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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d4fdb31 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #60330 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/60330) diff --git a/old/60330-0.txt b/old/60330-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index d9c0233..0000000 --- a/old/60330-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5090 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of A King's Daughter, by John Masefield - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: A King's Daughter - A Tragedy in Verse - -Author: John Masefield - -Release Date: September 19, 2019 [EBook #60330] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A KING'S DAUGHTER *** - - - - -Produced by Tim Lindell, Charlie Howard, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - - - - - - - - - -A KING’S DAUGHTER - - - - -BY THE SAME AUTHOR - -_Uniform with this Volume_ - - - REYNARD THE FOX: A POEM - RIGHT ROYAL: A POEM - ENSLAVED, AND OTHER POEMS - KING COLE, AND OTHER POEMS - THE DAFFODIL FIELDS: A POEM - DAUBER: A POEM - GOOD FRIDAY: A PLAY IN VERSE - THE FAITHFUL: A PLAY - LOLLINGDON DOWNS, AND OTHER POEMS - MELLONEY HOLTSPUR: A PLAY - PHILIP THE KING, AND OTHER POEMS - A POEM AND TWO PLAYS - - -LONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN LTD. - - - - - A KING’S DAUGHTER - - A TRAGEDY IN VERSE - - - BY - JOHN MASEFIELD - - - [Illustration] - - - LONDON - WILLIAM HEINEMANN LTD. - - - - - PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY - BIDLING AND SONS, LTD., GUILDFORD AND ESHER - - - - - TO - MY WIFE - - - - -This play was performed at the Oxford Playhouse on Friday and Saturday, -May 25 and 26, 1923, by the following cast of the Hill Players: - - JEZEBEL (Queen of Samaria) PENELOPE WHEELER. - ROSE-FLOWER (First Chorus) JUDITH MASEFIELD. - MOON-BLOSSOM (Second Chorus) JEAN DOWNS. - HAMUTAL (the Steward’s Wife) PAULISE DE BUSH. - A PROPHET BASIL MAINE. - JEHU (Captain of the Horse) RONALD HAY. - MICAIAH (a Seer) GEORGE G. EDWARDS. - AHAB (King of Samaria) LESLIE DAVEY. - PHARMAS (Court Attendant) WILFRED MESSENGER. - ASHOBAL (Court Attendant) HENRY CHAPIN. - NABOTH (a Farmer) DUDLEY BARLOW. - AHAZIAH (Crown Prince of Samaria) W. E. MAY. - JORAM (his Younger Brother) WILFRED HOWE-NURSE. - ZAKKUR (Jehu’s Messenger) H. G. WAKEFORD. - PASHUR (the Bringer of the News) C. E. J. VINCENT. - ZIKRI (Spearman) F. J. SAUNDERS. - KALLAI (Spearman) BERNARD GRIFFITHS. - -SCENE: The Palace in Samaria. - - - - -A KING’S DAUGHTER - - - - -FIRST ACT. - - - JEZEBEL. - - I am Queen Jezebel, King Ahab’s wife. - I was princess in Sidon long ago, - But in an evil day I became Queen - Over these strangers in Samaria. - - Here, for these last ten months, we fought the Syrians, - Till hope was gone; then, suddenly, all changed; - The Syrian army fell into our hands. - - King Ahab had two choices: one, to kill - All of the Syrians; one, to let them go. - He made a peace with them and let them go. - - Now all the people of this city rage - At Ahab, for his peace, and cry aloud - That I, the foreign queen with foreign gods, - Made Ahab make the peace to please my friends. - - Four days ago, King Ahab sought to buy - A vineyard from one Naboth, who refused - To sell the vineyard, even to his King. - - To-day the rebels of the town prepare - A feast to Naboth for refusing him, - And at the feast the prophets and seditious - Will urge our murder as a godly deed. - - What is King Ahab doing to defeat them? - Nothing. For these three days he has been hidden, - Brooding upon his bed in bitterness; - Refusing food and drink; refusing speech - With me, his wife; neglecting court and state; - Letting rebellion grow, and seeing no man - Except our younger son, evil Prince Joram, - Who longs for war against the Syrians. - - So I, the Queen, not knowing what may come - When the King sickens and the people rage, - Have sent for help, called home our eldest son, - Prince Ahaziah, from his frontier post - With all his horsemen. He should soon be here. - - With Ahaziah and his horsemen here - We shall be safer from our enemies, - The Teshbon prophet and the soldier Jehu, - The captain of the horse under the King. - - * * * * * - - Those are the enemies whom most I dread, - Lord Jehu and the Prophet, hand and mouth - To violence and unwise ways of life, - Violent and brainless both, as lightning is. - When violence and madness are in league, - Destruction comes. - - And they are coming now, - Here to the palace of the King and Queen, - To plot their evil with our followers. - - I will go hence, to pray that Ahaziah - May come in time to thwart their wickedness. - [_Exit_ - -_Enter the_ PROPHET. - - PROPHET. - - Lord Jehu! - -_Enter_ JEHU. - - JEHU. - - Ha, my Prophet! - - PROPHET. - - Is all well? - - JEHU. - - Yes. All goes well. This King, this imbecile, - This Ahab, still is sulking like a child, - Speaking with no one, making all things easy - For us, my Prophet, who will now succeed. - Nothing can stop us now. All works for us. - Ahab is hated; Jezebel detested; - The army sickened at their loss of plunder, - All hot against them both. Our only danger - Their son, Prince Ahaziah, far away, - Their other son, Prince Joram, working for us. - And now this feast to Naboth as a crown - To all these helps, an opportunity. - - PROPHET. - - Truly our work is godly, since it prospers. - Since all is thriving, it is surely time - That we set forth together to this feast. - - JEHU. - - Wait, yet, my Prophet, while I ask you this: - What objects will be served by this our feast? - - PROPHET. - - Why, it will honour Naboth for resisting - The tyrant whom we hate, and give our friends - A chance to come together with Prince Joram - To cry aloud for war with Syria. - - JEHU. - - True, Prophet; “Honour Naboth; cry for war;” - Such were our objects when we planned the feast: - That was the plan, but, friend, it is not now. - No, Prophet, no; for I have changed my mind. - This feast to Naboth which we have prepared - Must be the prelude to a mightier deed. - Prophet, I know thy zeal for true religion, - And you know mine; now, therefore, stand by me. - I am determined to be King this day. - The chances are all for me, and the feast - Puts them within my hand for me to take. - Now, therefore, Prophet, when you see me there, - Sitting at feast among the men-of-war, - Send out some youngling of the Prophet tribe - There to anoint me King in Ahab’s stead. - Then I will rise and lead those men-at-arms - To end this Ahab and his Jezebel, - And stamp them with our horses’ feet, and bring - A true religion back: by God, we need it. - No. Doubt not the success. Anoint me King, - The men will follow. For, by God, now, Prophet, - Look at my eyes, I mean this to succeed. - This is the way, because all other ways, - The way we planned before and any way, - Must end in this; so send the stripling to me. - Make me the King. - - PROPHET. - - Truly a spirit speaks within you, Jehu. - Truly the devilries of Jezebel - Have brimmed the cup, and Ahab’s treachery - Has spilled it over. You shall be the King. - Here with my blood I do anoint you King. - My young man shall anoint you with the oil, - But will the captains follow you as King? - - JEHU. - - They’ll follow; some for plunder, some for fear. - Now let us to this Naboth’s feast, to raise - Our following against this doting King. - - PROPHET. - - Here is our friend Ashobal with some news. - -_Enter_ ASHOBAL. - - ASHOBAL. - - I was afraid that you had gone, Lord Jehu. - Prophet, Lord Jehu, there is danger here. - I have just heard from Jezebel’s own lips - That she has ordered Ahaziah hither - With all his horse, and that he will be here - Within two hours. - - PROPHET. - - Gods! - - JEHU. - - Did Jezebel - Tell you of this? - - ASHOBAL. - - No; I was hidden, and - I overheard her as she told her women. - - PROPHET. - - She sent for them? - - ASHOBAL. - - She said so. - - PROPHET. - - But for what? - To be a bodyguard? - - ASHOBAL. - - She did not say, - But that is what they will be when they come. - - PROPHET. - - Then she suspects us. - - PROPHET. - - Probably. - - JEHU. - - The hag! - - PROPHET. - - These women of false gods shall die the death. - - JEHU. - - Yes, unless we die first. Thank you, Ashobal, - You bring the message in the nick of time. - Why has she sent for them? Is Ahab dying? - No; he is ill, not dying. By the gods, - The harlot may be plotting against Ahab - To crown her son? - No, by the gods, put by these pleasant dreams, - The likelier thing will be the explanation. - One of the little sheep within our fold - Has bleated to the shepherd: we have been - Betrayed, my Prophet and my sweet Ashobal, - Betrayed.... By whom? - By all the gods, this harlot is a man. - She hears of us, at once decides to strike, - Sends for the cavalry to cut our throats, - Calls Ahaziah to be King until - Her Ahab be a man again, and so - Bids for her husband’s crown. There are the facts. - - ASHOBAL. - - Even so I judged it, from the way she spoke. - - PROPHET. - - Then we had better scatter into hiding, - For we are lost. - - JEHU. - - True, brother Prophet, all our heads are loose, - But yet not lost. - - PROPHET. - - But what are we to do? - - JEHU. - - Stop Ahaziah in his coming here. - It can be done if he be two hours hence. - He must be coming by the desert road - Passing by Springs. Well, he shall meet his match. - Go, Prophet, to the feasting, as we planned. - Praise Naboth and be bitterer than spurge - About this peace. Pharmas must know of this. - Find Pharmas, that the Prophet speak with him. - Then tell what friends you can. Remember, Prophet, - Hold to our former plans till I return. - Now I must go. [_Exit_ JEHU. - - PROPHET. - - And we had better go - Straight into hiding, while we have the time. - - ASHOBAL. - - No, we must keep to what is planned and do - What Jehu tells us. - - PROPHET. - - I must see Pharmas, then; find Pharmas for me. - - ASHOBAL. - - I cannot yet. - Pharmas is in attendance on the Queen. - - PROPHET. - - Why should he be with her, to-day of all days? - He is the King’s attendant, not the Queen’s. - - ASHOBAL. - - True, but the Queen commanded him this morning - To write at her dictation; he will be - There until noon; but it is nearly noon. - - PROPHET. - - We are discovered by this Jezebel. - And Pharmas has betrayed us. - - ASHOBAL. - - No, he is faithful to us. Five years since - This Jezebel once chided him in public - For breaking of a cup. He has remembered; - He swore to be revenged and means to be. - Now I say this: Come on the stroke of noon, - Here, to have speech with Pharmas and myself. - We may have news by then. If the worst happen, - We shall have time enough for flight at noon. - - PROPHET. - - You may be right; pray Heaven that you be. - - ASHOBAL. - - Hark! there is someone coming through the court. - By Heaven! - - PROPHET. - - Why, who is it? What has happened? - - ASHOBAL. - - It is the King, recovered from his brooding - And dressed as for an audience with his peers. - If Ahab be in health again, why, death---- - - PROPHET. - - What shall we do? Oh, say! - - ASHOBAL. - - Be not found here. - He’s coming hither with his man, Micaiah. - Go quickly, quickly. [_Exit_ PROPHET. - -_Enter_ MICAIAH. - - MICAIAH. - - Way for their Majesties! It is commanded - That all avoid. Way for their Majesties! - Avoid the room, Ashobal, for the King. - [_Exit_ ASHOBAL. - -_Enter_ AHAB. - - AHAB. - - Micaiah, put my staff into my hands. - Go, now, desire the Queen to give me audience. - [_Exit_ MICAIAH. - - Thus does the climber on a pinnacle. - He stands exhausted on the peak and feels - Nothing beneath him but the mist of cloud - Hiding the precipice. I have my foothold; - Around me, the sheer fall into the pit. - -_Enter_ JEZEBEL. - - JEZEBEL. - - So, my good lord, at last I look upon you - After these days of anguish. O my lord, - What has afflicted you, that you should shut - Your doors upon me, send no word to me, - No word till now, not even let me know - If you were ill or well? - But no upbraiding. - Tell me what is the trouble of your soul? - - AHAB. - - What do you think? - - JEZEBEL. - - I know not what to think, - Living alone, shut from you, that should tell me. - Men say that you are grieved because a farmer, - One Naboth, would not sell his vineyard to you. - - AHAB. - - I, grieved, at that? - - JEZEBEL. - - I have no guide save rumour. - - AHAB. - - His vineyard? Why, I did not want the vineyard. - - JEZEBEL. - - Not want it, lord? - - AHAB. - - Why should I want it; think? - - JEZEBEL. - - I cannot think, indeed, why you should want it. - - AHAB. - - Jehu was wanting it, to bring it in - Within the city wall, for in the siege - The Syrian archers shot our people from it. - Jehu demanded it. - - JEZEBEL. - - Jehu? Not you? - Yet do you know that men are cursing you - For wanting Naboth’s land; and feasting Naboth - To-day, in public, for refusing you? - And that our crowns and even our lives are threatened? - - AHAB. - - No, Queen, I do not know and cannot care. - What is the raging of the fools to me - Who ponder day and night upon a question, - A question that goes down into the bone - And burns like fire, till I cannot sleep - Or eat or work, for it is always here. - No, do not look like that, I am not mad, - Not yet; I am not mad. But always night and day - This question is about me and within me, - Haunting and harsh: the question, “Am I wrong? - Are these, my people who oppose my will, - Right, after all, righter than I, the King? - Righter throughout my twenty years of kingship?” - - JEZEBEL. - - How can these preys to every passionate flaw - Be righter than an upright mind and conscience? - - AHAB. - - I cannot tell, and yet I think they are. - - JEZEBEL. - - You know they are not. - - AHAB. - - No, I do not know. - I wonder, if the blunt and bawdy world - Be not the worse for wisdom, not the better. - - JEZEBEL. - - It is a sin and cowardice to say so. - - AHAB. - - Is it, my Queen? I wonder if it be. - Here have I striven twenty years, for peace - With Syria, and for liberty of thought - Within our borders, yet with what results? - Almost continual war with Syria. - Almost a civil war within this land. - Such being the fruits, I think the seeds were wrong. - - JEZEBEL. - - The seeds were right, and if the fruit has failed, - Blame the bad soil, the bitter weather, drought, - Evil of many men hacking the plant, - All things, but you who planted, and the seed. - - AHAB. - - Even if the seed were right, the ground was wrong. - And then I sowed it out of season, lady. - I could have smitten Syria to the dust, - Yet granted terms. I risked a civil war - To grant the terms. They do not keep the terms. - And these my people prefer blood to quiet. - And now I doubt the usefulness of wisdom, - Doubt my whole life; and wonder, if the prophets, - The people, and the bloody ways they love, - Be not indeed God’s ways for governing. - If these things be, then I have failed my country. - - JEZEBEL. - - O King, you cannot say that things are wrong - Because they fail. All good things seem to fail; - The road that men make is not straight nor smooth, - Nor like the perfect roadway that they planned; - And yet among the thorns and broken flint, - And twistings where the adder lies in wait, - It is a path where no path was before. - So with your Syrian pact and with these people, - You have hewed out a way where men will tread. - Be comforted and proud, for you have done it, - As the lone artist makes the perfect thing, - With every blind malignant saying “No!” - You have made peace as generous as yourself - And thought as free. So let the madman rave - And let the savage shriek for blood, and let - The blind worm of the many-creeping world - Crawl its obstruction, you have conquered them. - - AHAB. - - It is not true. I have not conquered them. - They conquer me. I am defeated. Yes, - I cannot think, or master, or decide, - Having no longer any faith remaining - In what we planned together and have done. - The ground is gone from under me, the light - Is gone from in me, and the sky above - Is black with punishment that threatens me. - These ruffian prophets have been proven right, - Our policies have been accursed; ay, - And the reward is death. - - JEZEBEL. - - O husband, stay! - - AHAB. - - I will not stay. The penalty is death, - With hell to follow, as the blind man’s payment - Fully deserved. [_Exit_ AHAB. - - JEZEBEL. - - Gods save us, he is mad, or over-wrought - Up to the point of madness; now, indeed, - We have been conquered, for we have no King - Save one distraught with trouble. How am I - To help in this? - So ends my queenship with him. It is well - That I have called Prince Ahaziah home. - But, till he come, I govern, I am King, - And one act of a King must now be done: - This rebels’ feast to Naboth must be stopped. - (_She claps her hands for_ MICAIAH, _who enters_.) - Micaiah, is there dust upon the road - To show the Prince’s coming? - - MICAIAH. - - Not yet, Madam. - - JEZEBEL. - - How soon can he be here? - - MICAIAH. - - Within two hours. - Unless he halt for noontide by the Springs. - He might be here much sooner. Say, one hour. - - JEZEBEL. - - Who is the captain of the guard to-day? - - MICAIAH. - - Rechab, to-day, good lady. - - JEZEBEL. - - Go, Micaiah, - Tell Pharmas that I wait him in the throne room; - Bid him bring ink and seals; bid him be quick - Attend me there. - - MICAIAH. - - Madam, I go. - [_Exit_ MICAIAH. - - JEZEBEL. - - Though the King sicken, it shall still be seen - That I, the Syrian woman, am a queen. - [_Exit_ JEZEBEL. - -_Enter_ PROPHET. - - PROPHET. - - Pharmas! Ashobal! Hark! Is Pharmas there? - It is full noon, but Pharmas is not here, - No, nor Ashobal. But there seems to be - Less danger than I feared: I was not questioned, - And men go unmolested to the feast. - -_Enter_ ASHOBAL. - - Here is Ashobal. Where is Pharmas, friend? - - ASHOBAL. - - Gone to the Queen again, with ink and seals. - There is this news: the King and Queen have talked - And Ahab now is in his room again, - Moodily sharpening his sword, and muttering. - I myself think that Ahab has gone mad. - - PROPHET. - - No word from Jehu yet, of Ahaziah? - - ASHOBAL. - - None yet, nor will be for a while. - - PROPHET. - - King Jehu, - Jehu, the King, God’s comet, bringing change. - Come soon, come soon. Oh, what is Pharmas doing? - - ASHOBAL. - - He writes some pressing matter for the Queen. - - PROPHET. - - We shall be late. Come, Pharmas! Hurry, hurry! - Would he were here and we away from this. - We are like hunters in the lion’s den, - Knowing the lion to be near. - - ASHOBAL. - - I hear him. - Yes; this is Pharmas coming. Here he is. - -_Enter_ PHARMAS. - - PROPHET. - - Pharmas, we have been waiting for you; come. - We must be going. Listen to your orders. - During this feast go down among the guards ... - - PHARMAS. - - Do not you talk of feasting, nor of guards. - The Queen has sent Micaiah with the guards - To fetch poor Naboth here. - - ASHOBAL. - - Why? - - PROPHET. - - What to do? - - PHARMAS. - - I do not know; but not for any good. - “Fetch Naboth here before me,” was the order. - It has gone off by this. - - ASHOBAL. - - This is the end! - - PROPHET. - - What can she want with Naboth? Painted hag, - Thus to command a man. - - ASHOBAL. - - Was the guard ordered to suppress the feast? - - PHARMAS. - - No, but it is suppressed with Naboth taken. - - ASHOBAL. - - We shall be taken next, so save yourself. - - PROPHET. - - I will be gone. You know my hiding-place, - The old one near the wall; send word to me - There, if you have a message. [_Exit._ - - MICAIAH. - - Way for Her Majesty the Queen, make way! - -_Enter_ MICAIAH. - - Set forth the chair of audience for the Queen. - Be reverent; the Queen approaches. Hail! - -_Enter_ JEZEBEL. - - JEZEBEL. - - Micaiah, Pharmas, and Ashobal, stay. - Within few moments, when the guards return, - You will return to take your places here, - Even as you stand this minute. - - THE MEN. - - We will do so. - - JEZEBEL. - - All three of you; you understand? - - THE MEN. - - Yes, Madam. - - JEZEBEL. - - Dismiss then, till the guards appear. - [_The_ MEN _go_. - - I am the King, upon whose balance lies - The nation’s need to prompt me to be wise. - Ruin to all I cherish, if I fail. - God, judge for me, thy wisdom turn the scale. - - -CURTAIN. - - -FIRST CHORUS - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - Once long ago young Nireus was the King - In Syme Island, so the stories say, - And at his birth the gods made holiday, - And blessed the child and gave him each one thing, - - Courage, and skill, and beauty, and bright eyes, - Wisdom, and charm, and many another power, - So that he grew to manhood like a flower - For beauty, and like God for being wise. - - Now Nireus’ friend was Paris, out of Troy, - Paris, the prince, the archer, who had seen - The goddesses within the forest green; - King Priam’s son, a peacock of a boy. - - MOON-BLOSSOM. - - At Sparta’s court, not far from Syme Isle, - Bright Helen lived, King Menelaus’ Queen, - The loveliest woman that has ever been, - Who made all mortals love her by her smile. - - Nireus and Paris went together there - To Helen’s palace: and when Nireus saw - Helen the Queen, the lovely without flaw, - He loved her like her shadow everywhere. - - And Paris, when he saw her with her mate, - Helen, the rose, beside that withered weed, - Loved her no less, but with a young man’s greed - That wants the moon from heaven and cannot wait. - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - Straightway he wooed Queen Helen to be his, - And won her love, and cried to Nireus then, - “O Nireus, help to save us from this den, - Lend us your ship to bring us out of this.” - - So Nireus, though his heart was torn with pain, - Well knowing what would come, yet took the pair - To many-towered Troy and left them there, - To live in love and be the city’s bane. - - MOON-BLOSSOM. - - When Menelaus knew of Helen’s flight, - He led all Greece in arms to punish Troy, - Nireus went with him in the fleet, and joy - Ceased in the world, for all men went to fight. - - Nine years they fought there in the tamarisk field, - And in the tenth, in some blind midnight stour, - Nireus killed Paris underneath the tower. - Men bore him back to Helen on his shield. - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - Then Troy was sacked and Menelaus took - Beautiful Helen as his prisoner home, - And locked her in his castle as a gnome - Might lock a gem on which no man might look. - - TOGETHER. - - Thus Nireus lost his love, and killed his friend, - And knew despair; so going to his ship, - He sailed to where the constellations dip, - In the great west, to look for the world’s end. - - -SECOND CHORUS - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - When Troy was sacked and all her towers - Blazed up and shook into the sky, - Smoke like great trees and flame like flowers, - And Priam’s bodyguard did die, - - Then the Queen’s women snatched up spears, - And fought their way out of the gate; - Seized horses from the charioteers - And fled like mountain-streams in spate. - - They would not stay for slavery - To some Greek lord until they died, - They rode the forest to be free, - Up on the peaks of snowy Ide. - - MOON-BLOSSOM. - - And in the forest on a peak - They hewed a dwelling with the bronze, - And lived, unconquered by the Greek, - Fierce, sun-burned women, neither tame nor weak, - The panther-women called the Amazons. - - They lived there on the heights and knew no men. - Having beheld the lusts of men destroy - The town of windy Troy, - They killed all men they met; their only joy - Was hunting for the wild beasts in the glen. - - TOGETHER. - - The wild boar and the many-branching stag, - Horse-killing panthers hidden by the brook, - The spotted death among the yellow flag, - All these with their bright spears these women took. - All these, and men, for even to be seen - By men, these hunter-women thought unclean. - - So no man saw them save a glimpse afar. - Of panther-skins flung back, and swift feet flying, - And the red stag brought low to the fierce Ha! - Of women’s spear-thrusts driven in the dying. - They ruled the crags like wolves, they kept their pride - Savage and sovereign like the snow on Ide. - - - - -SECOND ACT - - -MICAIAH. - -Madam, the soldiers have brought the farmer, Naboth; they have him in -the guard-room, waiting for your orders. - -JEZEBEL. - -Were you set upon as you brought him through the city? - -MICAIAH. - -No, Madam, but a crowd followed, which is now at the palace gates. - -JEZEBEL. - -Is it threatening? - -MICAIAH. - -No, Madam, but uneasy. - -JEZEBEL. - -Thank you, Micaiah. What standing has this Naboth? - -MICAIAH. - -He lives in the city, but has this vineyard and some other ground -outside the walls. He is a small farmer, strict in religion. Nothing -but religion will move him. - -JEZEBEL. - -I will try whether that be true. Go now, without, and bring me Ashobal -and Pharmas. - - MICAIAH. - -I will, Madam. [_Exit._ - -JEZEBEL. - -If I can persuade this man to sell his land, then this gathering will -lose all purpose. If he will not sell, as I doubt he will not, then, -how then? - -MICAIAH, PHARMAS, ASHOBAL _enter_. - - Stand where you are and pay especial heed - To what is said by us. - - THE MEN. - - We will, great Queen. - - JEZEBEL. - - I thank you. Will you bring the man, Micaiah? - -_Enter MICAIAH, with NABOTH, crowned as for a feast._ - - MICAIAH. - - Madam, your servant waits for your commands. - - JEZEBEL. - - Thank you, Micaiah. Keep in presence here. - You are that Naboth of the South-west Precinct? - (NABOTH _nods_.) - - Our calling of you here may come untimely. - You are at feast, or going to a feast? - - NABOTH. - - I’m here; you’ve caught me; do the worst you can, - But do not mock me. - - JEZEBEL. - - I mock no one, Naboth. - I sent for you because I wished to speak - About the purchase of your vineyard near - The city wall. - - NABOTH. - - Why do you want my vineyard, tell me that? - - JEZEBEL. - - I do not want it. - - NABOTH. - - Well, your husband does. - - JEZEBEL. - - He does not, Naboth. Listen, all of you. - There is a false suspicion spread abroad - That we, the King and Queen, have coveted - This land of Naboth’s. It is wholly false. - We do not want it, never wanted it, - But bid for it, on public grounds, because - Lord Jehu, captain of the bodyguard, - The overseer of the town’s defences, - Urged, and still urges, that the vineyard be - Brought in within the city wall. As King, - The King made offer for the land, through one ... - Which of you was it? - - ASHOBAL. - - I made the offer for His Majesty, - So please you, Madam. - - JEZEBEL. - - Since it is not your rulers but your city - That needs the land, we ask you to consider - The giving up your holding to be walled. - - NABOTH. - - God pleased to put my vineyard where it is, - Why should you change it? - - MICAIAH. - - In the siege, good Naboth, - The Syrian archers used to shoot from it - Into the city. - - NABOTH. - - And they might again - Soon in another siege? - - JEZEBEL. - - So Jehu thought. - - NABOTH. - - If you idolaters had done God’s will - And killed these Syrians when God bade you kill, - You would have had no other siege to dread. - - ASHOBAL. - - You must not speak this evil of your rulers. - Say nothing but as touching on the treaty. - - JEZEBEL. - - Whether your land should be enclosed or no - I cannot tell: Duke Jehu says it should be; - Says that for public good it should be walled. - You would not sorrow that your land should go - For greater safety of your fellow townsmen? - - NABOTH. - - I would. - - JEZEBEL. - - I do not think you would, good sir; - Yet, if a war should follow and a siege - Threaten again, your vineyard would be taken - Maugre your will, and walled in spite of you - By public means; and you would lose it, so. - - NABOTH. - - I would not lose it. It would still be mine. - - JEZEBEL. - - I cannot well see how; but let that be. - I ask you now to be content to treat - For this your plot. May we proceed in this? - - NABOTH. - - Dismiss your gang of killers here, these three - Lying in wait upon a poor man’s words. - - JEZEBEL. - - These are no killers, but my palace servants. - We are in treaty for exchange of land, - Or hope to be, and civil law prescribes - That sales of land be bargained before witness. - - NABOTH. - - Where are my witnesses, to speak for me? - - JEZEBEL. - - Well thought of, Naboth. Will you therefore send - To three, your friends, to witness to your words? - - NABOTH. - - No, I will not. - - JEZEBEL. - - Why not? - - NABOTH. - - No matter why. - You have caught me, but catch my friends yourself - If you do want them. - - JEZEBEL. - - Will you choose three men - Here in the palace, then, as witnesses? - - NABOTH. - - I have a witness, stronger than your three, - Already present, woman of false gods. - - ASHOBAL. - - Do not misname the person of your Queen. - You will lose all by rudeness. You have heard - That our great Queen demands to bargain with you, - But means no harm to you, nor to your friends. - - JEZEBEL. - - Thank you, Ashobal. (_Then to_ NABOTH) - May we now proceed? - - NABOTH. - - I have not yet agreed to treat with you. - - JEZEBEL. - - You waste our time. Speak. Will you treat or not? - - NABOTH. - - Before I treat, what do you offer for it? - - JEZEBEL. - - What is its yearly value? - - ASHOBAL. - - Seven casks. - - MICAIAH. - - Madam, that may have been the yearly yield - In its best seasons, but it is not now. - It is no vineyard now, great Queen; the vines - Were routed up by Syrians in the siege. - - JEZEBEL. - - So? Did you know of this, Ashobal? - - ASHOBAL. - - No. - - JEZEBEL. - - Not know of it? - - ASHOBAL. - - Not when I bargained for it. - - JEZEBEL. - - Yet knew it now, and never mentioned it? - Would let me bargain for a vineless vineyard - As though it gave full vintage. - - ASHOBAL. - - O good Madam, - You asked its yearly value, not its worth. - - JEZEBEL. - - That shall be proved. Naboth, I did not know - That this your vineyard had been rooted up. - - NABOTH. - - That damned idolater, your husband, knew it. - He said that as it was not now a vineyard, - He could plant herbs there. - - JEZEBEL. - - Bridle you your tongue. - When did His Majesty the King say this? - To whom? - - NABOTH. - - It is well known he said it openly. - - JEZEBEL. - - To you? - - NABOTH. - - No. - - JEZEBEL. - - Then to whom? To one of these? - You are all silent. Yet the King has seen - No other man, since his return to Shemer, - Except Prince Joram; therefore what you say - Is false in fact, seditious being said. - Ashobal, what was offered for the vineyard? - - ASHOBAL. - - A better vineyard; then, that being refused, - Three vineyards, each one better, in full bearing, - Two of red grapes and one of white, O Queen. - - JEZEBEL. - - And he refused? - - MICAIAH. - - He did. - - JEZEBEL (_to_ NABOTH). - - And do you still? - - NABOTH. - - Yes. - - JEZEBEL. - - Why? - - NABOTH. - - Because the vineyards that he offered - Aren’t his to offer. - - JEZEBEL. - - But they are, good Naboth. - They are the King’s. - - NABOTH. - - Does the King work them, then? - - JEZEBEL. - - Yes, they are worked at his command. How else? - - NABOTH. - - His sweat does not fall on them. - - JEZEBEL. - - It has done so. - He with his own hands worked those vineyards, Naboth, - Before his father, Omri, became King, - As you well know. - - NABOTH. - - I’ll have no slave-tilled vineyard. - - JEZEBEL. - - Men cannot live without the work of others; - You yourself do not. Did you make that robe, - Those shoes, that pouch? But we are wandering. - Let me, the Queen, make offer for your vineyards. - I offer the King’s vineyards as before, - And with them, the three marrowy olive-groves - Which Shemer planted. - - NABOTH. - - Shemer! And what more? - - MICAIAH. - - What more? - - ASHOBAL. - - Good heaven, you surely ask no more? - - NABOTH. - - I do. It’s not enough. - - JEZEBEL. - - Then name your price. - - NABOTH. - - I cannot be buyer and seller both. - - JEZEBEL. - - Then I will offer these: a bale of scarlet, - A camel-load of wool, woven or raw, - Three tent-rugs such as desert tribesmen weave, - Three desert-cushions made of coloured leather, - And one sealed roll of linen from the Nile, - The deckings of a house, in fact. With these, - Something to gladden dwellers in the house, - A score of honey, and a man-sized jar - Of olive oil, a measure of fine flour, - A pack of dates and seven porters’ loads - Of matured wine; the feastings of a house. - With these, I offer treasures for your house: - Gums from Arabia to burn as perfumes, - A tusk of ivory two cubits long, - A bar of silver from the mines of Bakht, - A casket made of turkis filled with beryl, - A piece of gold, the size of a man’s hand. - - NABOTH. - - I want no ivory nor gold nor scarlet, - Nor silver bars nor trash nor vanity. - - MICAIAH. - - Good Madam, might it not be wise to offer - Stock for his farm? - - JEZEBEL. - - Take horses, then, or oxen - To till your holding. - - NABOTH. - - I will not take them, then. - - MICAIAH. - - Would you not like them? - - NABOTH. - - No; I do without; - I need nor horse nor ass, nor cow nor camel. - - JEZEBEL. - - What can I offer? - - NABOTH. - - Sacrifice to the God of Israel. - - JEZEBEL. - - I do not offer that. - - NABOTH. - - You are not one - To search unto the spirit, nor be single - Within your heart. You are possessed by things; - Dead things, with stink and colour, brought in ships; - Your purples and the jewels for your hair, - Your ivory room, God save us! you being mortal, - Dwelling in ivory, while God himself - Lives in the wooden room darkened by wings. - - MICAIAH. - - Yes, Naboth; but reserve this for the feast, - Where those who hear it will enjoy it more - Than we do here. - - NABOTH. - - I do not speak to you. - - JEZEBEL. - - No, Naboth, you are speaking to your Queen, - Who bids you to be silent, if you care - To keep whole bones. Come from him, then, Micaiah. - Hear a last offer, Naboth; you are old, - Soon to become infirm, soon to bear pain. - And find it weariness to cross the room. - Might I not set provision for old age - Against your vineyard? Might I settle on you - A pension that would bring you quietness - And what age loves, respect and ease and state; - Might we not give you rank, as Elder, say, - With pay and servants fitting to the rank; - These things to be assured to you for life, - And after, to your son? - - NABOTH. - - I have no son. - My son was killed while fighting for King Ahab - In this last war. I will not sell my vineyard - For all the rank, for all the slaves and ease - In this realm that you make the gate of hell. - God blot me from the record of the blest - If I give up my father’s heritage, - If I commit into polluted hands, - Red with the blood of offerings to false gods, - The earth my father worked and worshipped in. - It is my vineyard and it shall be mine, - By God’s red hand the King should be ashamed; - You too would be ashamed were you not shameless, - To tempt a poor man’s soul with merchandise; - You, smeared with spice, painted, and dripping perfume, - A shameless woman, chaffering with a man, - And he, the King, a dallier with God’s foes, - Conspiring thus to cheat me of my vineyard. - God puts a word into my mouth to say, - He makes my mouth to spit upon you both. - There is for you. And there is for the King. - I spit upon you both and bid God curse you, - Curse you to ruin and to rottenness. - As here I curse you; him for making peace, - Where no peace is, and you, you insolent woman, - For being, like the King, a curse on Israel, - A bringer down into the pit of hell. - - MICAIAH. - - You shall avoid the presence when you curse. - [_Exit with_ NABOTH. - - JEZEBEL. - - You heard the curses of this frantic man? - - ASHOBAL _and_ PHARMAS. - - Madam, we did. We longed to silence him. - - JEZEBEL. - - Rechab is captain of the guard to-day? - - PHARMAS. - - Yes, Madam. - - ASHOBAL. - - Rechab, with the Jezreel troop, - Mounts guard till night. - - JEZEBEL. - - That will be well, Ashobal. - You know the ivory room that the King made? - You know that it was never planned nor used - For anything, save as an inmost shrine - For worshipping of God? - - PHARMAS _and_ ASHOBAL. - - We know it, Madam. - - JEZEBEL. - - Here is Micaiah back. Has Naboth gone? - - MICAIAH. - - Yes, Madam, to the rabble of his friends - Waiting his coming at the palace gate. - Now they are taking him triumphantly - Up to the feast, shouting, “He held his own - Against the royal tyrants.” At the feast, - When they have drunken, they will speak worse evil. - - JEZEBEL. - - You all remember what he uttered here? - How he misused the name of God, and cursed - The King and me? - - MICAIAH, ASHOBAL, _and_ PHARMAS (_together_). - - We do remember. - - JEZEBEL. - - Wait, then, some minutes, till the feast be set, - Then summon up the chapter of the priests, - And Rechab with his troop of bodyguard. - Then march with priests and soldiers to the banquet. - Let the priests call for silence from the throng, - And in the silence do you three stand forth, - Bear witness against Naboth in these terms: - “Thou didst blaspheme God and the King!” repeat - The words he uttered, bear each other witness; - And if a further witness be required, - Say I, the Queen, will come to testify, - Who heard the words, yet spared the speaker of them, - So that the priests, whose cause it is, might judge. - Then call upon the priests to utter judgment - According to the laws of blasphemy. - - MICAIAH, PHARMAS, _and_ ASHOBAL. - - We will obey your orders instantly. [_They go out._ - - JEZEBEL. - - Which brings the greater woe; to pass an evil, - Or break your Being’s law to combat it? - The allotted sorrow ever has a gateway. - - -CURTAIN. - - -THIRD CHORUS - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - Nireus sailed; and a strange wind blew him to islands unseen before, - Where the gods sat throned on the crags with peace on their - marvellous faces, - Clouds and the smoke of fire, that glittered and changed, they wore! - And unto them came the crying of all man’s sorrowful races. - - MOON-BLOSSOM. - - They cried to him as he passed, “You are seeking and you shall find, - Not in the way you hope, not in the way foreseen; - Out of horror of soul, ache, and anguish of mind, - Out of the desert of all, shall come the leaf that is green.” - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - Then the wind blew on to an island where millet is ever in ear, - And the horses that live in the sea come thronging in thousands to - eat, - And the horses that live on the island will never let them come near, - But they fight on the beaches forever with flashing and thunder of - feet. - - MOON-BLOSSOM. - - Then he sailed by invisible islands, he smelt the fruit on the trees, - And heard the noise in the shipyards and the crowing of cocks unseen, - Then sheered from the roar of breakers and on over unknown seas, - And ever he grieved for Paris, and thought of the beautiful Queen. - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - Then he came to a sea of terror, where monsters rose from the sea, - Things with the beaks of birds and arms like the suckers of vines: - Things like ghosts in the water coming motionlessly - To tatter the flesh of men with teeth like the cactus-spines. - - MOON-BLOSSOM. - - Over unending water ever he held his course, - Birds that were curses followed, crying around and above: - “Nireus, broken by beauty, broken again by remorse, - Goes to the breaking of death for killing his friend and love.” - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - And ever he cursed himself for bringing them both to wreck, - Helen and Paris, the lovely; and ever the waves seemed filled - With skull-bones hollow in death, that rose and peered on the deck: - And he thought, “They are those from Troy whom I in my madness - killed. - - MOON-BLOSSOM. - - “Had I refused, when they asked for my help to escape, - Paris would still be alive, Troy, the city, would stand, - And all the killed of the war would be tilling the corn and the grape, - Not ghosts with a curse in the air and torn bones strewing the land.” - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - So he sailed; but at night in the dark when the lantern bubbled aloft, - And men lay sleeping, when all save he were asleep, - And the ship slid on with a gurgle of water soft, - He knew that the dead of Troy came with him over the deep. - - MOON-BLOSSOM. - - Out of the long-backed roller that slid from its crest of foam, - Gibbered the bloodless dead, white faces with haggard eyes, - Pointing the bones of their hands at him who had forced them from home, - Their curses came to his ears like little twittering cries. - - TOGETHER. - - Whenever he moored at an island for water or food or rest, - Soon those wraiths of the dead would rise and bid him begone, - To harry the resting gannet out of the roller’s crest, - And carry the curse of his soul to the unknown, on and on. - - -FOURTH CHORUS - - MOON-BLOSSOM. - - In the grey of morning - When the stars were paling, - Nireus sailing, - Saw land ahead. - An island shining - With city towers, - Where bells were ringing - And men singing. - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - As Nireus stepped ashore there - He stood staring, - For all men there - Were the dead of the war: - The Greeks and Trojans, - Beautiful and swift, - Killed in the trampled tamarisks - Beneath Troy town. - - MOON-BLOSSOM. - - Stars were in their hair, - Their brows were crowned with violets, - They stepped like stags, - Comrade with comrade. - They had forgotten - The mud and death, - The heat and flies - Of the plain of Troy. - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - There among them - Came a prince in scarlet, - With his hands stretched - In welcoming. - It was Paris, his friend, - Paris whom he killed - In the midnight raid - Beneath Troy wall. - - MOON-BLOSSOM. - - Paris cried, - “Nireus, my comrade, - Nireus, my belovèd, - My friend of old! - Here we have forgiven - What my young man’s folly bred, - We feast as friends - In the violet fields.” - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - Then he led Nireus - To the hall of feasting. - There they feasted - In the violet fields. - Three summer days and nights, - It seemed, they feasted, - Each summer day and night - Was ten years long. - - TOGETHER. - - Paris and the heroes - Cried to Nireus, - “We loved Helen, - When we were men. - Now we love her still - And we see her lonely, - Old, and haunted - By her lovers dead. - - “Take to Helen - Gifts from her lovers, - In her old age find her - And give her these: - Beauty and peace - And our forgiveness, - And all our thanks - For what she was.” - - MOON-BLOSSOM. - - As they ceased speaking - They faded from him, - The island faded, - Nireus was at sea. - He and his men - Were all grown old, - Thirty years - Had fallen on them. - - TOGETHER. - - As old men failing - They came to Sparta; - All unavailing - Their coming was. - Helen was gone - And none knew whither, - To search for peace - Or to find release. - - Over the seas - In lands and islands - Nireus sought her, - But could not find. - For the gods retire - When men desire, - Though it burn like fire - And make men blind. - - - - -THIRD ACT - - - PROPHET. - - Come, you avenging Powers, who with swords - Smite at the bidding of your overlords; - Come, all you threatening things, who, with slant eyes, - Wait to snatch spirits in the mood unwise; - Come, eagle spirits, that do drink man’s blood, - Hurry on smeared wings hither to your food: - I, who am Prophet, give you King and Queen. - -_Enter_ ASHOBAL. - - ASHOBAL. - - What are you raging for? Be silent, Prophet, - The King is coming hither. - - PROPHET. - - Tell him this: - “I am the herald of a mightier King, - Who bids me stand before this palace door - And cry a curse on Ahab and his wife. - Ahab, the dog, Ahab, the murderer, - And Jezebel the harlot murderess.” - -_Enter_ AHAB. - - AHAB. - - So! Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? - - PROPHET. - - Yes, I have found thee, and before I lose thee - Will speak one word. What hast thou done, thou devil, - On Naboth, that most upright man of God! - - AHAB. - - An upright man is in God’s hands, O Prophet. - - PROPHET. - - True, he is in God’s hands. Who sent him there? - - AHAB. - - I know not, Prophet, but if he be there, - He will be much at peace. - - PROPHET. - - You fiend of hell! - You, who hath murdered Naboth, to exult - Over his corpse, still bleeding as it is. - - AHAB. - - I have not murdered Naboth, nor do know - That he is dead, nor how, nor why. Explain. - - PROPHET. - - You damned him to be stoned for blasphemy. - - AHAB. - - I, do you say? - - PROPHET. - - Yes, you; or if not you, - Your bloody-hearted hirelings and the priests. - - AHAB. - - The priests alone can judge of blasphemy. - Which do you call my hirelings? - - PROPHET. - - The accursed - Idolaters who follow on your Queen. - -_Enter_ JEZEBEL. - - JEZEBEL. - - I am the Queen. Where is the man who dares - Call those who follow me accurst? - - PROPHET. - - Here, devil. - Here is the man who dares call you and them - Accurst as murderers of Naboth dead. - - AHAB. - - You say that priests condemned him for blaspheming. - - PROPHET. - - You stirred the priests to prosecuting him. - - AHAB. - - No, not in any way soever, Prophet. - - PROPHET. - - Then you, co-devil with him, did this thing. - - JEZEBEL. - - Hearken, old ruffian, and be warned by Naboth. - He cursed his God and King here in my presence, - Breaking the kingdom’s laws of blasphemy. - I, who uphold this kingdom’s laws, gave order - That he should be arraigned for blasphemy. - Do I conclude that there are still some men - Who do their ruler’s bidding in this kingdom? - - AHAB. - - He was arraigned, condemned, and stoned? - - PROPHET. - - He was. - - JEZEBEL. - - So perish all such breakers of the law. - - PROPHET. - - Easily spoken words for King and Queen; - And easy laws for King and Queen to keep, - Living in purple in the ivory room; - And useful laws for killing enemies. - But there are other laws which do persist - After the enemies are killed. For Naboth - We left his body lying on its face, - And the wild dogs slink in and lick his blood; - And the bald birds that watch in heaven for deaths - Settle, and wait until the dogs have done. - But ... as those dogs and buzzards come to Naboth, - The dogs and kites of vengeance come to you. - I tell you this ... - Since you have sold yourself thus to work evil, - I will bring evil on you, take away - All your posterity, and make your house - Like Jeroboam’s house, - And like the accursed house, Baasha’s house. - Those of your house that die within the city - The dogs shall eat, and those that die afield - The fowls of the air shall eat; and Jezebel ... - Dogs shall eat Jezebel by the city wall. - Now royal rottenness in purple hedged, - I call a great cry from the Spirit of God. - Come all you dogs and vultures, - Come on your noiseless wings out of great Heaven, - Come upon padding footsteps stealthily. - Follow your victims in the hearts of men, - And by the ways of men, and take their blood - As they took his, as they took his, as they - Took his, upon the stones; blood, blood, that shrieks. - - (_The spirit passes out of him. He swoons._) - - AHAB. - - So, Jezebel, you see what you have done. - - JEZEBEL. - - Would you have pardoned Naboth, had you heard him? - - AHAB. - - No; but to give our enemies this handle - Against us, at this time, and for no reason. - - JEZEBEL. - - The laws are plain: would you have pardoned him? - - AHAB. - - I tell you, no. - - JEZEBEL. - - Then what would you have done? - - AHAB. - - Made him a mocking, or imprisoned him, - Or had him publicly displayed and shamed. - - JEZEBEL. - - Why did you not then do as you have said? - I told you plainly of the need of action. - One of us rulers had to play the King - And check this rebel. Since you did not, I did. - And he is checked for ever, and his friends - Daunted: so daunted that you have the chance - Now to take hold and be indeed the King, - And rule according to your royal will, - Not as the frenzy of a rebel bids. - - AHAB. - - This thing that you have done has ruined all - The little chance I had of governing. - You bring me to the pitch of having to choose - Between your fancies and the people’s will. - Perhaps it is too late to remedy - The evil that must follow from your folly. - Naboth is dead: this prophet shows our future; - If there be any future left for us. - Do not now answer me; I must debate this - Within myself. You may have ruined me, - But that or no, you have been mad, by Heaven. - [_Exit_ AHAB. - - JEZEBEL. - - How blest to be a prophet, who forever - Does but condemn another man’s endeavour. - How blest, not to decide, nor be, nor do, - But help the many to condemn the few. - -_Enter_ JORAM. - -Joram, my son, do you come to comfort your mother? - -JORAM. - -No, mother, I do not. I come to look for my father. - -JEZEBEL. - -If you are looking for the King, this is the King. - -JORAM. - -What is this body, Madam? The prophet? Is he dead? - -JEZEBEL. - -Only swooned from cursing your father and mother. - -JORAM. - -Mother, you are talking very strangely. - -JEZEBEL. - -I have been mad, by Heaven. Why, Joram, you come to tell my father so; -do you not, boy? - -JORAM. - -I do not know how to answer you. - -JEZEBEL. - -You reckon me a curse upon this country? - -JORAM. - -As my father’s officer I have to report what the citizens feel. - -JEZEBEL. - -You feel it with them. - -JORAM. - -Whatever I feel I can restrain; but since you insist, I say that it is -hard that my father should be ruined by your Syrian policy and gods and -self. - -JEZEBEL. - -You are half-Syrian. - -JORAM. - -Through you, I was. But in this war, while I lay wounded, a Syrian -trooper kicked me and spurred me in the face. That took my last drop -of Syrian blood; your blood. There is nothing Syrian in me now. But I -mean to pay the Syrians for that kicking and spurring when they lie -wounded. You have made father mild and Ahaziah like yourself; but after -them perhaps I shall be King; perhaps sooner. - -JEZEBEL. - -You are leagued with your father’s enemies. And do you think that they -will make you the King? - -JORAM. - -It is not a question of what I think, but of the needs of this land. - -JEZEBEL. - -When the mob comes to sack the palace, there is always some prince to -open the door. - -JORAM. - -If I ever am the King, the Syrians will see. - -JEZEBEL. - -May it be long before you become King. - -JORAM. - -Your killing Naboth may make it very long. But I am not here to talk -with you, but with the King. - -JEZEBEL. - -As I told you, this is the King, here on the ground. - -_Enter_ AHAB. - -JORAM. - -Save you, O King, I bring a message from the Council. - -AHAB. - -What is it? - -JORAM. - -Something that would be better said by Ahaziah than myself. - -AHAB. - -Let me hear it. - -JORAM. - -If I did not bring it as a message, it would be my duty as your officer -to bring it as a report. - -JEZEBEL. - -The Council sends word by your son that you, the King, should banish -the Queen. - -JORAM. - -Madam, do not add to the pain of my mission. The Council is composed -of manly and godly men, the best of our country, whose wills are worth -the weighing. They bid me say, sir, this, that they deplore that such -a King should have for counsellor one who brings peace with Syria, and -the death of an upright man whom they esteemed. - -AHAB. - -By this counsellor they mean your mother, the Queen? - -JORAM. - -Sir, you are ever wise and they ever respectful. They feel that a -foreign influence is not for your people’s good, nor for justice in -your people’s causes. - -JEZEBEL. - -My son, speak openly, for the people’s good. - -AHAB. - -What do they demand? - -JORAM. - -They bid me say, sir, that they cannot doubt that you would care only -for your people’s good, were it made apparent. - -JEZEBEL. - -Make it apparent. - -JORAM. - -Sire, I would that the prince, my brother, might have had this task. - -JEZEBEL. - -I, too, wish that, my son. Is not banishment enough, then? Do they ask -for my death? - -JORAM. - -Sir, those are their feelings. - -AHAB. - -They hate my Queen and wish her gone? - -JORAM. - -Sir, truth cannot be hidden from you. - -AHAB. - -And if I ignore their feelings, or crush their mutterings? - -JORAM. - -Sir, they think you too great a man, for either way. - -AHAB. - -But if they err, and I do? - -JORAM. - -You would not. - -AHAB. - -If I did, what then? - -JORAM. - -Your Majesty has too good a memory. - -AHAB. - -What do you mean by that, boy? - -JORAM. - -Sir, your father only came to the crown because a former King ignored -men’s feelings. King Nadab ignored his subjects’ feelings. What -happened to him? King Elah did. What happened to him? King Zimri did. -What happened to him? Men now living saw all these Kings; and what came -to them? The crown is granted on certain terms, according with the Life -of this Race. My father, I beseech you, think what this Race asks. - -AHAB. - -I never cease to think it. Leave us. - [_Exit_ JORAM. - -You heard what he said? - -JEZEBEL. - -Yes. - -AHAB. - -They want me to put you aside. - -JEZEBEL. - -Yes, Ahab. - -AHAB. - -What urged you to prosecute Naboth at such a time? - -JEZEBEL. - -Someone had to act. - -AHAB. - -You acted fatally. - -JEZEBEL. - -I was myself, Ahab; a princess of Sidon; your Queen. - -AHAB. - -This is not Sidon, but Shemer. - - JEZEBEL. - - I will not plead for your forgiveness, then. - Dismiss me from your council and your court - And let me be; the hated foreign woman - Who tried and failed. I will be nothing here. - After these years of hatred it will be - Peace to be nothing. When my son returns, - (The captain, Ahaziah) send him hence. - I sent for him to help me govern here. - Since I am nothing now, he must not stay. - But now that I am nothing, I say this: - That you must be upon your guard, King Ahab, - More; you must play the King, and being King, - Strike down this prophet and his friend, Lord Jehu, - For they are linked together against peace. - - AHAB. - - What proofs have you? - - JEZEBEL. - - A woman has no proofs, - Only an instinct fortified by love - Stronger than any proof. - - AHAB. - - And I have knowledge. - Jehu has been my captain of the horse, - My comrade in the field, my counsellor, - My soldier, who has shed his blood for me - In five campaigns, in many years of war. - This prophet is indeed the enemy - Of much that I have planned, but as for Jehu, - I know him, and I know that you have wronged him - And speak from bitterness. - - JEZEBEL. - - Ahab, beware. - By all our lives together, you beware - Of Jehu and this man. - - AHAB. - - Had I been ware of you, Queen Jezebel, - Many years sooner, I had had no need - To be aware of any of my subjects. - I cannot longer countenance your dealings. - They neither suit my people nor the time. Therefore - I do dismiss you from your royalty, - From Queenship and command and counselling, - From all authority in Shemer here. - This shall be straightway published as my will. - - PROPHET. - - The messenger that spoke through me has gone, - And I am cold and broken as with blows, - But yet I hear--can you not hear--do you? - - AHAB. - - What should we hear, old ruffian from the desert? - - PROPHET. - - The wings descending and the footsteps coming. - The vultures and the dogs coming for blood. - Listen. The vultures settle in the court, - And there are footsteps coming up the stair, - The footsteps of the dogs that come for blood; - For blood is coming upon this house, and I - Have told you that it comes; I am its herald. - - _Enter_ JEHU _from in front, carrying armour. He comes on, stands - motionless, then flings down a helmet; then, after a pause, a - corselet; then, after a pause, a sword._ ZAKKUR _stands behind him_. - - AHAB. - - What does your coming with these weapons mean? - Whose weapons are they? What has happened, Jehu? - Is it some challenge? Speak. - - JEZEBEL. - - I know that sword. - It’s Ahaziah’s sword. My son is dead? - (JEHU _nods_.) - - AHAB. - - What? Ahaziah dead? How did he die? - - JEHU. - - While he was riding here, he made a halt, - To rest his horses, at the inn at Springs; - And leaning on the lattice, looking out, - He fell out of the upper balcony, - And died soon after, broken by the fall. - Here is the witness, who will tell you how. - - AHAB. - - Speak, then, and tell the tale. How could he fall? - - ZAKKUR. - - By treachery, by Syrian treachery. - -Lord, when our Queen commanded the Prince to return here, she sent her -orders by a Syrian of the Court. - -JEZEBEL. - -I did, by Malik. - -ZAKKUR. - -Malik was in the pay of the King of Syria. - -JEZEBEL. - -That is false. That lie has been exposed many times over. - -ZAKKUR. - -Madam, alas, it is now proven, by Malik’s confession. - -AHAB. - -Who are you who speak? - -ZAKKUR. - -A lieutenant in our late Prince’s troop, my lord. - -AHAB. - -Go on, then, about Malik. - -ZAKKUR. - -Before delivering his orders to our late Prince, he showed them to -the Syrian officers in the garrison at Ramoth. They saw a chance of -intercepting our Prince upon his way. They bribed Malik to lead the -Prince, so as to halt at the inn at Springs. They did not wish to set -upon him, because they expected the troop to be with the Prince. They -sawed through the beams of the balcony of the inn so that when he set -foot upon it, the floor should give way. The Prince did not bring his -troop with him, but set out with myself, his galloper, and Malik. He -halted at the inn, at Malik’s persuasion, much against his will, for he -wished to be here. Then all happened as his murderers the Syrians had -devised. He went upon the balcony, it fell, and he died from it. - -After he had died, my lord, Malik urged us to come away, which I and my -colleague would not, without examination. When we found that the beams -had been sawn, remembering Malik’s Syrian birth and his suspicious -wishes, first to halt there, then to come away, we taxed him with the -crime and he confessed, and was secured. - -The galloper waits at the inn for an escort for the body and the -prisoner. It was decided that I should ride here at once with the news. - -JEZEBEL. - -Before he died, did he say anything? - -ZAKKUR. - -Yes, Madam; he muttered about the gods, and about you. - -JEZEBEL. - -What did he say? - -ZAKKUR. - -That we were to tell you that this was the gods’ reward for peace with -Syria. - -JEZEBEL. - -Since he is dead, wisdom and peace are dead! - [_She goes out._ - - AHAB. - - God, thou hast faced me with my sin this day. - My son, who was to follow me as King, - Killed by a Syrian plot, by treachery. - Killed, coming home to help me in my sorrows. - - PROPHET. - - Killed by your treachery, that made the peace - With Syria, against God’s ordinance. - - JEHU. - - Nothing that has been done by Syria - Against this land can rank beside this deed; - The loss of such a Prince by such a crime - Will rouse this country, lord. You will keep peace - By your great policy, but through your people - A mighty cry for vengeance will arise. - - AHAB. - - And not unheeded, Jehu. Listen, all. - This was his sword. He was to be the King - After my death, fulfilling all my dreams. - See, you, and you, and you, I take the sword - And draw it out and swear upon its hilt - To take a vengeance on the murderers - Who brought him to his death. - - JEHU. - - Well sworn, O King; - - PROPHET. - - Surely the Spirit of God is working in you! - - AHAB. - - Wait yet, O Prophet; though my heart is sick - At having trusted in my enemies, - And been ill-paid, I will ask help from God; - Counsel and help in any act of justice. - Go, gather me the prophets, let them seek - Illumination, then bring word to me - Whether the spirit do approve a war. - I will go seek for guidance, though my heart - Seeks less for guidance now than for release. - - JEHU. - - Lord, all true hearts commiserate your grief. - - AHAB. - - Thank you, good Jehu. [_Exit_ AHAB. - - ZAKKUR. - - Well, he took the story. - - JEHU. - - Yes, as I knew he would. The score’s one each. - He has won Naboth, I have Ahaziah. - - PROPHET. - - Was not the story true? - - JEHU. - - The Prince is dead, - So much is true; and in an hour from now - We can be marching hence with Ahab’s self, - If all your prophets will but prophesy. - I want him killed in war, outside the city. - Go, bid the prophets prophesy for war. - [_Exit_ PROPHET, _with_ ZAKKUR. - - JEHU. - - So, Ahaziah, you were rude to me. - Princes should not be rude to rising men, - For men may rise. You will be rude no more. - I have been rude to you, my Ahaziah. - I kicked the lips that once were rude to me. - My foot is on your heart’s blood, Ahaziah. - - -CURTAIN. - - -FIFTH CHORUS - - MOON-BLOSSOM. - - Full of years and wealth and evil, Menelaus died in Sparta, - And Queen Helen at his bedside stood and looked upon him dead, - He who once had bought her beauty, to be bride to him, by barter, - He whom she had loathed and fled from, now lay silenced on the bed. - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - Bitter thoughts were in her as she looked upon his meanness, - Thoughts of Paris in his beauty when their love was at its height. - Paris in his morning, and the King in his uncleanness, - And this dead mean thing, her master, and the winner of the fight. - - TOGETHER. - - All was silent in the palace of the King, - Save the soft-foot watchers whispering; - All was dark, save in the porch - The wind-blown fire of a torch, - And the sentries still as in a stound, - With their spear-heads drooped upon the ground. - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - Then she thought: “These two men had me, and a myriad men have sickened - To a fever of a love for me who saw me passing by: - When they saw me, all their eyes grew bright, and all their pulses - quickened, - And to win me or to keep me they went up to Troy to die. - - MOON-BLOSSOM. - - “Now the earthly moon, my beauty, and the rose, my youth, have - dwindled. - I am old, my hair is grey, and none remembers - What a fire in men’s hearts Queen Helen kindled - Ere the fire in Queen Helen turned to embers.” - - TOGETHER. - - All was silent in the palace of the King, - Save the wind-blown torch-flame guttering, - And a moth that came - Beating with his wings about the flame, - And the sentries drawing breath, - With their spear-heads drooped saluting death. - - MOON-BLOSSOM. - - Then she said: “The gods conspired to give gifts of beauty to me, - And the beauty gave the gift of death to all who came to woo me; - Now of all the men who loved me, none remain, - And of both the men who had me neither knew me - Surely all my past was evil, for its fruit is bitter pain. - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - “I will go to some lone island where I am not made a story, - Where my beauty made no widow, nor no orphan wanting bread; - Where no human sorrow suffers the disaster of my glory, - And my eyes may lose the vision of the hauntings of the dead.” - - MOON-BLOSSOM. - - “Day and night the dead men haunt me, whom the madness of my caring - Brought from home and wives and children to be bones upon the plain; - All the panther-like for beauty, all the lion-like for daring, - And they lie among the bindweed now, uncovered by the rain.” - - TOGETHER. - - All was silent in the palace of the King, - Save the soft-foot watchers whispering; - All was dark, save in the porch - The wind-blown fire of a torch, - And the sentries still as in a stound - With their spear-heads drooped upon the ground. - - Then she rose, and cloaked her face, and hurried swiftly from the city, - And to sea, away from Hellas, but she dared not show her face, - For the women and the orphans would have killed her without pity: - She had sown her crop of death too far, she found no resting-place. - - But in inns where people gathered in the evenings after labour, - Where the shepherd’s pipe or viol stirred the blind man to his verse, - Till the hearers swayed and trembled and the rough man touched his - neighbour, - They would talk of Troy with sadness, but of Helen with a curse. - - -SIXTH CHORUS - - MOON-BLOSSOM. - - After long years, when Helen was riding by night - In storm, in the Ida forest, alone, not knowing the road, - She saw a light in the blackness; she turned to the light, - She came to the fort on the crag, the panther-women’s abode. - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - Hearing her horse’s stamp, they brought her into the yard, - Those women fierce from the killing of lion or boar or man; - They came with their torches round her, they stared at her hard, - They knew her for Helen the Queen from whom their sorrows began. - - For years they had longed for her coming, to have her to kill, - Her beauty a throat for their knives, her body a prey-- - Helen, who ruined their lovers, the root of their ill-- - She said: “I am Helen. Avenge yourselves on me. You may.” - - MOON-BLOSSOM. - - Still they stared at her there in the torchlight; then one of them - said: - “God used you to bring things to be; evil things to our city, - Evil things to yourself, for your face declares you have paid; - You have come to the truth like ourselves; we take not vengeance, - but pity.” - Then they welcomed her into their hold, and when morning broke clear, - They rode with her down to the ruins of what had been Troy; - There they left her alone in the wreck of the thing overdear - That the gods cannot grant to mankind, but unite to destroy. - - - - -FOURTH ACT - - - JEZEBEL. - - I shall not look upon my son again! - How many million mothers must have felt - As I, with a dead child. How many lives - Have been made lightless thus. - For no child ever dies without the breaking - Of someone’s heart. - And yet the world goes on. - I shall go on, perhaps for many years, - And in my heart’s most secret corridor - Will be a shrine, where I shall watch my son, - Lonely as Helen in her tower at Troy - When Paris had been killed. - Would I had been beside him when he fell, - And fallen with him to the pit of death! - Better die so, not mangled in the war, - A young man, beautiful in youth, as thou wert; - Not troubled yet by life; not yet a King; - Thou hast been only young and now art dead. - - With all life’s faults, I want you back in life, - Not dead, my son, beyond my touch and speech, - But here, moving and speaking, being mine. - My help and stay and wisdom and assuagement - As in the past. You, who gave no farewell, - Speak to me from the grave, O lovely son. - (_There is a sighing._) - Was that an answer from the dead, or birds - Flying away before the winter comes? - My son, if you are there, speak to my spirit. - (_There is a sighing._) - What message do you bring, that you are here? - What do you come to tell me? - - THE VOICE. - - Death. - - JEZEBEL. - - What? - - THE VOICE. - - Death. - - JEZEBEL. - - Whose death? Mine? Or your father’s? Or the kingdom’s? - My son’s soul was within this room and speaking. - O speak again, say something, give me proof - That you are linked still by dear love to me. Hark! Hush! - No. There was no voice speaking; nor will be. - -AHAZIAH _appears_. - - My boy! My son! - - AHAZIAH. - - Mother! - - JEZEBEL. - - My child! My dear! - - AHAZIAH. - - Listen. I cannot say it all. The flowers - Speak truth. You all are coming. - - JEZEBEL. - - Then, beloved, - We shall soon meet again, and part no more. - - AHAZIAH. - - Mother, I struggle back to tell you this: - It is most hard to come, most hard to speak. - You must with all your power strive to cut - These nets. - - JEZEBEL. - - What are these nets? - - AHAZIAH. - - The nets of death, - That are all round you like a hunter’s toils. - - JEZEBEL. - - Do you mean civil war? Or war with Syria? - - AHAZIAH. - - That is not what I mean; but someone near you. - Someone about you has most deadly hands, - A hangman’s hands; and you must break his hands. - - JEZEBEL. - - Who is it, that is deadly? Is it Joram? - - AHAZIAH. - - I cannot speak his name, but, mother, hark: - He murdered me; I never saw his face; - He killed me at the inn. - - JEZEBEL. - - Jehu, you mean? - - AHAZIAH. - - The man forever looking at the throat, - Whose fingers twitch; a red-eyed man it is, - I cannot speak the name. - - JEZEBEL. - - Oh, it is Jehu! - And Jehu murdered you? - - AHAZIAH. - - There’s danger, mother; - Avoid the nets. I cannot make you see them. - - JEZEBEL. - - Jehu is spreading nets of treachery? - - AHAZIAH. - - The flowers speak truth; the flowers and the rod, - The riding rod. [_He goes._ - - JEZEBEL. - - Oh, speak! O my dear son, - How can I help, I being Queen no longer, - But banished and condemned? What can I do? - And what is this of riding rods and flowers? - (_There is a sighing._) - - My son is gone into the night of Death, - And Jehu murdered him in ways unknown. - Would I could prove the crime! - -_Enter_ MICAIAH. - - MICAIAH. - - Madam, a rider from the inn at Springs - Has brought these flowers, gathered by the Prince - Your son, now dead. - - JEZEBEL. - - The flowers that speak truth; - Was there no other relic but the flowers? - - MICAIAH. - - Yes, Madam, this: a staff or riding rod, - Left on the flowers, so the rider said. - - JEZEBEL. - - A riding rod! And do you know the rod? - - MICAIAH. - - Madam, I do. It is Lord Jehu’s staff. - - JEZEBEL. - - What brought it to the inn at Springs, Micaiah? - - MICAIAH. - - I do not know. The rider found it there. - - JEZEBEL. - - Where is the rider who delivered these? - - MICAIAH. - - Gone, Madam; he preferred not to be known. - - JEZEBEL. - - I see you have suspicions; let me know them. - - MICAIAH. - - Madam, this staff was in Lord Jehu’s hand - This morning, when I saw him here at court. - - JEZEBEL. - - That, or one like it? Could you swear to that? - - MICAIAH. - - He held this staff. He stopped me in the square - About a warrant, and I noticed it. - This little scratch is unmistakable. - - JEZEBEL. - - And what can you conclude from this, Micaiah? - - MICAIAH. - - That the Lord Jehu hurried to the Springs, - After I saw him, and then hurried back. - - JEZEBEL. - - What duty could have taken him to Springs? - - MICAIAH. - - Madam, he had no duty there. I asked. - - JEZEBEL. - - Might not a messenger have gone from him - Bearing his staff? - - MICAIAH. - - Madam, he went himself. - The warden at the west gate saw him start - In that direction, and return from thence - Three hours later. He was back by noon. - - JEZEBEL. - - So that he would have been at Springs, perhaps, - Before Prince Ahaziah halted there? - - MICAIAH. - - Perhaps. - - JEZEBEL. - - Yet not perhaps; he would have been there. - He must have been there at the very time. - - MICAIAH. - - Madam, I dare not utter thoughts like these. - - JEZEBEL. - - Yet Jehu could not know that he was coming - Home from the frontier, or would pass by Springs. - - MICAIAH. - - So please you, Madam, but the fact was known - Publicly in the city everywhere. - The knowledge was abroad, I know not how. - You are beset by watchers, and by traitors. - - JEZEBEL. - - And murderers and friends of murderers. - Jehu waylaid my son and murdered him. - By these poor relics sacred with his blood - I will denounce him to the King myself, - Or lay him dead before me with my hands. - (_She gathers the relics._) - - MICAIAH. - - Lie there, sad relic of a glorious youth. - - ZIKRI (_entering_). - - Make ready for the utterance of the Prophet! - - KALLAI (_entering_). - - Bow down before the Prophet, bringer of truth! - -_Enter the_ PROPHET. - - PROPHET. - - I am bringer of Truth out of the hidden, - I am finder of ways where footing is sure, - I am sword and shield against things forbidden. - I am brightness to guide, healing to cure; - Mine are the words that endure. - I, now, about to declare as the Spirit orders, - Cry, let women avoid, let children hide, - Let none but spearmen be here, the city’s warders. - I speak, out of the Truth, words that abide. - Men only may hear what might of men must decide. - [JEZEBEL _veils and goes_. - -_Enter_ JORAM, _then_ JEHU, _then_ AHAB, _preceded by_ SPEARMEN. - - AHAB. - - Now that the revelation is vouchsafed, - Stand, all, before this Prophet, who has seen - Light in the darkness that has blinded us. - - PROPHET. - - Hearken, O King, to revelation’s self. - The spirit says, “Go up against the Syrians; - At Ramoth-Gilead you shall conquer them.” - See here these horns of iron that I wear. - The spirit says, “With these horns shalt thou push - The Syrians, until they be consumed.” - - JEHU. - - Good messages, good omens, good foretellings. - - AHAB. - - May they prove good. - - JORAM. - - The spirit filled the prophets with a glory - Marvellous to watch and hear: they spoke as one. - - MICAIAH. - - Not quite as one, Prince Joram and my King. - One was not filled with spirit. - - AHAB. - - Who is this? - - MICAIAH. - - I am Micaiah, lord, who have been counted - A seer, too, at times. - - AHAB. - - Oh, it is you! - Honest Micaiah, who must speak the truth. - I hate this man; he prophesies not good - But evil of me. - - JEHU. - - These fellows are too ready with their evil. - - PHARMAS (_to_ MICAIAH). - - See now, the prophets foretell victory, - With one mouth; say the same; cry victory. - - MICAIAH. - - As the Lord lives I’ll speak what the Lord says. - - AHAB. - - Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-Gilead - To battle, or forbear? - - MICAIAH. - - Go, lord, and prosper, - The Lord shall make it yours. - - AHAB. - - How many times - Shall I adjure you that you speak the truth, - Speak nothing but the truth. - - JORAM. - - I’d have a way to make him speak the truth. - Two troopers with a pair of stirrup leathers - To teach his obstinate jaw some reverence. - - AHAB. - - Peace, Joram: let him speak. - - MICAIAH. - - Sir, I will speak. - In dreams, last night, in the dark night, ere cocks crowed, - I saw a downland empty to the sky. - - JORAM. - - That is the way these fellows use to talk; - They’d talk another way, had I my will. - - MICAIAH. - - And suddenly I saw all Israel - Scattered upon that downland frantically, - Like sheep without a shepherd. The Lord said: - “These have no master now; let them go home.” - - AHAB. - - And how do you interpret this your dream? - - MICAIAH. - - That if you go this warfare, you, the master - Of Israel, will die. - - AHAB. - - How die? - - MICAIAH. - - I do not know. - - JEHU. - - You mean, in battle? - - MICAIAH. - - By violence. - - JORAM. - - That means in battle, surely. - - MICAIAH. - - Not necessarily. - - JEHU. - - How else, then, man? - - MICAIAH. - - I do not know. Perhaps by treachery. - - JEHU. - - We will protect the King from treachery. - - JORAM (_to_ MICAIAH). - - Except such treachery as men like you - Think in their hearts and utter in big words, - Trying to wreck the State. - - AHAB. - - Did I not say - That he would utter evil about me? - - JORAM. - - These fellows need a bit within their jaws. - - MICAIAH. - - My Prince, no bit can stop the telling truth. - - PROPHET. - - What do you know of truth, idolater? - - MICAIAH. - - Nothing. I know that certain things are true. - - JEHU. - - Fine talk, to keep the army lingering. - - AHAB. - - Have you some other vision to reveal? - - MICAIAH. - - A sort of vision. - - PROPHET. - - Ay, a sort of vision. - There is one way of vision, only one, - Vouchsafed to men, you false one, with false gods. - - AHAB. - - What is this vision? Will it lighten me? - - MICAIAH. - - It is of you and of the prophet tribe. - - PROPHET. - - Some blasphemy. Take heed to what he says. - - MICAIAH. - - In the dark night I saw this other thing: - I saw the Lord in heaven on his throne, - With all the host of heaven standing by him. - He said, “Who shall persuade King Ahab to go up - And die at Ramoth-Gilead?” They discussed it. - At last a spirit said, “I will persuade him.” - The Lord said, “How?” - The spirit said, “I will go forth and be - A lying spirit in his prophets’ mouths.” - And the Lord said, “Thou shalt. Go forth and do so.” - Behold the Lord hath put a lying spirit - Into thy prophets’ mouths, and spoken evil - Not good to you. - - PROPHET. - - You think God’s truth has passed from me to you. - When did it pass, and how? - - MICAIAH. - - You will know that - When you shall go into an inner chamber - To hide yourself. - - AHAB. - - Carry this fellow to the Governor, - And have him into prison in the dark, - And let his bread and drink be bitterness - Until I come in peace. - - MICAIAH. - - If you return at all - In peace, the spirit has not spoken by me. - Hearken, O people, every one of you. - - AHAB. - - Have him away. - - MICAIAH. - - Which story is the likelier to be true, - Mine, which when told brings prison, or this fellow’s - Which earns the King’s reward? The truth is dangerous. - - JORAM. - - You’ll find this dangerous. Away with him! - (_He is dragged out._) - - JEHU. - - That shows how close your enemies can come. - Even to your very court. - - JORAM. - - He should be silenced. - - AHAB. - - He is a gallant fellow, without judgment. - But he presumes too much, he and his dreams. - - PROPHET. - - (_Crying aloud._) O King, a vision is vouchsafed to me! - I see! I see! Hearken to what I see. - I see a red bull trampling down God’s foes; - He neezes fire and all his fell is fire; - His shoulder is a mountain rough with forest; - His eye the wrath of God; he stamps the cities. - Go up against the Syrians, like this bull. - - JORAM. - - There is the voice of God. - - JEHU. - - Ay, truly, Prince. - - AHAB. - - Since God declares that we should make this war, - Which we, as men, have shrunk from hitherto, - Although provoked by countless insolence, - Now hearken to the utterance of the crown. - -_Enter_ JEZEBEL. - - JEZEBEL. - - Ay, hearken to the utterance of the crown. - You are all come to hear a war declared. - Now I, the crown, declare it unto you. - I declare war upon our enemies. - They are all present, standing in this place, - Waiting the execution of our sword. - (_To_ PROPHET.) This man, the madman from the desert, first, - Who rages like a desert-storm, that kills - With sand, burning hot sand, pitiless sand. - (_To_ JORAM.) This next, the hater of his house, our son, - Who, for a wound that pains him would be glad - That thousand others should be sick with wounds. - (_To_ JEHU.) Then, next, this other man, not mad not sick, - Not even suspected; honoured, trusted, loved. - This man, the rider to the inn at Springs, - For secret evil. Hark! This man, King Ahab, - Murdered our son and plots to murder you. - Seize him, King Ahab, ere it be too late. - - AHAB. - - Murdered our son? But this is childishness. - - JEZEBEL. - - No, I bring proof; the rod, the rod he holds, - Was found at Springs, to prove that he was there. - - JEHU. - - This rod, good Madam? - - JEZEBEL. - - Even that very rod. - - AHAB. - - Who found it at the Springs? Who brought it here? - - JEZEBEL. - - A rider, lord, who gave it to Micaiah. - - JORAM. - - What rider? - - AHAB. - - Yes, what rider, can you tell? - - JEZEBEL. - - One who would not be known, Micaiah said. - - AHAB. - - Micaiah! He? - - JORAM. - - The man imprisoned here. - - JEHU. - - My lord, I grieve less at this ill suspicion - Than at the sad disaster which has caused it. - - JEZEBEL. - - You killed my son most foully at the inn; - You were seen riding thither before noon, - And left your rod there while you did the deed, - Upon these flowers which my son had gathered; - These desert flowers. - - JEHU. - - My Lord and King, I can most clearly prove - That I was at my quarters all the morning. - This rod I missed this morning from my quarters - And found it here on entering but now. - Prince Joram saw me find it as I entered. - - JORAM. - - That is most true; I did. - Mother, you should not be here; come away. - - JEZEBEL. - - My lord, my King, my husband, listen to me. - You know me, whether I am mad or no. - I am not mad; but Ahaziah’s spirit - Came to me here, stood where his murderer stands, - Less than an hour ago, denouncing him, - His murderer, and traitor to yourself. - I, knowing this, see to the soul of things, - And cry, if you be man, attack this traitor, - Tear out his wicked plottings and destroy him. - - AHAB. - - Let the Queen’s women come. I hear your charges - Brought with more passion than with evidence. - These are our friends, our proven soldier, Jehu, - Our son, and this, the prophet of the spirit, - Not what you think. See, here your women come. - Tend the Queen’s majesty to her apartments. - - JEZEBEL. - - You think me mad, my inmost wisdom, mad. - For the last time, for Ahaziah’s sake, - For your sake, for the kingdom, for the crown, - And for the sake of God who gives the crown, - Believe what I have said against this Jehu. - - AHAB. - - I grieve that anyone should bring such charges. - That you should bring them is an anguish to me. - Go with your women hence, and try to rest. - - JEZEBEL. - - Prince Joram, will you give me your support? - Thank you, my son. - Since no one will believe, - I, here, the Queen, must act alone. I will. - (_She snatches_ JORAM’S _knife and tries to kill_ JEHU.) - Die, murderer of my son! - - JORAM (_catching her_). - - I thought you’d try it. - But I was ready for you. Come now, mother, - You must go, rest. Come help her there, you women. - (JEZEBEL _is helped off_.) - It is my brother’s death that makes her thus. - - AHAB. - - It shakes us all. You understand, Duke Jehu, - The cause of this, without my saying more. - - JEHU. - - My lord, I understand. - But yet suggest some trial or enquiry - Into my dealings. - - AHAB. - - Do not think of it. - For these unhappy things which bruise men’s hearts - Tear women’s hearts across. Let us proceed. - I declare war against the Syrians - For breach of treaty. We will march at once. - - JORAM. - - Though wounded, I will march, for I’ll repay - The Syrians what I owe. Come, prophet, spread - The news throughout the city. - - PROPHET. - - I will declare God’s wrath against his enemies. - (JORAM _and_ PROPHET _go_.) - - AHAB. - - Stay, Jehu, yet. You heard Micaiah’s dream. - That was an evil omen for our war. - - JEHU. - - I do not think so. Why, what was the dream? - _That there should seem to be no King to-day._ - Was not that it? The meaning is apparent: - That you should wear disguise. - - AHAB. - - Ha! Well suggested. - - JEHU. - - It is a wise precaution at the least. - Some traitor may be plotting to destroy you, - Some Syrian assassin may be here. - So take Micaiah’s hint and wear no purple. - - AHAB. - - A good interpretation. I accept it - So. I will march disguised. - - JEHU. - - Much better so. - - AHAB. - - Micaiah did interpret for my death. - - JEHU. - - These thinkers are the enemies of war - Because they are afraid. He wished to scare you, - Let me unclasp the buckle of your cloak. - Much wiser give no target to these archers; - Wear the plain armour of a charioteer. - - AHAB. - - I will, Duke Jehu. Lie you there, my purple, - Till I return to-night with victory. - At sunset every night the Queen and I - Go through the citron gardens to the kennels, - To feed our Hittite wolf-hounds with raw flesh. - To-night when we go feed them, we will go, - As conquerors of Syria, through the city. - [_Exit_ AHAB. - - JEHU. - - Right, my good Lord. Yes, you shall be disguised; - But this bright bird within the quiver here - Will pierce through your disguise before to-night, - And you shall feed the wolf-hounds, never fear; - So shall your Queen, with royal flesh and raw. - (_He puts on the King’s purple_,) - _Oh, out in the desert, my spear and my bow. - Will win me whatever I need; - The wine and the oil that another did grow - And the horse that another did breed._ - - So away for the desert.... - Ay, I have trotted in your bodyguard - Too long, by God! - - -CURTAIN. - - -SEVENTH CHORUS - -ROSE-FLOWER. - - Queen Helen left those women of the wood, - She clambered from her horse and stood again - Even on the very hill where Troy had stood, - Where tamarisk shrubs and broom-sprigs and wild grain - Sprouted from bronze and rib-bones of men slain. - - There was the palace where her love had been; - Stones blackened by the fire and misplac’d - By roots of vines that fed upon the paste - Of all the pride where she had lived a queen. - - Troy was no more than weeds and fire-flaked stone, - But still the straits ran roaring to the south, - And still the never-quiet winds were blown - With scent of meadow-sweet from Simois’ mouth. - - MOON-BLOSSOM. - - Yet no Greeks were moving on the beaches, - No galleys of the Greeks came oaring in, - Nor did lancer scouts or parties ride the whin, - Bringing in or checking convoys from the river’s upper reaches - Where the forest pines begin. - - And the forges were all gone, and all the fires - Of the camps and burnings of the dead. - And the grinding of the bronze-shod chariot-tyres - Rang no more. - Both in city and on shore - There were no more shouted orders, clash of arms, or marchers’ tread. - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - All was manless now, uncared for; both the streams had left their - courses. - There was marsh where corn had grown of old, and there, where Paris - lay, - Was an apple-tree with fruit which fed the now wild Trojan horses, - That with bright teeth bit each other; - Earth made Greek and Trojan brother, - All the passion that had raged there now was dead and gone away. - - MOON-BLOSSOM. - - Then she cried, “I caused the quarrel that brought death along these - beaches, - I alone made Troy this ruin, I alone, from haste of youth, - From a women’s bent, that listens to a lie, if it beseeches; - Now I stand here old and friendless, having nothing but the truth.” - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - There she stopped, for there before her, in the ruins, stood a - stranger; - “This is changed indeed,” he told her, “since I stood here once - before: - Then it flamed all red to heaven and it rang with death and danger, - And I stood here with noble Agammemnon, - In the thunder of the ending of the war.” - - MOON-BLOSSOM. - - Something in the old man’s bearing made her start and catch her breath. - “You are Nireus, friend,” she answered. “You are he who brought me - here - When my life and love were dear: - Then I came to life and loving, now I come to grief and death. - - “There is no small grass, in plain or water, - But grows from the body of one killed - By the deadly love of me, who am Helen, Leda’s daughter: - All the young and swift and lovely, all the quick of heart are - stilled; - I was cause of their going to the slaughter. - - “Daylong and nightlong their shadows pursue me with evil, - Haunting my thought in the day, killing my rest in the night; - Now they have drawn me here; their multitudinous devil - Bids me die where I sinned. - I hear their cry in the wind, - I see their eyes in the light.” - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - Nireus answered, “Ah, not thus, not so, Queen Helen, surely, - Are those who died for love of you, to win you or to keep! - If they gave their lives, they gave them as a man gives frankly, - purely, - Without question, comment or complaint, - The strong heart equal with the faint, - All content to see your beauty and to tread hard ways to sleep. - - “Now they know that your beauty made them splendid, - Splendid to the death; for I have seen, - Seen and talked, beloved Helen, with the souls of those who ended - In the ruins of this city that has been, - And they praise your name, they count you still their Queen. - - “Now come with me, for the ship waits to receive you, - The wind is fair for Syme; let us start. - Here, where long ago I lost you, I retrieve you; - Let us leave this town of broken heart - For the peace of Syme Harbour and the mirth of Syme mart, - And the calm of knowing sorrow at an end, - And the quiet of the memory of a friend.” - - TOGETHER. - - Then they sailed for Syme Island, and the gods were with their going, - For their beauty came upon them both, with youth and strength and - peace; - Now they rule and live forever in a spring forever blowing, - High in Syme where the sun is bright and skylarks never cease. - - - - -FIFTH ACT - - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - There is no rider, coming from the army, - In sight yet, Madam. Shall we play again? - (_No answer._) - - MOON-BLOSSOM. - - Come to the window. There. What white was that? - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - The wind lifting the dust. - - MOON-BLOSSOM. - - No. Yes, it was. - Dust from a windflaw blowing down the glen. - There is no rider, Madam. Shall we sing? - (_No answer._) - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - She is too stunned with sorrow to give orders. - Shall we not sing to soothe her? - - MOON-BLOSSOM. - - Sing, then, you. - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - Speak to her first. - - MOON-BLOSSOM. - - Madam---- - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - She will not answer; - So speak some quiet thing. - - MOON-BLOSSOM. - - Men are like wind-vanes that forever swing; - Men are like winds forever wavering; - Men are like water; men are like the tide: - Women, the rock they ebb from, do abide. - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - She will not speak. See, it is sunset now. - And now the drums begin upon the housetops, - And all the plain spreads out, burningly clear. - - JEZEBEL. - - What is that noise of evil that I hear? - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - The prophet speaking in the market-place. - - MOON-BLOSSOM. - - All afternoon his voice has shouted evil. - - JEZEBEL. - - It is as red as blood within this room. - They have gone out to war; is it not so? - I have been thinking till it all seems plain. - We are amusements only - In mightier life than ours. - God knows, we are not amusement to ourselves. - I am no Queen. I have no son; no husband; - No task, no place, and yet I covet news. - Look, by the rocks, beyond the spur; you see? - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - A rider. - - MOON-BLOSSOM. - - In a white cloak, with a lance. - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - One of King Ahab’s lancers, if in white. - - MOON-BLOSSOM. - - Surely a rider from the army, Madam. - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - Bringing good news, because he would not gallop - Save with the news of triumph. - - JEZEBEL. - - What he brings - Will not be what we look for, because life - Is unexpected, whether good or ill. - And at the door by which a horror enters - Another comes, a muffled one, a silent. - (_There is a knocking._) - Enter, without there! - - PHARMAS _enters_. - - Yes? What is it, Pharmas? - - PHARMAS. - - The Presence will forgive my interruption. - There is a woman in the outer court - Asks that you grant her audience for a moment. - - JEZEBEL. - - Why should I grant her audience? Who is she? - - PHARMAS. - - She comes from Lower Egypt, as she says. - - JEZEBEL. - - What is her traffic with me? - - PHARMAS. - - Madam, this. - She brings cosmetics and Arabian gums. - - JEZEBEL. - - This is no time for such. I cannot see her. - - PHARMAS. - - May the great Presence pardon if I speak. - I told her that you would not buy her gear - At such a time, but she implored me still - To beg you to admit her to your presence. - - JEZEBEL. - - Did she say why? - - PHARMAS. - - Yes, Madam; because once - Many long years ago she lived in Sidon, - Her father being sutler to the guard, - Your royal father’s bodyguardsmen, Madam. - She says she looked upon your presence there, - When you were a Princess. She does desire - To see that prophecy of future beauty - Fulfilled in you the Queen, if you the Queen - Would graciously permit her eyes to feast - Upon the sight of you. - - JEZEBEL. - - So our pasts come - To see what time had made of us. So be it. - A word of Sidon would be beauty to me - To-day. Let her come in. - - PHARMAS. - - I will, O Splendour! - [_Exit._ - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - Queen, is it wise to let a stranger come? - - JEZEBEL. - - No. - - MOON-BLOSSOM. - - Then why see her? - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - Would it not be better - If, first, we questioned her? - - MOON-BLOSSOM. - - Or searched for weapons? - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - She well might carry daggers. - - MOON-BLOSSOM. - - Or bring poison. - - JEZEBEL. - - No; let her come. I am involved in nets - So close, that both the wise thing and unwise - Are cords to catch me. - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - She is here. - - PHARMAS (_entering with_ HAMUTAL). - - This way. - Stand here until the Presence speaks to you. [_Exit._ - - JEZEBEL. - - They tell me that you lived in Sidon once. - - HAMUTAL. - - Yes, lady, yes. I passed my childhood there. - - JEZEBEL. - - So. In which street or quarter was your home? - - HAMUTAL. - - The twisted stinking quarter of the poor, - One where you never trod, near the fish-market. - - JEZEBEL. - - I trod there often, and its filthiest lane, - Silvered with cat-gnawn droppings of the nets, - Was blessed to me. It is blest in memory. - - HAMUTAL. - - Perhaps to others it is not so blest. - I know my father starved there; so did I. - That’s past. The question now is, Is the man - Gone from the door? - - JEZEBEL. - - The man who brought you here? - Look. - - ROSE-FLOWER (_looking._) - - He has gone. - - JEZEBEL. - - Why should he not be gone? - - HAMUTAL. - - They are all spies here, every man of them. - And I have come here, Madam, to say this: - You are in instant danger of your life. - - JEZEBEL. - - From whom? - - HAMUTAL. - - I cannot say. I will not say. - I do not rightly know; but they are wicked-- - Wicked and bold. Though others made them so. - I have come here to help you to escape. - - JEZEBEL. - - I thank you for the thought, but first convince me - That there is danger. - I have lived here in danger twenty years. - What horror comes to-day? - - HAMUTAL. - - Come to the window, Madam; but be hidden. - Look here. You see the side gate of the palace? - You see, behind the ruined wall, armed men? - They watch that side gate lest you leave the palace. - Now, on this side, see there, among those bushes, - More men-at-arms, watching the royal gate. - There at the water-gate are more armed men. - And they are not your guards. - - JEZEBEL. - - I see they are not. - Then, while they watch for me, their friends are watching - My husband in the army? Is it so? - - HAMUTAL. - - No, do not ask me, Madam; I know nothing. - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - How could our Queen escape with the gate watched? - This is some treason, Madam, to betray you - Out of the palace, into savage hands. - - JEZEBEL. - - Let’s see her face. Ah! no, she is not that. - Look, woman; many Queens have been betrayed - Since men were ruled; betrayed to death and shame, - Most foully, by their subjects, whom they trusted. - There is no treachery on earth more devilish - To brand men blacker or to rake the heart worse. - You would not be the one to tempt me forth - To death and shame among my enemies? - - HAMUTAL. - - Madam, I swear I would not. - - MOON-BLOSSOM. - - We could call - The palace guards. - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - Yes, call the palace guards and question her. - - HAMUTAL. - - Come to the doorway, Madam. - You hear the sounds below? Your palace guards - Are being feasted by your enemies; - Women and drink have overcome your guards. - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - Then how can she escape? - - HAMUTAL. - - The little door-- - The little, secret, unsuspected door - Under the stair, leads to a passage-way - Straight to the stables. I have brought the keys. - - JEZEBEL. - - You are my steward’s wife, then? No one else - Could know about the door. - - HAMUTAL. - - Oh, hurry, hurry! - What matter who I am? You are the Queen. - You will find horses ready in the stables - For you and for your women. From the stables - You can escape, the postern is unlockt. - - JEZEBEL. - - And you? - What kind of life awaits you, after this? - - HAMUTAL. - - A better kind of life than you have made - For poor folk. - - JEZEBEL. - - Ah! fine words; but ten years hence, - Nay, two years, one year, hence, you will remember - My queenship as a dream, a golden dream. - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - O Madam, take the keys; do not delay. - - MOON-BLOSSOM. - - The men outside are beating at the gate. - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - Look, Madam, they have scrambled from the bushes - And beat upon the bars. - - HAMUTAL. - - O Heaven! Hark! - - JEZEBEL. - - What is it? - - HAMUTAL. - - Listen! Listen! - Come from the door. - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - What did you think you heard? - - HAMUTAL. - - Come nearer me. - - JEZEBEL. - - I am not terrified. - Draw a deep breath and tell us what it is. - - HAMUTAL. - - I think that someone is outside the door, - Listening to what we say. - - JEZEBEL. - - Be still a moment. - - HAMUTAL. - - It is a man. - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - There is a noise of armour. - - MOON-FLOWER. - - Someone is breathing deeply just outside. - - HAMUTAL. - - What shall I do? What shall I do? O Heaven. - - JEZEBEL. - - Help her to veil. Treat her as one of you; - Cover her features with the gossamer, - Now let her hurry to the passage yonder. - [_Exit_ HAMUTAL. - - We will be ridded of uncertainty. - Is anyone behind the door there? Enter. - (_She goes back and flings open the door._ - PASHUR _is there. He comes in._) - Who are you, fellow? And what brings you here? - - PASHUR. - - A messenger, with news. And who are you? - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - She is your Queen, so speak with reverence. - - PASHUR. - - A Queen! God spare us: soldiers own no Queen. - But you shall hear my story, Queen or no. - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - Is the King dead? Speak! Is King Ahab dead? - - PASHUR. - - Learn to respect a royal messenger. - Ay, it has been a hot day’s work to-day. - - JEZEBEL. - - If you be from the King, tell us your story. - - PASHUR. - - Ay, I am from the King. That is God’s truth. - And I have ridden out, and fought, and ridden - Back to this city, and the whole world sways - As from the falling shoulders of a horse. - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - So the King lives! Thank God! - - PASHUR. - - Yes, the King lives. - And give God praise, because of victory. - - JEZEBEL. - - I give God praise. - - PASHUR. - - Queen, it has been a day. - Think for a moment what this day has been. - We marched this morning with our banners waving, - With the prophets raving, and the trumpets blowing, - With the charioteers of the King of Judah, - And the spears of the King, a thousand men. - We came to Ramoth when they least expected, - While they slept the noontide and thought it peace. - There we paid back upon the Syrians - A little of what we owed, by God. - - JEZEBEL. - - You mean, they did not know that there was war? - - PASHUR. - - They knew it well enough before we ended. - You see these blackened ashes mixed with blood, - That is what Ramoth and her people are. - The King gave order you should see the work. - You see, ashes and blood; by God, I love them. - But that is not the message that I bring. - I bring a message about good King Ahab, - Who rode into the battle in his chariot - Against the chariots of Syria. - Keep yourselves quiet, Syrians, while I tell. - There was a man, who shall be nameless, - Who shall be blameless, or praised aloud, - He with an arrow shot King Ahab - Beneath the arm in the armour joint. - - JEZEBEL. - - He was behind the King, then, when he shot. - - PASHUR. - - He wished his work to be successful, lady. - - JEZEBEL. - - So the King died? - - PASHUR. - - The Queen knows everything. - He did not die at once, but bled to death, - Down in the shadow of the willow trees. - His blood dripped from his chariot; the dogs licked it, - Even as the Teshbon prophet did foretell. - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - Let us mourn for the King, for the cedar fallen, - For the eagle fallen from heaven, for the burnt-out fire. - - MOON-BLOSSOM. - - For the light that shone and is dark, for the word spoken. - For the strength unknit, for the crown brought to the mire. - - JEZEBEL. - - My King is dead! I knew that he was dead. - Have you declared this news to any yet? - - PASHUR. - - Not yet. - - JEZEBEL. - - Then go; declare it to the priests, - That they may now declare it to the people: - The King is dead and now his son is King; - King Joram is the King in Israel. - - PASHUR. - - You are too quick. Joram is not the King. - Jehu, anointed by the Prophet’s oil, - Has killed your Joram with an arrow shot - Under his arm, and out right through his heart, - Killing him in his chariot as he drove. - And he has killed his ally, and has flung - Your Joram’s body, bloody as it is, - Down into Naboth’s vineyard, to the dogs. - Now Bidkar, captain of the charioteers, - Drives the good Jehu hither to be crowned. - Jehu is King, and you, you scarlet whore, - Abominable in the face of God, - You manless, soulless, crownless foreigner, - Shall taste the wrath of God and of God’s people. - Now for your spicery there shall be stink, - And where the delicate hair has known the comb - There shall be baldness, and where silk has lain - There shall be nakedness. - And where the red lips mocked God delicately - There shall be broken teeth biting on dust: - It shall be done to you ere this day passes. - [_Exit_ PASHUR. - - JEZEBEL. - - My King, my sons, are killed! So Jehu wins. - Thus in an hour the world slips from the feet. - What change beyond this world summons us home? - What conclave of the spirits? - Dead: all three. - Bring me my jewels from the tiring-room. - [_The_ MAIDS _go, then return with casket_. - - You women, who were with me from the first, - Jehu is coming here to murder me. - He will be here in some few minutes now. - Yet there may still be time for you to go. - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - And time for you, O Queen; you could fly too. - Put on these veils. Oh, hurry! We will take - The door the woman told of, and the horses, - And be in safety on the coast by dawn. - - JEZEBEL. - - I am the daughter of a Queen, my friends. - My life has been here and my death shall be - Near to my dead. But one task more, my friends. - Swift, from within, my cases of cosmetics, - My crownets and the settings for my hair, - The purple chlamys with the spangs of gold - That long ago my father won at Rhodes, - The robe that once the great Queen Helen had - When she was beauty’s self, and gave her beauty - To buy a little love in windy Troy. - (_The_ MAIDS _bring the gear_.) - That is the last task you shall do for me. - (_Gives jewels._) - And this the last least gift that I can give, - With all my thanks for service you have done me, - Year in, year out, for many bitter years. - I think no Queen has ever been so served. - Courage. Here is the key; draw your veils close. - - ROSE-FLOWER. - - O mistress, come with us! - - MOON-BLOSSOM. - - Beloved mistress! - What will they do to us, what will they do? - - JEZEBEL. - - Nothing. They will not find you. You will go - Down through the secret door and so away. - Master your tears. You, take her by the arm. - You will be sailing up the coast to Sidon - By sunrise; think. - - MOON-BLOSSOM. - - And where will you be, lady? - - JEZEBEL. - - As it is written for me. - (_To_ ROSE-FLOWER.) Sister. Friend. - When you reach Sidon, greet the King, my father, - And give him this, and bid him consecrate - A stone for me. Now go. The gods go with you. - [_The_ MAIDENS _go_. - - I will prepare myself for burial, - Since but a little time remains to me. - There is the dust of Jehu’s charioting; - The two Assyrian stallions which we gave him - Coming to end my house. - But first, those women. - Hush! All is still. They must have reached the stable. - That woman spoke the truth, the way was clear. - There is no noise of men arresting them. - The guards are still. Thus far they must be safe. - There is no sound; and see, those men are quiet. - O gods, send messengers to make them safe! - Ay, there they go, on horseback. They are free. - Now let me pray. “O thou great fire of life, - Of whom all lives of men are but the sparks, - Take back this spark into the fire that burns - In the great sun, in all the lesser suns, - In the suns’ moons, and everything that lives - In wild blood, and the pushing of the spring; - And if my ways were darkness, give me darkness, - And if my ways were brightness, give me light.” - Now I will decorate myself for death, - As once before, when I was crowned a bride - Here to the King. - First, with this pencil, I - Darken my brows, because they go to death. - And make my eyes bright, since I join my husband - And go again to look upon my sons. - Next I will set this scarlet on my lips, - And on my cheek, lest men should think me pale - And say that I, the Queen, am pale from fear. - Now I will draw Queen Helen’s robe about me. - This golden bird is Helen’s very hair - That Paris kissed in Troy, my father told me. - Lastly, I will make consecrate my hair - With royal gold, for I will die a Queen. - Now am I as the beauty that I was, - When in my father’s palace near the sea - The princes of the Islands came to court me, - Phorbas, and Kreon, and Andemakos, - Kings of the Islands, bright-eyed from the sea, - Men who had gone as strangers to strange lands, - And there made friends by something kindling in them: - Not like this Queen whom once they courted there. - Where are they now, those men who loved me once? - Perhaps alive still in their island homes. - Decked with the precious things of half the world, - And thinking of me sometimes, as men do - Think of old loves long over utterly. - And Tsor of Mura, whom I might have married, - Had I been wise. He will still think of me. - Now will I bare my throat that they may kill me. - How the blood beats that soon will cease to beat! - Poor servant blood, that kept this flesh alive - Knowing not why, and now shall serve no more - This captive soul that was an earthly Queen. - And I without this servant shall not know - The hour of pain, the sleepless night, the day - Anxious as fever with this troublous world; - Shall know, it may be, nothing more forever, - Or know, it may be, all things burningly, - Know god the spirit as a lover would. - Now I will look if those who come to kill - Are on their way. (_Goes to window._) - O prison of a city - Which I have hated! Little evil lanes, - Filthy with dogs and lepers and blind men - Made eyeless by the flies. O nest of vipers, - Within few moments I shall pass from you. - Once an Egyptian told me that at death - The soul has power to will its resting-place: - So do I will that I be far from here, - At Sidon on a hilltop near the sea, - Looking at Kittim at a sun-setting, - When all the peaks rise up like crowns of gods - And flame with the gods’ thoughts. And past those peaks, - Beyond, in the imagined, never seen, - Behind its reef of rocks, and beautiful - With marble and with wonders and with waters, - Is Mura, where my lover was a King. - But hark, they come. I would go forth to Sidon. - To Sidon, or to Kittim, or to Mura, - Some place of the sea-princes near the sea. - I would go forth to Sidon or to Mura, - To Mura, or to Sidon, or to Kittim--- - (_She sings._) - The April moon is in the sky, - Last night I heard the wild geese cry. - _Oh, ho!_ - - The brooks are bright on Lebanon, - The rain has come, the snows are gone. - _Oh, ho!_ - - The north wind faints and soon the south - Will blow the spice smell in the mouth. - _Oh, ho!_ - - Then shall my bird the ship take wing - And sail the green seas with the King, - And find, maybe, a finer thing - Than any here. - _Oh, ho!_ - -_Enter_ PHARMAS _and_ ASHOBAL. - - PHARMAS. - - Madam, King Jehu and his men are come: - They ask to see you at the window yonder. - - JEHU (_outside._) - - Come out, you Jezebel, and taste God’s judgment, - So that this land which you have wrecked may find - Some little peace! - - JEZEBEL. - - Had Zimri peace - Who killed his master? - - JEHU. - - Let me see this whore! - (_He clambers up to look in._) - And who is with her? - (_Speaks to_ PHARMAS _and_ ASHOBAL.) - Who is on my side? - Who of you men within are for King Jehu? - - PHARMAS _and_ ASHOBAL. - - We are, great King! - - JEHU. - - Then throw her down to me. - Seize her and throw her down - - ASHOBAL _and_ PHARMA (_together._) - - Down with you, Mistress - (_Throw her down._) - - JEHU. - - Get up, you horses. Would you shrink from flesh? - Tread her; come up, you; over her; once more. - Tread her again. I’ll teach you who is master. - Ride over her, you fellows, every one. - Ride over her and trample on her body; - Let the beasts kick her. That’s the way. Again. - You tread the harlot who has wrecked this land. - Come here and hold my horses, one of you. - Give me a hand, you men, and let me in. - -_Enter_ JEHU (_by the window_). - - That’s made an end of her, the filthy witch! - - PHARMAS. - - I stabbed her with a knife before I threw her. - - JEHU. - - You, did you? Well, then fetch me wine to drink, - In the King’s cup, by God. So. Give it here. - (_Drinks._) - I needed drink after this day of fighting. - A hot day’s work, but, by the living God, - To-morrow shall be hotter. Ahab’s sons, - And Ahab’s friends, and Ahab’s ministers - Shall have their heads in baskets by to-morrow. - Where is this man who says he killed the Queen? - - PHARMAS. - - Here, mighty King. - - JEHU. - - Go, find the cursed hag - And bury up her carrion in the earth, - For after all she was a King’s daughter. - [_Exit_ PHARMAS. - - JEHU (_sings_). - - _Oh, out in the desert my bow and my spear - Shall win me whatever I need, - Another man’s tent, and another man’s gear, - And another man’s...._ - - Fill me more wine. Go to the window yonder. - Halt. As you were. I’ll go myself. You, fellow. - You fellow, there. Is the Queen’s body there? - What does he say? - - ASHOBAL. - - He says that the wild dogs have torn the body. - - JEHU. - - Good enough end and fitting burial for her. - Now I have sacrifice to do to Baal. - By God, a lusty sacrifice! By God, - These damned idolaters shall learn the truth! - None of your knives on me. [_Goes out._ - - [_The_ SERVANTS _and_ MEN _go out_. - -_Enter_ MICAIAH (_from in front_). - - MICAIAH. - - She was too good a woman to be Queen - In such a land as this, at such a time. - Would she had gone! Her women have escaped. - And I am freed from prison by the rabble. - - Wisdom is gone from the city, - The killer alone is obeyed, - A man without law, without pity, - Who was fed by the King he betrayed. - The debt that was owing is paid, - By a new deed of murder that cries - To the gods who are Kings in the skies. - Though the ways of the gods are most wise, - They are dark, they make me afraid. - - -CURTAIN. - - - - -Transcriber’s Notes - - -Simple typographical errors were corrected. - -Page 52: Transcriber added “are” to “But there are other laws which do -persist”, as its omission seems to be a typographical error, and it was -found in other books containing this play. - -Page 71: “And of both the men who had me neither knew me” ended with an -em dash in a different copy of this play. - -Page 99: “Agammemnon” was printed that way in this edition. - -Page 112: “I am not terrified.” ended with a question mark in the -source book, but should end with a period, as it does in this eBook. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A King's Daughter, by John Masefield - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A KING'S DAUGHTER *** - -***** This file should be named 60330-0.txt or 60330-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/0/3/3/60330/ - -Produced by Tim Lindell, Charlie Howard, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: A King's Daughter - A Tragedy in Verse - -Author: John Masefield - -Release Date: September 19, 2019 [EBook #60330] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A KING'S DAUGHTER *** - - - - -Produced by Tim Lindell, Charlie Howard, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<h1>A KING’S DAUGHTER</h1> - -<hr /> - -<div id="ad"> -<p class="newpage p4 center wspace bold">BY THE SAME AUTHOR</p> - -<p class="p1 b1 center"><i>Uniform with this Volume</i></p> - -<p class="in0"> -REYNARD THE FOX: A POEM<br /> -RIGHT ROYAL: A POEM<br /> -ENSLAVED, AND OTHER POEMS<br /> -KING COLE, AND OTHER POEMS<br /> -THE DAFFODIL FIELDS: A POEM<br /> -DAUBER: A POEM<br /> -GOOD FRIDAY: A PLAY IN VERSE<br /> -THE FAITHFUL: A PLAY<br /> -LOLLINGDON DOWNS, AND OTHER POEMS<br /> -MELLONEY HOLTSPUR: A PLAY<br /> -PHILIP THE KING, AND OTHER POEMS<br /> -A POEM AND TWO PLAYS</p> - -<hr class="narrow" /> - -<p class="center smaller"><span class="smcap">London</span>: WILLIAM HEINEMANN LTD.</p> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<div id="tp" class="newpage p4"> -<p class="xxlarge">A KING’S DAUGHTER</p> - -<p class="p2 wspace">A TRAGEDY IN VERSE</p> - -<p class="p2 vspace wspace large"><span class="xsmall">BY</span><br /> -JOHN MASEFIELD</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="max-width: 5em;"> -<img src="images/i_title.jpg" width="80" height="79" alt="Publisher's logo" /> -</div> - -<p class="p2 center vspace">LONDON<br /> -<span class="larger wspace">WILLIAM HEINEMANN LTD.</span></p> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p class="newpage p4 center small bold"> -PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY<br /> -BIDLING AND SONS, LTD., GUILDFORD AND ESHER</p> - -<hr /> - -<p class="newpage p4 center vspace wspace larger bold"><span class="small">TO</span><br /> -MY WIFE</p> - -<hr /> - -<p class="newpage p4">This play was performed at the Oxford Playhouse on -Friday and Saturday, May 25 and 26, 1923, by the following -cast of the Hill Players:</p> - -<table id="cast" summary="Cast"> - <tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Jezebel</span> (Queen of Samaria)</td> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Penelope Wheeler.</span></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower</span> (First Chorus)</td> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Judith Masefield.</span></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Moon-Blossom</span> (Second Chorus)</td> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Jean Downs.</span></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Hamutal</span> (the Steward’s Wife)</td> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Paulise de Bush.</span></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">A Prophet</span></td> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Basil Maine.</span></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Jehu</span> (Captain of the Horse)</td> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Ronald Hay.</span></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Micaiah</span> (a Seer)</td> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">George G. Edwards.</span></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Ahab</span> (King of Samaria)</td> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Leslie Davey.</span></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Pharmas</span> (Court Attendant)</td> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Wilfred Messenger.</span></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Ashobal</span> (Court Attendant)</td> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Henry Chapin.</span></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Naboth</span> (a Farmer)</td> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Dudley Barlow.</span></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Ahaziah</span> (Crown Prince of Samaria)</td> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">W. E. May.</span></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Joram</span> (his Younger Brother)</td> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Wilfred Howe-Nurse.</span></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Zakkur</span> (Jehu’s Messenger)</td> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">H. G. Wakeford.</span></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Pashur</span> (the Bringer of the News)</td> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">C. E. J. Vincent.</span></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Zikri</span> (Spearman)</td> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">F. J. Saunders.</span></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Kallai</span> (Spearman)</td> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Bernard Griffiths.</span></td></tr> -</table> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Scene</span>: The Palace in Samaria.</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"><p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">1</span></p> -<h2 id="A_KINGS_DAUGHTER"><span class="larger">A KING’S DAUGHTER</span></h2> -</div> - -<h2 class="nobreak p2" id="FIRST_ACT">FIRST ACT.</h2> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0"><span class="firstword">I am</span> Queen Jezebel, King Ahab’s wife.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I was princess in Sidon long ago,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But in an evil day I became Queen<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Over these strangers in Samaria.<br /></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Here, for these last ten months, we fought the Syrians,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Till hope was gone; then, suddenly, all changed;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The Syrian army fell into our hands.<br /></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">King Ahab had two choices: one, to kill<br /></span> -<span class="i0">All of the Syrians; one, to let them go.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He made a peace with them and let them go.<br /></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Now all the people of this city rage<br /></span> -<span class="i0">At Ahab, for his peace, and cry aloud<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That I, the foreign queen with foreign gods,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Made Ahab make the peace to please my friends.<br /></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Four days ago, King Ahab sought to buy<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A vineyard from one Naboth, who refused<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To sell the vineyard, even to his King.<br /></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">To-day the rebels of the town prepare<span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">2</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">A feast to Naboth for refusing him,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And at the feast the prophets and seditious<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Will urge our murder as a godly deed.<br /></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">What is King Ahab doing to defeat them?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Nothing. For these three days he has been hidden,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Brooding upon his bed in bitterness;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Refusing food and drink; refusing speech<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With me, his wife; neglecting court and state;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Letting rebellion grow, and seeing no man<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Except our younger son, evil Prince Joram,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Who longs for war against the Syrians.<br /></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">So I, the Queen, not knowing what may come<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When the King sickens and the people rage,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Have sent for help, called home our eldest son,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Prince Ahaziah, from his frontier post<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With all his horsemen. He should soon be here.<br /></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">With Ahaziah and his horsemen here<br /></span> -<span class="i0">We shall be safer from our enemies,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The Teshbon prophet and the soldier Jehu,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The captain of the horse under the King.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Those are the enemies whom most I dread,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Lord Jehu and the Prophet, hand and mouth<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To violence and unwise ways of life,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Violent and brainless both, as lightning is.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When violence and madness are in league,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">3</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">Destruction comes.<br /></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i19">And they are coming now,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Here to the palace of the King and Queen,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To plot their evil with our followers.<br /></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I will go hence, to pray that Ahaziah<br /></span> -<span class="i0">May come in time to thwart their wickedness.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="bracketright">[<i>Exit</i></p> - -<p class="enter"><i>Enter the</i> <span class="smcap">Prophet</span>.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Lord Jehu!<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="enter"><i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Jehu</span>.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i11">Ha, my Prophet!<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i27">Is all well?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Yes. All goes well. This King, this imbecile,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">This Ahab, still is sulking like a child,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Speaking with no one, making all things easy<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For us, my Prophet, who will now succeed.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Nothing can stop us now. All works for us.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ahab is hated; Jezebel detested;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The army sickened at their loss of plunder,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">All hot against them both. Our only danger<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Their son, Prince Ahaziah, far away,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Their other son, Prince Joram, working for us.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And now this feast to Naboth as a crown<span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">4</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">To all these helps, an opportunity.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Truly our work is godly, since it prospers.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Since all is thriving, it is surely time<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That we set forth together to this feast.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Wait, yet, my Prophet, while I ask you this:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">What objects will be served by this our feast?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Why, it will honour Naboth for resisting<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The tyrant whom we hate, and give our friends<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A chance to come together with Prince Joram<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To cry aloud for war with Syria.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">True, Prophet; “Honour Naboth; cry for war;”<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Such were our objects when we planned the feast:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That was the plan, but, friend, it is not now.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">No, Prophet, no; for I have changed my mind.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">This feast to Naboth which we have prepared<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Must be the prelude to a mightier deed.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Prophet, I know thy zeal for true religion,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And you know mine; now, therefore, stand by me.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I am determined to be King this day.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The chances are all for me, and the feast<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Puts them within my hand for me to take.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Now, therefore, Prophet, when you see me there,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Sitting at feast among the men-of-war,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">5</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">Send out some youngling of the Prophet tribe<br /></span> -<span class="i0">There to anoint me King in Ahab’s stead.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then I will rise and lead those men-at-arms<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To end this Ahab and his Jezebel,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And stamp them with our horses’ feet, and bring<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A true religion back: by God, we need it.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">No. Doubt not the success. Anoint me King,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The men will follow. For, by God, now, Prophet,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Look at my eyes, I mean this to succeed.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">This is the way, because all other ways,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The way we planned before and any way,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Must end in this; so send the stripling to me.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Make me the King.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Truly a spirit speaks within you, Jehu.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Truly the devilries of Jezebel<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Have brimmed the cup, and Ahab’s treachery<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Has spilled it over. You shall be the King.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Here with my blood I do anoint you King.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">My young man shall anoint you with the oil,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But will the captains follow you as King?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">They’ll follow; some for plunder, some for fear.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Now let us to this Naboth’s feast, to raise<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Our following against this doting King.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Here is our friend Ashobal with some news.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="enter"><i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Ashobal</span>.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">6</span></p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ashobal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I was afraid that you had gone, Lord Jehu.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Prophet, Lord Jehu, there is danger here.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I have just heard from Jezebel’s own lips<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That she has ordered Ahaziah hither<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With all his horse, and that he will be here<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Within two hours.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i18">Gods!<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i24">Did Jezebel<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Tell you of this?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ashobal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i18">No; I was hidden, and<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I overheard her as she told her women.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">She sent for them?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ashobal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i19">She said so.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i32">But for what?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To be a bodyguard?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ashobal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i19">She did not say,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But that is what they will be when they come.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Then she suspects us.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">7</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i22">Probably.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i32">The hag!<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">These women of false gods shall die the death.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Yes, unless we die first. Thank you, Ashobal,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You bring the message in the nick of time.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Why has she sent for them? Is Ahab dying?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">No; he is ill, not dying. By the gods,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The harlot may be plotting against Ahab<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To crown her son?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">No, by the gods, put by these pleasant dreams,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The likelier thing will be the explanation.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">One of the little sheep within our fold<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Has bleated to the shepherd: we have been<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Betrayed, my Prophet and my sweet Ashobal,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Betrayed.... By whom?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">By all the gods, this harlot is a man.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She hears of us, at once decides to strike,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Sends for the cavalry to cut our throats,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Calls Ahaziah to be King until<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Her Ahab be a man again, and so<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Bids for her husband’s crown. There are the facts.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ashobal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Even so I judged it, from the way she spoke.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">8</span> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Then we had better scatter into hiding,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For we are lost.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">True, brother Prophet, all our heads are loose,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But yet not lost.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i18">But what are we to do?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Stop Ahaziah in his coming here.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">It can be done if he be two hours hence.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He must be coming by the desert road<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Passing by Springs. Well, he shall meet his match.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Go, Prophet, to the feasting, as we planned.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Praise Naboth and be bitterer than spurge<br /></span> -<span class="i0">About this peace. Pharmas must know of this.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Find Pharmas, that the Prophet speak with him.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then tell what friends you can. Remember, Prophet,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Hold to our former plans till I return.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Now I must go.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="bracketexit">[<i>Exit</i> <span class="smcap">Jehu</span>.<br /></p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i15">And we had better go<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Straight into hiding, while we have the time.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ashobal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">No, we must keep to what is planned and do<br /></span> -<span class="i0">What Jehu tells us.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I must see Pharmas, then; find Pharmas for me.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">9</span> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ashobal.</span><br /></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I cannot yet.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Pharmas is in attendance on the Queen.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Why should he be with her, to-day of all days?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He is the King’s attendant, not the Queen’s.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ashobal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">True, but the Queen commanded him this morning<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To write at her dictation; he will be<br /></span> -<span class="i0">There until noon; but it is nearly noon.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">We are discovered by this Jezebel.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And Pharmas has betrayed us.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ashobal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">No, he is faithful to us. Five years since<br /></span> -<span class="i0">This Jezebel once chided him in public<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For breaking of a cup. He has remembered;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He swore to be revenged and means to be.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Now I say this: Come on the stroke of noon,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Here, to have speech with Pharmas and myself.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">We may have news by then. If the worst happen,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">We shall have time enough for flight at noon.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">You may be right; pray Heaven that you be.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ashobal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Hark! there is someone coming through the court.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">By Heaven!<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">10</span> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i11">Why, who is it? What has happened?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ashobal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">It is the King, recovered from his brooding<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And dressed as for an audience with his peers.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">If Ahab be in health again, why, <span class="locked">death——</span><br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">What shall we do? Oh, say!<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ashobal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i27">Be not found here.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He’s coming hither with his man, Micaiah.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Go quickly, quickly.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="bracketexit">[<i>Exit</i> <span class="smcap">Prophet</span>.</p> - -<p class="enter"><i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Micaiah</span>.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Way for their Majesties! It is commanded<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That all avoid. Way for their Majesties!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Avoid the room, Ashobal, for the King.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="bracketright">[<i>Exit</i> <span class="smcap">Ashobal</span>.</p> - -<p class="enter"><i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Ahab</span>.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Micaiah, put my staff into my hands.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Go, now, desire the Queen to give me audience.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="bracketright">[<i>Exit</i> <span class="smcap">Micaiah</span>.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Thus does the climber on a pinnacle.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He stands exhausted on the peak and feels<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Nothing beneath him but the mist of cloud<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">11</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">Hiding the precipice. I have my foothold;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Around me, the sheer fall into the pit.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="enter"><i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Jezebel</span>.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">So, my good lord, at last I look upon you<br /></span> -<span class="i0">After these days of anguish. O my lord,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">What has afflicted you, that you should shut<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Your doors upon me, send no word to me,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">No word till now, not even let me know<br /></span> -<span class="i0">If you were ill or well?<br /></span> -<span class="i25">But no upbraiding.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Tell me what is the trouble of your soul?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">What do you think?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i19">I know not what to think,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Living alone, shut from you, that should tell me.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Men say that you are grieved because a farmer,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">One Naboth, would not sell his vineyard to you.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I, grieved, at that?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i21">I have no guide save rumour.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">His vineyard? Why, I did not want the vineyard.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">12</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Not want it, lord?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i19">Why should I want it; think?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I cannot think, indeed, why you should want it.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Jehu was wanting it, to bring it in<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Within the city wall, for in the siege<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The Syrian archers shot our people from it.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Jehu demanded it.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i18">Jehu? Not you?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Yet do you know that men are cursing you<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For wanting Naboth’s land; and feasting Naboth<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To-day, in public, for refusing you?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And that our crowns and even our lives are threatened?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">No, Queen, I do not know and cannot care.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">What is the raging of the fools to me<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Who ponder day and night upon a question,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A question that goes down into the bone<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And burns like fire, till I cannot sleep<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Or eat or work, for it is always here.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">No, do not look like that, I am not mad,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Not yet; I am not mad. But always night and day<br /></span> -<span class="i0">This question is about me and within me,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">13</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">Haunting and harsh: the question, “Am I wrong?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Are these, my people who oppose my will,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Right, after all, righter than I, the King?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Righter throughout my twenty years of kingship?”<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">How can these preys to every passionate flaw<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Be righter than an upright mind and conscience?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I cannot tell, and yet I think they are.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">You know they are not.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i23">No, I do not know.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I wonder, if the blunt and bawdy world<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Be not the worse for wisdom, not the better.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">It is a sin and cowardice to say so.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Is it, my Queen? I wonder if it be.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Here have I striven twenty years, for peace<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With Syria, and for liberty of thought<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Within our borders, yet with what results?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Almost continual war with Syria.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Almost a civil war within this land.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Such being the fruits, I think the seeds were wrong.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">14</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">The seeds were right, and if the fruit has failed,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Blame the bad soil, the bitter weather, drought,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Evil of many men hacking the plant,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">All things, but you who planted, and the seed.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Even if the seed were right, the ground was wrong.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And then I sowed it out of season, lady.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I could have smitten Syria to the dust,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Yet granted terms. I risked a civil war<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To grant the terms. They do not keep the terms.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And these my people prefer blood to quiet.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And now I doubt the usefulness of wisdom,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Doubt my whole life; and wonder, if the prophets,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The people, and the bloody ways they love,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Be not indeed God’s ways for governing.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">If these things be, then I have failed my country.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">O King, you cannot say that things are wrong<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Because they fail. All good things seem to fail;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The road that men make is not straight nor smooth,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Nor like the perfect roadway that they planned;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And yet among the thorns and broken flint,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And twistings where the adder lies in wait,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">It is a path where no path was before.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So with your Syrian pact and with these people,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You have hewed out a way where men will tread.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Be comforted and proud, for you have done it,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">15</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">As the lone artist makes the perfect thing,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With every blind malignant saying “No!”<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You have made peace as generous as yourself<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And thought as free. So let the madman rave<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And let the savage shriek for blood, and let<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The blind worm of the many-creeping world<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Crawl its obstruction, you have conquered them.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">It is not true. I have not conquered them.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">They conquer me. I am defeated. Yes,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I cannot think, or master, or decide,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Having no longer any faith remaining<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In what we planned together and have done.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The ground is gone from under me, the light<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Is gone from in me, and the sky above<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Is black with punishment that threatens me.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">These ruffian prophets have been proven right,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Our policies have been accursed; ay,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And the reward is death.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i25">O husband, stay!<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I will not stay. The penalty is death,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With hell to follow, as the blind man’s payment<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fully deserved.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="bracketexit">[<i>Exit</i> <span class="smcap">Ahab</span>.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">16</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Gods save us, he is mad, or over-wrought<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Up to the point of madness; now, indeed,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">We have been conquered, for we have no King<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Save one distraught with trouble. How am I<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To help in this?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So ends my queenship with him. It is well<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That I have called Prince Ahaziah home.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But, till he come, I govern, I am King,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And one act of a King must now be done:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">This rebels’ feast to Naboth must be stopped.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="parenright"> -(<i>She claps her hands for</i> <span class="smcap">Micaiah</span>, <i>who enters</i>.)</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Micaiah, is there dust upon the road<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To show the Prince’s coming?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i29">Not yet, Madam.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">How soon can he be here?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i25">Within two hours.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Unless he halt for noontide by the Springs.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He might be here much sooner. Say, one hour.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Who is the captain of the guard to-day?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Rechab, to-day, good lady.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">17</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i27">Go, Micaiah,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Tell Pharmas that I wait him in the throne room;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Bid him bring ink and seals; bid him be quick<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Attend me there.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i17">Madam, I go.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="bracketright">[<i>Exit</i> <span class="smcap">Micaiah</span>.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Though the King sicken, it shall still be seen<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That I, the Syrian woman, am a queen.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="bracketright">[<i>Exit</i> <span class="smcap">Jezebel</span>.</p> - -<p class="enter"><i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Prophet</span>.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Pharmas! Ashobal! Hark! Is Pharmas there?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">It is full noon, but Pharmas is not here,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">No, nor Ashobal. But there seems to be<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Less danger than I feared: I was not questioned,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And men go unmolested to the feast.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="enter"><i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Ashobal</span>.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Here is Ashobal. Where is Pharmas, friend?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ashobal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Gone to the Queen again, with ink and seals.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">There is this news: the King and Queen have talked<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And Ahab now is in his room again,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Moodily sharpening his sword, and muttering.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">18</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">I myself think that Ahab has gone mad.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">No word from Jehu yet, of Ahaziah?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ashobal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">None yet, nor will be for a while.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i35">King Jehu,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Jehu, the King, God’s comet, bringing change.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Come soon, come soon. Oh, what is Pharmas doing?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ashobal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">He writes some pressing matter for the Queen.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">We shall be late. Come, Pharmas! Hurry, hurry!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Would he were here and we away from this.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">We are like hunters in the lion’s den,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Knowing the lion to be near.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ashobal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i29">I hear him.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Yes; this is Pharmas coming. Here he is.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="enter"><i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Pharmas</span>.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Pharmas, we have been waiting for you; come.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">We must be going. Listen to your orders.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">During this feast go down among the guards ...<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Pharmas.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">19</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Do not you talk of feasting, nor of guards.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The Queen has sent Micaiah with the guards<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To fetch poor Naboth here.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ashobal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i27">Why?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i32">What to do?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Pharmas.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I do not know; but not for any good.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">“Fetch Naboth here before me,” was the order.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">It has gone off by this.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ashobal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i25">This is the end!<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">What can she want with Naboth? Painted hag,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thus to command a man.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ashobal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Was the guard ordered to suppress the feast?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Pharmas.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">No, but it is suppressed with Naboth taken.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ashobal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">We shall be taken next, so save yourself.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I will be gone. You know my hiding-place,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The old one near the wall; send word to me<br /></span> -<span class="i0">There, if you have a message.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="bracketexit">[<i>Exit.</i></p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">20</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Way for Her Majesty the Queen, make way!<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="enter"><i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Micaiah</span>.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Set forth the chair of audience for the Queen.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Be reverent; the Queen approaches. Hail!<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="enter"><i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Jezebel</span>.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Micaiah, Pharmas, and Ashobal, stay.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Within few moments, when the guards return,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You will return to take your places here,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Even as you stand this minute.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">The Men.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i31">We will do so.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">All three of you; you understand?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">The Men.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i34">Yes, Madam.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Dismiss then, till the guards appear.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="bracketright">[<i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Men</span> <i>go</i>.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I am the King, upon whose balance lies<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The nation’s need to prompt me to be wise.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ruin to all I cherish, if I fail.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">God, judge for me, thy wisdom turn the scale.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="curtain"><span class="smcap">Curtain.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">21</span></span></p> - -<h3 class="chorus">FIRST CHORUS</h3> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Once long ago young Nireus was the King<br /></span> -<span class="i2">In Syme Island, so the stories say,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And at his birth the gods made holiday,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And blessed the child and gave him each one thing,<br /></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Courage, and skill, and beauty, and bright eyes,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Wisdom, and charm, and many another power,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">So that he grew to manhood like a flower<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For beauty, and like God for being wise.<br /></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Now Nireus’ friend was Paris, out of Troy,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Paris, the prince, the archer, who had seen<br /></span> -<span class="i2">The goddesses within the forest green;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">King Priam’s son, a peacock of a boy.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Moon-Blossom.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">At Sparta’s court, not far from Syme Isle,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Bright Helen lived, King Menelaus’ Queen,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">The loveliest woman that has ever been,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Who made all mortals love her by her smile.<br /></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Nireus and Paris went together there<br /></span> -<span class="i2">To Helen’s palace: and when Nireus saw<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Helen the Queen, the lovely without flaw,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He loved her like her shadow everywhere.<br /></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">And Paris, when he saw her with her mate,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">22</span><br /></span> -<span class="i2">Helen, the rose, beside that withered weed,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Loved her no less, but with a young man’s greed<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That wants the moon from heaven and cannot wait.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Straightway he wooed Queen Helen to be his,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And won her love, and cried to Nireus then,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">“O Nireus, help to save us from this den,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Lend us your ship to bring us out of this.”<br /></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">So Nireus, though his heart was torn with pain,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Well knowing what would come, yet took the pair<br /></span> -<span class="i2">To many-towered Troy and left them there,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To live in love and be the city’s bane.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Moon-Blossom.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">When Menelaus knew of Helen’s flight,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">He led all Greece in arms to punish Troy,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Nireus went with him in the fleet, and joy<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ceased in the world, for all men went to fight.<br /></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Nine years they fought there in the tamarisk field,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And in the tenth, in some blind midnight stour,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Nireus killed Paris underneath the tower.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Men bore him back to Helen on his shield.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Then Troy was sacked and Menelaus took<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Beautiful Helen as his prisoner home,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And locked her in his castle as a gnome<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Might lock a gem on which no man might look.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Together.</span><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page23_">23</a></span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Thus Nireus lost his love, and killed his friend,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And knew despair; so going to his ship,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">He sailed to where the constellations dip,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In the great west, to look for the world’s end.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<h3 class="chorus">SECOND CHORUS</h3> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">When Troy was sacked and all her towers<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Blazed up and shook into the sky,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Smoke like great trees and flame like flowers,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And Priam’s bodyguard did die,<br /></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Then the Queen’s women snatched up spears,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And fought their way out of the gate;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Seized horses from the charioteers<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And fled like mountain-streams in spate.<br /></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">They would not stay for slavery<br /></span> -<span class="i2">To some Greek lord until they died,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">They rode the forest to be free,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Up on the peaks of snowy Ide.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Moon-Blossom.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">And in the forest on a peak<br /></span> -<span class="i2">They hewed a dwelling with the bronze,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And lived, unconquered by the Greek,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fierce, sun-burned women, neither tame nor weak,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">The panther-women called the Amazons.<br /></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">They lived there on the heights and knew no men.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">24</span><br /></span> -<span class="i2">Having beheld the lusts of men destroy<br /></span> -<span class="i2">The town of windy Troy,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">They killed all men they met; their only joy<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Was hunting for the wild beasts in the glen.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Together.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">The wild boar and the many-branching stag,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Horse-killing panthers hidden by the brook,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The spotted death among the yellow flag,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">All these with their bright spears these women took.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">All these, and men, for even to be seen<br /></span> -<span class="i0">By men, these hunter-women thought unclean.<br /></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">So no man saw them save a glimpse afar.<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Of panther-skins flung back, and swift feet flying,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And the red stag brought low to the fierce Ha!<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Of women’s spear-thrusts driven in the dying.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">They ruled the crags like wolves, they kept their pride<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Savage and sovereign like the snow on Ide.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"><p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">25</span></p> -<h2 id="SECOND_ACT">SECOND ACT</h2> -</div> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span></p> -<p>Madam, the soldiers have brought the farmer, -Naboth; they have him in the guard-room, waiting -for your orders.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span></p> -<p>Were you set upon as you brought him through -the city?</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span></p> - -<p>No, Madam, but a crowd followed, which is now -at the palace gates.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span></p> -<p>Is it threatening?</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span></p> -<p>No, Madam, but uneasy.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span></p> -<p>Thank you, Micaiah. What standing has this -Naboth?</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span></p> -<p>He lives in the city, but has this vineyard and -some other ground outside the walls. He is a -small farmer, strict in religion. Nothing but -religion will move him.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span></p> -<p>I will try whether that be true. Go now, without, -and bring me Ashobal and Pharmas.</p> - -<p class="speaker"> -<span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">26</span></p> -<p>I will, Madam.</p> - -<p class="bracketexit">[<i>Exit.</i></p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span></p> -<p>If I can persuade this man to sell his land, then -this gathering will lose all purpose. If he will not -sell, as I doubt he will not, then, how then?</p> - -<p class="enter"><span class="smcap">Micaiah</span>, <span class="smcap">Pharmas</span>, <span class="smcap">Ashobal</span> <i>enter</i>.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Stand where you are and pay especial heed<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To what is said by us.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">The Men.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i23">We will, great Queen.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I thank you. Will you bring the man, Micaiah?<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="enter"><i>Enter <span class="smcap">Micaiah</span>, with <span class="smcap">Naboth</span>, crowned as for a feast.</i></p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Madam, your servant waits for your commands.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Thank you, Micaiah. Keep in presence here.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You are that Naboth of the South-west Precinct?<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="parenright"> -(<span class="smcap">Naboth</span> <i>nods</i>.)</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Our calling of you here may come untimely.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You are at feast, or going to a feast?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Naboth.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I’m here; you’ve caught me; do the worst you can,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But do not mock me.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i20">I mock no one, Naboth.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">27</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">I sent for you because I wished to speak<br /></span> -<span class="i0">About the purchase of your vineyard near<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The city wall.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Naboth.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Why do you want my vineyard, tell me that?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I do not want it.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Naboth.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i18">Well, your husband does.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">He does not, Naboth. Listen, all of you.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">There is a false suspicion spread abroad<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That we, the King and Queen, have coveted<br /></span> -<span class="i0">This land of Naboth’s. It is wholly false.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">We do not want it, never wanted it,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But bid for it, on public grounds, because<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Lord Jehu, captain of the bodyguard,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The overseer of the town’s defences,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Urged, and still urges, that the vineyard be<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Brought in within the city wall. As King,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The King made offer for the land, through one ...<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Which of you was it?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ashobal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i21">I made the offer for His Majesty,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So please you, Madam.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Since it is not your rulers but your city<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">28</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">That needs the land, we ask you to consider<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The giving up your holding to be walled.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Naboth.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">God pleased to put my vineyard where it is,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Why should you change it?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i26">In the siege, good Naboth,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The Syrian archers used to shoot from it<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Into the city.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Naboth.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i15">And they might again<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Soon in another siege?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i22">So Jehu thought.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Naboth.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">If you idolaters had done God’s will<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And killed these Syrians when God bade you kill,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You would have had no other siege to dread.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ashobal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">You must not speak this evil of your rulers.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Say nothing but as touching on the treaty.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Whether your land should be enclosed or no<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I cannot tell: Duke Jehu says it should be;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Says that for public good it should be walled.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You would not sorrow that your land should go<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">29</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">For greater safety of your fellow townsmen?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Naboth.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I would.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i9">I do not think you would, good sir;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Yet, if a war should follow and a siege<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Threaten again, your vineyard would be taken<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Maugre your will, and walled in spite of you<br /></span> -<span class="i0">By public means; and you would lose it, so.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Naboth.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I would not lose it. It would still be mine.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I cannot well see how; but let that be.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I ask you now to be content to treat<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For this your plot. May we proceed in this?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Naboth.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Dismiss your gang of killers here, these three<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Lying in wait upon a poor man’s words.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">These are no killers, but my palace servants.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">We are in treaty for exchange of land,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Or hope to be, and civil law prescribes<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That sales of land be bargained before witness.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Naboth.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Where are my witnesses, to speak for me?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Well thought of, Naboth. Will you therefore send<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">30</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">To three, your friends, to witness to your words?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Naboth.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">No, I will not.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i16">Why not?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Naboth.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i25">No matter why.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You have caught me, but catch my friends yourself<br /></span> -<span class="i0">If you do want them.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i21">Will you choose three men<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Here in the palace, then, as witnesses?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Naboth.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I have a witness, stronger than your three,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Already present, woman of false gods.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ashobal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Do not misname the person of your Queen.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You will lose all by rudeness. You have heard<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That our great Queen demands to bargain with you,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But means no harm to you, nor to your friends.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Thank you, Ashobal. (<i>Then to</i> <span class="smcap">Naboth</span>)<br /></span> -<span class="i20">May we now proceed?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Naboth.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I have not yet agreed to treat with you.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">31</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">You waste our time. Speak. Will you treat or not?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Naboth.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Before I treat, what do you offer for it?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">What is its yearly value?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ashobal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i26">Seven casks.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Madam, that may have been the yearly yield<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In its best seasons, but it is not now.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">It is no vineyard now, great Queen; the vines<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Were routed up by Syrians in the siege.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">So? Did you know of this, Ashobal?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ashobal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i35">No.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Not know of it?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ashobal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i16">Not when I bargained for it.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Yet knew it now, and never mentioned it?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Would let me bargain for a vineless vineyard<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As though it gave full vintage.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ashobal.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">32</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i32">O good Madam,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You asked its yearly value, not its worth.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">That shall be proved. Naboth, I did not know<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That this your vineyard had been rooted up.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Naboth.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">That damned idolater, your husband, knew it.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He said that as it was not now a vineyard,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He could plant herbs there.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i28">Bridle you your tongue.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When did His Majesty the King say this?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To whom?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Naboth.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i9">It is well known he said it openly.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">To you?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Naboth.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i8">No.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i12">Then to whom? To one of these?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You are all silent. Yet the King has seen<br /></span> -<span class="i0">No other man, since his return to Shemer,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Except Prince Joram; therefore what you say<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Is false in fact, seditious being said.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ashobal, what was offered for the vineyard?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ashobal.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">33</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">A better vineyard; then, that being refused,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Three vineyards, each one better, in full bearing,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Two of red grapes and one of white, O Queen.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">And he refused?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i16">He did.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel</span> (<i>to</i> <span class="smcap">Naboth</span>).<br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i24">And do you still?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Naboth.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Yes.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i5">Why?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Naboth.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i10">Because the vineyards that he offered<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Aren’t his to offer.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i21">But they are, good Naboth.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">They are the King’s.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Naboth.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i21">Does the King work them, then?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Yes, they are worked at his command. How else?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Naboth.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">His sweat does not fall on them.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">34</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i33">It has done so.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He with his own hands worked those vineyards, Naboth,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Before his father, Omri, became King,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As you well know.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Naboth.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i18">I’ll have no slave-tilled vineyard.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Men cannot live without the work of others;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You yourself do not. Did you make that robe,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Those shoes, that pouch? But we are wandering.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Let me, the Queen, make offer for your vineyards.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I offer the King’s vineyards as before,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And with them, the three marrowy olive-groves<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Which Shemer planted.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Naboth.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i22">Shemer! And what more?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">What more?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ashobal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i11">Good heaven, you surely ask no more?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Naboth.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I do. It’s not enough.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i23">Then name your price.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Naboth.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">35</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I cannot be buyer and seller both.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Then I will offer these: a bale of scarlet,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A camel-load of wool, woven or raw,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Three tent-rugs such as desert tribesmen weave,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Three desert-cushions made of coloured leather,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And one sealed roll of linen from the Nile,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The deckings of a house, in fact. With these,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Something to gladden dwellers in the house,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A score of honey, and a man-sized jar<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Of olive oil, a measure of fine flour,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A pack of dates and seven porters’ loads<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Of matured wine; the feastings of a house.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With these, I offer treasures for your house:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Gums from Arabia to burn as perfumes,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A tusk of ivory two cubits long,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A bar of silver from the mines of Bakht,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A casket made of turkis filled with beryl,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A piece of gold, the size of a man’s hand.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Naboth.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I want no ivory nor gold nor scarlet,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Nor silver bars nor trash nor vanity.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Good Madam, might it not be wise to offer<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Stock for his farm?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">36</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i20">Take horses, then, or oxen<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To till your holding.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Naboth.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i22">I will not take them, then.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Would you not like them?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Naboth.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i25">No; I do without;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I need nor horse nor ass, nor cow nor camel.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">What can I offer?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Naboth.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i18">Sacrifice to the God of Israel.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I do not offer that.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Naboth.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i21">You are not one<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To search unto the spirit, nor be single<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Within your heart. You are possessed by things;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Dead things, with stink and colour, brought in ships;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Your purples and the jewels for your hair,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Your ivory room, God save us! you being mortal,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Dwelling in ivory, while God himself<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Lives in the wooden room darkened by wings.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">37</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Yes, Naboth; but reserve this for the feast,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Where those who hear it will enjoy it more<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Than we do here.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Naboth.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i17">I do not speak to you.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">No, Naboth, you are speaking to your Queen,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Who bids you to be silent, if you care<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To keep whole bones. Come from him, then, Micaiah.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Hear a last offer, Naboth; you are old,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Soon to become infirm, soon to bear pain.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And find it weariness to cross the room.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Might I not set provision for old age<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Against your vineyard? Might I settle on you<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A pension that would bring you quietness<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And what age loves, respect and ease and state;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Might we not give you rank, as Elder, say,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With pay and servants fitting to the rank;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">These things to be assured to you for life,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And after, to your son?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Naboth.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i24">I have no son.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">My son was killed while fighting for King Ahab<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In this last war. I will not sell my vineyard<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For all the rank, for all the slaves and ease<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In this realm that you make the gate of hell.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">God blot me from the record of the blest<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">38</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">If I give up my father’s heritage,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">If I commit into polluted hands,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Red with the blood of offerings to false gods,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The earth my father worked and worshipped in.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">It is my vineyard and it shall be mine,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">By God’s red hand the King should be ashamed;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You too would be ashamed were you not shameless,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To tempt a poor man’s soul with merchandise;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You, smeared with spice, painted, and dripping perfume,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A shameless woman, chaffering with a man,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And he, the King, a dallier with God’s foes,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Conspiring thus to cheat me of my vineyard.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">God puts a word into my mouth to say,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He makes my mouth to spit upon you both.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">There is for you. And there is for the King.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I spit upon you both and bid God curse you,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Curse you to ruin and to rottenness.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As here I curse you; him for making peace,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Where no peace is, and you, you insolent woman,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For being, like the King, a curse on Israel,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A bringer down into the pit of hell.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">You shall avoid the presence when you curse.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="bracketright">[<i>Exit with</i> <span class="smcap">Naboth</span>.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">You heard the curses of this frantic man?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ashobal</span> <i>and</i> <span class="smcap">Pharmas</span>.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">39</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Madam, we did. We longed to silence him.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Rechab is captain of the guard to-day?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Pharmas.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Yes, Madam.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ashobal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i12">Rechab, with the Jezreel troop,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Mounts guard till night.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i25">That will be well, Ashobal.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You know the ivory room that the King made?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You know that it was never planned nor used<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For anything, save as an inmost shrine<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For worshipping of God?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Pharmas</span> <i>and</i> <span class="smcap">Ashobal</span>.<br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i24">We know it, Madam.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Here is Micaiah back. Has Naboth gone?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Yes, Madam, to the rabble of his friends<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Waiting his coming at the palace gate.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Now they are taking him triumphantly<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Up to the feast, shouting, “He held his own<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Against the royal tyrants.” At the feast,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When they have drunken, they will speak worse evil.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">40</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">You all remember what he uttered here?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">How he misused the name of God, and cursed<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The King and me?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah</span>, <span class="smcap">Ashobal</span>, <i>and</i> <span class="smcap">Pharmas</span> (<i>together</i>).<br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i17">We do remember.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Wait, then, some minutes, till the feast be set,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then summon up the chapter of the priests,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And Rechab with his troop of bodyguard.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then march with priests and soldiers to the banquet.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Let the priests call for silence from the throng,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And in the silence do you three stand forth,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Bear witness against Naboth in these terms:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">“Thou didst blaspheme God and the King!” repeat<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The words he uttered, bear each other witness;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And if a further witness be required,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Say I, the Queen, will come to testify,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Who heard the words, yet spared the speaker of them,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So that the priests, whose cause it is, might judge.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then call upon the priests to utter judgment<br /></span> -<span class="i0">According to the laws of blasphemy.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah</span>, <span class="smcap">Pharmas</span>, <i>and</i> <span class="smcap">Ashobal</span>.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">We will obey your orders instantly.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="bracketexit">[<i>They go out.</i><br /></p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">41</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Which brings the greater woe; to pass an evil,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Or break your Being’s law to combat it?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The allotted sorrow ever has a gateway.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="curtain"><span class="smcap">Curtain.</span></p> - -<h3 class="chorus">THIRD CHORUS</h3> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Nireus sailed; and a strange wind blew him to islands unseen before,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Where the gods sat throned on the crags with peace on their marvellous faces,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Clouds and the smoke of fire, that glittered and changed, they wore!<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And unto them came the crying of all man’s sorrowful races.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Moon-Blossom.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">They cried to him as he passed, “You are seeking and you shall find,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Not in the way you hope, not in the way foreseen;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Out of horror of soul, ache, and anguish of mind,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Out of the desert of all, shall come the leaf that is green.”<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Then the wind blew on to an island where millet is ever in ear,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And the horses that live in the sea come thronging in thousands to eat,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And the horses that live on the island will never let them come near,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">42</span><br /></span> -<span class="i2">But they fight on the beaches forever with flashing and thunder of feet.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Moon-Blossom.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Then he sailed by invisible islands, he smelt the fruit on the trees,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And heard the noise in the shipyards and the crowing of cocks unseen,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then sheered from the roar of breakers and on over unknown seas,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And ever he grieved for Paris, and thought of the beautiful Queen.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Then he came to a sea of terror, where monsters rose from the sea,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Things with the beaks of birds and arms like the suckers of vines:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Things like ghosts in the water coming motionlessly<br /></span> -<span class="i2">To tatter the flesh of men with teeth like the cactus-spines.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Moon-Blossom.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Over unending water ever he held his course,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Birds that were curses followed, crying around and above:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">“Nireus, broken by beauty, broken again by remorse,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">43</span><br /></span> -<span class="i2">Goes to the breaking of death for killing his friend and love.”<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">And ever he cursed himself for bringing them both to wreck,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Helen and Paris, the lovely; and ever the waves seemed filled<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With skull-bones hollow in death, that rose and peered on the deck:<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And he thought, “They are those from Troy whom I in my madness killed.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Moon-Blossom.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">“Had I refused, when they asked for my help to escape,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Paris would still be alive, Troy, the city, would stand,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And all the killed of the war would be tilling the corn and the grape,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Not ghosts with a curse in the air and torn bones strewing the land.”<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">So he sailed; but at night in the dark when the lantern bubbled aloft,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And men lay sleeping, when all save he were asleep,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And the ship slid on with a gurgle of water soft,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">44</span><br /></span> -<span class="i2">He knew that the dead of Troy came with him over the deep.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Moon-Blossom.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Out of the long-backed roller that slid from its crest of foam,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Gibbered the bloodless dead, white faces with haggard eyes,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Pointing the bones of their hands at him who had forced them from home,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Their curses came to his ears like little twittering cries.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Together.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Whenever he moored at an island for water or food or rest,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Soon those wraiths of the dead would rise and bid him begone,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To harry the resting gannet out of the roller’s crest,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And carry the curse of his soul to the unknown, on and on.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<h3 class="chorus">FOURTH CHORUS</h3> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Moon-Blossom.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">In the grey of morning<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When the stars were paling,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Nireus sailing,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Saw land ahead.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An island shining<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">45</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">With city towers,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Where bells were ringing<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And men singing.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">As Nireus stepped ashore there<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He stood staring,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For all men there<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Were the dead of the war:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The Greeks and Trojans,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Beautiful and swift,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Killed in the trampled tamarisks<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Beneath Troy town.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Moon-Blossom.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Stars were in their hair,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Their brows were crowned with violets,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">They stepped like stags,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Comrade with comrade.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">They had forgotten<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The mud and death,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The heat and flies<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Of the plain of Troy.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">There among them<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Came a prince in scarlet,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With his hands stretched<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In welcoming.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">It was Paris, his friend,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">46</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">Paris whom he killed<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In the midnight raid<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Beneath Troy wall.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Moon-Blossom.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Paris cried,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">“Nireus, my comrade,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Nireus, my belovèd,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">My friend of old!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Here we have forgiven<br /></span> -<span class="i0">What my young man’s folly bred,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">We feast as friends<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In the violet fields.”<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Then he led Nireus<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To the hall of feasting.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">There they feasted<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In the violet fields.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Three summer days and nights,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">It seemed, they feasted,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Each summer day and night<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Was ten years long.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Together.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Paris and the heroes<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Cried to Nireus,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">“We loved Helen,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When we were men.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Now we love her still<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">47</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">And we see her lonely,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Old, and haunted<br /></span> -<span class="i0">By her lovers dead.<br /></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">“Take to Helen<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Gifts from her lovers,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In her old age find her<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And give her these:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Beauty and peace<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And our forgiveness,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And all our thanks<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For what she was.”<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Moon-Blossom.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">As they ceased speaking<br /></span> -<span class="i0">They faded from him,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The island faded,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Nireus was at sea.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He and his men<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Were all grown old,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thirty years<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Had fallen on them.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Together.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">As old men failing<br /></span> -<span class="i0">They came to Sparta;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">All unavailing<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Their coming was.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Helen was gone<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">48</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">And none knew whither,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To search for peace<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Or to find release.<br /></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Over the seas<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In lands and islands<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Nireus sought her,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But could not find.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For the gods retire<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When men desire,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Though it burn like fire<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And make men blind.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"><p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">49</span></p> -<h2 id="THIRD_ACT">THIRD ACT</h2> -</div> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Come, you avenging Powers, who with swords<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Smite at the bidding of your overlords;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Come, all you threatening things, who, with slant eyes,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Wait to snatch spirits in the mood unwise;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Come, eagle spirits, that do drink man’s blood,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Hurry on smeared wings hither to your food:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I, who am Prophet, give you King and Queen.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="enter"><i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Ashobal</span>.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ashobal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">What are you raging for? Be silent, Prophet,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The King is coming hither.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i27">Tell him this:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">“I am the herald of a mightier King,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Who bids me stand before this palace door<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And cry a curse on Ahab and his wife.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ahab, the dog, Ahab, the murderer,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And Jezebel the harlot murderess.”<br /></span> -</div></div></div> -<p class="enter"><i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Ahab</span>.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">50</span></p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">So! Hast thou found me, O mine enemy?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Yes, I have found thee, and before I lose thee<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Will speak one word. What hast thou done, thou devil,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">On Naboth, that most upright man of God!<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">An upright man is in God’s hands, O Prophet.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">True, he is in God’s hands. Who sent him there?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I know not, Prophet, but if he be there,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He will be much at peace.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i26">You fiend of hell!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You, who hath murdered Naboth, to exult<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Over his corpse, still bleeding as it is.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I have not murdered Naboth, nor do know<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That he is dead, nor how, nor why. Explain.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">You damned him to be stoned for blasphemy.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">51</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I, do you say?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i15">Yes, you; or if not you,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Your bloody-hearted hirelings and the priests.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">The priests alone can judge of blasphemy.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Which do you call my hirelings?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i32">The accursed<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Idolaters who follow on your Queen.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="enter"><i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Jezebel</span>.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I am the Queen. Where is the man who dares<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Call those who follow me accurst?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i34">Here, devil.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Here is the man who dares call you and them<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Accurst as murderers of Naboth dead.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">You say that priests condemned him for blaspheming.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">You stirred the priests to prosecuting him.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">No, not in any way soever, Prophet.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">52</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Then you, co-devil with him, did this thing.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Hearken, old ruffian, and be warned by Naboth.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He cursed his God and King here in my presence,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Breaking the kingdom’s laws of blasphemy.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I, who uphold this kingdom’s laws, gave order<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That he should be arraigned for blasphemy.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Do I conclude that there are still some men<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Who do their ruler’s bidding in this kingdom?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">He was arraigned, condemned, and stoned?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i41">He was.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">So perish all such breakers of the law.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Easily spoken words for King and Queen;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And easy laws for King and Queen to keep,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Living in purple in the ivory room;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And useful laws for killing enemies.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But there are other laws which do persist<br /></span> -<span class="i0">After the enemies are killed. For Naboth<br /></span> -<span class="i0">We left his body lying on its face,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And the wild dogs slink in and lick his blood;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And the bald birds that watch in heaven for deaths<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Settle, and wait until the dogs have done.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But ... as those dogs and buzzards come to Naboth,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">53</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">The dogs and kites of vengeance come to you.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I tell you this ...<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Since you have sold yourself thus to work evil,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I will bring evil on you, take away<br /></span> -<span class="i0">All your posterity, and make your house<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Like Jeroboam’s house,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And like the accursed house, Baasha’s house.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Those of your house that die within the city<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The dogs shall eat, and those that die afield<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The fowls of the air shall eat; and Jezebel ...<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Dogs shall eat Jezebel by the city wall.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Now royal rottenness in purple hedged,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I call a great cry from the Spirit of God.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Come all you dogs and vultures,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Come on your noiseless wings out of great Heaven,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Come upon padding footsteps stealthily.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Follow your victims in the hearts of men,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And by the ways of men, and take their blood<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As they took his, as they took his, as they<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Took his, upon the stones; blood, blood, that shrieks.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="parenright"> -(<i>The spirit passes out of him. He swoons.</i>)</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">So, Jezebel, you see what you have done.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Would you have pardoned Naboth, had you heard him?<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">No; but to give our enemies this handle<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">54</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">Against us, at this time, and for no reason.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">The laws are plain: would you have pardoned him?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I tell you, no.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i16">Then what would you have done?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Made him a mocking, or imprisoned him,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Or had him publicly displayed and shamed.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Why did you not then do as you have said?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I told you plainly of the need of action.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">One of us rulers had to play the King<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And check this rebel. Since you did not, I did.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And he is checked for ever, and his friends<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Daunted: so daunted that you have the chance<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Now to take hold and be indeed the King,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And rule according to your royal will,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Not as the frenzy of a rebel bids.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">This thing that you have done has ruined all<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The little chance I had of governing.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You bring me to the pitch of having to choose<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Between your fancies and the people’s will.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">55</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">Perhaps it is too late to remedy<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The evil that must follow from your folly.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Naboth is dead: this prophet shows our future;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">If there be any future left for us.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Do not now answer me; I must debate this<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Within myself. You may have ruined me,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But that or no, you have been mad, by Heaven.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="bracketright">[<i>Exit</i> <span class="smcap">Ahab</span>.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">How blest to be a prophet, who forever<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Does but condemn another man’s endeavour.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">How blest, not to decide, nor be, nor do,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But help the many to condemn the few.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="enter"><i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Joram</span>.</p> - -<p>Joram, my son, do you come to comfort your -mother?</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Joram.</span></p> -<p>No, mother, I do not. I come to look for my father.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span></p> -<p>If you are looking for the King, this is the King.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Joram.</span></p> -<p>What is this body, Madam? The prophet? Is he -dead?</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span></p> -<p>Only swooned from cursing your father and mother.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Joram.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">56</span></p> -<p>Mother, you are talking very strangely.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span></p> -<p>I have been mad, by Heaven. Why, Joram, you -come to tell my father so; do you not, boy?</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Joram.</span></p> -<p>I do not know how to answer you.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span></p> -<p>You reckon me a curse upon this country?</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Joram.</span></p> -<p>As my father’s officer I have to report what the -citizens feel.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span></p> -<p>You feel it with them.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Joram.</span></p> -<p>Whatever I feel I can restrain; but since you insist, -I say that it is hard that my father should be ruined -by your Syrian policy and gods and self.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span></p> -<p>You are half-Syrian.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Joram.</span></p> -<p>Through you, I was. But in this war, while I lay -wounded, a Syrian trooper kicked me and spurred -me in the face. That took my last drop of Syrian -blood; your blood. There is nothing Syrian in me -now. But I mean to pay the Syrians for that -kicking and spurring when they lie wounded. You<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">57</span> -have made father mild and Ahaziah like yourself; -but after them perhaps I shall be King; perhaps -sooner.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span></p> -<p>You are leagued with your father’s enemies. And -do you think that they will make you the King?</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Joram.</span></p> -<p>It is not a question of what I think, but of the -needs of this land.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span></p> -<p>When the mob comes to sack the palace, there is -always some prince to open the door.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Joram.</span></p> -<p>If I ever am the King, the Syrians will see.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span></p> -<p>May it be long before you become King.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Joram.</span></p> -<p>Your killing Naboth may make it very long. But -I am not here to talk with you, but with the King.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span></p> -<p>As I told you, this is the King, here on the ground.</p> - -<p class="enter"><i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Ahab</span>.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Joram.</span></p> -<p>Save you, O King, I bring a message from the -Council.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Ahab.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">58</span></span></p> -<p>What is it?</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Joram.</span></p> -<p>Something that would be better said by Ahaziah -than myself.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span></p> -<p>Let me hear it.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Joram.</span></p> -<p>If I did not bring it as a message, it would be my -duty as your officer to bring it as a report.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span></p> -<p>The Council sends word by your son that you, the -King, should banish the Queen.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Joram.</span></p> -<p>Madam, do not add to the pain of my mission. -The Council is composed of manly and godly men, -the best of our country, whose wills are worth the -weighing. They bid me say, sir, this, that they -deplore that such a King should have for counsellor -one who brings peace with Syria, and the death of -an upright man whom they esteemed.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span></p> -<p>By this counsellor they mean your mother, the -Queen?</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Joram.</span></p> -<p>Sir, you are ever wise and they ever respectful. -They feel that a foreign influence is not for your -people’s good, nor for justice in your people’s causes.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">59</span></span></p> -<p>My son, speak openly, for the people’s good.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span></p> -<p>What do they demand?</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Joram.</span></p> -<p>They bid me say, sir, that they cannot doubt that -you would care only for your people’s good, were it -made apparent.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span></p> -<p>Make it apparent.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Joram.</span></p> -<p>Sire, I would that the prince, my brother, might -have had this task.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span></p> -<p>I, too, wish that, my son. Is not banishment -enough, then? Do they ask for my death?</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Joram.</span></p> -<p>Sir, those are their feelings.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span></p> -<p>They hate my Queen and wish her gone?</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Joram.</span></p> -<p>Sir, truth cannot be hidden from you.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span></p> -<p>And if I ignore their feelings, or crush their -mutterings?</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Joram.</span></p> -<p>Sir, they think you too great a man, for either way.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Ahab.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">60</span></span></p> -<p>But if they err, and I do?</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Joram.</span></p> -<p>You would not.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span></p> -<p>If I did, what then?</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Joram.</span></p> -<p>Your Majesty has too good a memory.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span></p> -<p>What do you mean by that, boy?</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Joram.</span></p> -<p>Sir, your father only came to the crown because a -former King ignored men’s feelings. King Nadab -ignored his subjects’ feelings. What happened to -him? King Elah did. What happened to him? -King Zimri did. What happened to him? Men -now living saw all these Kings; and what came to -them? The crown is granted on certain terms, -according with the Life of this Race. My father, I -beseech you, think what this Race asks.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span></p> -<p>I never cease to think it. Leave us.</p> - -<p class="bracketright">[<i>Exit</i> <span class="smcap">Joram</span>.</p> - -<p>You heard what he said?</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span></p> -<p>Yes.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Ahab.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">61</span></span></p> -<p>They want me to put you aside.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span></p> -<p>Yes, Ahab.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span></p> -<p>What urged you to prosecute Naboth at such a -time?</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span></p> -<p>Someone had to act.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span></p> -<p>You acted fatally.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span></p> -<p>I was myself, Ahab; a princess of Sidon; your -Queen.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span></p> -<p>This is not Sidon, but Shemer.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I will not plead for your forgiveness, then.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Dismiss me from your council and your court<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And let me be; the hated foreign woman<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Who tried and failed. I will be nothing here.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">After these years of hatred it will be<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Peace to be nothing. When my son returns,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">(The captain, Ahaziah) send him hence.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I sent for him to help me govern here.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Since I am nothing now, he must not stay.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But now that I am nothing, I say this:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That you must be upon your guard, King Ahab,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">More; you must play the King, and being King,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">62</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">Strike down this prophet and his friend, Lord Jehu,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For they are linked together against peace.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">What proofs have you?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i22">A woman has no proofs,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Only an instinct fortified by love<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Stronger than any proof.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i25">And I have knowledge.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Jehu has been my captain of the horse,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">My comrade in the field, my counsellor,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">My soldier, who has shed his blood for me<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In five campaigns, in many years of war.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">This prophet is indeed the enemy<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Of much that I have planned, but as for Jehu,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I know him, and I know that you have wronged him<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And speak from bitterness.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i27">Ahab, beware.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">By all our lives together, you beware<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Of Jehu and this man.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">63</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Had I been ware of you, Queen Jezebel,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Many years sooner, I had had no need<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To be aware of any of my subjects.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I cannot longer countenance your dealings.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">They neither suit my people nor the time. Therefore<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I do dismiss you from your royalty,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">From Queenship and command and counselling,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">From all authority in Shemer here.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">This shall be straightway published as my will.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">The messenger that spoke through me has gone,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And I am cold and broken as with blows,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But yet I hear—can you not hear—do you?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">What should we hear, old ruffian from the desert?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">The wings descending and the footsteps coming.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The vultures and the dogs coming for blood.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Listen. The vultures settle in the court,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And there are footsteps coming up the stair,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The footsteps of the dogs that come for blood;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For blood is coming upon this house, and I<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Have told you that it comes; I am its herald.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> -<blockquote> - -<p class="hang"><i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Jehu</span> <i>from in front, carrying armour. He comes<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">64</span> -on, stands motionless, then flings down a helmet; -then, after a pause, a corselet; then, after a pause, -a sword.</i> <span class="smcap">Zakkur</span> <i>stands behind him</i>.</p></blockquote> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">What does your coming with these weapons mean?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Whose weapons are they? What has happened, Jehu?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Is it some challenge? Speak.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i29">I know that sword.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">It’s Ahaziah’s sword. My son is dead?<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="parenright"> -(<span class="smcap">Jehu</span> <i>nods</i>.)</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">What? Ahaziah dead? How did he die?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">While he was riding here, he made a halt,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To rest his horses, at the inn at Springs;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And leaning on the lattice, looking out,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He fell out of the upper balcony,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And died soon after, broken by the fall.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Here is the witness, who will tell you how.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Speak, then, and tell the tale. How could he fall?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Zakkur.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">By treachery, by Syrian treachery.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Lord, when our Queen commanded the Prince to -return here, she sent her orders by a Syrian of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">65</span> -Court.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span></p> -<p>I did, by Malik.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Zakkur.</span></p> -<p>Malik was in the pay of the King of Syria.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span></p> -<p>That is false. That lie has been exposed many -times over.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Zakkur.</span></p> -<p>Madam, alas, it is now proven, by Malik’s confession.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span></p> -<p>Who are you who speak?</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Zakkur.</span></p> -<p>A lieutenant in our late Prince’s troop, my lord.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span></p> -<p>Go on, then, about Malik.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Zakkur.</span></p> -<p>Before delivering his orders to our late Prince, he -showed them to the Syrian officers in the garrison at -Ramoth. They saw a chance of intercepting our -Prince upon his way. They bribed Malik to lead -the Prince, so as to halt at the inn at Springs. -They did not wish to set upon him, because they -expected the troop to be with the Prince. They -sawed through the beams of the balcony of the inn -so that when he set foot upon it, the floor should<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">66</span> -give way. The Prince did not bring his troop with -him, but set out with myself, his galloper, and -Malik. He halted at the inn, at Malik’s persuasion, -much against his will, for he wished to be here. -Then all happened as his murderers the Syrians had -devised. He went upon the balcony, it fell, and -he died from it.</p> - -<p>After he had died, my lord, Malik urged us to come -away, which I and my colleague would not, without -examination. When we found that the beams had -been sawn, remembering Malik’s Syrian birth and his -suspicious wishes, first to halt there, then to come -away, we taxed him with the crime and he confessed, -and was secured.</p> - -<p>The galloper waits at the inn for an escort for -the body and the prisoner. It was decided that I -should ride here at once with the news.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span></p> -<p>Before he died, did he say anything?</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Zakkur.</span></p> -<p>Yes, Madam; he muttered about the gods, and -about you.</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span></p> -<p>What did he say?</p> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Zakkur.</span></p> -<p>That we were to tell you that this was the gods’ -reward for peace with Syria.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">67</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Since he is dead, wisdom and peace are dead!<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="bracketright">[<i>She goes out.</i></p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i2">God, thou hast faced me with my sin this day.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">My son, who was to follow me as King,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Killed by a Syrian plot, by treachery.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Killed, coming home to help me in my sorrows.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Killed by your treachery, that made the peace<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With Syria, against God’s ordinance.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Nothing that has been done by Syria<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Against this land can rank beside this deed;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The loss of such a Prince by such a crime<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Will rouse this country, lord. You will keep peace<br /></span> -<span class="i0">By your great policy, but through your people<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A mighty cry for vengeance will arise.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">And not unheeded, Jehu. Listen, all.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">This was his sword. He was to be the King<br /></span> -<span class="i0">After my death, fulfilling all my dreams.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">See, you, and you, and you, I take the sword<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And draw it out and swear upon its hilt<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To take a vengeance on the murderers<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Who brought him to his death.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">68</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i30">Well sworn, O King;<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Surely the Spirit of God is working in you!<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Wait yet, O Prophet; though my heart is sick<br /></span> -<span class="i0">At having trusted in my enemies,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And been ill-paid, I will ask help from God;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Counsel and help in any act of justice.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Go, gather me the prophets, let them seek<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Illumination, then bring word to me<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Whether the spirit do approve a war.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I will go seek for guidance, though my heart<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Seeks less for guidance now than for release.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Lord, all true hearts commiserate your grief.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Thank you, good Jehu.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="bracketexit">[<i>Exit</i> <span class="smcap">Ahab</span>.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Zakkur.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i22">Well, he took the story.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Yes, as I knew he would. The score’s one each.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He has won Naboth, I have Ahaziah.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Was not the story true?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">69</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i24">The Prince is dead,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So much is true; and in an hour from now<br /></span> -<span class="i0">We can be marching hence with Ahab’s self,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">If all your prophets will but prophesy.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I want him killed in war, outside the city.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Go, bid the prophets prophesy for war.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="bracketright">[<i>Exit</i> <span class="smcap">Prophet</span>, <i>with</i> <span class="smcap">Zakkur</span>.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">So, Ahaziah, you were rude to me.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Princes should not be rude to rising men,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For men may rise. You will be rude no more.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I have been rude to you, my Ahaziah.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I kicked the lips that once were rude to me.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">My foot is on your heart’s blood, Ahaziah.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="curtain"><span class="smcap">Curtain.</span></p> - -<h3 class="chorus">FIFTH CHORUS</h3> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Moon-Blossom.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Full of years and wealth and evil, Menelaus died in Sparta,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And Queen Helen at his bedside stood and looked upon him dead,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He who once had bought her beauty, to be bride to him, by barter,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">He whom she had loathed and fled from, now lay silenced on the bed.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">70</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Bitter thoughts were in her as she looked upon his meanness,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Thoughts of Paris in his beauty when their love was at its height.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Paris in his morning, and the King in his uncleanness,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And this dead mean thing, her master, and the winner of the fight.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Together.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">All was silent in the palace of the King,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Save the soft-foot watchers whispering;<br /></span> -<span class="i2">All was dark, save in the porch<br /></span> -<span class="i2">The wind-blown fire of a torch,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And the sentries still as in a stound,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With their spear-heads drooped upon the ground.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Then she thought: “These two men had me, and a myriad men have sickened<br /></span> -<span class="i2">To a fever of a love for me who saw me passing by:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When they saw me, all their eyes grew bright, and all their pulses quickened,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And to win me or to keep me they went up to Troy to die.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Moon-Blossom.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">“Now the earthly moon, my beauty, and the rose, my youth, have dwindled.<br /></span> -<span class="i2">I am old, my hair is grey, and none remembers<br /></span> -<span class="i0">What a fire in men’s hearts Queen Helen kindled<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">71</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ere the fire in Queen Helen turned to embers.”<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Together.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">All was silent in the palace of the King,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Save the wind-blown torch-flame guttering,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And a moth that came<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Beating with his wings about the flame,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And the sentries drawing breath,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With their spear-heads drooped saluting death.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Moon-Blossom.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Then she said: “The gods conspired to give gifts of beauty to me,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And the beauty gave the gift of death to all who came to woo me;<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Now of all the men who loved me, none remain,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And of both the men who had me neither knew me<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Surely all my past was evil, for its fruit is bitter pain.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">“I will go to some lone island where I am not made a story,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Where my beauty made no widow, nor no orphan wanting bread;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Where no human sorrow suffers the disaster of my glory,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And my eyes may lose the vision of the hauntings of the dead.”<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Moon-Blossom.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">72</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">“Day and night the dead men haunt me, whom the madness of my caring<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Brought from home and wives and children to be bones upon the plain;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">All the panther-like for beauty, all the lion-like for daring,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And they lie among the bindweed now, uncovered by the rain.”<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Together.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">All was silent in the palace of the King,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Save the soft-foot watchers whispering;<br /></span> -<span class="i2">All was dark, save in the porch<br /></span> -<span class="i2">The wind-blown fire of a torch,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And the sentries still as in a stound<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With their spear-heads drooped upon the ground.<br /></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Then she rose, and cloaked her face, and hurried swiftly from the city,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And to sea, away from Hellas, but she dared not show her face,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For the women and the orphans would have killed her without pity:<br /></span> -<span class="i2">She had sown her crop of death too far, she found no resting-place.<br /></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">But in inns where people gathered in the evenings after labour,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Where the shepherd’s pipe or viol stirred the blind man to his verse,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Till the hearers swayed and trembled and the rough man touched his neighbour,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">73</span><br /></span> -<span class="i2">They would talk of Troy with sadness, but of Helen with a curse.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<h3 class="chorus">SIXTH CHORUS</h3> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Moon-Blossom.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">After long years, when Helen was riding by night<br /></span> -<span class="i2">In storm, in the Ida forest, alone, not knowing the road,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She saw a light in the blackness; she turned to the light,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">She came to the fort on the crag, the panther-women’s abode.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Hearing her horse’s stamp, they brought her into the yard,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Those women fierce from the killing of lion or boar or man;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">They came with their torches round her, they stared at her hard,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">They knew her for Helen the Queen from whom their sorrows began.<br /></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">For years they had longed for her coming, to have her to kill,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Her beauty a throat for their knives, her body a prey—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Helen, who ruined their lovers, the root of their ill—<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">74</span><br /></span> -<span class="i2">She said: “I am Helen. Avenge yourselves on me. You may.”<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Moon-Blossom.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Still they stared at her there in the torchlight; then one of them said:<br /></span> -<span class="i2">“God used you to bring things to be; evil things to our city,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Evil things to yourself, for your face declares you have paid;<br /></span> -<span class="i2">You have come to the truth like ourselves; we take not vengeance, but pity.”<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then they welcomed her into their hold, and when morning broke clear,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">They rode with her down to the ruins of what had been Troy;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">There they left her alone in the wreck of the thing overdear<br /></span> -<span class="i2">That the gods cannot grant to mankind, but unite to destroy.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"><p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">75</span></p> -<h2 id="FOURTH_ACT">FOURTH ACT</h2> -</div> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I shall not look upon my son again!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">How many million mothers must have felt<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As I, with a dead child. How many lives<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Have been made lightless thus.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For no child ever dies without the breaking<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Of someone’s heart.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And yet the world goes on.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I shall go on, perhaps for many years,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And in my heart’s most secret corridor<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Will be a shrine, where I shall watch my son,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Lonely as Helen in her tower at Troy<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When Paris had been killed.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Would I had been beside him when he fell,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And fallen with him to the pit of death!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Better die so, not mangled in the war,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A young man, beautiful in youth, as thou wert;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Not troubled yet by life; not yet a King;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thou hast been only young and now art dead.<br /></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">With all life’s faults, I want you back in life,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Not dead, my son, beyond my touch and speech,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But here, moving and speaking, being mine.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">My help and stay and wisdom and assuagement<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As in the past. You, who gave no farewell,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">76</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">Speak to me from the grave, O lovely son.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="parenright"> -(<i>There is a sighing.</i>)</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Was that an answer from the dead, or birds<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Flying away before the winter comes?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">My son, if you are there, speak to my spirit.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="parenright"> -(<i>There is a sighing.</i>)</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">What message do you bring, that you are here?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">What do you come to tell me?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">The Voice.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i29">Death.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i34">What?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">The Voice.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i42">Death.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Whose death? Mine? Or your father’s? Or the kingdom’s?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">My son’s soul was within this room and speaking.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">O speak again, say something, give me proof<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That you are linked still by dear love to me. Hark! Hush!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">No. There was no voice speaking; nor will be.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Ahaziah</span> <i>appears</i>.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">My boy! My son!<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahaziah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i16">Mother!<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">77</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i24">My child! My dear!<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahaziah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Listen. I cannot say it all. The flowers<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Speak truth. You all are coming.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i33">Then, beloved,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">We shall soon meet again, and part no more.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahaziah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Mother, I struggle back to tell you this:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">It is most hard to come, most hard to speak.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You must with all your power strive to cut<br /></span> -<span class="i0">These nets.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i12">What are these nets?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahaziah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i33">The nets of death,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That are all round you like a hunter’s toils.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Do you mean civil war? Or war with Syria?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahaziah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">That is not what I mean; but someone near you.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Someone about you has most deadly hands,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A hangman’s hands; and you must break his hands.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Who is it, that is deadly? Is it Joram?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahaziah.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">78</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I cannot speak his name, but, mother, hark:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He murdered me; I never saw his face;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He killed me at the inn.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i22">Jehu, you mean?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahaziah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">The man forever looking at the throat,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Whose fingers twitch; a red-eyed man it is,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I cannot speak the name.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i22">Oh, it is Jehu!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And Jehu murdered you?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahaziah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i22">There’s danger, mother;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Avoid the nets. I cannot make you see them.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Jehu is spreading nets of treachery?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahaziah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">The flowers speak truth; the flowers and the rod,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The riding rod.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="bracketexit">[<i>He goes.</i></p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i14">Oh, speak! O my dear son,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">How can I help, I being Queen no longer,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But banished and condemned? What can I do?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And what is this of riding rods and flowers?<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">79</span><br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="parenright"> -(<i>There is a sighing.</i>)</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">My son is gone into the night of Death,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And Jehu murdered him in ways unknown.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Would I could prove the crime!<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="enter"><i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Micaiah</span>.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Madam, a rider from the inn at Springs<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Has brought these flowers, gathered by the Prince<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Your son, now dead.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i20">The flowers that speak truth;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Was there no other relic but the flowers?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Yes, Madam, this: a staff or riding rod,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Left on the flowers, so the rider said.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">A riding rod! And do you know the rod?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Madam, I do. It is Lord Jehu’s staff.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">What brought it to the inn at Springs, Micaiah?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I do not know. The rider found it there.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">80</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Where is the rider who delivered these?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Gone, Madam; he preferred not to be known.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I see you have suspicions; let me know them.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Madam, this staff was in Lord Jehu’s hand<br /></span> -<span class="i0">This morning, when I saw him here at court.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">That, or one like it? Could you swear to that?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">He held this staff. He stopped me in the square<br /></span> -<span class="i0">About a warrant, and I noticed it.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">This little scratch is unmistakable.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">And what can you conclude from this, Micaiah?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">That the Lord Jehu hurried to the Springs,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">After I saw him, and then hurried back.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">What duty could have taken him to Springs?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Madam, he had no duty there. I asked.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">81</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Might not a messenger have gone from him<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Bearing his staff?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i19">Madam, he went himself.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The warden at the west gate saw him start<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In that direction, and return from thence<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Three hours later. He was back by noon.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">So that he would have been at Springs, perhaps,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Before Prince Ahaziah halted there?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Perhaps.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i2">Yet not perhaps; he would have been there.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He must have been there at the very time.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Madam, I dare not utter thoughts like these.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Yet Jehu could not know that he was coming<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Home from the frontier, or would pass by Springs.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">So please you, Madam, but the fact was known<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Publicly in the city everywhere.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The knowledge was abroad, I know not how.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You are beset by watchers, and by traitors.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">82</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">And murderers and friends of murderers.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Jehu waylaid my son and murdered him.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">By these poor relics sacred with his blood<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I will denounce him to the King myself,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Or lay him dead before me with my hands.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="parenright"> -(<i>She gathers the relics.</i>)</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Lie there, sad relic of a glorious youth.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Zikri</span> (<i>entering</i>).<br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Make ready for the utterance of the Prophet!<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Kallai</span> (<i>entering</i>).<br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Bow down before the Prophet, bringer of truth!<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="enter"><i>Enter the</i> <span class="smcap">Prophet</span>.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I am bringer of Truth out of the hidden,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I am finder of ways where footing is sure,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I am sword and shield against things forbidden.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I am brightness to guide, healing to cure;<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Mine are the words that endure.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I, now, about to declare as the Spirit orders,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Cry, let women avoid, let children hide,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Let none but spearmen be here, the city’s warders.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I speak, out of the Truth, words that abide.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Men only may hear what might of men must decide.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="bracketright">[<span class="smcap">Jezebel</span> <i>veils and goes</i>.</p> - -<p class="enter"><i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Joram</span>, <i>then</i> <span class="smcap">Jehu</span>, <i>then</i> <span class="smcap">Ahab</span>, <i>preceded by</i> -<span class="smcap">Spearmen</span>.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">83</span></p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Now that the revelation is vouchsafed,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Stand, all, before this Prophet, who has seen<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Light in the darkness that has blinded us.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Hearken, O King, to revelation’s self.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The spirit says, “Go up against the Syrians;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">At Ramoth-Gilead you shall conquer them.”<br /></span> -<span class="i0">See here these horns of iron that I wear.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The spirit says, “With these horns shalt thou push<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The Syrians, until they be consumed.”<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Good messages, good omens, good foretellings.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">May they prove good.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Joram.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">The spirit filled the prophets with a glory<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Marvellous to watch and hear: they spoke as one.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Not quite as one, Prince Joram and my King.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">One was not filled with spirit.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i27">Who is this?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">84</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I am Micaiah, lord, who have been counted<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A seer, too, at times.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i19">Oh, it is you!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Honest Micaiah, who must speak the truth.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I hate this man; he prophesies not good<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But evil of me.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">These fellows are too ready with their evil.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Pharmas</span> (<i>to</i> <span class="smcap">Micaiah</span>).<br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">See now, the prophets foretell victory,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With one mouth; say the same; cry victory.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">As the Lord lives I’ll speak what the Lord says.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-Gilead<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To battle, or forbear?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i19">Go, lord, and prosper,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The Lord shall make it yours.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i27">How many times<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Shall I adjure you that you speak the truth,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Speak nothing but the truth.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Joram.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">85</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I’d have a way to make him speak the truth.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Two troopers with a pair of stirrup leathers<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To teach his obstinate jaw some reverence.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Peace, Joram: let him speak.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i27">Sir, I will speak.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In dreams, last night, in the dark night, ere cocks crowed,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I saw a downland empty to the sky.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Joram.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">That is the way these fellows use to talk;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">They’d talk another way, had I my will.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">And suddenly I saw all Israel<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Scattered upon that downland frantically,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Like sheep without a shepherd. The Lord said:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">“These have no master now; let them go home.”<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">And how do you interpret this your dream?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">That if you go this warfare, you, the master<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Of Israel, will die.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i18">How die?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">86</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I do not know.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i15">You mean, in battle?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">By violence.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Joram.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i13">That means in battle, surely.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Not necessarily.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i17">How else, then, man?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I do not know. Perhaps by treachery.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">We will protect the King from treachery.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Joram</span> (<i>to</i> <span class="smcap">Micaiah</span>).<br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Except such treachery as men like you<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Think in their hearts and utter in big words,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Trying to wreck the State.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i25">Did I not say<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That he would utter evil about me?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Joram.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">These fellows need a bit within their jaws.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">My Prince, no bit can stop the telling truth.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">87</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">What do you know of truth, idolater?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Nothing. I know that certain things are true.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Fine talk, to keep the army lingering.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Have you some other vision to reveal?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">A sort of vision.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i18">Ay, a sort of vision.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">There is one way of vision, only one,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Vouchsafed to men, you false one, with false gods.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">What is this vision? Will it lighten me?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">It is of you and of the prophet tribe.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Some blasphemy. Take heed to what he says.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">In the dark night I saw this other thing:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I saw the Lord in heaven on his throne,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With all the host of heaven standing by him.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He said, “Who shall persuade King Ahab to go up<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And die at Ramoth-Gilead?” They discussed it.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">88</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">At last a spirit said, “I will persuade him.”<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The Lord said, “How?”<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The spirit said, “I will go forth and be<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A lying spirit in his prophets’ mouths.”<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And the Lord said, “Thou shalt. Go forth and do so.”<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Behold the Lord hath put a lying spirit<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Into thy prophets’ mouths, and spoken evil<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Not good to you.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">You think God’s truth has passed from me to you.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When did it pass, and how?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i27">You will know that<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When you shall go into an inner chamber<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To hide yourself.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i18">Carry this fellow to the Governor,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And have him into prison in the dark,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And let his bread and drink be bitterness<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Until I come in peace.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i20">If you return at all<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In peace, the spirit has not spoken by me.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Hearken, O people, every one of you.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">89</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i34">Have him away.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Which story is the likelier to be true,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Mine, which when told brings prison, or this fellow’s<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Which earns the King’s reward? The truth is dangerous.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Joram.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">You’ll find this dangerous. Away with him!<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="parenright"> -(<i>He is dragged out.</i>)</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">That shows how close your enemies can come.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Even to your very court.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Joram.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i22">He should be silenced.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">He is a gallant fellow, without judgment.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But he presumes too much, he and his dreams.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">(<i>Crying aloud.</i>) O King, a vision is vouchsafed to me!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I see! I see! Hearken to what I see.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I see a red bull trampling down God’s foes;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He neezes fire and all his fell is fire;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">His shoulder is a mountain rough with forest;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">His eye the wrath of God; he stamps the cities.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Go up against the Syrians, like this bull.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Joram.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">There is the voice of God.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">90</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i27">Ay, truly, Prince.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Since God declares that we should make this war,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Which we, as men, have shrunk from hitherto,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Although provoked by countless insolence,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Now hearken to the utterance of the crown.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="enter"><i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Jezebel</span>.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Ay, hearken to the utterance of the crown.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You are all come to hear a war declared.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Now I, the crown, declare it unto you.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I declare war upon our enemies.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">They are all present, standing in this place,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Waiting the execution of our sword.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">(<i>To</i> <span class="smcap">Prophet</span>.) This man, the madman from the desert, first,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Who rages like a desert-storm, that kills<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With sand, burning hot sand, pitiless sand.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">(<i>To</i> <span class="smcap">Joram</span>.) This next, the hater of his house, our son,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Who, for a wound that pains him would be glad<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That thousand others should be sick with wounds.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">(<i>To</i> <span class="smcap">Jehu</span>.) Then, next, this other man, not mad not sick,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Not even suspected; honoured, trusted, loved.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">This man, the rider to the inn at Springs,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For secret evil. Hark! This man, King Ahab,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">91</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">Murdered our son and plots to murder you.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Seize him, King Ahab, ere it be too late.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Murdered our son? But this is childishness.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">No, I bring proof; the rod, the rod he holds,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Was found at Springs, to prove that he was there.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">This rod, good Madam?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i22">Even that very rod.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Who found it at the Springs? Who brought it here?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">A rider, lord, who gave it to Micaiah.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Joram.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">What rider?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i12">Yes, what rider, can you tell?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">One who would not be known, Micaiah said.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Micaiah! He?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Joram.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">92</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i13">The man imprisoned here.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">My lord, I grieve less at this ill suspicion<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Than at the sad disaster which has caused it.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">You killed my son most foully at the inn;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You were seen riding thither before noon,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And left your rod there while you did the deed,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Upon these flowers which my son had gathered;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">These desert flowers.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">My Lord and King, I can most clearly prove<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That I was at my quarters all the morning.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">This rod I missed this morning from my quarters<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And found it here on entering but now.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Prince Joram saw me find it as I entered.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Joram.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">That is most true; I did.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Mother, you should not be here; come away.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">My lord, my King, my husband, listen to me.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You know me, whether I am mad or no.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I am not mad; but Ahaziah’s spirit<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Came to me here, stood where his murderer stands,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Less than an hour ago, denouncing him,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">93</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">His murderer, and traitor to yourself.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I, knowing this, see to the soul of things,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And cry, if you be man, attack this traitor,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Tear out his wicked plottings and destroy him.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Let the Queen’s women come. I hear your charges<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Brought with more passion than with evidence.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">These are our friends, our proven soldier, Jehu,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Our son, and this, the prophet of the spirit,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Not what you think. See, here your women come.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Tend the Queen’s majesty to her apartments.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">You think me mad, my inmost wisdom, mad.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For the last time, for Ahaziah’s sake,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For your sake, for the kingdom, for the crown,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And for the sake of God who gives the crown,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Believe what I have said against this Jehu.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I grieve that anyone should bring such charges.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That you should bring them is an anguish to me.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Go with your women hence, and try to rest.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">94</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Prince Joram, will you give me your support?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thank you, my son.<br /></span> -<span class="i19">Since no one will believe,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I, here, the Queen, must act alone. I will.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="parenright"> -(<i>She snatches</i> <span class="smcap">Joram’s</span> <i>knife and tries to kill</i> <span class="smcap">Jehu</span>.)</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Die, murderer of my son!<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Joram</span> (<i>catching her</i>).<br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i25">I thought you’d try it.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But I was ready for you. Come now, mother,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You must go, rest. Come help her there, you women.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="parenright"> -(<span class="smcap">Jezebel</span> <i>is helped off</i>.)</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">It is my brother’s death that makes her thus.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">It shakes us all. You understand, Duke Jehu,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The cause of this, without my saying more.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">My lord, I understand.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But yet suggest some trial or enquiry<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Into my dealings.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i18">Do not think of it.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For these unhappy things which bruise men’s hearts<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Tear women’s hearts across. Let us proceed.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I declare war against the Syrians<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For breach of treaty. We will march at once.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Joram.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">95</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Though wounded, I will march, for I’ll repay<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The Syrians what I owe. Come, prophet, spread<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The news throughout the city.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Prophet.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I will declare God’s wrath against his enemies.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="parenright"> -(<span class="smcap">Joram</span> <i>and</i> <span class="smcap">Prophet</span> <i>go</i>.)</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Stay, Jehu, yet. You heard Micaiah’s dream.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That was an evil omen for our war.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I do not think so. Why, what was the dream?<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><em>That there should seem to be no King to-day.</em><br /></span> -<span class="i0">Was not that it? The meaning is apparent:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That you should wear disguise.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i28">Ha! Well suggested.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">It is a wise precaution at the least.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Some traitor may be plotting to destroy you,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Some Syrian assassin may be here.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So take Micaiah’s hint and wear no purple.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">A good interpretation. I accept it<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So. I will march disguised.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">96</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i26">Much better so.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Micaiah did interpret for my death.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">These thinkers are the enemies of war<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Because they are afraid. He wished to scare you,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Let me unclasp the buckle of your cloak.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Much wiser give no target to these archers;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Wear the plain armour of a charioteer.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ahab.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I will, Duke Jehu. Lie you there, my purple,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Till I return to-night with victory.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">At sunset every night the Queen and I<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Go through the citron gardens to the kennels,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To feed our Hittite wolf-hounds with raw flesh.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To-night when we go feed them, we will go,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As conquerors of Syria, through the city.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="bracketright">[<i>Exit</i> <span class="smcap">Ahab</span>.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Right, my good Lord. Yes, you shall be disguised;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But this bright bird within the quiver here<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Will pierce through your disguise before to-night,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And you shall feed the wolf-hounds, never fear;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So shall your Queen, with royal flesh and raw.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="parenright">(<i>He puts on the King’s purple</i>,)</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="stanza"> -<em><span class="i0">Oh, out in the desert, my spear and my bow.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">97</span><br /></span> -<span class="i2">Will win me whatever I need;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The wine and the oil that another did grow<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And the horse that another did breed.<br /></span></em> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">So away for the desert....<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ay, I have trotted in your bodyguard<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Too long, by God!<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="curtain"><span class="smcap">Curtain.</span></p> - -<h3 class="chorus">SEVENTH CHORUS</h3> - -<p class="speaker"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span></p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Queen Helen left those women of the wood,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">She clambered from her horse and stood again<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Even on the very hill where Troy had stood,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Where tamarisk shrubs and broom-sprigs and wild grain<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Sprouted from bronze and rib-bones of men slain.<br /></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">There was the palace where her love had been;<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Stones blackened by the fire and misplac’d<br /></span> -<span class="i2">By roots of vines that fed upon the paste<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Of all the pride where she had lived a queen.<br /></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Troy was no more than weeds and fire-flaked stone,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">But still the straits ran roaring to the south,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And still the never-quiet winds were blown<br /></span> -<span class="i2">With scent of meadow-sweet from Simois’ mouth.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Moon-Blossom.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">98</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Yet no Greeks were moving on the beaches,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">No galleys of the Greeks came oaring in,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Nor did lancer scouts or parties ride the whin,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Bringing in or checking convoys from the river’s upper reaches<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Where the forest pines begin.<br /></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">And the forges were all gone, and all the fires<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Of the camps and burnings of the dead.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And the grinding of the bronze-shod chariot-tyres<br /></span> -<span class="i4">Rang no more.<br /></span> -<span class="i4">Both in city and on shore<br /></span> -<span class="i0">There were no more shouted orders, clash of arms, or marchers’ tread.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">All was manless now, uncared for; both the streams had left their courses.<br /></span> -<span class="i2">There was marsh where corn had grown of old, and there, where Paris lay,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Was an apple-tree with fruit which fed the now wild Trojan horses,<br /></span> -<span class="i4">That with bright teeth bit each other;<br /></span> -<span class="i4">Earth made Greek and Trojan brother,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">All the passion that had raged there now was dead and gone away.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Moon-Blossom.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">99</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Then she cried, “I caused the quarrel that brought death along these beaches,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">I alone made Troy this ruin, I alone, from haste of youth,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">From a women’s bent, that listens to a lie, if it beseeches;<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Now I stand here old and friendless, having nothing but the truth.”<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">There she stopped, for there before her, in the ruins, stood a stranger;<br /></span> -<span class="i2">“This is changed indeed,” he told her, “since I stood here once before:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then it flamed all red to heaven and it rang with death and danger,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And I stood here with noble Agammemnon,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">In the thunder of the ending of the war.”<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Moon-Blossom.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Something in the old man’s bearing made her start and catch her breath.<br /></span> -<span class="i2">“You are Nireus, friend,” she answered. “You are he who brought me here<br /></span> -<span class="i2">When my life and love were dear:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then I came to life and loving, now I come to grief and death.<br /></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">“There is no small grass, in plain or water,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">100</span><br /></span> -<span class="i2">But grows from the body of one killed<br /></span> -<span class="i0">By the deadly love of me, who am Helen, Leda’s daughter:<br /></span> -<span class="i2">All the young and swift and lovely, all the quick of heart are stilled;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I was cause of their going to the slaughter.<br /></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">“Daylong and nightlong their shadows pursue me with evil,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Haunting my thought in the day, killing my rest in the night;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Now they have drawn me here; their multitudinous devil<br /></span> -<span class="i4">Bids me die where I sinned.<br /></span> -<span class="i4">I hear their cry in the wind,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">I see their eyes in the light.”<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Nireus answered, “Ah, not thus, not so, Queen Helen, surely,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Are those who died for love of you, to win you or to keep!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">If they gave their lives, they gave them as a man gives frankly, purely,<br /></span> -<span class="i4">Without question, comment or complaint,<br /></span> -<span class="i4">The strong heart equal with the faint,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">All content to see your beauty and to tread hard ways to sleep.<br /></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">“Now they know that your beauty made them splendid,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">101</span><br /></span> -<span class="i2">Splendid to the death; for I have seen,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Seen and talked, beloved Helen, with the souls of those who ended<br /></span> -<span class="i2">In the ruins of this city that has been,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And they praise your name, they count you still their Queen.<br /></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">“Now come with me, for the ship waits to receive you,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">The wind is fair for Syme; let us start.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Here, where long ago I lost you, I retrieve you;<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Let us leave this town of broken heart<br /></span> -<span class="i2">For the peace of Syme Harbour and the mirth of Syme mart,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And the calm of knowing sorrow at an end,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And the quiet of the memory of a friend.”<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Together.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Then they sailed for Syme Island, and the gods were with their going,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">For their beauty came upon them both, with youth and strength and peace;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Now they rule and live forever in a spring forever blowing,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">High in Syme where the sun is bright and skylarks never cease.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"><p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">102</span></p> -<h2 id="FIFTH_ACT">FIFTH ACT</h2> -</div> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">There is no rider, coming from the army,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In sight yet, Madam. Shall we play again?<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="parenright">(<i>No answer.</i>)</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Moon-Blossom.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Come to the window. There. What white was that?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">The wind lifting the dust.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Moon-Blossom.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i26">No. Yes, it was.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Dust from a windflaw blowing down the glen.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">There is no rider, Madam. Shall we sing?<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="parenright">(<i>No answer.</i>)</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">She is too stunned with sorrow to give orders.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Shall we not sing to soothe her?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Moon-Blossom.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i32">Sing, then, you.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Speak to her first.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Moon-Blossom.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">103</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i16">Madam——<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i30">She will not answer;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So speak some quiet thing.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Moon-Blossom.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Men are like wind-vanes that forever swing;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Men are like winds forever wavering;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Men are like water; men are like the tide:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Women, the rock they ebb from, do abide.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">She will not speak. See, it is sunset now.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And now the drums begin upon the housetops,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And all the plain spreads out, burningly clear.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">What is that noise of evil that I hear?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">The prophet speaking in the market-place.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Moon-Blossom.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">All afternoon his voice has shouted evil.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">It is as red as blood within this room.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">They have gone out to war; is it not so?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I have been thinking till it all seems plain.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">We are amusements only<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In mightier life than ours.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">104</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">God knows, we are not amusement to ourselves.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I am no Queen. I have no son; no husband;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">No task, no place, and yet I covet news.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Look, by the rocks, beyond the spur; you see?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">A rider.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Moon-Blossom.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i8">In a white cloak, with a lance.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">One of King Ahab’s lancers, if in white.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Moon-Blossom.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Surely a rider from the army, Madam.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Bringing good news, because he would not gallop<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Save with the news of triumph.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i30">What he brings<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Will not be what we look for, because life<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Is unexpected, whether good or ill.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And at the door by which a horror enters<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Another comes, a muffled one, a silent.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="parenright">(<i>There is a knocking.</i>)</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Enter, without there!<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Pharmas</span> <i>enters</i>.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">105</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i20">Yes? What is it, Pharmas?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Pharmas.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">The Presence will forgive my interruption.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">There is a woman in the outer court<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Asks that you grant her audience for a moment.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Why should I grant her audience? Who is she?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Pharmas.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">She comes from Lower Egypt, as she says.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">What is her traffic with me?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Pharmas.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i28">Madam, this.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She brings cosmetics and Arabian gums.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">This is no time for such. I cannot see her.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Pharmas.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">May the great Presence pardon if I speak.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I told her that you would not buy her gear<br /></span> -<span class="i0">At such a time, but she implored me still<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To beg you to admit her to your presence.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Did she say why?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Pharmas.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">106</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i16">Yes, Madam; because once<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Many long years ago she lived in Sidon,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Her father being sutler to the guard,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Your royal father’s bodyguardsmen, Madam.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She says she looked upon your presence there,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When you were a Princess. She does desire<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To see that prophecy of future beauty<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fulfilled in you the Queen, if you the Queen<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Would graciously permit her eyes to feast<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Upon the sight of you.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i22">So our pasts come<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To see what time had made of us. So be it.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A word of Sidon would be beauty to me<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To-day. Let her come in.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Pharmas.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i24">I will, O Splendour!<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="bracketright">[<i>Exit.</i></p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Queen, is it wise to let a stranger come?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">No.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Moon-Blossom.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i4">Then why see her?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">107</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i22">Would it not be better<br /></span> -<span class="i0">If, first, we questioned her?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Moon-Blossom.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i26">Or searched for weapons?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">She well might carry daggers.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Moon-Blossom.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i27">Or bring poison.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">No; let her come. I am involved in nets<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So close, that both the wise thing and unwise<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Are cords to catch me.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i22">She is here.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Pharmas</span> (<i>entering with</i> <span class="smcap">Hamutal</span>).<br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i34">This way.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Stand here until the Presence speaks to you.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="bracketexit">[<i>Exit.</i></p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">They tell me that you lived in Sidon once.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Hamutal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Yes, lady, yes. I passed my childhood there.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">So. In which street or quarter was your home?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Hamutal.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">108</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">The twisted stinking quarter of the poor,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">One where you never trod, near the fish-market.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I trod there often, and its filthiest lane,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Silvered with cat-gnawn droppings of the nets,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Was blessed to me. It is blest in memory.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Hamutal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Perhaps to others it is not so blest.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I know my father starved there; so did I.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That’s past. The question now is, Is the man<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Gone from the door?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i20">The man who brought you here?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Look.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower</span> (<i>looking.</i>)<br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">He has gone.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i12">Why should he not be gone?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Hamutal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">They are all spies here, every man of them.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And I have come here, Madam, to say this:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You are in instant danger of your life.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">From whom?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Hamutal.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">109</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i12">I cannot say. I will not say.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I do not rightly know; but they are wicked—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Wicked and bold. Though others made them so.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I have come here to help you to escape.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I thank you for the thought, but first convince me<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That there is danger.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I have lived here in danger twenty years.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">What horror comes to-day?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Hamutal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Come to the window, Madam; but be hidden.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Look here. You see the side gate of the palace?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You see, behind the ruined wall, armed men?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">They watch that side gate lest you leave the palace.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Now, on this side, see there, among those bushes,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">More men-at-arms, watching the royal gate.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">There at the water-gate are more armed men.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And they are not your guards.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i28">I see they are not.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then, while they watch for me, their friends are watching<br /></span> -<span class="i0">My husband in the army? Is it so?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Hamutal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">No, do not ask me, Madam; I know nothing.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">110</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">How could our Queen escape with the gate watched?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">This is some treason, Madam, to betray you<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Out of the palace, into savage hands.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Let’s see her face. Ah! no, she is not that.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Look, woman; many Queens have been betrayed<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Since men were ruled; betrayed to death and shame,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Most foully, by their subjects, whom they trusted.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">There is no treachery on earth more devilish<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To brand men blacker or to rake the heart worse.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You would not be the one to tempt me forth<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To death and shame among my enemies?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Hamutal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Madam, I swear I would not.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Moon-Blossom.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i28">We could call<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The palace guards.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Yes, call the palace guards and question her.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Hamutal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Come to the doorway, Madam.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You hear the sounds below? Your palace guards<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Are being feasted by your enemies;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Women and drink have overcome your guards.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">111</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Then how can she escape?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Hamutal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i24">The little door—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The little, secret, unsuspected door<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Under the stair, leads to a passage-way<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Straight to the stables. I have brought the keys.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">You are my steward’s wife, then? No one else<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Could know about the door.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Hamutal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i26">Oh, hurry, hurry!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">What matter who I am? You are the Queen.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You will find horses ready in the stables<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For you and for your women. From the stables<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You can escape, the postern is unlockt.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i34">And you?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">What kind of life awaits you, after this?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Hamutal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">A better kind of life than you have made<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For poor folk.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i14">Ah! fine words; but ten years hence,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Nay, two years, one year, hence, you will remember<br /></span> -<span class="i0">My queenship as a dream, a golden dream.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">112</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">O Madam, take the keys; do not delay.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Moon-Blossom.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">The men outside are beating at the gate.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Look, Madam, they have scrambled from the bushes<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And beat upon the bars.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Hamutal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">O Heaven! Hark!<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i16">What is it?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Hamutal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i28">Listen! Listen!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Come from the door.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i20">What did you think you heard?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Hamutal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Come nearer me.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i16">I am not terrified.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Draw a deep breath and tell us what it is.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Hamutal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I think that someone is outside the door,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Listening to what we say.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">113</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i23">Be still a moment.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Hamutal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">It is a man.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i12">There is a noise of armour.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Moon-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Someone is breathing deeply just outside.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Hamutal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">What shall I do? What shall I do? O Heaven.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Help her to veil. Treat her as one of you;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Cover her features with the gossamer,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Now let her hurry to the passage yonder.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="bracketright">[<i>Exit</i> <span class="smcap">Hamutal</span>.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">We will be ridded of uncertainty.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Is anyone behind the door there? Enter.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="parenright">(<i>She goes back and flings open the door.</i><br /> -<span class="l2"><span class="smcap">Pashur</span> <i>is there. He comes in.</i>)</span></p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Who are you, fellow? And what brings you here?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Pashur.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">A messenger, with news. And who are you?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">She is your Queen, so speak with reverence.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Pashur.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">114</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">A Queen! God spare us: soldiers own no Queen.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But you shall hear my story, Queen or no.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Is the King dead? Speak! Is King Ahab dead?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Pashur.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Learn to respect a royal messenger.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ay, it has been a hot day’s work to-day.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">If you be from the King, tell us your story.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Pashur.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Ay, I am from the King. That is God’s truth.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And I have ridden out, and fought, and ridden<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Back to this city, and the whole world sways<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As from the falling shoulders of a horse.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">So the King lives! Thank God!<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Pashur.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i30">Yes, the King lives.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And give God praise, because of victory.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I give God praise.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Pashur.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">115</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i18">Queen, it has been a day.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Think for a moment what this day has been.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">We marched this morning with our banners waving,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With the prophets raving, and the trumpets blowing,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With the charioteers of the King of Judah,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And the spears of the King, a thousand men.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">We came to Ramoth when they least expected,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">While they slept the noontide and thought it peace.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">There we paid back upon the Syrians<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A little of what we owed, by God.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">You mean, they did not know that there was war?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Pashur.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">They knew it well enough before we ended.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You see these blackened ashes mixed with blood,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That is what Ramoth and her people are.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The King gave order you should see the work.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You see, ashes and blood; by God, I love them.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But that is not the message that I bring.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I bring a message about good King Ahab,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Who rode into the battle in his chariot<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Against the chariots of Syria.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Keep yourselves quiet, Syrians, while I tell.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">There was a man, who shall be nameless,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Who shall be blameless, or praised aloud,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He with an arrow shot King Ahab<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">116</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">Beneath the arm in the armour joint.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">He was behind the King, then, when he shot.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Pashur.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">He wished his work to be successful, lady.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">So the King died?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Pashur.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i18">The Queen knows everything.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He did not die at once, but bled to death,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Down in the shadow of the willow trees.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">His blood dripped from his chariot; the dogs licked it,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Even as the Teshbon prophet did foretell.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Let us mourn for the King, for the cedar fallen,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For the eagle fallen from heaven, for the burnt-out fire.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Moon-Blossom.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">For the light that shone and is dark, for the word spoken.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For the strength unknit, for the crown brought to the mire.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">My King is dead! I knew that he was dead.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Have you declared this news to any yet?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Pashur.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">117</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Not yet.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i8">Then go; declare it to the priests,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That they may now declare it to the people:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The King is dead and now his son is King;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">King Joram is the King in Israel.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Pashur.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">You are too quick. Joram is not the King.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Jehu, anointed by the Prophet’s oil,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Has killed your Joram with an arrow shot<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Under his arm, and out right through his heart,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Killing him in his chariot as he drove.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And he has killed his ally, and has flung<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Your Joram’s body, bloody as it is,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Down into Naboth’s vineyard, to the dogs.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Now Bidkar, captain of the charioteers,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Drives the good Jehu hither to be crowned.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Jehu is King, and you, you scarlet whore,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Abominable in the face of God,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You manless, soulless, crownless foreigner,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Shall taste the wrath of God and of God’s people.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Now for your spicery there shall be stink,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And where the delicate hair has known the comb<br /></span> -<span class="i0">There shall be baldness, and where silk has lain<br /></span> -<span class="i0">There shall be nakedness.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And where the red lips mocked God delicately<br /></span> -<span class="i0">There shall be broken teeth biting on dust:<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">118</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">It shall be done to you ere this day passes.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="bracketright">[<i>Exit</i> <span class="smcap">Pashur</span>.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">My King, my sons, are killed! So Jehu wins.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thus in an hour the world slips from the feet.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">What change beyond this world summons us home?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">What conclave of the spirits?<br /></span> -<span class="i27">Dead: all three.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Bring me my jewels from the tiring-room.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="bracketright">[<i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Maids</span> <i>go, then return with casket</i>.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">You women, who were with me from the first,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Jehu is coming here to murder me.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He will be here in some few minutes now.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Yet there may still be time for you to go.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">And time for you, O Queen; you could fly too.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Put on these veils. Oh, hurry! We will take<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The door the woman told of, and the horses,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And be in safety on the coast by dawn.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I am the daughter of a Queen, my friends.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">My life has been here and my death shall be<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Near to my dead. But one task more, my friends.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Swift, from within, my cases of cosmetics,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">My crownets and the settings for my hair,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The purple chlamys with the spangs of gold<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That long ago my father won at Rhodes,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">119</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">The robe that once the great Queen Helen had<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When she was beauty’s self, and gave her beauty<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To buy a little love in windy Troy.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="parenright"> -(<i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Maids</span> <i>bring the gear</i>.)</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">That is the last task you shall do for me.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="parenright"> -(<i>Gives jewels.</i>)</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">And this the last least gift that I can give,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With all my thanks for service you have done me,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Year in, year out, for many bitter years.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I think no Queen has ever been so served.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Courage. Here is the key; draw your veils close.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Rose-Flower.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">O mistress, come with us!<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Moon-Blossom.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i26">Beloved mistress!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">What will they do to us, what will they do?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Nothing. They will not find you. You will go<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Down through the secret door and so away.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Master your tears. You, take her by the arm.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You will be sailing up the coast to Sidon<br /></span> -<span class="i0">By sunrise; think.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Moon-Blossom.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i17">And where will you be, lady?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">120</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">As it is written for me.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">(<i>To</i> <span class="smcap">Rose-Flower</span>.) <span class="in2">Sister. Friend.</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">When you reach Sidon, greet the King, my father,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And give him this, and bid him consecrate<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A stone for me. Now go. The gods go with you.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="bracketright">[<i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Maidens</span> <i>go</i>.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="stanza nobpad"> -<span class="i0">I will prepare myself for burial,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Since but a little time remains to me.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">There is the dust of Jehu’s charioting;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The two Assyrian stallions which we gave him<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Coming to end my house.<br /></span> -<span class="i24">But first, those women.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Hush! All is still. They must have reached the stable.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That woman spoke the truth, the way was clear.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">There is no noise of men arresting them.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The guards are still. Thus far they must be safe.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">There is no sound; and see, those men are quiet.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">O gods, send messengers to make them safe!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ay, there they go, on horseback. They are free.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Now let me pray. “O thou great fire of life,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Of whom all lives of men are but the sparks,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Take back this spark into the fire that burns<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In the great sun, in all the lesser suns,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In the suns’ moons, and everything that lives<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In wild blood, and the pushing of the spring;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And if my ways were darkness, give me darkness,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And if my ways were brightness, give me light.”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">121</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">Now I will decorate myself for death,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As once before, when I was crowned a bride<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Here to the King.<br /></span> -<span class="i16">First, with this pencil, I<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Darken my brows, because they go to death.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And make my eyes bright, since I join my husband<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And go again to look upon my sons.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Next I will set this scarlet on my lips,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And on my cheek, lest men should think me pale<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And say that I, the Queen, am pale from fear.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Now I will draw Queen Helen’s robe about me.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">This golden bird is Helen’s very hair<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That Paris kissed in Troy, my father told me.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Lastly, I will make consecrate my hair<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With royal gold, for I will die a Queen.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Now am I as the beauty that I was,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When in my father’s palace near the sea<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The princes of the Islands came to court me,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Phorbas, and Kreon, and Andemakos,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Kings of the Islands, bright-eyed from the sea,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Men who had gone as strangers to strange lands,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And there made friends by something kindling in them:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Not like this Queen whom once they courted there.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Where are they now, those men who loved me once?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Perhaps alive still in their island homes.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Decked with the precious things of half the world,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And thinking of me sometimes, as men do<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Think of old loves long over utterly.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">122</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">And Tsor of Mura, whom I might have married,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Had I been wise. He will still think of me.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Now will I bare my throat that they may kill me.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">How the blood beats that soon will cease to beat!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Poor servant blood, that kept this flesh alive<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Knowing not why, and now shall serve no more<br /></span> -<span class="i0">This captive soul that was an earthly Queen.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And I without this servant shall not know<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The hour of pain, the sleepless night, the day<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Anxious as fever with this troublous world;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Shall know, it may be, nothing more forever,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Or know, it may be, all things burningly,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Know god the spirit as a lover would.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Now I will look if those who come to kill<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Are on their way.<br /></span> -</div></div> - -<p class="parenright">(<i>Goes to window.</i>)</p> - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza notpad"> -<span class="i16">O prison of a city<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Which I have hated! Little evil lanes,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Filthy with dogs and lepers and blind men<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Made eyeless by the flies. O nest of vipers,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Within few moments I shall pass from you.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Once an Egyptian told me that at death<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The soul has power to will its resting-place:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So do I will that I be far from here,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">At Sidon on a hilltop near the sea,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Looking at Kittim at a sun-setting,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When all the peaks rise up like crowns of gods<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And flame with the gods’ thoughts. And past those peaks,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Beyond, in the imagined, never seen,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">123</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">Behind its reef of rocks, and beautiful<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With marble and with wonders and with waters,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Is Mura, where my lover was a King.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But hark, they come. I would go forth to Sidon.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To Sidon, or to Kittim, or to Mura,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Some place of the sea-princes near the sea.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I would go forth to Sidon or to Mura,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To Mura, or to Sidon, or to Kittim—-<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="parenright"> -(<i>She sings.</i>)</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i4">The April moon is in the sky,<br /></span> -<span class="i4">Last night I heard the wild geese cry.<br /></span> -<span class="i20"><em>Oh, ho!</em><br /></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i4">The brooks are bright on Lebanon,<br /></span> -<span class="i4">The rain has come, the snows are gone.<br /></span> -<span class="i20"><em>Oh, ho!</em><br /></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i4">The north wind faints and soon the south<br /></span> -<span class="i4">Will blow the spice smell in the mouth.<br /></span> -<span class="i20"><em>Oh, ho!</em><br /></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i4">Then shall my bird the ship take wing<br /></span> -<span class="i4">And sail the green seas with the King,<br /></span> -<span class="i4">And find, maybe, a finer thing<br /></span> -<span class="i4">Than any here.<br /></span> -<span class="i20"><em>Oh, ho!</em><br /></span> -</div></div></div> -<p class="enter"><i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Pharmas</span> <i>and</i> <span class="smcap">Ashobal</span>.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">124</span></p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Pharmas.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Madam, King Jehu and his men are come:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">They ask to see you at the window yonder.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu</span> (<i>outside.</i>)<br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Come out, you Jezebel, and taste God’s judgment,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So that this land which you have wrecked may find<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Some little peace!<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jezebel.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i18">Had Zimri peace<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Who killed his master?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Let me see this whore!<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="parenright">(<i>He clambers up to look in.</i>)</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i20">And who is with her?<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="parenright">(<i>Speaks to</i> <span class="smcap">Pharmas</span> <i>and</i> <span class="smcap">Ashobal</span>.)</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Who is on my side?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Who of you men within are for King Jehu?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Pharmas</span> <i>and</i> <span class="smcap">Ashobal</span>.<br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">We are, great King!<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i18">Then throw her down to me.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Seize her and throw her down<br /></span> -</div></div></div> -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ashobal</span> <i>and</i> <span class="smcap">Pharma</span> (<i>together.</i>)<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">125</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i28">Down with you, Mistress<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="parenright"> -(<i>Throw her down.</i>)</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Get up, you horses. Would you shrink from flesh?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Tread her; come up, you; over her; once more.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Tread her again. I’ll teach you who is master.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ride over her, you fellows, every one.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ride over her and trample on her body;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Let the beasts kick her. That’s the way. Again.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You tread the harlot who has wrecked this land.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Come here and hold my horses, one of you.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Give me a hand, you men, and let me in.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="enter"><i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Jehu</span> (<i>by the window</i>).</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">That’s made an end of her, the filthy witch!<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Pharmas.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I stabbed her with a knife before I threw her.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">You, did you? Well, then fetch me wine to drink,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In the King’s cup, by God. So. Give it here.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="parenright"> -(<i>Drinks.</i>)</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I needed drink after this day of fighting.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A hot day’s work, but, by the living God,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To-morrow shall be hotter. Ahab’s sons,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And Ahab’s friends, and Ahab’s ministers<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Shall have their heads in baskets by to-morrow.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Where is this man who says he killed the Queen?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Pharmas.</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">126</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Here, mighty King.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i18">Go, find the cursed hag<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And bury up her carrion in the earth,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For after all she was a King’s daughter.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="bracketright">[<i>Exit</i> <span class="smcap">Pharmas</span>.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu</span> (<i>sings</i>).<br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"><div class="in2"> -<em><span class="i0">Oh, out in the desert my bow and my spear<br /></span> -<span class="i7">Shall win me whatever I need,<br /></span> -<span class="i3">Another man’s tent, and another man’s gear,<br /></span> -<span class="i7">And another man’s....<br /></span></em> -</div></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Fill me more wine. Go to the window yonder.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Halt. As you were. I’ll go myself. You, fellow.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You fellow, there. Is the Queen’s body there?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">What does he say?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Ashobal.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">He says that the wild dogs have torn the body.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Jehu.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Good enough end and fitting burial for her.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Now I have sacrifice to do to Baal.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">By God, a lusty sacrifice! By God,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">These damned idolaters shall learn the truth!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">None of your knives on me.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="bracketexit">[<i>Goes out.</i></p> - -<p class="bracketright">[<i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Servants</span> <i>and</i> <span class="smcap">Men</span> <i>go out</i>.</p> - -<p class="enter"><i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Micaiah</span> (<i>from in front</i>).<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">127</span></p> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="speaker"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Micaiah.</span><br /></span></div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">She was too good a woman to be Queen<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In such a land as this, at such a time.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Would she had gone! Her women have escaped.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And I am freed from prison by the rabble.<br /></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i4">Wisdom is gone from the city,<br /></span> -<span class="i6">The killer alone is obeyed,<br /></span> -<span class="i4">A man without law, without pity,<br /></span> -<span class="i6">Who was fed by the King he betrayed.<br /></span> -<span class="i6">The debt that was owing is paid,<br /></span> -<span class="i4">By a new deed of murder that cries<br /></span> -<span class="i4">To the gods who are Kings in the skies.<br /></span> -<span class="i4">Though the ways of the gods are most wise,<br /></span> -<span class="i6">They are dark, they make me afraid.<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="curtain"><span class="smcap">Curtain.</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"><div class="transnote"> -<h2 id="Transcribers_Notes" class="nobreak p1">Transcriber’s Notes</h2> - -<p>Simple typographical errors were corrected.</p> - -<p class="epub">Some eReaders cannot display small-cap text, and all of the -character’s names are printed in small-caps, so all small-caps words are (also) shown in <span class="smcap">boldface</span> -(with eReaders that support boldface).</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_52">52</a>: Transcriber added “are” to “But there -are other laws which do persist”, as its omission -seems to be a typographical error, and it was -found in other books containing this play.</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_71">71</a>: “And of both the men who had me neither knew me” -ended with an em dash in a different copy of this play.</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_99">99</a>: “Agammemnon” was printed that way in this -edition.</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_112">112</a>: “I am not terrified.” ended with a question -mark in the source book, but should end with a period, -as it does in this eBook.</p> -</div></div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A King's Daughter, by John Masefield - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A KING'S DAUGHTER *** - -***** This file should be named 60330-h.htm or 60330-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/0/3/3/60330/ - -Produced by Tim Lindell, Charlie Howard, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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