t!^l?0^'ml)^^ [^■^ ,ltfU/j')) 'r^^. U" V^ WILL O^ THE WORLD Shakespearean Tercentenary Mascjuc by Isabelle FisAe Conant 5 c'Le old- S ATVRDA Y, MAY 1 3 ^^ 3. edate.Grove St., WellesleY. © ^/?^ Copyright. 1916 by Isabelle Fiske Conant COLLINS & FAIRBANKS Men's Hats Furs - - Millinery Imported Clcrth Coats 383 Washington St. Boston SAXON Strength Economy Servic T HOSE features which you have associate exclusively with the high-pr you will find embodied in Saxon '*Six It meets — in every respect — present da5r'' dards among fine cars. The Ha wley- Cowan Co. 889 BOYLSTON ST., BOSTON Phone Back Bay 5533 ©CU4841}i:J ^ ^\\\^ Mayer Jonasson & Co. Tremont and Boylston Streets Boston Suits, Coats, Gowns, Waists Separate Skirts, Silk Petticoats, Sweater Coats, and Furs, for Women and Misses. "UNCOMMON STYLES" Arthur C. Harvey Co. 374-394 CONGRESS STREET Iron Steel MetaL MAY 13 1916 Resources, over One Million and One Quarter Wellesley National Bank has a Savings Department in which deposits go on interest the first of March, June, Sept- ember and December. Interest at the rate of 4% per annum is paid in this Department. Certificates of Deposit are issued at the rate of 3% if the money is left over one month and thirty days' notice of withdrawal is given. 2% is paid on Deposits subject to Check where a free balance of over $300.00 is kept. Over 1854 Check Accounts Over 1933 Savings Department Accounts Chas. N. Taylor, President ^ Benj. H. Sanborn, Vice President B. W. Guernsey, Cashier. Linscott Motor Company "THE GOLD STANDARD OF VALUE" 566 Commonwealth Ave., Boston Telephone Back Bay 8430 ■mBO^EBB^^neBE ESTABLISHED 1860 James I. Wingate & Son 402 BOYLSTON STREET, BOSTON Interior Decorators INSIDE AND OUTSIDE PAINTING, WALL PAPERS DRAPERIES, FURNITURE, RUGS, CARPETS J. MURRAY QUINBY, Wellesley Representative Wellesley 372 W Back Bay 2352 The Columbian National Life Insurance Company BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS. Incorporated Under the Laws of Massachusetts Paid Up Capital $1,000,000. LIFE, ACCIDENT, AND HEALTH INSURANCE Issues at Low Cost Attractive Policies, Liberal in Their Terms and Provisions OFFICERS ARTHUR E. CHILDS, President FRANCIS P. SEARS, WILLIAM H. BROWN, Vice President and Comptroller Secretary and Treasurer WALTER I. KING, Actuary DR. JOHN S. PHELPS CHARLES A. BENNETT. - Medical Director Mgr. Accident and Health Dept. HOME OFFICE AGENCY. COLUMBIAN NATIONAL LIFE BLDG. Cor. Franklin and Arch Sts. FRANKLIN W. GANSE. General Agent. CARLOS B. MOORE, District Manager. 411 Linden Street. Wellesley Hills, Mass. 88 Arch St., Boston, Mass. COMPLIMENTS OF THE COMMONWEALTH TRUST COMPANY Boston 88 Summer Street 30 Congress Street Washington Street Branch, 1199 Washington St. Causeway Street Branch, 105 Causeway Street \@FFEES/ V AND li \teas i^ W. W. McLeod, Grocer Wellesley Hills A NEIGHBORHOOD OF HOMES Maugus Real Estate Trust COLE & SMITH, Selling Agents Compliments of THE FISKE CORPORATION 20 Main Street Natick, Mass. Compliments of THE MAUGUS GARAGE Wellesley Hills Torrey, Bright & Capen Co Carpets and Rugs of every description 350 Washington St. Boston HE Babson Statistical Organ- ization, Wellesley Hills, Mass., was incorporated in 1904. It immediately entered the busi- ness world to assist the manufacturer, mer- chant, banker and investor in successulUy con- ducting his business and investments through a clearer knowledge of those fundamentals which caused their fluctuations. ROM that small beginning the Or- ganization has grown to be the [^4g largest statistical organization in the world, with representatives and clients in almost every country on the globe. ■ ORGANIZATION Direciofof Masque Mrs. Laura Palmer Ingalls Musical Director Mr. Crowley Execuiive Commiiiee Mrs. Frank H. Burtt, Chairman Mrs. G. Edward Alden Miss Mary C. Buchan Mrs. Ellis B. Dean Miss Marion H. Niles Miss Evelyn Robbins Mrs. Harry Rollins Music Committee Mrs. F. Richmond Fletcher Mrs. Harry Haley Mrs. A. L. Jacobs Mrs. Russell Stearns Mrs. Edward F. Stevens Mrs. W. L. Taylor Costume Committee Mrs. Thomas A. West, Chairman Mrs. Frank E. Buxton Mrs. Henry T. Coe Miss Agnes Hastings Mrs. Gilbert N. Jones Treasurer Mr. Benj. H. Sanborn Mrs. Stanley W. Longmire Mrs. Harrison A. Plympton Mrs. J. Murray Quinby Mrs. A. Erwin Rankin Mrs. Charles E. Richardson Miss Clara Selfe Publicity Committee Mr. Robert A. B. Cook, Chairman Mr. Charles Aiken Mrs. Edward W. Bancroft Mrs. WiUard F. DiUaway Mrs. Edward W. Perkins Miss Agnes E. Rothery Mr. W. H. Hough Mr. Ralph W. Richardson Grounds Committee Mr. H. A. Austin, Chairman Mrs. G. E. Alden Mrs. Arthui P. Dana Mrs. Harry Rollins Teacher of the Maypole and Morris Dance Miss Lucy Osgood In charge of Episode I, Mrs. H. V. Niles In charge of Episode II [a] Maypole Dance— Mrs. Arthur C. Harvey r^] Morris Dance — ^Miss Evelyn Robbins In charge of Episode IV Mrs. Harry Rollins In charge of Episode V Mrs. A. Erwin Rankin, Mrs. Robt. B. Puffer, Mrs. S. P. Longmire ifl] Masque — Mrs. Frank E. Buxton 1^1 Miracle Play — Mrs. Hamilton Macdougall Epilogue Mrs. M. T. Hubbard Property Manager Miss Evelyn Robbins, Thanks are tendered to Mr. Charles A. Aiken and Miss Mary Aiken for their valuable assistance. 11 PATRONESSES Mrs. Cecil Q. Adams Mrs. George B. Ager Mrs. William H. Aymar Mrs. Roger W. Babson Mrs. Robert M. Baker Mrs. William H. Baltzell Mrs. Edward E. Bancroft Mrs. Nelson S. Bartlett Miss Katherine L. Bates Mrs. William H. Blood Mrs. Gamaliel Bradford Mrs. Arthur E. Brown Mrs. James Buchan Mrs. Frank E. Buxton Mrs. Henry M. Cleveland Mrs. Charles E. Cobb Miss Helen T. Cooke Mrs. Benjamin Curtis Mrs. Arthur P. Dana Mrs. Ellis B. Dean Miss Anna Devereaux Miss Sarah P. Eastman Miss Mary N. Edwards Mrs. Moses Ellis Mrs. Edward D. Emerson Mrs. William P. Fay Mrs. George P. Folsom Mrs. F. Murray Forbes Mrs. Edward A. Goddard Mrs. Benjamin W. Guernsey Mrs. Orin C. Hart Miss Agnes Hastings Mrs. Arthur C. Harvey Mrs. Parke W. Hewins Mrs. Edward C. Hood Mrs. Mary E. Horton Mrs. Albert Howe Miss Ethel D. Hubbard Mrs. Arthur Hunnewell Mrs. Henry S. Hunnewell Mrs. Franklin B. Ingraham Mrs. Gilbert N. Jones Mrs. Frederick Lauderburn Mrs. John C. Lee Mrs. Frederick C. Leslie Mrs. Victor J. Loring Mrs. George H. Lowe Mrs. Hamilton Macdougall Miss Fannie L. Massie Mrs. Louville V. Niles Mrs. John E. Oldham Mrs. Edward R. Peirce Miss Ellen F. Pendleton Mrs. Edward A. Perkins Mrs. Austin Potter Mrs. Waldo E. Pratt Mrs. Harrison A. Plympton Mrs. A. Erwin Rankin Mrs. Francis W. Sargent Miss Mary C. Sawyer Mrs. David C. Scudder Mrs. Robert G. Shaw Mrs. Isaac Sprague Mrs. Horace Stanwood Mrs. Carl S. Stillman Mrs. Robert L. Studley Miss Leila H. Swift Mrs. Fletcher L. Torrey Miss Edith S. Tufts Mrs. Joseph F. Wight Mrs. Edward H. Wiswall 12 PEOPLE TAKING PART IN THE ORDER OF THEIR APPEARANCE TRUMPETERS Axel Larson George Scott Harry Larson Leon Stacy POEM PROLOGUE Miss Evelyn Robbins Mr. Seldon Brown SPIRIT OF THE FLAME OF ENGLISH POETRY Mrs. Josiah H. Goddard Alknded by INSPIRATION Miss Dorothy Cunningham TRAGEDY Mrs. Charles E. Jensen FARCE Mrs. C. E. Robbins ROMANCE Miss Margaret Dodd THE HARPER Mr. Charles Aiken LANGLAND Mr. Loring Jacobs CHAUCER Mr. Henry M . S. Aiken EPISODE 1 LORDS AND LADIES Mr. and Mrs. Herman P. Bell Mr. and Mrs.Willard F. Dillaway Dr. and Mrs. Harry S. Oilman Mr. and Mrs. Carl Hodgekinson Mr. and Mrs. Wm. H. Hill Mr. and Mrs. Benj. Proctor, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Russell Stearns Mr. and Mrs. Harold V. Niles FLOWER GIRLS Jean Saunders Gwendolin Keen Margaret Sheridan Mabel Young VENDERS Robert Barton Gordon Bucknam Spenser Eddy PAGES Barbara Brooks Eleanor Brooks Virginia Harvey Katherine Harvey QUEEN ELIZABETH Mrs. Edward F. Stevens EARL OF LEICESTER Mr. Josiah H. Goddard ATTENDANTS OF ELIZABETH Mrs. Arthur C. Harvey Miss Margaret Brown Mr. Richard Cunningham Miss Eleanor Rindge Mr. Francis Cobb SYBIL Miss Ethel Cooper GIFT BEARERS SYLVANUS Miss Eleanor Early MARS Mrs. Stanley Leighton BACCHUS Mrs. William Amidon POMONA Mrs. James Cowan CERES Mrs. C. Raymond Loring NEPTUNE Mrs. Frederick Wildes PHOEBUS Mrs. F. Albert Edmands LADY OF THE LAKE Miss Lois Hopkins ATTENDING NYMPHS Mrs. Willard Harding Mrs. Edward Richardson 13 Masque of Diana DIANA Mrs. Walter Brown NYMPHS Miss Grace Ackerman Miss Edith Richardson Miss Dorothy Kirby Miss Priscilla Alden Miss Frances Taplin Miss Jean Rankin Miss Helen Comisky Miss Helen Andrews Miss Edith Savage Miss Marion Green Miss Margery Bowen Miss Helen Vaughn Miss Hildegard Nelson Miss Karleen Fox MERCURY Miss Agnes Flynn Miracle Play — St. George and the Dragon KING OF EGYPT Mortimer Blood GIANT Robert Macdougal FATHER CHRISTMAS Emerson Davis DRAGON Percy Rust ST. GEORGE Robert Olson DOCTOR Walter Flagg TURKISH KNIGHT Horace Pelton BOY SHAKESPEARE Winslow Eddy GIRL JUDITH Josephine Hawley EPISODE II MAY POLE DANCE Kenneth Amidon Elizabeth Beede Frances Fletcher Arthur R. Baker Miriam Beede Katherine Green Fred Bossert Vera Bowen Frances Harvey Arthur Briggs Alice Damon Gertrude Harvey Charles Green Muriel Damon Elizabeth Lewis Francis Hersey Mildred Ellis Priscilla Quinby MORRIS DANCE r^/IAID MARION Charles Carey ROBIN HOOD'S MERRY MEN Herbert Buell Sanford LeIand Richard Cutting Clayton McKenney Ralph Davis Thomas Norcross Kenneth Harvey George Quinby Alden Hurd Lawrence Simmonds Herbert Fuller YOUTH WILL SHAKESPEARE Leighton Rollins MAID JUDITH Helen Curtis EPISODE III MYSTERY Mrs. Stuart B. Molony SHAKESPEARE Mr. W. Lee Burchstead BEN JONSON Dr. Marshall L. Perrin SIR WALTER RALEIGH Mr. Walter Brown . FALSTAFF Mr. Allison Barnes ROSALIND Miss Margaret Brooks TOUCHSTONE Mr. Kingsley Van R. Dey HAMLET Mr. William E. Stanwood ROMEO Mr. Ralph Tailby JULIET Mrs. Philip Hawley 14 FARCE WITH SPARKS OF COMEDY Harriet Brooks Ruth Harvey Margaret Gallan Persis Hurd Dorothy Green Dorothy Longmire Emily Hamburger Viola Rust Katherine Wood TRAGEDY WITH SMOKE OF TRAGEDY Barbara Buxton Esther Redell Marie Dawley Katherine Rose Hazel Diehl Isabella Sweetser EPISODE IV OLD ENGLISH GAME Alice Donahue Muriel Myers Margaret Donahue Dorothy Nutt Helen Flynn Annie O'Neil Florence Haley Eunice Rogers Edith McCoy HAMNET Bernard Barton JUDITH Barbara Barton EPISODE V PUCK Miss Elsa Richardson TITANIA Miss Alice Hunt OBERON Miss Marie Blood FAIRIES PEASBLOSSOM Katherine Allen PEASBLOSSOM Louise Hough COBBWEBB Josephine Hawley FERNSEED Eleanor Adams MUSTARDSEED Clarice Holloway MOTH Leita Briggs Marcella Clapp Margaret Nay Kathleen Cobb Barbara Neville Barbara Ellis Priscilla Norton Eunice Garland Martha McGill Marcia Hoyle Elizabeth Perkins Muriel Hoyle Dorothy Proctor Blanche Jackson Lally Lee Kennedy Gertrude Longmire HEROES AND HEROINES PORTIA Mrs. Fred T. Allen LADY MACBETH Miss Agnes E. Rothery DESDEMONA Mrs. Charles W. Lewis OLIVIA Mrs. Daniel S. Pratt, Jr, HELENA Mrs. L. T. McKenney JACQUES \ Mr. James Cowan OTHELLO Mr. J. Murray Quinby ANTONIO Mr. George Guernsey SHYLOCK Mr. Philip Hawley MACBETH Mr. Benjamin Guernsey JESSICA Mrs. John L. Shephardson 15 EPISODE VI ARIEL Mrs. Walter A. Hersey BACON Mr. Decatur Appleton BOY IN AUDIENCE William Larrabee JUDITH Miss Camp EPILOGUE RED CROSS KNIGHT Robert Brown ATTENDED BY CHILD CRUSADERS George Almond Gordon Gallan John Almond Joseph Wildey Asa Haley Harold Buchman RED CROSS NURSE Edna Bowen SAINT GEORGE Mr. Paul Ingraham MUSIC Furnished by the Boston Festival Orchestra, Mr. Crowley, Director. Overture Old English Music EPISODE ONE Midsummer Night's Dream. Intermezzo Mendelssohn Old English Songs March of Bacchus Delihes Hark, Hark the Lark Schubert Serenade Drigo EPISODE TWO Maypole Dance Morris Dance. Laudnum Bunches Ballade A Flat Chopin Romance German EPISODE THREE Chanson Triste Tchaihowsky Ballade A Flat Chopin Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes Jonson EPISODE FOUR Nymphs and Shepherds [Song and Dance] Purcell Loure Bach EPISODE FIVE Midsummer Night's Dream. Overture Mendelssohn EPISODE SIX Gavotte Gluck Spring Song Grieg Shadow Dance Meyerbeer Midsummer Night's Dream. Nocturne Mendelssohn EPILOGUE King of Hussars Morse SONGS IN EPISODE I Miss Marion H. Niles DOUBLE QUARTETTE Mr. William Amidon Mr. Willard Harding Mr. Harold Niles Mr. Edward Richardson Mr. Fay Simmons Mr. Russell Stearns Dr. Harry Haley Mr. R. C. Hodgekinson SONGS IN EPISODE III Mr. Ralph Tailby SONGS IN EPISODE IV Miss Marion H. Niles PROSE ARGUMENT EPISODE ONE. or Anti-Masque. Shakespeare the Child. The Spirit of the Flame, the Torchbearer, the presiding genius of English poetry summons her attendants, Inspiration and the Spirit of Tragedy, of Romance, and of Farce, who is attended by the sparks of Comedy. They all dance, each in her mood. Inspiration, in her dance, has enveloping scarves; sable for tragedy, blue for romance, scarlet for farce. These represent: tragedy, the smoke; romance, the light and warmth and farce, the sparks of the flame. Tragedy wears sable, romance, blue and farce, motley. These spirits of the drama appear through the episodes when the nature of the action calls for them and set the mood of that particular scene. Mystery also attends, repre- senting not only the mystic element in poetry but the mystery sur- rounding the life of Shakespeare, since so little is known of him. The Spirit of the Flame waits the coming of the master-poet. The old harper, the ballad maker, passes with his attendants or followers. Langland,who masks in his writings as the ploughman and Chaucer, the court poet, do not arrest her attention as the objects of her search. The centuries pass as she watches. The Kenilworth revels approach. During them she discovers the boy Shakespeare but does not reveal herself to him. The revels are at Kenilworth Castle in 1 675, when Leicester enter- tained Queen Elizabeth for a fortnight of revels. A few incidents of these are suggested. The scene shows lords and ladies in court costumes in groups on the green. Venders and flower girls pass among them. A chorus of male voices sings the Shakespearean song, "It was a lover and his lass." Elizabeth and Leicester accompanied by pages, attendants and lords and ladies on horse-back, arrive at the Castle Gate. They are greeted by a blast of welcome from the trumpeters. As Elizabeth passes through the gate, a sybil steps from her green bower and recites a short verse of welcome. The verse written for original Kenilworth Revels. Seven damsels have been awaiting Eliza- beth bearing gifts from these gods and goddesses: Sylvanus, Ponoma, Ceres, Bacchus, Neptune, Mars, Phoebus. They escort Elizabeth to her seat of honor, bestow their gifts upon her and remain grouped about her. The Lady of the Lake and two Nymphs float down the stream on a barge. They land and pay homage to Elizabeth. Diana, 17 Accompanied by her Nymphs, comes from a nearby grove, hunting {o Zabeta who had been spirited away by Juno. Mercury comes with a message for Diana, apprising her of Zabeta's presence in the neighbor- hood. In Elizabeth, Diana discovers the lost Zabeta. The episode closes with the old Cornish play, "Saint George and the Dragon." EPISODE TWO. Shakespeare the Lad. At Stratford, the sixteenth birthday of Shakespeare, ly our present calendar ten days later than the old style April twenty- third. There are May-Day revels, the Maypole, the dancing of the nine men morris, in the guise of Robin Hood and his followers. There is also given the Riding of St. George, the patron saint of England, and probably Shakespeare's birthday saint. He comes, followed by the dragon. Farce, in motley joins the revels. Will, sixteen years old, dreams alone. To him comes Inspiration, disclosing his genius. As she goes, leaving him breathless with wonder, comes Judith, an imaginary, not historical character, the older girl who believes in him, and inspires the definite form of his work. Ro- mance attends them. , EPISODE THREE. Shakespeare the Playwright. In London, in the courtyard of the Globe Theatre. Mystery attends Shakespeare. Street venders pass. Shakespeare talks with his fellow playwrights, Ben Jonson and Welter Raleigh. He visualizes different characters, who pass through in their parts at his mention of them. It is in the high mood of literary creation, undershot with humour. EPISODE FOUR. Shakespeare the Father By the Avon. Old English children's games are given. They go, and Hamnet and Judith, Shakespeare's twelve-year-old twins, ccme in; Hamnet carried away by his father's poetry, Judith, uninterested but eager to pick flowers for her father. They contend as to which loves him most. Shakespeare enters, charmed by them both, but confiding in Hamnet only, his son who died at twelve. They dance away. Mystery attends. 18 EPISODE FIVE. Shakespeare the Dreairer. In Arden, the wood of dreams. Shakespeare broods. Tragedy attends him, because of his melancholy mood. He is roused by Puck sent by Oberon to cheer him, and responds to the spirit of midsummer madness. The characters surround him in whimsical mood reproach- ing, burlesquing. Farce attends. EPISODE SIX. Shakespeare Today. Ariel leads Shakespeare to the Pageant Grounds, where, bewildered he sees the audience. Puck takes him off in an automobile, putting a girdle round the earth, while Ariel dances, and returns with him dazed by modernity: the cinemetograph, the skyscraper, and his own fame. In the audience before him, he fancies for a m-cmient that he recognizes Hamnet again. He is aghast at the war, and the peril of his England, but is reassured by the approach of the Red Cross Knight, come to the rescue; his own St. George. He goes to meet him, withdrawing from the present and from the scene. Mystery and Tragedy attend. EPILOGUE. The Red Cross Knight comes, the link between the past and the present. He sees the Red Cross Nurse draw near and their dia- logue closes the masque with their vision of fellowship. St. George appears, mounted. A procession of the masque follows. 19 The English centuries went and came, With garlands of sweet song and flower. Their soul, the Spirit of the Flame, Heard Langland^s name and Chaucer's name, But waited yet an hour. From earliest times our Shakespeare caught Life's undertones and master-song For golden lore he delved and sought, Of light on sea or land was naught Did not to him belong. The pageantry of Kenilworth He may have seen, a child amazed; The human pageantry of earth, Is all its changeful grief and mirth Upon his spirit blazed. A dreaming lad in Warwickshire, Hawthorne and merle and rue he loved, And human hearts, and that desire That's glorious, for immortal fire In his heart throbbed and moved. He knew the hearts of lad and lass. Today, whatever we do. We find his wisdom as a glass. Beveled with metres, wherein pass Our inner lives, come true. His singing scenes, in Ariel-flight, Sweep, lyrical, life's skies across. Love's gay romance, or motley plight. Or, shadows thrown across the light, Love's gallant, timeless loss. 20 Across the stage of phantasy Bright-eyedy or grave, his heroines glance, More than themselves in them we see; In Constance, all maternity; In Rosalind, romance. The queen, all mother in desire; Portia, in human justice sage; Juliet, her wounded heart on fire For her hurt knight ; 'tis a sweet choir And an illumined page. Through history's fact or fancy's masque. Flame-lit, his matchless metres burn. His stage but shows the human task, Hamlet's unanswered questions ask That truth for which we yearn. Of songsters, England's soaring lark His spirit was: her sentry-star; Orion, shining through the dark, The world has kindled to that spark, A candle-beam, thrown far. And as war's tempests rack the shore Of England, like her stormy seas. His tragic tides, with sob and roar. And heart-beat rhythm, evermore Sound human destines. Centuries have passed: a mystic three. Nor has life changed since then at all; For all its latter luxury. It still flows to the Bnal sea, Answers the self-same call. 21 PROLOGUE *Tis Prospero's isle here, where may come to pass Whatever will; not recking time nor space Stratford or Wellesley; "the spacious times Of great Elizabeth "-or ours today. Those times are very like our own today In pageantry, in drama and in song In fashion and desire for golden wealth. Think this is Avon's stream, and think this bridge Is the Rialto, across which we pass To unpatKd waters, undreamed shores, And so We journey back to London, Kenilworth, Avon and Arden, and we only find Ourselves ; remembering one April day. April in old style; May time in the new, — • His birthday and his deathday all in one. And since on April days 'tis hard to mask, We mask in May, and, even so, in fear And trembling, we have planned, lest daffodils Thai come before the swallow dares, and ta^e The winds of March with beauty, be today All drenched with rain, and your new hats, likewise. Ladies. We've hoped for clemency in May! Three hundred years-three cycles-have revolved. This is a play of Shakespeare's might-have-beens. Men have concerned themselves too much with facts Where few facts were-though greater things than facts They've held a glass distorting. But we say, Ta\e him for all in all; this was a man. We shall not look upon his li^e again. We would not hunt his swift flight as a hare By packs of baying hounds all off the scent ; We know this of him, sirs and ladies. He Had chance to see such dramas of the time As rolled through Avon, and mayhap the Queen At Kenilworth at revels. And he wrote So passing well that many readers thought Where he wrote / he wrote but of himself. 22 Would that he had! Students, there is no tale Of slander 'gainst him that hath any proof. His mind was noble. One great fact we know, His little lad died at the age of twelve. Hath life a keener thrust? And that blow fell On the most quivering heart on England's roll, A vibrant harp beneath a Master-touch. Chatter no follies, then, about his life ; History of genius is to gossips as Pearls before, — Bacon! That has naught to do With his real life, but with that more real life That rests to us, his art. You who would spend Your time on these things, not his glorious thoughts. Leave this our pageantry, we beg of you Climb yonder hill, and read in folios, Was Shakespeare Bacon? Did he steal a deer? 0, monarch with the antlers of romance, Swift to the chase, we hunt thee here today, Elusive forest-king of English song! "On with the dance, let joy be unconfined!" But in these days, can joy be unconfined? How can it, when the world is red with war, When the Red Cross goes forth upon the field In pity and in sorrow, that Red Cross 'Neath which St. George went riding, long ago? Once more; in ending. In our Shakespeare's day. Those in the pit that curved below the stage Were called the under -standing. Now the pit Has vanished, but we pray you all may be The understanding. Friends, the masque is on! 23 EPISODE ONE.— SHAKESPEARE. THE CHILD The Spirit of the Flame, — the bearer of the Torch of Genius. Here is not he for whom I guard the Flame. I wait for one to whom to hand the Torch, A Lamp that shall flare through the windy world, Brilliant and trembling, never to be quenched. [The revels take place. The Spirit of the Flame withdraws. Elizabeth and Leicester approach. ] Elizabeth. You treat us royally, our lord and friend. The clock at banquet hour of two stands still ; The hour of feasting, for a fortnight's space! Leicester. What does that mean, save on your royal self All eyes are feasted? Elizabeth. What is here, my lord? Leicester. This is a learned town that we approach. There is a woman's college here, my liege. Elizabeth. A woman's college! Never have I heard Of such a thing! Leicester. *Tis Wellesley, in the shire Of Norfolk. Elizabeth. Good old names. [Leicester imitates or anticipates, as you wilU Sir Walter Raleigh by taking off his cloak* and spreading it down for the Queen to walk on.] Leicester. Step carefully. Elizabeth. [Stepping on his cloak] Where women study I should think, my lord, Even marshes would be dry. Leicester. Nay, 'tis not so. Here is a marshy bank of violets But yonder, see, how strangely hard the street! Elizabeth. A street so paved in a small country town! Wonder of wonders! London would do well To pave her streets so, too! Tis passing strange! This thing so near, and I knew not of it! I fear you've harmed your cloak! Leicester. Remain this soil Its best embroidery, wrought by your foot. More rare than handmaid's fingers may design. {The hoy Shakespeare and his companions approach. He speaks to them] 24 Shakespeare. A poor play that they gave us! I could do Better than that! That was no play at all! They seemed but puppets, not real folk at all! Elizabeth, [amused] This is a learned town indeed, my lord. Who's here? Leicester. It is a lad from Stratford. Six years past I saw him once before at Coventry, A little lad betwixt his father's knees; Standing agaze, when the Gray Friars gave Their merry miracles at Whitsuntide. We'll hear yet of him. Elizabeth. Hush! We'll hear him now! Shakespeare. It is as if a rustic clown should bear A pasteboard moon upon a stick and say, I am the moon! So each of these folk wears Some character, as 'twere his only one, Tis not so in real life, where each man wears, Like to his wardrobe, made of many sorts, A dozen characters; coat, gloves, shirt, ruff, Manners for street wear; other wear for house. Some day /'// show you how, upon the stage! Elizabeth. My lord, a prodigy. Let's listen more. Leicester. Would'st be a strolling player. Will o' dreams? Shakespeare. Nay, I would be an actor to the Queen! Elizabeth. Well-spoken. We'll not lose this lad, my lord! Shakespeare. Let's play the Queen now. Judith, you be she! And since we have not costumes, pluck some flowers For your crown and adornment. [ The children scatter and pluc\ flowers. ] Shakespeare. [Receiving them] Daffodils That come before the swallow dares, and tal^e The winds of March with beauty. The Spirit of the Flame. [Drawing near; recognizing the boy as her quest] Burn, my flame! Here's that I've watched for long! A child as yet, I may not yet make myself known to him. Twill not be long, though. Genius is full grown. The while his agemates prattle. I can wait. [The children dance off] Will, preoccupied, follows The Spirit of the Flame. 25 EPISODE TWO.— SHAKESPEARE. THE LAD [Shakaspeare, thz lad, is musing by Avon, with his tablets. Inspira- tion hovers about him, and sways him; at first unseen, then recognized. She may have enveloping, voluminous scarves; scarlet for farce; blue for romance ; dusk f^^ tragt^y. She wears now the blue of romance, but may snatch up momentarily, now and then the scarlet, — or the sable; suiting her attitudes to the symbol of the scarf. She advances, retreats, nears, holds the torch, bends over him, breathes her messages. He writes, swiftly rises, rapt, going through the range of the moods, laughs, sings, dances kneels, recites, etc., all against changeful music and her dance.] Shakespeare. The world's a stage. . . .Blow, blow, thou winter wind Under the greenwood tree .... Down on your knees And thank heaven fasting for a good mans lovel Motley's the only wear . . . .A blank, my lord Farewell, fair cruelty. . . .0 words, words, words! 0, English words, I love you. [Inspiration confronts him\ Who is here? Inspiration. Know you not? Boy Shakespeare, [transported] I have heard you many times When skylarks sang, when winds went whispering! I've waited for you! Oh, I know you now! Inspiration. And I have waited for you. Dare you be The lamp in which I burn? Boy Shakespeare, [conscious of destiny] It is not f/are But must. Who, watching you could craven be Letting I dare not wait upon I would? Inspiration. Beware, moth, lest you singe your wings with flame! Boy Shakespeare. I fear not! Put the torch awhile aside And dance as my companion! You are dressed In blue of love! Inspiration. I am not always so, In mask of sable you shall see me yet. Tragedy of your dream-folk, and your own. Boy Shakespeare. That's far away! Now you must dance with me! [They dance, the youth ecstatic; Inspiration going through the different moods of tragedy, comedy, romance; he reflecting them in re- sponse, yet always less grave, more carried away, than she. She withdraws, he is left alone, with his first realization of his genius. He passes through moods of reaction, distrust, humility and returning confidence. Slow action ; vivid poses. ] 26 Boy Shakespeare. If this were played upon a stage, why now, I should condemn it as improbable. Mere matter for May morning. As it is. Some are born great . . . Why, then, the world's mine oyster. Which I with sword will open, sword of rhyme! Now is the winter of our discontent Made glorious summer by this sun of Fame! . . . / charge thee, fling away ambition: By this sin fell the angels . . . wonderful, Most wonderful, wonderful and again Wonderfull The desire that's gloriousl [Writes breathlessly. Judith enters. ] Judith. [Bowing dramatically, then laughing] Hail, Master Shakes- peare! [Sobering] I am sure that you Will be well-known some day. You even move Myself to poetry. — ^Hark! [Shows a written tablet.] Boy Shakespeare. [Laughing, moved] You're poetry's self Hid in a woman — Judith. Listen! Boy Shakespeare. Skylark, sing! Judith. "The poem hangs on the berry bush when Master Will's there, too. And London's street is a masquerade when Shakespeare passes through!" It is a couplet that I made for you! Centuries later, 'twill be made again If I do whisper it in some poet's ear. Boy Shakespeare, [eagerly] Do you believe thai? Judith. There's naught goes too far For what I think of what you yet will be Your name will be a word to conjure with. Your name will be well-known. I'll through the world Holloa your name to the reverberate hills And bid the babbling gossip of the air Cry out, "Will Shakespeare!" For you are born great! Read to me [Looking over his shoulder at his tablets, or dancing in pursuit. ] Boy Shakespeare. [Evading] They are only scattered lines 27 Judith. They're snatches from the lark at Heaven's door! Boy Shakespeare. They echo what yourself has sung to me. They're rags of color, yet shall make a rug; Girls' names — Viola, Portia, Rosalind, Ophelia, Imogen, Nerissa, — all Shall be yourself, now in a silken dress. And now in tatters, but all, sweetheart, you! You their criterion, their test and aim. You're ever at your best whate'er you do And so you are my glass. When you do dance I wish you a wave of the sea, that you might . . . do Nothing but that. When I look in your eyes They sparkle still the right Promethean fire. They are the boo^s, the arts, the Academes, That show, contain and nourish all the world. Oh, after this all maidens shall be you. Look, here, within the Avon. I shall draw You so, in them. The ripples all across Shall not disguise you wholly. Twill be you And always you. Judith [Ecstatic, then sobering.] I'm glad you will do this; That I may live in them, for I do think Tis only so I'll live long. I was born Beneath a short-lived star, and I have that Within my blood lets dark hair grow not gray. Boy Shakespeare. Judith! Judith. Oh, were it not for leaving you Twere not so hard a fate to fall asleep By Avon; even in the spring of youth. Sleep's winter hath its beauties. It doth hang Crystals and diamonds on the churchyard's limes: We are the stuff that dreams are made of, and Our little life is rounded by a sleep. Boy Shakespeare. [Determined to shake her out of the mood. ] Judith, 'tis now you're dreaming. Come awake! [Her mood changes to laughter.] I'll wake you! Ere you came, there was a maid Here with me. Oh, a fair one! Judith [ Taking up the merriment. ] Who was she? Will, tell me now, who was she? Boy Shakespeare. Nay, she was 28 Not real, not flesh and blood as you, nor kind As you, sweet cousin Judith. Judith. If she be Not kind, and I have at her, you will not Call me kind, then! Boy Shakespeare. YouVe ever kind to me. She was a will o' the wisp, and she was-fate [Mysteriously. ] Oh, I have seen the future! Whisperings Took shape of wings. Vision was visible. There's that within me must take shape as well So long as life beats, for it is my life. And I must soon to London seeking that. Judith. [Entreating] Go not to London! He who writes must dream, Not act. Stay here by Avon and with me! Boy Shakespeare. Tempt not with Avon. Tempt but with your- self. I need no London Mayfairs, having you- Judith. I'll act for you here! Boy Shakespeare. Oh, would that you couldl How could mere boys upon the Eastcheap stage Show half your graces, sweetheart, or show one? Yet never would I have thee on the stage A gem worn on the sleeve of poesy For daws to peck c'- Judith, would you might Be ever near to fan the flame! The fires Of life turn embers, ashes: understood By none save love- Judith. Oh, I would rather know Your ashes, than all flame else; rather hear Your words than all song else. Their echoes go Down futures that shall ever echo them. 29 EPISODE THREE.— SHAKESPEARE, THE PLAYWRIGHT [In the court yard of the Globe Theatre. London street cries heard; Will Shakespeare comes out and sits apart, musing over his tablets. — Mystery attends him, dancing. Raleigh and Jonson follow and talk of him, then Join him. ] Mystery. 0. Will o' the Wisp. Will o' the world. 0, Will Of comedy, of tragedy, of farce. You're all men's and you're no man's and you're mine! You're least of all your own. You're mystery's. Jonson. This side idolatry I love this man. He sits 'mongst men like a descended god; He hath a k^nd of honor sets him off. More than a mortal seeming. He has said, The world's a stage. Let's name our playhouse, then, The Globe! Once called the Theatre, but burned, As by his flame of genius, to the ground, Raleigh. A master, he! Rememberest thou, Ben, Man's seven ages, rolling through the street Creaking and clumsy, folk born 'neath Bow Bells, Mouthing it stiffly? How his Pegasus Leaps through man's ages, breathing fire the while! Jonson. He handles words as I lay building bricks. One word alongside other. Or atop. His columns reach the sky. *Tis Heaven attracts Them, not the earth, and men climb as they read. What stairs are his iambics, and what halls Rise from his corner-stones! Were I to drink Forever, I'd not match 'em! Raleigh. Olv his wine Is ichor of the gods. He dips his soul In it and writes! Jonson. [Clapping Will on the shoulder.] What words you gave us. Will, Tonight for our champagne! He wastes them not [to Raleigh] But reconstructs them, builds them five feet long! [Spreads out his arms, laughs] Shakespeare. Nay, but I use the same words as the rest. Jonson. Oh, but the usage! Man. had I the power, I'd grasp your throat-like this! and wrench them forth, 30 Those singing words, and have them for mine own! Shakespeare. [Struggling, laughing.] Have off me, Ben! Think you, you're heaving bricks? Raleigh. He thinks you're one more victim. Have a care Of angering one v/ith Tyburn on his thumb! Shakespeare. [Feigning ahjedness.] My Master, what's your wish? I am your slave. Jonson. Food, music, love. Shakespeare. // music he the food Of love, play on Jonson. I told you he would twist My words and make them purple that were dun. Raleigh. Who was your master? Shakespeare. Marlowe, most of all! There was a moth that dashed against the flame, — Kit Marlowe! Raleigh. Rest his memory, wings qf song! Jonson. Pupil, you better him that 'prenticed you Shakespeare. And here's a new magician. Oh, your tales [To Raleigh] Of Eldorado and of western worlds! There's sound of music in them, — Setehos, I'll use that later. Now I'll set it down. Tell me of your adventures 'cross the seas. The sunsets flaming 'cross the leagues of waves. Painting the galleons. And those banks of mist You took for shores of Eldorado, Jonson. Hark To him. Another, Francis Bacon, say, Dry-as-dust, he would inventory you. Item, one sunset: item so much mist. Will and this Bacon are as like as — what? Raleigh. As fire and ashes, or, as ice and flame. As what's most unlike. Will, 'tis passing strange You do not venture on those calling seas. Your mind would buccaneer there, past the rest. Jonson. Faith, it hath all it can at home. Tis set 'Hind and before with thoughts that importune. Its Golden Hind is ever in full sail. The man hath no time for adventures such As yours. His Eldorado is at hand. 31 Shakespeare. Three plays already hammer at my door At once. I scarce can slumber. No, my friend. My library is du\edoTn large enough. Go you, and bring your treasures back to me. Oh, all around now clear, now shadowy. But moving toward the light, I see my folk. Look, any living man*s a characterl Walking the streets of London, see them throngi [ These characters appear as he involves them.] Sir Rotund, born 'neath Bow Bells; how he'd stare To know that he were Falstaff ! And so on. Tragedy, comedy, romance and farce. Come forth, Romancel I name you Rosalind! G)medy, I will twin you, for there must Be listeners' ears, as well as jester's lips. And these go linked. Hither, DromiosI Farce — ^Touchstone; Yet you're more than that, even as Your name is. Hamlet, past all action grieved. That's tragedy, not Romeo and Juliet For they in Heaven are met with utter joy [catches himself up] Nay, I know not. Our life is rounded by A sleep — Raleigh. Ever that pose of yours about death's dream! Why, man, think you Kit Marlowe's still asleep? I can conceive it for a little while But as for centuries-bah! The man's alive! Shakespeare. Faith, it is time to sleep! I must to bed. I start for Stratford town tomorrow morn I've there a twelve year lad some day will make Music that's music of our English words. My Hamnet, — here's to himl Jonson. And may he be One iamb of the old pentameter! [They drink to him in dumb show, then go.] Tragedy t Comedy ^ Romance and Farce dance.] 32 EPISODE FOUR.— SHAKESPEARE. THE FATHER [Beside the Aeon. Enter Hamnel with a hook, (^nd tablets Hamnet. [Reading.] My crown is in my heart, not on my head. Not decked with diamonds and Indian stones. Not to be seen : my crown is called content A crown it is that seldom kifigs enjoy. [Enter Judith with garlands.] Hamnet. Judith, listen! Hear what father wrote! What stronger breastplate than a heart untainted? Thrice is he armed that hath his quarrel Just And he but naked, though locked up in steel Whose conscience with injustice is corrupted. Judith. [Pouting.] I don't know what it means! I wish he stayed Longer at home, and when he comes he writes Too much! Hamnet. I wish he lived here, too, not far away In London. And I know just what you mean. Father's more splendid than his poetry even. How his eyes shine! His voice is like a belli I hope he'll read to us soon. Judith. If he does I'll go to pick flowers. Poetry's tiresome! Hamnet. Judith, how can you! Father's poetry, too! Judith. Oh, I love father just as well as you. Hamnet. Not Just as well. You'd love his words, too, then. [They quarrel.] Shakespeare. [Entering.] Fie! What's to do! [They hang their heads.] Judith. He says|he^loves you more Than I do! Shakespeare. [Laughing.] Here's a cause for quarreling. Judith. Because I go to pick flowers while you read And he stays by to hear. It is for you I pick the flowers. Shakespeare. Run to the dafl^odils Then, lass. Your father knows you love him well. Hamnet. [Passionately.] Father, she doesn't know what your lines mean! Shakespeare. [Laughing.] She's not alone, then! I am but a glass That shows the thoughts and acts of other men. 33 Think you King David or the harper old Wrote all the songs he harped? Did all the deeds He celebrated? I am but a pen That writes of long ago. There live in me Remembrances of things I never saw. Hamnet. Tell me more, fatherl Shakespeare. Hamnet, you are like A girl of Avon that I used to know. If you can keep a secret, I will tell. Hamnet. Oh, always! Tell me! Shakespeare. She was my first love, My older cousin and my lady fair, And she died of the plague that ravaged here. Judith I named for her. But you're more like She ever asked to hear my lines, like you, Though I was but beginning when she died. And never have I drawn a maid all fire All life and sweetness but she lived in her. May you love one as sweet as Judith was. Hamnet. Take me to London, father! I would act In your plays. Father, I am old enough Now, to play Rosalind! Shakespeare. Not yet, my lad, Not London for you yet. When you are man. Oh, when you're man, my boy! Hamnet. That's long to wait Go not to London, father. Stay with me. Shakespeare. A few years hence, and I'll come back to thee I'll leave the stage of London, just for thee. And say, the world well lost, the sinful world [He drops his face in his. hands. ] Hamnet. Father, does your head ache from writing plays? /'// bind my handkerchief about your brows And hold my hands to them. [Pause.] Shakespeare. [Covering the boys hands.] I'll feign me ill To keep them there. I see you not enough. My boy. [Judith comes running in, with flowers. ] Judith. Father, here's rosemary That's for remembrance, and here's rue for you, Pansies for thoughts, and daisies pied, — Shakespeare. [Catching her as she dances round him ] And here's the sweetest flower of them all Dance for me, children, dance of spring and flowers. [ They dance, leading him off.] EPISODE FIVE.— SHAKESPEARE, THE DREAMER Shakespeare. [Attended by Tragedy.] How bitter . . . .to look into happiness Through eyes of other men. That is my part. My part's to view the world through others' eyes. Today through Viola's or Rosalind's, Tomorrow through Othello's. As for me I hold the world's a stage where every man Must play his part, and mine's a tragic one. Who am I, 'midst all these? Come, man of dreams, Come, questioner, who lets the issue by. Come, Hamlet! I have conjured up myself [Hamlet appears.] Does God feel so to see a new-born soul? Oh, since I lost my Hamnet, I have lost Myself, that went out with the light of him. Shall my boy die and any other live When he hath plucked Death's fernseed, and doth walk In step beside me, though invisible? I'll show what grief is. They who've lost a son Shall have of me some comfort. Those who've not May love their own the more. And as for me. Grief fills the room up of my absent child, Lies in his bed, wallas up and down with me. Puts on his pretty looks, repeats his words. Remembers me of all his gracious parts. Stuffs out his vacant garments with his form Have I not reason to be fond of grief} [ He wanders, dreaming. Mid- summer night's revels approach. Farce, and the spares of Comedy attend. There is a dance of fairies: Moth, Cobweb, Mustard-seed, Pease- Blossom, Fern-seed before Oberon and Titania. Oberon sum- mons Pucli\ Oberon. On such a night, my Puck, may lesser things Have power o'er the greater. Fetch to me That man of dreams who did us all create. You'll know him by his tablets and his look That sees far-off things nearer than the near. And summon forth the creatures of his pen That we may mock at him in kindly sport. Hasten to him! Puck. No sooner said than done! 35 Shakespeare. [ Coming slowly out of his dejection. ] No more of that, for that way madness liesl Oh, is the glory worth the heavy cost, The splendor of the revel of the brain Followed by distrust of all words and deeds? Most miserable^s the desire thaVs glorious Till once more flames the torch and hastes the pen! [ He listens] What are those words that echo in my ears Haunting the empty forest and my heart? Come, lord of misrule, have your way with me! \A crowd of Shakespeare s heroines appear laughing in medley. They surround him, teasing, remonstrating, questioning, all in their parts He covers his ears, humourously, and tries to escape from the din. ] fl Shakespeare. One at a time! The little dogs and all. Tray, Blanche and Sweetheart, see, they bark at me\ Oh, I'm in love with all of you at once! A lion among ladies is a dreadful thingl Most dreadful for the lion! Portia. Yield your pound Of flesh! But I will treat you kindly, Sir, Who wert so kind to me. Shakespeare. What have we here? t Oh, speak again, bright angel! I'm a-cold! 1 Lady Macbeth. Why did you make me thus? Three hundred years Of nightmare is no joke! Why did you so? Desdemona. Why did you send me so much tragedy? There was no need of such to do for naught Of all things — smothering] I've had to die A thousand times of it! Why did you so? Shakespeare. There had been no play had I not done so, Desdemona. There is enough of such things in real life, Without the stage, Shakespeare. Nay, all the world's a stage. Olivia. To mcike me urge my love so! Helena. [Reproachfully] And I, too! [Shal^espeare^s lost youth appears to him, with Romance. He holds out his arms in vain to him, who disappears with Romance, a dark l^^y] Shakespeare. Thou art myself, I love thee, my lost youth. And thou dost sport with mine own lost romance I wrote thee sonnets. Wherefore people haste To chatter scandal over well-known names. 36 Jacques. Why did you make me so? Methinks I am More than myself — Why" did you torture me? With melancholy madness? Oh methinks I am yourself. Othello. To make me slay my love, Master! In faith, *twas strange, 'twas passing strange! ' Twas pilifuU 'twas wondrous pitiful! Yet 'twas for her a happy lot to die Hearing, though dead, her audiences weep At your own matchless metres, through the world. Shakespeare. It may be many since then have refrained As they would not through preachment. Else what end Has tragedy? It is not sport to me. Antonio. A pretty peck of trouble I was in! And all the while you laughing in your sleeve! Shylock. Why had you such a grudge against me, pray? Was not a man in all your comedies Or tragedies so set on. Was I then, A foe on whom your ancient grudge fed fat. Naming him Shylock? Sat those on the stage. Who, being in the secret, nudged the next. Knowing the meaning. Here there's food for thought. Thou stolest not from other men at once Their ducats and their daughters; stripped not bare One soul of everything, or if thou didst As Lear, it was with tenderness, not scorn. Macbeth. And I, who am the gentlest soul alive. Like to yourself — you plunge, forsooth, in gore! I would not hurt a fly! But had I thee Awhile, I'd make thee soon cry. Hold, enoughl Shakespeare. I hold the glass that folk, ill-dressed in sin. May see themselves and change their garments straight. Hunt me no more! Look up into the Heaven! The moon has hammered out the silver bowl Of heaven into lacquer of the clouds. How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this hank [Jessica comes forward] Jessica. I come once more to answer to those words! Shakespeare. Come, Jessica. Loo^ how the floor of Heaven Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold There* s not the smallest orb that thou beholdest But in his motion lil^e an angel sings Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubim. [ They wander off together] 37 EPISODE SIX.— SHAKESPEARE, TODAY [Present day. Prosperous isle of the Pageant Grounds. Ariel appears^ dancing a beckoning, summoning dance, drawing Shakespeare to the stage and to the present. ] Ariel. Come, Master Shakespeare, back to earth again! Three hundred years call to you, and I call. These flowery islands, given to revelry And beauty call you, as to Prospero's isle, I once thought Prospero my master. Now I know 'twas ever you, his master, too. And since I never mortal was, I still Can follow you through all of time and space. As the air trembles in the glorious sun, I tremble back to being and to you. And I can show you what takes place today. Then, Come unto these yellow sandsl Shakespeare. [Bewildered, following slowly.] I see No sands. Ariel. You see none? Do you so forget Your Ariel and Prospero? With your eyes Of spirit look, and you will clearly see A mystic seacoast bound Bohemia. And how within this twentieth century Arden, the forest, comes to magic life. [Ariel dances the transformation dance. ] Shakespeare. [Seeing the audience.] What's this? Enchantment? Ariel. Tis three centuries After your time, and on your day of birth. We give your plays. We hold to you the glass Of nature. Is it like? Shakespeare. [Concealing a smile.] So this is I! And these my plays! They've changed in all this time! [To Bacon who appears, threatening, foolish] Hence, home, you idle creature, get you home! You block, you stone, you more than senseless thing! Why do you dog my footsteps? Bacon. I do go Wherever you go, as a shadow doth I'm like you as your shadow — 38 Shakespeare. [Disgusted.] That's not like! [He tOaves him off; turns back to Ariel and the audience again. My friends, you do mistake me! I was one Not greatly thought of in his day and time Although his plays were liked enough, 'tis true So too were plays of other playwrights, who Were less recluse than he. But now you write Much madness: item, — Did he love his wife? What was his most ambition? I will say To be an actor with the chief est part. Or say, that was not I, but that I had A cousin, William Shakespeare, whose same name Played havoc with your scholars, while my ghost Laughed in his — wing! I may not show the truth. Think thati had no being, save my life In my book-folk, and in my little son. [He steps up to the audience and chooses a child of twelve; addresses the child's father. ] Lend me this little lad of Hamnet's age! Wherevermore some boy hath eager light Of fancy in his eyes, of love of life. Heart, brain and spirit, like this twelve-year lad, My Hamnet lives again, there is no death. [Pause] Boy. 0, Shakespeare, is it really you? I play Your plays! I have a theatre. We made it in the attic! I have been Macbeth, the ghost, Othello: Oh, and more! Will you play for me there? [Ariel, dancing between them, not permitting Shakespeare to answer, leads the boy bewildered back lo his seat. ] Boy. [Rubbing his eyes. ] Father, I fell asleep! I dreamed he spoke! That Shakespeare spoke to me! Father. Hush! Hear the play! [Shakespeare holds his arms out toward the retreating boy, Ariel leads Shakespeare back Ariel. Were you glad, Master, to awake? You said ^ur little life is rounded by a sleep. hakespeare. A sleep! Methinks this life here were a sleep 39 Rather than that! Why, man! [checl^s himself, as if invisibly stopped] I can't say more! Save ; beauty, visions, marvels, as in youth, But visions that are real [stops,] I may not more! Ariel. Now must you see the world abroad today ; What man has fashioned and your England's plight. [Summons Puck] Shakespeare. My England's plight? Ariel. Come hither. Puck, from far From Arden or from Athens, lPuc\ appears] Puck. / met a fool in theforestl *Was a man Dwelt by a churchyardl Yonder! / will put A girdle round the earth in forty minutes, [ He conducts Shakespeare, bewidered, to a waiting automobile. They whirl off; a dance follows by Ariel. They return. ] Ariel. What did you see? Puck. The cities of the world! Ariel. What thought he of the moving pictures, say? Puck. He cried aloud, "The streets do reel as tho* The Mermaid Tavern were just left behind! Are mine ears stopped? They speak and no word comes. Mine eyes are dazzled, but mine ears are deaf. They show the past and present in a breath Men's thoughts are visible! Take me away!" Ariel, [Laughing] What thought he of skyscrapers? Puck [in glee] Ask of him! Shakespeare. Cities on tiptoe! Cities set on end! As 'twere a little, old-time London street Set up on end, in one tower a whole town! When next I come, will Avon parallel The spire of Trinity? But, oh, the world In agony and danger! C.'ouds of war! Now all the youth of England are onfirel Our dogs of war, to your deep-baying hounds Although we thought them valiant, truly were What is it that you call your toys today? As Pomeranians, beside blood hounds, set Upon the scent of human flesh and blood. My England's perilled! Not as once of old The hand-to-hand encounter, but too far Even to be seen, the deadly fire and sword! Cry, England and Saint Georgel My noble England, 40 *Tis holy land to-day. Let each man now Gice his pure soul unto that Captain Christ, Under whose colors he had fought so long Now to this war, as to those holy fields Over whose acres wal\ed those blessed feet Which fourteen hundred years ago were nailed For our advantage to the bitter cross. [The Red Cross Knight appears] The Cross, the Red Cross, 'tis His messenger Borne by that knight that brooded o'er my birth And o'er my passing. Now he calls me back Again, St. George, my Red Cross Knight. I come! [He goes, followed by Ariel, Groping as he goes ; he suddenly ages. Judith his daughter comes forth with solicitude to meet him, and leads him away. ] Judith. Father, you're tired! You've dreamed too much today! You must not write more plays. It's too hard work Shakespeare. Ah, this is Prospero's isle, and I am he. And you the faithful daughter. Sweet, good-night Judith-Miranda, you have cheered my age. And I have seen you wed. The end is near. I fain would dream of Hamnet. I'll go sleep. EPILOGUE The Red Cross Knight In the old days, the fight was hand to hand, St. George and Holy Cross! and Palestine! But now— Ae staggers aghast at the Vision of War — ^the Terror! The unequal fight The snake in-the-grass live poison coiled to strike. [He turns to the group of children] Poor child crusaders, you must suffer, too! Oh, had the armies and the navies ranged Beneath the Cross instead of 'neath the signs Of armament that now we need awhile To save that very cross, and had the marts Of commerce sold their wares beneath the cross 41 Then had these things not been [He sees the nurse approaching.] My own Red Cross! Now, by the death of Him who died for all, What means the vision? Gentlest flesh and blood, Armed with the Cross, confronts the hidden Death. Oh, stop the havoc, all ye hosts of heaven Invisible, and those new-rising hosts. The young dead, slain by thousands, stop this thing! Who art thou, lady sweet, that goest forth Not clad in silks and laces, but in white, Armor of purity and of the soul. Yet not a white of spirits; but somehow, Whiteness of courage, white of deeds, not dreams: Who art thou? Answer! For upon thine arm My sign is set ; the Red Cross of St. George! What is thine errand? The Red Cross Nurse. It is even as thine, To succor any helpless in distress, Upon the field of dying youth to know No enemies, but only friends in need. Knight. There is an aura 'round thee that doth shine! What meaneth it? Nurse. It is the memory Of those who went to danger and to death In service of the dying; they who heard Last words of dying poets who had flung Their youth and all their lyric songs av/ay For England's need — the songs they might have sung — One such sang ere he went to certain death : If I should die, remember this of me, "That there's some corner of a foreign soil That is forever England." Rupert Brooke, Loved of the gods, died young. How the gods love This generation! And there is a school. In the new world of Eldorado young. Old Harvard, where the war-class window shines. Of '61, in old Memorial. It shows a youth, gone forth unto the wars Straight from the class-room, in new armor clad. The motto reads: "E litteris laeti 42 Pro patria ad arma — from their books Glady to arms for native land!" Such youths We haste to serve. Knight. St. George and Holy Land! Thou v/hose captain I account To Thee I do commend my watchful soul. Have pity on the earth! "Let us have peace!" Forces of wrong, avaunt! Bow down before Saint George and the invincible Red Cross! 43 COMPLIMENTS of the WELLESLEY TEA ROOM Wellesley Mass. COMPLIMENTS OF WABAN HOTEL CO. WELLESLEY COMPLIMENTS of the WELLESLEY PUBLIC MARKET 595 Washington St. Wellesley Mass. COMPLIMENTS OF CHARLES N. TAYLOR 1 Grove St. Wellesley Marinello Shop F. H. Porter Dr. Irene L. Blizzard HARDWARE AND STOVES CHIROPODIST Scientific Treatment of the Face, Paints Oils and Varnishes Gas Piping, Tin and Sheet Iron Work Scalp and Nails Plumbing and Heating General Massage Vulcanizing The Waban, Wellesley, Mass. Let me give you a bid Over Clement's Drug Store Taylor Block, Wellesley, Mass. Telephone 442-W Telephone Conn. H. J. Claff G. Asquith PRACTICAL MEN Telephones 690-691 Plumbers, Water, Steam and Wellesley Market Gas Fitters Sheet Metal, Range, Furnace and Successors to Automobile Workers F. A. Coolidge and Stevens Bros. Drinkwater Bro- Co. PROVISIONS 544 Washington St. 562 Washington St. »V7 11 1 Wellesley Square Wellesley Tel. Wellesley 2I9-W Office and Work Shop Tel. Wellesley 209 W Residence Christopher M. Bassett Practical Horse Shoer and Jobber Special Attention Given to Interfering, Overreaching Knee-knocking and Tender-footed Horses P. 0. Box 233. Wellesley Hills Shop Rear McLeod's Block NEAT AND UP-TO-DATE BARBER SHOP Experienced and Skilled Workmen Bert Boyd, Prop. WELLESLEY HILLS. MASS. Lome E. Wright LAUNDRY DYEING CLEANSING Highest Grade Laundry Work Custom Work Tel. Con. 46 Kingsbury Street Wellesley L. F- Sanborn CIRCULATING LIBRARY TOYS DRY GOODS PERIODICALS Wellesley Hills, Mass. ANTIQUES Especially the kind our ancestors used. Interested parties invited to view my collection. Just the articles for a summer home. Canopy top beds, bureaus, sofas, desks, old chairs, etc. E. M. REED Cor. Forest and Washington Sts., Wellesley Hills Miss Bishop's Gift Shop WELLESLEY 10 Grove St. SPECIAL LINE OF BIRTHDAY AND EVERY DAY CARDS AND CHOICE GIFTS KEITH'S MARKET MEATS AND PROVISIONS Fresh, Salt and Smoked Fish Oysters in Season Fresh Fruits and Vegetables WELLESLEY HILLS Buy the Milk and Cream that won the Silver Cup Cleanliness is my specialty RIVERDALE FARM Stanley Young WELLESLEY HILLS Tel. Wellesley 104-W COMPLIMENTS OF JOB MONAGHAN WELLESLEY ARTHUR P. FRENCH Civil Engineer and Surveyor NO. 35 THE WABAN Wellesley Mass. FRED 0. JOHNSON MORTGAGES REAL ESTATE AND INSURANCE Wellesley Mass. DR. F. S. KEATING Dentist Telephone Waban Block Wellesley Mass. Wellesley Hills Fraser Pharmacy THE FLORIST Cut Flowers and Potted Wellesley Hills Agent for Plants APOLLO CHOCOLATES Artists in Designs Wedding and Presentation Bouquets Always Fresh 65 Linden Street WELLESLEY Tel. 597 Dine at the Tel. Wellesley 200 and 201 Maugus Inn C. H. Spring Co. OPPOSITE HAY AND GRAIN Wellesley Hills Station BUILDERS' SUPPLIES Tel.494-W Newton Lower Falls, Mass. E. A. Davis & Co. DRY GOODS AND GIFT SHOP Stationery, Rental Goods 549-557 Washington Street Wellesley, Mass. The Bird Cage Tea Room 541 WASHINGTON ST. opposite P. 0. Wellesley Mass. The Clement Drug Co. N. CLARK CLEMENT, Pharm. D. DRUGS ALL THE BEST CANDIES Waban Block, Wellesley, Mass. Comer Grove and Washington Sts. FOUNTAIN PENS Boston Safety Moore's Non Leakable Conklin Self -Filler Waterman's Ideal H. L. Flagg Co. Crane's Linen Lawn Drawing Fountain Pen and Office Inks Dennison's Goods Wm.W. Diehl D . W . Richardson HACK. LIVERY AND . COMPLETE HOUSE FURNISHER BOARDING STABLE Carriages at all trains Hacks furnished for Parties and Funerals Careful Drivers Provided Furniture, Carpets, Rugs, Bedding, Window Shades, Draperies and Hub Ranges 1 1 Forest St., Wellesley Hills Upholstering and Repair Work 31 Main Street Natick, Mass. FURNITURE AND Phone 289-W PIANO MOVING AGENT FOR SONONA PHONOGRAPH Open Day and Night Telephone 21520 Wellesley Fritz J. Nelson Lower Falls Garage PAINTING ABRAHAM LUFF, MANAGER DECORATING PAPER HANGING Cars Stored and To Rent Hardwood Finishing 54 WASHINGTON STRFFT Sign Painting Glazing Opposite Glen Road OFFICE Newton Lower Falls WELLES? . FY AVENUE Telephone Connection Automobiles Repaired and Overhauled Auto Supplies Vulcanizing Wellesley Grocery Co. B. L. KARl'l" LADIES' TAILOR AND GROCERIES AND FURRIER PROVISIONS 543 Washington St. WELLESLEY MASS. WELLESLEY SQUARE Telephone Wellesley 2 1 7-R Telephone Wellesley 270 Cleansing, Dyeing and Altering Carefully and Promptly Done E. B. PARKER Telephone Wellesley 471 W A. CAN Boots, Shoes and Rubbers V Repair Work a Specialty Fashionable Ladies' Tailor 548 Washington St. THE NORMAN Wellesley Mass. WELLESLEY SQUARE Tel. Wellesley 104.W Henry Young CARPENTER AND BUILDER A. G. I -ake FLORIST WOODLAWN AVE.. WELLESLEY HIl.T-S JOBBING OF AL KINDS Cut Flowers for all occasions Worcester St. Wellesley Hills FUNERAL DESIGNS S. De Fazio J. D. Mace wen FRUITS AND GROCERIES AUTOMOBILES and CARRIAGES P. 0. Building, Wellesley Hills Established 1870 Telephone connection Repairing a Specialty Natick, Mass. Tel. 177-W Smart Sport Hats ^^"^^ The New White Silk ^pH^LISERE SPORT .t^^^M HATS \ ^ ^ \ Also /T^ / 2 BLACK AND ALL ( / 1 / >A COLOR P. I i. Issylino LADIES' TAILOR ky/j SAILORS For out-door life of P. 0. Building, Wellesley Hills SEASHORE and COUNTRY Page LADIES' HATTER 37 Temple Place BOSTON SHELLEY B. OSBORNE. D. M. D. CHARLES A. HOYLE "THE LYMAN" Portraits by Photography WELLESLEY HIT ,1 .8, MASS. 364A BOYLSTON ST. BOSTON C. M. McKechnie COMPLIMENTS OF CATERING W.M.Todd Co. Estimates submitted HEATING Ice Cream and Fancy Cakes PLUMBING NATICK, MASS. Tel. 52 W. 27 SUMMER STREET NATICK, MASS Domestic Models in COMPLIMENTS Tailored and Dress Hats OF Mrs.B. S. Greenwood Room 10 Savings Bank Building James A- Rarly NATICK. MASS. Newton Lower Falls, Mass. Compliments of a Friend "Choisa*' Ceylon Tea 1 lb. Canisters 60 Cents 1 a^^w^~ii>^y^^gs^ 1 PURE lib. Canisters 1 35 Cents 1 1 RICH FRAGRANT in Parchment-lined One pound and Half-pound Canisters Ite comparison with other Teas of the same or higher price . S. PIERCE COMPANY BOSTON BROOKLINE Old or New Closets can be fitted with the BATTS SYS- TEM OF TELESCOPIC WARDROBE FIXTURES. Garments are hung correctly and easily handled. Call and see samples. Every good thing in iardware, Cutlery or Tools Chandler & Barber Co. BOSSON, MASS. ^< 120 lnsvra^«\ce Oilinovr RptKcry . Will be pleased to consult on all matters relating to Insurance of any description Gilmour, Rothery & Co. William Gilmour William D. Rich J. J. E. Rothery Henry A, Fiske S. T. Ejnery Thos. E. Sears 120-130 WATER STREET, BOS Herbert Coolidge R. A. Benting ChgjJFg^immons