To him it had advantages +which in the former case it could not boast. He could contrast its +gaiety and brightness with the obscure and dismal scene from which he +had escaped. Nor was he struck only by the verdure of the prospect, and +the vividness of its colours, he also beheld the inclosure, not, as his +amiable mistress had done, from a terrace adjoining to the mansion; but +from the last point of the rock from which he was ready to descend. The +mansion therefore was his principal point of view from this situation. +It stood upon a bold and upright brow that beetled over the plain below. +The ascent was by a large and spacious flight of marble steps. Its +architecture was grand, and simple, and commanding. It was supported by +pillars of the Ionic order. They were constructed of ivory and jet, and +their capitals were overlaid with the purest gold. An object like this +to one who had never before seen any nobler edifice than a shepherd's +cot, or the throne of turf upon which the bards were elevated at the +feast of the Gods, was surprising, and admirable, and sublime in the +highest degree. + +"And this," exclaimed the gallant shepherd, "is the residence prepared +for infamy and lust. The sun pours upon it his light with as large a +hand, the herbage, the flowers and the fruits as fully partake of the +bounteous care of nature, as the vales of simplicity and the fields of +innocence. How venerable and alluring is the edifice I behold! Does not +peace dwell within, and are not the hours of its possessor winged with +happiness? Had my youth been spent among the beasts of the forests, had +not my ears drank in the sacred instructions of the godlike Druids, I +might have thought so. But, no. In vain in the extensive empire that the +arts of sorcery and magic afford, shall felicity be sought. What avails +all this splendour? and to what purpose this mighty profusion? All the +possessions that I can boast, are my little flock, my wattled cottage, +and my slender pipe. And yet I carol as jocound a lay, my heart is as +light and frolic, and the tranquility of self-acquittal spreads her +wings as wide over my bosom, as they could were I lord of a hundred +hills, and called all the streamlets of the valley my own. The magician +possesses a large hoard of beauty, and he can wander from fair to fair +with unlimited and fearless licence. All merciful and benign beings, who +dwell above this azure concave, give me my Imogen! Restore her safe and +unhurt to these longing, faithful arms! Let not this arbitrary and +imperious tyrant, who grasps wide the fairest productions of thy +creation with a hundred hands,--let him not wrest from me my solitary +lamb,--let him not seize for ever upon that companion, in whom the most +expansive and romantic wishes of my heart had learned to be satisfied." + +Such were the beautiful and virtuous sentiments of Edwin, as he beheld +the empire of his rival from the head of the rock, and as he crossed the +glade that still divided him from the object of all his exertions. From +the eminence upon which he had paused for a few contemplative moments, +the distance had appeared narrow and trifling. But the equal height of +the ground upon which he stood, and of that which afforded a situation +for the palaces of Roderic, had deceived him. When he looked towards the +scene that was to form the termination of his journey, the glade below +escaped from his sight. But when he descended to the plain, it was +otherwise. One swell of the surface he had to traverse succeeded +another; and the irregularity of the ground caused him sometimes to be +lost, in a manner, in the length of the way, and took from him the +consolation of being able so much as to perceive the object of his +destination. As he passed the hills, and climbed each successive ascent, +a murmur rose in his bosom; his impatience grew more and more +ungovernable, and the eagerness of his pursuit taught him to imagine, +that his little labour would never be done. + +Every performance however of human exertion has its period; and Edwin +had at length surmounted the greater part of the distance, and now +gained a larger and more distinct view of the castle. But by this time +the sun was ready to hide himself in the ocean, and his last rays now +gleamed along the valley, and played in the party-coloured clouds. +Meanwhile a dark spot, which had for some time blotted the brightness of +the surrounding azure, expanded itself. The shades gathered, the light +of the sun was hid, and the blackness of the night forestaled. The wind +roared among the mountains, and its terrors were increased by the hollow +bellowings of the beasts they harboured. The shower began; it descended +with fury, and Edwin had scarcely time to gain the protection of an +impervious thicket that crowned the lawn. Here he stood and ruminated. +The solemnity of the scene accorded with the importance of his +undertaking. The pause was friendly. He composed his understanding, and +recollected the lessons of the hospitable hermit. He fortified himself +in the habits of virtue; and, with a manly and conscious humility, +recommended this crisis of his innocence to the protection of heaven. + +The shower ceased, but the darkness continued. He had too well marked +however the bent of his journey during the continuance of the day, to +permit this to be any considerable obstacle. In the mean time it doubled +and rendered more affecting the stilness of the night. Nothing was to be +heard but the low whispers of the falling breeze, and the murmurs of the +prowling wolf that now languished and died away upon the ear. This was +the moment in which magic lords it supreme, in which the goblin breaks +forth from his confinement, and ranges unlimited in the nether globe; +and in which all that is regular and all that is beautiful give place to +the hunger of the savage brute, and the witcheries of the sorcerer. But +Roderic was otherwise engaged. His heart was employed in inventing +guile, and was lulled into unapprehensive security. But Edwin was +heroic. His bosom swelled with the most generous purposes; and he +trusted unwaveringly in that guardianship that is every where present, +and that eye that never slumbers. + +He entered the walls of the enchanted castle. The novelty of the +appearance of a stranger within the circle of those mountains, which no +vulgar mortal had yet penetrated, the dignity of his appearance, and the +boldness of his manner, at first distracted the attendants from the +performance of that, which might have seemed most natural in their +situation, and awed them into passiveness. He still wore that flowing +and graceful garb, which was appropriated by the inhabitants of Clwyd to +the celebration of public solemnities. He had passed through the midst +of the shower, and yet one thread of his garment was not moistened with +the impetuousness of its descent. His face wore a more beautiful and +roseat glow than was native to its complexion. His eye was full of +animation and expressiveness. Expectation, and hope, and dignity, and +resolution had their entire effect in his appearance. "It is a celestial +spirit!" cried they. "It is a messenger from the unseen regions!" and +they sought in his person for the insignia that might confirm and +establish their conjecture. + +But such was not the imagination of Roderic. The master-guilt to which +he was conscious, was ever ready to take the alarm upon any unexpected +event; and he had immediately conjectured, by a kind of instinctive +impression, who was this new and unwelcome guest. However unguarded and +unprepared had been his retinue, they had recollected themselves +sufficiently to detain Edwin in the avenue of the mansion, till they had +received the orders of their lord. These were immediately communicated; +and the magician withdrew himself till the proper period should arrive +for his appearance to the swain. + +Edwin, when he had entered the palace of Roderic, had been desirous, if +it were possible, to push forward to the presence of his rival, without +making any previous enquiries, or admitting of a moment's pause. The +frequency however of the domestics had disappointed his purpose, and he +was detained by them in spite of his efforts. "What means," cried he, +"this violence? I must enter here. I will not be delayed. My purpose +admits not of trifling and parley. To me every moment is big with fate." +He said. For Edwin disdained the employment of falsehood and disguise. +He lifted the javelin in his hand, but his heart was too full of +gentleness and humanity rashly to employ the instrument of death. His +tone however was resolute, and his gesture commanding, and the +astonished attendants were uncertain in what manner to conduct +themselves. + +At this instant a domestic, who had received the instructions of his +lord, entered the court. He had the appearance of superior dignity; and +removing the attendants who pressed with rudeness upon the shepherd, he +enquired of him the cause of his intrusion. "Lead me," cried Edwin, "to +the lord of your mansion. My business is important and pressing, and +will not admit of being communicated to any other ear. Whence this +difficulty? Innocence does not withdraw from the observation of those +who are desirous to approach it; and a manly courage is not apprehensive +of an enemy." + +"Young stranger," replied the domestic, "you are misinformed. This +mansion knows not a lord. It belongs solely to proprietors of the softer +sex, whom fortune has indulged as you perceive with every thing that is +calculated to give new relish to the pursuits of life, and beguile the +lazy foot of time. It is our boast and our honour to serve these +damsels. And could my report add one ray to their lustre, I would tell +you, that they are fair as the peep of the morning, and more fragrant +than beds of violets and roses. It is their command, that humanity +should be extended by all around them, not only to man, but to the +humblest and weakest animals. Though you have entered their residence by +mistake, we shall but fulfil the service they expect in furnishing you +with every assistance and every accommodation in our power. If you are +hungry, come in and partake of the liberal plenty the castle affords. If +you thirst, we will cheerfully offer you the capacious goblet and the +richest wines. If you are fatigued with the travel of the day, or have +wandered from your path and are benighted in your journey, enter their +mansion. The accommodations are large, and they are all free for the use +of the poor, the necessitous, the unfortunate and the miserable." + +Edwin listened with astonishment to the narration. He was not used to +the address of falshood; and strongly warned as he had previously been +of the iniquity of the train, the ingenuousness of his mind induced him +at first without reflection to yield an easy credit to the story that +was told him. It was related with fluency, plausibility, and gravity; +and it was accompanied with a manner seemingly artless and humane, which +it was scarcely possible for one unhackneyed in the stratagems of deceit +to distrust and contradict. + +"Surely," replied Edwin, "I cannot be wholly mistaken. At least has +there not a young shepherdess just arrived here, tall, tender and +beautiful, and whose flaxen tresses are more bright than gold, and more +abundant than the blossoms in the spring?" + +Before the officious domestic could reply to his enquiries, two of the +nymphs, who had been attired for the feast of Imogen, came into the +outer apartment in which the shepherd was, and advanced toward him. +"These are my mistresses," cried the attendant. Edwin approached them +with respect, and repeated his former enquiries. They were the most +beautiful of the train of Roderic. They were clad in garments of the +whitest silk, and profusely adorned with chaplets of flowers. Their +appearance therefore was calculated to give them, in a shepherd's eye, +an air of sweetness and simplicity that could not easily be resisted. + +One of them was tall and majestic, and the other low, and of a shape and +figure the most alluring. This appeared to be like a blossom in May, +whose colours discovered to the attentive observer all their +attractions, without being expanded to the careless eye: And that might +be supposed to be a few summers farther advanced to a delicious +maturity. The majesty of the one had nothing in it of the gross, the +indelicate, and the forbidding; and the softness of the other was +attempered with inexpressible propriety and grace. Both of them were +gentle and affable. But the affability of the former took the name of +benignity and condescension, and the affability of the latter was full +of harmless gaiety, and a cheerful and unpretending spirit of society. + +"We cannot," replied the elder, "attend to your enquiries here. The +apartment is comfortless and inhospitable. You appear fatigued. And we +pretend not, young stranger, merely to contribute what is in our power +to relieve the uneasiness of your mind, we would also refresh your +wearied frame. Come in then, and we will afford you every satisfaction +we are able. Enter the mansion, and partake of the plenty the Gods have +bestowed upon us, and which we desire not to engross to ourselves." +During these words Edwin surveyed his fair entertainers with wonder and +admiration. But enchanting as they were, they found not the avenue to +his heart. There Imogen reigned alone, and could not admit of a rival. +Even though upon a slighter occasion, and at less important moment, the +purity of his mind, that virtue so much esteemed among the swains, could +have been tainted, yet now that his undertaking whispered him, "Imogen +alone is fair!" now that he feared for her safety, and hoped every +moment to arrive at the dreaded, pleasing period of his anxiety, he +could but be constant and be faithful. He recollected the sage +instructions of the Druid of Elwy: and his resolutions were unshaken as +the roots of Snowdon. + +He accepted their invitation. Immediately, as upon a signal, an hundred +flambeaux lighted the area and lined the passage to the saloon of +pleasure. The nymphs placed themselves on each side of the shepherd, and +in this manner they passed along. If Imogen had been struck with the +profuseness of the illumination, the richness of the plate, the +sumptuousness of the viands and the wines, and the fragrant clouds of +incense that filled the apartment, how much more were they calculated to +astonish the soul of Edwin! He had comparatively passed through no +previous scenes; he had not been led on step by step; and the +voluptuousness of the objects that now presented themselves before him +had been unknown and unexpected. The train of the subordinate attendants +of the magician filled the apartment with beauty and with grace, and +seemed to pay the most unreserved obedience to the nymphs that at first +addressed him. + +But before the shepherd had time to examine the objects that surrounded +him, the musicians awaked their instruments, and all his faculties were +engrossed with soft melody and enchanting sounds. The instrumental +performance was illustrated and completed with a multitude of harmonious +voices, and those who sang were each of them of the softer sex. + +"What are the possessions most eagerly courted among mankind? Which are +the divinities by mortals most assiduously adored? This goodly universe +was intended for the seat of pleasure, unmixed pleasure. But a sportive, +malicious divinity sent among men a gaudy phantom, an empty bubble, and +called the shadow Honour. In pursuit of a fancied distinction and a +sounding name, the children of the earth have deserted all that is bland +and all that is delicious. Labour, naked, deformed, and offensive, they +willingly embrace. They brave hardship and severity. They laugh at +danger. From hence they derive the virtue of resolution, the merit of +self-denial, and the excellence of mortification. + +"But heaven did not open wide its hand, and scatter delight through +every corner of the universe, without intending that they should be +enjoyed. Enjoyment, indulgence, and felicity are not crimes. Abstinence, +self-denial and mortification have only a specious mien and a fictitious +merit. Did all mankind obey their fallacious dictates, the unlimited +bounties of nature would become a burden to the earth, and fill it with +pestilence and contagion. The soil would be oppressed with her own +fertility; the herds would overmultitude their lords; and the crouded +air would be darkened with the plumes of its numerous inhabitants. The +very gems that now lie buried in the bosom of the ocean, would then +bespangle its surface, and the dumb tenants of the watery tracts, inured +to their blaze, would learn to leave the caverns of the sea and gaze +upon the sun. + +"Mortals, open your hearts to the divinity of pleasure! Why should he be +in love with labour, who has a capacious hoard of choice delights within +his reach? Why should we fly from a present good that we possess, to a +future that we do not comprehend? Is this the praise we owe the +bounteous Gods? Can neglect and indifference to their gifts be +gratitude? This were to serve them like a timorous and trembling slave +beneath the eye of an austere and capricious tyrant; and not with that +generosity, that enthusiasm, that liberal self-confidence, which are +worthy of a father, a patron and a friend. + +"Ye that are wise, ye that are favoured of propitious heaven, drink deep +of the cup of pleasure. The sun has now withdrawn his splendid lustre, +and his flaring beams. The period of exercise is past, and the lids of +prying curiosity is [are] closed. Night is the season of feast and the +season of gaiety. In the graver hours of activity and industry, sobriety +may be proper. It may then be fit to listen to the dictates of prudence, +and pay some attention to the prejudices of mankind. The sternness of +age and the austerity of censoriousness are now silent. Now pleasure +wears a freer garb; and the manners of enjoyment are more frank and +unrestrained. The thinness of indiscretion and the airy forms of +inadvertence are lost and annihilated amid the shadows of the night. + +"Now the numerous inhabitants of the waters come forth from their oozy +beds and play and flounce in the beams of the moon. Round the luminary +of the night the stars lead up the mystic dance, and compose the music +of the spheres. The deities of the woods and the deities of the rivers +come out from their secret haunts, and keep their pastimes +unapprehensive of human intrusion. The elves and the fairies repair to +their sports, and trip along the velvet green with many-twinkling feet. +Let us imitate their amiable alacrity and their cheerful amusements. + +"What has sleep to do with the secrecy and silence of the night? It is +the hour of pleasure unrestrained and free. It is the hour in which the +empire of beauty is complete, and those mysteries are disclosed which +the profaner eye of day must never behold. Ye that are wise, ye that are +favoured of propitious heaven, drink deep of the cup of pleasure! The +festive board is spread before you; the flowing bowl is proffered for +your acceptance. Beauty, the crown of enjoyment, the last perfection of +society, is within your reach. Be wise and taste. Partake of the +munificence the Gods vouchsafe." + +As the song proceeded the two nymphs, who had first appeared to Edwin, +and since attended him with the extremest officiousness, endeavoured by +every artful blandishment to engage his attention, and rivet his +partiality. They exerted themselves to suppress the grossness, +inelegance and sensuality to which they had commonly been habituated, +and to cover the looseness of the passions with the veil of simplicity, +delicacy, and softness. As the music ceased, the master of the spectacle +came forth from his retreat. But his figure was no longer that which +bespoke the magician, and which Edwin had already seen. He appeared in +the form of a youth of that age in which the frolic insignificance of +childhood gives place to the eagerness, the enthusiasm and the engaging +manners of blooming manhood. His habit was that of a cupbearer. His +robes were of azure silk, and floated in graceful folds as he passed +along. The beauty of his person was worthy of the synod of the Gods. His +features had all the softness of woman without effeminacy; and in his +eye there sat a lambent fire which bespoke the man, without roughness, +and without ferocity. In one hand he bore a crystal goblet full of every +potent enchantment, and which rendered him who drank for ever a slave to +the most menial offices and the most wanton caprices of his seducer. In +the other hand he held loosely, and as if it had been intended merely to +give a completeness to his figure and a gracefulness to his step, that +irresistible wand by which the majesty of man had often been degraded, +and the reluctant spirit had been conjured up from the caverns of the +abyss. The goblet he delivered to the elder nymph, who presented it, +with inimitable grace and a bewitching condescension, to the gallant +shepherd. + +Edwin had the fortitude of a hero, but he had also the feelings of a +man. He could not but be struck with the beauty of the nymphs, he could +not but be surprised with the profuseness of the entertainment, and the +richness of the preparations. The soul of Edwin was full of harmony. It +had been one of his earliest and most ruling passions. No shepherd +excelled him in the skill of the pipe, no shepherd with a sweeter or +more sonorous voice could carol the rustic lay. Even the figure assumed +by Roderic, his garb, his step, his gesture had something in them of +angelic and celestial without the blaze of divinity, and without the +awfulness that surrounds the godlike existencies, that sometimes +condescend to visit this sublunary scene. The shepherd took into his +hand the fatal bowl. + +In the midst however of all that was attractive, and all that was +unknown, Edwin had not forgotten the business that had brought him +hither and the lessons of Madoc. The visage of Imogen, ever present to +his soul, suggested these salutary reflections. By her assistance he +strengthened all his resolutions, and gave vigour to the heroism of his +mind. Through the memory of Imogen he derived a body, and communicated a +visible form to the precepts of rectitude; and virtue wore all those +charms that had the most uncontroled empire in his bosom. Half way to +his lips he raised the cup of vice, and inexorable fate sat smiling on +the brim. He paused; he hesitated. By an irresistible impulse of +goodness he withdrew the fatal draught. He shed the noxious composition +upon the ground, and hurled from him with indignation the vessel in +which it had been contained. + +Roderic beheld the scene with deep emotion, and was agitated by turns +with a thousand passions. He saw the issue with confusion, despondence +and fury. The roseat smiles of the cupbearer vanished; and, without the +notice and consent of his mind, his limbs resumed their wonted form, and +his features confirmed the suspicions of the shepherd, that he was now +confronted with his mortal enemy. Thrice the magician invoked the spirit +of his mother, and thrice he conjured the goblins, the most potent that +ever mix in the mortal scene. He lifted the wand in his hand. It was the +fiery ordeal that summons human character to the severest trial. It was +the _judgment of God_ in which the lots are devoutly committed to +the disposal of heaven, and the enthroned Divinity, guided by his +omniscience of the innocence of the brave, or the guilt of the +presumptuous, points the barbed spear, and gives a triple edge to the +shining steel. If the shepherd had one base and earth-born particle in +his frame, if his soul confessed one sordid and sensual desire, now was +the time in which for his prospects to be annihilated and his reputation +blotted for ever, and the state and empire of his rival to be fixed +beyond the power of human machinations to shake or subvert it. +"Presumptuous swain!" cried the sorcerer, "what folly, what unmeaning +rashness has brought you within the circle of my incantations? Know that +from them no mortal has escaped; that by them every swain, whom +adventurousness, ignorance, or stratagem has introduced within these +limits, has been impelled to assume the savage form, and to herd with +the most detestable of brutes. Let then thy foolhardiness pay the +penalty which my voice has ever annexed to it. Hence to thy fellows! Go, +and let their hated form bely the reason thou shalt still retain, and +thy own voice affright thee, when thou shalt groan under irremediable +misery!" + +The incantation that had never yet failed of its hated purpose was +pronounced in vain. Edwin had heard it unappalled. He wore the amulet of +Madoc. He opposed to it the unconquered shield of spotless innocence. +Even in the midst of the lordly despotism and the imperious haughtiness +of his rival, he had been conscious to the triumph which nothing but the +calmness of fortitude and the serenity of virtue can inspire. He was +mindful of the precepts of the Druid. While Roderic was overwhelmed with +disappointment and despair, he seized the wand of the magician, and with +irresistible vigour wrenched it from his hand. He struck it with +violence upon the ground, and it burst into a thousand shivers. The +castle rocked over his head. Those caverns, which for revolving years +had served to hide the iniquity and the cruelty of their possessor, +disclosed their secret horrors. The whole stupendous pile seemed rushing +to the ground. A flood of lightning streamed across the scene. A peal of +thunder, deafening and tremendous, followed it. All now was vacancy. Not +a trace of those costly scenes and that magnificent architecture +remained. The heaven over-canopied the head of Edwin. The clouds were +dissipated. The light of innumerable stars gave grandeur to the scene. +And the silver moon communicated a milder lustre, and created a softer +shade. Roderic and his train, full of pusillanimity and consternation, +had fled from the direful scene, and vanished like shadows at the rising +of the sun. + +No mortal, but our lovers, had ever entered the enchanted mansion +without having their characters disgraced, and their hearts thronged +with all those hateful and dissolute passions, which distinguished the +band of Roderic. No mortal was there, but our lovers, of the numerous +inhabitants of this bad edifice, who had not shrunk from the earthquake +and the solemnities that accompanied its sub-version. Edwin and Imogen +were alone. The shepherdess had listened to all the horrors of the scene +with a gloomy kind of satisfaction. "What new wonders," cried she, "are +now to be disclosed? What purpose are they intended to answer! The +amendment, or the destruction of my betrayer? But it is well. Though the +elements mix in inextricable confusion, though the earth be destroyed, +yet has innocence no cause to fear. Alas, though I myself should be +buried in the ruin, why should I apprehend, or why lament it? I was +happy; untaintedly, uninterruptedly happy. But I am miserable. I am +confined here in a loathsome, detested prison. Even my conduct is shut +up with difficulties, and my bosom disquieted with the conflict of +seeming duties. Even Edwin, the swain to whom my heart was united, and +from whose memory my integrity derived new strength is corrupted, +depraved and base. Let then destruction come. I will not lament the +being cut off in the bloom of youth. I will not shed one tear, or feel +one fond regret, but for the calamity and disappointment of my parents." + +But however the despair of Imogen armed her courage against the +concussions of nature, she yet felt that delicacy of constitution which +characterises the most lovely of her sex, and that amiable timidity +which often accompanies the most invincible fortitude. When the thunder +roared with so fearful violence, when the mansion burst in ruins over +her head, she stood, trembling and breathless, at the tumult around her. +Her safety was the first object of the attention of Edwin; and when she +recovered her recollection she found herself in the arms of her lover. +"_My fair one, my Imogen_," cried he, "have I recovered you through +so many obstacles, and in the midst of so numerous dangers? Oh, how must +our affection, the purest, brightest, that ever lighted a human breast, +be endeared by our mutual calamities! But virtue is ever triumphant, +virtue is never deserted of the watchful care of heaven. My trials, my +lovely shepherdess, have been feeble indeed, when compared with yours. +Your integrity is unrivalled, and your innocence has surpassed all that +the bards have sung in their immortal lays. Come then, oh, dearer, far +dearer than ever to this constant heart, come to my arms! Let delay be +banished. Let the veil of virgin bashfulness be laid aside. And let us +repair together to the presence of your parents to ask an united +blessing." + +While Edwin thus poured forth the raptures of his heart, Imogen turned +towards him a languid eye, full of soft and silent reproach. She retired +from him with involuntary horror. "No, shepherd," cried she, and waved +her hand with graceful indignation. "Like you I approve the justice of +the Gods in the banishment of Roderic. But I think that justice would +have been more complete, had it included in its vindictive appearance +the punishment of the base, degenerate Edwin. Unworthy Edwin, to how +vile and earth born sentiments has your heart been conscious! But go. +Hence from my sight! The very spectacle of that form which I had learned +to love is mildew and contagion to my eyes. Oh, Edwin, for your sake I +will distrust every attractive form and every ingenuous appearance. The +separation, my swain, is hard. The arts of Roderic came not near my +soul, but your baseness has fixed an indelible wound. But think +not--cherish not the fond mistake--that I will ever forget your +ungenerousness in the hour of my distress and forlornness, or receive +that serpent to my heart again." + +As she pronounced these words, she hastened to fly from her imaginary +enemy. Edwin detained her by a gentle violence. With much intreaty and a +thousand soft blandishments, he wrung from her the story of her +indignation. He related to her the tale of Madoc, and told her of the +magic arts of his rival. He fully explained the scene of the pretended +repentance of Roderic, and the seduction he had attempted to practise +under the form of Edwin. As she listened to the wondrous story, Imogen +trembled at the unknown dangers with which she had been environed, and +admired more than ever the omnipotence of that virtue which had been +able to lead her safely through them all. The conviction she received of +the rectitude and fidelity of Edwin was to her, like the calm breath of +zephyr, which succeeds the tremendous storm upon the surface of the +ocean; and like that sovereign balm, which the sage Druids pour into the +wounds of the shepherd, and restore him at once to salubrity and vigour. +The amiable pair repaired with speed, and arrived with the dawn of the +sun to the cottage of Imogen. At the sight of them the venerable Edith +reared her drooping, desponding head, and the cheeks of the hoary father +were bedewed with the tears of transport. Such were the trials of our +lovers, and of correspondent worth was the reward they received. Long +did they dwell together in the vale of Clwyd, with that simplicity and +attachment which no scenes but those of pastoral life can know. Their +happiness was more sensible than that of the swains around them in that +they had known a reverse of fortune. And their virtue was the purer and +the more benevolent, in that they had passed through the fields of +trial; and that only through the ordeal of temptation, and an approved +fortitude, they had arrived to the unmixed felicity, and the +uninterrupted enjoyment they at length possessed. + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Imogen, by William Godwin + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IMOGEN *** + +***** This file should be named 9152.txt or 9152.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/9/1/5/9152/ + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, David Garcia and Distributed Proofreaders + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Imogen + A Pastoral Romance + +Author: William Godwin + +Release Date: October, 2005 [EBook #9152] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on September 8, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IMOGEN *** + + + + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, David Garcia and Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + +IMOGEN + +A Pastoral Romance + +_From the Ancient British_ + +By WILLIAM GODWIN + + + + + + +Preface + +[_By_ WILLIAM GODWIN] + + +The following performance, as the title imports, was originally composed +in the Welch language. Its style is elegant and pure. And if the +translator has not, as many of his brethren have done, suffered the +spirit of the original totally to evaporate, he apprehends it will be +found to contain much novelty of conception, much classical taste, and +great spirit and beauty in the execution. It appears under the name of +Cadwallo, an ancient bard, who probably lived at least one hundred years +before the commencement of our common era. The manners of the primitive +times seem to be perfectly understood by the author, and are described +with the air of a man who was in the utmost degree familiar with them. +It is impossible to discover in any part of it the slightest trace of +Christianity. And we believe it will not be disputed, that in a country +so pious as that of Wales, it would have been next to impossible for the +poet, though ever so much upon his guard, to avoid all allusion to the +system of revelation. On the contrary, every thing is Pagan, and in +perfect conformity with the theology we are taught to believe prevailed +at that time. + +These reasons had induced us to admit, for a long time, that it was +perfectly genuine, and justly ascribed to the amiable Druid. With +respect to the difficulty in regard to the preservation of so long a +work for many centuries by the mere force of memory, the translator, +together with the rest of the world, had already got over that objection +in the case of the celebrated Poems of Ossian. And if he be not blinded +by that partiality, which the midwife is apt to conceive for the +productions, that she is the instrument of bringing into the world, the +Pastoral Romance contains as much originality, as much poetical beauty, +and is as happily calculated to make a deep impression upon the memory, +as either Fingal, or Temora. + +The first thing that led us to doubt its authenticity, was the striking +resemblance that appears between the plan of the work, and Milton's +celebrated Masque at Ludlow Castle. We do not mean however to hold forth +this circumstance as decisive in its condemnation. The pretensions of +Cadwallo, or whoever was the author of the performance, are very high to +originality. If the date of the Romance be previous to that of Comus, it +may be truly said of the author, that he soared above all imitation, and +derived his merits from the inexhaustible source of his own invention. +But Milton, it is well known, proposed some classical model to himself +in all his productions. The Paradise Lost is almost in every page an +imitation of Virgil, or Homer. The Lycidas treads closely in the steps +of the Daphnis and Gallus of Virgil. The Sampson Agonistes is formed +upon the model of Sophocles. Even the little pieces, L'Allegro and Il +Penseroso have their source in a song of Fletcher, and two beautiful +little ballads that are ascribed to Shakespeare. But the classical model +upon which Comus was formed has not yet been discovered. It is +infinitely unlike the Pastoral Comedies both of Italy and England. And +if we could allow ourselves in that licence of conjecture, which is +become almost inseparable from the character of an editor, we should +say: That Milton having written it upon the borders of Wales, might have +had easy recourse to the manuscript whose contents are now first given +to the public: And that the singularity of preserving the name of the +place where it was first performed in the title of his poem, was +intended for an ingenuous and well-bred acknowledgement of the source +from whence he drew his choicest materials. + +But notwithstanding the plausibility of these conjectures, we are now +inclined to give up our original opinion, and to ascribe the performance +to a gentleman of Wales, who lived so late as the reign of king William +the third. The name of this amiable person was Rice ap Thomas. The +romance was certainly at one time in his custody, and was handed down as +a valuable legacy to his descendants, among whom the present translator +has the honour to rank himself. Rice ap Thomas, Esquire, was a man of a +most sweet and inoffensive disposition, beloved and respected by all his +neighbours and tenants, and "passing rich with 'sixty' pounds a year." +In his domestic he was elegant, hospitable, and even sumptuous, for the +time and country in which he lived. He was however naturally of an +abstemious and recluse disposition. He abounded in singularities, which +were pardoned to his harmlessness and his virtues; and his temper was +full of sensibility, seriousness, and melancholy. He devoted the greater +part of his time to study; and he boasted that he had almost a complete +collection of the manuscript remains of our Welch bards. He was often +heard to prefer even to Taliessin, Merlin, and Aneurim, the effusions of +the immortal Cadwallo, and indeed this was the only subject upon which +he was ever known to dispute with eagerness and fervour. In the midst of +the controversy, he would frequently produce passages from the Pastoral +Romance, as decisive of the question. And to confess the truth, I know +not how to excuse this piece of jockeyship and ill faith, even in Rice +ap Thomas, whom I regard as the father of my family, and the chief +ornament of my beloved country. + +Some readers will probably however be inclined to apologise for the +conduct of Mr. Thomas, and to lay an equivalent blame to my charge. They +will tell me, that nothing but the weakest partiality could blind me to +the genuine air of antiquity with which the composition is every where +impressed, and to ascribe it to a modern writer. But I am conscious to +my honesty and defy their malice. So far from being sensible of any +improper bias in favour of my ancestor, I am content to strengthen their +hands, by acknowledging that the manuscript, which I am not at all +desirous of refusing to their inspection, is richly emblazoned with all +the discoloration and rust they can possibly desire. I confess that the +wording has the purity of Taliessin, and the expressiveness of Aneurim, +and is such as I know of no modern Welchman who could write. And yet, in +spite as they will probably tell me of evidence and common sense, I +still aver my persuasion, that it is the production of Rice ap Thomas. + +But enough, and perhaps too much, for the question of its antiquity. It +would be unfair to send it into the world without saying something of +the nature of its composition. It is unlike the Arcadia of sir Philip +Sidney, and unlike, what I have just taken the trouble of running over, +the Daphnis of Gessner. It neither on the one hand leaves behind it the +laws of criticism, and mixes together the different stages of +civilization; nor on the other will it perhaps be found frigid, +uninteresting, and insipid. The prevailing opinion of Pastoral seems to +have been, that it is a species of composition admirably fitted for the +size of an eclogue, but that either its nature will not be preserved, or +its simplicity will become surfeiting in a longer performance. And +accordingly, the Pastoral Dramas of Tasso, Guarini, and Fletcher, +however they may have been commended by the critics, and admired by that +credulous train who clap and stare whenever they are bid, have when the +recommendation of novelty has subsided been little attended to and +little read. But the great Milton has proved that this objection is not +insuperable. His Comus is a master-piece of poetical composition. It is +at least equal in its kind even to the Paradise Lost. It is interesting, +descriptive and pathetic. Its fame is continually increasing, and it +will be admired wherever the name of Britain is repeated, and the +language of Britain is understood. + +If our hypothesis respecting the date of the present performance is +admitted, it must be acknowleged that the ingenious Mr. Thomas has +taken the Masque of Milton for a model; and the reader with whom Comus +is a favourite, will certainly trace some literal imitations. With +respect to any objections that may be made on this score to the Pastoral +Romance, we will beg the reader to bear in mind, that the volumes before +him are not an original, but a translation. Recollecting this, we may, +beside the authority of Milton himself, and others as great poets as +ever existed who have imitated Homer and one another at least as much as +our author has done Comus, suggest two very weighty apologies. In the +first place, imitation in a certain degree, has ever been considered as +lawful when made from a different language: And in the second, these +imitations come to the reader exaggerated, by being presented to him in +English, and by a person who confesses, that he has long been conversant +with our greatest poets. The translator has always admired Comus as much +as the Pastoral Romance; he has read them together, and been used to +consider them as illustrating each other. Any verbal coincidences into +which he may have fallen, are therefore to be ascribed where they are +due, to him, and not to the author. And upon the whole, let the +imperfections of the Pastoral Romance be what they will, he trusts he +shall be regarded as making a valuable present to the connoisseurs and +the men of taste, and an agreeable addition to the innocent amusements +of the less laborious classes of the polite world. + + + + + + +BOOK THE FIRST + +CHARACTER OF THE SHEPHERDESS AND HER LOVER.--FEAST OF RUTHYN.--SONGS OF +THE BARDS. + + +Listen, O man! to the voice of wisdom. The world thou inhabitest was not +intended for a theatre of fruition, nor destined for a scene of repose. +False and treacherous is that happiness, which has been preceded by no +trial, and is connected with no desert. It is like the gilded poison +that undermines the human frame. It is like the hoarse murmur of the +winds that announces the brewing tempest. Virtue, for such is the decree +of the Most High, is evermore obliged to pass through the ordeal of +temptation, and the thorny paths of adversity. If, in this day of her +trial, no foul blot obscure her lustre, no irresolution and instability +tarnish the clearness of her spirit, then may she rejoice in the view of +her approaching reward, and receive with an open heart the crown that +shall be bestowed upon her. + +The extensive valley of Clwyd once boasted a considerable number of +inhabitants, distinguished for primeval innocence and pastoral +simplicity. Nature seemed to have prepared it for their reception with +all that luxuriant bounty, which characterises her most favoured spots. +The inclosure by which it was bounded, of ragged rocks and snow-topt +mountains, served but for a foil to the richness and fertility of this +happy plain. It was seated in the bosom of North Wales, the whole face +of which, with this one exception, was rugged and hilly. As far as the +eye could reach, you might see promontory rise above promontory. The +crags of Penmaenmawr were visible to the northwest, and the unequalled +steep of Snowden terminated the prospect to the south. In its farthest +extent the valley reached almost to the sea, and it was intersected, +from one end to the other, by the beautiful and translucent waters of +the river from which it receives its name. + +In this valley all was rectitude and guileless truth. The hoarse din of +war had never reached its happy bosom; its river had never been +impurpled with the stain of human blood. Its willows had not wept over +the crimes of its inhabitants, nor had the iron hand of tyranny taught +care and apprehension to seat themselves upon the brow of its shepherds. +They were strangers to riches, and to ambition, for they all lived in a +happy equality. He was the richest man among them, that could boast of +the greatest store of yellow apples and mellow pears. And their only +objects of rivalship were the skill of the pipe and the favour of +beauty. From morn to eve they tended their fleecy possessions. Their +reward was the blazing hearth, the nut-brown beer, and the merry tale. +But as they sought only the enjoyment of a humble station, and the +pleasures of society, their labours were often relaxed. Often did the +setting sun see the young men and the maidens of contiguous villages, +assembled round the venerable oak, or the wide-spreading beech. The +bells rung in the upland hamlets; the rebecs sounded with rude harmony; +they danced with twinkling feet upon the level green or listened to the +voice of the song, which was now gay and exhilarating, and now soothed +them into pleasing melancholy. + +Of all the sons of the plain, the bravest, and the most comely, was +Edwin. His forehead was open and ingenuous, his hair was auburn, and +flowed about his shoulders in wavy ringlets. His person was not less +athletic than it was beautiful. With a firm hand he grasped the +boar-spear, and in pursuit he outstripped the flying fawn. His voice was +strong and melodious, and whether upon the pipe or in the song, there +was no shepherd daring enough to enter the lists with Edwin. But though +he excelled all his competitors, in strength of body, and the +accomplishments of skill, yet was not his mind rough and boisterous. +Success had not taught him a despotic and untractable temper, applause +had not made him insolent and vain. He was gentle as the dove. He +listened with eager docility to the voice of hoary wisdom. He had always +a tear ready to drop over the simple narrative of pastoral distress. +Victor as he continually was in wrestling, in the race, and in the song, +the shout of triumph never escaped his lips, the exultation of insult he +was never heard to utter. On the contrary, with mild and unfictitious +friendship, he soothed the breast of disappointment, and cheered the +spirits of his adversary with honest praise. + +But Edwin was not more distinguished among his brother shepherds, than +was Imogen among the fair. Her skin was clear and pellucid. The fall of +her shoulders was graceful beyond expression. Her eye-brows were arched, +and from her eyes shot forth the grateful rays of the rising sun. Her +waist was slender; and as she ran, she outstripped the winds, and her +footsteps were printless on the tender herb. Her mind, though soft, was +firm; and though yielding as wax to the precepts of wisdom, and the +persuasion of innocence, it was resolute and inflexible to the +blandishments of folly, and the sternness of despotism. Her ruling +passion was the love of virtue. Chastity was the first feature in her +character. It gave substance to her accents, and dignity to her +gestures. Conscious innocence ennobled all her reflexions, and gave to +her sentiments and manner of thinking, I know not what of celestial and +divine. + +Edwin and Imogen had been united in the sports of earliest infancy. They +had been mutual witnesses to the opening blossoms of understanding and +benevolence in each others breasts. While yet a boy, Edwin had often +rescued his mistress from the rude vivacity of his playmates, and had +bestowed upon her many of those little distinctions which were +calculated to excite the flame of envy among the infant daughters of the +plain. For her he gathered the vermeil-tinctured pearmain, and the +walnut with an unsavoury rind; for her he hoarded the brown filberd, and +the much prized earth-nut. When she was near, the quoit flew from his +arm with a stronger whirl, and his steps approached more swiftly to the +destined goal. With her he delighted to retire from the heat of the sun +to the centre of the glade, and to sooth her ear with the gaiety of +innocence, long before he taught her to hearken to the language of love. +For her sake he listened with greater eagerness to the mirthful +relation, to the moral fiction, and to the song of the bards. His store +of little narratives was in a manner inexhaustible. With them he +beguiled the hour of retirement, and with them he hastened the sun to +sink behind the western hill. + +But as he grew to manly stature, and the down of years had begun to +clothe his blushing cheek, he felt a new sensation in his breast +hitherto unexperienced. He could not now behold his favourite companion +without emotion; his eye sparkled when he approached her; he watched her +gestures; he hung upon her accents; he was interested in all her +motions. Sometimes he would catch the eye of prudent age or of +sharp-sighted rivalry observing him, and he instantly became embarrassed +and confused, and blushed he knew not why. He repaired to the +neighbouring wake, in order to exchange his young lambs and his hoard of +cheeses. Imogen was not there, and in the midst of traffic, and in the +midst of frolic merriment he was conscious to a vacancy and a +listlessness for which he could not account. When he tended his flocks, +and played upon his slender pipe, he would sink in reverie, and form to +himself a thousand schemes of imaginary happiness. Erewhile they had +been vague and general. His spirit was too gentle for him not to +represent to himself a fancied associate; his heart was not narrow +enough to know so much as the meaning of a solitary happiness. But +Imogen now formed the principal figure in these waking dreams. It was +Imogen with whom he wandered beside the brawling rill. It was Imogen +with whom he sat beneath the straw-built shed, and listened to the +pealing rain, and the hollow roaring of the northern blast. If a moment +of forlornness and despair fell to his lot, he wandered upon the heath +without his Imogen, and he climbed the upright precipice without her +harmonious voice to cheer and to animate him. In a word, passion had +taken up her abode in his guileless heart before he was aware of her +approach. Imogen was fair; and the eye of Edwin was enchanted. Imogen +was gentle; and Edwin loved. + +Simple as was the character of the inhabitants of this happy valley, it +is not to be supposed that Edwin found many obstacles to the enjoyment +of the society of his mistress. Though strait as the pine, and beautiful +as the gold-skirted clouds of a summer morning, the parents of Imogen +had not learned to make a traffic of the future happiness of their care. +They sought not to decide who should be the fortunate shepherd that +should carry her from the sons of the plain. They left the choice to her +penetrating wit, and her tried discretion. They erected no rampart to +defend her chastity; they planted no spies to watch over her reputation. +They entrusted her honour to her own keeping. They were convinced, that +the spotless dictates of conscious innocence, and that divinity that +dwells in virtue and awes the shaggy satyr into mute admiration, were +her sufficient defence. They left to her the direction of her conduct. +The shepherdess, unsuspicious by nature, and untaught to view mankind +with a wary and a jealous eye, was a stranger to severity and caprice. +She was all gentleness and humanity. The sweetness of her temper led her +to regard with an eye of candour, and her benevolence to gratify all the +innocent wishes, of those about her. The character of a woman +undistinguishing in her favours, and whose darling employment is to +increase the number of her admirers, is in the highest degree unnatural. +Such was not the character of Imogen. She was artless and sincere. Her +tongue evermore expressed the sentiments of her heart. She drew the +attention of no swain from a rival; she employed no stratagems to +inveigle the affections; she mocked not the respect of the simple +shepherd with delusive encouragement. No man charged her with broken +vows; no man could justly accuse her of being cruel and unkind. + +It may therefore readily be supposed, that the subject of love rather +glided into the conversation of Edwin and Imogen, than was regularly and +designedly introduced. They were unknowing in the art of disguising +their feelings. When the tale spoke of peril and bravery, the eyes of +Edwin sparkled with congenial sentiments, and he was evermore ready to +start from the grassy hilloc upon which they sat. When the little +narrative told of the lovers pangs, and the tragic catastrophe of two +gentle hearts whom nature seemed to have formed for mildness and +tranquility, Imogen was melted into the softest distress. The breast of +her Edwin would heave with a sympathetic sigh, and he would even +sometimes venture, from mingled pity and approbation, to kiss away the +tear that impearled her cheek. Intrepid and adventurous with the hero, +he began also to take a new interest in the misfortunes of love. He +could not describe the passionate complaints, the ingenuous tenderness +of another, without insensibly making the case his own. "Had the lover +known my Imogen, he would no longer have sighed for one, who could not +have been so fair, so gentle, and so lovely." Such were the thoughts of +Edwin; and till now Edwin had always expressed his thoughts. But now the +words fell half-formed from his trembling lips, and the sounds died away +before they were uttered. "Were I to speak, Imogen, who has always +beheld me with an aspect of benignity, might be offended. I should say +no more than the truth; but Imogen is modest. She does not suspect that +she possesses half the superiority over such as are called fair, which I +see in her. And who could bear to incur the resentment of Imogen? Who +would irritate a temper so amiable and mild? I should say no more than +the truth; but Imogen would think it flattery. Let Edwin be charged with +all other follies, but let that vice never find a harbour in his bosom; +let the imputation of that detested crime never blot his untarnished +name." + +Edwin had received from nature the gift of an honest and artless +eloquence. His words were like the snow that falls beneath the beams of +the sun; _they melted as they fell_. Had it been his business to +have pleaded the cause of injured innocence or unmerited distress, his +generous sympathy and his manly persuasion must have won all hearts. Had +he solicited the pursuit of rectitude and happiness, his ingenuous +importunity could not have failed of success. But where the mind is too +deeply interested, there it is that the faculties are most treacherous. +Ardent were the sighs of Edwin, but his voice refused its assistance, +and his tongue faultered under the attempts that he made. Fluent and +voluble upon all other subjects, upon this he hesitated. For the first +time he was dissatisfied with the expressions that nature dictated. For +the first time he dreaded to utter the honest wishes of his heart, +apprehensive that he might do violence to the native delicacy of Imogen. + +But he needed not have feared. Imogen was not blind to those perfections +which every mouth conspired to praise. Her heart was not cold and +unimpassioned; she could not see these perfections, united with youth +and personal beauty, without being attracted. The accents of Edwin were +music to her ear. The tale that Edwin told, interested her twice as much +as what she heard from vulgar lips. To wander with Edwin along the +flowery mead, to sit with Edwin in the cool alcove, had charms for her +for which she knew not how to account, and which she was at first +unwilling to acknowledge to her own heart. When she heard of the feats +of the generous lover, his gallantry in the rural sports, and his +reverence for the fair, it was under the amiable figure of Edwin that he +came painted to her treacherous imagination. She was a stranger to +artifice and disguise, and the renown of Edwin was to her the feast of +the soul, and with visible satisfaction she dwelt upon his praise. Even +in sleep her dreams were of the deserving shepherd. The delusive +pleasures that follow in the train of dark-browed night, all told of +Edwin. The unreal mockery of that capricious being, who cheats us with +scenes of fictitious wretchedness, was full of the unmerited calamities, +the heartbreaking woe, or the untimely death of Edwin. From Edwin +therefore the language of love would have created no disgust. Imogen was +not heedless and indiscreet; she would not have sacrificed the dignity +of innocence. Imogen was not coy; she would not have treated her admirer +with affected disdain. She had no guard but virgin modesty and that +conscious worth, _that would be wooed, and not unsought be won_. + +Such was the yet immature attachment of our two lovers, when an +anniversary of religious mirth summoned them, together with their +neighbour shepherds of the adjacent hamlet, to the spot which had long +been consecrated to rural sports and guiltless festivity, near the +village of Ruthyn. The sun shone with unusual splendour; the Druidical +temples, composed of immense and shapeless stones, heaped upon each +other by a power stupendous and incomprehensible, reflected back his +radiant beams. The glade, the place of destination to the frolic +shepherds, was shrouded beneath two venerable groves that encircled it +on either side. The eye could not pierce beyond them, and the +imagination was in a manner embosomed in the vale. There were the +quivering alder, the upright fir, and the venerable oak crowned with +sacred mistletoe. They grew upon a natural declivity that descended +every way towards the plain. The deep green of the larger trees was +fringed towards the bottom with the pleasing paleness of the willow. +From one of the groves a little rivulet glided across the plain, and was +intersected on one side by a stream that flowed into it from a point +equally distant from either extremity of its course. Both these streams +were bordered with willows. In a word, upon the face of this beautiful +spot all appeared tranquility and peace. It was without a path, and you +would imagine that no human footsteps had ever invaded the calmness of +its solitude. It was the eternal retreat of the venerable anchorite; it +was the uninhabited paradise in the midst of the trackless ocean. + +Such was the spot where the shepherds and shepherdesses of a hundred +cots were now assembled. In the larger compartiments of the vale, the +more muscular and vigorous swains pursued the flying ball, or contended +in the swift-footed race. The bards, venerable for their age and the +snowy whiteness of their hair, sat upon a little eminence as umpires of +the sports. In the smaller compartiments, the swains, mingled with the +fair, danced along the level green, or flew, with a velocity that +beguiled the eager sight, beneath the extended arms of their fellows. +Here a few shepherds, apart from the rest, flung the ponderous quoit +that sung along the air. There two youths, stronger and more athletic +than the throng, grasped each others arms with an eager hand, and +struggled for the victory. Now with manly vigour the one shook the +sinewy frame of the other; now they bended together almost to the earth, +and now with double force they reared again their gigantic stature. At +one time they held each other at the greatest possible distance; and +again, their arms, their legs and their whole bodies entwined, they +seemed as if they had grown together. When the weaker or less skilful +was overthrown, he tumbled like a vast and mountain oak, that for ages +had resisted the tumult of the winds; and the whole plain resounded at +his fall. Such as were unengaged formed a circle round the wrestlers, +and by their shouts and applause animated by turns the flagging courage +of either. + +And now the sun had gained his meridian height, and, fatigued with +labour and heat, they seated themselves upon the grass to partake of +their plain and rural feast. The parched wheat was set out in baskets, +and the new cheeses were heaped together. The blushing apple, the golden +pear, the shining plum, and the rough-coated chesnut were scattered in +attractive confusion. Here were the polished cherry and the downy peach; +and here the eager gooseberry, and the rich and plenteous clusters of +the purple grape. The neighbouring fountain afforded them a cool and +sparkling beverage, and the lowing herds supplied the copious bowl with +white and foaming draughts of milk. The meaner bards accompanied the +artless luxury of the feast with the symphony of their harps. + +The repast being finished, the company now engaged in those less active +sports, that exercise the subtility of the wit, more than the agility or +strength of the body. Their untutored minds delighted themselves in the +sly enigma, and the quaint conundrum. Much was their laughter at the +wild guesses of the thoughtless and the giddy; and great the triumph of +the swain who penetrated the mystery, and successfully removed the +abstruseness of the problem. Many were the feats of skill exhibited by +the dextrous shepherd, and infinite were the wonder and admiration of +the gazing spectators. The whole scene indeed was calculated to display +the triumph of stratagem and invention. A thousand deceits were +practised upon the simple and unsuspecting, and while he looked round to +discover the object of the general mirth, it was increased into bursts +of merriment, and convulsive gaiety. At length they rose from the +verdant green, and chased each other in mock pursuit. Many flew towards +the adjoining grove; the pursued concealed himself behind the dark and +impervious thicket, or the broad trunk of the oak, while the pursuers ran +this way and that, and cast their wary eyes on every side. Carefully +they explored the bushes, and surveyed each clump of tufted trees. And +now the neighbouring echoes repeated the universal shout, and proclaimed +to the plain below, that the object of their search was found. Fatigue +however, in spite of the gaiety of spirit with which their sports were +pursued, began to assert his empire, and they longed for that +tranquility and repose which were destined to succeed. + +At this instant the united sound of the lofty harp, the melodious rebec, +and the chearful pipe, summoned them once again to the plain. From every +side they hastened to the lawn, and surrounded, with ardent eyes, and +panting expectation, the honoured troop of the bards, crowned with +laurel and sacred mistletoe. And now they seated themselves upon the +tender herb; and now all was stilness and solemn silence. Not one +whisper floated on the breeze; not a murmur was heard. The tumultuous +winds were hushed, and all was placid composure, save where the gentle +zephyr fanned the leaves. The tinkling rill babbled at their feet; the +feathered choristers warbled in the grove; and the deep lowings of the +distant herds died away upon the ear. The solemn prelude began from a +full concert of the various instruments. It awakened attention in the +thoughtless, and composed the frolic and the gay into unbroken +heedfulness. The air was oppressed with symphonious sounds, and the ear +filled with a tumult of harmony. + +On a sudden the chorus ceased: Those instruments which had united their +force to fill the echoes of every grove, and of every hill, were silent. +And now a bard, of youthful appearance, but who was treated with every +mark of honour and distinction, and seated on the left hand of the hoary +Llewelyn, the prince of song, struck the lyre with a lofty and daring +hand. His eye sparkled with poetic rapture, and his countenance beamed +with the sublime smile of luxuriant fancy and heaven-born inspiration. +He sung of the wanton shepherd, that followed, with ungenerous +perseverance, the chaste and virgin daughter of Cadwallo. The Gods took +pity upon her distress, the Gods sent down their swift and winged +messenger to shield her virtue, and deliver her from the persecution of +Modred. With strong and eager steps the ravisher pursued: timid +apprehension, and unviolated honour, urged her rapid flight. But Modred +was in the pride of youth; muscular and sinewy was the frame of Modred. +Beauteous and snowy was the person of the fair: her form was delicate, +and her limbs were tender. If heaven had not interposed, if the Gods had +not been on her side, she must have fallen a victim to savage fury and +brutal lust. But, in the crisis of her fate, she gradually sunk away +before the astonished eyes of Modred. That beauteous frame was now no +more, and she started from before him, swifter than the winds, a timid +and listening hare. Still, still the hunter pursued; he suspended not +the velocity of his course. The speed of Modred was like the roe upon +the mountains; every moment he gained upon the daughter of Cadwallo. But +now the object of his pursuit vanished from his sight, and eluded his +eager search. In vain he explored every thicket, and surveyed all the +paths of the forest. While he was thus employed, on a sudden there burst +from a cave a hungry and savage wolf; it was the daughter of Cadwallo. +Modred started with horror, and in his turn fled away swifter than the +winds. The fierce and ravenous animal pursued; fire flashed from the +eye, and rage and fury sat upon the crest. Mild and gentle was the +daughter of Cadwallo; her heart relented; her soft and tender spirit +belied the savage form. They approached the far famed stream of Conway. +Modred cast behind him a timid and uncertain eye; the virgin passed +along, no longer terrible, a fair and milk white hind. Modred inflamed +with disappointment, reared his ponderous boar spear, and hurled it from +his hand. Too well, ah, cruel and untutored swain! thou levelest thy +aim. Her tender side is gored; her spotless and snowy coat is deformed +with blood. Agitated with pain, superior to fear, she plunges in the +flood. When lo! a wonder; on the opposite shore she rises, radiant and +unhurt, in her native form. Modred contemplates the prodigy with +astonishment; his lust and his brutality inflame him more than ever. +Eagerly he gazes on her charms; in thought he devours her inexpressive +beauties. And now he can no longer restrain himself; with sudden start +he leaps into the river. The waves are wrought into a sudden tempest; +they hurry him to and fro. He buffets them with lusty arms; he rides +upon the billows. But vain is human strength; the unseen messenger of +the Gods laughs at the impotent efforts of Modred. At length the waters +gape with a frightful void; the bottom, strewed with shells, and +overgrown with sea-weed, is disclosed to the sight. Modred, unhappy +Modred, sinks to rise no more. His beauty is tarnished like the flower +of the field; his blooming cheek, his crimson lip, is pale and +colourless. Learn hence, ye swains, to fear the Gods, and to reverence +the divinity of virtue. Modred never melted for another's woe; the tear +of sympathy had not moistened his cheek. The heart of Modred was +haughty, insolent and untractable; he turned a deaf ear to the +supplication of the helpless, he listened not to the thunder of the +Gods. Let the fate of Modred be remembered for a caution to the +precipitate; let the children of the valley learn wisdom. Heaven never +deserts the cause of virtue; chastity wherever she wanders (_be it not +done in pride or in presumption_) is sacred and invulnerable. + +Such was the song of the youthful bard. Every eye was fixed upon his +visage while he struck the lyre; the multitude of the shepherds appeared +to have no faculty but the ear. And now the murmur of applause began; +and the wondering swains seemed to ask each other, whether the God of +song were not descended among them. "Oh glorious youth," cried they, +"how early is thy excellence! Ere manhood has given nerve and vigour to +thy limbs, ere yet the flowing beard adorns thy gallant breast, nature +has unlocked to thee her hidden treasures, the Gods have enriched thee +with all the charms of poetry. Great art thou among the bards; +illustrious in wisdom, where they all are wise. Should gracious heaven +spare thy life, we will cease to weep the death of Hoel; we will lament +no longer the growing infirmities of Llewelyn." + +While they yet spoke, a bard, who sat upon the right hand of the prince, +prepared to sweep the string. He was in the prime of manhood. His +shining locks flowed in rich abundance upon his strong and graceful +shoulders. His eye expressed more of flame than gaiety, more of +enthusiasm than imagination. His brow, though manly, and, as it should +seem, by nature erect, bore an appearance of solemn and contemplative. +He had ever been distinguished by an attachment to solitude, and a love +for those grand and tremendous objects of uncultivated nature with which +his country abounded. His were the hanging precipice, and the foaming +cataract. His ear drank in the voice of the tempest; he was rapt in +attention to the roaring thunder. When the contention of the elements +seemed to threaten the destruction of the universe, when Snowdon bowed +to its deepest base, it was then that his mind was most filled with +sublime meditation. His lofty soul soared above the little war of +terrestrial objects, and rode expanded upon the wings of the winds. Yet +was the bard full of gentleness and sensibility; no breast was more +susceptible to the emotions of pity, no tongue was better skilled in the +soft and passionate touches of the melting and pathetic. He possessed a +key to unlock all the avenues of the heart. + +Such was the bard, and this was the subject of his song. He told of a +dreadful famine, that laid waste the shores of the Menai. Heaven, not to +punish the shepherds, for, alas, what had these innocent shepherds done? +but in the mysterious wisdom of its ways, had denied the refreshing +shower, and the soft-descending dew. From the top of Penmaenmawr, as far +as the eye could reach, all was uniform and waste. The trees were +leafless, not one flower adorned the ground, not one tuft of verdure +appeared to relieve the weary eye. The brooks were dried up; their beds +only remained to tell the melancholy tale, Here once was water; the +tender lambs hastened to the accustomed brink, and lifted up their +innocent eyes with anguish and disappointment. The meadows no longer +afforded pasture of the cattle; the trees denied their fruits to man. In +this hour of calamity the Druids came forth from their secret cells, and +assembled upon the heights of Mona. This convention of the servants of +the Gods, though intended to relieve the general distress, for a moment +increased it. The shepherds anticipated the fatal decree; they knew that +at times like this the blood of a human victim was accustomed to be shed +upon the altars of heaven. Every swain trembled for himself or his +friend; every parent feared to be bereaved of the staff of his age. And +now the holy priest had cast the lots in the mysterious urn; and the lot +fell upon the generous Arthur. Arthur was beloved by all the shepherds +that dwelt upon the margin of the main; the praise of Arthur sat upon +the lips of all that knew him. But what served principally to enhance +the distress, was the attachment there existed between him and the +beauteous Evelina. Mild was the breast of Evelina, unused to encounter +the harshness of opposition, or the chilly hand and forbidding +countenance of adversity. From twenty shepherds she had chosen the +gallant Arthur, to reward his pure and constant love. Long had they been +decreed to make each other happy. No parent opposed himself to their +virtuous desires; the blessing of heaven awaited them from the hand of +the sacred Druid. But in the general calamity of their country they had +no heart to rejoice; they could not insult over the misery of all around +them. "Soon, oh soon," cried the impatient shepherd, "may the wrath of +heaven be overpast! Extend, all-merciful divinity, thy benign influence +to the shores of Arvon! Once more may the rustling of the shower refresh +our longing ears! Once more may our eyes be gladdened with the pearly, +orient dew! May the fields be clothed afresh in cheerful green! May the +flowers enamel the verdant mead! May the brooks again brawl along their +pebbly bed! And may man and beast rejoice together!" Ah, short-sighted, +unapprehensive shepherd! thou dost not know the misfortune that is +reserved for thyself; thou dost not know, that thou shalt not live to +behold those smiling scenes which thy imagination forestallest; thou +dost not see the dart of immature and relentless death that is suspended +over thee. Think, O ye swains, what was the universal astonishment and +pity, when the awful voice of the Druid proclaimed the decree of heaven! +Terror sat upon every other countenance, tears started into every other +eye; but the mien of Arthur was placid and serene. He came forward from +the throng; his eyes glistened with the fire of patriotism. "Hear me, my +countrymen," cried he, "for you I am willing to die. What is my +insignificant life, when weighed against the happiness of Arvon? Be +grateful to the Gods, that, for so poor a boon, they are willing to +spread wide the hand of bounty, and to exhaust upon your favoured heads +the horn of plenty." While he spoke he turned his head to the spot from +which he had advanced, and beheld, a melting object, Evelina, pale and +breathless, supported in the arms of the maidens. For a moment he forgot +his elevated sentiments and his heroism, and flew to raise her. +"Evelina, mistress of my heart, awake. Lift up thine eyes and bless thy +Arthur. Be not too much subdued by my catastrophe. Live to comfort the +grey hairs, and to succour the infirmities of your aged parent." While +the breast of Arthur was animated with such sentiments, and dictated a +conduct like this, the priests were employed in the mournful +preparations. The altar was made ready; the lambent fire ascended from +its surface; the air was perfumed with the smoke of the incense; the +fillets were brought forth; and the sacred knife glittered in the hand +of the chief of the Druids. The bards had strung their harps, and began +the song of death. The sounds were lofty and animating, they were fitted +to inspire gallantry and enterprise into the trembling coward; they were +fitted to breathe a soul into the clay-cold corse. The spirit of Arthur +was roused; his eye gleamed with immortal fire. The aged oak, that +strikes its root beneath the soil, so defies the blast, and so rears its +head in the midst of the whirlwind. But oh, who can paint the distress +of Evelina? Now she dropped her head, like the tender lily whose stalk, +by some vulgar and careless hand has been broken; and now she was wild +and ungovernable, like the wild beast that has been robbed of its young. +For an instant the venerable name of religion awed her into mute +submission. But when the fatal moment approached, not the Gods, if the +Gods had descended in all their radiant brightness, could have +restrained her any longer. The air was rent with her piercing cries. She +spoke not. Her eyes, in silence turned towards heaven, distilled a +plenteous shower. At length, swifter than the winged hawk, she flew +towards the spot, and seized the sacred and inviolable arm of the holy +Druid, which was lifted up to strike the final blow. "Barbarous and +inhuman priest," she cried, "cease your vile and impious mummery! No +longer insult us with the name of Gods. If there be Gods, they are +merciful; but thou art a savage and unrelenting monster. Or if some +victim must expire, strike here, and I will thank thee. Strike, and my +bosom shall heave to meet the welcome blow. Do any thing. But oh, spare +me the killing, killing spectacle!" During this action the maidens +approached and hurried her from the plain. "Go," cried Arthur, "and let +not the heart of Evelina be sad. My Death has nothing in it that +deserves to be deplored. It is glorious and enviable. It shall be +remembered when this frame is crumbled into dust. The song of the bards +shall preserve it to never dying fame." The inconsolable fair one had +now been forced away. The intrepid shepherd bared his breast to the +sacred knife. His nerves trembled not. His bosom panted not. And now +behold the lovely youth, worthy to have lived through revolving years, +sunk on the ground, and weltering in his blood. Yes, gallant Arthur, +thou shalt possess that immortality which was the first wish of thy +heart! My song shall embalm thy precious memory, thy generous, spotless +fame! But, ah, it is not in the song of the bards to sooth the rooted +sorrow of Evelina. Every morning serves only to renew it. Every night +she bathes her couch in tears. Those objects, which carry pleasure to +the sense of every other fair, serve only to renew thy unexhausted +grief. The rustling shower, the pearly dew, the brawling brook, the +cheerful green, the flower-enameled mead, all join to tell of the +barbarous and untimely fate of Arthur. Smile no more, O ye meads; mock +not the grief of Evelina. Let the trees again be leafless; let the +rivers flow no longer in their empty beds. A scene like this suits best +the settled temper of Evelina. + +He ceased. And his pathetic strain had awakened the sympathy of the +universal throng. Every shepherd hung his mournful head, when the +untimely fate of Arthur was related; every maiden dropped a generous +tear over the sorrows of Evelina. They listened to the song, and forgot +the poet. Their souls were rapt with alternate passions, and they +perceived not the matchless skill by which they were excited. The lofty +bard hurried them along with the rapidity of his conceptions, and left +them no time for hesitation, and left them no time for reflection. He +ceased, and the melodious sounds still hung upon their ear, and they +still sat in the posture of eager attention. At length they recollected +themselves; and it was no longer the low and increasing murmur of +applause: it was the exclamation of rapture; it was the unpremeditated +shout of astonishment. + +In the mean time, the reverend Llewelyn, upon whose sacred head ninety +winters had scattered their snow, grasped the lyre, which had so often +confessed the master's hand. Though far advanced in the vale of years, +there was a strength and vigour in his age, of which the degeneracy of +modern times can have little conception. The fire was not extinguished +in his flaming eye; it had only attained that degree of chasteness and +solemnity, which had in it by so much the more, all that is majestic, +and all that is celestial. His looks held commerce with his native +skies. No vulgar passion ever visited his heaven-born mind. No vulgar +emotion ever deformed the godlike tranquility of his soul. He had but +one passion; it was the love of harmony. He was conscious only to one +emotion; it was reverence for the immortal Gods. He sat like the +anchorite upon the summit of Snowdon. The tempests raise the foaming +ocean into one scene of horror, but he beholds it unmoved. The rains +descend, the thunder roars, and the lightnings play beneath his feet. + +Llewelyn struck the lyre, and the innumerable croud was noiseless and +silent as the chambers of death. They did not now wait for the pleasing +tale of a luxuriant imagination, or the pathetic and melting strain of +the mourner. They composed their spirits into the serenity of devotion. +They called together their innocent thoughts for the worship of heaven. +By anticipation their bosoms swelled with gratitude, and their hearts +dilated into praise. + +The pious Llewelyn began his song from the rude and shapeless chaos. He +magnified the almighty word that spoke it into form. He sung of the +loose and fenny soil which gradually acquired firmness and density. The +immeasurable, eternal caverns of the ocean were scooped. The waters +rushed along, and fell with resounding, foamy violence to the depth +below. The sun shone forth from his chamber in the east, and the earth +wondered at the object, and smiled beneath his beams. Suddenly the +whole face of it was adorned with a verdant, undulating robe. The purple +violet and the yellow crocus bestrewed the ground. The stately oak +reared its branchy head, and the trees and shrubs burst from the surface +of the earth. Impregnated by power divine, the soil was prolific in +other fruits than these. The clods appeared to be informed with a +conscious spirit, and gradually assumed a thousand various forms. The +animated earth seemed to paw the verdant mead, and to despise the mould +from which it came. A disdainful horse, it shook its flowing mane, and +snuffed the enlivening breeze, and stretched along the plain. The +red-eyed wolf and the unwieldy ox burst like the mole the concealing +continent, and threw the earth in hillocs. The stag upreared his +branching head. The thinly scattered animals wandered among the +unfrequented hills, and cropped the untasted herb. Meantime the birds, +with many coloured plumage, skimmed along the unploughed air, and taught +the silent woods and hills to echo with their song. + +Creatures, hymn the praises of your creator! Thou sun, prolific parent +of a thousand various productions, by whose genial heat they are +nurtured, and whose radiant beams give chearfulness and beauty to the +face of nature, first of all the existences of this material universe +acknowledge him thy superior, and while thou dispensest a thousand +benefits to the inferior creation, ascribe thine excellencies solely to +the great source of beauty and perfection! And when the sun has ceased +his wondrous course, do thou, O moon, in milder lustre show to people of +a thousand names the honours of thy maker! Thou loud and wintery north +wind, in majestic and tremendous tone declare his lofty praise! Ye +gentle zephyrs, whisper them to the modest, and softly breathe them in +the ears of the lowly! Ye towering pines, and humble shrubs, ye fragrant +flowers, and, more than all, ye broad and stately oaks, bind your heads, +and wave your branches, and adore! Ye warbling fountains, warbling tune +his praise! Praise him, ye beasts, in different strains! And let the +birds, that soar on lofty wings, and scale the path of heaven, bear, in +their various melody, the notes of adoration to the skies! Mortals, ye +favoured sons of the eternal father, be it yours in articulate +expressions of gratitude to interpret for the mute creation, and to +speak a sublimer and more rational homage. + +Heard ye not the music of the spheres? Know ye not the melody of +celestial voices? On yonder silver-skirted cloud I see them come. It +turns its brilliant lining on the setting day. And these are the accents +of their worship. "Ye sons of women, such as ye are now, such once were +we. Through many scenes of trial, through heroic constancy, and +ever-during patience, have we attained to this bright eminence. Large +and mysterious are the paths of heaven, just and immaculate his ways. If +ye listen to the siren voice of pleasure, if upon the neck of heedless +youth you throw the reins, that base and earth-born clay which now you +wear, shall assume despotic empire. And when you quit the present narrow +scene, ye shall wear a form congenial to your vices. The fierce and +lawless shall assume the figure of the unrelenting wolf. The +unreflecting tyrant, that raised a mistaken fame from scenes of +devastation and war, shall spurn the ground, a haughty and indignant +horse; and in that form, shall learn, by dear experience, what were the +sufferings and what the scourge that he inflicted on mankind. The +sensual shall wear the shaggy vesture of the goat, or foam and whet his +horrid tusks, a wild and untame'd boar. But virtue prepares its +possessor for the skies. Upon the upright and the good, attendant angels +wait. With heavenly spirits they converse. On them the dark machinations +of witchcraft, and the sullen spirits of darkness have no power. Even +the outward form is impressed with a beam of celestial lustre. By slow, +but never ceasing steps, they tread the path of immortality and honour. +Then, mortals, love, support, and cherish each other. Fear the Gods, and +reverence their holy, white-robed servants. Let the sacred oak be your +care. Worship the holy and everlasting mistletoe. And when all the +objects that you now behold shall be involved in universal +conflagration, and time shall be no more; ye shall mix with Gods, ye +shall partake their thrones, and be crowned like them with never-fading +laurel." + +[Illustration] + + + + + + +BOOK THE SECOND + +THUNDER STORM.--THE RAPE OF IMOGEN.--EDWIN ARRIVES AT THE GROTTO OF +ELWY.--CHARACTER OF THE MAGICIAN.--THE END OF THE FIRST DAY. + + +The song of Llewelyn was heard by the shepherds with reverence and mute +attention. Their blameless hearts were lifted to the skies with the +sentiment of gratitude; their honest bosoms overflowed with the fervour +of devotion. They proved their sympathy with the feelings of the bard, +not by licentious shouts and wild huzzas, but by the composure of their +spirits, the serenity of their countenances, and the deep and +unutterable silence which universally prevailed. And now the hoary +minstrel rose from the little eminence, beneath the aged oak, from whose +branches depended the ivy and the honeysuckle, on which the veneration +of the multitude had placed him. He came into the midst of the plain, +and the sons and the daughters of the fertile Clwyd pressed around him. +Fervently they kissed the hem of his garment; eagerly with their eyes +they sought to encounter the benign rays of his countenance. With the +dignity of a magistrate, and the tenderness of a father, he lifted his +aged arms, and poured upon them his mild benediction. "Children, I have +met your fathers, and your fathers fathers, beneath the hills of Ruthyn. +Such as they were, such are ye, and such ever may ye remain. The lily is +not more spotless, the rose and the violet do not boast a more fragrant +odour, than the incense of your prayers when it ascends to the footstool +of the Gods. Guileless and undesigning are you as the yearling lamb; +gentle and affectionate as the cooing dove. Qualities like these the +Gods behold with approbation; to qualities like these the Gods assign +their choicest blessings. My sons, there is a splendour that dazzles, +rather than enlightens; there is a heat that burns rather than +fructifies. Let not characters like these excite your ambition. Be yours +the unfrequented sylvan scene. Be yours the shadowy and unnoticed vale +of obscurity. Here are the mild and unruffled affections. Here are +virtue, peace and happiness. _Here also are_ GODS." + +Having thus said, he dismissed the assembly, and the shepherds prepared +to return to their respective homes. Edwin and Imogen, as they had come, +so they returned together. The parents of the maiden had confided her to +the care of the gallant shepherds. "She is our only child," said they, +"our only treasure, and our life is wrapt up in her safety. Watch over +her like her guardian genius. Bring her again to our arms adorned with +the cheerfulness of tranquility and innocence." The breast of Edwin was +dilated with the charge; he felt a gentle undulation of pride and +conscious importance about his heart, at the honour conferred upon him. + +The setting sun now gilded the western hills. His beams played upon +their summits, and were reflected in an irregular semi-circle of +splendour, spotless and radiant as the robes of the fairies. The heat of +the day was over, the atmosphere was mild, and all the objects round +them quiet and serene. A gentle zephyr fanned the leaves; and the +shadows of the trees, projecting to their utmost length, gave an +additional coolness and a soberer tint to the fields through which they +passed. + +The conversation of these innocent and guileless lovers was, as it were, +in unison with the placidness of the evening. The sports, in which they +had been engaged, had inspired them with gaiety, and the songs they had +heard, had raised their thoughts to a sublimer pitch than was usual to +them. They praised the miracles of the tale of Modred; they sympathised +with the affliction of Evelina; and they spoke with the most unfeigned +reverence of the pious and venerable Llewelyn. + +But the harmless chearfulness of their conversation did not last long. +The serenity that was around them was soon interrupted, and their +attention was diverted to external objects. Suddenly you might have +perceived a cloud, small and dark, that rose from the bosom of the sea. +By swift advances it became thicker and broader, till the whole heavens +were enveloped in its dismal shade. The gentle zephyr, that anon played +among the trees, was changed into a wind hollow and tumultuous. Its +course was irregular. Now all was still and silent as the caverns of +death; and again it burst forth in momentary blasts, or whirled the +straws and fallen leaves in circling eddies. The light of day was +shrouded and invisible. The slow and sober progress of evening was +forestalled. The woods and the hills were embosomed in darkness. Their +summits were no longer gilded. One by one the beams of the sun were +withdrawn from each; and at length Snowdon itself could not be +perceived. + +Our shepherd and his charge had at this moment reached the most +extensive and unprotected part of the plain. No friendly cot was near to +shield them from the coming storm. And now a solemn peal of thunder +seemed to roll along over their heads. They had begun to fly, but the +tender Imogen was terrified at the unexpected crash, and sunk, almost +breathless, into the arms of Edwin. In the mean time, the lightnings +seemed to fill the heavens with their shining flame. The claps of +thunder grew louder and more frequent. They reverberated from rock to +rock, and from hill to hill. If at any time, for a transitory interval, +the tremendous echoes died away upon the ear, it was filled with the +hollow roaring of the winds, and the boisterous dashing of the distant +waves. At length the pealing rain descended. It seemed as if all the +waters of heaven were exhausted upon their naked heads. The anxious and +afflicted Edwin took his beauteous and insensible companion in his arms, +and flew across the plain. + +But at this instant, a more extraordinary and terrifying object +engrossed his attention. An oak, the monarch of the plain, towards which +he bent his rapid course, was suddenly struck with the bolt of heaven, +and blasted in his sight. Its large and spreading branches were +withered; its leaves shrunk up and faded. In the very trunk a gaping and +tremendous rift appeared. At the same moment two huge and craggy cliffs +burst from the surrounding rocks, to which they had grown for ages, and +tumbling with a hideous noise, trundled along the plain. + +At length a third spectacle, more horrible than the rest, presented +itself to the affrighted eyes of Edwin. He saw a figure, larger than the +human, that walked among the clouds, and piloted the storm. Its +appearance was dreadful, and its shape, loose and undistinguishable, +seemed to be blended with the encircling darkness. From its coutenance +gleamed a barbarous smile, ten times more terrific than the frown of any +other being. Triumph, inhuman triumph, glistened in its eye, and, with +relentless delight, it brewed the tempest, and hurled the destructive +lightning. Edwin gazed upon this astonishing apparition, and knew it for +a goblin of darkness. The heart of Edwin, which no human terror could +appal, sunk within him; his nerves trembled, and the objects that +surrounded him, swam in confusion before his eyes. But it is not for +virtue to tremble; it is not for conscious innocence to fear the power +of elves and goblins. Edwin presently recollected himself, and a gloomy +kind of tranquility assumed the empire of his heart. He was more +watchful than ever for his beloved Imogen; he gazed with threefold +earnestness upon the fearful spectre. + +A sound now invaded his ear, from the shapeless rocks behind him. They +repeated it with all their echoes. It was hollow as the raging wind; and +yet it was not the raging wind. It was loud as the roaring thunder; and +yet it was not the voice of thunder. But he did not remain long in +suspense, from whence the voice proceeded. A wolf, whom hunger had made +superior to fear, leaped from the rock, upon the plain below. Edwin +turned his eyes upon the horrid monster; he grasped his boarspear in his +hand. The unconscious Imogen glided from his arms, and he advanced +before her. He met the savage in his fury, and plunged his weapon in his +side. He overturned the monster; he drew forth his lance reeking with +his blood; his enemy lay convulsed in the agonies of death. But ere he +could return, he heard the sound of a car rattling along the plain. The +reins were of silk, and the chariot shone with burnished gold. Upon the +top of it sat a man, tall, lusty, and youthful. His hair flowed about +his shoulders, his eyes sparkled with untamed fierceness, and his brow +was marked with the haughty insolence of pride. It was Roderic, lord of +a hundred hills; but Edwin knew him not. The goblin descended from its +eminence, and directed the course of Roderic. In a moment, he seized the +breathless and insensible Imogen, and lifted her to his car. Edwin +beheld the scene with grief and astonishment; his senses were in a +manner overwhelmed with so many successive prodigies. But he did not +long remain inactive; grief and astonishment soon gave way to revenge. +He took his javelin, still red with the blood of the mountain wolf, and +whirled it from his hand. Edwin was skilled to toss the dart; from his +hand it flew unerring to its aim. Forceful it sung along the air; but +the goblin advanced with hasty steps among the clouds. It touched it +with its hand, and it fell harmless and pointless to the ground. During +this action the car of Roderic disappeared. The goblin immediately +vanished; and Edwin was left in solitude. + +The storm however had not yet ceased. The rain descended with all its +former fury. The thunder roared with a strong and deafening sound. The +lightnings flamed from pole to pole. But the lightnings flamed, and the +thunder roared unregarded. The storm beat in vain upon the unsheltered +head of Edwin. "Where," cried he, with the voice of anguish and despair, +"is my Imogen, my mistress, my wife, the charmer of my soul, the solace +of my heart?" Saying this, he sprung away like the roe upon the +mountains. His pace was swifter than that of the zephyr when it sweeps +along over the unbending corn. He soon reached the avenue by which the +chariot had disappeared from his sight. He leaped from rock to rock; he +ascended to the summit of the cliff. His eye glanced the swift-flying +car of Roderic; he knew him by his gilded carriage, and his spangled +vest. But he saw him only for a moment. His aching eye pursued the +triumphant flight in vain. "Stay, stay, base ravisher, inglorious +coward!" he exclaimed. "If thou art a man, return and meet me. I will +encounter thee hand to hand. I will not fear the strength of thy +shoulders, and the haughtiness of thy crest. If in such a cause, with +the pride of virtue on my side, with all the Gods to combat for me, I am +yet vanquished, then be Imogen thine: then let her be submitted to thy +despotic power, to thy brutal outrage, and I will not murmur." + +But his words were given to the winds of heaven. Roderic fled far, far +away. The heart of Edwin was wrung with anguish. "Ye kind and merciful +Gods!" exclaimed he, "grant but this one prayer, and the voice of Edwin +shall no more importune you with presumptuous vows. Blot from the book +of fate the tedious interval. Give me to find the potent villain. Though +he be hemmed in with guards behind guards; though his impious mansion +strike its foundations deep to the centre, and rear its head above the +clouds; though all the powers of hell combine on his side, I will search +him out, I will penetrate into his most hidden recess. I can but die. +Oh, if I am to be deprived of Imogen, how sweet, how solacing is the +thought of death! Let me die in her cause. That were some comfort yet. +Let me die in her presence, let her eyes witness the fervour of my +attachment, and I will die without a groan." + +Having thus poured forth the anguish of his bosom, he resumed the +pursuit. But how could Edwin, alone, on foot, and wearied with the +journey of the day, hope to overtake the winged steeds of Roderic? And +indeed had his speed been tenfold greater than it was, it had been +exerted to no purpose. As the ravisher arrived at the edge of the +mountain, he struck into a narrow and devious path that led directly to +his mansion. But Edwin, who had for some time lost sight of the chariot, +took no notice of a way, covered with moss and overgrown with bushes; +and pursued the more beaten road. Swift was his course; but the swifter +he flew, the farther still he wandered from the object of his search. A +rapid brook flowed across his path, which the descending rains had +swelled into a river. Without a moment's hesitation, accoutered as he +was, he plunged in. Instantly he gained the opposite bank, and divided +the air before him, like an arrow in its flight. + +In the mean time, the storm had ceased, the darkness was dispersed, and +only a few thin and fleecy clouds were scattered over the blue expanse. +The sun had for some time sunk beneath the western hills. The heavens, +clear and serene, had assumed a deeper tint, and were spangled over with +stars. The moon, in calm and silver lustre, lent her friendly light to +the weary traveller. Edwin was fatigued and faint. He tried to give vent +to his complaints; but his tongue cleaved to the roof of his mouth: his +spirits sunk within him. No sound now reached his ears but the baying of +the shepherds dogs, and the _drowsy tinklings_ of the _distant +folds_. The owl, the solemn bird of night, sat buried among the +branches of the aged oak, and with her melancholy hootings gave an +additional serenity to the scene. At a small distance, on his right +hand, he perceived a contiguous object that reflected the rays of the +moon, through the willows and the hazels, and chequered the view with a +clear and settled lustre. He approached it. It was the lake of Elwy; and +near it he discovered that huge pile of stones, so well known to him, +which had been reared ages since, by the holy Druids. It was upon this +spot that they worshipped the Gods. But they had no habitation near it. +They repaired thither at stated intervals from the woods of Mona, and +the shores of Arvon. One only Druid lived by the banks of the silver +flood, and watched the temple day and night, that no rude hand might do +violence to the sanctity of the place, and no profaner mortal, with +sacrilegious foot might enter the mysterious edifice. It was surrounded +with a wall of oaks. The humbler shrubs filled up their interstices, and +there was no avenue to the sacred shade, except by two narrow paths on +either side the lake. + +The solemn stilness of the scene for a moment hushed the sorrows of +Edwin into oblivion. Ah, short oblivion! scarcely had he gazed around +him, and drank of the quietness and peace of the scene, ere those recent +sorrows impressed his bosom with more anguish than before. Recollecting +himself however, he trod the mead with nimble feet, and approached, +trembling and with hesitation, to the eastern avenue. "Hear me, sage and +generous Madoc," cried the shepherd, with a voice that glided along the +peaceful lake, "hear the sorrows of the most forlorn of all the sons of +Clwyd!" The hermit, who sat at the door of his grotto, perceived the +sound, and approached to the place from which it proceeded. The accent +was gentle; and he feared no boisterous intrusion. The accent was tender +and pathetic; and never was the breast of Madoc steeled against the +voice of anguish. "Approach, my son," he cried. "What disastrous event +has brought thee hither, so far from thy peaceful home, and at this +still and silent hour of night? Has any lamb wandered from thy fold, and +art thou come hither in pursuit of it?" Edwin was silent. His heart +seemed full almost to bursting, and he could not utter a word. "Hast +thou wandered from thy companions and missed the path that led to the +well-known hamlet?" "Alas," said Edwin, "I had a companion once!" and he +lifted up his eyes to heaven in speechless despair. "Has thy mistress +deserted thee, or have her parents bestowed her on some happier swain?" +"Yes," said Edwin, "I have lost her, who was dear to me as the _ruddy +drops that visit my sad heart._ But she was constant. Her parents +approved of my passion, and consigned her to my arms." "Has sickness +then overtaken her, or has untimely death put a period to thy prospects, +just as they began to bloom?" "Oh, no," said the disconsolate shepherd, +"I have encountered a disaster more comfortless and wasteful than +sickness. I had a thousand times rather have received her last sigh, and +closed her eyes in darkness!" + +During this conversation, they advanced along the banks of Elwy, and +drew towards the grotto of the hermit. The hospitable Madoc brought some +dried fruits and a few roots from his cell, and spread them before his +guest. He took a bowl of seasoned wood, and hastening to the fountain, +that fell with a murmuring noise down the neighing [sic] rock, he +presented the limpid beverage. "Such," said he, "is my humble fare; +partake it with a contented heart, and it shall be more grateful to thy +taste, than the high flavoured viands of a monarch." In the mean time, +Madoc, pleased with the benevolent pursuit, gathered some bits of dry +wood, and setting them on fire, besought the swain to refresh himself +from the weariness of his travel, and the inclemency of the storm. But +the heart of Edwin was too full to partake of the provisions that his +attentive host had prepared. The chearfulness however of the blazing +hearth and the generous officiousness of the hermit, seemed by degrees +to recover him from the insensibility and lethargy, that for a time had +swallowed up all his faculties. + +Madoc had hitherto contemplated his guest in silence. He permitted him +to refresh his wearied frame and to resume his dissipated spirits +uninterrupted; he suppressed the curiosity by which he was actuated, to +learn the story of the woes of Edwin. In the midst of his dejection, he +perceived the symptoms of a nobility of spirit that interested him; and +the anguish of the shepherd's mind had not totally destroyed the traces +of that mild affability, and that manly frankness for which he was +esteemed. + +Edwin had no sooner appeared to shake off a small part of his +melancholy, his eye no sooner sparkled with returning fire, than Madoc +embraced the favourable omen. "My son," said he, "you seem to be full of +dejection and grief. Grief is not an inmate of the plain; the hours of +the shepherd are sped in gaiety and mirth. Suspicion and design are +stranger to his bosom. With him the voice of discord is not heard. The +scourge of war never blasted his smiling fields; the terror of invasion +never banished him from the peaceful cot. You too are young and uninured +even to the misfortunes of the shepherd. No contagion has destroyed your +flock; no wolf has broken its slender barriers: you have felt the +anguish of no wound, and been witness to the death of no friend. Say +then, my son, why art thou thus dejected and forlorn?" + +"Alas," replied Edwin, "our equal lot undoubtedly removes us from the +stroke of many misfortunes; but even to us adversity extends its rod. I +have been exposed to the ravages of an invader, more fearful than the +wolf, more detested than the conqueror. From an affliction like mine, no +occupation, no rank, no age can exempt. Sawest thou not the descending +storm? Did not the rain beat upon thy cavern, and the thunder roar among +the hills?" "It did," cried Madoc, "and I was struck with reverence, and +worshipped the God who grasps the thunder in his mighty hand. Wast thou, +my son, exposed to its fury?" "I was upon the bleak and wide extended +heath. With Imogen, the fairest and most constant of the daughters of +Clwyd, I returned from the feast of Ruthyn. But alas," added the +shepherd, "the storm had no terrors, when compared with the scenes that +accompanied it. I beheld, Madoc, nor are the words I utter the words of +shameless imposition, or coward credulity; I beheld a phantom, that +glided along the air, and rode among the clouds. At his command, a wolf +from the forest, with horrid tusks, and eyes of fire, burst upon me. I +advanced towards it, that I might defend the fairest of her sex from its +fury, and plunged my javelin in its heart. But, oh! while I was thus +engaged, a chariot advanced on the opposite side! Its course was +directed by the spectre. The rider descended on the plain, and seized +the spotless, helpless Imogen; and never, never shall these eyes behold +her more! Such, O thou servant of the Gods, has been my adversity. The +powers of darkness have arrayed themselves against me. For me the storm +has been brewed; all the arrows of heaven have been directed against my +weak, defenceless head. For me the elements have mixed in tremendous +confusion; portents and prodigies have been accumulated for my +destruction. Oh, then, generous and hospitable Druid, what path is +there, that is left for my deliverance? What chance remains for me, now +that a host of invisible beings combats against me? Teach me, my friend, +my father, what it is that I must do. Tell me, is there any happiness in +store for Edwin, or must I sink, unresisting, into the arms of +comfortless despair?" + +"My son," cried the venerable hermit, "hope is at all times our duty, +and despair our crime. It is not in the power of events to undermine the +felicity of the virtuous. Goblins, and spirits of darkness, are +permitted a certain scope in this terrestrial scene; but their power is +bounded; beyond a certain line they cannot wander. In vain do they +threaten innocence and truth. Innocence is a wall of brass upon which +they can make no impression. Virtue is an adamant that is sacred and +secure from all their efforts. He whose thoughts are full of rectitude +and heaven, who knows no guile, may wander in safety through +uncultivated forests, or sandy plains, that have never known the trace +of human feet. Before him the robber is just, and the satyr tame; for +him the monsters of the desert are disarmed of their terrors, and he +shall lead the wild boar and the wolf in his hand. Such is the sanctity +that heaven has bestowed on unblemished truth." + +"Alas, my father," cried Edwin, "this is the lesson that was first +communicated to my childhood; and my infant heart bounded with the +sacred confidence it inspired. But excuse the presumption of a +distracted heart. This lesson, to which at another time I could have +listened with rapture and enthusiasm, seems now too loose and general +for a medicine to my woes. Innocence the Gods have made superior and +invulnerable. And, oh, in what have I transgressed? Yet, my father, I am +wounded in the tenderest part. Shall I ever recover my Imogen? Is she +not torn from me irreversibly? How shall I engage with powers invisible, +and supernatural? How shall I discover my unknown, human enemy? No, +Madoc, I am lost in impenetrable darkness. For me there is no hope, no +shadow of approaching ease." + +"Be calm, my son," rejoined the anchorite. "Arrogance and impatience +become not the weak and uninformed children of the earth. Be calm, and I +will administer a remedy more appropriate to your wrongs. But remember +this is your hour of trial. If now you forget the principles of your +youth, and the instructions of the sacred Druids, you shall fall from +happiness, never to regain it more. But if you come forth pure and +unblemished from the fierce assay, your Imogen shall be yours, the Gods +shall take you into their resistless protection, and in all future ages, +when men would cite an example of distinguished felicity, they shall +say, as fortunate as Edwin of the vale." Edwin bended his knee in mute +submission. + +"Listen, my son," continued the Druid. "I know your enemy, and can point +out to you his obscure retreat." The shepherd lifted up his eyes, lately +so languid, that now flashed with fire. He eagerly grasped the hand of +Madoc. "Alas," continued the hermit, "to know him would little answer +the purpose of thy bold and enterprising spirit. They adversary, as thou +mayest have conjectured, is in league with the powers of darkness. +Against them what can courage, what can adventure avail? They can +unthread thy joints, and crumble all thy sinews. They can chain up thy +limbs in marble. For how many perils, how many unforseen disasters ought +he to be prepared, who dares to encounter them?" + +"The name of him who has ravished from thee the dearest treasure of thy +heart, is Roderic. His mother--attend, oh Edwin, for whatever the +incredulous may pretend, the tales related by the bards in their +immortal songs, of ghosts, and fairies, and dire enchantment, are not +vain and fabulous.--You have heard of the inauspicious fame and the bad +eminence of Rodogune. She withdrew from the fields of Clwyd within the +memory of the elder of shepherds. Various were the conjectures +occasioned by her disappearance. Some imagined, that for the haughtiness +of her humour, and the malignity of her disposition, characters that +were wholly unexampled in the pastoral life, she had been carried away +before the period limited by nature to the place of torment by the +goblins of the abyss. Others believed that she concealed herself in the +top of the highest mountain that was near them, and by a commerce with +invisible, malignant beings, still exercised the same gloomy temper in +more potent, and therefore more inauspicious harm. The blight that +overspread the meadows, the destructive contagion that diffused itself +among the flocks, the raging tempest that rooted up the oak, when the +thunder roared among the hills, and the lightning flashed from pole to +pole, they ascribed to the machinations and the sorcery of Rodogune. +Their conjectures indeed were blind, but their notions were not wholly +mistaken. + +"Rodogune was the mother of Roderic. She was deeply skilled in those +dark and flagitious arts, which have cast a gloom upon this mortal +scene. The intellectual powers bestowed upon her by the Gods were great +and eminent, and were given for a far different purpose than to be +employed in these sinister pursuits. But all conspicuous talents are +liable, my son, to base perversion; and such was the fate of those of +Rodogune. She delighted in the actions which her dark and criminal +alliance with invisible powers enabled her to perform. It was her's to +mislead the benighted shepherd. It was Sher's to part the happy lovers. +For this purpose she would swell the waves, and toss the feeble bark. +She dispensed, according to the dictates of her caprice, the mildew +among the tender herb, and the pestilence among the folds of the +shepherds. By the stupendous powers of enchantment, she raised from the +bosom of a hill a wondrous edifice. The apartments were magnificent and +stately; unlike the shepherd's cot, and not to be conceived by the +imagination of the rustic. Here she accumulated a thousand various +gratifications; here she wantoned in all the secret and licentious +desires of her heart. But her castle was not merely a scene of +thoughtless pleasure. Within its circle she held crouds of degenerate +shepherds, groveling through the omnipotence of her incantations in +every brutal form. Even the spectres and the elves that disobeyed her +authority, she held in the severest durance. She compressed their tender +forms in the narrowest prison, or gave them to the stormy winds, to be +whirled, _with restless violence, round about_ the ample globe. In +a word, her mansion was one uninterrupted scene of ingenious cruelty and +miserable despair. To be surrounded with the face of disappointment and +agony was the happiness of Rodogune. + +"When first by her art she raised that edifice which is now inhabited by +her son, she had been desirous to conceal it from the prying eyes of the +wanderer. In order to this, though it stood upon an eminence, she chose +an eminence that was surrounded by higher hills, and hills which, +according to the neighbouring shepherds, were impassable. No adventurous +step had ever since the day they were created pierced beyond them. It +was imagined that the space they surrounded was the haunt of elves, and +the resort of those who held commerce with evil spirits. The curling +smoke, which of late has frequently been seen to ascend from their +bosom, has confirmed this tradition. And in order to render her +habitation still more impervious, Rodogune surrounded it with a deep +grove of oaks, whose thick branches entwined together, permitted no +passage so much as to the light of day. + +"Roderic was her only child, the darling of her age, and the central +object of all her cares. At his birth the elves and the fairies were +summoned together. They bestowed upon him every beauty of person and +every subtlety of wit. To every weapon they made him invulnerable. And, +without demanding from him that care and persevering study, that had +planted wrinkles on his mother's brow, they gave him to enjoy his wishes +instantly and uncontroled. One only goblin was daring enough to +pronounce a curse upon him. 'WHEN RODERIC,' cried he, 'SHALL BE +OVERREACHED IN ALL HIS SPELLS BY A SIMPLE SWAIN, UNVERSED IN THE VARIOUS +ARTS OF SORCERY AND MAGIC: WHEN RODERIC SHALL SUE TO A SIMPLE MAID, WHO +BY HIS CHARMS SHALL BE MADE TO HATE THE SWAIN THAT ONCE SHE LOVED, AND +WHO YET SHALL RESIST ALL HIS PERSONAL ATTRACTIONS AND ALL HIS POWER; +THEN SHALL HIS POWER BE AT AN END. HIS PALACES SHALL BE DISSOLVED, HIS +RICHES SCATTERED, AND HE HIMSELF SHALL BECOME AN UNFITTED, NECESSITOUS, +MISERABLE VAGABOND.' Such was the mysterious threat; and dearly did the +threatner abide it. In the mean time, an elf more generous, more +attached to Rodogune, and more potent than the rest, bestowed upon the +infant a mysterious ring. By means of this he is empowered to assume +what form he pleases. By means of this it was hoped he would be able to +subdue the most prepossessed, and melt the most obdurate female heart. +By means of this it was hoped, he might evade not only the simple swain, +but all the wiles of the most experienced and subtle adversary. + +"Roderic now increased in age, and began to exhibit the promises of that +manly and graceful beauty that was destined for him. He inherited his +mother's haughtiness, and his wishes and his passions were never +subjected to contradiction. A few years since that mother died, and the +youth has been too much engaged in voluptuousness and luxury to embark +in the malicious pursuits of Rodogune, Sensuality has been his aim, and +pleasure has been his God. To gratify his passions has been the sole +object of his attentions; and he has remitted no exertion that could +enhance to him the joys of the feast and the fruition of beauty. One +low-minded gratification has succeeded to another; pleasures of an +elevated and intellectual kind have been strangers to his heart; and +were it not that the subtlety of wit was a gift bestowed upon him by +supernatural existencies, he must long ere this have sunk his mind to +the lowest savageness and the most contemptible imbecility." + +Edwin heard the tale of the Druid with the deepest attention. He was +interested in the information it contained; he was astonished at the +unfathomable witcheries of Rodogune; and he could not avoid the being +apprehensive of the unexpanded powers of Roderic. But the daring and +adventurous spirit of youth, and the anxiety that he felt for the +critical situation of Imogen, soon overpowered and obliterated these +impressions. The Druid finished; and he started from his seat. "Point +me, kind and generous Madoc, to the harbour of the usurper. I will +invade his palace. I will enter fearlessly the lime-twigs of his spells. +I will trust in the omnipotency of innocence. Though the magician should +be encircled with all the horrid forms that ingenious fear ever created, +though all the grizly legions of the infernal realm should hem in, I +will find him out, and force him to relinquish his prize, or drag him by +his shining hair to a death, ignominious and accursed, as has been the +conduct of his life." + +The Druid assumed a sterner and a severer aspect. "How long, son of the +valley," cried he, "wilt thou be deaf to the voice of instruction? When +wilt thou temper thy heedless and inconsiderate courage with the +coolness of wisdom and the moderation of docility? But go," added he, "I +am to blame to endeavour to govern thy headlong spirit, or stem the +torrent of youthful folly. Go, and endure the punishment of thy +rashness. Encounter the magician in the midst of his spells. Expose thy +naked and unprotected head to glut his vengeance. Over thy life indeed, +he has no power. Deliberate guilt, not unreflecting folly, can deprive +thee of thy right to that. But, oh, shepherd, what avails it to live in +hopeless misery? With ease he shall shut thee up for revolving years in +darkness tangible; he shall plunge thee deep beneath the surface of the +mantled pool, the viscous spume shall draw over thy miserable head its +dank and dismal shroud; or perhaps, more ingenious in mischief, he shall +chain thee up in inactivity, a conscious statue, the silent and passive +witness of the usurped joys that once thou fondly fanciedst thy own." + +"Oh, pardon me, sage and venerable Madoc," replied the shepherd. "Edwin +did not come from the hands of nature obstinate and untractable. But +grief agitates my spirits; anxiety and apprehension conjure up a +thousand horrid phantoms before my distracted imagination, and I am no +longer myself. I will however subdue my impatient resentments. I will +listen with coolness to the voice of native sagacity and hoary +experience. Tell me then, my father, and I will hearken with mute +attention, nor think the lesson long,--instruct me how I shall escape +those tremendous dangers thou hast described. Say, is there any remedy, +canst thou communicate any potent and unconquerable amulet, that shall +shield me from the arts of sorcery? Teach me, and my honest heart shall +thank thee. Communicate it, and the benefit shall be consecrated in my +memory to everlasting gratitude." + +"My son," replied Madoc, "I am indeed interested for thee. Thy heart is +ingenuous and sincere; thy misfortune is poignant and affecting. Listen +then to my directions. Receive and treasure up this small and sordid +root. In its external appearance, it is worthless and despicable; but, +Edwin, we must not judge by appearances; that which is most valuable +often delights to shroud itself under a coarse and unattractive outside. +In a richer climate, and under a more genial sun, it bears a beauteous +flower, whose broad leaves expand themselves to the day, and are clothed +with a deep and splendid purple, glossy as velvet, and bedropped with +gold. This root is a sovereign antidote against all blasts, +enchantments, witchcrafts, and magic. With this about thee, thou mayest +safely enter the haunts of Roderic; thou mayest hear his incantations +unappalled; thou mayest boldly dash from his hand his magic glass, and +shed the envenomed beverage on the ground. Then, when he stands +astonished at the unexpected phenomenon, wrest from him his potent wand. +Invoke not the unhallowed spirits of the abyss; invoke the spotless +synod of the Gods. Strike with his rod the walls of his palace, and they +shall turn to viewless air; the monster shall be deprived of all his +riches, and all his accumulated pleasures; and thou and thy Imogen, +delivered from the powers of enchantment, shall be, for one long, +uninterrupted day, happy in the enjoyment of each other. + +"Attend, my son, yet attend, to one more advice, upon which all thy +advantage and all thy success in this moment of crisis hang. Engage not +in so arduous and important an enterprise immaturely. Thou hast yet no +reason for despair. Thou art yet beheld with favour by propitious +heaven. But thou mayest have reason for despair. One false step may ruin +thee. One moment of heedless inconsideration may plunge thee in years of +calamity. One moment of complying guilt may shut upon thee the door of +enjoyment and happiness for ever." + +Such was the sorrow, and such were the consolations of Edwin. But far +different was the situation, and far other scenes were prepared for his +faithful shepherdess. For some time after she had been seized by +Roderic, she had remained unconscious and supine. The terrors that had +preceded the fatal capture, had overpowered her delicate frame, and sunk +her into an alarming and obstinate fit of insensibility. They had now +almost reached the palace of the magician, when she discovered the first +symptoms of returning life. The colour gradually remounted into her +bloodless cheeks; her hands were raised with a feeble and involuntary +motion, and at length she lifted up her head, and opened her languid, +unobserving eyes. "Edwin," she cried, "my friend, my companion, where +art thou? Where have we been? Oh, it is a long and tedious evening!" +Saying this, she looked upon the objects around her. The sky was now +become clear and smiling; the lowring clouds were dissipated, and the +blue expanse was stretched without limits over their head. The sources +of her former terror were indeed removed, but the objects that presented +themselves were equally alarming. All was unexpected and all was +unaccountable. Imogen had remained without consciousness from the very +beginning of the storm, and it was during her insensibility that the +goblin had been visible, and the magician descended to the plains. She +found herself mounted upon a car, and hurried along by rapid steeds. She +saw beside her a man whose face, whose garb, and whose whole appearance +were perfectly unknown to her. + +"Ah," exclaimed the maiden, in a voice of amazement apprehension, "where +am I? What is become of my Edwin? And what art thou? What means all +this? These are not the well-known fields; this is not the brook of +Towey, nor these hills of Clwyd. Oh, whither, whither do we fly? This +track leads not to the cottage of my parents, and the groves of +Rhyddlan." "Be not uneasy, my fair one," answered Roderic. "We go, +though not by the usual path, to where your friends reside. I am not +your enemy, but a swain who esteems it his happiness to have come +between you and your distress, and to have rescued you from the pelting +of the storm. Suspend, my love, for a few moments your suspicions and +your anxiety, and we shall arrive where all your doubts will be removed, +and all I hope will be pleasure and felicitation." While he thus spoke +the chariot hastened to the conclusion of their journey, and entered the +area in the front of the mansion of Roderic. + +The suspicions of Imogen were indeed removed, but in a manner too cruel +for her tender frame. The terror and fatigue she had previously +undergone had wasted her spirits, and the surprise she now experienced, +was more than she could sustain. As the chariot entered the court, she +cried out with a voice of horror and anguish, and sunk breathless into +the arms of her ravisher. Though the passion he had already conceived +for her, made this a circumstance of affliction, he yet in another view +rejoiced, that he was able, by its intervention, to conduct his prize in +a manner by stealth into his palace, and thus to prevent that struggle +and those painful sensations, which she must otherwise have known. For +could she have borne, without emotion, to see herself conveyed into a +wretched imprisonment? Could she have submitted, without opposition, to +be shut up, as it were, from the hope of revisiting those scenes, where +once her careless childhood played, and those friends whom she valued +more than life? + +The leading pursuit of Roderic, as it had been stated by the Druid of +Elwy, was the love of pleasure, an attachment to sensuality, luxury and +lust. He often spent whole days in the bosom of voluptuousness, reposing +upon couches of down, under ceilings of gold. His senses were at +intervals awakened, by the most exquisite music, to a variety of +delight. He often recreated his view with beholding, from a posture of +supineness and indolence, the frolic games, and the mazy dance. +Sometimes, in order to diversify the scene, he would mix in the sports, +and, by the graceful activity of his limbs, and the subtle keenness of +his wit, would communicate relish and novelty to that which before had +palled upon the performers. When he moved, every eye was fixed in +admiration. When he spoke all was tranquility of attention, and every +mouth was open to applaud. Then were set forth the luxuries of the +feast. Every artifice was employed to provoke the appetite. The viands +were savoury, and the fruits were blushing; the decorations were +sumptuous, and the halls shone with a profusion of tapers, whose rays +were reflected in a thousand directions by an innumerable multitude of +mirrors and lustres. And now the intoxicating beverage went swiftly +round the board. The conversation became more open and unrestrained. +Quick were the repartees and loud the mirth. Loose, meaning glances were +interchanged between the master of the feast and the mingled beauties +that adorned his board. With artful inadvertence the gauze seemed to +withdraw from their panting bosoms, and new and still newer charms +discovered themselves to enchant the eyes and inflame the heart. The bed +of enjoyment succeeded to the board of intemperance. Such was the +history of the life of Roderic. + +But man was not born for the indolence of pleasure and the uniformity of +fruition. No gratifications, but especially not those that address +themselves only to the senses, and pamper this brittle, worthless +mansion of the immortal mind, are calculated to entertain us for any +long duration. We need something to awaken our attention, to whet our +appetite, and to contrast our joys. Happiness in this sublunary state +can scarcely be felt, but by a comparison with misery. It is he only +that has escaped from sickness, that is conscious of health; it is he +only that has shaken off the chains of misfortune, that truly rejoices. +The wisdom of these maxims was felt by Roderic. Full of pleasures, +surrounded with objects of delight, he was not happy. Their uniformity +cloyed him. He had received, by supernatural endowment, an activity and +a venturousness of spirit, that were little formed for such scenes as +these. He was devoured with spleen. He sighed he knew not why; he was +peevish and ill-humoured in the midst of the most assiduous attention +and the most wakeful service. And the command he possessed over the +elements of nature was no remedy for sensations like these. + +Oppressed with these feelings, Roderic was accustomed to withdraw +himself from the pomps and luxuries that surrounded him, to fly from the +gilded palace and the fretted roofs, and to mix in the simple and +undebauched scenes of artless innocence that descended on every side +from the hills he inhabited. The name of Roderic was unknown to all the +shepherds of the vallies, and he was received by them with that +officiousness and hospitality which they were accustomed to exercise to +the stranger. It was his delight to give scope to his imagination by +inventing a thousand artful tales of misfortune, by which he awakened +the compassion, and engaged the attachment of the simple hinds. In order +the more effectually to evade that curiosity which would have been fatal +to his ease, he assumed every different time that he came among them a +different form. By this contrivance, he passed unobserved, he partook +freely of their pastimes, he made his observations unmolested, and was +perfectly at leisure for the reflections, not always of the most +pleasant description, that these scenes, of simple virtue and honest +poverty, were calculated to excite. "Oh, impotence of power," exclaimed +he, wrapt up and secure in the disguise he assumed, "to what purpose art +thou desired? Ambition is surely the most foolish and misjudging of all +terrestrial passions. My condition appears attractive. I am surrounded +with riches and splendour; no man approaches me but with homage and +flattery; every object of gratification solicits my acceptance. I am not +only endowed with a capacity of obtaining all that I can wish, and that +by supernatural means, but I am almost constantly forestalled in my +wishes. Who would not say, that I am blessed? Who that heard but a +description of my state, would not envy me? O ye shepherds, happy, +thrice happy, in the confinedness of your prospects, ye would then envy +me! Instructed as I am, instructed by too fatal experience, with reason +I envy you. Hark to that swain who is now leading his flock from the +durance in which they were held till the morning peeped over the eastern +hills! The little lambs frisk about him, thankful for the liberty they +have regained, and he stretches out his hand for them to lick. Now he +drives them along the extended green, and in a wild and thoughtless note +carols a lively lay. He sings perhaps of the kind, but bashful +shepherdess. His hat is bound about with ribbon; the memorial of her coy +compliance and much-prized favour. How light is his heart, how chearful +his gait, and how gay his countenance! He leads in a string a little +frolic goat with curving horns: I suppose the prize that he bore off in +singing, which is not yet tamed to his hand, and familiarised to his +flock. What though his coat be frieze? What though his labour constantly +return with the returning day? I wear the attire of kings; far from +labouring myself, thousands labour for my convenience. And yet he is +happier than I. Envied simplicity; venerable ignorance; plenteous +poverty! How gladly would I quit my sumptuous palace, and my magic arts, +for the careless, airy, and unreflecting joys of rural simplicity!" + +It was in a late excursion of this kind that he had beheld the beauteous +Imogen. His eye was struck with the charms of her person, and the +amiableness of her manners. Never had he seen a complexion so +transparent, or an eye so expressive. Her vermeil-tinctured lips were +new-blown roses that engrossed the sight, and seemed to solicit to be +plucked. His heart was caught in the tangles of her hair. Such an +unaffected bashfulness, and so modest a blush; such an harmonious and +meaning tone of voice, that expressed in the softest accents, the most +delicate sense and the most winning simplicity, could not but engage the +attention of a swain so versed in the science of the fair as Roderic. +From that distinguished moment, though he still felt uneasiness, it was +no longer vacuity, it was no longer an uneasiness irrational and +unaccountable. He had now an object to pursue. He was not now subjected +to the fatigue of forming wishes for the sake of having them instantly +gratified. When he reflected upon the present object of his desires, new +obstacles continually started in his mind. Unused to encounter +difficulty, he for a time imagined them insurmountable. Had his desires +been less pressing, had his passion been less ardent, he would have +given up the pursuit in despair. But urged along by an unintermitted +impulse, he could think of nothing else, he could not abstract his +attention to a foreign subject. He determined at least once again to +behold the peerless maiden. He descended to the feast of Ruthyn; and +though the interval had been but short, from the time in which he had +first observed her, in the eye of love she seemed improved. The charms +that erst had budded, were now full blown. Her beauties were ripened, +and her attractions spread themselves in the face of day. Nor was this +all. He beheld with a watchful glance her slight and silent intercourse +with the gallant Edwin; an intercourse which no eye but that of a lover +could have penetrated. Hence his mind became pregnant with all the +hateful brood of dark suspicions; he was agitated with the fury of +jealousy. Jealousy evermore blows the flame it seems formed to +extinguish. The passion of Roderic was more violent than ever. His +impatient spirit could not now brook the absence of a moment. Luxury +charmed no longer; the couch of down was to him a bed of torture, and +the solicitations of beauty, the taunts and sarcasms of infernal furies. +He invoked the spirit of his mother; he brought together an assembly of +elves and goblins. By their direction he formed his plan; by their +instrumentality the tempest was immediately raised; and under the +guidance of the chief of all the throng he descended upon his prey, like +the eagle from his eminence in the sky. + +The success of his exploit has already been related. The scheme had +indeed been too deeply laid, and too artfully digested, to admit almost +the possibility of a miscarriage. Who but would have stood appalled, +when the storm descended upon our lovers in the midst of the plain, and +the thunders seemed to rock the whole circle of the neighbouring hills? +Who could have conducted himself at once with greater prudence and +gallantry than the youthful shepherd? Did he not display the highest +degree of heroism and address, when he laid the gaunt and haughty wolf +prostrate at his feet? But it was not for human skill to cope with the +opposition of infernal spirits. Accordingly Roderic had been victorious. +He had borne the tender maiden unresisted from the field; he had +outstripped the ardent pursuit of Edwin with a speed swifter than the +winds. In fine, he had conducted his lovely prize in safety to his +enchanted castle, and had introduced her within those walls, where every +thing human and supernatural obeyed his nod, in a state of unresisting +passivity. + +Roderic, immediately upon his entrance into the castle, had committed +the fair Imogen to the care of the attendant damsels. He charged them by +every means to endeavour to restore her to sense and tranquility, and +not to utter any thing in her hearing, which should have the smallest +tendency to discompose her spirits. In obedience to orders, which they +had never known what it was to dispute, they were so unwearied in their +assiduities to their amiable charge, that it was not long before she +began once again to exhibit the tokens of renewed perception. She raised +by degrees a leaden and inexpressive eye, to the objects that were about +her, without having as yet spirit and recollectedness enough to +distinguish them. "My mother," cried she, "my venerable Edith, I am not +well. My head is quite confused and giddy. Do press it with your +friendly hand." A female attendant, as she uttered these words, drew +near to obey them. "Go, go," exclaimed Imogen, with a feeble tone, and +at the same time putting by the officious hand, "you naughty girl. You +are not my mother. Do not think to make me believe you are." + +While she spoke this she began gradually to gain a more entire +sedateness and self-command. She seemed to examine, with an eager and +inquisitive eye, first one object, and then another by turns. The +novelty of the whole scene appeared for an instant to engross her +attention. Every part of the furniture was unlike that of a shepherd's +cot; and completely singular and unprecedented by any thing that her +memory could suggest. But this self-deception, this abstraction from her +feelings and her situation was of a continuance the shortest that can be +conceived. All seemed changed with her in a moment. Her eye, which, from +a state of languor and unexpressiveness, had assumed an air of intent +and restless curiosity, was now full of comfortless sorrow and +unprotected distress. "Powers that defend the innocent, support, guard +me! Where am I? What have I been doing? What is become of me? Oh, Edwin, +Edwin!" and she reclined her head upon the shoulder of the female who +was nearest her. + +Recovering however, in a moment, the dignity that was congenial to her, +she raised herself from this remiss and inactive posture, and seemed to +be immersed in reflection and thought. "Yes, yes," exclaimed she, "I +know well enough how it is. You cannot imagine what a furious storm it +was: and so I sunk upon the ground terrified to death: and so Edwin left +me, and ran some where, I cannot tell where, for shelter. But sure it +could not be so neither. He could not be so barbarous. Well but however +somebody came and took me up, and so I am here. But what am I here for, +and what place is this? Tell me, ye kind shepherdesses, (if +shepherdesses you are) for indeed I am sick at heart." + +The broken interrogatories of Imogen were heard with a profound silence. +"What," said the lovely and apprehensive maiden, "will you not answer +me? No, not one word. Ah, then it must be bad indeed. But I have done +nothing that should make me be afraid. I am as harmless and as chearly +as the little red-breast that pecks out of my hand? So you will not hurt +me, will you? No, I dare swear. You do not frown upon me. Your looks are +quite sweet and good-natured. But then it was not kind not to answer me, +and tell me what I asked you." "Fair stranger," replied one of the +throng, "we would willingly do any thing to oblige you. But you are weak +and ill; and it is necessary that you should not exert yourself, but try +to sleep." + +"Sleep," replied the shepherdess, "what here in this strange place? No, +that I shall not, I can tell you. I never slept from under the thatch of +my father's cottage in my life, but once, and that was at the wedding of +my dear, obliging Rovena. But perhaps," added she, "my father and mother +will come to me here. So I will even try and be compilable, for I never +was obstinate. But indeed my head is strangely confused; you must excuse +me." + +Such was the language, and such the affecting simplicity of the innocent +and uncultivated Imogen. She, who had been used to one narrow round of +chearful, rustic scenes, was too much perplexed to be able to judge of +her situation. Her repeated faintings had weakened her spirits, and for +a time disordered her understanding. She had always lived among the +simple; she had scarcely ever been witness to any thing but sincerity +and innocence. Suspicion therefore was the farthest in the world from +being an inmate of her breast. Suspicion is the latest and most +difficult lesson of the honest and uncrooked mind. Imogen therefore +willingly retired to rest, in compliance with the soliciation of her +attendants. She beheld no longer her ravisher, whose eye beamed with +ungovernable desires, and whose crest swelled with pride. Every +countenance was marked with apparent carefulness and sympathy. She was +even pleased with their officious and friendly-seeming demeanour. + +Tell me, ye vain cavillers, ye haughty adversaries of the omnipotence of +virtue, where could artful vice, where could invisible and hell-born +seduction, have found a fitter object for their triumph? Imogen was not +armed with the lessons of experience: Imogen was not accoutered with the +cautiousness of cultivation and refinement. She was all open to every +one that approached her. She carried her heart in her hand. Ye, I doubt +not, have already reckoned upon the triumph, and counted the advantages. +But, if I do not much mistake the divine lessons I am commissioned to +deliver, the muse shall tell a very different story. + +[Illustration] + + + + + + +BOOK THE THIRD + +PURPOSES OF RODERIC.--THE CARRIAGE OF IMOGEN.--HER CONTEMPT OF RICHES. + + +The fatigue which Imogen had undergone in the preceding day, prepared +her to rest during the night with more tranquility than could otherwise +have been expected. The scenes to which she had successively been +witness, and the objects that now surrounded her, were too novel and +extraordinary in their character, to allow much room for the severity of +reflection, and the coolness of meditation. Her frame was tired with the +various exercises in which she had engaged; her mind was hurried and +perplexed without knowing upon what to fix, or in what manner to account +for the events that had befallen her: she therefore sunk presently into +a sweet and profound sleep; and while every thing seemed preparing for +her destruction, while a thousand enchantments were essayed, and a +thousand schemes revolved in the busy mind of Roderic, she remained +composed and unapprehensive. Innocence was the sevenfold shield that +protected her from harm; her eyes were closed in darkness, and a smile +of placid benignity played upon the lovely features of her countenance. + +Roderic in the mean time had retired to his chamber. His mind was turbid +and unquiet. So restless are the waves of the ocean before the coming +tempest. They assume a darker hue, and reflect a more cloudy heaven. +They roll this way and that in a continual motion, and yet without any +direction, till the loud and hoarse-echoing wind determines their course +and carries them in mountains to the sounding shore. The mind of the +victim was all quiet and unruffled; such is the kindly influence of +conscious truth. The mind of the ravisher exhibited nothing but +uneasiness and confusion; such are the boons which vice bestows upon her +misjudging votaries. + +The conqueror, doubly misled by fierce and unruly passions and by his +inauspicious commerce with the goblins of the abyss, retired not +immediately to his couch, but walked up and down his apartments, with a +hasty and irregular step. "Thanks to my favourable stars," exclaimed he, +"I am triumphant! What power can resist me? Where is the being that +shall dare to say, that one wish of my heart shall go unfulfilled? Well +then, I have got the fair the charming she into my power. She is shut up +in a palace, unseen by every human eye, to which no human foot ever +found its way but at my bidding. She is closed round with spells and +enchantment. I can by a word deprive her every limb of motion. If I but +wave this wand, the leaden God of sleep shall sink her in a moment in +the arms of forgetfulness, whatever were before her anxieties and her +wakeful terrors. In what manner then shall I, thus absolute and +uncontroled in all I bid exist, proceed? Shall I press the unwilling +beauty to my bosom, and riot in her hoard of charms, without waiting +like meaner mortals to sue for the consent of her will? There is +something noble, royal, and independent, in the thought. Beauty never +appears so attractive as from behind a veil of tears. Oh, how I enjoy +infancy [sic] the anger that shall flush her lovely cheek! Perhaps she +will even kneel to me to deprecate that which an education of prejudices +has taught her to consider as the worst of evils. Yes, my lovely maid, I +will raise thee. Do not turn from me those scornful indignant eyes. I +will be thy best friend. I will not hurt a hair of thy head. Oh, when +her spotless bosom pants with disdain, how sweet to beat the little +chiders, and by a friendly violence, which true and comprehensive wisdom +cannot stigmatize, to teach her what is the true value of beauty, and +for what purpose such enchanting forms as her's were sent to dwell +below!" + +Thus spoke the ravisher, and as he spoke he assumed, although alone, a +firmer stride and a more haughty crest. Upon the instant however his +ears were saluted with a low and continual sound, that became, by just +degrees, stronger and more strong. The walls of his palace shook; a +sudden and supernatural light gleamed along his apartment, and a spectre +stood before him. Roderic lifted up his eyes, and immediately recognised +the features of that goblin, who from the hour of his birth, had +declared himself his adversary. He had been repeatedly used to the +visits of this malicious spirit, who delighted to subvert all his +schemes, and to baffle his deepest projects. This was the only +misfortune, the sovereign of the hills had ever known; this was the only +instance in which he had at any time been taught what it was to have his +power controled and his nod unobeyed. He had often sought, by means of +the confederacy he held with other spirits of the infernal regions, to +restrain his enemy, or by punishment and suffering to make him rue his +opposition. But the goblin he had to encounter, though not the most +potent, was of all the rest the most crafty in his wiles, and the most +abundant in expedients. As many times as his fellows had by the +instigation of Roderic undertaken to encounter him, so often had they in +the end been eluded and defeated. The contest was now given up, and the +goblin was at liberty to haunt and threaten his impotant adversary as +much as he pleased. + +"Roderic," cried he, with a harsh and unpleasant accent, "I am come to +humble the haughtiness of thy triumph, and to pull down thy aspiring +thoughts. Impotent and rancorous mortal! Know, that innocence is +defended with too strong a shield for thee to pierce! Boast not thyself +of the immensity of thy walls, and put no confidence in the subtlety of +thy enchantments. Before the mightiness that waits on innocence, they +are not less impotent than the liquid wax, or the crumbling ruin. Learn, +oh presumptuous mortal, that sacred and unyielding chastity is +invulnerable to all the violence of men, and all the stratagems of +goblins. I would not name to thee so salutary an advice as to dismiss +thy innocent and unsuspicious prize, did not I know thee too obstinate +and headstrong to listen to the voice of wisdom. Essay then thy base and +low-minded temptations, thy corrupt and sophistical reasonings, to +tarnish the unsullied purity of her mind, and it is well. If by such a +wretch as thee she can be seduced from the obedience of virtue and the +Gods, then let her fall. She were then a victim worthy of thee. But if +thou essayest the means of tyranny and force, the attempt will be fatal +to thee. I will in that case enjoy my vengeance; I will triumph in thy +desolation. In the hour then of action and enterprise, remember me!" + +With these words the spectre vanished from his sight. Roderic was +inflamed with anger and disgust; but he had none, upon whom to wreak his +revenge. His heart boiled with the impotence of malice. "What," cried +he, "am I to be bounded and hedged in, in all my exploits? Am I to be +curbed and thwarted in every wish of my heart? This, this was nearest to +me. This was the first pursuit of my life in which my whole heart was +engaged; the first time I ever felt a passion that deserved the name of +love. But be it so: I was born with wild and impetuous passions only to +have them frustrated; I was endowed with supernatural powers, and +inherited all my mother's skill, only to be the more signally +disappointed. Still however I will not shrink, I will not yield an inch +to my adversary. I am bid, it seems, to tempt her, and endeavour to +stain the purity of her mind. Yes, I will tempt her. It is not for an +artless and uninstructed shepherdess to defeat my wiles and baffle all +my incitements. I will dazzle her senses with all the attractions that +the globe of earth has to boast. I will wind me into her secret heart. +Thou damned, unpropitious goblin, who seekest to oppose thyself to my +happiness, I will but, by thy warning, gain a completer triumph! I will +subdue her will. She shall crown my wishes with ripe, consenting beauty. +Long shall she remain the empress of my heart, and partner of my bed. In +her I will hope to find those simple, artless, and engaging charms, +which in vain I have often sought in the band of females, that reside +beneath my roof, and wait upon my nod." + +Imogen, though considerably indisposed by the fatigue and terrors of the +preceding day, shook off however that placid and refreshing sleep which +had weighed down her eyelids, long before Roderic deserted the couch of +luxury. Two of the female attendants belonging to the castle had slept +in the same apartment with her, and soon, perceiving her in motion, +followed her example, and officiously pressed around her. One of them +took up a part of the garb of the fair shepherdess, and offered to +assist her in adjusting it. "I thank you," cried Imogen, with the utmost +simplicity, "for your good-nature; but I am pretty well now; and every +body dresses herself that is not sick." The inartificial decorations of +her person were quickly adjusted. The delicate proportion of her limbs +was hid beneath a russet mantle; her fair and flowing tresses were +disposed in a braid round her head, and she took her straw hat in her +hand. "Well," said she, "I am obliged to you for your favours. I dare +say it was best for me, though at the time I thought otherwise. For my +head ached very much, and I was so weak--It was wrong for me to think of +going any farther.--Ah, but then, what have my poor father and mother +done all the while? Have not they missed their Imogen, and wondered what +was become of her, and been quite sad and forlorn for fear she should +have come to any harm? Well, I do not know whether I was not right too. +For their ease was of more consequence than mine. I cannot tell. However +I will not now keep them in pain. So good morning to you, my dear kind +friends!" And saying this she was tripping away. + +But as she drew towards the door, one of the attendants, with a gentle +force, took hold of her hand. "Do not go yet, sweet Imogen," cried she. +"We want a little more of your company. We have done you all the service +in our power, and you have not paid us for it. We will not ask any thing +hard and unreasonable of you. Only comply with us in this one thing, to +stay with us a few hours, and let us know a little better the worth of +that amiable female we have endeavoured to oblige." "Indeed, indeed," +replied Imogen, "I cannot. I am not used to be obstinate; and you are so +kind and fair spoken, that it goes to my heart to refuse you. But I +would not for the world keep my dear, good Edith in a moment's suspense. +But since you are so desirous of being acquainted with me, repair as +soon and as often as you please to my father's cot, that lies on the +right hand side of the valley, about a mile from the sea, and just +beside the pretty brawling brook of Towey. There I will treat you with +the nicest apples and the richest cream. And I would treat you with +better, if I knew of any thing better, that I might thank you for your +goodness. Farewel!" added she, and affectionately pressed the hand that +was still untwined with her's. + +"No, Imogen, no, you must not leave us thus. Though we would have done a +thousand times more than we have for your own sake, who are so simple +and so good, it is yet fit that you should know, that we are not +mistresses here, and that all we have done has been by the orders of the +lord of this rich mansion. He will not therefore forgive us, if we +suffer you to depart before he has seen you, and expressed for you that +kindness which induced him to take you under his protection." "Heavens!" +replied the shepherdess "this is all ceremony and folly, and therefore +cannot be of so much consequence as the peace of my father, and the +consolation of my mother. Tell him, that I thank him, and that my father +shall thank him too, if he will come to our hut. Tell him that I am +sorry for my foolish weakness, that gave him so much trouble, and made +me be so needlessly frightened, when we came to a place where I have met +with nothing but kindness; but I could not help it. And so that is +enough; for if my Edwin had been in his place, and had seen a stranger +shepherdess in the distress that I was, he would surely have done as +much. + +"Say so to your lord, as you call him, for I would not seem ungrateful. +But yet I will thank you a great deal more than I do him. For what did +he do for me? He took me, and hurried me away, and paid no attention to +my tears and expostulations. Well, but I need not have been alarmed. So +it seems. But I did not like his looks; they were not kind and +good-natured, but fierce and frightful. And so as soon as he had brought +me here, much against my will, he went away and left me. So much the +better. And then you came and took care of me, and he desired you to do +so. That was well enough. But I am more obliged to you for your kindness +and assiduity, than I am to him only for thinking of it. And then to +tell you the truth, but I ought not to say so to you who are his +friends, there is something about him, I cannot tell what, that does not +please me at all. He looks discontented, and fierce, as if there was no +such thing as soothing and managing him. But why do I say all this? Pray +now let me go, let me go to my dear, dear mother." + +"Sweet Imogen," replied the attendant, who seemed to take the lead in +the circle, "how lovely and amiable are you even in your resentments! +They are not with you a morose and gloomy sullenness brooding over +imaginary wrongs, and collecting venom and malice from every corner to +the heart. In your breast anger itself takes a milder form, and is +gentle, generous and gay. Yet why, my Imogen, should you harbour any +anger against your protector?" + +Such was the honest and artless dialogue of Imogen. The attendants +rather endeavoured to beguile the time, by dexterously starting new +topics of conversation, upon which Imogen delivered her plain and +natural sentiments with the utmost sincerity, than to detain her by open +force. At length one of them slipped out, and hastened to acquaint +Roderic with the impatience of his prize, and to communicate to him the +substance of those artless hints, which, in the hands of so skilful and +potent an impostor, might be of the greatest service. Roderic +immediately rose. But as he was desirous to decorate his person with the +nicest skill, in order to make the most favourable impression upon his +mistress, he ordered the attendant, with some of her companions, to wait +upon Imogen. He commissioned them, if it were necessary, to inform her +of the absolute impossibility of her quitting the castle, and to +persuade her to walk in the meadows adjoining, that she might observe +the riches of their possessor; how fertile were the soil, and how fair +and numerous the flocks. + +The patience of Imogen, in the mean time, was nearly exhausted. Her +simplicity could no longer be duped. Though unused to art, it was +impossible for her not at length to perceive the art by which the +conversation was lengthened, and her ardent desire to set out for the +cottage of her father, eluded. She was just beginning to expostulate +upon this ungenerous stratagem, when three or four of those females, +whom Roderic had dispatched entered the apartment. "Well," cried Imogen, +"you have borne my message to my deliverer, now then let me go." "Our +lord," replied the attendant, "is just risen. He will but adjust his +apparel, and will immediately pay you those respects in person which he +can by no means think of omitting." "Alas, alas," cried the shepherdess, +half distressed, "what is the meaning of all this? What is intended by a +language so foreign to the homeliness of the shepherd's cot, and the +admirable simplicity of pastoral life? I know not what title I have, a +poor, unpretending virgin, to the respects of this lord; but surely if +they meaned me well, they would be less hollow and absurd. Would there +not be much more respect, much more civility, in permitting me to follow +my own inclinations, without this arbitrary and ungrateful restraint?" +"Shepherdess," replied the attendant, "we are not used to dispute the +orders of our master. We would oblige you if it were in our power. +Impute not therefore to us any thing unfriendly; and as for Roderic, he +is too good, and too amiable, not to be able to satisfy you about his +conduct the moment he appears." "Your master! and your lord!" replied +Imogen, with a tone of displeasure, "I understand not these words. The +Gods have made all their rational creatures equal. If they have made one +strong and another weak, it is for the purpose of mutual benevolence and +assistance, and not for that of despotism and oppression. Of all the +shepherds of the valley, there is not one that claims dominion and +command over another. There is indeed an obedience due from children to +their parents, and from a wife to her husband. But ye cannot be his +children; for he is young and blooming. And but one of you can be his +wife; so that that cannot be the source of his authority. What a +numerous family has this Roderic? Does that I wonder, make him happier +than his fellows?" + +"Imogen," said one of the train, "will you walk with us along the +meadow, by the side of that hazel copse? The morning is delightful, the +sun shines with a mild and cheering heat, the lambs frisk along the +level green, and the birds, with their little throats, warble each a +different strain." The mind of Imogen was highly susceptible to the +impression of rural beauties. She had that placid innocence, that sweet +serenity of heart, which best prepares us to relish them. Seeing +therefore, that she was a prisoner, and that it was in vain to struggle +and beat her wings against the wiry inclosure, she submitted. "Ah! +unjust, unkind associates!" exclaimed Imogen, "ye can obey the dictates +of a man, who has no right to your obedience, and ye can turn a deaf ear +to the voice of benevolence and justice! Set me at liberty. This man has +no right to see me, and I will not see him. I, that have been used to +wander as free as the inmates of the wood, or the winged inhabitants of +air, shall I be cooped up in a petty cage, have all my motions dictated, +and all my walks circumscribed? Indeed, indeed, I will not. Imogen can +never submit to so ignominious a restraint. She will sooner die." + +"Why, my lovely maiden," replied the other, "will you think so harshly +of our lord? He does not deserve these uncandid constructions; he is all +gentleness and goodness. Suspend therefore your impatience for a moment. +By and by you may represent to him your uneasiness, and he will grant +you all the wishes of your heart. Till then, amiable girl, compose your +spirits, and give us cause to believe, that you place that confidence in +us, which for the world we would not deserve to forfeit." + +During this conversation, they passed along a gallery, and, descending +by a flight of stairs, proceeded through one corner of a spacious garden +into the meadow. The mansion, as we have already said, stood upon a +rising ground, which was inclosed on every side by a circle of hills, +whose summits seemed to touch the clouds, and were covered with eternal +snow. Within this wider circumference was a second formed by an +impervious grove of oaks, which, though of no long standing, yet, having +been produced by magical art, had appeared from the first in full +maturity. Their vast trunks, which three men hand in hand could scarcely +span, were marked with many a scar, and their broad branches, waving to +the winds, inspired into the pious and the virtuous that religious awe, +which is one of the principal lessons of the Druidical religion. + +At no great distance, and close on one side to the majestic grove, was a +terrace, raised by the hand of art, so elevated, as to overlook the tops +of the trees as well as the turrets of the castle, and to afford a +complete prospect of all the grounds on this side the precipices. To +this terrace the attendants of Imogen led their charge, and from it she +surveyed the farms and granges of their lord. The view was diversified +by a number of little rills, that flowed down from the mountains, and +gave fertility and cheerfulness to the fields through which they passed. +The inclosures were some of them covered with a fine and rich herbage, +whose appearance was bright and verdant, and its surface besprinkled +with cowslips, king-cups, and daisies. Others of them were interspersed +with sheep that exhibited the face of sleekness and ease, their fleeces +large and ponderous, and their wool of the finest and most admirable +texture. Elsewhere you might see the cattle grazing. The ox dappled with +a thousand spots, which nature seemed to have applied with a wanton and +playful hand; the cow, whose udders were distended with milk, that +appeared to call for the interposition of the maidens to lighten them of +their store; and the lordly and majestic bull. With them was +intermingled the horse, whose limbs seemed to be formed for speed and +beauty. At a small distance were the stag with branching horns, the +timid deer, and the sportive, frisking fawn. Even from the rugged +precipices, that seemed intended by nature to lie waste and useless, +depended the shaggy goat and the tender kid. Beside all this, Roderic +had had communicated to him, by a supernatural afflatus, that wondrous +art, as yet unknown in the plains of Albion, of turning up the soil with +a share of iron, and scattering it with a small quantity of those grains +which are most useful to man, to expect to gather, after a short +interval, a forty-fold increase. + +Every thing conspired to communicate to the prospect lustre and +attraction. The birds, with their various song, gave an air of +populousness and animation to the grove. By the side of the rivulets +were scattered here and there the huts of the shepherd and husbandman. +And though these swains were not, like the happy dwellers in the valley, +enlivened with freedom, and made careless and gay by conscious +innocence; yet were they skilful to give clearness and melody to the +slender reed; and the ploughman whistled as he drove afield. But that in +the landscape which most engrossed the attention and awakened the +curiosity of the tender Imogen, was the appearance of the fields of +corn. It was in her eye novel, agreeable, and interesting. The harvest +was near, and the effect of the object was at its greatest height. The +tall and unbending stalk overtopped by far the native herbage of the +meadow, and seemed to emulate the hawthorn and the hazel, which, planted +in even rows, secured the precious crop from the invasion of the cattle. +The ears were embrowned with the continual beams of the sun, and, +oppressed with the weight of their grain, bended from the stalk. In a +word, the whole presented to the astonished view a rich scene of +vegetable gold. Upon this delightful object the shepherdess gazed with +an unwearied regard. Respecting it she asked innumerable questions, and +made a thousand enquiries; and it almost seemed as if her curiosity +would never be satisfied. Such is the power of novelty over the young +and inexperienced, and such the influence of the beautiful and +transcendent beauties of nature upon the ingenuous and uncorrupted mind. +But it was not possible for the shepherdess, interested as she was in +the uneasiness, to which she knew that her parents must be a prey, long +to banish from her mind the affecting consideration, or to divert her +attention to another object, however agreeable, or however fascinating. + +She had just begun to renew her representations upon this head, when +Roderic approached. While he was yet at a distance, he appeared graceful +and gay, as the messenger of the God that grasps the lightning in his +hand. His stature was above the common size. His limbs were formed with +perfect symmetry; the fall of his shoulders was graceful, and the whole +contour of his body was regular and pleasing. Such was the general +effect of his shape, that though his advance was hesitating and +respectful, it was impossible to contemplate his person without the +ideas being suggested of velocity and swiftness. His presence and air +had the appearance of frankness, ingenuousness, and manly confidence. +The natural fire and haughtiness of his eye were carefully subdued, and +he seemed, at least to a superficial view, the very model of good-nature +and disinterested complaisance. His bright and flowing hair parted on +his brow, and formed into a thousand ringlets, waved to the zephyrs as +he passed along. There was something so delicate and enchanting in his +whole figure, as to tempt you to compare it to the unspotted beauty of +the hyacinth; at the same time that you rejoiced, that it was not a +beauty, frail and transient, as the tender flower, but which promised a +manly ripeness and a protracted duration. + +Observing that the attention of those around her was suddenly diverted +from the intreaties she employed, Imogen turned her eye, in order to +discover the object that now engaged them. It was immediately met by the +graceful and amiable figure we have described. But to Imogen that figure +presented no such comeliness and beauty. For a moment indeed, nature +prevailed, and she could not avoid gazing, with a degree of complacence, +upon an object, to which the Goddess seemed to have lavished all her +treasures. But this sensation vanished, almost before it was formed. The +mind of the shepherdess was too deeply read in the lessons of virtue, to +acknowledge any beauty in that form, which was not animated with truth, +and in those features, which were not illuminated with integrity and +innocence. Notwithstanding her native simplicity, and the unsuspecting +confidence she was inclined to repose in every individual of the human +race, yet had the conduct of Roderic, as she had already confessed, +displeased her too deeply for her immediately to assume towards him an +unembarrassed and soothing carriage. He had seized upon her by violence +in a moment of insensibility. He had carried her away without her +consent. When she recovered strength enough to expostulate upon this, he +endeavoured, by ambiguous expressions, to deceive her into an opinion, +that he was conducting her to the cottage of her father. Supposing that, +for reasons good and wise, he had introduced her into a strange place, +she could not be persuaded that those reasons subsisted for detaining +her contrary to her inclination. And independently of any individual +circumstances, there is a native and inexplicable antipathy between +virtue and vice. It is not in the nature of things, it is not within the +range of possibility, that they should coalesce and unite where both of +them exist in a decided manner, or an eminent degree. It was not the +babble of ignorance, it was by an unalterable law of her nature, that +Imogen had been displeased with the looks of him, who meaned her +destruction. The animation that dwells in the features of virtue, is +mild and friendly and lambent; but the sparkles that flash from the eye +of enterprising guilt, are momentary, and unrelenting, and impetuous. +The gentle and the inoffensive instantly feel how uncongenial they are +to their dispositions, and start back from them with aversion and +horror. Such were in some measure the sensations of Imogen, upon the +re-appearance of her betrayer. She turned from him with unfeigned +dislike, and was reluctantly kept in the same situation till he ascended +the terrace. As he drew nearer, Roderic seized the hand of the lovely +captive. In a tone of blandishment he expostulated with her upon her +unkind behaviour and unreasonable aversion. With all that sophistry, +that ingenious vice knows so well how to employ, he endeavoured to +evince that his conduct had been regulated by kindness, rectitude and +humanity. In the mean time the retinue withdrew to a small distance. +Imogen insisted upon not being left wholly alone with her ravisher. + +Able to perplex but not to subvert the understanding of his prize, +Roderic addressed her with the language of love. Naturally eloquent, all +that he now said was accompanied with that ineffable sweetness, and that +soft insinuation, that must have shaken the integrity of Imogen, had her +heart been less constant, and her bosom less glowed with the enthusiasm +of virtue. Her betrayer was conscious to a real, though a degenerate +flame, and was not reduced to feign an ardour he did not feel. +Recollecting however the pure manners, and the delicate and ingenuous +language to which Imogen had been inured among the inhabitants of Clwyd, +the subtle sorcerer did not permit an expression to escape him, that +could offend the chastest ear, or alarm the most suspicious virtue. His +love, ardent as it appeared, seemed to be entirely under the government +of the strictest propriety, and the most unfeigned rectitude. He knew +that the inspirations of integrity and the lessons of education were not +to be eradicated at once; and he attempted not to gain the acquiescence +of his captive by gross and unsuitable allurements, unconcealed with the +gilding of dexterity and speciousness. + +But his eloquence and his address were equally vain. In spite of the +beauty of his person and the urbanity of his manners, the shepherdess +received his declarations with coldness and aversion. She assured him of +the impossibility of his success, that she felt for him emotions very +different from those of partiality, and that her heart was prepossessed +for a more amiable swain. With that sweet simplicity, that accompanied +all she did, she endeavoured to dissuade him from the pursuit of a +hopeless and unreasonable passion; she enumerated to him all the sources +of enjoyment with which he was surrounded; she intreated him not in the +wantonness of opulence to disturb her humble and narrow felicity; and +she besought him in the most pathetic and earnest language to dismiss +her to freedom, contentment and her parents. + +The more she exerted herself to bend his resolution, and the more scope +she gave to the unstudied expression of her artless sentiments, the more +inextricably was the magician caught, and the more firm and inexorable +was his purpose. Perceiving however that he had little to hope from the +most skilful detail of the pleas of passion, he turned the attention of +the shepherdess to a different topic. "Behold Imogen," cried he, "the +richness of the landscape on our right hand! The spot in my eye is +farthest from the castle, and divided from the rest of the prospect with +a tall hedge of poplars and alders. It is full of the finest grass, and +its soil is rich and luxuriant. It is scattered with fleckered cows and +dappled fawns. In the hither part of it is a field of the choicest +wheat, whose stalks are so rank and pregnant, that the timid hare and +the untamed fox can scarcely force themselves a path among them. Beside +it is an inclosure of barley with strong and pointed spikes; and another +of oats, whose grain, uneared, spreads broader to the eye. How beautiful +the scene! I will not ask you, fairest of your sex, to give your +confidence to unauthorised words. I will afford the most unquestionable +demonstration of the veracity of my declarations. All these, lovely +Imogen, shall be yours: yours exclusively, to be disposed of at your +pleasure, without the interference or control of any. All my other +possessions shall not belong to myself more than to you. You shall be +the mistress of my heart, and the associate of my counsels. All my +business shall be your gratification, all my pleasure your happiness. +Forget then, dearest maiden, the poverty of your former condition, and +the connections you formed in an hour of ignorance and obscurity. From +this moment let a new era and better prospects commence. Enjoy that +wealth, which can no where so well be bestowed; and those +gratifications, which so obviously belong to that delicate and +enchanting form." + +The proposal of Roderic called forth more than ever the spirit and the +resentment of Imogen. She did not feel herself in the slightest degree +attracted by the magnificence of his offers. She knew of no use for +superfluous riches. She felt no wants unsupplied, and no wishes +ungratified. What motive is there in the whole region of human +perceptions, that can excite the contented mind to the pursuit of +affluence? "And dost thou think," said the fair one, with a gesture of +disdain that made her look ten times more amiable, "to seduce me with +baits like these? Know, mistaken man, that I am happy. I spin the finest +wool of our flocks, and drain the distended udders of our cows. I +superintend the dairies; the butter and the cheese are the produce of my +industry. In these employments my time is spent in chearfulness and +pleasure. Surrounded with our little possessions, I am conscious to no +deficiency; in the midst of my parents and friends, I desire not to look +beyond the narrow circle of the neighbouring hills. If you feel those +wants, which I do not so much as understand, enjoy your fond mistake. +Possess those riches which I will not envy you. Wander from luxury to +luxury unquestioned; I shall be sufficiently happy in the narrow +gratifications that nature has placed within my reach. The gifts you +offer me have no splendour in my eye, and I could not thank you for them +though offered with ever so much disinterestedness. The only gift it is +in your power to make is liberty. Allow me to partake of that bounty, +which nature has bestowed upon the choristers of the grove, to wander +where I will. Under a thousand of those privations that would render the +child of luxury inconsolable, I would support myself; freedom and +independence are the only boons which the whole course of my life has +taught me to cherish." + +"Your ignorance," rejoined Roderic, "is amiable, though unfortunate. But +your merit is too great not to deserve to be informed. Knowledge, my +lovely maiden, is always regarded as a desirable acquisition by the +prudent and the judicious. To what purpose was a mind so capacious, +competent to the greatest improvements, and formed to comprehend +subjects of the most extensive compass, or the sublimest reach, bestowed +upon us, if it be not employed in the pursuits of science and +experience? Your abilities, my Imogen, appear to be of the very first +description. How much then will you be to be blamed, if you do not +embrace this opportunity of improvement and instruction? Beauty, though +unseen, is not less excellent; and prudence, though unpossessed, is of +value inestimable. The poor man may be contented, because he knows not +the use of riches; but, in spite of this contentment, it were wise to +enlarge our sphere of sensation, and to extend the sources of happiness. + +"If however you still maintain that lovely perverseness, decide if you +please upon your own fate, but let filial piety hinder you from +determining too hastily respecting that of your parents and your +friends. Consider what a new and unbounded scope will be afforded you, +by the participation of my riches, for the exercise of benevolent and +generous propensities. Your parents are now declining fast under the +weight of years and infirmity. It is in your power to make their bed of +down, and to enliven the ground they have yet to traverse with flowers. +It is yours to wrest the sheers from the hand of the weary and +over-laboured ancient, and to remove the distaff from the knees of your +venerable mother. Think, gentle shepherdess, before it be too late, of +the heart-felt pleasures that await the power to do good, when attended +with a virtuous inclination. When you wipe away the tear from the cheek +of distress, when you light up a smile in the eye of misery, think you, +that none of the comfort you administer will flow back in generous and +refreshing streams to your own heart? Are these exertions that Imogen +ought to contemplate with indifference? Is this a power that Imogen can +reject without deliberation?" + +Imogen stood for a moment in a sweet and ingenuous state of suspense. +She had a native and indefeasible reverence for every thing that had the +remotest analogy to virtue, and she could not answer a proposal that +came recommended to her by that name with unhesitating promptitude. She +was too good and modest to assume an air of decision where she did not +feel it; she was too simple and unaffected, to disguise that hesitation +to which she was really conscious. "How false and treacherous," +exclaimed she, "are your reasonings! Among the virtuous inhabitants of +the plain, every one seeks to influence another by motives which are of +weight with himself, and utters the sentiments of his own heart. Where +have you learned the disingenuous and faithless arts you employ? To what +purpose have you cultivated them, and whose good opinion do you flatter +yourself they will obtain for you? False, perfidious Roderic! the more I +see of you, the more I fear and despise you. + +"You would recommend to me your temptations under the colour of +knowlege. Has knowlege any charms for the debauched and luxurious? You +tell me we ought to enlarge our sphere of sensation, and to extend the +sources of happiness. Wisdom indeed, and mental improvements are +desirable. But the sage Druids have always taught me, that the mind is +the nobler part, that the body is to be kept in subjection, and that it +is not our business to seek its gratification beyond the bounds of +necessity and temperance. If I allowed myself to think that I wanted +more than I have, might not the possession of that more extend my +desires, till, from humble and bounded, they became insatiable? Were I +to dismiss those industrious pursuits by means of which my time now +glides so pleasantly, how am I sure that indolence and vacancy would +make me happier? + +"To succour indeed the necessitous, and particularly my parents and +relations, is a consideration of more value. But ah, Roderic! though you +talk it so well, I am afraid it is a consideration foreign to your +character. For my parents, they are as yet healthful and active; and +while they continue so, they wish, no more than myself for repose and +indolence. If ever they become incapable of industry, their little flock +will still contribute to their support. They are too much respected, for +the neighbouring shepherds not to watch over it in turn out of pure +love. And, I hope, as I will then exert myself with double vigour, that +the Gods will bless us, and we shall do very well. As to general +distress, heaven is too propitious to us, to permit the inhabitants of +the valley to be overwhelmed by it. And I shall always have milk from my +flocks, and a cheese from my store, to set before the hungry and +necessitous. + +"But were these advantages more valuable than they are, it would not be +my duty to purchase them so dear. What, shall I desert all the +connections it has been the business of my life to form, and that happy +state of simplicity I love so much? Shall I shake off the mutual vows I +have exchanged with the most amiable and generous of the swains, and +join myself to one, whose person I cannot love, and whose character I +cannot approve? No, Roderic, enjoy that happiness, if it deserve the +name of happiness, that is congenial to your inclination. Forget the +worthless and unreasonable passion, you pretend to have conceived, in +the multitude of gratifications that are within your reach. Envy not me +my straw-defended roof, my little flock, and my faithful shepherd. I +will never exchange them for all the temptations that the world can +furnish." + + + + + + +BOOK THE FOURTH + +SONG IN HONOUR OF THE FAIR SEX.--HYPOCRISY OF THE MAGICIAN.--THE TRIUMPH +OF IMOGEN.--DESPAIR AND CONSOLATION OF RODERIC. + + +So much was Roderic discouraged by the apparent spirit and firmness of +these declarations, that at the conclusion of them he abruptly quitted +his captive, and released her for a moment from his unjust persecutions. +His pride however was too strongly piqued, and his passions too much +alarmed to permit her a real respite. "Where ever," cried he, as he trod +with hasty and irregular steps the level green,--"where ever were found +such simplicity, and so much strength of judgment, and gaiety of wit in +union? Is it possible for the extreme of simplicity and the perfection +of intellect to meet together? These surely are paradoxes, that not all +the goblins of the abyss can solve, and which, had they been related +instead of seen, must have appeared to constitute an absurd and +impossible fiction. + +"Well then it is in vain to attack the inexorable fair one with +allurements that address themselves only to the understanding. She is +too well fortified with the prejudices of education, and the principles +of an imaginary virtue, to be reduced by an assault like this. The pride +of her virtue is alarmed, the little train of her sophistries are +awakened, and with that artless rhetoric, of the value of which she is +doubtless sensible, she set[s] all her enemies at defiance. My future +enticements shall therefore address themselves to her senses. Thus +approaching her, it is impossible that success should not follow my +undertaking. Even the most wary, circumspect, and suspicious, might thus +be overcome. But she is innocence itself. She apprehends no danger, she +suspects no ambuscade. Young and unexperienced, and the little +experience she has attained, derived only from scenes of pastoral +simplicity, she knows not the meaning of insincerity and treachery; she +dreads not the serpent that lurks beneath the flower." + +Having determined the plan of his machinations, and given the necessary +orders, he privately signified to the attendants, that they should +propose to their lovely charge to direct her course once again to the +mansion; and as she perceived that Roderic still continued upon a +distant part of the lawn; and as she saw no means of present escape from +her confinement, she consented to do as they desired. + +They now entered the mansion, and passing through several splendid +apartments, at length reached a large and magnificent saloon. It was +hung with tapestry, upon which were represented the figures of Sappho +sweeping the lyre; of the Spartan mother bending over the body, and +counting the wounds of her son; of Penelope in the midst of her maidens, +carefully unravelling the funeral web of her husband; of Lucretia +inflicting upon herself a glorious and voluntary death; and of Arria +teaching her husband in what manner a Roman should expire. These stories +had been miraculously communicated to Roderic, and were now explained by +the attendants to the wondering Imogen. At the same time a band of +music, that was placed at the lower end of the hall, struck at once +their various instruments, and, without any previous preparation, began +the lofty chorus. At the upper end of the saloon stood a throne of +ivory, hung round with trappings of gold, and placed upon a floor of +marble, of which a numerous flight of steps, also of marble, composed +the ascent. The hangings were of crimson velvet, and the canopy of the +richest purple. With the musicians were intermingled a number of +supernatural beings under the command of Roderic. Their voices were +melodious beyond all example of human power; they were by turns lofty +and majestic, and by turns tender and melting; and the strain was +divine. + +"Such are the honours of the tender sex; and who can speak their praise? +The lily is not so fair, the rose is not so attractive, the violet and +the jessamine have not so elegant a simplicity. By their charms, by +their eloquence, and by their merit, they have assumed an empire over +the bolder sex. How auspicious is the empire! They hold them in silken +chains. They govern, not by harsh decrees, and rigorous penalties; but +by smiles and soft compliances, and winning, irresistible persuasion. +The rewards they bestow are sweet, and ravishing, and indescribable. + +"What were man without the fair? A wild beast of the forest; a rough and +untamed savage; a hungry lion bursting from his den. Without them, they +are gloomy, morose, unfeeling, and unsociable. To them they owe every +civilization, and every improvement. Did Amphion, from the rude and +shapeless stones, raise by his power a regular edifice, houses, palaces, +and cities? Did Orpheus by his lay humanize the rugged beasts and teach +the forests to listen? No, these are wild, unmeaning fables. It was +woman, charming woman, that led unpolished man forth from the forests +and the dens, and taught him to bend before thy shrine, humanity! See +how the face of nature changes! Where late the slough mantled, or the +serpent hissed among the briars and the reeds, all is pasture and +fertility. The cottages arise. The shepherds assume the guise of +gentleness and simplicity. They attire themselves with care, they braid +the garland, and they tune the pipe. Wherefore do they braid the +garland? Why are their manners soft and blandishing? And why do the +hills re-echo the notes of the slender reed? It is to win thy graces, +woman, charming woman! + +"When nature formed a man, she formed a creature rational, and erect; +ten times more noble than the birds of the air, and the beasts of the +field. But when she formed a woman--it was then first, that she outdid +herself, and improved her own design. What are the broad and nervous +shoulders, what the compacted figure, and the vigorous step, when +contrasted with the well-turned limbs, the slender waist, the graceful +shoulders, and the soft and panting bosom? What are the manly front, the +stern, commanding eye, and the down-clad cheek, if we compare them with +the smooth, transparent complexion, the soft, faint blushes, and the +pretty, dimpled mouth? What are the strong, slow reason, the deep, +unfathomed science, and the grave and solemn wisdom, if they are brought +into competition with the sprightly sense, the penetrating wit, and the +inexhaustible invention? Does the stronger sex boast of its learning, +its deep researches, its sagacious discoveries? and have they a +coolness, a self-command, a never baffled prudence like that which woman +has exhibited? Do they pique themselves upon their courage, their +gallantry, and their adventure? Where shall we find among them a +patience, a mildness, a fortitude, a heroism, equal to that of the fair? + +"Virtue has dwelt beneath the sun. Themis has left her throne on the +right hand of Jove, and descended to the globe of earth. We have seen +examples of disinterested rectitude, of inviolable truth, of sublime and +heaven-born benevolence. They are written in the roll of fame; they are +handed down from age to age. They are the song of the poet, and the +favourite theme of the servants of the Gods. By whom were they +exhibited, or with whom did they originate? With woman, charming woman? +Well have justice and rectitude been represented under a female form, +for without the softer sex, all had been anarchy and confusion; every +man had preyed upon his neighbour; men, like beasts, had devoured each +other, and virtue fled affrighted to her native skies. This is the +source of all that is good and all that is excellent; of all that is +beautiful and all that is sublime: woman, charming woman!" + +At this place the chorus ceased for a moment, and the attendants +observing, that Imogen was standing, intreated her to seat herself. She +was rendered weak and languid by the unexperienced anxieties and terrors +she had undergone, and she did not refuse their request. There was no +seat in the centre of the hall, or nearer than the sumptuous throne that +was placed at the upper end. Thither therefore they led her. Imogen had +been unused to the distinctions of rank and precedence. Among the +shepherds of the valley, every one, except the bards and the priests, +seated himself promiscuously; none sought to take the upper hand of his +neighbour; age was not distinguished by priority of place; and youth +thought not of ceding the _pas_. The shepherdess, as she advanced +towards the chair, paused for an instant, impressed with that blaze of +magnificence which is equally formed to strike every human eye. She +looked round her with an air of timidity and suspense, and then going +forward, ascended the steps and placed herself in the throne. At this +action, as at a signal, the song recommenced. + +"Simplicity, child of nature, daughter of the plains, with thee alone +the queen of beauty dwells! What is it that adorns and enhances all the +wild and uncultivated scenes of nature? It is plainness and artless +simplicity. What is it that renders lovely and amiable her most +favourite productions in the animal creation: the tender lamb, the +cooing dove, and the vocal nightingale? It is simplicity; it is, that +all their gestures wear the guise, and their voice speaks the artless, +and unaffected language of nature. What is is that renders venerable the +characters of mankind; that ennobles the song of the bards; that gives +lustre and attraction to immortal, never-fading virtue? It is +simplicity, unaffected simplicity. Of the last and crowning work of +nature, woman, the form is grace; the visage is beauty; the eye sparkles +with intelligence, and smiles with soft and winning graces; the tongue +is clothed with persuasion and eloquence. But what are these? A body +without a soul, a combination of soft and harmonious names without a +meaning; a multitude of rich inestimable gifts, heaped together in rude +and inartificial confusion without the powers of enchantment and +attraction. What is it that can animate the mass, that can give force +and value to the whole, and reduce the shapeless chaos into form? It is +simplicity, unaffected simplicity. Without thee, child of nature, +daughter of the plains, beauty were no more. With thee she dwells, and +in thy mansion can she only dwell. Then be the palm reserved for thee, +and given to thee alone, simplicity, unaffected simplicity!" + +At these words, two supernatural figures appeared below the canopy of +the throne. They had the form of children; their figures appeared so +soft and waxen, that you would imagine they might be indented by the +smallest touch; upon their countenances sat the lively and unexpressive +smile, the sports, and the graces; and their shoulders were furnished +with wings of the softest plumage, variegated with all the colours of +the bow of heaven. In their hands they bore a coronet, at once rich with +jewels, and light and inconsiderable in its weight. The circle was of +gold, and studded with diamonds. With the diamonds were intermingled +every precious gem, the topaz, the jasper, the emerald, the chrysolite, +and the sapphire. The head was of Persian silk, and dyed with Tyrian +purple. This coronet they placed upon the head of Imogen, and then +descending to the footstool of the throne, bowed upon her feet. The song +immediately recommenced. + +"Imogen is under the guardianship of simplicity, her favourite pupil. +Pollute not the ear of Imogen with the praises of beauty. What though +her eye be full of amiableness and eloquence; what though her cheeks +rival the peach, and her lips the coral; what though her bosom be soft +as wax and fairer than the face of honour; what though her tresses are +brighter than the shooting star? These are the bounties of nature; these +are the gifts of heaven, in which she claims no merit; these are not the +praises of Imogen. But this is her praise, that the graces dwell upon +her lips; that her words are attired with the garb of sense and fancy; +and that all her conduct is governed by the largest prudence and the +nicest discretion. Heard you the sound of merriment and applause? They +were the gay and unlaboured sallies of the wit of Imogen that called +them forth. Saw you the look of wonder and astonishment, and the gaze of +involuntary approbation and reverence? They were excited by the modesty, +the circumspection, and the virtue of Imogen. And yet Imogen is artless, +unaffected and innocent; her wit is unconscious of itself, and her +virtue the unstudied dictate of nature. Imogen is under the guardianship +of simplicity, her favourite pupil. Be hers then the crown that +simplicity alone can deserve. Simplicity descends not in person to the +surface of the earth; her abode is among the Gods. But Imogen is her +representative, her perfect resemblance. Should simplicity descend upon +the earth, she would not know herself; she would be astonished to behold +another divinity, equally beautiful, equally excellent. The divinity is +Imogen. Be hers then the crown, that simplicity alone can deserve." + +This was a trying moment to the lovely and generous Imogen. Praise is +congenial to every human sense; the voice of praise is ever grateful to +the ear of virtue. The glory of the shepherd indeed lies within a narrow +compass. But let immortality be named, and the heart of man is naturally +attracted: it is impossible that the good and generous bosom should not +long for such a prize. Nor was this all. Imogen, though loved and +honoured by the borderers of Towey, had been little used to studied +commendation and laboured applause. Pastoral simplicity does not deal in +these; and though it seek to oblige, its endeavours are unostentatious +and silent. Beside, her reverence for song was radical and deep. It had +been instilled into her from her earliest infancy; from earliest infancy +she had considered poetry as the vehicle of divine and eternal truth. +How strange and tremendous an advantage must he gain over the ear of +simplicity, who can present his fascinations under the garb of all that +is sacred and all that is honourable? + +The song had begun with celebrating a theme, that must for ever be +congenial to every female breast. The heart of the shepherdess had +instinctively vibrated to the praises of simplicity. Even the +commendations bestowed upon herself were not improper, or +indiscriminate; they had distinguished between the inanity of personal +charms, and the value of prudence, the beauty of innocence and the merit +of virtue. Even the honours she had received were attributed to these, +and not to the other. Were they not therefore such as virtue would +aspire to, and discretion accept? + +Alas, Imogen, be not deceived with airy shadows! The reasoning may be +plausible, but it is no better than sophistry. Thou must be taught, fair +and unsuspecting virgin, under a beautiful outside to apprehend deceit; +and to guard against the thorn which closely environs the flower. Thou +must learn, loveliest of thy sex, to dread the poison of flattery. It is +more venemous than the adder, it is more destructive than hebenon or +madragora. It annihilates every respectable quality in the very act of +extolling it; it undermines all that adorns and elevates the human +character. Even now that thou listenest to it, and drinkest in, without +apprehension, its opiate sounds, thou art too near to the sacrifice of +those very excellencies it pretends to admire. For the head of Imogen +was made giddy by the applauses she heard; drunk with admiration, she +was no longer conscious of the things around her, or of herself; she +sunk vanquished and supine, and was supported by one of the attendants. + +At this moment Roderic came forth from an adjoining apartment, and +caught in his arms the vanquished beauty. In the mean time the +attendants, the musicians, and the supernatural beings disappeared, and +she was left alone with her betrayer. + +Roderic surveyed his victim with an eye of avidity and triumph. His +eager curiosity wandered over her hoard of charms; and his brutal +passion was soothed with the contemplation of her disorder. Already in +imagination, he had possessed himself of a decisive advantage over so +apparent a weakness; and his breast was steeled against the emotions of +pity. + +Imogen cast around her a languid and passive regard, and was in a moment +roused from her supineness by the sight of Roderic. Her subtle adversary +did not however allow her time for complete recollection, before he +discovered an apparent revolution in his sentiments and language. He had +heard, he said, the supernatural and celestial chorus, and been caught +in the extremest degree by the praises of innocence and the triumph of +virtue. He now felt the vanity and folly of those pursuits in which he +had been so deeply immersed, and was determined to abjure the littleness +of pride, and the emptiness of sensual gratification. He did not now +address his destined prize with the commendations of beauty. He bestowed +upon her with profusion the epithets of discretion, integrity, and +heroism; and poured into her ear the insidious flattery, that was most +soothing to her temper. Full, as he pretended, of the infant purposes of +virtue, he besought his captive in the most importunate manner, to +remain with him for a time, to confirm his wavering rectitude, to +instruct him in duty, and thus to gain one human being to the standard +of integrity, and to render so extensive possessions subservient to the +happiness of mankind. All this he expressed with that ardour, which is +congenial to the simplicity of truth; and with that enthusiasm, which in +all instances accompanies recent conviction. + +Imogen was totally uninured to the contemplation of hypocrisy, and +immediately yielded the most unreserved credit to these professions. Her +joy was extreme at the change in the dispositions of Roderic, and her +admiration of the irresistible charms of rectitude pious and profound. +The praises bestowed upon her seemed distinguishing and sincere, and she +drank them in with the most visible complacency. She expressed however +an ingenuous diffidence of her capacity for the task of an instructor, +and she intreated at any rate to be permitted to withdraw for a short +time to dry up the tears of her disconsolate parents. + +These difficulties were too obvious to create any embarrassment to so +consummate a deceiver. He described the danger of that vicious mistrust +of our powers, that is the enemy of all generous and heroic action. He +reminded his captive how recent were his purposes, and how many +unforeseen incidents might be crowded into so eventful a moment. There +were goblins, he said, ever ready to seduce the wanderer from his wished +return; and he had been too much their prey not to have every thing to +dread from the subtlety of their machinations. On the other hand, no +character was suspended on the longer or shorter duration of the +uneasiness of the parents of Imogen; and the joyful surprise they would +ere long experience, might abundantly compensate for any temporary +anxiety and solicitude. He told her of the worship and reverence that +were due to the immortal Gods. Could she imagine that the scene that had +just passed was produced for the mere honour and gratification of a +virtuous character, than for the instruction of the ignorant, and the +restoration of the wandering? Shall she be thus honoured, and shall this +be her gratitude? + +Though the web of the sophistry woven by her betrayer might seem +inextricable, though Imogen had no sentiments more predominant than the +love of virtue, and the fear of the Gods, yet her heart involuntarily +resisted his persuasions, and she felt the yearnings of affection still +active in her bosom towards those, to whom she owed her existence. + +"And cannot you," cried the lovely maiden, "attend me in the short +absense I demand? That would prevent every danger, and supersede every +objection." "Ah, shepherdess," replied the magician, "this reluctance, +these studied expedients imply diffidence and disobedience. But +diffidence is much unworthy of the heart of Imogen. Your life has been +marked with one tenour of piety. Do not then begin to disobey. Do not +sully the unspotted whiteness of your character." + +"This," rejoined Imogen, "is too much. This is mere savageness of +virtue. Why in the act of persuading me do you bestow upon me those +laboured commendations, which the very persuasions you employ are +intended to prove that I little deserve? Is it necessary, Roderic, that +your manners should be so strange and unaccountable, as to supply food +for eternal jealousy and suspicion? And what must be that conduct, that +inspires jealousy into a heart unguarded as mine? I talk of suspicion, +but I scarcely know the meaning of the term. And yet there is in your +carriage something precise, plausible and composed, that I have seldom +observed in any other man. Oh, shepherd! you know not what you do, when +you awake all these ideas in a maiden's breast, when you thus confound +things that heaven and earth put asunder." + +"Ungenerous Imogen," replied the magician, "wherefore this? Do I claim +any thing more of you than rectitude demands, and your own bosom will +another day approve? Am I not your better genius to guard you against +the errors that might be prompted by too tender a heart? Beside, does +the conduct of beings of a higher order depend upon my nod? Can I +control the spheres, and call down celestial essences from their bright +abodes? And will they be rendered subservient to the purposes of +treachery and guilt?" + +"Roderic here break we off our conference. Sure I am that your conduct +is not dictated by a regard for my ease or my welfare. How unworthy +then, as well as how unjust is the pretence? With respect to the +supernatural scenes I have beheld, the question is more difficult. Of +such I have heard from the mouth of the consecrated priests, but never +till this day did I see them. At present however my mind is too much +distracted, to be able to decide. I have already gone far enough; as far +as my heart will permit me. I must now retire.' + +"One thing however I will add. From the resolutions you at first +professed, and the impressions you appeared to feel, I had conceived the +most sanguine hopes, and the sincerest pleasure. These are all now +vanished. I cannot account for this. But your conduct is now as +mysterious to my comprehension, as it was before disgusting to my +judgment. I am bewildered in a maze of uncertainty. I am lost in +unwelcome obscurity. May your resolutions and designs be better than my +hopes! But ah, Roderic, for how much have you to answer, how deep must +be your guilt, if all this be mummery, dissimulation, and hypocrisy!" + +The magician perceived that it was in vain to urge the stratagem any +further, and he retired from the presence of the shepherdess in silence. +If he had been able to distract her ingenuous mind between contending +duties, he had not however succeeded in his principal object, that of +undermining her virtue, and lessening her attachment to her parents and +her lover. If Imogen were perplexed and confounded, Roderic was scarcely +more happy. He looked back upon the scene with mortification and +astonishment. It was difficult for him to determine where it had +digressed from the auspicious appearances it had at first exhibited, and +yet he found himself in the conclusion of it wide, very wide indeed, of +the success of which he had aimed. + +"To what purpose," exclaimed he, with a voice of anguish and rage, "have +I inherited the most inexhaustible riches? To what purpose is the +command which I boast over the goblins of the abyss, if one weak, +simple, and uninstructed woman shall thus defy my arts? I call the hills +my own. I mount upon the turrets of my castle, and as far as my eye can +survey, the bending corn and the grazing herds belong to me. My palace +is adorned with all that can sooth the wearied frame, or gratify the +luxurious desire. Couches of purple, and services of gold, the most +exquisite viands, and the blandishments of enticing beauty, charms of +which the ruggedness of pastoral life has not so much as the idea, all +these are circled within my walls. Beyond all this, I command myriads of +spirits, invisible, and reputedly omnipotent. If I but stamp my foot, if +I but wave this wand, they fly swifter than the wings of thought to my +presence. One look of favour inspires them with tranquility and +exultation; one frown of displeasure terrifies them into despair. I +dispatch them far as the corners of the moon. At my bidding they engage +in the most toilsome enterprises, and undertake the labour of revolving +years. Oh impotence of power! oh mockery of state! what end can ye now +serve but to teach me to be miserable? Power, the hands of which are +chained and fettered in links of iron; state, which is bestowed only +like a paper crown to adorn the brows of a baby, are the most cruel +aggravations of disappointment, the most fearful insults upon the weak. +But shall I always obey the imperious mandate?" + +"Yes, Roderic, thou shalt obey," exclaimed the inimical goblin, who at +this moment burst through a condensed cloud, that had arisen unperceived +in one corner of the apartment, and appeared before him. "In vain dost +thou struggle with the links of destiny. In vain dost thou exert thyself +to escape from the fillets that on every side surround thee. The greater +and the more obstinate are thy efforts, the more closely art thou bound, +and the more inextricably engaged. This is the situation in which I +wished to see thee. Every pang it wrings from thy heart, every +exclamation it forces from thy tongue, is solace to my thoughts, and +music to my ears. And wert thou vain and weak enough to imagine, that +riches would purchase thee every pleasure, that riches would furnish an +inexhaustible source of enjoyment? Of all mortal possessions they are +the most useless, mischievous, and baleful. The Gods, when the Gods are +willing to perfect a character of depravity, in order to make vice +consummately detestable, or to administer an exemplary punishment to +distinguished wickedness, bestow upon that man, as the last of curses, +and the most refined of tortures, extensive possessions and unbounded +riches. Indulge to the mistaken pride which these inspire, and wrap +thyself up in the littleness of thy heart.--But no, rise above them. +Suffer thy desires to wander into a larger and more dangerous field. Run +with open eyes into the mouth of that destruction that gapes to devour +thee! Why shouldst thou attend to the voice of destiny, to the immutable +laws of the Gods, and the curse that is suspended over thee? Be a man. +Bravely defy all that is most venerable, and all that is most +unchangeable. Oh how I long for thy ruin! How my heart pants for the +illustrious hour in which thy _palaces shall be crumbled down to the +dust of the balance, thy riches scattered, and thyself become an +unpitied, necessitous, miserable vagabond_! In the mean time, +remember, that riches like thine are not bestowed with u[n]reserving +hand, that commerce is not permitted with the shadows of darkness, +without some trifling fall to ill amid this immensity of uniform +happiness. For this end I am commissioned from time to time to appear +before thee in the midst of thy triumph, and to mingle with thy +exultations the boding voice of prophetic woe." + +Roderic did not listen to these bitter sarcasms without exhibiting every +mark of fury and impatience. At length he commanded the spectre to +depart, with a voice so fierce and stern as to terrify him into +submission. For though the authority of the magician was not formidable +enough to make him desist from persecuting him, yet the penalties he had +frequently been able to inflict, inspired the goblin in spite of +himself, with the fear of so potent an adversary. Still choaked however +with agony and resentment, Roderic waved his wand, and summoned his +favourite instrument and the prime minister of his pleasures, the goblin +Medoro, to his presence. The moment he appeared the magician was +relieved from that violent gust of passion, which had held him +motionless, a statue of horror, and throwing himself upon his couch, he +burst into a flood of tears. + +Medoro was the goblin that had appeared to Edwin in his return from the +feast of the bards, and had brewed the fatal storm that had preceded the +rape of Imogen. The figure of the spectre was uncouth, and his +countenance was full of savage and shapeless deformity. Nor did his +appearance bely his character. To all other beings, whether of the +terrestrial or the invisible world, his temper was hard, impracticable +and remorseless. To Rodogune alone, a similitude of minds, and a +congenial ferocity of heart had attached him; and the attachment had +descended to her son; though not equally destitute of every agreeable +and every plausible quality. He therefore beheld the affliction of +Roderic with sympathy and compassion. + +"Wherefore," cried Medoro, modulating a voice, that nature had made up +of dissonance and horror, into the most gentle and soothing accent of +which it was capable, and hanging over his couch, "wherefore this +sorrow? What is it that has seemed to mar a happiness so enviable? Art +thou not possessed"--"Talk not to me of possessions," exclaimed Roderic, +with a tone of frenzy, and starting from his posture, "I give them to +the winds. I banish them from my thoughts for ever. Oh that the earth +would open and swallow them up! Oh that unburdened from them all, I were +free as the children of the vallies, and careless as the shepherd that +carols to the rising day. I had not then been thus entangled in +misfortune, thus every way closed in to remediless despair. I had not +then been a monument of impotence and misery for the world to gaze at. +Ye are all combined against me! Under a specious, smiling countenance +you all conceal a heart of gall. But your hypocrisy and your mummery +shall serve you to little purpose. Point me, this instant point me, to a +path for the gratification of my wishes, or dearly shall you rue the +shallowness of your invention and the treachery of your professions." + +Medoro was astonished at the vehemence of the passion of Roderic, +unusual even in a youth who had never been refused demands the most +unreasonable, and who had been inured to see all the powers of nature +bend to his will. "Is this," cried he, "a return for services so +unwearied and sincere as mine? Foolish and ungrateful youth! Rut I will +point you to a remedy. Had you not been blinded with fury and +impatience, you would have seen that your situation was not yet +irremediable, by means the most obviously in your power. Did I not at +your birth bestow upon you a ring, that communicates to the wearer the +power of assuming what form he please? I gave it, in order to elude the +curse of the malignant goblin, to subdue the most obdurate female, and +to evade the most subtle adversary. The uses in which thou hast hitherto +employed it have been idle and capricious, governed by whim, and +dictated by the sallies of a sportive fancy. It is now first that an +opportunity is offered to turn it to those purposes for which it was +more immediately destined. Dost thou not now address an obdurate maid? +Is she not full of constancy and attachment for another? What avails it +then to a heart, simple and unvitiated as hers, to offer the bribe of +riches, and to lavish the incense of flattery and adulation. Attack her +in her love. Appear to her in the form of him to whom she is most +ardently attached. If Imogen is vulnerable, this is the quarter from +which she must be approached. Thus far Roderic thou mayest try thy +power; but if by this avenue thou canst not surprise her heart and +overpower her virtue, be then wise. Recollect thy courage, strengthen +thy resolution, and shake off for ever a capricious inclination, which +interrupts the tenour of a life that might otherwise wear the uniform +colour of happiness." + +The information of a new measure for the furthering his darling pursuit, +was a communication of the most reviving kind to the heart of Roderic. +The gloom and petulance that had collected upon his countenance were +dissipated in a moment. His cheek caught anew the flush of expectation; +his eye sparkled anew with the insolence of victory. His gratitude to +the propitious Medoro was now as immoderate as his displeasure had +lately been unreasonable. He walked along the apartments with the stride +of exultation and triumph. He forgot the pathetic exclamations he had +lately uttered upon the impotence of power, and he was full of +congratulation in the possession of that which he had treated with +contempt. The moral lessons which it was his destiny to have from time +to time poured into an unwilling ear were erased for ever. He exclaimed +upon his own stupidity and want of invention, and he remembered not that +vehemence of passion, which had distracted his understanding, and drawn +a cloud over all his ideas. It was not instantly that he could assume a +sufficient degree of collectedness and composure to put into execution +the scheme with which he was so highly delighted. Presently however the +ebriety of unexpected hope dissipated, and he prepared for that scene +which was to be regarded as the summit of his power, and the irrevocable +crisis of his fate. + +[Illustration] + + + + + + +BOOK THE FIFTH + +THE GARDEN OF RODOGUNE DESCRIBED.--THE HOPES AND DANGER OF IMOGEN.--HER +INCONSOLABLE DISTRESS. + + +Imogen, immediately after the interview that had so deeply perplexed +her, returning to her apartment, had shut herself up in solitude. Her +reflections were gloomy and unpleasing; the new obscurity that hung +about them had not contributed to lighten their pressure. But though she +was melancholy, her melancholy was of a different hue from that of her +ravisher. If virtue can ever be deprived of those glorious distinctions +that exclusively belong to her, it must be when she is precluded from +the illuminations of duty, and is no longer able to discern the path in +which she ought to tread. But even here, where distinction seems most +annihilated, it yet remains. The cruel sensations of Imogen were not +aggravated by despair, but heightened by hope. Through them all she was +sustained by the consciousness of her rectitude. The chearfulness of +innocence supported her under every calamity. + +She had not long remained alone before she was summoned to partake of +that plainer repast, which in the economy of Roderic usually occupied +the middle of the day, and preceded the sumptuous and splendid +entertainment of the evening, by which the soul was instigated to +prolong the indulgence of the table, and to throw the reins upon the +neck of enjoyment. But Imogen, whose thoughts were dark, and whose mind +brooded over a thousand sad ideas, was desirous of that solitude, which +in the simplicity of pastoral life is ever at hand. She could not away +with the freedom of society, and the levity of mirth. It was painful to +her to have any witnesses of her new sensations, and she wished to +remove herself for ever from the inspection of the officious and the +inquisitive. In compliance with her humour a few viands were served to +her in her own apartment. She was induced by the entreaties of her +attendant, to call up a momentary smile upon her countenance, and to +endeavour to partake of the refreshment that was offered her. But the +effort was vain. It was the sunshine of an April day; her repast in +spite of her was bedewed with tears, and she ate the bread of sorrow. + +As soon as it was concluded, she was invited to a short excursion in the +garden of the mansion. Unused to refusal, the natural mildness of her +temper inclined to comply. She saw the necessity of not yielding herself +up to passive and unresisting melancholy. The natural serenity of +innocence did not yet permit her to be insensible to the attractions of +enjoyment; and the transient view she had had of the garden, as she +passed to the terrace, led her to expect from it, something that might +sooth her pensive thoughts, and something that might divert her +affliction. + +The garden of Rodogune was an inclosure in a bottom glade, at the +entrance of which, though nigh to the castle, and upon a lower ground, +you wholly lost sight of the mansion, and every external object. But +though these were excluded, the sorceress by her art had also excluded +the appearance of limits and boundaries. The scene was not terminated by +walls and espaliers, but by the entrance on either side of a wild, +meandring wood. The side by which you were introduced was protected by +trees of the thickest foliage; and the gate was masqued with a clump of +hazels and alders, which permitted only two narrow passages on either +side. The eye was shut in, but the imagination was permitted to range in +perfect freedom. Nor was this seeming confinement calculated to disgust; +on the contrary you willingly believed that every charm and every grace +was shut up in the circle, and you trembled lest the smallest outlet +should take off from the richness of the scene. In entering you were +struck with a sensation of coolness, that impervious shades, a bright +and animated verdure, flowers scattered here and there in agreeable +disorder, the prattling of the stream, and the song of a thousand birds, +impressed as strongly upon the imagination, as the senses. But this did +not appear the result of art. Every thing had the face of uncultivated +luxuriance, and impenetrable solitude. You could not believe that you +were not the first mortal that had ever found his way into the +enchanting desert. + +The scene however had been solely produced by the skill of Rodogune. +Erewhile the grass had appeared dry and parched; a few solitary and +leafless trees had been scattered up and down; there was no gaiety of +colours to relieve the eye; and not one drop of water to give freshness +to the prospect. But with the operations of magic Rodogune had delighted +to supersede the parsimony of nature. She caused the tree and the shrub +to spring forth in the richest abundance; the sturdiness of whose +trunks, or the deepness of their verdure, cheated the eye with the +semblance of the ripening hand of time. She sprinkled the turf, short, +fine, and vivid, with flowers both native and exotic. She called forth a +thousand fountains to enrich the scene. Sometimes they crept beneath the +turf in almost imperceptible threads; sometimes they ran beside the +alleys, or crossed them in sportive wantonness; and sometimes you might +see them in broader and more limpid currents rolling over a smooth and +spotted bed. Now they rose from the soil in foamy violence, and fell +upon the chalk and pebbly ground beneath; and anon they formed +themselves into the deeper bason [sic], whose calm and even surface +reflected back the reeds and shrubs that were planted round. There was +nothing strait and nothing level; the rule and the line had never +entered the delicious spot; the irregularities of the soil, and the +fantastic, gradual windings of the alleys, were calculated to give +length to the passage, and immensity to the scene. + +From time to time you encountered tufts of trees closely planted, and +that cast as brown a shade as the thickest forest. These were partly +composed of wood of the most pliant texture, the extremities of whose +branches, bending to the earth, took root a second time in her bosom. +Elsewhere the rasberry [sic], the rose, the lilac, and a thousand +flowering shrubs, appeared in thickets without either regularity or +symmetry, and contributed at once to adorn, and to give an air of +rudeness and wildness to the prospect. Round the body of the trees, +planted some at their root, and some upon the different parts of the +trunk, crept the withy, the snakeweed, the ivy, and the hop, and +intermingled with them the jessamine and the honeysuckle, in the most +unbounded profusion. Their tendrils hung from the branches, and waved to +the wind; and suggested to you the appearance of garlands scattered from +tree to tree by the nymphs of the grove. All was inexpressible +luxuriance, and a thousand different shades of verdure were placed, one +upon another, in regular confusion, and attractive disorder. An +exuberance of this sort was calculated in a vulgar scene to have checked +the fertility of the plants, and to have given a sickly and withered +appearance to their productions; but it was not so in the garden of +Rodogune. There the cherry and the grape, the downy peach and the purple +plum were half discovered amid the foliage of the hop, and the clusters +of the woodbine. Beneath the delicious shade you wandered over beds of +moss, undeformed with barren sands and intrusive weeds, and smooth as +the level face of ocean when all the winds of heaven sleep. + +Nor was this all. Inanimate and vegetable nature (and the observation +had not escaped the penetration of Rodogune) adorn and arrange it as you +will, infallibly suggests an idea of solitude, that communicates sadness +to the mind. Accordingly your path was here beguiled with the warbling +of a thousand birds, the full-toned blackbird, the mellow thrush, and +the pensive nightingale. The sorceress had invited them to her retreat, +by innumerable assiduities and innumerable conveniences of food and +residence, and had suffered no rude intrusion to disturb the sacredness +of their haunts. Unused to molestation in all their pursuits, they now +showed no terror of human approach, but flew, and hopped, and sung, and +played among the branches and along the ground, in thoughtless security +and wanton defiance. + +For a few moments Imogen was immersed in the contemplation of the +beauties of the place, and its delightful coolness and mingled fragrance +were balm and softness to her wounded soul. The domestic who accompanied +her, perceived her propensity to reflection and fell back to a small +distance. The shepherdess, as soon as she found herself disengaged and +alone, revolved with the utmost displeasure her present situation. "How +happy," cried she, "are the virgins of the vale! To them every hour is +winged with tranquility and pleasure. They laugh at sorrow; they trill +the wild, unfettered lay, or wander, chearful and happy, with the +faithful swain beneath the woodland shade. They fear no coming mischief; +they know not the very meaning of an enemy. Innocent themselves, they +apprehend not guilt and treachery in those around them. Nor have they +reason. Simplicity and frankness are the unvaried character of the +natives of the plain. Liberty, immortal, unvalued liberty, is the +daughter of the mountains. We suspected not that deceit, insidiousness, +and slavery were to be found beneath the sun. Ah, why was I selected +from the rest to learn the fatal lesson! Unwished, unfortunate +distinction! Was I, who am simple and undisguised as the light of day, +who know not how to conceal one sentiment of my heart, or arm myself +with the shield of vigilance and incredulity, was I fitted by nature for +a scene like this? In the mean time have not the Gods encouraged me by +the most splendid appearance, and the most animating praises? I would +not impeach their venerable counsels. But was this a time for applauses +so seducing? How greatly have they perplexed, and how deeply distressed +me! In what manner, alas! are they to be obeyed, and what am I to think +of the professions of my ravisher? But, no; I dare not permit my purpose +to be thus suspended. My danger here is too imminent. The deliverance of +my own honour and the felicity of my parents are motives too sacred, not +to annihilate every ambiguity and every doubt. Oh, that I could escape +at once! Oh, that like the tender bird, that hops before me in my path, +I could flit away along the trackless air! Why should the little birds +that carol among the trees be the only beings in the domains of Roderic, +that know the sweets of liberty? But it will not be. Still, still I am +under the eye and guardianship of heaven. Wise are the ways of heaven, +and I submit myself with reverence. Only do ye, propitious Gods, +support, sustain, deliver me! Never was frail and trembling mortal less +prepared to encounter with machination, and to brave unheard of dangers. +How fearful are those I have already encountered; and how much have I to +apprehend from what may yet remain! But if I am weak, the omnipotent +support to which I look is strong. I will not give way to impious +despondence. It has delivered, and it may yet deliver me." + +By such virtuous and ingenuous reflections the shepherdess endeavoured +to solace her distress, and to fortify her courage. Now by revolving her +dangers she sought to prepare for their encounter; and now she dismissed +the recollection as too depressing and too melancholy. The confinedness +of the prospect, though rich infinitely beyond any thing she had yet +seen, and though not naturally calculated to fatigue and disgust, was +destructive of all its beauty in the eyes of Imogen. It presented to her +too just an image of the thraldom, which was the subject of all her +complaints. She desired to fling her eye through a wider prospect; and +though unable even from the loftiest ground to discover the happy +valley, she coveted the slender gratification of beholding the utmost +boundaries of the magic circle, and extending her view as near as +possible to her beloved home. She therefore advanced farther in the +garden, and presently arrived at a clear and open brow, where a +beautiful alcove was erected to catch the point of view, from which the +surrounding objects appeared in the greatest variety, and with the +happiest effect. She entered; and the domestic that attended her +remained in a distant part of the garden. + +Scarcely had Imogen seated herself, before she discovered, by a casual +glance over the prospect, and at some distance, a youth, who seemed to +advance with hasty steps towards the castle. At first she was tempted to +turn away her eye with carelessness and inattention. There was however +something in his figure, that led her, by a kind of fascination for +which she could not account, to cast upon him a second glance and a +third. He drew nearer. He leaped with an active bound over the fence +that separated him from the garden. It was the form of Edwin. His hair +hung carelessly about his shoulders. His shepherd's pipe was slung in +his belt. His clear and manly cheeks glowed with the warmth of the day, +and the anxiety of love. He entered the alcove. + +Had a ghost risen before Imogen, surrounded with all the horrors of the +abyss, she could not have been struck with greater astonishment. As he +advanced, she gazed in silence. She could not utter a word. Her very +breath seemed suppressed. At length he entered, and for a moment she had +voice enough to utter her surprise. "Gracious powers!" exclaimed +she--"is it possible?--what is it that I see?--Edwin, beloved +Edwin!"--and she sunk breathless upon her seat. The fictitious shepherd +approached her, folded her in his arms, and with repeated, burning +kisses, which he had never before ventured to ravish from his disdainful +captive, restored her to life and perception. The confusion of Imogen +did not allow her to animadvert upon his freedoms. She had the utmost +confidence in the person whose form he wore, and the guileless +simplicity of pastoral life is accustomed to permit many undesigning +liberties, and is slow to take the alarm, or to suspect a sinister +purpose. + +Roderic, anxious and timid respecting the success of his adventure, was +backward to enter into conversation. Imogen, on the other hand, charmed +with so unexpected an appearance, and presaging from it the most auspicious +consequences, full of her situation and sufferings, and having a thousand +things that pressed at once to be told, was eager and impatient to +communicate them to her faithful shepherd. She was also desirous of +learning by what undiscoverable means, by what happy fortune, he had been +conducted to this impervious retreat, and at so critical a juncture. +"Edwin,--my gallant Edwin,--how came you hither?--Sure it was some +propitious power,--some unseen angel,--that conducted you.--Oh, my +friend,--I have been miserable,--perplexed--tortured--but it is now +no more--I will not think of it--Thanks to the immortal Gods, I have no +occasion--no room--but for gratitude.--Edwin--what have you done--and +how did you escape the tempest?--Was it not a fearful storm?--But I +ask you a thousand questions--and you do not answer me.--You seem +abashed--uncertain--what is the meaning of this?--Did you not come +to succour my distress?--Was it not pity for your poor--forlorn--desolate +Imogen--that directed your steps?" + +"Yes, loveliest of thy sex," replied her betrayer. "I flew upon the +wings of love. I was brought along by a celestial, impulsive guidance, +which I followed I knew not why. Oh how gracious the condescension, how +happy the obedience, how grateful the interview! Yes, Imogen, I was in +despair. I was terrified at the concurring prodigies by which we were +separated, and I feared never, never to behold that beauteous form +again. Come then and let me clasp thee to my bosom. Oh, thou art sweeter +than the incense-breathing rose, and brighter than the lily of the +vale!" + +For a moment, the affectionate and unsuspicious shepherdess received his +caresses with complacence and pleasure. Suddenly however she recollected +herself; instinctively and without reflection she repulsed the undue +warmth of his attentions. "This," cried she, "is no time for fond +indulgence, and careless dalliance--Fate is on the wing.--Our situation +is arduous--and we are in the midst of enemies.--Every thing that +surrounds us is full of danger--all is deceit and treachery--appearances +are insidious--all is frightful suspense and headlong precipice.--The +plotter of my ruin is as potent as he is--Ah! every hour is big with +calamity and destruction--every moment that we stay here is in the last +degree hazardous and decisive.--My keepers may be alarmed--Those eyes +that never close may be summoned to attention--we may be hemmed +in--prevented--Oh, Edwin, how fearful is this place--and how +unhoped--how joyful to me--must be an escape.--I thought this hated seat +had been impervious and impassable--Hark!--Did you not hear the sound of +feet?--No--every thing is still--Let us go this way--Say, by what path +did you come--Let us hasten our flight--let us make no delay--not look +behind." + +"Yes, Imogen," replied Roderic, detaining her, "we will escape--But +this, my lovely maiden, is not the time--I am not yet prepared--We may +remain here in security--already the shades of evening begin to draw. +Every thing is now busy and active. We cannot pass from hence without +observation. In the silence of the night the attempt will be more +practicable. And you, Imogen, are a heroine. The Gods will watch over +us. Silence and darkness have nothing in them at which innocence should +be terrified. Till then let us reconcile ourselves to our situation. Let +us endeavour, by secrecy and stilness, not to attract to us the +attention of the enemies with which we are surrounded. Let us banish +from them curiosity and suspicion. And let us trust in the Gods, +propitious to rectitude, that they will look down with favour upon a +design prompted by virtue and urged by oppression." + +"Alas, Edwin," replied the shepherdess "it is with regret that I consent +to remain one moment longer in this fatal spot. But I will submit to +your direction, I will confide in your prudence; I will trust in your +fidelity, and your zeal, for the deliverance I so ardently desire. Here +however we cannot long remain undiscovered.--My absence will be +suspicious.--I will return once again to the hated mansion.--You, my +swain, must conceal yourself in the mazes of this friendly wilderness. +It shall not be long ere I come to you again.--With motives like mine to +inspire ingenuity, I shall easily find a way to elude the strictest +guard, and escape from the closest thraldom.--Say, my Edwin!--this +stratagem shall suffice,--and you shall lead me in safety under the +friendly cover of the night to liberty and innocence!" + +"Yes," exclaimed Roderic, suddenly recollecting himself, "you may be +assured that by me nothing shall be omitted, that can further your +escape from this detested prison. The perils I have already incurred may +well convince you of this. It has been through the most fearful dangers, +ready every moment to be overwhelmed with omnipotent mischief, that I +have reached you. I have approached by the most devious and undiscovered +paths. Though the greatest hazards are to be encountered in the cause of +innocence and honour, the conduct we should pursue is therefore +ambiguous, and our success involved in uncertainty and darkness. Oh +Imogen, I may now behold thee for the last time. The moment we sally +from this retreat, I may be discovered by that enemy from whom we have +so much to fear. I may be confined to all the wantonness of inventive +torture, and that beauteous form, and the smiles of that bewitching +countenance may be torn from these longing eyes for ever. But here, my +shepherdess, we are safe. We may here secure ourselves from sudden +intrusion, and a thousand means of concealment are here in our power. +This Imogen is the moment of our ascendancy, this little period is all +our own. In a short time the precious hours will be elapsed, the +invaluable instants will be run out. Oh, my love, fairest, most angelic +of thy sex, while they are yet ours, let us improve them."--He ceased; +and his countenance glistened with the anticipations of enjoyment, and +his eyes emitted the sparkles of lust. + +But the imagination of Imogen was not sullied with the impressions of +indecency, and the baseness of looser desires. She understood not the +innuendos of Roderic, and she remarked not with an eager and inquisitive +eye the distraction of his visage. She replied therefore only to the +more obvious tendency of what he said. "And is this, Edwin, all the +consolation you bring me? Ah how poor, how heartless, and how cold! If +we accomplish not that flight upon which my hopes and wishes are +suspended, what utility and what pleasure can we derive from this +interview? It will then only be a bitter aggravation of all my trials, +and all my miseries. If a prospect so unexpected and desirable terminate +in no advantage, for what purpose was it opened before me? It will but +render my sensations more poignant, and give a new refinement to the +exquisiteness of despair. + +"But no, my Edwin, let us not give way to despondence. The Gods, my +generous swain, the same Gods that give luxuriance and felicity to the +plain, and that have guided you through every hazard to this impervious +spot, will assuredly deliver us. Remember the lessons of the +heaven-taught Druids. There is an innate dignity and omnipotence in +virtue. She may be surrounded with variety of woes, but none of them +shall approach her. The darts of calamity may assail her on every side, +but she is invulnerable to them all. Before her majesty, the fierceness +of all the tenants of the wood is disarmed, and the more untamed +brutality of savage man is awed into mute obedience. She may not indeed +put on the insolence of pride, and the fool-hardiness of presumption. +But wherever her duty calls, she may proceed fearless and unhurt. She +may be attacked, but she cannot be wounded: she may be surprised, but +she cannot be enslaved: she may be obscured for a moment, but it shall +only be to burst forth again more illustrious than ever. + +"But you, Edwin, are much better acquainted with these things, and more +able to instruct than I. They were ever the favourite subject of your +attention. I have seen you with rooted eye fixed for hours in listening +admiration of the sublime dictates of the hoary Llewelyn.--It is little +to learn, to understand, and to admire. A barren and ineffectual +enthusiasm for the speculations of truth, was never respectable and was +never venerable. Now, my swain, is the moment in which these sacred +lessons are to be called into action, and in which, beyond all others, +reputation is to be asserted and character fixed. Leave not then to me +the business of inciting and animating you. Be you my leader and +protector." + +"Alas, my charming mistress," replied her admirer, "I would to God it +were in my power to inspire you with hope and fill you with courage. I +confess that while peril was at a distance, and I sat secure in the +tranquil vale, I received without distinction the doctrines of the +Druids, and bowed assent to their sacred lessons. But practice, my +Imogen, and the scenes of danger differ beyond conception from the ideas +we form of them in the calmness of repose. Something must be allowed to +the unruffled solitude of these sacred men, and something to the sublime +of poetry. Surely it is no part of comprehensive prudence to banish the +idea of those hazards that must be encountered, and to refuse to survey +the snares and the difficulties with which our path is surrounded. +Remember, my fair one, the malignant suspiciousness of your jailer, and +the comfortless darkness of the night."-- + +"Oh Edwin, and is this the strain in which you were wont to talk? Why +are you thus altered, and what means this inauspicious quick-sightedness +and alarm? We should indeed survey and prepare for danger, but we should +never suffer it to overwhelm us. The cause of integrity should never be +despaired of. What avails the suspicions of my keeper? The ever wakeful +eye of heaven can make them slumber. Why should we reck the gloom and +loneliness of the night? Virtue is the ever-burning lamp of the sacred +groves. No darkness can cast a shadow on her beams. Though the sun and +moon were hurled below the bosom of the circling ocean, virtue could see +to perform her purposes, and execute her great designs. Alas, my swain, +my voice is weak, and broken, and powerless. But willingly would I +breathe a soul to animate your timidity. Oh Edwin," and she folded him +in her alabaster arms to her heaving, anxious bosom, "let me not exhort +you in vain! It is but for a little while, it is but for one short +effort, and if the powers above smile propitious on our purpose, we are +happy for ever! Think how great and beautiful is our adventure. +Comfortless and desponding as I am now, ready to sink without life and +animation at your feet, I may be in a few hours happier than ever.--Oh +Edwin, lead on!--Can you hesitate?--Would it were in my power to reward +the virtue I would excite as it deserves to be rewarded. But the Gods +will reward you, Edwin."-- + +As she uttered these words, her action was unspeakably graceful, her +countenance was full of persuasion, and her voice was soft, and +eloquent, and fascinating. Roderic gazed upon her with insatiate +curiosity, and drank her accents with a greedy ear. For a moment, +charmed with the loftiness of her discourse and the heroism of her soul, +he was half persuaded to relent, and abjure his diabolical purpose. It +was only by summoning up all the fierceness of his temper, all the +impatience of his passions, and all the mistaken haughtiness and +inflexibility of his purpose, that he could resist the artless +enchantment. During the internal struggle, his countenance by no means +answered to the simplicity of pastoral sentiments. It was now fierce, +and now unprotected and despairing. Anon it was pale with envy, and anon +it was flushed with the triumph of brutal passion. Transitions like +these could not pass unobserved. Imogen beheld them with anxiety and +astonishment, but suspicion was too foreign in her breast, to be thus +excited. + +"Imogen," cried the traitor, "it is in your power to reward the noblest +acts of heroism that human courage can perform. Who in the midst of all +the exultation and applause that triumphant rectitude can inspire, could +look to a nobler prize than the condescension of your smiles and the +heaven of your embraces? No, too amiable shepherdess, it is not for +myself I fear; witness every action of my life; witness all those +dangers that I have this moment unhesitatingly encountered, that I might +fly to your arms. But, oh, when your safety is brought to hazard, I feel +that I am indeed a coward. Think, my fair one, of the dangers that +surround us. Let us calmly revolve, before we immediately meet them. No +sooner shall we set our foot beyond this threshold, than they will +commence. Tyranny is ever full of apprehensions and environed with +guards. Along the gallery, and through the protracted hall, centinels +are placed with every setting sun. Could you escape their observations, +an hundred bolts, and an hundred massive chains secure the hinges of the +impious mansion. Beyond it all will be dark, and the solitude inviolate. +But suppose we meet again,--by what path to cross the wide extended +glade, and to reach the only avenue that can lead us safely through this +horrid cincture, will then be undiscoverable. Amid the untamed forest +and untrod precipices that lie beyond, all the beasts most inimical to +man reside. There the hills re-echo the tremendous roarings of the boar; +the serpents hiss among the thickets; and the gaunt and hungry wolf +roams for prey. Oh, Imogen, how fearful is the picture! And can your +tender frame, and your timid spirits support the reality?" + +Imogen had now preserved the character of heroism and fortitude for a +considerable time. All the energies of her soul had been exerted to +encounter the trials and surmount the difficulties which she felt to be +unavoidable. When the beloved form of Edwin had appeared before her, she +relaxed in some degree from the caution and vigilance she had hitherto +preserved. It is the very nature of joyful surprize to unbend as it were +the strings of the mind, and to throw wide the doors of unguarded +confidence. Before, she had felt herself alone; she saw no resource but +in her own virtue, and could lean upon no pillar but her own resolution. +Now she had trusted to meet with an external support; she had poured out +her heart into the bosom of him in whom she confided, and she looked to +him for prudence, for suggestion and courage. But, instead of support, +she had found debility, and instead of assistance the resources of her +own mind were dried up, and her native fortitude was overwhelmed and +depressed. She turned pale at the recital of Roderic, her knees +trembled, her eyes forgot their wonted lustre, and she was immersed in +the supineness and imbecility of despair. + +"Edwin!"--she cried, with a tone of perturbation; but her utterance +failed her. Her voice was low, hoarse, and inaudible. The fictitious +shepherd supported her in his arms. Her distress was a new gratification +and stimulus to her betrayer. "Edwin, ah, wherefore this fearful +recital? Did you come here for no other purpose than to sink me ten +times deeper in despair? Alas, I had conceived far other expectations, +and far other hopes fluttered in my anxious bosom, when I first beheld +your well known form. I said I have been hitherto constant and +determined, though unsupported and melancholy. I shall now be +triumphant. I shall experience that heaven-descended favour, which ever +attends the upright. Edwin, my firm, heroic Edwin, will perform what I +wished, and finish what I began. And, oh, generous and amiable shepherd, +is it thus that my presages are fulfilled? No, I cannot, will not bear +it. If the courage of Edwin fail, I will show him what he ought to be. +If you dare not lead, think whether you dare follow whither I guide. You +shall see what an injured and oppressed woman can do. Feeble and tender +as we are formed by nature, you shall see that we are capable of some +fortitude and some exertion." As she said this she had risen, and was +advancing towards the door. But recollecting herself with a sudden pang, +"Alas," cried she, "whither do I go?--What am I doing?--What shall I +do?--Oh, Edwin!" and, falling at his feet, she embraced his knees, "do +not, do no [sic] not desert me in this sad, tremendous moment!" + +"I will not, my Imogen, I will never desert you. One fate shall attend +us both. And if you are called to calamity, to torture, and to death, +Edwin will not be supine and inactive." "Oh, now," cried she, her eyes +moistened with rapture, "I recognize my noble and gallant swain. Come +then, and let us fly. If we must encounter peril and disaster, what +avails it to suspend the trial for a few niggard hours? This, my friend, +my guardian,--this is the time--Now the master dragon sleeps--Roderic is +now unconscious and distant--and I fear him too much to apprehend any +thing from a meaner adversary--Let us fly--let us escape--let our speed +outstrip the rapid winds!" + +During their conversation, the heavens had been covered with clouds, and +the rain descended with violence. But the change had not been noticed by +Imogen. "Well then, my fair one, we will depart. What though the wind +whistles along the heath, and the rain patters among the elms? We will +defy their fury. Let us go! But, ah, my Imogen, look there! The hinds +are flying across the plain for shelter; and see! two of them approach +to the clump of trees directly before us on the outside of the garden. +No, shepherdess, it is in vain that we resolve, and in vain that we +struggle: we cannot escape." + +The mind of Imogen was now wrought up to the extremest distress. Her +heart was wrung with anguish. She was ready to charge the immortals with +conspiring against her, had not her piety forbad it. She saw the reality +of what Roderic stated, and yet she was ready to charge him with raising +eternal obstacles. She cast upon him a look of despair and agony. But +she did not read in the countenance of the imaginary shepherd congenial +sentiments. "Methinks," said she, with a voice full of reproachful +blandishment, and inimitable sweetness, "methinks it is not with the +tenderness of sympathy, that you tell me we must desist. Sure it is only +the mist of tears through which I behold you, that makes me see the +suppressed emotion of pleasure in your countenance. No, it is not in the +heart of Edwin to harbour for a moment the sentiments of barbarity and +insult--But if we cannot now escape--if the dangers to which we must +submit may be diminished by delay--indeed, Edwin, something must be +attempted--at least let us now fix upon a plan, and determine what to +do. Let not delay relax the spirit of enterprise, or shake the firmness +of our purpose." + +"And what plan," cried the pretended shepherd, "can we form? I have +already trod the intricate and dangerous road, and there is nothing +better for us than to tread my footsteps back again. The day is +particularly unfavourable, as it is accompanied with activity and +business. We must therefore wait for the night. Then we must watch our +opportunities, and embrace the favourable interval. Imogen, I feel not +for myself. I do not throw away a thought upon my own safety, and I am +ready to submit to every evil for your service and your defence. But +yet, my gentle, noble-minded shepherdess, I cannot promise any very +flattering probability of success. Indeed my hopes are not sanguine. The +difficulties that are before us appear to me insurmountable. One +mountain peeps through the breaches of another, and they are like a wall +built by the hand of nature, and reaching to the skies. Penmaenmawr is +heaped upon Snowdon, and Plinlimmon nods upon the summit of Penmaenmawr. +It is only by the intervention of a miracle that we can ever revisit the +dear, lamented fields of Clwyd. Let us then, my Imogen, compose +ourselves to the sedateness of despair. Let us surrender the success of +our future efforts to fate. And let us endeavor to solace the short and +only certain interval that we yet can call our own, by the recollection +of our virtuous loves." + +"Alas," cried Imogen, "I understand not in what the sedateness of +despair consists. In the prospect of every horrid mischief, mischief +that threatens not merely my personal happiness or mortal existence, but +which bears a malignant aspect upon the dignity of honour and the peace +of integrity, I cannot calmly recollect our virtuous loves, or derive +from that recollection sedateness and composure. Edwin, your language is +dissonant, and the thoughts you seek to inspire, jarring and +incompatible. If you must tell me to despair, at least point me to some +nobler source of consolation, than the coldness of memory; at least let +us prepare for the fate that awaits us in a manner decent, manly, and +heroic." + +"Yes, too amiable shepherdess, if I were worthy to advise, I would +recommend a more generous source of consolation, and teach you to +prepare for futurity in a manner worthy of the simplicity of your heart; +and worthy of that disinterested affection we have ever borne to each +other. Think of those sacred ties that have united us. Think of the soft +and gentle commerce of mutual glances; the chaste and innocent +communication with which we have so often beguiled the noontide hour; +the intercourse of pleasures, of sentiments, of feelings that we have +held; the mingling of the soul. Did not heaven design us for each other? +Is not, by a long probation of simplicity and innocence, the possession +of each other become a mutual purchase? An impious and arbitrary tyrant +has torn us asunder. But do the Gods smile upon his hated purpose? Does +he not rather act in opposition to their decrees, and in defiance of +their authority?" + +The magician paused. "Alas," replied the shepherdess, "what is it you +mean? Whither would you lead me? I understand you not. These indeed were +motives for fortitude and exertion, but what consolation can they impart +to the desponding heart?" "I will tell you," replied her seducer, +folding her slender waist with one of his arms as he spoke. "Since the +Gods are on our side, since heaven and earth approve our honest +attachment, let us sit here and laugh at the tyrant. While he doubles +his guards, and employs all his vigilance, let us mock his impotent +efforts." + +"Ah," replied the shepherdess, her eye moistened with despair, and +beaming with unapprehensiveness, "how strange and impracticable an +advice do you suggest! Full of terror, full of despair, you bid me laugh +at fear. Threatened by a tyrant whose power is irresistible, and whose +arts you yourself assure me are not to be evaded, you would have me mock +at those arts, and this dreaded power. Is not his power triumphant? Is +not all his vigilance crowned with a fatal success? Are we not his +miserable, trembling, death-expecting victims? Can we leave this +apartment, can we almost move our hand, or utter our voice, for +solicitude and terror? Oh Edwin, in what mould must that heart have been +cast, what must be its hard and unsusceptible texture, that can laugh at +sorrow, and be full of the sensations of joy, though surrounded with all +the engines of wretchedness?" + +"Imogen, your fears are too great, your anxieties exaggerate the +indigence of our condition. Though we are prisoners, yet even the +misfortunes of a prison have their compensations. The activity of the +immaterial mind, will not indeed submit long without reluctance to +confinement and restraint. But we have not yet experienced lassitude and +disgust." "Alas, Edwin, how strange and foreign are thoughts like these! +Whither do they tend? What would you infer from them?" + +"This my love I would infer. That within one little cincture we are yet +absolute. No prying eye can penetrate here. Of our words, of our +actions, during a few remaining hours, we can dispose without controul." + +"Ah," exclaimed the shepherdess, struck with a sudden suspicion of the +treacherous purpose, and starting from her betrayer, "ah, Edwin, yet, +yet explain yourself! A thousand horrid thoughts--a thousand dire and +shapeless phantoms--But Edwin,--sure--is plain, and artless, and +innocent.--What boots it that we can dispose of our words and actions +within this cincture?--Will that enable us to escape?--No, no, no, +no.--Escape you say is hopeless--What is it you mean?--Say--explain +yourself--Oh, Edwin!"-- + +"Be not alarmed," cried the remorseless villain. "Listen, yet listen +with calmness to the suggestions of my deliberate mind. Imogen, you are +too beautiful--I have beheld you too long--I have admired you with too +fierce an ardour. The Gods--the Gods have joined us. It is guilt and +malignity alone that oppose their purpose.--Let us beat them +down--trample them under our feet--employ worthily the moment that yet +remains."-- + +As the magician pronounced these words, he advanced towards his captive, +and endeavoured to seize her in his arms. But she thrust him from her +with the warmest indignation; and contemplating him with an eye of +infinite disdain, "Base unworthy swain!"--she cried--"Insidious +traitor!--abhorred destroyer!--And is it thus that you would approach +me?--Is it thus that you would creep into the weakness of my heart?--But +fly--I know you not--One mark of compassion I will yet exhibit, which +you little deserve--Fly--I will not deliver you into the hands of your +rival, whom yet my soul does not so much loath and abhor--Fly--Live to +be pointed at as an example of degeneracy--Live to blush for and repent +of that crime, which, Edwin!--cannot be expiated." + +Roderic had advanced too far to be thus deterred. He did not wish to +manage the character under which he appeared. His passions by this +interview, more private, and in which his captive had beheld him with an +eye of greater complacency than ever, were inflamed to the extremest +degree. The charms of Imogen had been in turn heightened with joy, and +mellowed with distress. Even the conscious dignity, and haughty air she +now assumed, gave new attractions to her form, and new grace to her +manner. Her muscles trembled with horror and disdain. Her eloquent blood +wrought distinctly in her veins, and spoke in a tone, not more dignified +than enchanting. Her whole figure had a life, an expression, a +loveliness, that it is impossible to conceive. + +Roderic rushed forward unappalled, and unsubdued. He had already seized +his unwilling victim. In vain she resisted his violence; in vain she +strove to escape from her betrayer. "For pity's sake--for mercy's +sake--for the sake of all our past endearments--spare me!--relent--and +spare me--spare me!--" For a time she struggled; but her tender frame +was soon overcome by the strength of her destroyer. She became cold and +insensible in his arms. + +At this moment a flood of splendid lightning filled the apartment. The +air was rent with the hoarse and deafening roar of the thunder, the door +flew open, and the form of that spectre that he most abhorred stood +before Roderic. "Go on," cried the phantom, "complete thy heroic +purpose. Scorn the tremendous sounds that now appal thee. They are but +the prelude of that scene that shall shortly feast my eyes. Perceivest +thou not the earth to tremble beneath thy feet? Hearest thou not the +walls of thy hated mansion cracking to their ruin? Confusion is at hand. +_Chaos is come again._ Go on then, Roderic. Complete thy heroic +purpose." The spectre vanished, and all was uninterrupted silence. + +The whole mind of Roderic was transformed from what it was. For the +impotence of lust, and the cruelty of inexorable triumph, he felt the +terrors of annihilation, and all the cold, damp tremblings of despair. +But the victory of innocence was not yet complete. + +Imogen had sunk for a moment under the horrors that threatened her, but +she had not been so far impercipient as not to hear the murmuring of the +thunder, and to see the gleam of the lightning. The form however that +terrified Roderic, and the voice that addressed him, were perceived by +him alone. + +The shepherdess opened her eyes, and beheld the degenerate ravisher +pale, aghast, and trembling. "It is well, Edwin. The Gods have declared +themselves. The Gods have suspended their thunder over the head of the +apostate. Rut, oh Edwin, could I have imagined it! Desolate and +oppressed as I have been, could I have supposed, that that form was +destined to fill up the measure of my woes! I once beheld it as the +harbinger of happiness, as the temple of integrity and innocence. Oh, +how wretched you have made me! How you have shaken all my most rooted +opinions of the residence of virtue among mankind! Am I alone, and +unsupported in her cause? How forlorn and solitary do I seem to myself! +I suffered--once I suffered the thought of Edwin to mix with the love of +rectitude, and the obedience of heaven. They all together confirmed me +in the path I had chalked out for myself. Mistake not these reproaches +for the weakness of returning passion. And yet, Edwin, though I loath, I +pity you! Go, and repent! Go, and blot from the records of your memory +the cold insinuation, the aggravated guilt that you have this day +practised! Go, and let me never, never see you more!" + +As she uttered these words, congratulation, reproach, wretchedness, +abhorrence and pity succeeded each other in her countenance. Rut they +were all accompanied with an ineffable dignity, and an angelic purity. +The savage and the satyr might have beheld, and been awed into +reverence. Roderic slunk away, guilty, mortified, and confounded. And +such was the success of this other attempt upon the virtue of Imogen. + +[Illustration] + + + + + + +BOOK THE SIXTH + +IMOGEN ENDEAVOURS TO SUBDUE THE ATTENDANTS OF RODERIC.--THE SUPPER OF +THE HALL.--JOURNEY AND ARRIVAL OF EDWIN.--SUBTLETY OF THE MAGICIAN.--HE +IS DEFEATED.--END OF THE SECOND DAY. + + +The magician, overwhelmed and confounded with uninterrupted +disappointment, was now ready to give himself up to despair. "I have +approached the inflexible fair one," cried he, "by every avenue that +leads to the female heart. And what is the amount of the advantages I +have gained? I tempted her with riches. But riches she considered with +disdain; they had nothing analogous to the temper of her mind, and her +uncultivated simplicity regarded them as superfluous and cumbersome. I +taught her to listen to the voice of flattery; I clothed it in all that +is plausible and insinuating; but to no purpose. She was still upon her +guard; all her suspicions were awake; and her integrity and her +innocence were as vigilant as ever. Incapable of effecting any thing +under that form she had learned to detest, I laid it aside. I assumed a +form most prepossessing and most amiable in her eyes. Surely if her +breast had not been as cold as the snow that clothes the summit of +Snowdon; if her virtue had not been impregnable as the groves of Mona, a +stratagem, omnipotent and impenetrable as this, must have succeeded. She +beheld the figure of him she loved, and this was calculated in a moment +of distress to draw forth all her softness. She beheld the person of him +in whom she had been wont to find all integrity, and place all +confidence, and this might have induced her to apprehend no danger. And +yet with how much tender passion, with how distressful an indignation, +with what tumultuous sorrow did she witness his supposed crime? What +then must I do? What yet remains? I love her with a more frantic and +irresistible passion than ever. I cannot abstain from her.--I cannot +dismiss her.--I cannot forget her. Oh Imogen, too lovely, all-attractive +Imogen, for you I stand upon the very brink of fate! Nor is this all. +Soon should I leap the gulph, soon should forget every prudent and +colder prospect in the tumult of my soul, did not that cursed spectre +ever shoot across my path to dash my transports, and to mar my +enjoyments. Which way shall I turn? To leave her, that is impossible. To +possess her by open force and manly violence, that my fate forbids. My +understanding is bewildered, and my invention is lost.--Medoro!"-- + +Medoro received the well known signal, and stood before Roderic. He +waited not to be addressed, he read the purposes of the heart of the +magician. "Roderic," cried he, "this moment is the crisis of you[r] +destiny. The occasion, to which the curse pronounced upon you by the +inimical spectre refers, has already in part taken place. YOU HAVE SUED +TO A SIMPLE MAID, WHO BY YOUR CHARMS HAS BEEN TAUGHT TO HATE THE SWAIN +THAT ONCE SHE LOVED. It only remains that she should persevere in the +resistance she has hitherto made, and that A SIMPLE SWAIN, perhaps her +favoured Edwin, should defy your enchantments. Think then of the +precipice on which you stand. Yet, yet return, while it is in your +power. One step in advance beyond those you have already taken may be +irretrievable. Alas, Roderic, it is thus that I advise! but I foresee +that my advice will be neglected. The Gods permit to the invisible +inhabitants of air, when strongly invoked by a mortal voice, to assist +their vices and teach adroitness to their passions; but they do not +permit an invocation like this to receive for its reward the lesson of +moderation, and the attainment of happiness. + +"Go on then, Roderic, in the path upon which you are inflexibly +determined. You succeeded not in the stratagem of flattery; but it +served to take off the keenness of the aversion of Imogen. She +contemplates you now with somewhat less of horror, and with a virtuous +and ingenuous fear of uncandidness and injustice upon your account. +Neither have you succeeded in that deeper stratagem and less penetrable +deceit, the assumption of the form of him she loved. It has however +served to weaken her prepossessions, and relax the chains of her +attachment. She is now the better prepared to receive openly and +impartially the addresses of a stranger swain. Thus even your +miscarriages have furthered your design. Thus may a wise general convert +his defeats into the means of victory. Think not however again to +approach her in the coolness of reason, and the sobriety of the +judgment. Hope not by temptation, by flattery, by prejudice, to shake +the immutable character of her mind. There is yet one way unessayed. You +must advance, if you would form the slightest expectations of victory, +by secret and invisible steps. Her virtue must be surrounded, entangled +and enmeshed, or ever her suspicions be awakened, or her integrity +alarmed. This can be effected only by the instrumentality of pleasure. +Pleasure has risen triumphant over many a heart that riches could not +conquer, and that ambition could not subdue. What though she has +resisted temptation under the most alluring form, when her thoughts were +collected and all around was silence?--Let the board of luxury be +spread. Let the choicest dainties be heaped together in unbounded +profusion. Let the most skilful musicians awake the softest instruments. +Let neatness, and elegance, and beauty exhibit their proudest charms. +Let every path that leads to delight, let every gratification that +inebriates the soul be discovered. If at that moment temptation +approach, even a meaner and less potent temptation may then succeed. The +night advances with hasty feet. Night is the season of dissipation and +luxury. Be this the hour of experiment, and let the apprehensive mind of +Imogen be first assiduously lulled to repose. Here, Roderic, you must +rest your remaining hopes. There is not another instrument can be +discovered, to disarm and vanquish the human mind. If here you fail, the +Gods have decreed it--they will be obeyed--Imogen must be dismissed from +the enchanted halls of Rodogune." + +With these words the goblin disappeared. The warning he had uttered +passed unheeded, but the magician immediately prepared to employ this +last of stratagems. Summoning the train of attendants of either sex that +resided in the castle, he directed them some to make ready the intended +feast, and some to repair to the apartment of Imogen. The preparations +of the enchanted castle were not like those of a vulgar entertainment. +Every thing was accelerated by invisible agents. The intervention of the +retinue of Roderic was scarcely admitted. The most savoury viands, the +most high flavoured ragouts, and the most delicious wines presented +themselves spontaneously to the expecting attendant. The hall was +illuminated with a thousand lustres that depended like stars from the +concave roof, and were multiplied by the reflection of innumerable +mirrors. The whole was arranged with inconceivable expedition. + +In the mean time a few of the more distinguished attendants of her own +sex repaired to the presence of Imogen. They found her feeble, +spiritless and disconsolate. "Come," exclaimed their leader, in an +accent of persuasion; "comply, my lovely girl, let not us alone have +reason to complain of your unfriendliness and inflexibility." + +Imogen was fatigued and she wished not for repose. Grief and persecution +had in a former instance inspired her with the love of solitude. But her +feelings were now of another kind. The disgrace and ingratitude of Edwin +had wounded her in the tenderest point, and she could not think of it +but with inexpressible anguish. She was for the first time afraid of her +own reflections, and desirous to fly from herself. "Yes," exclaimed she, +"and I would go, if you will promise me that it shall not be to the +presence of Roderic. The castle and the fields, the freshness of the +morning air and the gloom of a dungeon, are equal to me, provided I must +be kept back from the arms of my beloved parents, and their anxious and +tender spirits must still be held in suspence. But indeed I must not, I +will not, be continually dragged to the presence of the man I hate. It +is ungenerous, unreasonable, and indecent. What is the meaning of all +this compulsion? Why am I kept here so much against my will? Why am I +dragged from place to place, and from object to object? Surely all this +cannot be mere caprice and tyranny. There must be in it some dark and +guilty meaning that I cannot comprehend. Oh shepherdesses! if ye had any +friendship, if any pity dwelt within your bosoms, ye would surely assist +me to escape this hated confinement. Point but the way, show me but the +smallest hole, by which I might get away to ease and liberty, and I +would thank you a thousand times. You, who appear the leader of the +throng, your brow is smooth, your eyes are gentle and serene, and the +bloom of youth still dwells upon your face. Oh," added the apprehensive +Imogen, and she threw herself upon her knees--"do not bely the stamp of +benevolence and clemency that nature has planted there. Think if you had +parents as I have, whose happiness, whose existence, are suspended upon +mine, if you abbhorred, and detested, and feared your jailor as I do, +what would be your feelings then, and how you would wish to be treated +by a person in your situation. Grant me only the poor and scanty boon, +that you would then conceive your right. Dismiss me, I intreat you. I +cannot bear my situation. My former days have all been sunshine, my +former companions have all been kindness. I have not been educated to +encounter persecution, and misfortunes, and horrors. I cannot encounter +them. I cannot survive it." + +As she pronounced these words, she sunk, feeble, languid, and +breathless, upon the knees of the attendant. They hastened to raise her. +They soothed her ingenuous affliction, and assured her that she should +not be intruded upon by him of whom she had formed so groundless +apprehensions. Since then she was invited to partake of a slight +refreshment accompanied only by persons of her own sex, she did not long +hesitate, and was easily persuaded to acquiesce. The unostentatious +kindness of the invitation, and the modesty of the entertainment she +expected, dissipated her fears. It was from solitude that she now wished +to escape; and it was to that simple and temperate relaxation that she +had experienced among the inhabitants of Clwyd, to which she was +desirous to repair. + +She was conducted towards a saloon, which had less indeed of a sumptuous +and royal appearance, but was more beautiful, more gay, more voluptuous, +and more extatic than that which had been the scene of the temptation of +the morning. The profuseness of the illuminations outdid the brightness +of the meridian sun. The table was spread in a manner to engage the eye +and allure the appetite. Every vessel that was placed upon it was of +massive silver. And in different corners of the apartment heaps of the +most fragrant incense were burning in urns of gold. The viands were of a +nature the most stimulating and delicious; and the wines were bright and +sparkling and gay. As Imogen approached, a stream of music burst upon +her ear of a kind which hitherto she had never witnessed. It was not the +sonorous and swelling notes of praise; it was not the enthusiastic +rapture of the younger bards; it was not the elevated and celestial +sounds that she had been used to hear from the lyre of Llewelyn. But if +it was not so swelling and sublime, it was soft, and melodious, and +insinuating, and overpowering beyond all conception. You could not +listen to it without feeling all the strings of your frame relaxed, and +the nobler powers of your soul lulled into a pleasing slumber. It was +madness all. The ear that heard it could not cease to attend. The mind +that listened to it was no longer master of itself. + +Imogen entered the hall, and was received by a train of nymphs, some of +them more beautiful than any she had yet seen, and all attired with +every refinement of elegance and grace. Their hair was in part braided +round their bright and polished foreheads, and in part it hung in wavy +and careless ringlets about their slender necks, and heaving bosoms. +Their forms were veiled in loose and flowing folds of silk of the finest +texture, and whiter than the driven snow. The robes were not embroidered +with gold and silver; they were not studded with emeralds and diamonds; +but were adorned on every side with chaplets of the fairest and freshest +flowers. Their heads were crowned with garlands of amaranth and roses. +Though their conduct were tainted with lasciviousness, and their minds +were full of looser thoughts, yet, awed by the virtuous dignity of +Imogen, they suppressed the air of dissolute frolic, and taught by the +guileful lessons of their lord, endeavoured to assume the manners of +chaste and harmless joy. + +The shepherdess, struck with the objects which so unexpectedly presented +themselves to her eyes and her ears, started back with involuntary +astonishment. "Is this," cried she, "the artless feast, and this the +simple fare of which you invited me to partake?" "Imogen," replied the +principal nymph, "we were willing to do you honour, and the preparation +we have made is slight compared with that which the roof can afford. We +considered your fatigue and your extraordinary abstinence, and we were +willing to compensate them by pleasant food, and a grateful +refreshment." + +"And is such the grateful refreshment, and such the simple and +unaffected relaxation that your minds suggested? Alas, were I to +approach this board, it would be to me a business and not an amusement, +an exertion and not a relief. A feast like this is an object foreign and +unpleasing to my eyes. The feasts of the valley are chesnuts, and +cheeses, and apples. Our drink is the water of the limpid brook, or the +fair and foaming beverage that our flocks afford. Such are the +enjoyments of sobriety; such are the gratifications of innocence. +Virgins, I am not weary of the simplicity of the pastoral life. I hug it +to my bosom closer, more fondly than ever." + +"Amiable, spotless maiden! we admire your opinions, and we love your +person. But virtue is not allied to rigour and austerity. Its boundaries +are unconstrained, and graceful, and sweeping. It is a robe which sits +easily on those who are formed to wear it. It gives no awkwardness to +their manner, and puts no force upon their actions. Partake then, my +Imogen, in those refreshments we have prepared for your gratification. +If this be not duty, it is not crime. It is a venial and a harmless +indulgence. Do not then mortify friends that have sought to please you, +and refuse your attention to the assiduities we have demonstrated." + +"No, my gentle shepherdess, it is in vain you plead. I would willingly +qualify my refusal; but I must withdraw. The more you press me, the +farther it is necessary for me to recede. In the morning of this very +day, I was simple, and incautious, and complying. But now I have +experienced so many wiles and escaped so many snares, that this heart, +formerly so gentle and susceptible, is cased in triple steel. I can shut +my eyes upon the most splendid attractions. I can turn a deaf ear to +enticements the most alluring, and sounds the most insinuating. This is +the lesson--I thank him for it--that your lord has taught me. You must +not then detain me. I must be permitted to retire." And saying this she +withdrew with trembling speed. In vain they insisted, in vain they +pursued. Imogen escaped like a bird from the fowler, nor looked behind. +Imogen was deaf to their expostulations, and indurate and callous as +adamant to their persuasions. + +The disappointment of Roderic, when he learned of this miscarriage of +his great and final attempt was extreme. He coursed up and down the +saloon with all the impatience of a wild boar pierced by the spear of +the hunter, or a wolf from whom they have torn away her young. He vented +his fury upon things inanimate. He tore his hair, and beat his breast, +with tumultuous agony. He imprecated with a hoarse and furious voice a +thousand curses upon those attendants who had permitted his captive to +escape. Through the spacious hall, where every thing a moment before had +worn the face of laboured gaiety and studied smiles, all was now +desolation, and disquiet, and uproar. And urged as the magician had been +by successive provocations, he was ready to overstep every limit he +might once have respected, and to proceed to the most fatal extremities. + +In this situation, and as Roderic was hastening with a determined +resolution to follow to the apartment of Imogen, information was +suddenly brought to him, that a young stranger, tall and graceful in his +form, and of a frank and noble countenance, had by some unknown means +penetrated beyond the precipices with which the enchanted castle was +surrounded, and in spite of the resistance of the retinue of the +magician had entered the mansion. The dark and guilty heart of Roderic +immediately whispered him--"It is Edwin.--It is well.--I thank the Gods +that they do not hold this aspiring soul in a long and dreary suspence! +Let the destinies overtake me. I am prepared to receive them. Death, or +any of the thousand ills that fortune stores for them she hates, could +not come in a more welcome hour.--Oh Imogen, lovely, adorable Imogen, +how vain has been my authority, how vain the space of my command! Let +then my palaces tumble into ruin--Let that wand which once I boasted, +shivered in a thousand fragments, be cast to all the winds of heaven! I +will glory in desolation and forlornness. I will wrap myself in my +poverty. I will retire to some horrid cave in the midst of the untamed +desart, and shagged with horrid shades, that outgloom the blackness of +the infernal regions. There I will ruminate upon my past felicity. There +I will tell over enjoyments never to return. I will make myself a little +universe, and a new and unheard of satisfaction in the darkness of my +reflections, and the depth of my despair. + +"And yet surely, surely the Gods have treated me severely, and measured +out to me a hard and merciless fate. What are all the felicities I talk +of, and have prized so much? Oh, they were seasoned, each of them, with +a bitter infusion! Little, little indeed have I tasted of a pure and +unmixed happiness. In my choicest delights, I have felt a vacancy. They +have become irksome and tedious. I have fled from myself; I have fled +from the magnificence of my retinue, to find variety. And yet how dearly +am I to pay for a few gratifications which were in fact no better than +specious allurements to destruction, and flowers that slightly covered +the pit of ruin! In the bloom of manhood, in the full career of youth to +be cast forth an UNPITIED, NECESSITOUS, MISERABLE VAGABOND! All but this +I could have borne without a sigh. Were I threatened with death, in this +opening scene of life, I could submit with cheerfulness. But to drag +along a protracted misery, to be shut out from hope, and yet ever awake +to every cruel reflection and every bitter remorse--This is too much!" + +From this dream of unmanly lamentations Roderic was with difficulty +recovered by the assiduities of the attendants. At length incited by +their expostulations to the collectedness of reflection and the +fortitude of exertion, he determined, with that quickness of invention +with which he had been endowed at his birth, upon a plan to elude, if +possible, the perseverance of Edwin, and the menaces of his fate. +Recollecting that his person was not unknown to the swain, he +communicated his instructions to those who were about him, and withdrew +himself into a private apartment. + +It was Edwin. The instructions of the Druid of Elwy had relieved him +from the insupportable burden that had begun to oppress his mind. +Persuaded by him he had submitted to seek the refreshment of sleep. But +sleep shed not her poppies upon his busy, anxious head. His mind was +crouded with a thousand fearful phantoms. A child of the valley, he was +a stranger to misfortune and misery. Upon the favoured sons of nature +calamity makes her deepest impression, and an impression least capable +of being erased. And yet Edwin was full of courage and adventure; he +asked no larger boon than to be permitted to face his rival. But his +inquietude was the offspring of love; and his wariness and caution +originated in the docility of his mind, and his anxious attachment to +innocence and spotless rectitude. + +Having passed the watches of the night in uneasy and inexhaustible +reflections, he sprung from his couch as soon as the first dawn of day +proclaimed the approaching sun, and took a hasty leave of the hospitable +hermit. Issuing from the grotto, he bent his steps, in obedience to the +direction of Madoc, to that secret path, which had never before been +discovered by any mortal unassisted by the goblins of the abyss. Before +he reached it the golden sun had begun to decline from his meridian +height. He passed along the winding way beneath the impending +precipices, which formed a dark and sullen vault over his head. Ever and +anon large pieces of stone, broken from their native mass, and tumbling +among the craggy caverns, saluted his ear. Now and then he heard a +bubbling fountain bursting from the rock, which presently fell with a +loud and dashing noise along the declivity, and was lost in the pebbles +below. The only light by which his steps were guided, was that which +fell in partial and scanty streams through the fissures of the mountain, +and served to discover little more than the shapelessness of the rocks, +and the uncultivated horrors of the scene. + +Through these Edwin passed unappalled. His heart was naturally firm and +intrepid, and he now cased himself round with the armour of untainted +innocence and unsullied truth. It was not long before he came forth from +this scene of desolation to that beautiful and cultivated prospect which +had already enchanted the heart of Imogen. To him it had advantages +which in the former case it could not boast. He could contrast its +gaiety and brightness with the obscure and dismal scene from which he +had escaped. Nor was he struck only by the verdure of the prospect, and +the vividness of its colours, he also beheld the inclosure, not, as his +amiable mistress had done, from a terrace adjoining to the mansion; but +from the last point of the rock from which he was ready to descend. The +mansion therefore was his principal point of view from this situation. +It stood upon a bold and upright brow that beetled over the plain below. +The ascent was by a large and spacious flight of marble steps. Its +architecture was grand, and simple, and commanding. It was supported by +pillars of the Ionic order. They were constructed of ivory and jet, and +their capitals were overlaid with the purest gold. An object like this +to one who had never before seen any nobler edifice than a shepherd's +cot, or the throne of turf upon which the bards were elevated at the +feast of the Gods, was surprising, and admirable, and sublime in the +highest degree. + +"And this," exclaimed the gallant shepherd, "is the residence prepared +for infamy and lust. The sun pours upon it his light with as large a +hand, the herbage, the flowers and the fruits as fully partake of the +bounteous care of nature, as the vales of simplicity and the fields of +innocence. How venerable and alluring is the edifice I behold! Does not +peace dwell within, and are not the hours of its possessor winged with +happiness? Had my youth been spent among the beasts of the forests, had +not my ears drank in the sacred instructions of the godlike Druids, I +might have thought so. But, no. In vain in the extensive empire that the +arts of sorcery and magic afford, shall felicity be sought. What avails +all this splendour? and to what purpose this mighty profusion? All the +possessions that I can boast, are my little flock, my wattled cottage, +and my slender pipe. And yet I carol as jocound a lay, my heart is as +light and frolic, and the tranquility of self-acquittal spreads her +wings as wide over my bosom, as they could were I lord of a hundred +hills, and called all the streamlets of the valley my own. The magician +possesses a large hoard of beauty, and he can wander from fair to fair +with unlimited and fearless licence. All merciful and benign beings, who +dwell above this azure concave, give me my Imogen! Restore her safe and +unhurt to these longing, faithful arms! Let not this arbitrary and +imperious tyrant, who grasps wide the fairest productions of thy +creation with a hundred hands,--let him not wrest from me my solitary +lamb,--let him not seize for ever upon that companion, in whom the most +expansive and romantic wishes of my heart had learned to be satisfied." + +Such were the beautiful and virtuous sentiments of Edwin, as he beheld +the empire of his rival from the head of the rock, and as he crossed the +glade that still divided him from the object of all his exertions. From +the eminence upon which he had paused for a few contemplative moments, +the distance had appeared narrow and trifling. But the equal height of +the ground upon which he stood, and of that which afforded a situation +for the palaces of Roderic, had deceived him. When he looked towards the +scene that was to form the termination of his journey, the glade below +escaped from his sight. But when he descended to the plain, it was +otherwise. One swell of the surface he had to traverse succeeded +another; and the irregularity of the ground caused him sometimes to be +lost, in a manner, in the length of the way, and took from him the +consolation of being able so much as to perceive the object of his +destination. As he passed the hills, and climbed each successive ascent, +a murmur rose in his bosom; his impatience grew more and more +ungovernable, and the eagerness of his pursuit taught him to imagine, +that his little labour would never be done. + +Every performance however of human exertion has its period; and Edwin +had at length surmounted the greater part of the distance, and now +gained a larger and more distinct view of the castle. But by this time +the sun was ready to hide himself in the ocean, and his last rays now +gleamed along the valley, and played in the party-coloured clouds. +Meanwhile a dark spot, which had for some time blotted the brightness of +the surrounding azure, expanded itself. The shades gathered, the light +of the sun was hid, and the blackness of the night forestaled. The wind +roared among the mountains, and its terrors were increased by the hollow +bellowings of the beasts they harboured. The shower began; it descended +with fury, and Edwin had scarcely time to gain the protection of an +impervious thicket that crowned the lawn. Here he stood and ruminated. +The solemnity of the scene accorded with the importance of his +undertaking. The pause was friendly. He composed his understanding, and +recollected the lessons of the hospitable hermit. He fortified himself +in the habits of virtue; and, with a manly and conscious humility, +recommended this crisis of his innocence to the protection of heaven. + +The shower ceased, but the darkness continued. He had too well marked +however the bent of his journey during the continuance of the day, to +permit this to be any considerable obstacle. In the mean time it doubled +and rendered more affecting the stilness of the night. Nothing was to be +heard but the low whispers of the falling breeze, and the murmurs of the +prowling wolf that now languished and died away upon the ear. This was +the moment in which magic lords it supreme, in which the goblin breaks +forth from his confinement, and ranges unlimited in the nether globe; +and in which all that is regular and all that is beautiful give place to +the hunger of the savage brute, and the witcheries of the sorcerer. But +Roderic was otherwise engaged. His heart was employed in inventing +guile, and was lulled into unapprehensive security. But Edwin was +heroic. His bosom swelled with the most generous purposes; and he +trusted unwaveringly in that guardianship that is every where present, +and that eye that never slumbers. + +He entered the walls of the enchanted castle. The novelty of the +appearance of a stranger within the circle of those mountains, which no +vulgar mortal had yet penetrated, the dignity of his appearance, and the +boldness of his manner, at first distracted the attendants from the +performance of that, which might have seemed most natural in their +situation, and awed them into passiveness. He still wore that flowing +and graceful garb, which was appropriated by the inhabitants of Clwyd to +the celebration of public solemnities. He had passed through the midst +of the shower, and yet one thread of his garment was not moistened with +the impetuousness of its descent. His face wore a more beautiful and +roseat glow than was native to its complexion. His eye was full of +animation and expressiveness. Expectation, and hope, and dignity, and +resolution had their entire effect in his appearance. "It is a celestial +spirit!" cried they. "It is a messenger from the unseen regions!" and +they sought in his person for the insignia that might confirm and +establish their conjecture. + +But such was not the imagination of Roderic. The master-guilt to which +he was conscious, was ever ready to take the alarm upon any unexpected +event; and he had immediately conjectured, by a kind of instinctive +impression, who was this new and unwelcome guest. However unguarded and +unprepared had been his retinue, they had recollected themselves +sufficiently to detain Edwin in the avenue of the mansion, till they had +received the orders of their lord. These were immediately communicated; +and the magician withdrew himself till the proper period should arrive +for his appearance to the swain. + +Edwin, when he had entered the palace of Roderic, had been desirous, if +it were possible, to push forward to the presence of his rival, without +making any previous enquiries, or admitting of a moment's pause. The +frequency however of the domestics had disappointed his purpose, and he +was detained by them in spite of his efforts. "What means," cried he, +"this violence? I must enter here. I will not be delayed. My purpose +admits not of trifling and parley. To me every moment is big with fate." +He said. For Edwin disdained the employment of falsehood and disguise. +He lifted the javelin in his hand, but his heart was too full of +gentleness and humanity rashly to employ the instrument of death. His +tone however was resolute, and his gesture commanding, and the +astonished attendants were uncertain in what manner to conduct +themselves. + +At this instant a domestic, who had received the instructions of his +lord, entered the court. He had the appearance of superior dignity; and +removing the attendants who pressed with rudeness upon the shepherd, he +enquired of him the cause of his intrusion. "Lead me," cried Edwin, "to +the lord of your mansion. My business is important and pressing, and +will not admit of being communicated to any other ear. Whence this +difficulty? Innocence does not withdraw from the observation of those +who are desirous to approach it; and a manly courage is not apprehensive +of an enemy." + +"Young stranger," replied the domestic, "you are misinformed. This +mansion knows not a lord. It belongs solely to proprietors of the softer +sex, whom fortune has indulged as you perceive with every thing that is +calculated to give new relish to the pursuits of life, and beguile the +lazy foot of time. It is our boast and our honour to serve these +damsels. And could my report add one ray to their lustre, I would tell +you, that they are fair as the peep of the morning, and more fragrant +than beds of violets and roses. It is their command, that humanity +should be extended by all around them, not only to man, but to the +humblest and weakest animals. Though you have entered their residence by +mistake, we shall but fulfil the service they expect in furnishing you +with every assistance and every accommodation in our power. If you are +hungry, come in and partake of the liberal plenty the castle affords. If +you thirst, we will cheerfully offer you the capacious goblet and the +richest wines. If you are fatigued with the travel of the day, or have +wandered from your path and are benighted in your journey, enter their +mansion. The accommodations are large, and they are all free for the use +of the poor, the necessitous, the unfortunate and the miserable." + +Edwin listened with astonishment to the narration. He was not used to +the address of falshood; and strongly warned as he had previously been +of the iniquity of the train, the ingenuousness of his mind induced him +at first without reflection to yield an easy credit to the story that +was told him. It was related with fluency, plausibility, and gravity; +and it was accompanied with a manner seemingly artless and humane, which +it was scarcely possible for one unhackneyed in the stratagems of deceit +to distrust and contradict. + +"Surely," replied Edwin, "I cannot be wholly mistaken. At least has +there not a young shepherdess just arrived here, tall, tender and +beautiful, and whose flaxen tresses are more bright than gold, and more +abundant than the blossoms in the spring?" + +Before the officious domestic could reply to his enquiries, two of the +nymphs, who had been attired for the feast of Imogen, came into the +outer apartment in which the shepherd was, and advanced toward him. +"These are my mistresses," cried the attendant. Edwin approached them +with respect, and repeated his former enquiries. They were the most +beautiful of the train of Roderic. They were clad in garments of the +whitest silk, and profusely adorned with chaplets of flowers. Their +appearance therefore was calculated to give them, in a shepherd's eye, +an air of sweetness and simplicity that could not easily be resisted. + +One of them was tall and majestic, and the other low, and of a shape and +figure the most alluring. This appeared to be like a blossom in May, +whose colours discovered to the attentive observer all their +attractions, without being expanded to the careless eye: And that might +be supposed to be a few summers farther advanced to a delicious +maturity. The majesty of the one had nothing in it of the gross, the +indelicate, and the forbidding; and the softness of the other was +attempered with inexpressible propriety and grace. Both of them were +gentle and affable. But the affability of the former took the name of +benignity and condescension, and the affability of the latter was full +of harmless gaiety, and a cheerful and unpretending spirit of society. + +"We cannot," replied the elder, "attend to your enquiries here. The +apartment is comfortless and inhospitable. You appear fatigued. And we +pretend not, young stranger, merely to contribute what is in our power +to relieve the uneasiness of your mind, we would also refresh your +wearied frame. Come in then, and we will afford you every satisfaction +we are able. Enter the mansion, and partake of the plenty the Gods have +bestowed upon us, and which we desire not to engross to ourselves." +During these words Edwin surveyed his fair entertainers with wonder and +admiration. But enchanting as they were, they found not the avenue to +his heart. There Imogen reigned alone, and could not admit of a rival. +Even though upon a slighter occasion, and at less important moment, the +purity of his mind, that virtue so much esteemed among the swains, could +have been tainted, yet now that his undertaking whispered him, "Imogen +alone is fair!" now that he feared for her safety, and hoped every +moment to arrive at the dreaded, pleasing period of his anxiety, he +could but be constant and be faithful. He recollected the sage +instructions of the Druid of Elwy: and his resolutions were unshaken as +the roots of Snowdon. + +He accepted their invitation. Immediately, as upon a signal, an hundred +flambeaux lighted the area and lined the passage to the saloon of +pleasure. The nymphs placed themselves on each side of the shepherd, and +in this manner they passed along. If Imogen had been struck with the +profuseness of the illumination, the richness of the plate, the +sumptuousness of the viands and the wines, and the fragrant clouds of +incense that filled the apartment, how much more were they calculated to +astonish the soul of Edwin! He had comparatively passed through no +previous scenes; he had not been led on step by step; and the +voluptuousness of the objects that now presented themselves before him +had been unknown and unexpected. The train of the subordinate attendants +of the magician filled the apartment with beauty and with grace, and +seemed to pay the most unreserved obedience to the nymphs that at first +addressed him. + +But before the shepherd had time to examine the objects that surrounded +him, the musicians awaked their instruments, and all his faculties were +engrossed with soft melody and enchanting sounds. The instrumental +performance was illustrated and completed with a multitude of harmonious +voices, and those who sang were each of them of the softer sex. + +"What are the possessions most eagerly courted among mankind? Which are +the divinities by mortals most assiduously adored? This goodly universe +was intended for the seat of pleasure, unmixed pleasure. But a sportive, +malicious divinity sent among men a gaudy phantom, an empty bubble, and +called the shadow Honour. In pursuit of a fancied distinction and a +sounding name, the children of the earth have deserted all that is bland +and all that is delicious. Labour, naked, deformed, and offensive, they +willingly embrace. They brave hardship and severity. They laugh at +danger. From hence they derive the virtue of resolution, the merit of +self-denial, and the excellence of mortification. + +"But heaven did not open wide its hand, and scatter delight through +every corner of the universe, without intending that they should be +enjoyed. Enjoyment, indulgence, and felicity are not crimes. Abstinence, +self-denial and mortification have only a specious mien and a fictitious +merit. Did all mankind obey their fallacious dictates, the unlimited +bounties of nature would become a burden to the earth, and fill it with +pestilence and contagion. The soil would be oppressed with her own +fertility; the herds would overmultitude their lords; and the crouded +air would be darkened with the plumes of its numerous inhabitants. The +very gems that now lie buried in the bosom of the ocean, would then +bespangle its surface, and the dumb tenants of the watery tracts, inured +to their blaze, would learn to leave the caverns of the sea and gaze +upon the sun. + +"Mortals, open your hearts to the divinity of pleasure! Why should he be +in love with labour, who has a capacious hoard of choice delights within +his reach? Why should we fly from a present good that we possess, to a +future that we do not comprehend? Is this the praise we owe the +bounteous Gods? Can neglect and indifference to their gifts be +gratitude? This were to serve them like a timorous and trembling slave +beneath the eye of an austere and capricious tyrant; and not with that +generosity, that enthusiasm, that liberal self-confidence, which are +worthy of a father, a patron and a friend. + +"Ye that are wise, ye that are favoured of propitious heaven, drink deep +of the cup of pleasure. The sun has now withdrawn his splendid lustre, +and his flaring beams. The period of exercise is past, and the lids of +prying curiosity is [are] closed. Night is the season of feast and the +season of gaiety. In the graver hours of activity and industry, sobriety +may be proper. It may then be fit to listen to the dictates of prudence, +and pay some attention to the prejudices of mankind. The sternness of +age and the austerity of censoriousness are now silent. Now pleasure +wears a freer garb; and the manners of enjoyment are more frank and +unrestrained. The thinness of indiscretion and the airy forms of +inadvertence are lost and annihilated amid the shadows of the night. + +"Now the numerous inhabitants of the waters come forth from their oozy +beds and play and flounce in the beams of the moon. Round the luminary +of the night the stars lead up the mystic dance, and compose the music +of the spheres. The deities of the woods and the deities of the rivers +come out from their secret haunts, and keep their pastimes +unapprehensive of human intrusion. The elves and the fairies repair to +their sports, and trip along the velvet green with many-twinkling feet. +Let us imitate their amiable alacrity and their cheerful amusements. + +"What has sleep to do with the secrecy and silence of the night? It is +the hour of pleasure unrestrained and free. It is the hour in which the +empire of beauty is complete, and those mysteries are disclosed which +the profaner eye of day must never behold. Ye that are wise, ye that are +favoured of propitious heaven, drink deep of the cup of pleasure! The +festive board is spread before you; the flowing bowl is proffered for +your acceptance. Beauty, the crown of enjoyment, the last perfection of +society, is within your reach. Be wise and taste. Partake of the +munificence the Gods vouchsafe." + +As the song proceeded the two nymphs, who had first appeared to Edwin, +and since attended him with the extremest officiousness, endeavoured by +every artful blandishment to engage his attention, and rivet his +partiality. They exerted themselves to suppress the grossness, +inelegance and sensuality to which they had commonly been habituated, +and to cover the looseness of the passions with the veil of simplicity, +delicacy, and softness. As the music ceased, the master of the spectacle +came forth from his retreat. But his figure was no longer that which +bespoke the magician, and which Edwin had already seen. He appeared in +the form of a youth of that age in which the frolic insignificance of +childhood gives place to the eagerness, the enthusiasm and the engaging +manners of blooming manhood. His habit was that of a cupbearer. His +robes were of azure silk, and floated in graceful folds as he passed +along. The beauty of his person was worthy of the synod of the Gods. His +features had all the softness of woman without effeminacy; and in his +eye there sat a lambent fire which bespoke the man, without roughness, +and without ferocity. In one hand he bore a crystal goblet full of every +potent enchantment, and which rendered him who drank for ever a slave to +the most menial offices and the most wanton caprices of his seducer. In +the other hand he held loosely, and as if it had been intended merely to +give a completeness to his figure and a gracefulness to his step, that +irresistible wand by which the majesty of man had often been degraded, +and the reluctant spirit had been conjured up from the caverns of the +abyss. The goblet he delivered to the elder nymph, who presented it, +with inimitable grace and a bewitching condescension, to the gallant +shepherd. + +Edwin had the fortitude of a hero, but he had also the feelings of a +man. He could not but be struck with the beauty of the nymphs, he could +not but be surprised with the profuseness of the entertainment, and the +richness of the preparations. The soul of Edwin was full of harmony. It +had been one of his earliest and most ruling passions. No shepherd +excelled him in the skill of the pipe, no shepherd with a sweeter or +more sonorous voice could carol the rustic lay. Even the figure assumed +by Roderic, his garb, his step, his gesture had something in them of +angelic and celestial without the blaze of divinity, and without the +awfulness that surrounds the godlike existencies, that sometimes +condescend to visit this sublunary scene. The shepherd took into his +hand the fatal bowl. + +In the midst however of all that was attractive, and all that was +unknown, Edwin had not forgotten the business that had brought him +hither and the lessons of Madoc. The visage of Imogen, ever present to +his soul, suggested these salutary reflections. By her assistance he +strengthened all his resolutions, and gave vigour to the heroism of his +mind. Through the memory of Imogen he derived a body, and communicated a +visible form to the precepts of rectitude; and virtue wore all those +charms that had the most uncontroled empire in his bosom. Half way to +his lips he raised the cup of vice, and inexorable fate sat smiling on +the brim. He paused; he hesitated. By an irresistible impulse of +goodness he withdrew the fatal draught. He shed the noxious composition +upon the ground, and hurled from him with indignation the vessel in +which it had been contained. + +Roderic beheld the scene with deep emotion, and was agitated by turns +with a thousand passions. He saw the issue with confusion, despondence +and fury. The roseat smiles of the cupbearer vanished; and, without the +notice and consent of his mind, his limbs resumed their wonted form, and +his features confirmed the suspicions of the shepherd, that he was now +confronted with his mortal enemy. Thrice the magician invoked the spirit +of his mother, and thrice he conjured the goblins, the most potent that +ever mix in the mortal scene. He lifted the wand in his hand. It was the +fiery ordeal that summons human character to the severest trial. It was +the _judgment of God_ in which the lots are devoutly committed to +the disposal of heaven, and the enthroned Divinity, guided by his +omniscience of the innocence of the brave, or the guilt of the +presumptuous, points the barbed spear, and gives a triple edge to the +shining steel. If the shepherd had one base and earth-born particle in +his frame, if his soul confessed one sordid and sensual desire, now was +the time in which for his prospects to be annihilated and his reputation +blotted for ever, and the state and empire of his rival to be fixed +beyond the power of human machinations to shake or subvert it. +"Presumptuous swain!" cried the sorcerer, "what folly, what unmeaning +rashness has brought you within the circle of my incantations? Know that +from them no mortal has escaped; that by them every swain, whom +adventurousness, ignorance, or stratagem has introduced within these +limits, has been impelled to assume the savage form, and to herd with +the most detestable of brutes. Let then thy foolhardiness pay the +penalty which my voice has ever annexed to it. Hence to thy fellows! Go, +and let their hated form bely the reason thou shalt still retain, and +thy own voice affright thee, when thou shalt groan under irremediable +misery!" + +The incantation that had never yet failed of its hated purpose was +pronounced in vain. Edwin had heard it unappalled. He wore the amulet of +Madoc. He opposed to it the unconquered shield of spotless innocence. +Even in the midst of the lordly despotism and the imperious haughtiness +of his rival, he had been conscious to the triumph which nothing but the +calmness of fortitude and the serenity of virtue can inspire. He was +mindful of the precepts of the Druid. While Roderic was overwhelmed with +disappointment and despair, he seized the wand of the magician, and with +irresistible vigour wrenched it from his hand. He struck it with +violence upon the ground, and it burst into a thousand shivers. The +castle rocked over his head. Those caverns, which for revolving years +had served to hide the iniquity and the cruelty of their possessor, +disclosed their secret horrors. The whole stupendous pile seemed rushing +to the ground. A flood of lightning streamed across the scene. A peal of +thunder, deafening and tremendous, followed it. All now was vacancy. Not +a trace of those costly scenes and that magnificent architecture +remained. The heaven over-canopied the head of Edwin. The clouds were +dissipated. The light of innumerable stars gave grandeur to the scene. +And the silver moon communicated a milder lustre, and created a softer +shade. Roderic and his train, full of pusillanimity and consternation, +had fled from the direful scene, and vanished like shadows at the rising +of the sun. + +No mortal, but our lovers, had ever entered the enchanted mansion +without having their characters disgraced, and their hearts thronged +with all those hateful and dissolute passions, which distinguished the +band of Roderic. No mortal was there, but our lovers, of the numerous +inhabitants of this bad edifice, who had not shrunk from the earthquake +and the solemnities that accompanied its sub-version. Edwin and Imogen +were alone. The shepherdess had listened to all the horrors of the scene +with a gloomy kind of satisfaction. "What new wonders," cried she, "are +now to be disclosed? What purpose are they intended to answer! The +amendment, or the destruction of my betrayer? But it is well. Though the +elements mix in inextricable confusion, though the earth be destroyed, +yet has innocence no cause to fear. Alas, though I myself should be +buried in the ruin, why should I apprehend, or why lament it? I was +happy; untaintedly, uninterruptedly happy. But I am miserable. I am +confined here in a loathsome, detested prison. Even my conduct is shut +up with difficulties, and my bosom disquieted with the conflict of +seeming duties. Even Edwin, the swain to whom my heart was united, and +from whose memory my integrity derived new strength is corrupted, +depraved and base. Let then destruction come. I will not lament the +being cut off in the bloom of youth. I will not shed one tear, or feel +one fond regret, but for the calamity and disappointment of my parents." + +But however the despair of Imogen armed her courage against the +concussions of nature, she yet felt that delicacy of constitution which +characterises the most lovely of her sex, and that amiable timidity +which often accompanies the most invincible fortitude. When the thunder +roared with so fearful violence, when the mansion burst in ruins over +her head, she stood, trembling and breathless, at the tumult around her. +Her safety was the first object of the attention of Edwin; and when she +recovered her recollection she found herself in the arms of her lover. +"_My fair one, my Imogen_," cried he, "have I recovered you through +so many obstacles, and in the midst of so numerous dangers? Oh, how must +our affection, the purest, brightest, that ever lighted a human breast, +be endeared by our mutual calamities! But virtue is ever triumphant, +virtue is never deserted of the watchful care of heaven. My trials, my +lovely shepherdess, have been feeble indeed, when compared with yours. +Your integrity is unrivalled, and your innocence has surpassed all that +the bards have sung in their immortal lays. Come then, oh, dearer, far +dearer than ever to this constant heart, come to my arms! Let delay be +banished. Let the veil of virgin bashfulness be laid aside. And let us +repair together to the presence of your parents to ask an united +blessing." + +While Edwin thus poured forth the raptures of his heart, Imogen turned +towards him a languid eye, full of soft and silent reproach. She retired +from him with involuntary horror. "No, shepherd," cried she, and waved +her hand with graceful indignation. "Like you I approve the justice of +the Gods in the banishment of Roderic. But I think that justice would +have been more complete, had it included in its vindictive appearance +the punishment of the base, degenerate Edwin. Unworthy Edwin, to how +vile and earth born sentiments has your heart been conscious! But go. +Hence from my sight! The very spectacle of that form which I had learned +to love is mildew and contagion to my eyes. Oh, Edwin, for your sake I +will distrust every attractive form and every ingenuous appearance. The +separation, my swain, is hard. The arts of Roderic came not near my +soul, but your baseness has fixed an indelible wound. But think +not--cherish not the fond mistake--that I will ever forget your +ungenerousness in the hour of my distress and forlornness, or receive +that serpent to my heart again." + +As she pronounced these words, she hastened to fly from her imaginary +enemy. Edwin detained her by a gentle violence. With much intreaty and a +thousand soft blandishments, he wrung from her the story of her +indignation. He related to her the tale of Madoc, and told her of the +magic arts of his rival. He fully explained the scene of the pretended +repentance of Roderic, and the seduction he had attempted to practise +under the form of Edwin. As she listened to the wondrous story, Imogen +trembled at the unknown dangers with which she had been environed, and +admired more than ever the omnipotence of that virtue which had been +able to lead her safely through them all. The conviction she received of +the rectitude and fidelity of Edwin was to her, like the calm breath of +zephyr, which succeeds the tremendous storm upon the surface of the +ocean; and like that sovereign balm, which the sage Druids pour into the +wounds of the shepherd, and restore him at once to salubrity and vigour. +The amiable pair repaired with speed, and arrived with the dawn of the +sun to the cottage of Imogen. At the sight of them the venerable Edith +reared her drooping, desponding head, and the cheeks of the hoary father +were bedewed with the tears of transport. Such were the trials of our +lovers, and of correspondent worth was the reward they received. Long +did they dwell together in the vale of Clwyd, with that simplicity and +attachment which no scenes but those of pastoral life can know. Their +happiness was more sensible than that of the swains around them in that +they had known a reverse of fortune. And their virtue was the purer and +the more benevolent, in that they had passed through the fields of +trial; and that only through the ordeal of temptation, and an approved +fortitude, they had arrived to the unmixed felicity, and the +uninterrupted enjoyment they at length possessed. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Imogen, by William Godwin + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IMOGEN *** + +This file should be named imogn10.txt or imogn10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, imogn11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, imogn10a.txt + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, David Garcia and Distributed Proofreaders + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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