Dwells in one hour like this!—Yet weep thou not!
We shall meet soon; and many days, dear love,
Ere I depart.
Con.Then there's a respite still.
Days!—not a day but in its course may bring
Some strange vicissitude to turn aside
Th' impending blow we shrink from.—Fare thee well.
(returning.
—Oh, Raimond! this is not our last farewell?
Thou wouldst not so deceive me?
Rai.Doubt me not,
Gentlest and best beloved! we meet again.
[Exit Constance.
Rai. (After a pause.) When shall I breathe in freedom, and give scope
To those untameable and burning thoughts,
And restless aspirations, which consume
My heart i' th' land of bondage?—Oh! with you,
Ye everlasting images of power,
And of infinity! thou blue-rolling deep,
And you, ye stars! whose beams are characters
Wherewith the oracles of fate are traced;
With you my soul finds room, and casts aside
The weight that doth oppress her.—But my thoughts
Are wandering far; there should be one to share
This awful and majestic solitude
Of sea and heaven with me.
(Procida enters unobserved)
He named, and yet he comes not.
