Britain ... - Blue-Lite

Scene III.] THE DEVOTED ONE. 129
GODWIN.
O, I was born
To wrestle with
opposers. What if fame,
Hereafter fame, be nothing but a sound,
Yet living honour is a glorious thing.
Splendour, and power, arid wealth are in her train,
And he who would to her gay smiles prefer
Pale is
poverty,
at the best an ass,
And merits all the burdens which the hag
Lays on his lank and bony back to bear.
WULFNOTH.
Alas ! with thy ambitious hopes to strive
Is bootless all. But hear me, ere we part,
And I'll a tale unfold shall stir thy wonder.
I have not ever been what now I am :
There was a time when all which thou dost feel
Came o'er my soul in dreams as bright as thine,
And faded, as I fear me thine will fade,
In darkness and in storms.
GODWIN.
Proceed, dear father.
WULVNOTB.
Learn, then, that I Duke Edric's brother am,
That prince of traitors, that perfidious wretch,
Amid the darkness of whose demon heart
There never came one brief redeeming ray
Of mercy, truth, or honour.
GODWIN.
Saints of heaven !
3
Art thou the brother of a Duke ?
( )
WULFXOTH.
Even so.
An humble peasant was our sire, who lived
K