Olga
Count.I am glad you say so.
Yet now a time draws near that scarce will leave her
Leisure for these slow tranquil hours with you,
Which I rejoice to know employed so well.
Come then, my child, 'tis your new dress awaits you.
Wise as you are, Dimitri, you'll not grudge her
The coming triumph of her youth to-night,
When she will dawn in beauty on a world
That yet scarce knows her face. . . . .
Yet now a time draws near that scarce will leave her
Leisure for these slow tranquil hours with you,
Which I rejoice to know employed so well.
Come then, my child, 'tis your new dress awaits you.
Wise as you are, Dimitri, you'll not grudge her
The coming triumph of her youth to-night,
When she will dawn in beauty on a world
That yet scarce knows her face. . . . .
SCENE II
OLGA'S FIRST BALL
The Countess, &c. A knot of Young Men Students
in a corner. Dimitri, Ivan, &c.
in a corner. Dimitri, Ivan, &c.
Ivan, What will you make, then, of this pretty toy?
What secret have you puzzled out beneath
That low, mysterious brow, and those twin curves
Of faintly gleaming hair? What see you there
Save purple-born young beauty, in serene
Expectance of her crown to come? Aye, tell me
What see you in this child that you should cast
Our life, hope, cause into her baby hands?
What secret have you puzzled out beneath
That low, mysterious brow, and those twin curves
Of faintly gleaming hair? What see you there
Save purple-born young beauty, in serene
Expectance of her crown to come? Aye, tell me
What see you in this child that you should cast
Our life, hope, cause into her baby hands?
116
