Page:The Vespers of Palermo.pdf/30

Procida. Thy vassals are prepared then?

Vittoria. Yes, they wait
Thy summons to their task.

Pro. Keep the flame bright,
But hidden, till its hour.—Wouldst thou dare, lady,
To join our councils at the night's mid-watch,
In the lone cavern by the rock-hewn cross?

Vit. What should I shrink from?

Pro. Oh! The forest-paths
Are dim and wild, e'en when the sunshine streams
Thro' their high arches: but when powerful night
Comes, with her cloudy phantoms, and her pale
Uncertain moonbeams, and the hollow sounds
Of her mysterious winds; their aspect then
Is of another and more fearful world;
A realm of indistinct and shadowy forms,
Wakening strange thoughts, almost too much for this,
Our frail terrestrial nature.

Vit. Well I know
All this, and more. Such scenes have been th' abodes
Where thro' the silence of my soul have pass'd
Voices, and visions from the sphere of those
That have to die no more!—Nay, doubt it not!
If such unearthly intercourse hath e'er
Been granted to our nature, 'tis to hearts