! Illliiimiiii CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY GIFT OF Nixon Griffis LUii uc ruiA, diiu wiiici fjiays. 013 582 212 The original of tliis book is in tlie Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924013582212 GASTON DE FOIX Publisher's Announcement BLAKE'S POEMS. Edited by Edwin J. Ellis. Two Volumes. With Fron- tispiece. Fcap. 8vo, xzs. 6d. net POEMS. By ITAMOS. Fcap. 8vo, Cloth, ss. net ORESTES I A Drama in Five Acts. By William T. Sawasd. Fcap. 8vo, Cloth, 55. net POEMS. By Valentine Ash. Fcap. 8vo, Buckram Gilt, 50. net KORAH. By H. R. C. Dobbs. Fcap. 8vo, Cloth, 3s. 6d. net VERSES. By Walter Casselton. Large Pott 8vo, Cloth, 3s. 6d net London GRANT RICHARflS GASTON DE FOIX AND OTHER PLAYS BY MAURICE BARING AUTHOR OF "THE BLACK PRINCE" LONDON GRANT RICHARDS 1903 TO S. B. CONTENTS PAGE GASTON DE FOIX . . . i DUSK 93 TRISTRAM AND ISEULT . 171 GASTON DE FOIX A PLAY IN FOUR ACTS QKVjjLopov fit Xfyouo-i Sarjjxoves avepes aarpatv. To S. B. y {In the Duke of Nemours' Army.) PERSONS OF THE PLAY Gaston de Foix. {Duke of 'Nemours.) FRAN50IS DE RiSSAC. Bayart. LoYs d'Ars. La Falisse Haubourdin Albertus Mirandola. Remy. {^he Court Jester) A Soothsayer. A Soldier. Mary > Cassandra Helen I i^'"^'" ?f*^e ^^^^ "f P''i»(f-) Jane Alice. {Mary's Lady.) Mummers, Soldiers, Lords, Ladies. The action takes place between 1510-1512. The First Act at the Court of Louis XIL, in France, 1510. The Second and Third Acts at the Castle of Fran9ois de Rissac, at Carpi, near Modena, Christmas i 5 i i . The Fourth Act before the Town of Ravenna, Easter Day 1 5 12. J week elapses between Acts II. and III, ACT I A Hall in the Palace of Louis XII. Mary, Helen, Cassandra, Jane Helen Hark ! now the bell tolls out the hour of noon ; The silken kerchief that I here embroider Will scarce be finished for the Tournament. Jane Already noon. The reapers go to rest, And all is still. Cassandra My scarf is ready now. Helen Your scarf is blue ; the blue of sapphire skies ; One summer night a prince will come for you, 4 GASTON DE FOIX And he will bear you in a slumberous ship To lands of azure hills and dreamy seas. Cassandra, yours is green as summer grass ; Your life shall be as glad as summer song ; And mine is like a flaming sunset cloud. Mary That signifies dominion, power and glory ; But mine is red as blood. Helen Have you thought, Jane, For whom your scarf shall be this afternoon ? Jane I have not thought. I should not be ill-pleased If Gabriel de la Chastre should win the day. Cassandra Oh ! who shall wear my token green as grass ? For life is now like to a summer day, All green and gold ; and in the rustling trees I hear the echo of a song I know, I hear a footfall in the deep green grass, GASTON DE FOIX Helen I pray that Balthazar may win ; and Mary, Whom do you pray for ? Mary I pray for no man ; I fear to pray. Helen I know of one who waits A. crown from you. Cassandra Yes, Franfois de Rissac ; He sings sweet ballads, and the name of Mary Shines, like a golden thread, throughout his song. \ Mary I care not if he win or fail. Helen Your cheeks Belie your words. Cassandra He silently has pined With love of you. He is a son of earth, 6 GASTON DE FOIX A child of the enchanted southern soil ; He goes to battle, thrumming on a lute, A joyous song for ever on his lips. Our King has lately granted him large lands In Milan's Duchy, and this pleasant gift Would be for you. Jane Hark ! in the court below I hear the sound of hoofs. Cassandra O come ! O see ! Two horsemen clatter through the castle gate ; 'Tis Fran9ois de Rissac. Come, Mary. [They all go to the window except Mary Mary Nay, Truly I have no care to see his face. Cassandra There do you err. No sunnier countenance Shines in the Court ; you are not grateful, Mary, He has no thought but you. [ Looking through the window GASTON DE FOIX 7 His henchman follows ; And now another rider joins him ; look, 'Tis Gaston. Mary Which ? For there are many here. Cassandra Gaston de Foix, the young Duke of Nemours. [Mary goes to the window He, beside Frangois, seems a very child. Mary {^Looking through the window) Gaston is far the nobler of the two. Cassandra So diverse they ; but Rissac is a man, And Gaston but a boy : a very child. Mary You deem him but a beardless boy ; to me He seems the golden sun-god's youngest child ; And delicate but as the thin gold tongues Of fire are delicate ; splendid and swift. As flames that clothe a god's divinity. GASTON DE FOIX Cassandra You seek but to deceive us ; love you not Rissac ? Mary Nay, nay, I swear I love him not. Cassandra Do you love Gaston ? Mary Nay, I love no man. I know not if I love ; and yet I dream That if some day I loved, 'twould be a man Like Gaston — young and swift and strange as he. Cassandra Why call him strange ? Mary Yes, truly he is strange, As spirits are, or a thing half-divine. I dreamed a wondrous dream two nights ago. And I will tell it you. It was the night The jester, Remy, sang to us that song GASTON DE FOIX Of how Demeter wandered through the world Lamenting for her child Persephone, And, finding shelter in a herdsman's home. Nursed a young babe, who in a cradle lay — A child its parents called Demophoon — And dipped him like a brand in fire divine, And fed him with ambrosia like a god. For she would fain have made a god of him. Albeit, the mother, peeping in on them. Fearful of the strange glory, cried, and then The slighted goddess left the herdsman's home. And thus the child lost immortality. Yet something of that fire clung to him still, And he could never be as other men, Though mortal ; something of divinity Lingered, as clings the scent of incense-smoke To silent shrines. Cassandra But tell what you did dream. Mary I dreamed Demophoon was born again. Clothed in the shape of Gaston, whom we know ; And that among his fellow men he seemed 10 GASTON DE FOIX A stranger, and a man of alien race ; For, in his soul, there shone the spark divine, And an unearthly whisper in his heart For ever spake, and unfamiliar seemed To him the sight and speech of other men, And the loud pageant of the busy world ; So longed his soul for its bright native air. Till, one day, as if tired of banishment And foreign tongues and sights, he went away. And, following Death unto the fields of light. He thus returned to his immortal home. I know not why I dreamed this. Cassandra Sure, oh ! sure You love him, and one day shall be his bride. Mary He is betrothed already to his cousin ; Moreover, it is prophesied that I Shall kill the man I wed. Cassandra A murderess, you ! Who made this prophecy ? GASTON DE FOIX ii Mary When I was born In Brittany, unto my baptism came An aged crone who sang, they say, this rhyme : " Thy cradle song is the voice of the wave, And winds that moan o'er the seaman's grave ; Beware of the place where warriors fall, And pay no heed to the trumpet's call. And if with love thou lovest a man, Bid him begone, ere thou prove his ban ; For he whom thou shalt truly wed. Shall seek too soon the land of the dead." Cassandra And do you heed this prophecy ? Mary I fear To tempt the Fates with slighting disbelief ; I think not of it. Helen Come, Cassandra, come. The Queen awaits us. 12 GASTON DE FOIX Mary I will come anon. [Exeunt Cassandra, Helen, ««^Jane. Remy, the Jester, enters in gallery overlooking the hall and remains there, leaning over the balus- trade. Enter FRAN901S de Rissac FRAN901S Are you alone, my lady ? Mary Yes, my lord. FRAN901S I wear your colours in the Tournament To-day, your crimson colours ; if I win Will you reward me with your own sweet hands ? And will you give me a more rich reward ? Mary The meaning of my lord is far from me. If you should win, I'll crown you with green leaves. What other gifts have I to give ? GASTON DE FOIX 13 FRAN901S Ah, lady, Lately I have foregone the accustomed song. The dance, and I have shunned the merry Court ; But, in the twilight, underneath thy window, I have sung plaintive ballads to the stars ; Now, when I wander in the forest ways. The trees, the running stream, repeat thy name. If I but sit beside a cool dark well, I see thy face reflected in its desps. And if I turn for solace to my lute. The name of Mary trembles on the strings. Oh ! lady, you must know I pine for you. Mary I love no man, and I shall never wed. FRAN901S O speak not rashly, speak no hasty words ; Thy gentle eyes belie thy cruel speech, For love is trembling in thy soft sweet eyes. O lady heed ; my love is swift as fire, And constant as the stars, as strong, as true As the great sword I know so well to wield. Can you be pitiless, and speak my doom ? 14 GASTON DE FOIX Mary (hesitating) Oh ! leave me, sir, for I am sore perplexed. FRAN901S Thy heart is melting. Heaven has heard my prayer. Thou yieldest. Mary Nay, I pray you leave me now. Leave me ; I must have time to think and pray. Ere set of sun you shall receive my word — My yea or nay. I pray you, gentle sir. To leave me, I will summon you anon. Francois Then be it so ; but oh ! be pitiful Sweet lady, send the summons very soon. [^Exeunt Francois and Mary Enter Gaston de Foix and Remy Gaston Hie, fool, come hither ; sing to me the song You sang last night. GASTON DE FOIX 15 Fool 'Twas made for you, that song. Gaston And why for me ? Fool The privilege of fools Is to give no clear reason for their words. Song I do not hid thee linger here, The lark is in the sky. So say farewell, without a tear. Begone, without a sigh. Thy way is parted from my way, We'll meet not till the Judgment Day. O Wanderer, where shalt thou he When the long hattle' s fought f To-night, at set of sun, for me Thou shalt not have a thought. New battles wait thee, thou must roam ; No rest for thee, nor any home. The summer day is hot and long, Tet shall it fade away ; i6 GASTON DE FOIX Evening shall come, and twilight song After the summer day ; And nighty the night which bringeth sleep To all who wander and who weep, Gaston Why did you make this song for me ? Fool My song Means nothing, yet my song means all for you. Gaston Are you a prophet ? Tell me, then, who wins The prize to-day ? Fool Sir, you shall lose and win ; You shall win many prizes in your life. One fatal prize — Gaston But, if I lose, who wins ? Fool Who but your friend, Lord Francois de Rissac ? GASTON DE FOIX 17 Gaston Hc'is the better warrior. Fool Better friend. Gaston A better friend than I ? I'd die for him. Fool Perchance ; so said St. Peter long ago. Gaston And shall he win the Tournament ? Fool To-day ? Nay, you shall win the crown, but he the prize. Gaston I can no longer kear such talk ; begone. [Exit Remy Enter Mary Gaston Ah ! Lady, hail ! There is a Tournament To-day ; shall you attend it with the Queen ? B 1 8 GASTON DE FOIX Mary I come, my lord, and think to see you win. Gaston No, there are others, better far than I. I am a boy here, among men. Mary And yet I have oft seen you vanquish famous men, As yet untaught in failure ; and I dream That fortune has endowed you with a boon. Gaston What boon ? Mary It is the gift of excellence, The secret of perpetual victory. Gaston You mock me ; yet there is one boon I'd crave : A garland from your hands. Mary Sir, your betrothed Will have prepared a fitter crown than I. GASTON DE FOIX 19 Gaston Betrothed ! I greatly doubt if we shall wed. This swift betrothal was the King's desire — No handiwork of hers or mine. Mary She's fair. Gaston Yes, like an ivory statue set in gems. But I know one, who brings, where'er she goes. The freshness of the forest, the glad air Of beaches, clamorous with the breaking surf. The thought of her is tranquil as the star That trembles through the wet tempestuous twilight. Piercing the vault of the blue firmament ; Yet is she fashioned like an April hour Of storm and sudden sunshine, and her voice Is like the wild appeal of sighing winds ; Her soul is filled with warmth and restless fire. And charged with shadow and With mystery Unfathomable as the heart of night. Enter Squire Squire {To Gaston) My Lord, the King doth summon you. 20 GASTON DE FOIX Gaston I come. Farewell, my lady, till this afternoon. [Exit Gaston Enter Remy, the Jester Fool Hail, little child ! Mary O Fool, O wise, wise Fool, Dear Fool, who art far wiser than the wise — Kind Fool, mine ancient playfellow, my friend, My only friend when first I came to Court A stranger, from the land of Brittany, Who taught me the small knowledge that is mine ; Who cheered my loneliness with jest and song, Who helped me with sage warning and advice ; Again, as in old days, I come to you. For I am sore perplexed. Fool My help is here, Still ready ; tell me your perplexity, As long ago, when, climbing on my knees. You sobbed your childish troubles in my ear — GASTON DE FOIX 21 Mary You see this scarlet blossom in my hair ? It is the badge of Francois de Rissac, Now shall I wear it at the Tournament To-day ? for he this morning sued my hand, And I can never love him. Fool 'Tis not hard To wed the man you love. Mary I dare not, Remy. 'Tis prophesied that I shall kill that man. Fool Then wed the man you love and let him die, And he will die content. Mary [Speaking to herself) The man I love. I am not sure I love him. Do I love ? Or is it but the fancy of my brain ? I know not if he loves me ; he is young ; A careless boy — surely too young to love. 22 GASTON DE FOIX Fool Gaston de Foix ? Mary How know you it was he ? Fool' I hare not eyes in vain ; surely he loves. Mary I thought so once ; yet did he truly love, He would have spoken all his love to me ; And if he loves me, I'll not be his wife And cause his death. Fool Nay, listen. Fate is subtle. Try to elude her, she will have her way. Mary And if he died ? If I but knew he loved me — Moreover, he's betrothed to the Princess, His cousin ; tell me, Remy, what to say To Frangois de Rissac ; he comes anon. I think I will say yea and go with him Away to Italy, and there forget This fantasy of mine. GASTON DE FOIX 23 I Fool And cause his death ? Mary The prophecy does warn me to beware Of him I loved, if I do read it rightly ; For if I wedded him, 'twould prove his death. I do not love him. Tell me what to say. Fool Too wise a fool am I to give advice. Mary I know that he loves me ; 'twere haply best To wed him, for an honest man he seems, Kindly and gentle, and I should have peace. Fool {^Looking out of the window) See, they now walk together through the yard. Mary {Going to the window and looking out) Gaston, thou art like a tall white flower ! 1 will not give the sickle to the hand Of Death. O, thou shalt never die through me ! 24 GASTON DE FOIX Fool My words are vain. Do as you will ; he comes. Mary Gaston ? Fool No, Frangois de Rissac. Farewell, [Fool walks up into the Gallery Enter Francois de Rissac FRAN901S I could no longer bear the sharp suspense. Mary I had not sent a summons to you, Sir, All unprepared you find me, FRAN901S The delay Was all too long for my distracted heart ; Now by the crimson flower that decks your hair My heart takes hope. Oh 1 quickly seal my fate. You speak no word. GASTON DE FOIX 25 Mary I spoke the truth to-day ; I told you that it was not wise to wed me. FRAN501S Let us forget these shadowy fantasies. Let my love be the daylight of thy life, And drive away the creeping mists of fear, Mary I know not what to say. Oh ! help me God ! FRAN901S 'Tis true, 'tis true, the Heavens have heard my prayer ! The Gates of Paradise are opened wide ! I read the answer in thy speaking eyes. Mary God help me, O God help me, if I err ! [Exeunt Both Enter Cassandra, Helen, Jane. Fool walks down from the Gallery Cassandra Mary, where is she ? 26 GASTON DE FOIX Helen A few minutes past Through the long corridor I saw her go, And by the Chapel grating pause, and say A prayer ; and as she prayed, I heard her weep. Fool She will have need of prayer. Cassandra O, cease this talk; Thou croakest like a raven, dismally. We all need prayer, but she not more than we. Jane I met her now this moment on the stair, With Frangois, in his eyes was happiness. Fool Yes, in his eyes. Cassandra And in hers too, I trow. 'Tis long since he has loved her and she him. GASTON DE FOIX 27 I was not blinded by the words she spake Of Gaston. Fool Women are surpassing wise. Here comes Sir Gaston. Enter Gaston Gaston Gentle ladies, say, Where may be your companion. Lady Mary ? Cassandra I know not ; we will seek, and bid her come. * [Exeunt Ladies Gaston ( To Remy) Do you know why I seek her ? Fool I have guessed ; But it may be too late. Gaston I pray you now Speak no ambiguous words. 28 GASTON DE FOIX Fool She loves you, Sir. Gaston Are you so sure of this ? Fool Yes, very sure. But wherefore have you waited, sir, to speak ? Why have you not declared your love for her. And taken her by storm ? Gaston 'Tis true ; but I Had meant to speak to-day ; 'tis not too late ? Fool She loved you ever since she came to Court, But her heart wavers with a hundred doubts ; She is vexed with omens, prompt unto despair. Sir, you must speak at once ; no doubtful words. Gaston There is no ground to think it is too late ? Is there another whom she loves ? GASTON DE FOIX 29 Fool She comes Herself, best question her. Enter Mary Gaston Sweet Lady, stay, For I have many words to speak with you. Mary O sir, you greatly honour me. I, too. Have news for you ; the news of my betrothal To Frangois de Rissac, your noble friend. [Exit Mary Enter Cassandra and Fool Cassandra ■ Lord Gaston, have you heard ? Gaston Yes, I have heard. Cassandra And she has loved him long ! 30 GASTON DE FOIX Gaston I knew not that. Cassandra There is great joy in store for them. Gaston I wish Long life to them, and all prosperity. Cassandra (Going to the door) After the Tournament we meet again. {Exit Cassandra Gaston O Remy, you were right. I was too late ; So will it always be, and I shall find No joy on earth and no serenity. Fool They say that you will be the King of Men. Gaston What is the Kingdom worth, if in my soul There cannot be the calm of sovereignty ? GASTON DE FOIX I shall not find felicity on earth, Nor ever taste of peace until I die. The world is smiling round me : I am young And see myself already lifted high ; And yet my soul is like a bird that strayed From skies of sunlight, who in the strange air Must sing and soar unceasingly, yet feel The while a fiery restlessness at heart ; And though he sing the sweetest of all songs, And though he soar so swiftly that men say " This is the fairest of all birds," yet he Has no delight in singing, no desire To soar, and, heedless of the alien praise, Longs only for the day of his return, Where there shall be no need for flight and song. And now I go to win the Tournament ; Haply, in fighting there may still be joy. Although there be no joy in victory. ACT II Christmas 1511. Room in FRAN901S DE RissAc's Castle at Carpi. In the fireplace to the left logs are burning. It is evening. A sound of talking and music is heard without. Enter Mary, FRAN901S, and Soldiers Francois 'Tis time for us to go. Mary Can you not wait Until to-morrow morn ? 'Tis Christmas Eve. FRAN901S I cannot tarry, for my men and I Must by to-morrow reach Bologna. GASTON DE FOIX 33 Mary Stay Until to-morrow morning. FRAN901S Nay, love, nay, I go to seek news of the enemy. But you shall not be lonely, for I leave Our friend, the gallant Gaston, with his men. What better company could you desire ? Mary Until to-morrow : that is all I ask. Francois No, love, it cannot be : and now farewell. Enter Gaston de Foix Gaston You start ? then fare you well, my friend, and I Here will remain till I receive despatches That bring the words and wishes of the King, Concerning the attack. 34 GASTON DE FOIX Francois Since your descent In Italy, they have good cause to fear. They name you Heaven's thunderbolt. [Gaston makes a gesture of impatience Nay, heed, You are a boy in years — Ah ! in all times Some youth has scaled Fame's dizzy mountain-top, And snatched the golden leaves that shine like stars In Cloudlands sought in vain by older men. And now, beloved friend, I say farewell. Gaston Farewell ; God-speed ; a swift and safe return. Francois. Now farewell, Mary, my beloved wife. [Ar«i« Mary, who leads him to the door^ and follows him out : they remain outside a moment. A clash of arms is heard and a noise of drums and music. This is heard for several minutes, gradually diminishing.] Mary and Gaston re-enter GASTON DE FOIX 35 Mary Come to the casement : see how the moonlight glints Upon the golden armour and the snow. Hark to that noise of drums. How often I Have heard it in my dreams, and now to-night I hear it true. Gaston Your heart goes with that host To war, and hovers near your husband's heart ; There is but little cause to fear. Mary For him I have no fear at all. Gaston Then wherefore tremble ? Mary 'Tis sadness makes me tremble, and not fear. Gaston Ah, you must be exceeding sorrowful Now you have said farewell to him you love. 36 GASTON DE FOIX Mary I have no fear for him : 'tis Christmas Eve Which makes me sad, I think of far off things — Of time long past when I hailed Christmas Day With gladness, as the harbinger of joy : The herald of another happy year. Gaston But you are still so young. Mary We both are young. The day I married I was younger still, Too young. Gaston Yet you had loved him long already ? Mary I ? Wherefore think you so ? Gaston Cassandra told me. Mary Cassandra ! How that name brings back to me The days of old ! GASTON DE FOIX 37 Gaston To me, too, my glad days. Mary Your glad days are yet scarce begun. Gaston My days Of gladness have been lived. They are all dead. And there will be no new glad days for me. Mary For you ! O Gaston, this is a strange jest — You, to whom life lies open like the lists, Where every honoured prize the world can give Awaits you — you, who scarce more than a boy Are the first Captain of a mighty nation ; So that, if you should die to-day, your death Would live like an immortal drop of blood Upon the scroll of history ; your name Would echo down the winding stair of time. And set the hearts of heedless men on fire, And moisten their hard eyes with the bright vision Of those who wander in the happy fields With Hector and Achilles ; those whose names Speak to the world of wasted bravery, 38 GASTON DE FOIX Of fleeting splendour and unfinished song ; Of sudden silence and untimely night. Of those who on the altar of all time Like lilies lie, a silver sacrifice, Most beautifiil, most piteous, and most calm : Smiling with Death's triumphant listlessness. And crowned with immortality of Fame. Gaston Mary, do you remember long ago The day you told me that you were betrothed ? Mary I mind the day — ay, well ! Gaston That afternoon There was a Tournament before the King ; I won that Tournament, and I received A crown of laurels from the Queen's own hands. Do you think, Mary, that my joy was great When I received that crown ? Mary I think your joy Must have been truly great. GASTON DE FOIX 39 Gaston There was no joy, Mary, upon that August afternoon, Amid the blaze and pomp of arms, amid The cheers of victory that called my name. There was no joy for me. There was despair. Since then I have not hoped. Mary What thing is this ? Gaston, I know not what you mean — Gaston Then heed, And I will make it clear. We soon must part, I may be killed : we may not meet again. Alone, as now ; it may be the last time I speak with you, so will I tell you all. Do you remember how we met that morning. And that I spake of my betrothal ? Mary Yes. 40 GASTON DE FOIX Gaston Do you remember that I spake of on| Who was more fair than she whom I should wed ? Mary I do. Gaston And how our talk was broken then ; And how I came to seek you later ? Mary Yes. Gaston Do you know why I came to seek you then ? Mary No, no, I cannot tell. Gaston 1 loved you, Mary. Only I came too late, and I was told Of your bethrothal to another man. They told me too that you had loved him long. I knew not that. [Mary says nothing^ but stares into the fire GASTON DE FOIX 41 Enter Squire Squire The Mummers are without. Mary What Mummers ? Squire Christmas Mummers. They would fain Come in, and sing a carol to my Lady — Enter Lords and Ladies and Mummers. Musk Mummers sing And in the Garden that God made, Beneath the tree with golden fruit. Were Adam and his faery bride : A snake was coiled at the tree's root. And Lilith proved false to him, And Adam put away his bride ; God gave him Eve to be his wife, Who loved him well until he died. 42 GASTON DE FOIX But Lilith could not die, for she Was like the spirits of the air ; She wandered o'er the wide wide world Nor could she slumber anywhere. 'Twas winter, and snow hid the earth, One star alone lit up the sky When Lilith to the Manger came. And heard a cry, an infant's cry. And she went in to comfort it There, by the ox's stall, she found A Mother and a child new born, Amid the straw upon the ground. The infant shone like moonshine bright. The yellow straw seemed like fine gold ; And Lilith gave her silver cloak To keep him from the bitter cold. The infant smiled. Then Lilith felt A wish to lie down on the ground ; Then she, who ne'er had slept, lay down And slept ; and still she sleepeth sound. GASTON DE FOIX 43 Mary {To Squire) Go, thank the Mummers for their dance and song. Squire My Lady, in the Banquet Hall the Mummers Wish to present a Christmas Mystery, Wil't please you to attend it ? Mary Presently, Maybe I'll come. Should I not come, good-night. Gaston My Lady, come you to the Mystery ? Mary 'Tis close on midnight. I am weary, too, And wish to slumber. No, I shall not come ; Good-night, my Lord. Gaston Good-night, good-night to you. [Exeunt Gaston and Lords 44 GASTON DE FOIX Alice Go you to rest, my lady — shall we wait ? Mary Nay, wait not — go to bed — I have no need Of any one to-night. I'll watch awhile. Good-night to you. [Exeunt Ladies Yes, I must be alone. [JValks towards the fire No, 'tis not cold which makes me tremble thus. [The clock strikes midnight : bells ring Midnight ! Already it is Christmas day I [She walks to the image of the Virgin, which stands on the left of the fireplace, and kneels My thoughts are tossed about like perished leaves ; They shift like water, and like fire they burn ; So thick, so fast they come, I scarce can utter ; One thing I know : that I am sore afraid, And that temptation wrestles with my soul ; An unseen spirit, terrible and dark Whispers his subtle sayings in my ear. I dare not gaze upon his hidden face Lest I should love his face. Though I be deaf GASTON DE FOIX 45 To the dread words he whispers, I know well, Deep in my heart, the speech is sweet to me — O help me, Mary Mother ; I am frail. Long since the solid bastions of my soul Have been besieged by stealthy misery. By Love, and all his million Ministers. And now, when he had Iain so long in ambush That I had deemed the danger past, he comes. And, with a tenfold violence, renews His fierce attack. O help me, Mary Queen ; For, in my heart, I feel the swift desire To yield, and live triumphant in defeat. shield me from this grievous sin. O help ! 1 am so weak. Now, when I speak to thee, I am made strong ; yet when I cease to pray. The powers of evil drag me down again Into the dark delicious sea. O hear ! O help me in this hour of anguish, help ! Thou, Who, in the Gardenj once did'st pray For strength to drink the bitter cup of death, Hear me ; the cup I ask Thee to remove Is one of rapture, not of bitterness ; 1 ask : I call : I cry out from the depth Of agony and anguish. Help me ! Help ! [Pause. She rises from her knees, mnd walks to the fire 46 GASTON DE FOIX How cold it is ! My heart is cold and dead. \_Mary walks to the door and remains a few moments by it listening in silence. Presently she starts as though she had heard something. She walks away^ hesitating for a moment ; then she returns to the door, opens it softly, and calls softly, Gaston ! Enter Gaston Gaston Are you still here ? Mary I am alone — And shiver in my solitude ; I need To speak a word with you, for I am sad, Your tale has made me sad. Gaston 'Tis womanlike, And haply 'tis divine to shed sweet dews Of pity upon those we cannot love. I thank you for your pity. GASTON DE FOIX 47 Mary There is more, Much more than pity in my sadness now. You told your story, Gaston, for you said, 'Twas haply the last time that we should speak Thus open-hearted. I, too, think the same ; So listen while I tell my story now. Gaston Have you a story, too ? Mary A foolish tale ; Made up of feeble fear and fantasy ; A woman's tale of weakness and despair ; Yet the despair is strong as any man's. [They sit down near the fire Mary I in a kingdom of wild woods was born By sad lamenting shores, among the trees Of Broceliande where Merlin lies asleep ; And something of the whisper of those woods. Some echo of the sadness of that sea Stayed in my heart ; and, when I was baptized. An aged crone stopped by the Church and sang 48 GASTON DE FOIX That he whom I should truly wed should die. Although I know 'tis foolishness and folly To heed such omens, yet within my heart The saying lingered, and it lingers still. The years passed and I came to Court : but yet I was not as the others : though I grew, I was a child at heart : I am a child. I felt — I feel my childhood's old despair ; My childhood's passion and wild waves of hate ; And all my childhood's terror of the dark, Of Death, of shadows, and the power of night. And of the grave, the cold, dark, wormyl grave. Gaston 'Tis that which makes you sad ? Mary Nay, there is more ; The day I say you riding to the Court, I looked at you as I had never looked On other men ; I thought we two had met In the white meadows of a Paradise Made but for us ; the world was blotted out ; All other things were dead but you and me • GASTON DE FOIX 49 And, in a flash, I knew that you were mine, That I, of all mankind, should love but you. I loved you, Gaston ; but you never spake, And when I reasoned with myself I said — He is a heedless boy ; how can he love ? Then came that fatal day. My husband first With fiery words came pressing for my hand ; And then you came. And once again I felt That you were made for me, and I for you ; 1 thought you loved me ; and I felt that soon You must speak out your love. You went away. But I stayed brooding : all my childish heart Was beating with dark presage and alarm ; I saw you walk across the yard, and, Gaston, You seemed to me so radiant and so young, Then, all at once, I saw you drenched with blood ; And I the murderer and the red knife mine ! And in my ears were ringing the old words ; And my soul cried : O ! never shall this be ! Gaston You loved me, Mary, then. It is not true. For had you truly loved me, all these fears. These sickly fantasies had fled afraid. so GASTON DE FOIX Mary Most sure, had you come then and taken me In your strong arms, I had forgotten all ; You came not, but my husband came. Gaston I came Too late. Mary Too late ; and yet, perchance 'twas well ; I should have surely caused your death. Gaston Such words Are folly : yet the fault was only mine, I came too late ; but there is solade still. You have found happiness, though I despair. Mary I happy, Gaston ? Look into my eyes ; Look deep into my eyes ; say if you see One little spark of joy ? Gaston You sorrowful ? Then are we like two notes that wail and wander And meet and make one chord of wild despair GASTON DE FOIX 51 Mary I think there cannot be in all the world Two living souls as sad as thine and mine ; For we are both so young : a colder blight Than Autumn's touches us. Gaston I feel it too — As though each day I lived whole centuries Of hopelessness. For me there is no time ; An hour seems an Eternity. I feel As the damned souls must feel in endless hell. Mary Our hell is here ; but wherefore, Gaston, why, What have we done to merit punishment ? Gaston The fault was ours ; ourselves we wove the web. Mary No, no ; we could not help it ; it was Fate ; But be it as it may, we are in hell. 52 GASTON DE FOIX Gaston Then since we can be naught but two lost souls Who meet in hell, shall we defy the flames, And snatch the ecstasy from out the fire, And turn the bitter place to Paradise ? Mary I would defy the powers of Heaven now ; I would dare dark abominable things ; No ! Gaston, cease, begone ! Gaston No, Mary, no. [^Taking her by her hands It is too late. I will not go away ; You can but bid me stay, for you know well That now it is too late. See, Mary, see. The Universe has melted like a dream. Earth has dissolved, and in the starless space There are but you and my eternal love ; And now the world and its perplexities And tangled schemes have dwindled into dust ; Now there is no more life and no more death ; No day, nor night. But you and I alone GASTON DE FOIX 53 Move in the vastness emptied of its stars. What care I for my little life on earth ? This hour is my eternity, my life, The rest is but the phantom of a dream ; What care I now for honour, loyalty ? For right or wrong ? For sin, for Heaven, or Hell ? I see the love that wells within your eyes, And time drops past me like a falling star. ■ My honour ? It is crumbled with the world. The wrong ? It has been fiuried in the wrack ; One kiss will chase away the hollow dream, And cut the chain which binds us to the earth ; And in the white illimitable void We'll snatch the secret of eternity. Mary It is as though we'd left the restless world, And wandered in the happy fields of Death. Gaston As though we had been dead for centuries, And could no more recall the dreams of earth. Mary As though we had been drowned in heavy seas, And reached the voiceless ocean of the dusk. 54 GASTON DE FOIX Gaston Beyond the rivers of oblivion. Mary Or as though we had slumbered in a tomb For aeons, and aw^akened full of peace. Gaston And we have soared through vasts of blinding light, And moved in dazzling firmaments of flame. Mary And then we sought once more the place of dusk. Gaston And in our dim eternity of dusk. There is no light, no sound, no voice of man. Nor song of angel ; only I and you Still in our everlasting ecstasy. Mary Yes ; only you and I. Content ! Content ! [He takes her in his arms GASTON DE FOIX 55 Gaston See ! Where are Life and Death ? Eternity Is here. Mary {Whispers) Not Fate, nor Death, nor God Himself Can take away the moment that is now ! ACT III Hall, as in Act II Mary, Ladies, Squires Mary {To Ladies) Bring all the lights, I am quite ready now ; Soon the guests will be here. Enter Gaston My Lord, the first Of guests you come. [^^ir/? Women O Gaston, comfort me, I am afraid. Gaston Upon a mighty river We two are borne ; we cannot stem the tide. Mary Tis true the whole world is awry ; but we GASTON DE FOIX 57 Are not the authors of the wide world's wrong. Yet comfort me, for I am sore afraid. Gaston We twd, together, to Fate's chariot Are bound, but let us feel the ecstasy, And breathe the fiery whirlwind and exult ! We were two blind and helpless souls that wandered In a cold and endless night ; by chance we found A rushing fire of love, let us be glad A moment by that flame. [Noise of people is heard Mary It is the guests. Enter Albertus Mirandola, Bayart, Viverols, La Palisse, Loys d'Ars, Crussol ; other Lords and Ladies Musicians play in the Gallery Mary I crave your pardon for my husband's absence, But, as you know, he started for Bologna Some days ago, with a small Company : I bid you welcome all. 58 GASTON DE FOIX Bayart O, gentle lady, We, too, shall join your husband on the field Of battle. Mary Will there be a battle soon ? Bayart The Duke awaits despatches from the King ; Daily the Spaniards and the host of Naples Are marshalling their forces, therefore, we Must fight, and in one battle end the war. Mary But will this mighty battle soon be fought ? Bayart Our Companies are ready to set out At any hour. Some weeks may well pass by Before we meet the Spaniards ; on the road There will be fighting and sharp skirmishes ; But as to when the battle will be fought. The Astrologer may tell you ; but not I. GASTON DE FOIX 59 Mary The Astrologer ? MiRANDOtA I have brought with me here A Minstrel, who can sing the songs of France ; And an Astrologer, of whom they tell Marvellous things ; for he, they say, can read The past and future as an open book. Gaston Where is the sage ? Come, let us test his skill. [Soothsayer comes forward Mary Can you foretell the future, Sir ? Soothsayer I read The language of the stars and of men's eyes. Gaston Sir, can you tell us if the Spanish host And King of Naples mean to give us battle ? Soothsayer Yes, by the Mass ! a battle shall be fought ; I see a plain green with the growing corn. 6o GASTON DE FOIX And strewn with fallen blossom and spring flowers The sun shines joyously upon that plain, And the larks sing above it ; but the corn Is scarlet, not from any poppy flower Or red anemone, but with warm blood ; And in the grass the gallant Frenchmen lie. The young, who went so joyous to the war, With laughter and with feasting and with song ; Of those who started, few shall see their homes. And few shall see the sun set on that field. Gaston But who shall win ? Soothsayer The French shall take the camp ; But there shall be no note of joy when sounds The Song of Victory at set of sun. There shall be tears and mournful, muffled sounds. At set of sun that battlefield shall be Like a fresh sward of snow-white mountain lilies That has been ravaged by a storm of hail ; That night the old and weary still shall watch ; The young, the brave, shall sleep the whole night through. GASTON DE FOIX 6i Bayart {Laughing) In every battle many a man must die. Gaston And many a youth. I pray you, gentle Bayart, To ask your fate. Bayart My friend, it is in vain ; I know there's nothing great in store for me ; But since you will it— \To Soothsayer.] Tell me, Sir, shall I Become one day a great and wealthy man ? Soothsayer Thou shalt be rich in valour and in merit ; But thy reward shall be thy deathless fame ; Thy prize shall be no earthly crown of gold, Not riches, not dominion in this world ; But the unfading laurel leaves of glory. As longs as rolls this restless world through space, As long as men are born to fight and die. Thy name shall live ; and where men meet to fight. Thy name, more than the trumpet or the drum, Shall stir their hearts, and when they face their death, Thy name shall make that dreadful minute calm. 62 GASTON DE FOIX Among the sordid trophies of the world, The tattered banners and the tarnished shields, Thy name alone, in letters of white fire Shall shine upon the crimson flag of glory ; Thy memory shall flourish like a flower, The stainless lily of the fields of blood ; And in all time the fragrance of that flower Shall rise into the nostrils of the brave, And sweeten bitter death to dying men — O Knight, made of pure gold without alloy, Unknown to baseness and untouched by blame, mighty heart, that cannot harbour fear ! Bayart Forbear this foolish pmise ; but say, the battle. Shall I outlive it ? Soothsayer In another war. Now twelve years hence, in battle shalt thou fall. Mary 1 fain would ask my fortune. [To Lords] Listen not ; It irks me that all men should hear. [Lords and Ladies withdraw and break up in groups GASTON DE FOIX 63 [Pointing to Gaston.] Sir, tell me The fortune of that goodly nobleman — The Duke of Nemours. [Gaston hears his name and listens Soothsayer Great is your regard, As that of all this Company, for him. And well does he deserve it, for his face Betrays the secret of a noble soul. His fate is overshadowed by a cloud, And sounds of twilight echo in his name. [Continuing in a kind of chant For him a peril lies in wait. But his own hands shall hold his fate. For if he shun the danger, he Shall have no peer in history. If when the sun in blood shall rise. He sees upon that day, the skies, Twice bathed in blood, at eve grow dim, There shall be no more hurt for him. He shall be far from peril's way At sunset, on the Holy Day. Gaston What is it that you speak ? 64 GASTON DE FOIX Mary Nought save this word — That you shall prove a monarch among men, [Soothsayer withdraws Gaston I heard it all. So there shall be a choice Between the greatest honours of the world And Death. Mary This man, like every other man Who knows you, has foretold high things for you ; Greatness and honour and dominion And everlasting fame. So say they all. Gaston I feel as though my fate were calling me From some dim region far beyond the skies, And as though sightless shapes and hands and voices Were bidding me to hasten from the world. Mary Hush ! they will hear you. Gastoh No, too busy they With talk and song to pay us any heed. GASTON DE FOIX 65 Mary He said the choice is yours to live or die, And living, to become the King of Men. Live then you must. Gaston The Soothsayer meant, I know, That I should be brief-fated. Mary No, for me And for your Country's sake you must live on. I cannot know you dead and face the world ; And happiness perchance will come to you Some day when you are gone, when memory Of me is but a dream. You must not think That I am aught of import in your life. You will forget me, and I shall not grieve So long as I remember you, and know That you are living still, and, if God please, Are happy somewhere. No, I shall not grieve. I am a petal cast upon the path Of your triumphant progress ; a frail note Lost in the world's loud hymn of praise to you ; Your life is not begun ; these threatening signs E 66 GASTON DE FOIX Are but the fleeting heralds of the morning, The mist of dawn, that, rising, shall unveil The stainless azure of a firmament. Lit by the splendour of one dazzling star. Gaston I deem that dazzling star whereof you speak Already burns too swift, and will flare out. For even in the moments of my joy A ghostly call has echoed in my heart ; And, like a pilgrim in a hall of feasts, I longed to go and seek the lonely way. Mary Fate has dealt blindly with us. Fate decreed Before the world that you and I should love. My only thought is for your future years. Gaston My future years ! Oh ! far away and still I see those future years. For I can hear A rushing tide that carries me along. I cannot stop. You must not bid me stay. For I am like a horse who hears his hoofs Echoing like thunder on the frosty road, GASTON DE FOIX 67 And maddened with that music, like the wind He gallops headlong through the starry night On to some dark abysm : he only knows That naught can stop that ecstasy of speed Enter Soldier with Letters Soldier I bring despatches from the King of France. [Gaston takes them and reads Mary What news ? Gaston The King frets at the long delay ; He bids me drive the Spaniards from the land, He tells me to give battle now. \To Messenger.] 'Tis well. {Calling to Bayart.] My Lord of Bayart, letters from the King Have come to me ; he frets at our delay ; To-morrow we must push against the foe. To-morrow at the latest. Come, my Lord, Let us take counsel with our friends awhile. 68 GASTON DE FOIX [Ta Soldiers.] And bid the soldiers of our Company To be prepared to start at any time. [Walks into the next room with Bayart [Mary goes to the door and calls Gaston Mary Pray' the Astrologer to speak with me. Enter Soothsayer Mary You told me Bayart's fate and Nemours' fate, But, Sir, of me you said no word at all. Soothsayer Let me look in your eyes. [He looks into her eyes Soothsayer I see a field, A wintry field that lies beneath the stars, I know not if 'tis Winter or the Spring ; It may be Spring ; and there upon the ground, I see a gallant warrior lying dead. GASTON DE FOIX 69 His golden mail is gory with red blood, That gushes out from many hundred wounds ; And, kneeling there beside him, is a form That weeps and wrings her hands, and it is you. Mary Can you not recognise his face ? Soothsayer I see His splendid armour and his gory wounds — I cannot see his face. Mary This field of Death Thou seest, is that my only destiny ? Soothsayer Yes, that is all ; that shines like a red star Over thy life ; and all the rest is tears. Mary Shall I die young ? Soothsayer I know not ; if you live It shall be but to pray with tears to God. 70 GASTON DE FOIX Mary Why shall I pray and weep ? Soothsayer We must all pray To God that He forgive our trespasses. And weep because of our incessant sin. Mary And Gaston, the young Duke of Nemours ; tell. Shall he die in the battle which shall be ? Soothsayer For him a peril lies in wait, But his own hands shall hold his fate. But if he shun the peril, he Shall have no peer in history. Enter Bay art Bayart My Lady, the King presses us to fight. So we must start ere many hours are past. I pray you ask Mirandola's gay Minstrel To sing to us a song. Mary • Yes, bid him sing. GASTON DE FOIX 71 Bayart Some joyous song that fits our merry mood. Minstrel I fear my song will not be glad enough To fit this merry laughing Company. This is a song I learned at the French Court. Song I do not hid thee linger here. The lark sings in the sky ; So bid farewell without a tear. Begone without a sigh. Thy way is parted from my way. We'll meet not till the Judgment Day. The summer day is hot and long. Yet it shall fade away ; Evening shall come, and twilight song After the summer day ; And night, the night which bringeth sleep To all who wander and who weep, Mary Stop, bid the minstrels play a merry tune. [Minstrels play. A roll of drums is heard outside 72 GASTON DE FOIX Mary Hark ! what is that ? Bayart News of the enemy, [yf tramp of men and a noise of voices is heard Enter Soldier Bayart It is a man of Frangois' company. Mary What news? What news, say .^ Letters from my Lord.? Soldier News do I bring, my Lady, but no letters. Mary What news ? Speak on. Soldier My Lady, no good news. Mary Has he been taken by the enemy ? GASTON DE FOIX 73 Soldier I would fain tell it to my Lord of Bayart, Or to the Duke. Mary Nay, thou shalt tell it me, Haste thee, I say ! Soldier My Lady, no good news I bring. Mary Speak, is he Avounded ? Soldier He received A deadly wound Mary O speak ! Where is he ? Say ! Where is he ? Speak ? Soldier Within Bologna town Mary Is he still living ? 74 GASTON DE FOIX Soldier He is sleeping now ; And the leech says his wound can never heal. Mary He is dead ! Speak, is he dead ? Soldier I fear 'tis true. [Mary sinks into a chair with a cry Mary {Rising) Here, soldier, come. I will hear all. Come tell me How died he ? [The guests withdraw, all except Gaston, Bay ART and Mirandola Soldier We had gone from hence five days. And came upon a body of the foe — Venetian skirmishers — before we reached Bologna ; these we set upon and routed, But in the fight my lord received a wound. We bore him to the town and bade the leeches Succour him ; but already 'twas too late. Yet, at one time, my Lord seemed to gain strength. GASTON DE FOIX 75 Called me, and bade me heed his words, and take This message to my Lady — " It is death," He said, " And tell the Duke how it befell, And, to my lady, say my dying thoughts Have sent a prayer to Heaven for her sake. I have asked God to guard her in the world, And give her happiness and plenteous years. Moreover, tell my friend, the Duke of Nemours, That, after my dear wife, 'twas him I loved More than all men ; and had I thought my death Could give him longer life, or brighter fortune, Then gladly had I died." And once again He raised himself, 'twas soon before he died. And said, " God bless my Mary, she's alone." And then he spake no more. Mary Where lies my Lord ? Soldier There, where we left him, in Bologna town. And for the Duke of Nemours I have news. Gaston Speak on. 76 GASTON DE FOIX Soldier The town of Brescia has suffered siege, And fallen into the hands of the Venetians ; It cries for swift relief. They cannot last Another day. Gaston {To Bayart) We must set out to-night. Bayart. This self-same moment. All has been prepared. \To Soldier.] Go, tell our men at arms that we set out. {To Gaston) Come, Sir, for we must start without delay. Let us leave Lady Mary to her grief ; We will not trouble her with our farewells, Nor vex her with civilities ; our men Await us ready. Come, 'tis time to go. [Mary looks up and stares at them as they walk out — Gaston does not look at her— they pass out in silence Mary {Alone) Gone ! and I cannot call him back again. [Runs to the window GASTON DE FOIX 77 And is this the fulfilment of the song — The old crone's song I heard in Brittany ? " For he whom thou shalt truly wed, Shall seek too soon the land of the dead." It must be the fulfilment of the song ; It must be Frangois whom the Astrologer Saw in my eyes. And shall blood-thirsty Fate Be sated with one piteous sacrifice ? No ! This is not the end, and Gaston, thou Hast gone to answer to the call of Death ! Come back and let me see thy face once more, Only once more ; but one swift look I crave. Thou hast gone to the fields of fire and blood, Without a word for me, without a look, Without a silent signal of farewell. Come back, come back and say farewell to me ! l^Sinks on the ground in a storm of tears ACT IV. A part of the battlefield of Ravenna ; on the right there is a clump of trees ; on the left the plain is seen — trees and rocks in the foreground. In the distance is heard an intermittent rumour of battle^ growing fainter and fainter ; clouds of smoke are seen rising on the horizon of the plain. A few Soldiers discovered sitting on the ground ; it is afternoon. First Soldier It is too late to chase the flying foe. Second Soldier Aye, for the victory is ours. This morning The rising sun seemed as though dyed in blood. Some said it was an omen of defeat. But now the plain is drenched with alien blood. GASTON DE FOIX 79 First Soldier Our Company was loth to go to battle, But Gaston came and stirred our sluggish hearts With words of fire. [^Soands of trumpets are heard Second Soldier Hark ! hark ! it is our men. [Soldiers jump up and run off. A noise of clashing steel is heard, and trumpets again sound. Behind the trees banners and lances and the heads of soldiers are descried Enter Gaston de Foix, stained with blood, and other Soldiers. Enter Bay art from the other side Bayart {Going up to Gabton) Sir, you are wounded ? Gaston No, I have no wound. Bayard Oh, Heaven be praised ! for thou hast won the battle. From this day forth thou art, and shalt remain 8o GASTON DE FOIX The greatest captain of the world ; but now Press on no more, assemble here thy men ; As yet, the time of pillage is not come. I and the Captain Loys will pursue The fugitives. Now, for the sake of God, Stir not from here until we send for thee. Gaston Sir, I will stay in safety till you come. [Exit Bayart Gaston Is this the end ? And is the battle won ? Not many moments since the seething fight Deafened and dazzled me ; the spacious plain Was like a sea of blood that cried and moaned ; And I was happy on that desperate ocean, And filled with wondrous gladness. It is over. The country smiles with that strange quietness Which only seems to come on Holy Days ; The plain is white with blossom. It is Spring ; Is this a battlefield ? And has there been A fight to-day ? Or have I dreamed a dream ? The blood upon my armour is no dream, My eyes still burn, my lips are parched, and I Am dizzy with the sound of shivered steel. GASTON DE FOIX 8i Oh ! there was peace within that shrieking battle, Peace in the roaring furnace of the war ; Now it is gone and vanished. In this hush, And in this quiet sight of sun and mist There is not any breath of peace for me. [Gaston walh to the right, plunged in thought. He is hidden by the trees. Once more men are seen, and a faint noise of arriving people is heard. Gaston does not notice them Enter Mary with small Suite Mary. He is not here. Then they have lied to me. \To Suite.] Here leave me ; go and strive to find some food And water for the horses. {Exit Suite Mary. It is over ; The battle's done, I cannot hear a sound. But Gaston, where is he ? He is not here. The prophecy is true, and he is dead. But yet the Soothsayer said if he outlived The day on which the sun seemed dyed in blood F 82 GASTON DE FOIX All would be well. Oh ! sure he meant Good Friday : To-day is Easter. [Gaston appears through the trees. Mary sees Gaston Mary Gaston ! It is I ! [Gaston walks sadly towards her The battle's over and you are not dead ; O, praised be God ! O, Mary Mother, praise ! Gaston No, Mary, no ; the sun has not yet set. Mary What have I done ? What have I said amiss ? I can but let my joy soar up to God, My thanks, my praise. Gaston Although I am not dead Yet have 1 told Death of a trysting-place : He will not fail to meet me when I come. GASTON DE FOIX 83 Mary The battle's done. It is too late to go. [In the distance a faint noise of trumpets is heard. Gaston looks at Mary Mary No ! no ! I will not let you leave me now. Gaston Just now in the loud battle, while I fought And gloried in the fighting, and forgot My restless thoughts and tasted strange delight. Between the spears I saw the face of Death ; Then twilight seemed to brood upon the battle ; A blinding mist descended on the field, And the great noise of fighting died away ; Above, amid the dimness and the hush, The face of Death shone like the silent snow. Oh, Mary ! very glorious was that face. And, for one moment, peace was in my soul. And I was one with all calm things of earth ; One with the ministers of dawn and dusk ; One with the motionless high mountain clouds. And flowers that slumber underneath the sea. 84 GASTON DE FOIX And then I heard a voice which filled the skies As though a million ghostly trumpets spake, Which called me by my name and bade me come Unto a kingdom of divine strange light — Therefore, since Death has called me, I must go ; Nor fail to meet him at the trysting-place. Mary You have not, then, one little thought for me ? You shall not go. See, see these burning tears ! These are the tears of joy to knov>^ you living ! O Gaston ! wherefore must you go to die, Since your life has been spared ? Gaston No, Mary, no. My battle has been fought. My task is done, And Death has need of me. I know not why ; But he will meet me at some trysting-place To-day ; and now the time has come to go. Mary Not yet, not yet ! O Gaston, give me time. Death cannot now have need of you. The call GASTON DE FOIX 85 Is surely but a dream. The Soothsayer said A danger threatened, but that you might pass Through peril into fame. Then far from me Fate shall uplift you in a cloud of fire Above the world. I told you long ago That I was naught of import in your life ; To be a grain of incense in the cloud That rises round your name is all my wish. Farewell ; but should I never see you more, The echoes of your fame would bring me joy ; As long as in the starless sky your star Still shines, my darkness will be full of light. [^Kneeh Upon my knees I pray you not to die. Gaston There is an inward flame without whose light No life can be, no deeds of fame be done. I had a portion of that fire ; but now Death has for ever cooled it with his hand. I hear the tolling of a bell. I know The time has come to meet Death at the gate. Mary Thou who wast born to be the King of Men ! 86 GASTON DE FOIX Gaston I could no longer speak the words of power ; Nor mingle any more in fight and feast ; Beyond the stifling incense of the world I seek the cool dark air. Mary O ! for my sake ! Why should you yield to Death ? See, I am yours ; Then lift me on your chariot of fire, And I will share the fame that you have won ; And we will turn the world's reproach to glory. Gaston Mary, it is too late for all such thoughts. It is too late. My share of glory shone To-day. My life has traced its fiery orbit, And, as a meteor, falls into the night. And yet, when I shall sink beyond the day, I dream I shall not find the darkness there, But a long twilight as of Northern skies. Lustrous without the aid of star or moon. My soul shall fly back to its ancient home Of breathless silence and tranquillity. And, Mary, when you feel the hush of dawn. GASTON DE FOIX 87 Or breathe the golden stillness of the noon, Or see the twilight soothe the toiling world, Then you will say that Gaston, whom you loved, Is sleeping somewhere on untrodden hills, Or in the heart of undiscovered seas. Beyond the reach and rays of any sun. Mary So be it, if Death calls you ; let us die ! Enter Soldiers Soldiers My Lord, some Spaniards rally to the fight Beyond the trees, hard by the running stream. Gaston {To Mary) See ! Death has called me to the trysting-place ! \To Soldiers.] Many or few ? Soldiers At least a hundred men Are there. 88 GASTON DE FOIX Gaston And we have here a score of followers ; Come, let us to the fight, nor heed their numbers ! [To Mary.J Good-bye ! Good-bye ! There is no more to say. [Exit Gaston. Mary watches him go, and gazes for some time at him through the trees ; the sun is sinking Mary A happy light is round him, the calm crown Of Death seems to descend upon his head. He stands revealed, a spirit of the light ; I seem to hear a voice which cries — " This flower, Drenched with the silver dew of Death's cool trees. And glittering with the golden dust that lies On Lethe's shore, this flower grows in the field Where winter is not, and no sickle comes. This spirit joins the company of those Whose myriad voices make a single song ; The sons of morning shouting in their joy, Who move like stars in the eternal dawn." [Kneeling.'] O God ! grant Gaston what his heart desires ; Give him the peace he found not on the earth — GASTON DE FOIX 8g The stillness that is nowhere in the world j Receive him into thy tranquillity. God, in this battle, let him die to-day. [Mary linh down on the rocks. The sun shines red through the trees. Bells are ringing in the distance Mary The Angelus ! The blood-red sun has set. It is no noise of bells, it is the battle ! I hear the sound of swords ; I see bright steel ; 'Tis Gaston, fighting on the field of death ; Oh ! see, the blood is pouring from his wounds Gaston, I see thee, and thy face is bright, And shining with the glory of a god ; And brighter still a stranger now has come To welcome thee. It is the trysting-place. Enter Bayart and Soldiers on both sides Bayart O Lady ! Wherefore are you here in peril Upon the battlefield ? 90 GASTON DE FOIX Mary {Gazing wildly at him) In peril ? I ? Is this a battlefield ? I know not, Sir, For I have journeyed far, and I am weary. Bayart Where is the Duke of Nemours ! Mary He is dead. Know you not this ? 'Tis vain to seek him here. Enter Soldiers bearing the corpse a/" Gaston Mary You see, I spake the truth, and he is dead. 'Tis well. Give thanks to God, for it is well ; And he is happy in the land of light ; Happy and quiet. Wake him not for he Is sleeping with the slumber of a child : Demophoon born on the earth anew. And cheated of thy immortality. Thou sleepest now in the strange fire again ! GASTON DE FOIX 91 Bayart She is distraught. Alas ! O misery ! O Gaston ! Gaston ! How did this befall ? Soldier My Lord, the Duke of Nemours sought the Spaniards Who rallied by the stream, with fourteen followers ; The Spaniards numbered nigh twelve hundred men ; And there the Duke fought like the God of War, Like Roland at Roncesvaux, and held his own. Slaying a mighty number of the foe, Until at last, hemmed in on every side. And set upon by overwhelming numbers, Still fighting to his latest breath, he fell. [Mary kneels down by the corpse Bayart (Kneeling down by Gaston's corpse) O, now the battle has been lost again ; O Gaston ! had'st thou lived there was no Prince Who had come near what thou wast born to be. Thy country, Gaston, mourns for thee ; and I Shall live my life in melancholy now. For I have lost more than my tongue can tell. r Other Soldiers arrive 92 GASTON DE FOIX Bayart (Ti? Soldiers) All you take off your helmets, bare your heads, Your Prince is dead. Salute the noblest man Of France and of the world, who here lies low. Bring honour. In the loveliness of youth Gaston has now assumed the majesty Of Death, and entered into deathless fame. Our Prince has fallen. Never now for us The sun can shine as brightly as before. DUSK A PLAY m FOUR ACTS Jo N. The subject-matter of this flay is taken from a Russian fairy tale called " Russalka " DUSK lo son, cantava, io son dolce sirena, Che i marinari in mezzo il mar dismago : PERSONS OF THE PLAY YvAiN THE Strong. Peridure. Jason. SiNTRAM. Robin. Jessamine. Meadow-Sweet. (J essamine' s Maiden^ Loosestrife. {Water Spirit.) YoLANDE. {Jessamine's Maiden.) The Queen of the Water Spirits. Water Spirits, Men-at-Arms, Knights, Ladies. Prologue, Underneath the Lake. Act I., A Forest by the Lake. Act IL, Hall in Peridure's Castle. Act III., Jessamine's Garden. Act IV., Jessamine's Garden. PROLOGUE Under the Lake. The ^een of the Water Spirits is discovered sitting on a Throne. First Spirit The rippling surface of the lake grows still. Second Spirit The reeds no longer rustle in the wind. First Spirit The violet haze of dusk has died away On earthly hills ; the everlasting twilight Grows dimmer, as the earthly sky grows dark. Queen I feel the first rays of the rising moon ; Come, let us seek the surface of the lake And wander with the Spirits of the Air. 98 DUSK Enter Jessamine Jessamine Queen, give ear unto my wretched tale ! Queen Are you already weary of the world ? Seek you once more the everlasting dusk ? Jessamine Deride me if you will, but hear my tale. Queen, when I left my watery home to seek The world of men, and test the power of spells. You said my birthright would be mine, so long 1 yielded not to kiss of mortal man. Queen, when I wandered through the singing world Amid the happy fields and flowers of spring. And saw that all the creatures of the world Obeyed me, I forgot the warning words, And having proved my power on beast and bird, I could not rest till I had tried to charm A mortal man. I met a wandering knight ; I lured him with strange song and subtle speech, And he grew mad, and, Queen, I know not how, I know not why, I yielded to his kiss. DUSK 99 Queen Ill-starred, unhappy child ! for you have lost The spirit's birthright, and yet have not won The thoughtless happiness of mortals, though A mortal now. Jessamine Ah woe ! Ah misery ! The bitterness, the anger and the shame ! Though all the hidden spirits of the earth Obeyed me, yet the essence of my might Had fled ; for I, the unearthly flower of dusk. Must needs submit unto a mortal man. He bade me be his bride, his Queen, and I Was forced to bow to his imperious will, And suffer the great horror of his love ; And though I now devise unnumbered spells, I cannot rid me of his hateful sway. Queen, have pity ! free me from this shame, 1 cannot bear this festering stain ; it stings To madness, and consumes my heart with fire. Queen But though a mortal you shall still have power Upon the spirits and the sons of earth. loo DUSK Jessamine Oh, Queen, that is the bitterest thing of all ! I still retain my old divinity ; All creatures of the world, all other men Bow to me ; he unconquered keeps his sway. great my folly ! Sweet had been the life Upon that world, with every man my slave ; But I no longer find delight in power ; 1 am shamed and slighted, mad with bitter grief ; Queen, from this hateful bondage set me free ! Queen Deathless and free you might have lived on earth ; But since you have yielded to the mortal law. You must fulfil it to the very end Ere you become again deathless and free. There lives a man, a mortal, yet more great And mightier than the heroes of the world ; He knows not fear, but his the wistfulness And wonder of the children of the woods. To him the thrush and nightingale pay heed, And the wolf follows harmless at his heels. His wrath is like the lightning, and his strength Stronger than all the billows of the Sea. DUSK loi Jessamine Yet, Queen, this lord of mine is even as he In strength and splendour, and the mortals say He is the King of Knights. Queen Yet he to mine Is as the glow-worm to the golden sun. My knight, the man through whom you must be saved. Is glorious with the might and mystery, Which once the old Gods of the Woodland knew. And if you win his love you shall be saved ; And you, according to the earthly law. Must give your love to him, then you and he, Released for ever from the mortal chain, Deathless, shall live in might and mystery, Upon the world. Jessamine I thank you mighty Queen ! Oh ! let me haste to find this son of strength. [Exit Jessamine 102 DUSK Queen She seeks the world of men ! Ah ! wiser far To linger in the emerald haunts of dusk, To dream among the cool and silent deeps, And caverns of soft flowers ; only to seek The world when skies are dark and spirits roam, And not to face the cruel light of day. ACT I A Forest : through the trees a Lake is seen, and, in the distance, a Castle on an Island. Enter Yvain and Squire Squire Is this, perchance, the castle that we seek. These towers that rise upon the lake's green isle ? Yvain Beyond the violet hills our city lies, The City of the Beryl ; we have strayed ; This forest has no end ; here let us rest. Squire I see a damsel coming through the glade. I04 DUSK Enter Yolande YVAIN Lady, we fain would ask a word of guidance. In this dark forest we have lost our way ; I fain would know who owns these green domains, These woods, this lake, these distant castle walls. Yolande Sir Peridure is lord of all these lands ; The castle rising yonder on the lake, His home. YvAiN I know not who is Peridure. Yolande From distant lands, oh, Stranger, have you come ; Sir Peridure is ramed throughout the world For deeds of might ; yet, if you know not him. You will have heard of his fair lady ? YVAIN No. DUSK 105 YOLANDE The Princess Jessamine ? YVAIN I know her not ; Pray tell me of her. Is she then so fair ? YoLANDE I am Yolande, a maiden at her Court, And we have never thought if she be fair ; But this I surely know, if you should see her. You never more will wander from these woods. YvAIN You mock me ; but she must be passing fair. Yolande I know not — I have seen more fair than she, And Queens more splendid and more proud ; but she Has something that the fairest lack. Perchance It is the starry sadness of her eyes. Or haply the glad ripple of her laugh, Or the pale texture of her piteous face ; io6 DUSK I know not ; but she breathes a subtle spell That clings and creeps about the hearts of men, Like the faint fragrance of the Jessamine, Her flower ; and more, it seems as though she charmed All nature, for the wild bees heed her voice, The swallows circle round her lifted hands, And silver iishes swim towards her feet ; And when her step is heard upon the grass. The muttering forest, and the humming fields Are still. YVAIN My heart is in the violet hills, And cannot be assailed by any spell. YOLANDE So often have I heard these very words ; But look around you. Ask of Roland, Jason, Ozan, and Modred, Sintram. YvAIN Who are these i' YoLANDE To some Death brought an end of their despair, DUSK 107 And some distracted wander ; others here Hover around her like unhappy ghosts ; But all have said good-bye to life and joy And all now live as in a misty dream. He who was once a knight forgets the sword, And the wild hunter heeds the horn no more. YVAIN Though the whole world submit unto her spell I shall not bow to it, for in my heart There is a mightier magic. Fare you well, Fair Lady, and I thank you ; we shall rest Awhile beneath these trees. YOLANDE Farewell Yvain, Yet heed my warning word, and haste away Before you have set eyes on Jessamine. Yvain Farewell, I have no fear, [Exit YoLANDE io8 DUSK [ To Squire] Here let us rest Our limbs in the cool shade. [YvAiN and Squire withdraw into the underwood Enter Jessamine and Meadow-Sweet Jessamine He should be here — Two nights ago I muttered magic words And since that hour he wanders in a maze. Meadow-Sweet Is he a spirit oi the streams or woods ? For never have you sought a mortal man Before. Jessamine He is a mortal like Ozan, Roland, and Modred, Sintram, Peridure — Oh ! Meadow-Sweet, I needs must seek this man ; You do not know the nature of the chain That binds me. Meadow-Sweet Sister, I can see no chain ; The Knights like slaves fulfil your fantasies, DUSK 109 The spirits of the water heed your voice ; Your life is strange with Hght and melody, Such days are brighter than the deathless dusk Beneath the lake. Jessamine You cannot understand, You are all spirit, you have never felt The heavy burden of the mortal law ; But I am bound and yearn for liberty. Meadow-Sweet Ah ! See the glistening of a coat of mail ! [Runs to the underwood A knight beneath the hawthorn lies asleep. Jessamine 'Tis he. Now must I wake him with a song, [Jessamine sings Oh, wherefore is the world so grey ? And why is the sweet sunshine dark ? And scentless the white flower of May And sad the singing of the lark ? Oh ! vanished is the happy gleam ! My life is darkened by a dream. no DUSK So long ago, in lands so far. That fitful hour of summer night ; The face that trembled like a star. The footfall swift as swallows' flight ; I thought that when the fireflies fled The dream would be already dead. The starry face flits through the trees. The swift soft footfall skims the ground ; And deep around me spread the seas Of darkness tremulous with sound ; The fire-flies weave their silver net ... . Oh I Dream, fly hence I Let me forget ! Jessamine Yvain ! the horn is calling in the woods, Yvain ! the sun has dried the dripping leaves, Wake, wake, Yvain, the strong, the fiery-eyed, For Jessamine is here and waits for you. Enter Yvain Yvain I dreamed I heard a voice that called my name. DUSK III Jessamine A Knight! Ah ! doubtless he has lost his way [To YvAiN.] Sir, need you guidance ? for these wood- lands here Are like a perilous maze. YvAIN Fair Lady, I Am bound for the violet hills. Jessamine Ah ! that is where The lovely Princess Beryl dwells. Yvain I go To seek her. She is my betrothed. Jessamine 'Tis meet That you, the noblest of the sons of men, Should win the fairest woman of the world. Yvain Lady, you must mistake me for another ; I am a wandering knight — a forest child. 112 DUSK Jessamine 'Tis strange, I took you for Yvain the Strong, The Fiery-eyed. Yvain 'Tis true I am Yvain. Jessamine Yvain the Strong ! the echoes of his deeds Rolled through this woodland kingdom long ago. Yvain What claim have I to glory ? Speak. Jessamine Yvain ! Wherefore do men thus name you then the Strong ? Yvain I to the mercy of the beasts was left When but an infant ; and I know not now Who were my parents ; thus in ancient woods, Fostered by beasts and brother to the birds I grew, and when I came to be a man DUSK 113 This life had hardened me and made me strong. But, Lady, does the Princess Jessamine Walk in these woods ? Jessamine So you of Jessamine Have heard ; Yvain, I am that Jessamine ; My lord is Peridure ; beside the lake We dwell, and though you seek the violet hills To win the fairest woman of the world, Despise not me. Yvain I harboured no such thought. Jessamine Nay, for I know your thoughts are far away ; Yet heed me ; ever since your echoing fame Reached this green kingdom, greatly have I longed To see you j tarry with us for a day, And we will gallop over the deep grass And wake the moonlit woods with horn and song ; And we will hold a glittering tournament, Where you, the victor, shall be crowned by me. Tarry a day with us — one swift glad day — And you shall hear upon the emerald lake H 114 DUSK Such melody as you have never heard ; And crowned with fame that you shall win with us, The conqueror of our unconquered knights, You shall go glorious to the violet hills. YVAIN Lady, I cannot tarry ; I must go. Jessamine Heed, heed, Yvain ! it is a woman's whim ; 'Tis meet that the most strong should sometimes yield To the most frail. O peerless, great Yvain, I fain would have you humble the proud knights Who dwell with us. After the hour of combat A dreamy song upon the rippling lake Should lull you. I have made this green domain A haunt of echoes and wild melody ; I c»ave to show it to Yvain the Strong. Yvain Great is the honour, yet I must not stay. Jessamine Yvain, have pity ; in the glittering throng Of idle knights who swarm about us here, DUSK 115 There is not one brave man ; in the bright crowd I have been lonely and am ofttimes sad ; It is a goodly thing to see a man. YVAIN Lady, I thank you with a humble heart ; Lost in this wood, already have I lingered Three days ; and now I needs must hasten on ; I thank you, and I bid farewell to you. [Ts Squire.] Come, youth, 'tis time to start. Fare- well, farewell. [Exit Yvain Jessamine Meadow-Sweet ! He has gone, he heeded not, Although I filled the air with silent song, And wove an invisible net of clinging beams. Haste you, and bid the spirits of the trees To lead him wandering round and round the lake. Meadow-Sweet O sisters of the rustling shady leaves, Blind great Yvain with fairy drops of dew. Lead him astray. ii6 DUSK Jessamine What think you of Yvain ? He is another Peridure, more strong, More fair, perchance, and yet in all the same ; No, I shall never love you, Lord Yvain, But you shall love me, and obey my will. And set me free. Nowr listen to my song. Mine eyes are dim and my wound is sore, White sail, when will you come? My Friendy shall I never see thee more F moaning sea, be dumb. Have you forgotten the cup of bliss? White sail, when will you come? On the flying ship, and the first long kiss ? moaning sea, be dumb. Have you forgotten the forest trees? White sail, when will you come? The vows we spoke to the stars and seas ? O moaning sea, be dumb. I sought you once in a strange disguise ; White sail, when will you come ? Tou knew not even my sad, sad eyes ; O moaning sea, be dumb. [Sings DUSK 117 " Call when you will, Vll come" you said ; White sail, oh ! will you come ? Come swiftly, or you will Jind me dead ; O moaning sea, be dumb. The sail is black, they have hauled it high ; JVhite sail, you have not come ; ril turn my face to the wall and die ; O moaning sea, be dumb. Iseult, Iseult, O friend, friend, friend I White sail, you need not come ; 1 waited for you until the end . . . The moaning sea is dumb. Jessamine He heeds me not, but wanders by the lake ; Come Meadow-sweet, upon our glittering skiff We to the sound of many flutes will sail, And lure this rebel unto us at last. [Jessamine and Meadow-sweet embark in their boat. Music. Between the trees the boat is half seen floating among the reeds ; a gust of wind catches in the sail : Jessamine's voice is heard, crying — Help! Save me! Save me! Help! I drown, I die! [Pause ii8 DUSK YvAiN enters carrying Jessamine in his arms ; she is dripping with water and covered with weeds YvAIN She does not stir, her eyes are closed, her face Is white with deathly pallor, and she lies So frail upon my arms, a sleeping flower — Surely too frail for mortal scythe to mow — The ghost of some dead lily of the valley. It cannot be that she is dead ! Awake ! Wake, lovely Jessamine ! Thou art too fair To wander in the sunless halls of Death. Alas ! she will not wake, the frailest flower Of all the world has been untimely mown. [Jessamine opens her eyes Jessamine Where am I ? Who art thou ? Oh ! Peridure ! YvAIN She calls her lord, 'Tis I, fair Jessamine, I snatched you from the waves. Jessamine Yvain! Ah! well! \^^he disengages herself from his arms DUSK H9 Oh ! you have saved my life, Yvain the Strong ! What can I say to you ? YvAIN To see you live Is more than all rewards. Jessamine (Giving him a flower) Take this wet flow^er. It will for ever tell you Jessamine Has not forgotten, and will not forget. Farewell. [Sound of hunting horns is heard in the woods YvAIN May I not tarry for the day You spoke of — for the chase and tournament ? And to pay honour to Sir Peridure ? Jessamine See, it is he. Enter Peridure and Attendants Come hither, Peridure. A moment past, when sailing on the lake, I20 DUSK A gust of wind caught in the flapping sail, And I was dragged down by the waves ; I called, And this great knight, wandering among the woods, Paid heed and saved me from the lake's cold wave. It is Yvain the Strong. He tarries here Awhile, to take a share in tournaments. Peridure I bid you welcome, Sir Yvain ; our land Has never yet received so great a guest. Jessamine Come, maidens; come, Yvain; come, Peridure. ACT II Hall in the Castle of Peridure^ overlooking the Lake. Night. Robin Why do you look so sad to-day, my Lord ? The horn is echoing in the sunny woods, And sighing notes are blown across the lake. Since first I came as minstrel to this Court, There has not been such gladsome revelry. Jason It is in honour of Yvain the Strong. Robin Who seeks the violet hills. Jason I doubt if he Will ever seek the violet hills ; he came To tarry for a day ; a week has passed. 122 DUSK Robin Think you he loves ? Jason I know not ; but he feels The heavy dream that hangs upon this lake — The subtle curse that strikes the dwellers here. Robin 'Tis strange; a snatch of song has proved enough To tame this wild rough warrior of the woods. Yet wherefore are you sad ? Tell me your tale. Jason Yes, I am sad ; but Robin, though you sing The songs of mirth, I do not think you merry. You laugh, you chatter like a twittering bird — I sometimes think it is the ghost of you That laughs and chatters, and that you yourself Are far away and in a mournful space. Robin Why think you so ? I am not sorrowful ; So long as in these Castle walls I dwell Naught can destroy my happiness. DUSK 123 Jascn Why ? Speak ! Robin Perchance it is these woods, this lake, I love. But tell me, Jason, wherefore are you sad ? Jason I, like all men here, wander in a dream Of twilight, that is full of piteous sounds. I am no more a knight, no more a man, Naught but a helpless harp hung in the air. Whose trembling strings obey a wayward breeze ; And yet, a vision lit my life of dream, A hope, a wonderful felicity. ^ Robin What was your hope ? Jason Robin, to you alone I feel that I can speak my secret thought ; You are a minstrel, and a haze of dreamsl Is stretched between you and the world, and you Are like an elfin spirit come to play With mortals ; you can read their joy and grief 124 DUSK More clearly than themselves, although yourself You can divine, but cannot feel such things. Robin But haply I can dream them. Jason Dream and guess. And understand and know ; but never feel. Robin Sometimes the dream is strangely like the truth. Jason But oh ! the difference. Robin Tell me, friend, your tale. Jason I loved ; I thought that as I gave my life To Love, and sold myself for a frail dream, I might win Love's ineflfable reward Some day ; but now I know I shall not win The great reward ; and yet I cannot flee, DUSK 125 Nor leave the dream nor seek the light ot morn ; Nor, if I could, would win forgetfulness. And I have offered on a glimmering altar My life, my freedom, and my fortitude ; And, yet, I know, if she demanded more, I'd give my honour and my goodly fame. And she to whom I make the sacrifice Used once to smile upon my fiery shrine ; But now with not a glance she passes by. Robin If she be heedless, quench the smoking flame. Jason I would not if I could ; and if I would She would not let one heart be unconsumed. Robin Before you spoke I knew your tale ; you say I am a bird-like minstrel who ignores These passions ; yet, my friend, I grieve for you; And understand the nature of your grief. But even if you won the great reward You would find sorrow hidden in the joy. Listen ; I call this song the Heart of Bliss. [Sings 126 DUSK In Paradise we are, We cannot hear, nor feel The noise of the world's wheel i We float from star to star. It was the Spring to-day On earth, you came to me Beside a hawthorn tree. Through the white flowers of May. But in the dazzling sphere Oh ! whence the tear that stings ? Oh ! whence these icy wings ? Sorrow, why art thou here ? [Noise of a horn is heard [Exit Jason Enter Jessamine Jessamine {To Robin) Robin, I wish to speak with you. To-night [Enter Peridure] We hold a revel on the lake's green isle. Can you devise some interlude of song, DUSK 127 Which you, a water-sprite, should sing to me, Hid in the island trees ? I in my boat, Would sail to you and land upon the isle, And we would dance a measure to the moon. Peridure Sir Minstrel, leave us. [Robin withdraws into the recess by the window Jessamine I devise a revel Upon the lake, in honour of Yvain — A wondrous feast of song and melody. Peridure 'Tis meet that we should honour our great guest. But this I will not, that Yvain should see These idle drones that round about you swarm, Who now are Knights no more, but lazily Spend the long hours in foolish dream and song. Fawning around you — and the worst of all This minstrel, who by subtle honeyed speech, Found favour with you, who the live-long day Moons round you with soft words and love-sick eyes And mischief in his heart. And I forbid 128 DUSK This minstrel to take part in any revel Which you may hold, and I forbid you too To talk with him. Jessamine Oh ! wherefore these rough words, Sweet Peridure ? It is for your bright fame That I prepare this revel for Yvain ; I must have freedom in such fantasies, To choose the minstrel and the lay I please ; Believe me, Peridure. Peridure Do as you will j If you are gracious to this man once more He shall be slain. One word from you, heed well. And like a dog he dies. Jessamine Why talk of death ? Yet if you ban our knights there will be none To join the revel ; and Yvain the Strong, He is a knight, must I not speak withh im ? Peridure You understand my thought, you know my will. DUSK 129 Jessamine The time of revel has already come ; The twilight scarcely lingers ; we will dance A measure here ; I pray you not to mar The feast with frowns. Here come our knights and guests. Enter Yvain, Sintram, Jason, Knights, Ladies, and Minstrels. Jessamine and Peridure lead Yvain to a raised platform on which three thrones are placed. They seat themselves. Dame. Music Jessamine Whom shall I choose to dance with me a measure ? Peridure Yvain, our noble guest. Jessamine No, Sir, for he Must needs be weary after the long chase. Fair minstrel will you lead me to the dance ? [Jessamine descends from the throne and walks up to Robin. They dance a measure. Peri- dure descends from his chair and talks in a whisper to two of the knights I I30 DUSK Jessamine {To Robin) O gentle minstrel, matchless in your skill, Reveal it further ; sing to us a song. Knights Yes, Robin, sing to us a tuneful song. Robin sings Oh ! fill the cup and strike the strings^ And crown me with bright flowers ; Ady heart is like a bird that sings In dark midsummer hours ; He knows the joy must quickly fade But sings his rapture unafraid, A hope, a dream, a mute desire. That never could avail ; A wasted sacrifice of fire Is all my song, my tale ; Now, like the dreams of summer night When comes the dawn, the song takes flight. I perish for a prayer, a gleam Of hope that soared too high ; But since, most dear, you were my dream. What does death signify F DUSK 131 A seng shall he my latest breath : Triumphant now I go to death. Jessamine It is a mad and melancholy song, Peridure And not ill-suited to the circumstance. Jessamine What circumstance ? Peridure This mad glad circumstance. Enter Two Men-at-Arms. They walk up to Robin Men-at-Arms to Robin Sir, there awaits you in the castle yard A messenger, who from a far-off country Has come, and wishes for a word with you. Jessamine Let him come in. 132 DUSK Peridure Methinks the Castle court A fitter place for such a messenger. The minstrel, too, would rather go to him Than here receive him. [To RoBiN.J Speak I not the truth ? Robin Sir Peridure has guessed my wish : I go. [He walks past Jessamine and looks her in the face " I perish for a prayer, a gleam Of hope that soared too high ; But since, most dear, you were my dream. What does death signify ? " [Exeunt Robin and Men-at-Arms Peridure See, the bright torches flicker on the lake ; Now let us go to feast upon the isle. Come, Jessamine. Jessamine Go, I will come anon. [Exeunt Peridure, Yvain, and Knights DUSK • 133 Jessamine to Yolande Go, fetch me Robin. \Extt Yolande [Going to the window.] Queen of the green lake, Hear me and give me power and deadly charm ; Help me that I may once again be free From the intolerable sway of man. Give me soft sorcery that I may charm Yvain the Strong, that he may set me free. Enter Yolande Yolande The men-at-arms say that the work was done ; That my Lord's order was fulfilled, that they Had hanged the minstrel. Jessamine Leave me, maidens, go. [Exeunt Maidens Jessamine (Going to the window) Come to me now, Yvain ; the moon has risen And spirits whisper in the rustling trees ; 134 DUSK It is my hour, the magic of the waters Is o'er me. Come and bend unto my will. Enter Yvain Jessamine Yvain ! you have already left the feast ? Yvain The feast is long and loud. Jessamine The night is still, And through the lattice comes the breath of flowers. Feel you the fragrance of the jessamine. My flower ? Yvain Oh ! clear amidst the heavy scent Of lilies I can trace its fragrant speech. Jessamine And I am even such a helpless flower Whose speech is lost midst richer tides of scent. DUSK 135 YVAIN You are the spirit and the deity Of flowers, the rose and lily bend to you. Jessamine Ah 1 sad, sad, is the birth of summer night ! YvAIN Sad, for the wistful ministers of Death Wander and hold dominion in the world; We hear the echoes of his mournful heart In sighing wind and weeping waterfall ; Yet in the sorrow a deep ecstasy Abides, and a triumphant rich despair ; And he would not exchange his darkling night For all the golden kingdoms of the noon. Jessamine My heart is in his pale dominion, But I am captive to the cruel day ; My heart is like a wave whose cry is lost Among the thunders of a boundless sea. 136 DUSK YVAIN Is it no solace that men worship you ? Not one, but every heart that lives and beats Lives but for you. Jessamine There is no solace here; The love of all these men is nought to me. YvAIN Haply among so many there is one Whose love is not the same as every man's. Jessamine Should there be one, 'twfould be a greater man Than the great heroes of this little world. Yvain Yet there is one, whose love is greater far Than theirs. Jessamine I know of no man anywhere Whose love would drive him to do all for me. DUSK 137 YVAIN No, Jessamine ! ah ! no ! for I am here. Jessamine See how the moon has silvered the still lake ! YvAIN So in the grey and sunless hours of life An hour of wondrous silver light may shine. Jessamine How faint and soft the noise of harp and horn Floats from the isle of feast ! Hark, did you hear That cry ? A wail from the deep heart of night ! How sad the cry ! How strange the stillness now ! YvAIN Some moon has lit the darkness of my sorrow, Some wind has filled it with the breath of flowers ; And though I still am sorrowful to tears, My sadness now is soft as summer sound. For all the world is glimmering with a dream, That lulls despair to drowsiness divine. 138 DUSK Jessamine Haply some spirit brushed us with his wings ; A drop of dew from some bright sphere of dreams Has brought sweet slumber to our weary hearts. YVAIN Heed ! Jessamine, until this hour I saw My life before me like a dreary sea, A grey, unending ocean, cold and dark ; But now some magic footfall skims the waves; The surf is glistening and no longer moans. But whispers a soft sob of ecstasy ; And slow and gradual over the wide sea A breeze has stirred the petals of the foam ; And all the ocean seems a fiery chalice, Opening to catch a drop of holy rain. And now the breeze rolls towards me like a song, And washes the grey firmament with flame, Bearing the mystery and joy of birth. Jessamine Your dream has lit a dream within my heart ; I see a wonder in the eastern sky. The vault of heaven trembles into fire DUSK 139 Brighter than sunset — softer than the dawn, As though the skies had melted into mist And all the stars were shattered into dust ; I hear the motion of unearthly sails ; I see a ship that comes across the sea And turns the sapphire wave to living flame ; And at the helm, a spirit like the sun, Strikes a gold harp, and wakes the echoing sea. Oh ! take me to that ship, Yvain the Strong, And let us seek the islands of the dead ; Ah ! now the ship has vanished into light. The world grows dim, and like a great dark rose, It folds its petals over you and me ; And in the burning fire that is its heart, Let us be drowned and die in blinding light. Yvain You were the footfall on my twilight sea. Jessamine You dragged my sunrise from the nether world. Yvain You were the breeze that brought the blush of dawn. I40 DUSK Jessamine And you the spirit harping on the waves. YVAIN And you the chalice of mysterious fire, The heart of that dark rose which is the world. Jessamine You built me a new world, Yvain the Strong, And filled it with the lightnings of your eyes. Yvain You smiled upon my midnight. Jessamine, And the dark spaces blossomed into stars. O moon, stand still ! O dream, fold thy dim wings. Jessamine Too soon, too soon the earthly dawn will come, And never more can the swift hour return; And we shall wander through a desolate world, And vainly seek the footsteps of a dream. Sad is the waning of the summer night ! DUSK 141 YVAIN The dream may vanish, but the orb of love Has soared and swung into eternal space Among the motionless white constant stars. Jessamine The spell of summer night is in your heart. Alas ! the summer night is dying now, And with the dawn you will forget the spell. Oh sad, sad, is the death of summer night ! YvAIN Eternally will I be true to you, And cleave to you as ocean to the earth. My love is older than the sun and moon, Immortal as the spring, bright as the snow, And stronger than the everlasting hills. [The dawn rises Jessamine Alas ! alas ! the dawn has truly come ! The morning, not the unearthly dawn of dreams ; The dream has fled, and soon the sun will rise Over the grey hills of the shivering world. [Sound of horns is heard Hark! from the feast they come. The night is dead! 142 DUSK YVAIN The night is dead, and now the morning comes, But cannot dim the sleepless star of love. Jessamine Speak now no longer of the vanished dream Nor of the hour which never more can be. YvAIN The word I spoke in my divine soft dream I speak in the cold light of day. Oh hear ! I love you while I breathe, sun of my day ; I'll love you when I die, star of my dusk ; I'll love you after death, moon of my night ; Through all the trackless ways and deeps of space, Amidst the murmur of this clamorous world. And in the silence of eternity. Jessamine Yvain, Yvain, there is no man on earth Whose love would drive him to do all for me. [^Noise afharns is heard louder DUSK 143 YVAIN What is this little thing ? for every deed Done for you can be but a little thing. Speak quickly, for they come. Jessamine Kill Pcridure. ACT III Jessamine's Garden YVAIN Where is your lady ? YOLANDE 'Tis the hour she sleeps. YVAlN Now, before dusk ? YoLANDE Within a shady haunt My lady slumbers the long afternoon. When comes the dusk she wakes and walks abroad Down to the water ; all the live-long night She floats upon the surface of the lake. And there are some who say that round her boat The spirits of the water rise and dance. DUSK 145 Ytain Sails she alone there ? YOLANDE Nay, for Meadow-Sweet Sails with her ; strange and different from us all Is she, since hidden voices in the hills Answer her song, and when she walks with us The birds are silent and the waters sigh. When do you seek the violet hills, Yvain ? YVAIN I shall not ever seek the violet hills ; I come to say farewell to Jessamine. YoLANDE You told me when I met you in the wood You came to tarry for a moment here. You came, you tarried, and since that first day You are quite changed. You are no more Yvain The Strong, the Fiery-eyed ; the light, the joy. Has faded from your eyes and you are dreamy Like Jason ; mournful, and like Sintram, mute. Now if 'tis true that you indeed depart, Heed my wise counsel, do not say farewell. K 146 DUSK YVAIN I go to far-off lands on a dark quest. YOLANDE To that dark country which the minstrel sought ? YvAIN He has not yet returned. YoLANDE And never more Will he return. YVAIN Why? YoLANDE He was put to death Because he loved the Princess Jessamine. take my counsel, do not say farewell. YvAIN 1 must. YOLANDE Then when my lady wakes I'll call. [Exit YvAiN DUSK 147 Enter Meadow-Sweet YOLANDE Whence have you come ? Your hair is wet with dew ; Maybe I dream ; you seem to me to shimmer As though you wandered through some shining cloud. Meadow-Sweet I have been sailing on the lake ; awhile I slumbered in the sandy island cove — \_Sings- Oh ! sweeter is the starless eve And soft the wakeful dreams. Come we will drown the moon and weave A garland with its beams. Enter Jessamine Jessamine to Yolande Yolande, go fetch, I pray, my golden lute. [T« Meadow-Sweet.] Sir Jason comes, go, we will talk anon, 148 DUSK Enter Jason Jason Sir Peridure is hunting in the woods And, my squire tells me, savage is his mood ; He storms and rages ; twice, they say, he vowed To chase the swarm of idlers from the castle And kill Yvain. Jessamine Ah ! woe ! Ah, woe is me ! My foes are bitter and I have no friend. Jason Your friends are countless, but methinks your deeds Can well dishearten them. Jessamine What deeds are these That turn my friends to foes ? Jason The minstrel, Robin, More than his life he loved you. Jessamine, DUSK 149 Although you played with him and with his death. He knew it, and still greater grew his love, He loved you so that all his life he spoke No word of love — such words could but displease — And never man went happier to his death, Since, as he went to die, you smiled on him ; And we who mocked him as a crazy minstrel, Ah ! little did we guess what strength of love Lay 'neath the motley that he chose to wear. Jessamine misery, O rightly did I say 1 had no friend. Jason Too many you should say. Jessamine Think you that I knew aught of the foul murder ? This is your love, this is your faith in me ! I caused his death ? Alas ! my friend is slain, And those who loved me once are false to me. Jason Forgive me, Jessamine, I was distraught — ISO DUSK Jessamine Go hence, and never let me see you more. Jason O pardon, mercy, mercy, Jessamine, Out of the raging torment of my love My wild words were begotten. Oh, forget ! By the strong chain which binds me unto you, By all the hours which have been sweet to us. By all the days that cannot be unlived. Forgive me. Jessamine If I should forgive you now, Who knows how soon you'll turn on me again ? For now, when I am helpless and abandoned You come to rail at me. I'll seek the tower Where Peridure would fain imprison me. Jason Let me kill Peridure. Jessamine No ! Jason, no. You shall not face such peril for my sake ; For me, on whom you charge bloodguiltiness — DUSK 151 Jason Have pity, Jessamine. Jessamine Then leave me now, For I am far too sad to speak with you. [Exit Jason Jessamine Come, Meadow-Sweet. Enter Meadow-Sweet Tell, did you seek our home ? Meadow-Sweet I found the Queen ; but scanty words she spoke ; I asked her if Yvain could set you free ; She said : " He is the weapon. Jessamine Needs but to strike through him as I fore-, told;" But then she bade me bid you to beware. And to fulfil the law unto the end. 1 52 DUSK Jessamine She bade me win the love of strong Yvain : His love is mine, and he shall set me free ; She bade me love him ; but when I am free I shall not stoop to love a mortal man. Meadow-Sweet But, sister, do you love Yvain ? Jessamine Oh ! child, I seek but to be free. Me ADOW-SWE ET But he is fair. Jessamine When I first saw Sir Peridure, my Lord, It was because he was so fair and strong I yielded to him unawares ; and now, When I behold such men, I feel the wound. The sting of my submission and my shame. DUSK 153 Meadow-Sweet Where is the shame ? for Peridure is fair, Yvain is fair, and more than earthly Queens Are you, in this Dominion of sweet Dream, Jessamine I will be free, free as the wind and wave, As you — as all our sisters of the lake ; Oh, Meadow-Sweet, you cannot understand ! Enter Peridure Peridure , Jessamine, I would speak a word with you. Jessamine I wait upon your will — Peridure O Jessamine, O soft and lovely delicate Jessamine, Flower whom I found asleep upon the moss. 154 DUSK Swift bird I found among the rustling leaves, Long ago, in the wild enchanted Spring, Of all the idle knights that round you swarm There is not one that loves you as I love ; So heed Jessamine Speak, Peridure. Peridure I ask of you One thing alone. Jessamine Speak, speak, my Lord, I hear. Peridure I love you, as I loved you long ago, I love and suflFer — for you are not kind Jessamine Surely you jest ? You crush my slightest whim ; You slay my friends Peridure Believe me, I repent ; Now will I grant you all, if you for me Will do but one slight thing DUSK 155 Jessamine What is your wish ? Peridure I wish that you would send away Yvain. Jessamine Oh, folly ! Are you jealous of Yvain ? Him the betrothed, who seeks the violet hills ? Peridure If he is naught to you, fulfil my wish. Jessamine Why must you ever seek to humble me ? I may not have a friend ; and this Yvain, Who tarries but a day, Peridure I beg this of you. Jessamine No, Peridure, I cannot do this thing. 156 DUSK Peridure There is a lonely castle in the woods. They name the Lion's Keep. It is prepared ; Then thither will we go to-morrow noon. Jessamine You, but not I. Peridure And I upon my steed Shall bear you, as I once did long ago, When first I brought you home to be my bride. Jessamine You will imprison me ? Peridure The fault is yours. Jessamine You murder a poor minstrel ; now Yvain, Yvain the Strong, has stirred your jealousy ; And, coward, you must find a meaner way ; DUSK 157 You would not even dare to kill Yvain By treachery. Peridure You follow me to-morrow. Jessamine You have good cause for jealousy, my Lord, Yvain the Strong torments me with his love ; In silence I have fought him and alone. Because I knew my husband was a coward. Heed, I have told Yvain to seek me here At moonrise. Peridure Fare you well till rise of moon. [^Exii Peridure Enter Meadow-Sweet Meadow-Sweet The sun has set ; the surface of the lake Is stirring, and awaits your evening song. Jessamine I shall not go upon the lake to-night. Know you this song ? 'Twas Robin made it me. 158 DUSK The corn is garner edy the swallows fly. The leaves fall soft on their wintry bed. There was a dream in the summer sky. And song, as soft as a rose's sigh. Why should I linger f the dream has Hed, The song is silent, the rose is dead. The ghost of the rose is in the air. The dead song speaks in the moaning sea ; After the dream is the long despair. The endless dusk and the unheard prayer ; " O Death come quickly and set me free. My friend is no longer kind to me." Meadow-Sweet Hark ! I can hear the water spirits' call. Voices from the Lake Sister and daughter of the silvery wave, The hour, the fateful hour of freedom comes, Forget not what the Queen commanded thee. Another Voice from the Lake Thy crown awaits thee buried 'neath the wave ; Thy robe of moonshine, and thy wings of dew ; Fulfil the mortal law until the end. DUSK 159 Another Voice He comes ! O earn thy freedom, Jessamine, And enter thy inheritance of dream. Meadow-Sweet The water spirits warn thee ; see, he comes. Enter Yvain lExit Meadow-Sweet Jessamine Hail, hail Yvain ! Come quickly to me ; tell If it is true that there is one on earth Who loves me, and whose love is great enough To lead him to dare any deed for me. Yvain Lady, I come with sorrow in my heart ; My love is greater than all tongues can tell, And I would die and dare all deeds for you, Save this ; I will not kill Sir Peridure. Jessamine Alas ! I truly said that there was none On earth whose love was great enough for me. i6o DUSK YVAIN I will not do this, though I by the deed Should win you. Jessamine You shall never win me, Sir, By any deed. I had not asked another. I thought that you alone were brave enough. YvAIN You know it is not fear that prompts my speech. Jessamine It is not for your sake I asked this deed, That you should win me thus ; I do not ask For love, for I can only love the man Who had done all for me without a thought. I asked for pity — pity for the slave Who cringes at the knees of Peridure, The wretch, who with a smiling face, must see The murder of her friends. What was the crime For which the Minstrel died ? He was my friend. So perish all who have been kind to me. But Peridure is weary of this sport ; His spies have told him that Yvain the Strong DUSK i6i Loves me, and think you that he brooks the thought ? Think you he'll wait for a protesting word ? No, no, Yvain, my death has been decreed. YvAIN I knew not of these things. Jessamine Death is not bitter ; Bitter the thought that there is none to love me ; That he whom I had raised above all men Is but the same as every other man. Yvain Bring me to Peridure, that I may kill him. Jessamine At moonrise here he purposes to come To kill me. Yvain. It is well ; now will I go. Farewell, oh 1 wondrous, lovely Jessamine. 1 62 DUSK Jessamine No, rather thou forgive my hasty words. YVAIN Ah ! sorrow now is heavy on my heart. Jessamine Forget ! See, in the pale, white lustrous sky, The evening star is shining faint and still. YvAIN And sounds are rising from the rippling lake. Or do I dream ? They seem to me to call And many times to murmur your soft name. Jessamine I have so often wept upon the lake, It is the echo of my tears and sighs. YvAIN A fragrance rises from the slumbering earth ; Is it the harbinger of ecstasy ? The wonder that we tasted yester-night ? DUSK 163 And yet a voice that whispers in my heart Tells me that this can never be again. Jessamine I see behind the future's darkling veil A host of silver shadow^s, that shall form The pageant of a million summer nights. YVAIN I know not what unearthly mystery Is in the air, but I can hear the wings Of some approaching wonder, and I feel As though the stillness held an unborn song. Jessamine Perchance an orb more wondrous than the moon Trembles beneath the rim of the dark hills. YvAiN I hear such singing as I never heard ; Swift lights gleam far upon the shadowy lake. Hark ! close to us the nightingale's wild song Is like a human voice that weeps for joy. 1 64 DUSK Jessamine I hear no sound — I hear no nightingale, Only the lapping ripple of the lake. See ! over the dark hills a fiery cloud ! Soon will the moon rise. YVAIN Nay, it is no moon, It is the wondrous orb of which you spoke. Jessamine Look, look, the moon has risen full and high. Hark ! it is Peridure ! Save me from him ! [Peridure enters behind the trees and darts on YvAiN, who kills him Jessamine Help ! help ! and save me ! for they kill my Lord ! Help ! for Yvain is slaying Peridure ! Enter Men-at-Arms Jessamine Take him and cast him in the castle dungeon ! DUSK 165 Let him be hanged before the break of day ! [MEN-AT-ARMsyff//o« YvAiN ; he makes no resistance, and they lead him away Free ! Free ! O lake, now I may come to you, And seek unshamed my buried crown of light, My robe of moonshine and my wings of dew. ACT IV Jessamine's Garden. Night Jessamine I have been born again, the heavy shackles Of earthly tyranny now from me fall, Come sisters ; Meadow-Sweet, prepare my skiff. Henceforth no earthly sail shall aid our flight. Meadow-Sweet Thy bower is ready ; on the wave it rests ; Thy couch is of rose-petals, round it float Four water lilies, each, within its heart, Holds a soft sphere of lustrous dew that shone This morning in the daystar's diadem ; Around it hangs a veil of softest snow Woven of ghostly blossoms and pale beams Culled underneath the lake. To serve as tapers DUSK 167 Tall asphodels grown in the glimmering fields Breathe a dim flame. The bower is walled and roofed With creeping clusters of white Jessamine That in faint waves of fragrance speak thy name. Loosestrife To-night the daughters of the emerald deeps, Shall sing a lovely lullaby to thee ; To-night the surface of the lake shall gleam As though the stars had fallen and floated there. To-night in the thick woods and on the hills The strings of haunted harps shall sigh and sound. Meadow-Sweet And over all the world shall hang a mist As though it had been dipped in a white flame. Loosestrife High in the air strange crystal bells shall chime. Meadow-Sweet The sea shall whisper a soft prayer to-night. Loosestrife The secret fountains and the streams shall sing. i68 DUSK Meadow-Sweet The lark shall rise before the break of day And sing in concord with the nightingale. Loosestrife Unnumbered fire-flies, silver-wing6d moths Above thy bower shall soar in a great cloud, Meadow-Sweet And falling stars across the cloudless sky Shall chase each other like unbridled steeds. [0« the lake a great light is seen Loosestrife See, see the spirits come to welcome thee, [Music is heard Jessamine Come, sisters, lead me to my slumberous bower, [Exeunt Jessamine and Spirits Enter Yvain YVAIN Free ! but what use have I for freedom now ? I pondered in my prison, to what end I had been dowered with my boundless strength, DUSK 169 But then I broke my chain and prison bars; Ah ! whence this wondrous glimmer on the lake ? Ah ! whence this splendour in the darkling sky ? This music and this song ? 'Tis Jessamine, She holds a revel in her twilight world ; — But brief shall be the revel, for there come Two missing guests, and one is the dead ghost Of him I murdered ; and the second I, A living ghost. And we shall break the dream. Dream, Jessamine, for the awakening comes, This is the last of all thy summer dreams. [Exit YvAiN [After a short pause the music suddenly ceases. The lights on the lake vanish^ and all is buried in darkness. Enter Yvain carrying Jessamine's body in his arms YvAIN A second time I bear you in my arms ; Pale were you then; now you are paler still. Even as then your eyes were closed, as then You lie within my arms like a frail flower. Surely too frail for mortal scythe to mow ; The ghost of some dead Lily of the valley ! [He lays the body on the ground 170 DUSK Knights that now watch by Peridure's cold corpse, Come hither ! Modred, Sintram, Jason, come ! Enter Jason, Sintram, and Men at Arms with torches I broke my bonds. I went to Jessamine ; Amidst the slumbering Lilies and the leaves. Asleep she lay, like a soft bell of dew And seemed the living semblance of their dream. Softly I lifted her. She did not stir, I breathed one kiss upon her sleeping lips ; And then — men call me, Sirs, Yvain the Strong — Across my knees I broke that frailest thing. Do you not heed ? I broke her with these hands : There lies her body, stiiF and cold and dead. [Pause Tell me the road now to the violet hills. TRISTRAM AND ISEULT A PLAT IN FIVE ACTS To H. B. He BudtJiu OHU, kaki) speMH npojiexajio, ^ BbiBaJio rpycTHO umtj. a ckyMHO He 6biBaJio. Note. — Tie subject-matter of this play is entirely taken from ^. Joseph Bidier's reconstruction of the Tristram Legend. PERSONS OF THE PLAY King Mark. (King of Cornwall.) Tristram. (Hh Nephew^ Andret. Denoalen. Duke Hoel. The Duchess. {His Wife.) IsEULT OF Brittany. {Their Daughter.) Sir Kay Hedius. {Her Brother.) A Hermit. Griselda. {Iseult of Brittany's Lady.) Persides. {Tristram's Pag^.) Iseult the Fair. {King Market Wife.) Brangwaine. {Her Lady.) ACT I Scene I — Hall in the Castle of Tintagel King Mark Tristram, my friend, thou who hast been to me More than a son, say wherefore art thou sad ? Tristram King Mark, I am not sad. King Mark In olden days Tintagel echoed with thy careless song. Tristram Those days were long ago ; I was a boy ; Since then so many crowded years have passed, And I have wandered long and far away. 174 TRISTRAM AND ISEULT King Mark Tristram, it hurts my heart to see thee sad. Tristram Let not the King heed Tristram ; I deserve No passing thought, for fortune has bestowed Too many gifts on me. King Mark O heart of gold ! Tristram, my son, no gift would be too great For thee. Tristram I pray thee speak not thus, O King. [^Horns sound King Mark Hark ! the horn calls us ; com'st thou to the hunt ? Tristram I come. King Mark Then let us follow the glad horn. [^Exeuut Enter Iseult and Brangwaine TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 175 ISEULT How mournful is the murmur of the sea ! How heavy is the curtain of the sky ! How dark the daylight and how cold the sun ! Brangwaine I pray you, Queen, be governed. IsEULT Who can guess The torment of my heart ? Brangwaine Alas ! too clear Your fiery dream is written on your face. ISEULT You know the sorrow that I nurse, but they, How should they know ? Brangwaine When Tristram is not here, Listless and ghostly are the words you speak ; Your soul is far away ; but when he comes, You rise to life like some pale drooping flower Refreshed by timely rain. 176 TRISTRAM AND ISEULT ISEULT You fancy this, Brangwaine Not I alone : all see the self-same thing — Blind must they be to whom it is not clear. When you and Tristram meet, they can but see Love, like a shadow following you ; and love Burns in your eyes and trembles in your speech. IsEULT What should I do ? Brangwaine Make of your face a mask, And like a mummer strive to talk and smile Before the Courtiers, and before the King. Iseult I try, but I forget ; and like a wave The thought of Tristram sweeps me far away. Brangwaine Queen, be advised, before it is too late. TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 177 IsEULT You know that it already is too late. Brangwaine Ay, truly vain it is to say " turn back " — It is too late. There is no turning back. ISEULT I sought not Tristram's love ; I strove to hate ; I hated him. Brangwaine How could you fight the fate That lurk'd within the drink your mother brewed ? Blame me, for through my fault you drained the cup, The cursed draught made for the King and you. ISEULT It was no fault of yours. Brangwaine Ah ! fate made sport, Sad sport of us. Iseult And never till the day We die shall Fate release us from the spell. M 178 TRISTRAM AND ISEULT Scene II. — Same Hall in the Castle. King Mark is seated on his throne Enter Andret and Denoalen Andret We claim an audience of the King. King Mark Speak on. Andret Our words, most gracious Mark, cannot but stir Great wrath in you ; yet is our duty plain To lay the unwelcome truth before your eyes. Tristram, in whom you placed your heart and faith. Would shame you ; Tristram loves Iseult the Queen. King Mark You lie ! Knaves, envy hath made black your hearts. 'Tis true that Tristram holds my heart in pawn ; The day the stranger challenged you to fight Tristram encountered him and laid him low. And red blood flowed from many a gaping wound ; And that is why you hate him ; that is why I love him. What is it you feign to know ? TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 179 Andret We see but what is plain ; what all men see ; We only pray you, sir, to use your eyes ; For haply even now 'tis not too late. King Mark Leave me, sirs. [Exeunt Andret and Denoalen. [To Squire.] Send Sir Tristram here to me. Enter Tristram King Mark Tristram, make haste to leave these Castle walls. Nor cross the moat again ; for men accuse thee Of treachery ; ask me no question, friend, I could not speak their hateful speech again Without dishonour for us both ; nor seek For soothing words ; I know they would be vain ; Yet I believed them not ; if I believed How could I look on thee and let thee live ? Go, Mark, that loves thee, bids thee go, my son. [Exit Tristram. Some demon in my heart has sown a doubt. i8o TRISTRAM AND ISEULT Scene III. — An Orchard. Night Enter Tristram Tristram Iseult, far oflF from you I cannot stay, I cannot live. And I have come again, Though death and shame may wait for you and me. There is a bubbling spring that rises here Beneath the shadow of this friendly pine ; It wanders through the trees a running stream, Between these grassy banks where cowslips grow, And reaches at the end the Castle yard. I have cast bits of bark upon the stream ; Through the green orchard they will wind their way And speak a silent message to Iseult, And she will see, and understand, and come. A glimmering form is flitting through the trees. She touches but she tramples not the flowers ; For she was made one with the springtime's blossom, A sister to the bending daffodil. It is Iseult. Enter Iseult Iseult Upon the rippling stream I saw the floating bark. And swift I came. TRISTRAM AND ISEULT i8i Tristram There never was so sure a messenger. IsEULT And though he whispers an unceasing tale, He never tells the secret that he bears. Tristram I breathed the secret to the spring ; it wells Beneath this tree and fills the marble cirque, O'ergrown with moss, with a clear silver film. Hark to its murmur ! Is it glad or mournful ? IsEULT Like all sweet things, it is both glad and sad. The dancing wave, the laughing wind, the chimes Of bells, the shepherd's reed, the woodland horn, The words of love we speak ; in all of these There is a seed of sorrow. Tristram It is true ; For every smile that like a sunbeam shines Is followed by his shadow. 1 82 TRISTRAM AND ISEULT IsEULT Brightest things Cast darkest shade. Such is our love, O friend. Tristram Yet think not of the shadow, but the sun. IsEULT For us there is no sun. Like happy men We cannot taste the laughing light of day ; For us the day is cruel. Only here, Beneath the branches of this silent tree. We can be safe and still. Tristram Then let us think The world beyond the orchard is a dream. IsEULT The moon has touched the slumber-scented trees ; How dim, how frail the glimmering blossom shines. Tristram The birds are sleeping, and the noisy chough Is far away. TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 183 IsEULT This morning, in the trees I heard the cuckoo's cry ; but now he sleeps. Tristram All happy creatures sleep, but you and I Watch. ISEULT In the wakeful darkness there is peace, And silent sadness greater than all joy. How still and strange the blue deeps of the trees ! The silver air ! I feel a dreamy spell. As though a wizard's wand, dipped in cool dew, Had touched and changed us into ghostly leaves. Tristram Or drowned our souls beneath the bubbling spring. IsEULT Ay, it were sweet beneath the rippling water. Captive in those cool darkling deeps, to dream. Ah ! sad would be the music of the brook If it were laden with our sighs. 1 84 TRISTRAM AND ISEULT Tristram And they Who heard it would weep tears of blessed joy. ISEULT So still it is ; listen, the very stream Seems drowsily to mutter in his sleep. Haply the world beyond the orchard trees Is but a lying dream, and this is true. Tristram I touch your hand and wake from the world's trance, And only this is true. I come to life When I am here beneath the darkling tree, With you ; but when I go, I fade away. To wander like a phantom in the night ; For all the world where you are not is dim. And all the dwellers in the world are ghosts. IsEULT Tristram, without you, empty is the world. And blind I wander in the light of day. Tristram That is the lying dream : the truth is here In every whispered word and silent kiss. TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 185 ISEULT Tristram, my friend. Tristram Iseult, Iseult, my life. ISEULT Hold me and kiss me till the world shall end. Tristram The world is dead — but we shall never die. Iseult Or haply we have died, and the world lives As far away and silent as the moon ; But thou art still my friend. Tristram Iseult, my death ! Iseult Say not the sea-folk that Tintagel's towers Are spellbound, and by magic melt away Twice in the year ? That breathless hour has come ; Tintagel's walls have vanished and these trees ; This orchard is the orchard of the song. 1 86 TRISTRAM AND ISEULT Tristram Whisper the story softly in my ear ; Thy voice is sweeter than all song to me. IsEULT It tells of a strange orchard, walled around With wizard air and starred with shining flowers ; There snowy blossom glimmers on each tree, And there the warrior wanders with his love. Nought can molest their dream, no enemy Can break the wall of air. l^Dawn breaks. Trumpet sounds Tristram The wizard wall Is shattered ; no, that orchard is not here ; Nor shall we find its like upon the earth ; But one day, I shall bear you, O my friend. To the pale gardens where the minstrels sing. Where countless tapers glimmer like soft stars, Where flutes and harps for ever sigh and sound ; Never the sun shines, but the dwellers there Ask for no sunshine. IsEULT Take me there, my friend. [ Trumpet sounds again TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 187 Tristram The trumpet calls us to the cruel day. IsEULT Farewell, my friend. Tristram Iseult, Iseult, farewell. IsEULT God guard you ! O God guard and keep us both. Scene IV. — An Orchard. Night Enter King Mark and Andret Andret Hide yourself, sir, behind this pine-tree trunk ; Soon will they come, and you shall slay me, sir, If the Queen meets not Tristram on this spot. Enter Tristram Tristram The moon is full, and like a silver thread The stream winds glittering through the tangled grass [He throws chips of wood on to the stream 1 88 TRISTRAM AND ISEULT How swift the little ships float down the stream ; They meet, they drift apart, they meet again, They rise, they sink, like lives of men on earth ; And at the end they reach tranquillity. Where the bright fountain plashes on the stone. [He sees the King's shadow What is this phantom flitting through the trees ? Enter Iseult, whs also sees the King's shadow. IsEULT {Aside) God grant that I may be the first to speak. Iseult Tristram ! What, have you dared, in such a place At such an hour to wait for me ? Ah ! oft You bade me come to heed your prayer, you said. What is this prayer ? What do you want of me ? For I have come at last. Tristram Yes, often. Queen, I sent for you ; but always sent in vain ; For since I have been banished by the King, You have not deigned to heed my mournful call. Have pity ! for the King now hateth me. TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 189 I know not why — haply you know the cause. And who could calm his rage so well as you, Gentle Iseult ? IsEULT Oh ! know you not, the King Suspects us of a shameful infamy ? Must I, O shame ! reveal this news to you ? He thinks that we are bound by guilty love. God knows — and let him kill me if I lie — That I have only loved one man. Tristram I pray That you may plead for me, O gentle Queen. IsEULT He'd kill me if he knew that I was here, Tristram How came he to such thoughts ? Iseult It was not he, But traitors led him to believe this lie. " They love," they said. 'Tis true you love me, sir, Have I not saved you twice from death, and I igo TRISTRAM AND ISEULT Have loved you in return, for are not you My kinsman ? Tristram Beg the King to pity me. IsEULT Tristram, you must not ask this thing of me. The world's my foe, and should I say one word I risk a shameful death. Ah ! may God help you. So often have I whispered to this stream My sorrow, and told my troubles to the leaves. Ah ! it is sad, now all the world is joyous, That I alone should hide a heavy heart. Because my Lord suspects me of great wrong. Tristram And I, when twilight steals upon the world, Have often sat beside this mossy stone, Where the spring rises. I have told my tale To the clear water, and methinks its song Has sighed a sadder burden since that day ; And I have prayed the spirits of the stream To bear my tale of sorrow to the King, For it is clear and truthful as this spring. IsEULT God help you, for the King has been deceived ; TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 191 I pray that he may pardon you. I go, For I am fearful. I have stayed too long. Farewell, O gentle sir. Tristram Farewell, O Queen. [Exeunt Tristram and Iseult King Mark Oh ! blessed be this hour ! Praise be to God ! Tristram, my son, why did I doubt of you ? Scene V. — Iseult's Chamber. Night Iseult I know not why, but I am cold with fear. Enter Tristram Iseult Tristram here ! Go ! Surely you must be mad To seek me in the chamber of the King. Tristram The King has left the Castle these three hours. 192 TRISTRAM AND ISEULT He bade me start before to-morrow's dawn, To take a written scroll to Carduel's King. ISEULT It is deceit ! A traitorous stratagem. Go ! quickly go before they find you here. Tristram How could I go, Iseult, nor say farewell ? IsEULT I, too, had grieved had you in silence gone. But we have said farewell. O speed to go, I fear the traitors. Tristram What is fear to us ? Surely fear died upon that summer morn We drank by chance from the same silver cup. ISEULT The sails were flapping idly in the air. Tristram There was no land in sight. TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 193 IsEULT And in the sky No cloud. Tristram The drowsy mariners all slept. ISEULT Only a seagull circled in the air And cried a strange cold cry ; it made me shiver. I thought the sapphire sea, the azure sky, Must have turned grey ; but no, they had not changed. Tristram The sea was like a glittering coat of mail. IsEULT And pitiless and cruel was the sun ! I thought of the cool streams of my green home. Tristram You bade me fetch you water. IsEULT It was wine You brought. 19+ TRISTRAM AND ISEULT Tristram Ah ! no, Ah ! no, it was not wine ; But bitter bliss and anguish without end, Love, Death. IsEULT I drank and gave the cup to you. Tristram And then began the torment in my heart. IsEULT For many days I strove to hate you still ; I strove ; the ecstasy within my heart Was bitterer than all anger then to me. Tristram And for three days we spoke no word ; but I Was tortured and my heart was full of shame ; During those days I dared not show my face. ISEULT But on the last day to my tent you came. You said to me, " What is it troubles you, Iseult ? " TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 195 Tristram And wildly then you cried to me ; " This sky, this sea, my body and my life ! " And your eyes filled with tears ; you laid your hand Upon my arm. ISEULT And once again you said Softly : " Iseult, what is it troubles you ? " Tristram You looked at me ; and whispered " Love of you." IsEULT And you made silent answer. Tristram With a kiss. Iseult Brangwaine then came and cried, "You drank of death." While love and life leapt in our veins like fire ; You cried, " If this be death then let us die." Tristram A breeze came with the sunset. I can hear The lapping of the surge about the ship. 196 TRISTRAM AND ISEULT IsEULT And Brangwaine weeping in the silent night. Tristram I can still see the hot midsummer sky. ISEULT The million stars that watched upon our love. Tristram That white Star in the East, so still, so clear. ISEULT The day-star ! And we thought it Hesperus. Tristram So swiftly had the hours of darkness flown, We thought that twilight lingered in the sky. It was the dawn. ISEULT Tristram, it is the dawn ! And all the night has in a moment passed. Enter King Mark, Andret TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 197 King Mark Tristram, to-morrow you shall die, no prayer. No vow, no word of protest will avail, You and Iseult shall suffer the same death. ACT II A Forest. Summer Hermit Tristram, a price is set upon your head. The Barons swore to capture you alive Or dead. Tristram repent, for God forgives The sinner wrho repents. Tristram But of what crime ? Hermit Your lawless love. Tristram Ah ! little do you know The truth, who judge us. Know you of the drink We drank together on the fatal ship ? TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 199 Hermit God help you ! for the traitor's end is death ! You have betrayed your King. Tristram, give back The Queen unto her lawful Lord. Tristram No more Is he her Lord. She was condemned to death, And we would both have perished at the stake, Had I not broken loose and set her free. Hermit You cannot change the truth with subtle speech. Repent : for he who lives in sin is dead. Tristram I live and I repent not. This great wood Shall keep us safe. Come, come to me, Iseult ! [Exit Hermit Enter Iseult Tristram The Hermit bids me take you to the King. 200 TRISTRAM AND ISEULT ISEULT The world has lost us ; we have lost the world ; How say you Tristram ! Tristram Friend, so long as you Are with me, what is there that I can wish ? If all the stars and worlds were ours, I'd see You only. ISEULT I would think in days gone by That peaceful happiness was not for us. Yet in this forest we can taste of joy. Tristram And every hour unveils another bliss. Hark to the tinkle of the running stream ! ISEULT Hark to the rustle of the lime trees' leaves ! 'Tis an enchanted tree, within whose heart Some spirit dwells and whispers to the wind. Tristram The noon is humming his soft sleepy song. TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 201 ISEULT And far away I hear a shepherd's flute. The tune is like a sunbeam to my heart. Tristram The notes have died away upon the breeze, And all is still. ISEULT Save where the woodpecker Taps on the bole of some sequestered tree. Tristram This forest is our court. Its branches spread A royal canopy above our heads. ISEULT Our courtiers are the purple butterflies. Tristram Our squires and henchmen are the wild brown bees. Iseult Our gems are drops of dew ; our gold the broom, 202 TRISTRAM AND ISEULT Lest we should miss the shimmer of bright robes The darting kingfisher delights our eyes. Tristram Our morning herald is the lark, the thrush Our ballad-monger, and the whistling blackbird Our flute-player. ISKULT The squirrel is our fool. Our chapel lies in the dark forest aisle. Tristram Where the stream murmurs Mass all day, all night. IsEULT At Vespers incense rises from the pool. Tristram And fireflies are the tapers of the shrine. ISEULT The nightingales the Ave Mary sing. Tristram The noon is heavy, let us seek our cave. TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 203 Scene II. — The Forest, Autumn Hermit How long, O Tristram, will this madness last ? Have courage, take Iseult back to the King. Tristram Ask me not this : for it can never be. Hermit Have you no thought for her ? What piteous plight Is hers through you ? She, born to be a Queen, Is now no better than a hunted beast. What is her lot ? Instead of silken robes And glittering courts, you give her this wild wood, A cave, and roots to eat, the frost, the cold ; All this for you she bears without a word. Shame, shame upon you Tristram, is she not His bride, true wedded by the rite of Rome ? [^Exit Hermit Enter Iseult Tristram Your cheek is pale and wistful is your smile. Iseult, tell, tell me, if your heart be sad. 204 TRISTRAM AND ISEULT ISEULT Tristram, you know full well I am not sad. Tristram Are you not wearied of this life, Iseult, Of these rough days ? Iseult My friend is with me still : I know not if the days be rough or fair. Tristram Nay, you are sad. Iseult To see the swallows fly. To see the faded leaves fall one by one ; And sad because I know that what is fled Shall never be again. Tristram Already sown Are golden seeds of blissful hours to be. Iseult But this long dream can never be again : The first free wanderings in the leafy wood : TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 205 Those hours are dead. Tristram, methinks that you Have sadder thoughts than I. Tristram Iseult, my joy, How can the sun give darkness ? Iseult You are sad. Tristram I grieve to see you beaten by the wind, To see you sleep upon the rugged ground. Iseult, when winter comes, what shall befall ? Iseult When winter comes we in the hermit's cave, Beside the blazing boughs, shall little heed The storms ; the snow shall be our coverlet. Tristram Yet my heart aches for you, I fear you hide Your grief. Iseult One thing alone can sadden me To see that you are mournful. O my friend, 2o6 TRISTRAM AND ISEULT Great is my happiness if you are glad. Only I fear lest you be wearied now Of loneliness and of this savage wood. Tristram There where my daylight is, my life, my joy. There is no loneliness. One thought is dark : To think the happiness must have an end, IsEULT It shall not end. Tristram I know the end must come ; We never shall be free from our dark fate. Free on the earth like other happy men. ISEULT Think not of what has been, nor what shall be. But say you are not changed. Tristram Iseult, my life ! IsEULT Enough. Tristram, my friend, it is enough. TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 207 Enter Hermit Tristram It is the holy hermit. Speak with him, [Exit Tristram Hermit Iseult, God bids thee seek thy lawful lord. Iseult Forsaking Tristram ? No, it cannot be. Hermit It shall be, if your love is great enough. Should Tristram live an outcast in the woods ? Tristram the brave, the great adventurous Knight ? Tristram who in the Castle of a King Should live surrounded by a hundred squires. He who should visit the great fields of battle, The glittering Courts, and combat with the brave, For you he leaves the world ; for you he roams, A hunted outlaw in a savage wood. Iseult O hermit, leave me, for you tear my heart. 2o8 TRISTRAM AND ISEULT Scene III. — Another part of the Forest. Autumn. On one side of the Stage is the Hermit's Cave where IsEULT is lying asleep Enter King Mark King Mark They told me that within a leafy cave A shining fairy slumbered in a trance. \_He walks to the cave and sees Iseult Iseult ! Oh ! canst thou live and be so fair ? Thy face and features w^ear the blessed peace, The radiant smile that lights the happy dead ; And yet thou art alive, for wert thou dead, Thy cheek wrould not be tinged like a soft rose ; Inscrutable and w^ondrous is thy smile ; Oh ! would to God thy heart were innocent ! Enter Hermit I found Iseult the Queen in this thy cave ; Now tell me where is Tristram's hiding-place ? Hermit {Aside) Praise God ! I will fulfil the work of peace. TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 209 [To King] O King, Sir Tristram dwells not in this cave, But far away in the deep forest's heart ; And only when Iseult has fallen asleep He ventures here and feeds his gaze awhile Upon her sleeping form, and when she stirs He flies into the thickets of the woods. And ofttimes, when the sun beats on her face, He shields her from its rays with shady leaves. And, as he gazes, his eyes fill with tears ; But never comes he here at other times. Lest he should do dishonour to his King. Has he not sworn his innocence to thee O King ? thou didst not deign to heed his word. King Mark Speak you the truth ? Dark, dark has been rriy fault Great-hearted Tristram, must my meaner heart For ever doubt of you and be deceived ? But I am ready to set right the wrong. See, I will signify my will : I take This ring from Iseult's finger, in its stead I place my own, the ring she gave to me. And when she wakes my message will be clear. [Exit King Mark Q 210 TRISTRAM AND ISEULT Hermit God, forgive the lie upon my lips, 1 spoke the falsehood in the cause of peace. [IsEULT awakes Enter Tristram IsEULT I dreamt that one was watching while I slept, And, while he watched, he wept, then he bent down, And took away my ring, and in its place He put his own. Look you upon my finger, The ring is changed, Hermit. It is the ring I gave King Mark upon our bridal day, Who hath done this ? Hermit The King himself was here And wept for pity as he gazed on you. His heart is full of sorrow, he believes The oath of innocence that Tristram swore. He minds how he condemned you both unheard, And now his only wish is to forgive. Tristram Forgive ! Ah ! who could pardon such a fault Without ignobleness ? No^ Hermit, no ; TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 211 But he remembers how, a little child, I, at his feet, played on a golden harp, He minds how oft my blood has flowed for him ; The oath I swore, the judgment that I claimed ; He cannot guess the riddle of our lives ; He doubts, he hopes ; now he will let me prove My words in combat ; — I must then give back Iseult. O wherefore did he come ? Before I could feel hate for him, but by his deed He stirs the old compassion in my heart. Hermit Tristram, be brave and bring the Queen to him ; Tristram, the time has come to take the Queen From this wild forest and this savage life. Tristram What thinkest thou, Iseult ? ISEULT What passeth speech ; Yet if you will it so, so let it be. Tristram Then holy hermit, heed ; I will obey ; 212 TRISTRAM AND ISEULT Help me to make agreement with the King. Go back, Iseult, and I will leave this land, I will to Brittany, and if one day The King should call me, I will come once more. Iseult It is so willed, it must be, and although I do not now repent me that I loved Tristram, and that I love him ; still from now Our lives must be divided, though my heart Shall never leave his heart. Hermit O praised be God ! The King is hunting in the wood to-day, I will to him and bring him here to you. {Exit Hermit Tristram Iseult, Iseult, dark is this hour of grief ! It is the bitter end of the sweet cup. Iseult Nay not the end. And was not the first drop Bitter and sweet as is the last ? For us There is no end, but we, until we die, TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 213 Shall drift together like two floating leaves Upon a running stream ; never for long Together, never parted utterly. Tristram Like the small bits of bark I used to cast Upon the orchard brook in days gone by ; Yet now our parting must be long. IsEULT A night, JL/ingering and dark perchance, but dawn will come. Tristram There may be glimpses at the dawn and dusk For us ; but we shall never more be free To wander throughout all the careless day. IsEULT Till Death ; then, in the night or in the day, Together, unmolested, we shall roam. Tristram Not yet, Iseult : that hour has not yet come ; And oh ! the bitter grief to lose you now ! 214 TRISTRAM AND ISEULT ISEULT Take this green ring and wear it for my sake ; And should you ever send this ring to me, No walls, no chains, no bars, nor stern command Shall keep me from fulfilling my friend's wish, Tristram God bless the ring and her that gave it me How shall I live without her ? IsEULT Fate has bound Our lives together and I dare not think How I shall live ; but this alone I know, My heart will follow you o'er all the world. Tristram O friend, I go. I know not to what land ; But should I ever send you the green ring, Will you fulfil the wish that it shall bear ? ISEULT Thou knowest well no walls, no chains, no bars Shall keep me from fulfilling thy heart's wish. Be it wisdom or mad folly. TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 215 Tristram God be good To you, IsEULT God guard you always, O my friend. Enter King Mark, Andret, Hermit and Barons Tristram O King, I give you back Iseult the Fair ; And I stand here to prove to all the world In combat that I never loved the Queen With guilty love, that had offended you. Deceived by traitors you had had us burnt Untried, unheard, had God not pitied us ; No hearing was I given. Let me now Be judged, and let me justify myself In battle. And if vanquished, kill me, sir, If victor, let me serve you as before. Andret {Jside to the King) Sir, heed my counsel. Wrongly evil tongues Spake slander of the Queen, yet if Sir Tristram Returns to Court, those tongues will speak once more. 21 6 TRISTRAM AND ISEULT Tristram Who will accept my challenge ? \^Silence There is none Who dares. O King you speak no word to me. Take back the Queen. And I will leave you, Sir, And seek a far-oiF country ; Brittany Or Wales. King Mark My son, O whither will you go Thus ragged, thus unbannered ? here is gold. Tristram King, I will take no single piece of silver, But, as I am, will I in distant lands Offer my service to some alien King l^Exit Tristram ACT 111 Scene I. — heulfs Room m Tintagel IsEULT OF Cornwall Brangwaine, I know not why, but these last days There have been moments when my heart seemed light, As though my pain had melted quite away. Brangwaine Time heals the bitter wounds of fate. IsEULT OF Cornwall Ah, no ! A million centuries might o'er me roll And undiminished would my sorrow be. Brangwaine And yet you say your heart seems light at times. 2i6 TRISTRAM AND ISEULT Tristram Who will accept my challenge ? [^Silence There is none Who dares. O King you speak no word to me. Take back the Queen. And I will leave you, Sir, And seek a far-off country ; Brittany Or Wales. King Mark My son, O whither will you go Thus ragged, thus unbannered ? here is gold. Tristram King, I will take no single piece of silver, But, as I am, will I in distant lands Offer my service to some alien King [Exit Tristram ACT 111 Scene I. — Iseulfs Room in Tintagei IsEULT OF Cornwall Brangwaine, I know not why, but these last days There have been moments when my heart seemed light, As though my pain had melted quite away, Brangwaine Time heals the bitter wounds of fate. IsEULT OF Cornwall Ah, no ! A million centuries might o'er me roll And undiminished would my sorrow be. Brangwaine And yet you say your heart seems light at times. 220 TRISTRAM AND ISEULT IsEULT OF Brittany Haply he loves me : dreamy is his mood : It is as though his mind were far away. Duchess And yet he loves you. IsEULT OF Brittany He is kind to me. And when the Minstrels sing of me in song, His face lights up with a strange wistful smile. Duchess He loves the Minstrelsy ? IsEULT OF Brittany He loves the song " Iseult " the Minstrels made upon my name. Duchess He is a warrior. It is sweet for him To rest and bask in a soft dream of love : He fears to break the spell. TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 221 IsEULT OF Brittany Yet sometimes, Mother, It seems as though I were a ghost to him. He gazes through me on the vacant air. Duchess That is love-sickness. IsEULT OF Brittany Sometimes, too, methinks. He seems to listen to a hidden voice ; To gaze upon a shape I cannot see. Duchess That is but love that rises up to you, Like a great cloud of incense, from his heart. IsEULT OF Brittany Is it for me ? Duchess For whom else could it rise .'' Why has he lingered if he loved you not After he drove away the enemy ? And when your father oiFered him your hand, He could have answered " No " and left our land, But it was plain he loved you from the first. 222 TRISTRAM AND ISEULT IsEULT OF Brittany I thought he looked on me with loving eyes. Duchess I mind the day your brother brought him here, Into our chamber, as we worked and sang. " This is Iseult," your brother said, and Tristram Smiled a strange smile, and softly said " Iseult ! " Enter Tristram He comes. I leave you, child, alone with him. \^Exit Duchess Iseult of Brittany Good-morrow, Tristram. Tristram Hail ! little Iseult. What is the robe you work with your fair hands ? Iseult of Brittany It is my bridal veil. Tristram Our wedding ? Strange ! TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 223 IsEULT OF Brittany Why strange, my Lord ? Tristram Nay, nay, it is not strange. Yet it is strange that I, in Brittany, Should wed : so far away from Cornwall's shores Where I have lived. IsEULT OF Brittany Why left you Cornwall's shores ? Tristram To seek adventures, for I always loved To wander. IsEULT OF Brittany O'er the plains and in the woods. Tristram Long, long ago I wandered in a wood : Fordayswhich seemed like months, formonthslike years Iseult of Brittany Were you alone ? Tristram I had a faithful friend, 224 TRISTRAM AND ISEULT IsEULT OF Brittany Where is he now ? Tristram Gone, gone, I know not where. Iseult of Brittany When is our marriage day ? Tristram Whene'er the Duke Decrees. I shall be ready ; but these days Are soft and pleasant as a summer dream. I would not break the spell of the still hours. Iseult of Brittany Think you the clarions of the wedding feast Will break the spell ? Tristram Perchance they'll bring to us Another dream, more sweet, a longer dream. Iseult of Brittany You love to dream. TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 225 Tristram In slumbering forest lands I was rocked to the sound of a sad sea. IsEULT OF Brittany Is it as fair a land as Brittany ? Tristram Just such a land. Another Brittany ; The woods are darker and the billow's song Is sadder. Iseult of Brittany Ah ! the sadness of that sea Is in your eyes. You must have tasted grief, Once, long ago. Tristram So long ago, that now It seems as though it had not ever been. Iseult of Brittany Tell me your tale of grief. Tristram There is no tale. Some birds there are who twitter merrily, p 226 TRISTRAM AND ISEULT Others who sing a plaintive song ; of such Was I ; for I was born in grief. IsEULT OF Brittany But now You feel no grief? Tristram My grief was long ago, Now I am lapped in stillness and content. IsEULT OF Brittany And love ? Tristram Oh ! yes, and love, gentle Iseult. Enter the Duke The Duke The marriage feast shall be to-morrow morn, If such your pleasure. Tristram I am ready, sir. To wed your child Iseult before the priest. {Exeunt Duke and Iseult of Brittany TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 227 Enter Persides Persides The wedding feast to-morrow will be held. Tristram So they have told me. Persides Are you ready, Sir ? Tristram Ready for what ? Persides To wed Duke Heel's child. Oh ! little did we dream in days gone by That you would wed Iseult of Brittany. Tristram Devious and strange is the dark path of Fate. Persides Mind you the orchard by Tintagel's tower ? Tristram It seems as though I had been dead since then, 228 TRISTRAM AND ISEULT And all those years are like the shadowy ghosts That roam beyond the dark forgetful stream. Persides And are you happy, Sir ? Tristram I know not, boy, I am not sad, and tranquil is my heart. Yet all is strange to me ; this life, this Castle, Iseult of Brittany. Is this a dream ? And have I died and found another world ? Persides It is no dream. Tristram I feel that I am borne Gently upon a river to the sea, To a wide ocean of content and calm. Persides Perchance a storm awaits you on that sea. Tristram I know not ; but I know that it is sweet To drift upon the flood and to forget. TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 229 Persides Have you forgotten ? Tristram All is strange and dim ; I am secure in the strong hand of Fate ; I feel as though, from a long fever freed, I looked writh dreamy eyes on a new world. Persides Know you this song ? It is a lullaby. [ Sings An orchard grows beyond the twilight sea. Encircled by a wizard wall of air ; There snowy blossom glimmers on each tree. The earth smells sweetly there. There dwells the warrior and there dwelleth she Whom he loved well, forever young and fair. And unmolested, for no enemy Can break that wall of air. Tristram Haply I heard it in the days gone by. 230 TRISTRAM AND ISEULT Scene III. — Iseult of Brittany's Room. Wedding Procession^ with Torches^ passes across the stage Enter Tristram and Iseult of Brittany Iseult of Brittany It is a wondrous night, the sea is singing A lullaby of love ; was ever night As soft and warm as this on Cornwall's shores ? Tristram Yes, often there the nights were soft and warm. Iseult of Brittany And there you used to wander in the woods ? Tristram Ah, yes ! Iseult of Brittany To seek adventures, to set free Captives, and to deliver lovely Queens ? Tristram I never met but with one lovely Queen. TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 231 IsEULT OF Brittany What was her name ? Tristram The self-same name as thine, "Iseult." IsEULT OF Brittany Did you deliver this Iseult ? From whom ? and how ? Tristram A King had sentenced her To death : he thought that she was false to him. Iseult of Brittany Had she been false ? Tristram Nay, she was never false. Iseult of Brittany You set her free, and then ? Tristram And then she fled. 232 TRISTRAM AND ISEULT IsEULT OF Brittany Alone ? Tristram A faithful slave had followed her. Iseult of Brittany And what became of her ? Tristram The King forgave, And she returned and dwelt with him in peace. Iseult of Brittany And did she give you no reward, no gift ? Tristram I asked for no reward. What should she give ? Nay, it is true, bidding farewell, one gift She gave. Iseult of Brittany What gift ? Tristram A ring ; I had forgot. But see, it is upon my finger still — This little jasper hoop that glitters green. TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 233 IsEULT OF Brittany Give me that ring ! Tristram You have the ring I gave Before the priest. 'Twould not be meet to change. [Tristram goes to the window and gaz.es out on to the sea Iseult of Brittany Tristram, my Lord, what is it ails you ? Speak — Come to me : seal our marriage with a kiss. Tristram Iseult, I pray you be not wrath with me ; But long ago I made a solemn vow — I was in dreadful peril in a battle, When, mindful of the Blessed Virgin's name, I vowed, that if She saved me from the peril, I would, when wedded, let a whole year pass Before I gave and took the wedding kiss. Iseult of Brittany So be it ! Oh, my Lord : fulfil thy vow ! ACT IV Hall in Tintagel. King Mark and Iseult are seated on two Thrones surrounded by Courtiers Enter Tristram disguised as a Madman Courtier A crazy madman, Sir, has come to Court. King Mark Let the mad fool approach. [They lead him to the King Welcome, Sir friend. Tristram Hail ! best and noblest of all Kings ; I knew My heart would melt if I should see thy face. King Mark What seek you here. Sir fool ? TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 235 Tristram I seek Iseult ; Iseult the Fair I loved in days gone by, I bring you, sir, my sister ; let us change : For the Queen wearies you, give her to me. King Mark And w^hither would you take Iseult, the Queen ? Tristram Beyond the clouds and far above the sun ; To where my castle with the filmy walls Hangs like an opal faint in the pale air. Courtiers The madman speaketh well. King Mark What made thee hope The Queen would heed a crazy fool like thee ? Tristram I have the right to hope. I for her sake Suffered so many things, and lost my wits. 236 TRISTRAM AND ISEULT IsEULT OF Cornwall Who art thou, Madman ? Tristram I no longer know ; But in the days gone by I was a Minstrel ; I loved the moon, and all night long I sang Louder and sweeter than the nightingale. Song made me mad at last. IsEULT OF Cornwall What is thy name ? Tristram " Wanderer," for I have wandered o'er the world, And seen the dark dominions of the dead ; There on the sable throne a pallid Queen Sits crowned with flowers that grew by streams of dusk ; Her eyes are sadder than the withered flowers. And sad and listless is her silent smile. King Mark Spake you with her ? Tristram I sang her a soft song TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 237 Of a strange orchard walled about with air, Where yellow daffodils upon the grass Are sprinkled thick like stars ; and when I sang She wept, for she remembered flowers like those. IsEULT OF Cornwall Sing us the song. Tristram I have forgotten it ; And there is no more song within my heart. IsEULT OF Cornwall Know you the ballad of the jasper ring ? Tristram A thousand ballads echo in my brain ; I cannot sing ; the lute within my heart Is broken, and its strings can only wail ; Yet, long ago, I loved the silver moon ; She came to earth and kissed me while I slept. It was a foolish thing to love the moon. IsEULT OF Cornwall Then was it love that made you mad ? 238 TRISTRAM AND ISEULT Tristram Not love Alone ; I was enchanted by a spell. I sailed upon the broomstick of a witch Who willed that wheresoever I should go Her name should haunt me like a jingling bell ; I could not rid me of the silver sound That tinkled in my heart : it made me mad. IsEULT OF Cornwall What was the witch's name ? Tristram It was Iseult. IsEULT OF Cornwall {To King) Was ever there so mad a loon ? [To Tristram] They say There was a wizard in Avilion's Isle, Who bore around his neck a magic bell ; And they who heard its sound forgot their grief. Know you of this ? Tristram Once, it was long ago, I met a knight who had a magic bell, TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 239 He gave it to his lady-love, and she Forgot him. IsEULT OF Cornwall Thou dost lie ! Tristram Know you the Knight ? IsEULT OF Cornwall How should I know him, crazy fool ? and yet Thou shalt not blame a woman here. Tristram Iseult, O give me back my wits you stole away. When in the guise of the bright moon you lived. Give me the wits you stole a second time, When you bewitched me with a haunting name. Iseult of Cornwall King, bid this fool begone ; he wearies me. Tristram O ! see you not the Queen is smit with love ? Mark you how pale she is, how bright the flame 240 TRISTRAM AND ISEULT That glistens in her eyes. She is a witch ! O, burn her at the stake, King Mark, for she Would shame you for the love of a mad fool. IsEULT OF Cornwall O curs6d madman, you are drunk with wine. Tristram 'Tis true that I am drunk ; but with a wine Whose bitter fumes will never die away. O Queen, can you recall that summer noon ? The sail was flapping idly in the air ; There was no land in sight, the sailors slept. The sea was gold ; the sky was hot like fire. And you were thirsty ; have you quite forgot ? We drank together from the self-same cup. Since then I have been maddened with that wine. IsEULT OF Cornwall Sir, drive this man away. I will not hear him. King Mark Wait : let us hear his madness to the end. Say, fool, what canst thou do ? TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 241 Tristram I play the harp, And in the forest like a thrush I sing, And in the orchard like a nightingale. I can slay dragons, kill false-hearted Knights, And throw small chips upon the running stream ; Love Queens, and live on berries in a wood. Am I not. Sir, a goodly minstrel ? See ! [ He belabours the Courtiers with his stick IsEULT OF Cornwall Sir, I am weary, let me seek my room. I can no longer hear this noisy fool. King Mark 'Tis we will leave you. Follow us, mad fool, And show your skill in sport and song. [Exeunt King Mark, Tristram, and Courtiers IsEULT OF Cornwall Brangwaine ! Brangwaine ! My heart is sick with hope and fear ; A fool, a madman, has been here, and he Must be a wizard, for he knows my life. Q 242 TRISTRAM AND ISEULT The secret things none know but you and I ; Unless Brangwaine Unless 'tis Tristram ! IsEULT OF Cornwall Oh, the hope ! The fear ! If it be he, how dares he come And risk a shameful death ? Brangwaine Queen, calm thyself : Haply this man is Tristram's messenger. IsEULT OF Cornwall Go bring him hither ; I will to my chamber ; Fetch me, if haply what you think be true. [Exit Iseolt. Exit Brangwaine and returns with Tristram Tristram Brangwaine, Brangwaine, have pity upon me ! Brangwaine Ma Iman, what demon taught my name to you ? TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 243 Tristram Ah ! long ago, Brangwaine, I learnt your name, And if my wits have left me it is you Who are the cause ; for should you not have guarded The poison that I drank upon the sea ? Out of a silver cup, in the great heat I drank, and gave the goblet to Iseult ; Brangwaine, can you recall that fatal hour ? No! Brangwaine Tristram Pity, pity on me ! Enter IsEULT of Cornwall Pity, Queen ! [//i? ojiens his arms to embrace Queen ; she shrinks, shuddering, from him [Exit Brangwaine Tristram Ah ! truly I have lived a day too long, For I have been rejected by Iseult. She spurns and shrinks from me. Iseult ! Iseult ! Slow to forget is he who loveth well. 244 TRISTRAM AND ISEULT IsEULT OF Cornwall I doubt ! I am afraid ! I do not know ! Tristram Iseult, I am that Tristram whom you loved, Who loved you for so long. Have you forgot The bits of bark I cast upon the stream ? The friendly shadow of the tall pine tree ? The orchard like the orchard of the song ? Have you forgot the forest where we dwelt ? Our Courtiers that were purple butterflies, Our gems the dewdrops, and our gold the broom. The blackbird was our minstrel all day long ; At dusk, in the dark aisle by fireflies lit, The nightingales our " Ave Mary " sang. . . . She speaks no word. Ah ! will she know this ring ? The little jasper ring she gave to me. No walls, she said, no bars, no stern command Will keep me from fulfilling my friend's wish. Iseult of Cornwall O ! Tristram, take me ; I am here for thee. TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 245 Tristram But why were you so long to know me, friend ? What is the ring ? It had been sweeter far If you, but by the memories of our love, Had known me. IsEULT OF Cornwall Sooner than you spoke I knew. Think you I did not know your sad, sad eyes ? I knew ; but, Tristram, I was sick with fear ; For enemies surround me on all sides. I thought that haply an enchanter's spell Deceived me, and some foe was mocking me. And torturing my heart ; I thought 'twas you. And trembled lest they should discover you. I feared ; I waited for the jasper ring, And, now I see the ring, I yield to you ; I swore to do what you should wish, O friend, If I should see that ring, and here am I, Wisdom be it or folly, take me now. Tristram Know you, Iseult, why I have sought you here Disguised in this strange garb ? I came, Iseult, Because I know the hour of Death is nigh : 246 TRISTRAM AND ISEULT I know that I shall perish far away From you, and banished from my heart's desire. I know the hour of Death is almost come. IsEULT OF Cornwall Hold me and kiss me, so that our two hearts May break, and that our souls may fly away. Oh ! take me to the far-olF land of bliss Of which you used to tell me long ago : To the green orchard walled with wizard air. Tristram Yes, I will take you to the land of joy. The hour is nigh. Have we not drained the dregs Of bitter misery and bitter joy ? The whole of happiness, the whole of grief ? The hour is nigh when all shall be fulfilled ; If I should call you, will you come to me ? IsEULT OF Cornwall Call me, my friend ; you know that I will come. Tristram God bless you, friend, for this, your loving thought. TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 247 Enter Heralds, Courtiers, King Mark, i^c. Heralds blow their trumpets King Mark [To Iseult of Cornwall) Fair Queen, the King of Carduel, with his Knights Is here ; come, let us go to welcome him. \^He takes Iseult by the hand and leads her to the door, followed by the Barons and the Courtiers A Squire [To Tristram) Fool, heard you not that Carduel's King had come ? Your place is with the beggars and the dogs ; Get hence. Tristram 'Tis fruitless toil to banish me. For here my task is finished to the end. ACT V Scene I. — Castle of Carhaix Duchess Hoel My child, what ails you ? Listless, sad, and pale You seem to me. IsEULT OF Brittany Have I not cause for care. Since to-day Tristram leaves me for the fight ? Duchess What is the fight to him ? He all his life Has fought 5 and on the earth he has no peer. Iseult of Brittany Yet it is sad for me to say farewell. Last night I dreamed that Tristram came to me, Back from the battle, crowned with leaves of fire ; TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 249 And from his forehead, darker than a ruby, The red blood dropped, and he was pale as death, I cried, but oh ! he paid no heed to me ! Duchess My child, this is mad folly. t IsEULT OF Brittany It is true ; But I am foolish, for my love is great. Duchess See, it is he : he comes to say farewell. [Exit Duchess Enter Tristram Tristram The hour is come to say farewell, Iseult. Iseult of Brittany But when wilt thou return ? Tristram Soon, soon, Iseult, Unless I fall in battle. 250 TRISTRAM AND ISEULT IsEULT OF Brittany God forfend ! Tristram It were a goodly death. IsEULT OF Brittany O, speak not thus. Tristram It were a goodly death to fall in fight ; Yet have no fear, for soon will I return. IsEULT OF Brittany Tristram, my Lord, I am a foolish child, In everything I would fulfil thy wish ; But one thing I desire : I pray you stay, And go not to this fight. Tristram I gave my word, Iseult, I swear thy fears are foolishness. IsEULT OF Brittany This is the only boon that I have craved, TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 251 The only gift I need. If in your heart There be a little love, I beg you stay. Tristram Iseult, my little lily-handed child, I swore to meet this foe ; my word is pledged. I swear to you there is no cause for fear, IsEULT OF Brittany Then be it as you will. Farewell, farewell. Tristram Farewell, gentle Iseult, few days shall pass Before I come again. IsEULT OF Brittany Farewell, farewell. [Exit Tristram Griselda ! Enter Griselda He is gone ! Tristram is gone ! Griselda What troubles you ? We knew that he should go. Before three days are past he will return. 252 TRISTRAM AND ISEULT IsEULT OF Brittany I prayed him not to go. Last night I dreamed That he was dead. Griselda Lady, dreams are deceit. IsEULT OF Brittany 'Tis not my dream that saddens me ; but now I suffer with great sadness, for I know That Tristram loves me not, and never now Will Tristram love me. Griselda Nay, you are distraught ! IsEULT OF Brittany I know ; I know. For were there in his heart One ray of love, he would have seen the thought That lies within the darkness of my heart. And he could not have gone. Griselda These words are folly. Begot of groundless fear. TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 253 IsEULT OF Brittany He loves me not. Ah ! long ago I feared he loved me not ; But foolishly I thought that love would come ; But now there is another whom he loves. Griselda Lady, 'tis madness ! IsEULT OF Brittany No, it is the truth, I know not whom he loves, but there is one ; He could not gaze and gaze across the sea With such sad, wistful eyes, did he not love. I know not who she is ; I only know He loves her, and that she is far away. Scene II. — Castle of Carhaix. Tristram lying on a Bed IsEULT OF Brittany How fares it, Tristram ? Tristram It is well, the wound Aches not so sorely ; soon will it be healed. 254 TRISTRAM AND ISEULT Iseult, bring me thy brother. I have words That I must speak to him. Iseult of Brittany He comes, my Lord. Enter Sir Kay Hedius Tristram And I would speak with him awhile alone. Iseult of Brittany 'Tis well, I go. [Iseult goes^ but hides behind the arras of the door Tristram My friend, my wound is sore. The sword of Bedalis I slew, from whom I got this wound, was poisoned, and I know That it will never heal, and I shall die. Sir Kay Hedius Nay, speak not thus. Tristram Already I can hear The muffled step or Death upon the stair ; TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 255 There is no doubting of that sound, I die. But O true friend, who knowest all my story, Who, understanding all, hast pardoned me ; Before I die I fain would see Iseult, Iseult the Fair, Iseult whom I loved well ; And, had I but a messenger to send, I know that swiftly she would come to me. Sir Kay Hedius I will to Cornwall. I will bring her here : Tristram, for you I would risk many deaths. And nought shall hinder me in this attempt ! Give me your message and I will set out. Tristram I thank you; take with you this green jasper ring. If she but see it she will find a way To hear you. Tell her I am dying now ; That only she can bring me help and life. Bid her be mindful of our happy days, Of all our joy, of all our misery ; Our love, the cup we drained upon the sea ; The oath I swore to love but her alone ; I kept the oath. The oath she swore to me To come if she should see my jasper ring. 2 56 TRISTRAM AND ISEULT Sir Kay Hedius 'Tis well. Tristram But to thy sister say no word. Tell her you go to seek a leech for me. Two sails take with you ; one black and ohe white ; And if you bring Iseult with you, then hoist The white sail ; if without her you return, Let it be black. I have no more to say. Farewell, and may God bring you safely home. Sir Kay Hedius I go. I will bring back Iseult the Fair. [Exit Sir Kay PIedius Enter Iseult of Brittany Iseult of Brittany Where is my brother ? Tristram He has gone, Iseult, Far off to fetch a sage, who, skilled in herbs, Alone can heal my aching wound. Iseult of Brittany 'Tis well : I for his swift and safe return will pray. TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 257 Scene III. — Hah in Castle at Carhaix Griselda My Lord still sleeps. IsEULT OF Brittany Oh ! It fares ill with him. He has not bid us bear him to the beach, Whence all day long he gazed upon the sea. Griselda He is too weary. IsEULT OF Brittany Weary, too, am I. My heart, too, has been poisoned with a wound. Griselda What wound ? Iseult of Brittany My heart is full of bitter hate, And with a great desire to be revenged. Griselda On whom ? IsEULT OF Brittany Griselda, dark is my despair ! 258 TRISTRAM AND ISEULT Twas bitter when I feared he loved me not, But Oh ! the greater bitterness I taste Now, that I know my utmost fear was true ! I loved him so. And who is there on earth Who could have given him greater love than I ? I hoped, I dreamed that he could love me too. But swift was the awakening from that dream ! Griselda Thy grief has made thee wild. IsEULT OF Brittany Hush, hush, he wakes ! Tristram See you the white sail ? IsEULT OF Brittany On the wide grey sea Tristram My wound, my wound is sore. There is no sail. IsEULT OF Brittany Sleep, Tristram, sleep ; soon will the ship be here. TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 259 Tristram I have just slept. I dreamed a wondrous dream Of a cool orchard walled about with air, And watered by a rippling silver stream. See you no sail ? IsEULT OF Brittany Upon the wide grey sea There is no sail. Tristram I dreamed that on the grass I lay, and listened to a summer song, Softer than any song the Minstrel sings. See you no ship ? IsEULT OF Brittany The sea is calm and still. As far as the sky-line there is no sail. Tristram All day, all night, strange visions visit me ; I dreamed that I was sailing in a ship, On a hot summer noon, and called for water, And in a silver cup they brought me wine ; It seemed so cool, but ah ! it was not cool, But hot and bitter, I can taste it still. 26o TRISTRAM AND ISEULT Oh ! will the fiery fumes not melt away ? Will nothing cool the fever in my brain ? Will nothing stay the aching in my heart ? Alas ! Alas ! it was a poisoned wound. Look ! haply now across the sea there comes The ship that bears the herb to heal my wound. IsEULT OF Brittany Out of the west a little breeze has sprung. Tristram Hark ! I can hear the tinkling of a bell ! silver chime, I recognise thy voice ; It is the music of Avilion's isle, The wizard bell I gave unto my friend ; Glad is the heart of him who hears that bell. A shining light has filled the darkling world ! Feel you the fragrance of the breeze ? The ship ! The ship ! I hear the motion of the sail ; 1 hear the bubbling of the flying foam. The ship has come with sunlight and with song To bring me life. IsEULT OF Brittany 'Tis true : around the clifF TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 261 A ship is coming and is running swift Upon the beach. Tristram Oh, look ! look at the sail ! Is the sail white ? Can you not see the sail ? IsEULT OF Brittany I see the sail, for they have hauled it high. Tristram, the sail is black. Tristram (Turning to the wall) Now I can live No more. Iseult my friend ! Iseult my friend ! Iseult ! Iseult of Brittany What have I done ? Speak Tristram ! Speak ! What have I done ? Griselda ! come to me. Tristram is dead ! Enter Griselda and Knights Griselda Woe ! Woe ! Tristram is dead 1 Let the bells toll. Tristram the brave, the true ; Tristram is dead ! The peerless Knight ! Woe ! Woe ! 262 TRISTRAM AND ISEULT Enter DuKE and Duchess IsEULT OF Brittany Oh ! come not near me : leave me to my grief ! [Knights carry the body of Tristram and lay it on a bier. They spread a rich cloth over it, and lay his sword on it. IsEULT of Brittany kneels down by the bier Duke O faithful Tristram ! No one in the world Has ever served his King as you served me. [Bells toll Enter IsEULT OF Cornwall Iseult of Cornwall Tristram, where is he ? \She walks up to Tristram's body [To Iseult of Brittany] Lady, go you hence And let me come. I have the greater right To weep upon his body, for I loved him More than you loved him. [Turning to the East TRISTRAM AND ISEULT 263 God receive my soul. Tristram, out of the cup you gave to me I drank my death, but with the death was love ; The love that lives for ever. O my friend. Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson &• Co London <&= Edinburgh liilillUlMM