The Complete Plays of Oscar Wilde. Оскар Уайльд

Some day, Lord Moranzone,

       You will understand my vengeance.

      MORANZONE

      Never, boy.

       [Gets out of window and exit by rope ladder.]

      GUIDO

      Father, I think thou knowest my resolve,

       And with this nobler vengeance art content.

       Father, I think in letting this man live

       That I am doing what thou wouldst have done.

       Father, I know not if a human voice

       Can pierce the iron gateway of the dead,

       Or if the dead are set in ignorance

       Of what we do, or do not, for their sakes.

       And yet I feel a presence in the air,

       There is a shadow standing at my side,

       And ghostly kisses seem to touch my lips,

       And leave them holier. [Kneels down.]

       O father, if ‘tis thou,

       Canst thou not burst through the decrees of death,

       And if corporeal semblance show thyself,

       That I may touch thy hand!

       No, there is nothing. [Rises.]

       ‘Tis the night that cheats us with its phantoms,

       And, like a puppet-master, makes us think

       That things are real which are not. It grows late.

       Now must I to my business.

       [Pulls out a letter from his doublet and reads it.]

       When he wakes,

       And sees this letter, and the dagger with it,

       Will he not have some loathing for his life,

       Repent, perchance, and lead a better life,

       Or will he mock because a young man spared

       His natural enemy? I do not care.

       Father, it is thy bidding that I do,

       Thy bidding, and the bidding of my love

       Which teaches me to know thee as thou art.

       [Ascends staircase stealthily, and just as he reaches out his hand to draw back the curtain the Duchess appears all in white. GUIDO starts back.]

      DUCHESS

      Guido! what do you here so late?

      GUIDO

      O white and spotless angel of my life,

       Sure thou hast come from Heaven with a message

       That mercy is more noble than revenge?

      DUCHESS

      There is no barrier between us now.

      GUIDO

      None, love, nor shall be.

      DUCHESS

      I have seen to that.

      GUIDO

      Tarry here for me.

      DUCHESS

      No, you are not going?

       You will not leave me as you did before?

      GUIDO

      I will return within a moment’s space,

       But first I must repair to the Duke’s chamber,

       And leave this letter and this dagger there,

       That when he wakes -

      DUCHESS

      When who wakes?

      GUIDO

      Why, the Duke.

      DUCHESS

      He will not wake again.

      GUIDO

      What, is he dead?

      DUCHESS

      Ay! he is dead.

      GUIDO

      O God! how wonderful

       Are all thy secret ways! Who would have said

       That on this very night, when I had yielded

       Into thy hands the vengeance that is thine,

       Thou with thy finger wouldst have touched the man,

       And bade him come before thy judgment seat.

      DUCHESS

      I have just killed him.

      GUIDO

      [in horror] Oh!

      DUCHESS

      He was asleep;

       Come closer, love, and I will tell you all.

       I had resolved to kill myself tonight.

       About an hour ago I waked from sleep,

       And took my dagger from beneath my pillow,

       Where I had hidden it to serve my need,

       And drew it from the sheath, and felt the edge,

       And thought of you, and how I loved you, Guido,

       And turned to fall upon it, when I marked

       The old man sleeping, full of years and sin;

       There lay he muttering curses in his sleep,

       And as I looked upon his evil face

       Suddenly like a flame there flashed across me,

       There is the barrier which Guido spoke of:

       You said there lay a barrier between us,

       What barrier but he? -

       I hardly know

       What happened, but a steaming mist of blood

       Rose up between us two.

      GUIDO

      Oh, horrible!

      DUCHESS

      And then he groaned,

       And then he groaned no more! I only heard

       The dripping of the blood upon the floor.

      GUIDO

      Enough, enough.

      DUCHESS

      Will you not kiss me now?

       Do you remember saying that women’s love

       Turns men to angels? well, the love of man

       Turns women into martyrs; for its sake

       We do or suffer anything.

      GUIDO

      O God!

      DUCHESS

      Will you not speak?

      GUIDO

      I cannot speak at all.

      DUCHESS

      Let as not talk of this! Let us go hence:

       Is not the barrier broken down between us?

       What would you more? Come, it is almost morning.

       [Puts her hand on GUIDO’S.]

      GUIDO

      [breaking