Britain ... - Blue-Lite

Scene I.] THE ENGLISH SLAVE. %
Remembrance through the dark confusion sheds
.No gleam o'er all the past !
ALBERT.
Elfilia, turn to me.
Here is a heart all truth, a heart that burns
With passionate feeling. Give me one bright smile,
And it though long hath been a dreary waste.
The wilderness into sunshine and with joy
Shall break forth into singing, and the flowers
Of hope bloom sweetly there.
ELFILIA.
What ! love a slave ?
ALBERT.
A curse eternal on the ashes rest
Of him who first his fellow-men enslaved !
He who yon kingly orb flung on the heavens.
And crowned the shadowy night with countless stars,
Made me a man equal in form and mind
With yon proud lord, who to the mart of slaves
Would drive me like a beast. But be thou mine,
And I shall feel a new and mighty spirit
Uplift me, like the youthful eagle when
Her untried plumes expand to meet the sun,
Till fame and honour shed their glory on me.
[Horns
ELFILIA.
It cannot be. Hark ! the proud hunters come !
O let me fly
ALBERT (seixing her arm.)
Beware of my revenge !
Thou shalt be mine, or I to Gondabert
Will thy stolen meetings with his son reveal.
and cries near.
And, by St. Edmund's bones ! here is a proof
[ Taking up the letter.