Act 1
Scene 1
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		(Enter Queen Alexia, Lilia, Marcis, and some servants)

Queen Alexia	Now lay you here the funeral arrangements,		1
		Blossoms of hue most black, and solemn rue
		About his bower, our departéd king,
		That to his last and final resting place
		He may be now deliveréd.				5

Marcis					Aye, do
		And pray you deck his graying head with laurels
		That all the angels of the holy sphere
		May look on him, as men upon a god,
		And stand in awe of his remembrance.			10

				(Servants exit)

Queen Alexia	Now lies him here a great and noble king,
		As like to any honest glass of Jove
		As this is unto this, as counterfeit
		Embroid'rings of fine gardens seem to scent
		Upon the morning air with vapors true			15
		As any blossoms genuine as these.
		A form as noble as a thousand gods,
		With bearing true and stately, to his post
		Befitting, reckoning as marvelous
		As all the wise men of this world possess.		20

Lilia		Aye, but not so as all that he was so,
		For mightier than ever Jove could be,
		Sweeter than any blossom was he thus,
		For to me most belov'd of men was he,
		My noble father, now forever gone.			25

Marcis		But why, pray, do we mourn and mope about
		This ancient crypt, when to the sweet release
		Of death hath good King-Father Wilham passed,
		And we still to this sullied layer cling?
		An if we thought 'twas better for ourselves		30
		To wail and to bemoan the fate we share,
		To live, methinks 'twould be a better turn
		For only sorrow can we find ahead,
		While stilléd father never such shall feel.
		So, ladies, please, this empty husk do mourn,		35
		But I'll bewail that ever I was born.

Queen Alexia	Sweet Lilia, attend to brother dear
		And lead him to his chamber, that he may
		Recover there his wits.

Lilia					Aye, as you say.		40

				(Lilia and Marcis exit)
				(Enter Benvaltro)

Benvaltro	My noble lady, humbly do I beg
		To pay small homage to this mighty king
		Belov'd of me in life, and I of he
		As any servant is unto his master.

Queen Alexia	Before a fortnight's pass, good counselor,		45
		An if the royal nuptials do proceed
		Your son and heir will henceforth be your master,
		And heir to this great kingdom as the groom
		To mine own dearest daughter.

Benvaltro					Pity 'tis		50
		That your own noble son, my royal queen,
		Be of himself not fit to take the throne
		As now 'twould be his right by kingly blood
		That, pure as Heaven's rains, do flow from he
		That is now passéd to that which is not,		55
		Into the mighty veins of Marcis.  But
		As he (to all our sorrows) cannot rule,
		Thus being in his mental 'pacity
		And powers of reflection, lacking thus,
		'Tis meet that to your noble lady daughter		60
		My son should now be joined, as was decreed
		Ere one or, aye, the other had been born
		By your departéd husband and myself
		That when this kingdom stood without a head,
		As king and queen should he and she be wed.		65

Queen Alexia	Indeed, you do speak true, my good Benvaltro,
		And to such joining I do give my seal
		And blessing.  But sweet Lilia, to be
		Most true and honest, being of her father
		Especial favorite, does in his death			70
		Find sadness most abundant. Give her time
		To mourn, aye, two times twenty days
		And I will guarantee that she will turn
		Thus from her solemn mourning, and her dress
		Of muted black, and then embrace thy son		75
		As both her wedded husband and her king.

Benvaltro	I thank you, good my lady.

				(He exits)

Queen Alexia	If all goes well, before two moons have passed
		My headstrong daughter Lilia will be
		The bride of Armus.  Often has she told			80
		Me, in her puling tones of self-indulge
		That to no man shall she give o'er the crown
		And scepter of the state.  Bah, foolish girl!
		She knows as well as I that, seeing as
		She is a woman, born and bred a princess		85
		But all the same one of the weaker sex,
		She be not fit t'assume the crown of state!
		I wish that Lilia had been born a prince!
		A prince to take the place of Marcis mad,
		To rule with firm and steady hand!  Aye, then		90
		Such strong ambition as my child has
		Would not be untoward, but would befit
		A one of her -- no, of _his_ rank and station!
		--But in my weakness did I bear a daughter.
		And now our kingdom may well pay the price,		95
		For this mere girl, 'haps thinking herself an equal
		To any man, does chafe against her place!
		Methinks that I and good Benvaltro need
		Remind her of her place, and with good speed.

				(Exits)