PS 635 .Z9 B689 Copy 1 NURMALORA By RICHARD BOLIVARRE A PLAY IN TWO ACTS NURMALORA By RICHARD BOLIVARRE A PLAY IN TWO ACTS PUBLISHED & PRINTED BY JOSEPH ISHILL BERKELEY HEIGHTS, NEW JERSEY Copyright, 1919, y By JOSEPH ISHILL ^^ (\ 1/ m 13 1919 ©C1.A5,'3 658 2 Unt 9^0(^02 7 J n/v^ To "Bertha Broad ACT ONE TINY pool at the foot of a Kill. The pool is surrounded by white flowers on tall stems. The hill is covered with flowers of varieated hues, mostly red. The background is a star-studded sky, cloudless and cold, and sets off the silhou- ettes of three poplars — two of the same height and one, back of these and in the center, taller and fuller than either. Other trees left and right. FIRST POPLAR: I do not like this night. SECOND POPLAR: It is as £ir as other nights. FIRST POPLAR: Last night the stars did not seem so far awaij... The air is sharp with ffagrance and the lilies are very pale. SECOND POPLAR: Yes, it is colder... FIRST POPLAR: Last night Nurmalora lay in my arms... She put her arms around mine and held them tightly... Grandfether!... SECOND POPLAR: Hush! FIRST POPLAR: He has been silent many days. I do not like his silence. '^URMALORA [^age sixj SECOND POPLAR: He is very calm. Do not dis- turb him. FIRST POPLAR: Last night Nurmalora stood up in my arms and looked out toward the sea... I wonder what grandfather is thinking. He broods so much now that he is getting old. SECOND POPLAR: He does not think of anything. When one is old it is time to rest. FIRST POPLAR: It seems to me he is always listen- ing to something... When the East Wind blows one leaf from my branches he sighs... SECOND POPLAR: Perhaps he is thinking of the time when he was young... FIRST POPLAR: I think he is listening to the flowers. SECOND POPLAR: He cannot hear so well now. FIRST POPLAR: He does not need to hear. (The Old Poplar eighs) Grandfether! What are you thinking, grand- :fether ? OLD POPLAR (Sighing) What do you say ? SECOND POPLAR: Are you cold, grandfather? OLD POPLAR: Cold?... FIRST POPLAR: That was an unkind wind flew past from the shore... (Pause) Nurmalora shuddered when the North Wind embraced her. Then she smiled... It is colder tonight than last night. OLD POPLAR: Can you hear what the flowers are saying? FIRST POPLAR: They are thinking of the (Ulire. Theij do not like the cold. OLD POPLAR: No, it is something else they are saying... SECOND POPLAR: Do not remind him that he is [^AGESEVENl '^URMALORA deaf... Yes, grandfather, it is something else they are saying. OLD POPLAR: Speak louder. I do not hear when gou whisper. Are you afraid? FIRST POPLAR: I think the flowers are angry with each other... Last night and many nights befcre, Nurmalora stood among them... They are unhappy. OLD POPLAR: Yes, unhappy... FIRST POPLAR: V/hen they are angry the air be- comes sharp with perfume, and the roses show their thorns. OLD POPLAR (Sighing): When were the lilies so pale? Is it the starlight?... I have never seen them so slender. They become haughty when they are jealous of each other... I think the roses are very red. FIRST POPLAR: They cannot hide their anger... SECOND POPLAR: Theij quarrel over nothing... They are afraid of the ffost: so they begin to find £ult with each other. OLD POPLAR (Ominously) They should not quarrel with each other. Their precious anger will rise to the clouds and be wasted... Their colors will fade... The jealous winds on the strand will bow them to the earth... They are very tender and I feel sorrij fcr them.... FIRST POPLAR: Grandfather, Nurmalora will come among them and they will be happy again... OLD POPLAR: Nurmalora... Nurmalora... Happy feet are welcome to the flowers — but the feet that have felt the roses' thorn drag wearily ... A heavy heart crushes the flowers beneath them... FIRST POPLAR (Anxio«slg) Grandfether ! Have you heard in your wisdom and silence the sigh of a heavy heart? — Grandfather! '^URMALORA i^ageeighti OLD POPLAR: In the years of change figures came tripping through the ferests. When the cold wind blew and the drij leaves rustled they crept away toward the sea. FIRST POPLAR: Grandfether— Have you heard in your wisdom and silence the vanishing fcotfall of Death? OLD POPLAR: Nurmalora was born of the dream and the passion of Silence. In the years of change she laij in my arms and looked out toward the sea. And the ancient trees that fell where you now stand, dear children, spoke of the vanishing fcotfells... She will come with happy feet and hear the drij leaves rustle... (Pause) FIRST POPLAR: This wind is verij sharp. All mij branches quiver. SECOND POPLAR: Someone passed by — someone yaSSed by! (Old Poplar laughs: it sounds like the rustling of leaves) I think it is a shadow... He is coming back. Speak to him, Grandfether! (Old Poplar laughs again.) FIRST POPLAR: I do not like this night... Who are you ? The flowers have been silenced by your foot- steps... He has stolen away again! OLD POPLAR (Sighing) The f?ost is coming, little child- ren, the frost is coming. FIRST POPLAR : Do not speak of the f?ost, grand- fether! It is a stray wind that has lost his way... It would be verjj terrible fer the frost to come... Perhaps he is seeking a flower to bring to the feozen North. SECOND POPLAR: Hush! The flowers are Speaking. VOICES: -Praise! — Praise... Praise... — Praise and sleep and tomorrow life again.. — Life again in the warm hearts of lovers... — Lovers, old and young... l'j>ACEniNEi "fipmALORA OLD POPLAR: They are not angry anymore. FIRST POPLAR: They are dreaming. SECOND POPLAR: They are going to sleep... (A rustling of leaves, and a gradual silence. A thin sparkling dust like dew fells &t a moment. Enter Nurmalora and a Youth.) NURMALORA: Once more among the old trees, once more happy! Now my thoughts are like little golden birds sitting by the window of a dark room... How all is changed, love !... Yesterday there was no sunrise and the dew did not glisten on the hillsj there was no sunset and the sky was colorless. No music in the trees, no sound of bird or bee — that was my heart, love. THE YOUTH: Yet beyond those brooding vapors of the earth there was a happy sun and liquid jewels quivered between the lips of the flowers — that was my heart, love! NURMALORA: Yesterday I dreamed of oak trees, uprooted by the storm, and an odor of dead wood pervaded the earth... But what have we in common with uprooted trees ? The tree that withstands the winter and remains fcrever green, — that is the symbol of our love. THE YOUTH: No finite thing must be the symbol of our love. It is like the everlasting day. NURMALORA: The everlasting day, beloved!... First evening, with a multitude of stars and changing shadows and many dreams — then night with its dark despair. THE YOUTH: Then the broad warm sunlight of your acquiescence — NURMALORA: Then the golden afternoon of your confidence and trust... And when the afternoon will TS^URMALORA ['PAGE TEN] pass into the twilight we shall be tow little winds fly- ing over the fields, playing with the flowers, mingling with the young sap of the trees, learning the mijsteru of the earth. (They seat themselves by the pool.) THE YOUTH: What do the poplars say to you to- night, love ? NURMALORA: They are silent... THE YOUTH: And the roses that have talked to you of many things ? NURMALORA: They too are silent-they are hushed by the quiet stars, as my heart by the light of your eyes. THE YOUTH: Then let us watch the silent stars and too keep silent. (Pause) NURMALORA: Our souls are like two wild flowers: yours the lily, holy and sweet like a love-thought, (Takes his hands) and mine the passionate rose. (Pause then sadly) Love, if I Were as pure as you... THE YOUTH: (Gently) Nurmalora... NURMALORA: My petals have been torn by strong wind and wild wind, and the bees have robbed me ofmy virginity. THE YOUTH: Nurmalora... NURMALORA: But you, love, your beauty is fcr me alone! (The lovers embrace. There is a low murmur. The branches of the trees sway and seem to shake off the dew. The water of the pool is ruffled, and the flowers nod gently. A figure ap. pears in the background and throws his shadow over the Lovers. Theg are startled, but remain in each other's arms and listen.) NURMALORA (in a whisper) See, love... [^AGE ELEVEN] "NjJRMALORA THE YOUTH: Hush. NURMALORA: Who has cast this shadow over us? I dare not look behind! THE YOUTH: The trees are muttering and the flow- ers around us are weeping. (The figure moves away) NURMALORA (After a pause) It is nothing, nothing. Do not tremble, love. THE YOUTH: A leaf has Men on my hand; it is yellow and old. NURMALORA (After a pause) Come away, come away, love. Autumn will overtake us. Now all is sad and still. Come away from the stillness and change. The waters of the lake are changeless. Come away! We will sit there and watch our love. (They go out. The heavens become clouded, Ihe Poplars sway gently and fheir leaves fill.) OLD POPLAR: AH is for a season... All is fcr a season... for a season... SECOND POPLAR: Speak no more sorrowful words, grand&ther. It is time to rest. OLD POPLAR: Dreams vanish, and the children of dreams go by... toward the setting sun and the sandy wastes by the sea... toward the sun that is set... that is set... (Pause) SECOND POPLAR: My sap is moving slowly yet I feel no pain. OLD POPLAR: Each year I watched them passing, and I covered their tracks with my leaves... Children, children, you will wake when you have slept; this sleep shall be my last. Strong winds will blow thru the fcrest and I will fall between you, fall between the children 1 have sheltered! The snow each year weighs down my branches and I am old and weak... Children, children the flowers are at your feet: shelter them with your heads in the heat of summer and "^URMALORA [^^ge twelve] give them the dew to drink Cover them with your leaves in winter, so they may rest... And when the birds build again in your branches bid them sing loudly, sing loudly, so the children of dreams will hear... Now let there be silence among us. SECOND POPLAR: Let there be silence. FIRST POPLAR (Pamfolly) Nurmalora... Nurmalora... Let there be silence. (Nurmalora and the Youth return). NURMALORA: Wherever we go the lovers are fell- ing, and they are ijellow and old. THE YOUTH: Too long we loitered in dreams; we forget to think of the seasons. NURMALORA: My wreath, my beautiful wreath is feded, and the scent of the flowers is gone. THE YOUTH. Your fingers tremble, love... they are cold. NURMALORA: Do not despair, love... THE YOUTH: The winds breathe deeply the breaths of the dying flowers. NURMALORA: Do not despair... THE YOUTH: Autumn is over us... autumn is over us... The nights will be sad and long. NURMALORA: Do not despair, beloved. There will be golden days in autumn and clear, calm nights — THE YOUTH: Then winter and cold and terror. NURMALORA: In the path of winter, spring, merry with golden laughter. We will hear her voice and oee her form, and we will smile... Give me your hands to warm and let us seek the quiet. Together we will sit and wait for spring. THE YOUTH: Ah... Then it will be another time. [^AGE THIRTEEN] "^URMALORA NURMALORA: The stars will not be strangers... They will smile their knowing smile, smile and understand, and together we will think of the changeless waters and willows by the lake. Come away, love. (The Youth hesitates) Come! THE YOUTH (with bowed head) Too long we loitered in hope, we forget to think of the hours... Change and silence stare at us through the veil of years... Is this a thing we are dreaming or has autuinn entered our hearths? NURMALORA: Change and silence may stare at us through the veil of years... but the eyes that have seen the morning will give back glance for glance when the quiet days set in. 1 ric, I OU 1 H (moving away ffom her outslreched arms) RoSCS and lilies and thorns are my dream, and autumn will steal its beauty. NURMALORA (Gently chiding) Autumn is in your heart, beloved, but not in mine. (Pause) THE YOUTH: We must part- NURMALORA: We must pare? THE YOUTH: Like the wind f?om the flowers — each go our separate way. NURMALORA: Shall it bs thus, beloved, when hopes have spent their fury... Is this a thing we are dreaming... Beloved, it cannot be. THE YOUTH: Let us part in silence — each go our separate way... Here will we raise no shrine and light no fire... fcr my dream was an infinite thing, and has passed away forever. (He goes out slowly. Nurmalora watches him, sadly.) NURMALORA (Slowly, to hersein I will build a shrine by the open sea, for the Winds and the Sea and the Stars to worship, a tower on the endless white sands, to hold my unuttered prayers. (Painfully, passionately) Love, are you no longer here?... SECOND ACT IGHT. An endless stretch of white sand. The outlines of a ruined tower with the horn of a crescent moon barely visible above it. The sea gleams faintly in the background. Shadowy fig- ures are grouped about the tower; in their midst ^ure luminous as with phosphorescence. THE SOUTH WIND: Her temple of worship is fel- ling. It is sinking into the sand. The white sand will bury it and the sea-weed will mark its grave. THE STAR: Where will she pray, our Beloved? THE EAST WIND: Here by the open sea. THE SOUTH WIND: On the sand by the open sea where the skies will hear her and answer. THE SEA: Alas for the spirits that haunt this temple of ancient worship! THE EAST WIND: I have heard her pray in vain to the spirits of old. THE SOUTH WIND: The olden spirits are dead... THE EAST WIND: She prays &r beautifel things and the spirits are silent. She stands here and prays in her heart and the spirits are silent ! THE SOUTH WIND: We are the spirits who live... we will answer her silent prayer. THE SEA: That which is ours we'll give her. f^URMALORA [^age sixteen] THE STAR: Ah, more than our only love! THE SOUTH WIND: And Death will f?own and leave her... leave her to us forever. THE STAR: There will be no cold and no dark- ness... Nurmalora will smile and be glad. THE SOUTH WIND: Each night the trees will sleep and morning will wake them again. Morning will bring them new fragrance and twilight new balm. THE EAST WIND: Nurmalora will smile and be glad. (A figure enters hastily and approaches the group by the tower. It is the West Wind.) THE WEST WIND: Has she come? THE SOUTH WIND: It is not her time. THE WEST WIND: Are we all here ? THE SOUTH WIND: All but our ancient brother. THE WEST WIND: I saw him among the flowers. THE SOUTH WIND: Among the flowers! THE WEST WIND: He was scenting his beard with perfume. THE SOUTH WIND: The roses will die. Theg will die when he breathes upon them with his icij breath. THE STAR: They are tender as the bodies of little children. THE EAST WIND: They are dear to Nurmalora! THE SOUTH WIND: (in despair) Theij are the souls of little children waiting to be born... Nurmalora has nursed them with her tears. THE WEST WIND: They will not die. They will sleep, and tomorow her breath will wake them. ['PACE SEVENTEEN] '^URMALORA THE SEA: Our ancient brother is approaching. I can hear his familiar wings, THE WEST WIND: He whom her love will chose will help her wake the flowers. THE STAR: I see his brow — it glistens like marble at midnight. THE EAST WIND: I can fiel the white breath of his mouth. THE WEST WIND: He looks like a winged pine tree walking an endless plain. (The shadowy figure of the North Wind appears). THE SEA: (murmuring) Wclcome, ancient brother, weh come. THE WINDS: Welcome... welcome... THE NORTH WIND: I am late?... I have journed fer... THE SOUTH WIND: Where is the perfe^me of roses?.. Are they dead, my beautiful flowers? THE SEA (murmuring) Nurmalora will not be glad. THE NORTH WIND: They would not play in my beard so I gave them back to the flowers. But I've twined my hair with mosses fresh ^om the boreal pole. THE SOUTH WIND: To-morrow I'll borrow the breaths of the roses and breath them on Nurmalora... THE NORTH WIND: Have you invited Death— ALL: Death!... THE NORTH WIND: --to match his love with ours THE SEA: (murmuring) They havc not invited Death; he will be angry surely. Y\URMALORA [cp^^E eighteen] THE SOUTH WIND: Death has no place in our midst — he is a jealous god. THE WEST WIND: He is a kinglij god, he will not be angry. THE NORTH WIND: But he would have his share of the love of Nurmalora. THE SOUTH WIND: Do not speak of him. I fear hirA. He has no place in our midst. THE SEA: (mumbling) He should have been called... THE NORTH WIND: He should have been called. I know him... He is jealous of beautiful things and has dreamed of Nurmalora. THE STAR: He should have been called... (Silence) THE SOUTH WIND: (After a pause) You have brought the cold in gour wings. THE EAST WIND: He has chilled the air. THE STAR: It is dark. I am afraid of the darkness. THE SOUTH WIND: I am af?aid of the cold. THE NORTH WIND: I am afraid of nothing. I love the cold and the darkness. THE SOUTH WIND: Death and darkness are one. THE NORTH WIND: I love our brother Death. I love him for his mighty wisdom. THE SOUTH WIND: Come, brothers, draw closer together. He will borrow driftwood from the sea and ray from the stars. THE STAR: (mumbling) The driftwood is wet, the stars cannot light it, THE SOUTH WIND: I will blow the warmth upon it. (He bends and the Star stands over him. A violet flame springs up.) THE EAST WIND; She is not here yet... [^AGE NINETEEN] J^URMALORA THE STAR: She will come. Nurmalora will not fail us. THE EAST WIND: She has never feiled us befcre. THE SOUTH WIND: She will bring a new prayer tonight, having forgotten the old. 1 t~ltl oJnA (mutters and mumbles). THE EAST WIND: I am impatient. THE NORTH WIND: She does not love you, brother. THE OTHERS: She does not love you... THE EAST WIND: Yet my heart throbs to behold her! THE SOUTH WIND: She will come to-night as of all nights... with a new prayer on her lips; — she will stand upon the shore and wave her arms. THE SEA (fSrvently) And I will kiss her little feet. I will kiss them until they pale. THE WEST WIND: And I will play with her hair. I love her hair, THE SOUTH WIND: I will embrace her bosom and peep beneath the veil. THE NORTH WIND: It is me she loves. Nurma- lora loves me! I am strong. I am passionate. I bite her lips and the little fingers of her hands. She does not love you... Last night I met her alone. She walked beyond the reach of your brother the sea. She held out her arms to me. Her lips were so red!... I kissed them again and again. THE EAST WIND: I have never kissed her. When I am here she covers her fece with her veil... Her lips must be sweet to kiss ! THE SOUTH WIND: She fiars your sadness, %URMALORA i^age twenty] brother. Your brow is worn with pushing the swollen clouds... But she loves me better than all. To me alone has she given herself at night — THE SEA: But I have caressed her in the daytime. We have laughed together in the daytime. THE SOUTH WIND: The warmth of my breath is in her veins, my life in the blood of her heart... I nestle softly upon her, lighter than the dream of" a bird. THE NORTH WIND: I am her God. She fiars my strength; she worships my passion! THE STAR: I have never touched her. She gazes on me and smiles. But I love her smile. I ask no more than her smile. THE SEA (mumbling) Death — he will be angry. (Nurma- lora enters slowly, with bowed head.) THE SOUTH WIND: She comes! She comes! (sudden pause) She is Wearing a somber veil!... ALL: She comes... she comes... THE SOUTH WIND: Will she dance in this sombre veil?... THE EAST V/IND: Nurmalora is sad. She has hidden her fece from us... (Nurmalora advances a few paces and stops. She turns to the tower and stretches out her arms, gazing intently before her. A pause. The elements are motionless. She turns away from the tower and her arms drop to her sides, as in despair. There is a murmur among the winds.) THE STAR: She is very sad to-night. THE WINDS: She has never forgotten to smile... THE SEA : Where is her song of love? THE STAR: Where is her new-born prayer? Nurma- lora... Nurmalora... Nurmalora... ['PAGE TWENTY-ONE] '^URMALORA THE WEST WIND: Let us kneel down and wor- ship her. THE SOUTH WIND: Let us dance round her and make her smile. (They surround her.) THE WEST WIND: Unloossen the clasp of her hair... THE SOUTH WIND: Unloossen her veil... THE STAR: She smiles at me! Speak to her... She will smile again... THE NORTH WIND: We are near you, Nurmalora, your lovers are near you. We have come to play with you upon the sand. THE SOUTH WIND: Dance, Nurmalora — come and dance with us. THE SEA: Ah, let me kiss her little f^et! THE STAR: How beautife.1 she is! THE WEST WIND: Her skin is so white... THE SOUTH WIND: So round and white her breasts... THE STAR: Like living fires, her eijes... THE SOUTH WIND: I have kissed her breasts... THE WEST WIND: Her hair... her beautifiil hair... THE SEA: ... Her little fiet... Ah! let me kiss them again... THE NORTH WIND: She is mine... THE SOUTH WIND: Mine! THE EAST WIND: (p.ieousiy) Mine... THE STAR: Unveil her smile. I only ask her smile. THE NORTH WIND: Who will judge among us? THE SOUTH WIND: She is mine! T\URMALORA ['pace twenty-two] THE SEA: (murmuring) HusK... hush... THE STAR: Brother, what do you hear? THE SEA: (murmuring) There is a footstep I know... THE NORTH WIND: (loudly) Who will judge among us? THE SOUTH WIND: She is mine... Nurmalora is mine! A VOICE: (In the distance) To-night she is mine. (Sudden silence. Nurmalora sinks down upon the sand.) THE WINDS: (after a pause, in subdued tones) She haS fel- len... Nurmalora has falen... Draw her close to the fire... It is cold... (Silence) THE STAR: It is dark... where is our mother, the moon? THE SEA: Where, oh where? THE VOICE: (nearer) To-night Nurmalora is mine. THE SOUTH WIND: He has come, uncalled and unbidden... Draw closer about her, brothers. THE SEA: (murmuring) He has come. I have heard his coming. For many hours I listened and heard his coming. His fcotstep is like an echo in the heart of a barren goddess. THE NORTH WIND: As one of us— we must greet him. THE SOUTH WIND: He shall not behold Nurma- lora... THE NORTH WIND: He is one of us... He, too, loves her... DEATH : (a majestic figure enters, and the fire goes out) She WaS mine from the first beginning, she is mine forever. THE SEA: (pleading) I have played with her long, she ['PAGE TWENTY-THREE] ^\URMALORA THE SOUTH WIND: I have loved her and held her close. THE WEST WIND : I have played with her hairj often have I hidden my face in her hair; (Death approaches Nurmalora. The South Wind stands in her way.) THE EAST WIND: Do not take her f?om us, brother, you are stronger than we. THE STAR: Do not roh me of her smile. THE WEST WIND: Do not, oh kingljj brother. THE SEA: (murmuring) The roscs wiU die — there'll be no one to wake them to-morrow. (Nurmalora becomes vaguely conscious of something. She smiles. She attempts slowly to rise.) THE NORTH WIND: You may gaze upon her, but do not touch her. THE SOUTH WIND: She is mine! THE NORTH WIND: She is mine! THE STAR: She is ours! DEATH : (Speaking to each of the elements) YoU have kissed her lips and played with her hair... You have danced with her upon the sand when the moon was high... You have caressed her in the light of noontime — And I sat bjf and watched and gazed upon her, and thru my fingers crept the few grey sands of her life, and the sea waves washed them away... But to me she was born. I knew her before the first beginning, be- fore wind and tide, oh brothers, before worlds and time... I have played with her soul. (The Tower becomes vague. It appears to be sinking into the sand.) THE WINDS: Brother! '^{URMALORA [cp^cE twenty-fouri THE STAR: O kinglg brother! THE SEA: O jealous gods ! DEATH: She IS mine! (To Nurmalora) I am your silent prayer, I am your song of love, I am the vanishing day and the hopes that have spent their fury... (He holds out his arms to her) There is the forest — remember? — (She rises to meet him, smiling) Beloved, I have Waited long... (THE SCENE FADES) 5> In Preparation *? *^ ONB-ACT PLAYS, BY 4^ p,. Richard Bolivarre li t». Symbolic Plays ^ *^ NURMALORA ^ ^ SHADOWS ^ THE LORELEI »* Satirical plays ,^ &♦• BY THE BEARD OF THE 42 £> PROPHET ^ P> THE BLIND CANARY 4* ^ THE HOLY GHOST ^ ^ "THE HORSE AND THE 4S *^ RIDER" ^ 1^ GOD SAVE THE KING ^ g^ THE RED TERROR *S _„ ^ AMONG THE STARS ^ 4^ LIBRARY OF CONGRESS iiiiiii .:::::::^, 016 102 420 A W\