The Indian Princess

[Sings.] Och! Hubbaboo – Gramachree – Hone![Exeunt.Scene III. Werocomoco, the royal village of Powhatan. Indian Girls arranging ornaments for a bridal dress. Music

Nima. Let us make haste, my companions, to finish the dress of the bride; to-day the prince Miami returns with our hunters from the chase; to-morrow he will bear away our princess to his own nation.

Enter Pocahontas from the wood, with bow and arrow, and a flamingo (red bird). Music as she enters

Princess. See, Nima, a flamingo.

Indian Girls crowd around, and admire the bird

Princess. O Nima! I will use my bow no longer; I go out to the wood, and my heart is light; but while my arrow flies, I sorrow; and when the bird drops through the branches, tears come into mine eyes. I will no longer use my bow.

Distant hunting-horn. Music. They place themselves in attitudes of listening. Hunting-horn nearer

Nima. 'Tis Miami and our hunters. Princess, why are your looks sad?

Princess. O Nima! the prince comes to bear me far from my father and my brother. I must quit for ever the companions and the woods that are dear to me. Nima, the Susquehannocks are a powerful nation, and my father would have them for his friends. He gives his daughter to their prince, but his daughter trembles to look upon the fierce Miami.

Music. Hunters seen winding down the hills; they are met by the women of the village; Miami approaches Pocahontas, and his attendants lay skins at her feet

Miami. Princess, behold the spoils I bring thee. Our hunters are laden with the deer and the soft furred beaver. But Miami scorned such prey: I watched for the mighty buffalo and the shaggy bear; my club felled them to the ground, and I tore their skins from their backs. The fierce carcajou had wound himself around the tree, ready to dart upon the hunter; but the hunter's eyes were not closed, and the carcajou quivered on the point of my spear. I heard the wolf howl as he looked at the moon, and the beams that feel upon his upturned face shewed my tomahawk the spot it was to enter. I marked where the panther had crouched, and, before he could spring, my arrow went into his heart. Behold the spoil the Susquehannock brings thee!

Princess. Susquehannock, thou'rt a mighty hunter. Powhatan shall praise thee for his daughter. But why returns not my brother with thee?

Miami. Nantaquas still finds pleasure in the hunt, but the soul of Miami grew weary of being away from Werocomoco, for there dwelt the daughter of Powhatan.

Princess. Let us go to my father.

Music. Exeunt Princess and Miami into palace, followed by Nima and train; the others into their several cabinsScene IV. A Forest. Smith enters, bewildered in its mazes. Music, expressive of his situation

Smith.

'Tis all in vain! no clue to guide my steps.[Music.By this the explorers have return'd despairing,And left their forward leader to his fate.The rashness is well punish'd, that, alone,Would brave the entangling mazes of these wilds.The night comes on, and soon these gloomy woodsWill echo to the yell of savage beasts,And savage men more merciless. Alas!And am I, after all my golden dreamsOf laurel'd glory, doom'd in wilds to fall,Ignobly and obscure, the prey of brutes?[Music.Fie on these coward thoughts! this trusty sword,That made the Turk and Tartar crouch beneath me,Will stead me well, e'en in this wilderness.[Music.O glory! thou who led'st me fearless on,Where death stalk'd grimly over slaughter'd heaps,Or drank the drowning shrieks of shipwreck'd wretches,Swell high the bosom of thy votary![Music. Exit Smith. Music. A party of Indians enter, as following Smith, and steal cautiously after him. The Indian yell within. Music, hurried. Re-enter Smith, engaged with the Indians; several fall. Exeunt, fighting, and enter from the opposite side the Prince Nantaquas, who views with wonder the prowess of Smith; when the music has ceased he speaks

Sure 'tis our war-god, Aresqui himself, who lays our chiefs low! Now they stop; he fights no longer; he stands terrible as the panther, which the fearful hunter dares not approach. Stranger, brave stranger, Nantaquas must know thee!

[Music. He rushes out, and re-enters with Smith

Prince. Art thou not then a God?

Smith. As thou art, warrior, but a man.

Prince. Then art thou a man like a God; thou shalt be the brother of Nantaquas. Stranger, my father is king of the country, and many nations obey him: will thou be the friend of the great Powhatan?

Smith. Freely, prince; I left my own country to be the red man's friend.

Prince. Wonderful man, where is thy country?

Smith. It lies far beyond the wide water.

Prince. Is there then a world beyond the wide water? I thought only the sun had been there: thou comest then from behind the sun?

Smith. Not so, prince.

Prince. Listen to me. Thy country lies beyond the wide water, and from it do mine eyes behold the sun rise each morning.

Smith. Prince, to your sight he seems to rise from thence, but your eyes are deceived, they reach not over the wilderness of waters.

Prince. Where sleeps the sun then?

Smith. The sun never sleeps. When you see him sink behind the mountains, he goes to give light to other countries, where darkness flies before him, as it does here, when you behold him rise in the east: thus he chases Night for ever round the world.

Prince. Tell me, wise stranger, how came you from your country across the wide water? when our canoes venture but a little from the shore, the waves never fail to swallow them up.

Smith. Prince, the Great Spirit is the friend of the white men, and they have arts which the red men know not.

Prince. My brother, will you teach the red men?

Smith. I come to do it. My king is a king of a mighty nation; he is great and good: go, said he, go and make the red men wise and happy.

During the latter part of the dialogue, the Indians had crept in, still approaching till they had almost surrounded Smith. A burst of savage music. They seize and bear him off, the Prince in vain endeavouring to prevent it

Prince. Hold! the white man is the brother of your prince; hold, coward warriors!

[He rushes out.Scene V. Powhatan River, as the first scene Enter Larry

Now do I begin to suspect, what, to be sure, I've been certain of a long time, that master Robin's a little bit of a big rogue. I just now observed him with my friend Walter's wife. Arrah! here they come. By your leave, fair dealing, I'll play the eavesdropper behind this tree.

[Retires behind a tree. Enter Alice, followed by Robin

Robin. But, mistress Alice, pretty Alice.

Alice. Ugly Robin, I'll not hear a syllable.

Robin. But plague, prithee, Alice, why so coy?

Enter Walter [observing them, stops]

Alice. Master Robin, if you follow me about any longer with your fooleries, my Walter shall know of it.

Robin. A fig for Walter! is he to be mentioned the same day with the dapper Robin? can Walter make sonnets and madrigals, and set them, and sing them? besides, the Indians have eat him by this, I hope.

Walter. Oh, the rascal!

Robin. Come, pretty one, quite alone, no one near, even that blundering Irishman away.

Larry. O you spalpeen! I'll blunder on you anon.

Robin. Shall we, Alice, shall we?

Quartetto

Robin.

Mistress Alice, say,Walter's far away,Pretty Alice!Nay, now – prithee, pray,Shall we, Alice? hey!Mistress Alice?

Alice.

Master Robin, nay —Prithee, go your way,Saucy Robin!If you longer stay,You may rue the day,Master Robin.

Walter. [Aside.] True my Alice is.

Larry. [Aside.] Wat shall know of this.

Robin. [Struggling.] Pretty Alice!

Walter. [Aside.] What a rascal 'tis!

Larry. [Aside.] He'll kill poor Rob, I wis!

Robin. [Struggling.]

Mistress Alice,Let me taste the bliss —[Attempts to kiss her.

Alice.

Taste the bliss of this,[Slaps his face.Saucy Robin!

Walter. [Advancing.] Oh, what wond'rous bliss!

Larry. [Advancing.] How d'ye like the kiss?

[Robin steals off.

Walter. Jackanapes!

Larry. Aye, hop off, cock robin! Blood and thunder now, that such a sparrow should try to turn hawk, and pounce on your little pullet here.

Alice. Welcome, my bonny Walter.

Walter. A sweet kiss, Alice, to season my bitter tidings. Our captain's lost.

Walter. You shall hear. A league or two below this, we entered a charming stream, that seemed to glide through a fairy land of fertility. I must know more of this, said our captain. Await my return here. So bidding us moor the pinnace in a broad basin, where the Indian's arrows could reach us from neither side, away he went, alone in his boat, to explore the river to its head.

Larry. Gallant soul!

Walter. What devil prompted us to disobey his command I know not, but scarce was he out of sight, when we landed; and mark the end on't: up from their ambuscado started full three hundred black fiends, with a yell that might have appalled Lucifer, and whiz came a cloud of arrows about our ears. Three tall fellows of ours fell: Cassen, Emery, and Robinson. Our lieutenant, with Percy and myself, fought our way to the water side, where, leaving our canoe as a trophy to the victors, we plunged in, ducks, and, after swimming, dodging, and diving like regained the pinnace that we had left like geese.

Alice. Heaven be praised, you are safe; but our poor captain —

Walter. Aye; the day passed and he returned not; we came back for a reinforcement, and to-morrow we find him, or perish.

Alice. Perish! —

Walter. Aye; shame seize the poltroon who wou'dn't perish in such a cause; wou'dn't you, Larry?

Larry. By Saint Patrick, it's the thing I would do, and hould my head the higher for it all the days of my life after.

Walter. But see, our lieutenant and master Percy.

Enter Rolfe and Percy

Rolfe.

Good Walter look to the barge, see it be readyBy earliest dawn.

Walter.

I shall, sir.

Rolfe.

And be careful,This misadventure be not buzz'd abroad,Where 't may breed mutiny and mischief. SayWe've left the captain waiting our return,Safe with the other three; meantime, choose outSome certain trusty fellows, who will swearBravely to find their captain or their death.

Walter.

I'll hasten, sir, about it.

Larry.

Good lieutenant,Shall I along?

Rolfe.

In truth, brave Irishman,We cannot have a better. Pretty Alice,Will you again lose Walter for a time?

Alice. I would I were a man, sir, then, most willingly I'd lose myself to do our captain service.

Rolfe. An Amazon!

Walter.

Oh, 'tis a valiant dove.

Larry. But come; Heaven and St. Patrick prosper us.

[Exeunt Walter, Larry, Alice.

Rolfe.

Now, my sad friend, cannot e'en this arouse you?Still bending with the weight of shoulder'd Cupid?Fie! throw away that bauble, love, my friend:That glist'ning toy of listless laziness,Fit only for green girls and growing boysT' amuse themselves withal. Can an inconstant,A fickle changeling, move a man like Percy?

Percy.

Cold youth, how can you speak of that you feel not?You never lov'd.

Rolfe.

Hum! yes, in mine own way;Marry, 'twas not with sighs and folded arms;For mirth I sought in it, not misery.Sir, I have ambled through all love's gradationsMost jollily, and seriously the whilst.I have sworn oaths of love on my knee, yet laugh'd not;Complaints and chidings heard, but heeded not;Kiss'd the cheek clear from tear-drops, and yet wept not;Listen'd to vows of truth, which I believed not;And after have been jilted —

Percy.

Well!

Rolfe.

And car'd not.

Percy.

Call you this loving?

Rolfe.

Aye, and wisely loving.Not, sir, to have the current of one's bloodFroz'n with a frown, and molten with a smile;Make ebb and flood under a lady Luna,Liker the moon in changing than in chasteness.'Tis not to be a courier, posting upTo the seventh heav'n, or down to the gloomy centre,On the fool's errand of a wanton – pshaw!Women! they're made of whimsies and caprice,So variant and so wild, that, ty'd to a God,They'd dally with the devil for a change. —Rather than wed a European dame,I'd take a squaw o' the woods, and get papooses.

Percy.

If Cupid burn thee not for heresy,Love is no longer catholic religion.

Rolfe.

An' if he do, I'll die a sturdy martyr.And to the last preach to thee, pagan Percy,Till I have made a convert. Answer me,Is not this idol of thy heathen worshipThat sent thee hither a despairing pilgrim;Thy goddess, Geraldine, is she not false?

Percy.

Most false!

Rolfe.

For shame, then; cease adoring her;Untwine the twisted cable of your arms,Heave from your freighted bosom all its charge,In one full sigh, and puff it strongly from you;Then, raising your earth-reading eyes to Heaven,Laud your kind stars you were not married to her,And so forget her.

Percy.

Ah! my worthy Rolfe,'Tis not the hand of infant ResolutionCan pluck this rooted passion from my heart:Yet what I can I will; by heaven! I will.

Rolfe.

Why, cheerly said; the baby ResolutionWill grow apace; time will work wonders in him.

Percy.

Did she not, after interchange of vows —But let the false one go, I will forget her.Your hand, my friend; now will I act the man.

Rolfe.

Faith, I have seen thee do 't, and burn'd with shame,That he who so could fight should ever sigh.

Percy.

Think'st thou our captain lives?

Rolfe.

Tush! he must live;He was not born to perish so. Believe 't,He'll hold these dingy devils at the bay,Till we come up and succour him.

Percy.

And yetA single arm against a host – alas!I fear me he has fallen.

Rolfe.

Then never fellA nobler soul, more valiant, or more worthy,Or fit to govern men. If he be gone,Heaven save our tottering colony from falling!But see, th' adventurers from their daily toil. Enter adventurers, Walter, Larry, Robin, Alice, &c

Walter. Now, gentlemen labourers, a lusty roundelay after the toils of the day; and then to a sound sleep, in houses of our own building.

Roundelay ChorusNow crimson sinks the setting sun,And our tasks are fairly done.Jolly comrades, home to bed,Taste the sweets by labour shed;Let his poppy seal your eyes,Till another day arise,For our tasks are fairly done,As crimson sinks the setting sun.

ACT II

Scene I. Inside the palace at Werocomoco. Powhatan in state, Grimosco, &c., his wives, and warriors, ranged on each side. Music

Powhatan. My people, strange beings have appeared among us; they come from the bosom of the waters, amid fire and thunder; one of them has our war-god delivered into our hands: behold the white being!

Music. Smith is brought in; his appearance excites universal wonder; Pocahontas expresses peculiar admiration

Pocahontas. O Nima! is it not a God!

Powhatan. Miami, though thy years are few, thou art experienced as age; give us thy voice of counsel.

Miami. Brothers, this stranger is of a fearful race of beings; their barren hunting grounds lie beneath the world, and they have risen, in monstrous canoes, through the great water, to spoil and ravish from us our fruitful inheritance. Brothers, this stranger must die; six of our brethren have fall'n by his hand. Before we lay their bones in the narrow house, we must avenge them: their unappeased spirits will not go to rest beyond the mountains; they cry out for the stranger's blood.

Nantaquas. Warriors, listen to my words; listen, my father, while your son tells the deeds of the brave white man. I saw him when 300 of our fiercest chiefs formed the warring around him. But he defied their arms; he held lightning in his hand. Wherever his arm fell, there sunk a warrior: as the tall tree falls, blasted and riven, to the earth, when the angry Spirit darts his fires through the forest. I thought him a God; my feet grew to the ground; I could not move!

Pocahontas. Nima, dost thou hear the words of my brother.

Nantaquas. The battle ceased, for courage left the bosom of our warriors; their arrows rested in their quivers; their bowstrings no longer sounded; the tired chieftains leaned on their war-clubs, and gazed at the terrible stranger, whom they dared not approach. Give an ear to me, king: 't was then I held out the hand of peace to him, and he became my brother; he forgot his arms, for he trusted to his brother: he was discoursing wonders to his friend, when our chiefs rushed upon him, and bore him away. But oh! my father, he must not die; for he is not a war captive; I promised that the chain of friendship should be bright between us. Chieftains, your prince must not falsify his word; father, your son must not be a liar!

Pocahontas. Listen, warriors; listen, father; the white man is my brother's brother!

Grimosco. King! when last night our village shook with the loud noise, it was the Great Spirit who talk'd to his priest; my mouth shall speak his commands: King, we must destroy the strangers, for they are not our God's children; we must take their scalps, and wash our hands in the white man's blood, for he is an enemy to the Great Spirit.

Nantaquas. O priest, thou hast dreamed a false dream; Miami, thou tellest the tale that is not. Hearken, my father, to my true words! the white man is beloved by the Great Spirit; his king is like you, my father, good and great; and he comes from a land beyond the wide water, to make us wise and happy!

Powhatan deliberates. Music

Powhatan. Stranger, thou must prepare for death. Six of our brethren fell by thy hand. Thou must die.

Pocahontas.

Father, O father!

Smith.

Had not your people first beset me, king,I would have prov'd a friend and brother to them;Arts I'd have taught, that should have made them gods,And gifts would I have given to your people,Richer than red men ever yet beheld.Think not I fear to die. Lead to the block.The soul of the white warrior shall shrink not.Prepare the stake! amidst your fiercest tortures,You'll find its fiery pains as nobly scorned,As when the red man sings aloud his death-song.

Pocahontas.

Oh! shall that brave man die! Music. The King motions with his hand, and Smith is led to the block

Miami. [To executioners.] Warriors, when the third signal strikes, sink your tomahawks in his head.

Pocahontas. Oh, do not, warriors, do not! Father, incline your heart to mercy; he will win your battles, he will vanquish your enemies! [First signal.] Brother, speak! save your brother! Warriors, are you brave? preserve the brave man! [Second signal.] Miami, priest, sing the song of peace; ah! strike not, hold! mercy!

Music. The third signal is struck, the hatchets are lifted up: when the Princess, shrieking, runs distractedly to the block, and presses Smith's head to her bosom

White man, thou shalt not die; or I will die with thee!

Music. She leads Smith to the throne, and kneels

My father, dost thou love thy daughter? listen to her voice; look upon her tears: they ask for mercy to the captive. Is thy child dear to thee, my father? Thy child will die with the white man.

Plaintive music. She bows her head to his feet. Powhatan, after some deliberation, looking on his daughter with tenderness, presents her with a string of white wampum. Pocahontas, with the wildest expression of joy, rushes forward with Smith, presenting the beads of peace

Captive! thou art free! —

Music. General joy is diffused —Miami and Grimosco only appear discontented. The prince Nantaquas congratulates Smith. The Princess shows the most extravagant emotions of rapture

Smith.

O woman! angel sex! where'er thou art,Still art thou heavenly. The rudest climeRobs not thy glowing bosom of its nature.Thrice blessed lady, take a captive's thanks![He bows upon her hand.

Pocahontas.

My brother! —[Music. Smith expresses his gratitude.

Nantaquas. Father, hear the design that fills my breast. I will go among the white men; I will learn their arts; and my people shall be made wise and happy.

Pocahontas. I too will accompany my brother.

Miami. Princess! —

Pocahontas. Away, cruel Miami; you would have murdered my brother! —

Powhatan. Go, my son; take thy warriors, and go with the white men. Daughter, I cannot lose thee from mine eyes; accompany thy brother but a little on his way. Stranger, depart in peace; I entrust my son to thy friendship.

Smith. Gracious sir,He shall return with honours and with wonders;My beauteous sister! noble brother, come! Music. Exeunt, on one side, Smith, Princess, Nantaquas, Nima, and train. On the other, King, Priest, Miami, &c. The two latter express angry discontentScene II. A forest Enter Percy, Rolfe

Rolfe.

So far indeed 'tis fruitless, yet we'll on.

Percy.

Aye, to the death.

Rolfe.

Brave Percy, come, confessYou have forgot your love.

Percy.

Why, faith, not quite;Despite of me, it sometimes through my mindFlits like a dark cloud o'er a summer sky;But passes off like that, and leaves me cloudless.I can't forget that she was sweet as spring;Fair as the day.

Rolfe.

Aye, aye, like April weather;Sweet, fair, and faithless.

Percy.

True alas! like April! Song– PercyFair Geraldine each charm of spring possest,Her cheek glow'd with the rose and lily's strife;Her breath was perfume, and each winter'd breastFelt that her sunny eyes beam'd light and life.Alas! that in a form of blooming May,The mind should April's changeful liv'ry wear!Yet ah! like April, smiling to betray,Is Geraldine, as false as she is fair!

Rolfe.

Beshrew the little gipsy! let us on.[Exeunt Percy, Rolfe. Enter Larry, Walter, Robin, &c

Larry. Go no further? Och! you hen-hearted cock robin!

Robin. But, master Larry —

Walter. Prithee, thou evergreen aspen leaf, thou non-intermittent ague! why didst along with us?

Robin. Why, you know, my master Rolfe desired it; and then you were always railing out on me for chicken-heartedness. I came to shew ye I had valour.

Walter. But forgetting to bring it with thee, thou wouldst now back for it; well, in the name of Mars, go; return for thy valour, Robin.

Robin. What! alone?

Larry. Arrah! then stay here till it comes to you, and then follow us.

Robin. Stay here! O Lord, methinks I feel an arrow sticking in my gizzard already! Hark ye, my sweet master, let us sing.

Larry. Sing?

Robin. Sing; I'm always valiant when I sing. Beseech you, let us chaunt the glee that I dish'd up for us three.

Larry. It has a spice of your cowardly cookery in it.

Walter. But since 'tis a provocative to Robin's valour —

Larry. Go to: give a lusty hem, and fall on.

GleeWe three, adventurers be,Just come from our own country;We have cross'd thrice a thousand ma,Without a penny of money.We three, good fellows be,Who wou'd run like the devil from Indians three;We never admir'd their bowmandry;Oh, give us whole skins for our money.We three, merry men be,Who gaily will chaunt our ancient glee,Though a lass or a glass, in this wild country,Can't be had, or for love, or for money.

Larry. Well, how do you feel?

Robin. As courageous as, as a —

Larry. As a wren, little Robin. Are you sure, now, you won't be after fancying every deer that skips by you a divil, and every bush a bear?

Robin. I defy the devil; but hav'n't you heard, my masters, how the savages go a hunting, drest out in deer-skin? How could you put one in mind, master Larry? O Lord! that I should come a captain-hunting! the only game we put up is deer that carry scalping knives! or if we beat the bush to start a bold commander, up bolts a bloody bear!

[Walter and Larry exchange significant nods.

Larry. To be sure we're in a parlous case. The forest laws are dev'lish severe here: an they catch us trespassing upon their hunting ground, we shall pay a neat poll-tax: nothing less than our heads will serve.