SCENE II.

A BARD (_lost in meditation_); LESJA, _at the head of a train of Maidens_; WANDA _soon after_; RZEWNA _later_.

LESJA.

Hail to thee, Bard, thou favour’d of the gods! Their very language not unknown to thee, Through whom the aspirations of mankind, Formless and voiceless, dreaming i’ the dark, Instinctive upward, shape immortal find, And, dumb no longer, blossom into song. We seek thee, Wanda seeks thee, she, our queen, Would fain from thy experience counsel draw, And in the labyrinth where she walks perplext, Sighs for the clue of wisdom; as I speak, See she approaches with enquiring face.

WANDA.

Friend of my father, servant of our gods! Thou knowest well the answer I have given To all the messengers by princes sent, Who thirst for power, not love, who thinly veil ’Neath flattering smiles ambition’s anxious eye, Seeking not Wanda’s heart, but Poland’s throne. Yet may I always distance suitors thus, And can I, ’mid the gaudy counterfeits Round me, sincerity’s fair form discern, And know to whom through very love for ME, My _dearer_ self, my people, will be dear? Say, on what altars shall I incense burn? What oracle consult? I stand in doubt, In me the maiden and the queen contend. Fain to the gods would I be consecrate In vestal purity, as priestess dwell, Tending the sacred fire; yet can it be? Say, minstrel, may such blissful lot be mine?

BARD.

Nay, nay, my queen, th’ eternal law of love, In earth and heaven the same, such choice forbids; Blessing and fruitfulness are e’er twin terms; Society is usefulness and pleasure; Queens have a high vocation, to uphold-- Pure morals, fervent zeal for public good, And glad obedience to their country’s laws, By eloquent example; ’tis the soul Of precept, words must cold and lifeless fall, When contradicted by the life, my queen. Thy blessed mother with myself, her friend, Have taught thee both to shun hypocrisy, And own the faith sincere and true of love, Obeying thus the dread celestial powers. Unfruitfulness is their most dreadful curse To mother earth, and to her earthly daughters; Look round where’er thy eye, thy thoughts can bear thee, Where do the gods command to loneliness? Where rather do they not with blessing join Their ancient edict, “Love and multiply?” The grain of sand beside the Vistula, The vast Carpathians round our land that rise, The lowly worm that creeps unnoticed by, The lordly eagle soaring to the sun, All things in earth and air, and in the seas, Obey alike the great primeval law. Let but the will of gods be reverenced, And sin to nature wears a stranger’s face. _Free-will_, our highest gift, confuse thou not With self-will, which is sin, and learn to know, “In union there is strength.” The marriage bond, By Heaven appointed, is a sacred tie; Contempt of it, a devilish invention. Heart-chills and conscience-stings seek solitude, And immorality her cloak assumes; Despite the many sanctimonious names ’Neath which cold-heartedness and egotism, The weak, the timid, or the bad, invite, To seek withdrawal from our human claims: Celibacy is still and _must_ be sin!

[_Confused voices are heard outside, and presently_ RZEWNA _enters_.

RZEWNA.

My queen! Rüdiger’s messenger is here, the same Who ten days since sued for your sovereign hand; Fiercely he storms, demanding to be heard. The sacred rules of hospitality Alone deter the offended sentinels From striking down the swearing ruffian; The tumult grows, they wait their queen’s commands.

WANDA.

Let him come in, though a bird of omen ill, Yet bread and salt should never be denied.

[_Exeunt_ RZEWNA, LESJA, _and the_ MAIDENS.