Demetrius

 
   Then when your hopes are crowned forget not ever
   The steps by which you mounted to the throne,
   Nor with your garments let your heart be changed!
   Think, that in Poland first you knew yourself,
   That this land gave you birth a second time.
 

DEMETRIUS

 
   I have been nurtured in adversity;
   And learned to reverence the beauteous bond
   Which links mankind with sympathies of love.
 

KING

 
   But now you enter on a realm where all —
   Use, custom, morals – are untried and strange,
   In Poland here reigns freedom absolute;
   The king himself, although in pomp supreme,
   Must ofttime be the serf of his noblesse;
   But there the father's sacred power prevails,
   And in the subject finds a passive slave.
 

DEMETRIUS

 
   That glorious freedom which surrounds me here
   I will transplant into my native land,
   And turn these bond-serfs into glad-souled men;
   Not o'er the souls of slaves will I bear rule.
 

KING

 
   Do naught in haste; but by the time be led!
   Prince, ere we part, three lessons take from me,
   And truly follow them when thou art king.
   It is a king that gives them, old and tried,
   And they may prove of profit to thy youth.
 

DEMETRIUS

 
   Oh, share thy wisdom with me! Thou hast won
   The reverence of a free and mighty people;
   What must I do to earn so fair a prize?
 

KING

 
         You come from a strange land,
   Borne on the weapons of a foreign foe;
   This first felt wrong thou hast to wash away.
   Then bear thee like a genuine son of Moscow,
   With reverence due to all her usages.
   Keep promise with the Poles, and value them,
   For thou hast need of friends on thy new throne:
   The arm that placed thee there can hurl thee down.
   Esteem them honorably, yet ape them not;
   Strange customs thrive not in a foreign soil.
   And, whatsoe'er thou dost, revere thy mother —
   You'll find a mother —
 

DEMETRIUS

 
               Oh, my liege!
 

KING

 
                       High claim
   Hath she upon thy filial reverence.
   Do her all honor. 'Twixt thy subjects and
   Thyself she stands, a sacred, precious link.
   No human law o'errides the imperial power;
   Nothing but nature may command its awe;
   Nor can thy people own a surer pledge,
   That thou art gentle, than thy filial love.
   I say no more. Much yet is to be done,
   Ere thou mak'st booty of the golden fleece.
   Expect no easy victory!
   Czar Boris rules with strong and skilful hand;
   You take the field against no common man.
   He that by merit hath achieved the throne,
   Is not puffed from his seat by popular breath;
   His deeds do serve to him for ancestors.
   To your good fortune I commend you now;
   Already twice, as by a miracle,
   Hath it redeemed you from the grasp of death;
   'Twill put the finish on its work, and crown you.
 

[Exeunt omnes but MARINA and ODOWALSKY.

ODOWALSKY

 
   Say, lady, how have I fulfilled my charge?
   Truly and well, and wilt thou laud my zeal?
 

MARINA

 
   'Tis, Odowalsky, well we are alone;
   Matters of weight have we to canvass which
   'Tis meet the prince know nothing of. May he
   Pursue the voice divine that goads him on!
   If in himself he have belief, the world
   Will catch the flame, and give him credence too.
   He must be kept in that vague, shadowing mist,
   Which is a fruitful mother of great deeds,
   While we see clear, and act in certainty.
   He lends the name – the inspiration; we
   Must bear the brain, the shaping thought, for him;
   And when, by art and craft, we have insured
   The needful levies, let him still dream on,
   And think they dropped, to aid him, from the clouds.
 

ODOWALSKY

 
   Give thy commands: I live but for thy service.
   Think'st thou this Moscovite or his affairs
   Concern my thoughts? 'Tis thou, thou and thy glory
   For which I will adventure life and all.
   For me no fortune blossoms; friendless, landless,
   I dare not let my hopes aspire to thee.
   Thy grace I may not win, but I'll deserve it.
   To make thee great be my one only aim;
   Then, though another should possess thee, still
   Thou wilt be mine – being what I have made thee.
 

MARINA

 
   Therefore my whole heart do I pledge to thee;
   To thee I trust the acting of my thoughts.
   The king doth mean us false. I read him through.
   'Twas a concerted farce with Sapieha,
   A juggle, all! 'Twould please him well, belike,
   To see my father's power, which he dreads deeply,
   Enfeebled in this enterprise – the league
   Of the noblesse, which shook his heart with fear,
   Drawn off in this campaign on foreign bounds,
   While he himself sits neutral in the fray.
   He thinks to share our fortune, if we win;
   And if we lose, he hopes with greater ease
   To fix on us the bondage of his yoke.
   We stand alone. This die is cast. If he
   Cares for himself, we shall be selfish too.
   You lead the troops to Kioff. There let them swear
   Allegiance to the prince, and unto me; —
   Mark you, to me! 'Tis needful for our ends.
   I want your eye, and not your arm alone.
 

ODOWALSKY

 
   Command me – speak —
 

MARINA

 
             You lead the Czarowitsch.
   Keep your eye on him; stir not from his side,
   Render me 'count of every step he makes.
 

ODOWALSKY

 
   Rely on me, he'll never cast us off.
 

MARINA

 
   No man is grateful. Once his throne is sure,
   He'll not be slow to cast our bonds aside.
   The Russian hates the Pole – must hate him ever;
   No bond of amity can link their hearts.
 

Enter OPALINSKY, BIELSKY, and several Polish noblemen.

OPALINSKY

 
   Fair patron, get us gold, and we march with you,
   This lengthened Diet has consumed our all.
   Let us have gold, we'll make thee Russia's queen.
 

MARINA

 
   The Bishop of Kaminieck and Culm
   Lends money on the pawn of land and serfs.
   Sell, barter, pledge the hamlets of your boors,
   Turn all to silver, horses, means of war!
   War is the best of chapmen. He transmutes
   Iron into gold. Whate'er you now may lose
   You'll find in Moscow twenty-fold again.
 

BIELSKY

 
   Two hundred more wait in the tavern yonder;
   If you will show yourself, and drain a cup
   With them, they're yours, all yours – I know them well.
 

MARINA

 
   Expect me! You shall introduce me to them.
 

OPALINSKY

 
   'Tis plain that you were born to be a queen.
 

MARINA

 
   I was, and therefore I must be a queen.
 

BIELSKY

 
   Ay, mount the snow-white steed, thine armor on,
   And so, a second Vanda, lead thy troops,
   Inspired by thee, to certain victory.
 

MARINA

 
   My spirit leads you. War is not for women.
   The rendezvous is in Kioff. Thither my father
   Will lead a levy of three thousand horse.
   My sister's husband gives two thousand more,
   And the Don sends a Cossack host in aid.
   Do you all swear you will be true to me?
 

ALL

 
   All, all – we swear! (draw their swords.)
   Vivat Marina, Russiae Regina!
 

[MARINA tears her veil in pieces, and divides it among them.

Exeunt omnes but MARINA.

Enter MEISCHEK.

MARINA

 
   Wherefore so sad, when fortune smiles on us,
   When every step thrives to our utmost wish,
   And all around are arming in our cause?
 

MEISCHEK

 
   'Tis even because of this, my child! All, all
   Is staked upon the cast. Thy father's means
   Are in these warlike preparations swamped.
   I have much cause to ponder seriously;
   Fortune is false, uncertain the result.
   Mad, venturous girl, what hast thou brought me to?
   What a weak father have I been, that I
   Did not withstand thy importunities!
   I am the richest Waywode of the empire,
   The next in honor to the king. Had we
   But been content to be so, and enjoyed
   Our stately fortunes with a tranquil soul!
   Thy hopes soared higher – not for thee sufficed
   The moderate station which thy sisters won.
   Thou wouldst attain the loftiest mark that can
   By mortals be achieved, and wear a crown.
   I, thy fond, foolish father, longed to heap
   On thee, my darling one, all glorious gains,
   So by thy prayers I let myself be fooled,
   And peril my sure fortunes on a chance.
 

MARINA

 
   How? My dear father, dost thou rue thy goodness?
   Who with the meaner prize can live content,
   When o'er his head the noblest courts his grasp?
 

MEISCHEK

 
   Thy sisters wear no crowns, yet they are happy.
 

MARINA

 
   What happiness is that to leave the home
   Of the Waywode, my father, for the house
   Of some count palatine, a grateful bride?
   What do I gain of new from such a change?
   And can I joy in looking to the morrow
   When it brings naught but what was stale to-day?
   Oh, tasteless round of petty, worn pursuits!
   Oh, wearisome monotony of life!
   Are they a guerdon for high hopes, high aims?
   Or love or greatness I must have: all else
   Are unto me alike indifferent.
   Smooth off the trouble from thy brow, dear father!
   Let's trust the stream that bears us on its breast,
   Think not upon the sacrifice thou makest,
   Think on the prize, the goal that's to be won —
   When thou shalt see thy daughter robed in state,
   In regal state, aloft on Moscow's throne,
   And thy son's sons the rulers of the world!
 

MEISCHEK

 
   I think of naught, see naught, but thee, my child,
   Girt with the splendors of the imperial crown.
   Thou'rt bent to have it; I cannot gainsay thee.
 

MARINA

 
   Yet one request, my dearest, best of fathers,
   I pray you grant me!
 

MEISCHEK

 
              Name thy wish, my child.
 

MARINA

 
   Shall I remain shut up at Sambor with
   The fires of boundless longing in my breast?
   Beyond the Dnieper will my die be cast,
   While boundless space divides me from the spot;
   Can I endure it? Oh, the impatient spirit
   Will lie upon the rack of expectation
   And measure out this monstrous length of space
   With groans and anxious throbbings of the heart.
 

MEISCHEK

 
   What dost thou wish? What is it thou wouldst have?
 

MARINA

 
   Let me abide the issue in Kioff!
   There I can gather tidings at their source.
   There on the frontier of both kingdoms —
 

MEISCHEK

 
   Thy spirit's over-bold. Restrain it, child!
 

MARINA

 
   Yes, thou dost yield, – thou'lt take me with thee, then?
 

MEISCHEK

 
   Thou rulest me. Must I not do thy will?
 

MARINA

 
   My own dear father, when I am Moscow's queen
   Kioff, you know, must be our boundary.
   Kioff must then be mine, and thou shalt rule it.
 

MEISCHEK

 
   Thou dreamest, girl! Already the great Moscow
   Is for thy soul too narrow; thou, to grasp
   Domains, wilt strip them from thy native land.
 

MARINA

 
   Kioff belonged not to our native land;
   There the Varegers ruled in days of yore.
   I have the ancient chronicles by heart;
   'Twas from the Russian empire wrenched by force.
   I will restore it to its former crown.
 

MEISCHEK

 
   Hush, hush! The Waywode must not hear such talk.
 

[Trumpet without. They're breaking up.