Borgo Delle Vergine at Naples

JULIA.Do not go yet.

VALDESSO.The night is far advanced;I fear to stay too late, and weary youWith these discussions.

JULIA.I have much to say.I speak to you, Valdesso, with that franknessWhich is the greatest privilege of friendship.--Speak as I hardly would to my confessor,Such is my confidence in you.

VALDESSO.Dear CountessIf loyalty to friendship be a claimUpon your confidence, then I may claim it.

JULIA.Then sit again, and listen unto thingsThat nearer are to me than life itself.

VALDESSO.In all things I am happy to obey you,And happiest then when you command me most.

JULIA.Laying aside all useless rhetoric,That is superfluous between us two,I come at once unto the point and say,You know my outward life, my rank and fortune;Countess of Fondi, Duchess of Trajetto,A widow rich and flattered, for whose handIn marriage princes ask, and ask it onlyTo be rejected. All the world can offerLies at my feet. If I remind you of it,It is not in the way of idle boasting,But only to the better understandingOf what comes after.

VALDESSO.God hath given you alsoBeauty and intellect; and the signal graceTo lead a spotless life amid temptations,That others yield to.

JULIA.But the inward life,--That you know not; 't is known but to myself,And is to me a mystery and a pain.A soul disquieted, and ill at ease,A mind perplexed with doubts and apprehensions,A heart dissatisfied with all around me,And with myself, so that sometimes I weep,Discouraged and disgusted with the world.

VALDESSO.Whene'er we cross a river at a ford,If we would pass in safety, we must keepOur eyes fixed steadfast on the shore beyond,For if we cast them on the flowing stream,The head swims with it; so if we would crossThe running flood of things here in the world,Our souls must not look down, but fix their sightOn the firm land beyond.

JULIA.I comprehend you.You think I am too worldly; that my headSwims with the giddying whirl of life about me.Is that your meaning?

VALDESSO.Yes; your meditationsAre more of this world and its vanitiesThan of the world to come.

JULIA.Between the twoI am confused.

VALDESSO.Yet have I seen you listenEnraptured when Fra Bernardino preachedOf faith and hope and charity.

JULIA.I listen,But only as to music without meaning.It moves me for the moment, and I thinkHow beautiful it is to be a saint,As dear Vittoria is; but I am weakAnd wayward, and I soon fall back againTo my old ways, so very easily.There are too many week-days for one Sunday.

VALDESSO.Then take the Sunday with you through the week,And sweeten with it all the other days.

JULIA.In part I do so; for to put a stopTo idle tongues, what men might say of meIf I lived all alone here in my palace,And not from a vocation that I feelFor the monastic life, I now am livingWith Sister Caterina at the conventOf Santa Chiara, and I come here onlyOn certain days, for my affairs, or visitsOf ceremony, or to be with friends.For I confess, to live among my friendsIs Paradise to me; my PurgatoryIs living among people I dislike.And so I pass my life in these two worlds,This palace and the convent.

VALDESSO.It was thenThe fear of man, and not the love of God,That led you to this step. Why will you notGive all your heart to God?

JULIA.If God commands it,Wherefore hath He not made me capableOf doing for Him what I wish to doAs easily as I could offer HimThis jewel from my hand, this gown I wear,Or aught else that is mine?

VALDESSO.The hindrance liesIn that original sin, by which all fell.

JULIA.Ah me, I cannot bring my troubled mindTo wish well to that Adam, our first parent,Who by his sin lost Paradise for us,And brought such ills upon us.

VALDESSO.We ourselves,When we commit a sin, lose Paradise,As much as he did. Let us think of this,And how we may regain it.

JULIA.Teach me, then,To harmonize the discord of my life,And stop the painful jangle of these wires.

VALDESSO.That is a task impossible, untilYou tune your heart-strings to a higher keyThan earthly melodies.

JULIA.How shall I do it?Point out to me the way of this perfection,And I will follow you; for you have madeMy soul enamored with it, and I cannotRest satisfied until I find it out.But lead me privately, so that the worldHear not my steps; I would not give occasionFor talk among the people.

VALDESSO.Now at lastI understand you fully. Then, what needIs there for us to beat about the bush?I know what you desire of me.

JULIA.What rudeness!If you already know it, why not tell me?

VALDESSO.Because I rather wait for you to ask itWith your own lips.

JULIA.Do me the kindness, then,To speak without reserve; and with all frankness,If you divine the truth, will I confess it.

VALDESSO.I am content.

JULIA.Then speak.

VALDESSO.You would be freeFrom the vexatious thoughts that come and goThrough your imagination, and would have mePoint out some royal road and lady-likeWhich you may walk in, and not wound your feet;You would attain to the divine perfection,And yet not turn your back upon the world;You would possess humility within,But not reveal it in your outward actions;You would have patience, but without the rudeOccasions that require its exercise;You would despise the world, but in such fashionThe world should not despise you in return;Would clothe the soul with all the Christian graces,Yet not despoil the body of its gauds;Would feed the soul with spiritual food,Yet not deprive the body of its feasts;Would seem angelic in the sight of God,Yet not too saint-like in the eyes of men;In short, would lead a holy Christian lifeIn such a way that even your nearest friendWould not detect therein one circumstanceTo show a change from what it was before.Have I divined your secret?

JULIA.You have drawnThe portrait of my inner self as trulyAs the most skilful painter ever paintedA human face.

VALDESSO.This warrants me in sayingYou think you can win heaven by compromise,And not by verdict.

JULIAYou have often told meThat a bad compromise was better evenThan a good verdict.

VALDESSO.Yes, in suits at law;Not in religion. With the human soulThere is no compromise. By faith aloneCan man be justified.

JULIA.Hush, dear Valdesso;That is a heresy. Do not, I pray you,Proclaim it from the house-top, but preserve itAs something precious, hidden in your heart,As I, who half believe and tremble at it.

VALDESSO.I must proclaim the truth.

JULIA.Enthusiast!Why must you? You imperil both yourselfAnd friends by your imprudence. Pray, be patient.You have occasion now to show that virtueWhich you lay stress upon. Let us returnTo our lost pathway. Show me by what stepsI shall walk in it.

VALDESSO.Hark! the convent bellsAre ringing; it is midnight; I must leave you.And yet I linger. Pardon me, dear Countess,Since you to-night have made me your confessor,If I so far may venture, I will warn youUpon one point.

JULIA.What is it? Speak, I pray you,For I have no concealments in my conduct;All is as open as the light of day.What is it you would warn me of?

VALDESSO.Your friendshipWith Cardinal Ippolito.

JULIA.What is thereTo cause suspicion or alarm in that,More than in friendships that I entertainWith you and others? I ne'er sat with himAlone at night, as I am sitting nowWith you, Valdesso.

VALDESSO.Pardon me; the portraitThat Fra Bastiano painted was for him.Is that quite prudent?

JULIA.That is the same questionVittoria put to me, when I last saw her.I make you the same answer. That was notA pledge of love, but of pure gratitude.Recall the adventure of that dreadful nightWhen Barbarossa with two thousand MoorsLanded upon the coast, and in the darknessAttacked my castle. Then, without delay,The Cardinal came hurrying down from RomeTo rescue and protect me. Was it wrongThat in an hour like that I did not weighToo nicely this or that, but granted himA boon that pleased him, and that flattered me?

VALDESSO.Only beware lest, in disguise of friendshipAnother corsair, worse than Barbarossa,Steal in and seize the castle, not by stormBut strategy. And now I take my leave.

JULIA.Farewell; but ere you go look forth and seeHow night hath hushed the clamor and the stirOf the tumultuous streets. The cloudless moonRoofs the whole city as with tiles of silver;The dim, mysterious sea in silence sleeps;And straight into the air Vesuvius liftsHis plume of smoke. How beautiful it is!

Poisoned at Itri.

Poisoned? Who is poisoned?

The Cardinal Ippolito, my master.Call it malaria. It was sudden.