The Sun.
London, England, 1849-12-01 00:00:00

SATURDAY EVENING.

THEATRE ROYAL, DUBLIN.
KING RENE'S DAUGHTER.
(From: •the Dublin Evening Packet of Nov. 29.)
Last /di ;ht, after Hamlet the Dane had fretted and
strutted ,bis hour, the new drama of King Rene's
Daughter-was produced. From the brief abstract of
the plot vi van in our last publication, our readers are
!aware thaa. it is essentially a drawing-room play, and
admirably fitted, therefore, to form a portion of the
IViedsor (Castle dramatic representations. It has been
very tasty ally put upon our stage, the single garden
scene represented, with its surrounding mountains,
rocks, and ravines—a fairy seclusion in a desert—
being I ilea►singly conceived and artistically executed.
New and costly dresses, too have been provided; and,
in fact, no accessary is wanting to render the drama
attracti

As we anticipated, Mrs. Kean's Blind Girl, an
exquisite thought of Henrik Herz, was even more
exquisitely " bodied forth," than he in his brightest
imagini:ng could have fancied. Fair, fragile, and
graceful;:; most becomingly, yet simply attired, she
looked the very creation dreamed of by the poet ;
and her every look, gesture, and movement, so na
tural, so unembarrassed by the consciousness of her
depria ae.on, were indeed, as Coleridge phrased it,
" beautiful exceedingly."
In the opening passages of the drama, which had
been most judiciously curtailed and arranged for
the stare by Mr. Charles Kean, the plot is suffi-
ciently .revealed to excite the deep interest of the
audience; and from the first entrance of lolanthe, to
the restoration of her sight, that interest never flags.
Her movements are so composed, serene, and yet confi-
dent, that her deprivation of the sense of sight is
only evidenced by an occasional listening attitude or
a gentle advance of the hand, as if essaying by the
sense of touch and feeling to supply the loss of vision.
Nothing could be imagined more in accordance with
the dalioacy of graceful and lovely girlhood than Mrs.
Kean's. acting, and the sweet and happy expression of
her features, the pleased smile on her parted lips, tell-
ing that she felt not the sad want shown by her droop-
ing eyelids, were really inexpressibly charming. Her
delivery of the text was, if we may use the term,
spoken music, every distinct tone and syllable falling
on the ear with a deliciously fresh, melodious clear-
ness of intonation.
Wh m first Tristan discovers that she is blind, and
speaks to her of the distinction of colours among the
flowers, the following passages were finely delivered :
"Is it. ,so hard, then, to distinguish flowers?
Are not the roses round and soft and delicate—
Round to the feel, as is the Z-phyr's breath,
And soft; and warm, like to a summer's evening?
Is the carnation like the rose? Ab! no!
Its perfurae stuns one like the wine, which late
I gave thee—then the cactus; know'st thou Lot
Its points are like the wind in sharpest frost?
" TunsTart—'Tis strange: Have you, then, never yet
begin told
That to distinguish objects from afar
Is possible, by help of—(hesitating)—of the sight?
lOLAINTHE-110%i ? from afar? Oh, yes, the little bird
That sits on yonder roof I can distinguish
By its 3iglit twittering; and all mortal men
Each by his speech; so do I also know
The bounding steed on which I daily ride,
Far as !ae may be, by his step and neighing;
But, by the help of what you call sight,
Of that I have heard nothing."
Again, 'CV hen asked by Tristan—
" Tell me, then,
For wi at use and rrefit do you imagine
!leaven hath vouchafed you eyes?"
lolarrthe's thoughtful attitude for an instant, and
then her beautiful reply, were the perfection of
acting:—

" Nay., it were sure most easy
To tell rou that—when at the evening's close
Fatigue bath seized me, sleep cloth press them down,
Sealing them up in sweet oblivion.
And spreads through them its peacefnl influence
O'er my whole frame --
There, then,'at once, thou bast a great advantage
My eyes afford me—further, bast thou not
Observed too, other uses they can serve?
As I a little rose tree late had planted,
An insect stung my finger—at the pain
Gushed forth my tears and soothed it Then again,
When I myselt had wearied much to think
Wherefore my father so delayed to come.
When ha elid co:ne—oh! how I wept for joy!
Through tears then, when my heart is all to full
Either with joy or grief, it is relieved
As by a gr.:scions overflow, and yet
Thou caner; inquire for what use or benefit
The Power Almighty gives me eyes. By them,
When I ?mu weary, rest is given. In grief,
My grief's diminished, and in joy, my jny
Ennobled and refined."
On patting with Tristan her regret, so tender yet
so maidenly, her anxiously uttered hope that he
would soon return, and the revealment of a new
feeling, excited by his presence, expressed in her fea-
tures, were truly admirable. Then, when King Rene
returns to discover that the uses and benefits of sight
have been partly conveyed to her, and when the
Moor, Ebn Jahia, who has undertaken her cure, in-
forms him. that all must be told to the sightless girl,
the following noble passage was magnificently ren-
dered:—
" Full, my dear father, are thy words of import,
To me incomprehensible. The universe
As from the great Creator's hand 'twas made,
This—thin to me unknown 1 Shut out from me I
Yet, still, how canst thou say so ? Have I not,
In the creation, known my great Creator ?
[lath not the stormy wind, the balmy breeze,
Hath not the warmth its milder breathing shed,
The earth's fertility, and its strange power
To bring each fruit and flower to perfection;
Have not the rocks and mines and rushing streams,
And the sweet chorus of the birds, proclaimed
The great Creator in His works on earth ?
Myself and an expression of His will !
En fine, wltere'er I turn, on every side,
In nature, in the speech of other mortals,
In my owa being, in the meditations
Which of unlimited extent press on me,
The same loud voice is sounded in my ear—
All speaks to me of Him and of His world."
The emotions of lolanthe as gradually the truth
stole on her senses were charmingly and touchingly
expressed, and the glowing utterance of the feeling
awakened. in her bosom by Tristan's voice was full of
impassioned eloquence. It was little wonder, indeed,
that the lines—

"Down here in the heart
Lief& the tense of sight—'tis even here
13 treasured, like an echo, the ren3embranco
Of light I have already half received,"
awakened a burst of admiration.

In the concluding scene, when Ebn Jahia's spell
has been successful, and when the bdauty and glory of
broad day dispel the darkness to which for sixteen
years lolanthe has been doomed, her blended terror
and wonder, followed quickly by delight that seems
inexhaustible, were so real that we might well forget
it was only a mimic representation of a poet's fancy
we beheld. Shrinking from the light in fear, Ebn
Jahia leads her forth, and she tremblingly asks—
" Oh ! whither dost thou lead me ?
Oh, Heaven! where am I? Hold me fast—support me!
" Entr JAHlA—Compose thyself, my child!
"lOLANTHE—Nay, hold me—wait—
Stand still a moment. Here I ne'et have been!
What do we in this place? So strange! Who's there?
Hold me! My head is swimming—I am full
Of terror!
" Ems Jade—Calm thyself, lolanthe, fix thy glance,
Upon that earth alone which bath so long
Been, still unknown, thy friendly stay.
That which thou seest, it is but the garden
Which thou thyself bast planted.
"lOLANTHZ—This my garden!
I know it not; and see what fesiful plants;
They bend—they bend—as they would fall on us!
" EnN .lAnzA—Fear waling, these are but the palms
whose leaves
And fruits thou knowest long full well.
" lOLANTHE—Nay, nay,
I know them not—this brightness too, which dazzles
On every side, and all the swelling clouds
That spread above so high—alas! how high!
What are they? Form they his great Spirit,
Which, as they say, doth fill the universe?
"FIN JAHlA—These are the Heavens, and we be-
lieve in Heaven
He bath his resting place. So then, my child,
Kneel down, and, stretching out thy hands on high,
Breathe forth a prayer to Heaven.
"lOLANTHE—(KneeIs and prays, and after a pause).
Oh! yes, He bath,
I feel He hath attended me—lie sends
His peace upon me and His guardian care.
He is the only one that speaketh to me
Invisible, yet faithful as before."

lolanthe's after•recognition of her father and lover,
by their voices only, was rife with pure dramatic
effect—her

" hark ! 'cis so!
In words like these the earliest gleam of light
Found to my heart its way"—
when Tristan has rapturously exclaimed, "My fair
and beauteous lady !" being a very heart-burst of un-
clowled joy.
We might, had we time and space, write columns
of laudatory criticism on Mrs. Kean's performance
from the first scene to the last of this effective drama ;
and yet. after all, we should arise from our task with
the consciousness that we had not done—could not
do—justice to this admirable actress. In one sen-
tence, then, there is not a lady on the stage who
can approach Mrs. Kean in the j?ersonation of
lolanthe.

Mr. Kean, as Count Tristan, assumed a subordinate
role, almost the entire interest of the drama being
centred in the character of the blind girl ; but he
acquitted himself with his accustomed ability, his
acting throughout, especially in the first interview
with King Rene's daughter, being marked by those
attributes of genius he can never lay aside. He was
well supported by Bland as the seeming minstrel.

The following is the plot, from a correspondent of
a morning paper :

"A nets drama, entitled King Rene's Daughter,
was produced for the first time on ‘Vednealay evening,
the principal parts being played by Mr. and Mrs.
Kean. It is a translation from the Danish, by the