ACT IV.
SCENE I.—The Ramparts of the Castle. Enter Orra and Cathrina.
Cath. (after a pause in which Orra walks once or twice across the stage, thoughtfully.)
GO in, I pray; thou wand'rest here too long.
(A pause again.)
The air is cold; behind those further mountains
The sun is set. I pray thee now go in.
Or. Ha! sets the sun already? Is the day
Indeed drawn to its close?
Cath.Yes, night approaches.
See, many a gather'd flock of cawing rooks
Are to their nests returning.
Or. (solemnly.)Night approaches!—
This awful night which living beings shrink from;
All now of every kind scour to their haunts,
While darkness, peopled with its hosts unknown,
Awful dominion holds. Mysterious night!
What things unutterable thy dark hours
May lap!—What from thy teeming darkness burst
Of horrid visitations, ere that sun
Again shall rise on the enlighten'd earth!
(A pause.)
Cath. Why dost thou gaze intently on the sky?
See'st thou aught wonderful?
