V.

He. O ye gods, let me suffer for both;
At the feet of my Phyllis I’ll lie: 
I’ll resign up my breath,
And take pleasure in death
To be pitied by her when I die.

VI.

She. What her honour denied you in life,
In her death she will give to your love. 
Such flame as is true
After fate will renew,
For the souls to meet closer above.

Enter ESPERANZA again, after the Song.

Almanz. Accept this diamond, till I can present
Something more worthy my acknowledgement. 
And now farewell:  I will attend, alone,
Her coming forth; and make my sufferings known. [Exit ESPERANZA. 
A hollow wind comes whistling through that door,
And a cold shivering seizes me all o’er;
My teeth, too, chatter with a sudden fright:—­
These are the raptures of too fierce delight,
The combat of the tyrants, hope and fear;
Which hearts, for want of field-room, cannot bear. 
I grow impatient;—­this, or that’s the room:—­
I’ll meet her;—­now methinks, I her her come.
                        [He goes to the door; the Ghost of his Mother
                         meets him:  He starts back:  The Ghost stands
                         in the door.
Well may’st thou make thy boast, whate’er thou art! 
Thou art the first e’er made Almanzor start. 
My legs
Shall bear me to thee in their own despite: 
I’ll rush into the covert of thy night,
And pull thee backward, by the shroud, to light;
Or else I’ll squeeze thee, like a bladder, there,
And make thee groan thyself away to air. [The Ghost retires.
So, thou art gone!  Thou canst no conquest boast: 
I thought what was the courage of a ghost.—­
The grudging of my ague yet remains;
My blood, like icicles, hangs in my veins,
And does not drop:—­Be master of that door,
We two will not disturb each other more. 
I erred a little, but extremes may join;
That door was hell’s, but this is heaven’s and mine.
             [Goes to the other door, and is met again by the Ghost.
Again! by heaven, I do conjure thee, speak! 
What art thou, spirit? and what dost thou seek?
                    [The Ghost comes on softly after the conjuration;
                     and ALMANZOR retires to the middle of the
                     stage.

Ghost. I am the ghost of her who gave thee birth;
The airy shadow of her mouldering earth. 
Love of thy father me through seas did guide;
On seas I bore thee, and on seas I died. 
I died; and for my winding sheet a wave
I had, and all the ocean for my grave. 
But, when my soul to bliss did upward move,
I wandered round the crystal walls above;
But found the eternal fence so steeply high,
That, when I mounted to the middle sky,
I flagged, and fluttered down, and could not fly. 
Then, from the battlements of the heavenly tower,
A watchman angel bid me wait this hour;
And told me, I had yet a task assigned,
To warn that little pledge I left behind;
And to divert him, ere it were too late,
From crimes unknown, and errors of his fate.