Britain ... - Blue-Lite

304 THE VARANGIAN. [Act II.
Judith discovered, and Matilda, at a distance,
examining
a wardrobe.
JUDITH (rising.)
I cannot long endure this mental strife ;
It maddens me ! O, I must quench this fire,
Which Love hath from the eyes of Dorset's Earl,
The gallant Osmond, lighted in my heart ;
Or honour and fair fame, like martyr-saints,
Will perish in the flames. An evil hour
Was that in which the Norman conqueror gave
My hand reluctant to Northumberland ;
The homely, witless, dull, plain-spoken man,
I hate him ! Many
causes for this hate
Torment my bosom. First, he is a Saxon :
Then he is rude, devoid the courtly grace
Of our gay youth of Gaul, gigantic shaped,
And scurvily ill-favoured, heinous faults
In a fair lady's eye ; and, worse than all,
He is my husband ! Can there be no way
Found out to rid me of this living plague ?
Honour hath chained me to a rugged rock,
While passion,
like a vulture, drinks my blood,
And battens on my vitals ! What art thou
So busied with, good
wench ?
MATILDA.
Lady, I seek
That splendid
coronet and robe in which
You won so many proud admirers, when
The King gave to the embassy of Fran ce
His most magnificent banquet.
JUDITH.
Why should I
To-day be thus arrayed ?