University of Virginia Library

Dyseris—Simus
DYSERIS
Ah, Simus, thou hast tarried long, my love,
Where hast thou loitered in this perilous hour,
And left the rough words of this boy to me
With the old wolfish envoy at his back?
Oh, they have spoken much, but that's all done,
And ended now, you are here again my strength,
My light, confirm me with thy strong great hand;
Now can I set my breast into the storm
And laugh to hear it whistle round my hair;
And push among it merrily. But you know
This son assumes his power, edges us off,
Strides and gives orders like a man, because
He has baulked a half-fed robber—and indeed
There was but little danger, I believe,
Was there, my Simus? And the whole mad town
Has run up garlands for the joy of this,
And spread his feet with flowers; and he indeed
Tasting the first blood of his rule so sweet,
And feeling the sit of the diadem in his hair,
Straightway goes mad in arrogance, and bids me—
Loftily bids me go to the women's rooms,
My woman's place, since he, forsooth, would commune
On state affairs: and that old fox of Crannon,
Whetting his humour, told him he did well,
And looked a king already with the trick
Of ruling ready made; and so the two
Shouldered me off—and you, what peevish fortune
Kept you away? You chose your leisure ill:
I could have cursed you, love, that you came not—
Conceive this thing, curse you; oh, I was mad,
They made me so: fancy, to speak them smooth,
And look so very meek, I boiling here:
But we will right this soon, now, in an hour:
What is that murmur round the outer gate?
I am a fool to fright at the least noise:
Oh, I will pay these insults that have made me
Into weak stuff of woman like the rest:
What are these murmurs, Simus?

SIMUS
O my queen,
There once was spoken a weak little word
Between us, perhaps a mockery like the rest,
Perhaps a strong chain to bind us heart to heart;
Ay, and make lip give joy to lip forever,
And this next hour shall prove this either way.
And what you said was simply this, you loved me.
Now hear me to the ending and speak not:
God makes our life-threads hang on certain hours:
God makes one puny hour give shape and colour
To all things after while we taste sweet light.
God has done this to many, and with a flash
He takes this hour, this “now” we are breathing out,
And thrusts it on us saying, “Lo, my time,
My strong great time, choose ye; are not its wings
Swift as the moving of the light to go,
Strong as the hand of tempest to destroy?”
This is my hour, act or give death his way:
Think if you love me now; put all else by:
Those are my soldiers' voices at the gate.
I have given them wine and crammed their hands with gold
And torn it by the rivets from God's shrine.
Until to-morrow this thing no man knows,
Eudicus sees to that; and by to-morrow
We shall be all or nothing, crowned or dust:
These soldiers are mine wholly and not nice
In this their present humour to split straws
Over the thing I bid them do: now say
Slowly once over “I love thee.”

DYSERIS
“I love thee.”

SIMUS
Now hearken: it was I, this man you love,
Who hired the dagger at Orestes' throat.
Because I would have spared you knowledge of this,
And this boy scorned—

DYSERIS
I hate and love you, Simus,—

SIMUS
Scorned you because you love me, and waited only,
Being a coward as he is, and prone
To shrink on the edge of action, to serve me
As I tried him; and pack you to a corner
With woool enough to spin, not worth a halter.
Lo, I have failed to-day but fail not twice.
This boy must die or he kills me—now choose—
Save me, you rule as you have ruled all-queen,
Spare him and rule one distaff and much wool:
Say over again this word, “I love thee, Simus.”

DYSERIS
I love—nay, in God's name I love thee not;
I, even I, will stab thee in God's sight;
To bind me with thy bestial love, all-daring,
To set my cheek in such a mire of crime,
Because I kissed your hateful awful eyes—
Ah, my son, scorn me, scorn is my true meed.
Thou hast become another thing from when
I set thine inarticulate lips upon
My breast's pollution—Thou art grown to hate,
Ay, and I too have hated thee at times.
Yet when I heard thy murmur in the night,
Thy helpless wail, and shook me from my sleep;
And folded thee in warm and yearning arms,
And felt thy life go through me, as little lips
Took mine to make them strong; and on my soul
The sacredness of motherhood all night
Lay like a mighty dawn, that cannot break
The cloud that will not let its sweet light go—
Call in the guards—I will fear nothing now,
We will see at whose finger these drunk hounds
Learn murder soonest—I can promise gold
As well as thee, and thine is given and done—
Call in the guards, and thine own dogs shall tear thee,
Drunk with the gold thou stolest them to drink.
And I will bid God speed them, with no tear,
And afterwards go kneel before my son
And say “resume thy throne, I only sinned.”

SIMUS
What, are you gone girl-hearted like the rest,
My once great queen? Who in an old gone day
Kissed me and made about me her much love,
Because that certain faces near her throne
She would have silenced. Well, were these men found
After a week? Did I turn tender and say,
This man has been my brother in old wars,
Has brought me water wounded, lain at night
Beside the watch-fires with me? Nay, he went
With the others to his slumber, pleasing not
Certain sweet cruel lips that drew me on,
To dare all shameful things that they could dare,
And they dared much, for all their rosy meekness;
Yet tho' you brain me presently in this hour
By my own drunk guards' axes, and Zeus then
Bind me in anger to Ixion's wheel;
I say it was worth while, it was worth while—
To find you waiting for me afterwards,
After, say, any worst thing man can dare,
Waiting for me, alone in your bright robes
And with one great fierce kiss—

DYSERIS
Ah, spare me, Simus,
I have spoken ill, I love you, always love you,
Banish this boy, but slay him not; and kiss me
Once, twice, to know myself forgiven for all
I spoke and meant not, nay—

SIMUS
Why so it is.
We must have in the guards, blare out to the streets:
Nay, you and I will play this passion thro'
Without the staring eyes you so desire.
You are a woman after all: I thought you
A little better than the milky rest
Of soft fool-faces, breeders of fool's breed;
But like the rest you are gone flaring out
About your mother feelings. You must act
Even to me who know you to the core;
You are a woman after all: you want
To rule and be soft-hearted, eat the fruit
Of cruelty, wlth virgin credit still
Of being tender: I must find the crime,
And you sit flushing in your rose leaves there
And cry “alas” at death.

Dyseris
O Simus, kill me,
Kill me, and take me on your lips before;
I shall not sigh or groan much dying there;
Or, if you spurn me for my silly words,
Lo, I will kiss only your hand, and then
Give your sword way: you are indeed my king,
I love you and I love you and I love you;
Spare me Orestes only: O think not
I'd have him vex thee spared: he shall go forth
To Athens—anywhere. He shall not come
Within the sweep of thy great sceptre-shaft.
He shall go hence to-night, with one great oath
Not to return and vex thee, love, and I
Shall be thy servant, and no more thy queen,
Having said foolish words, but thou wilt keep me
A little still of thy great love, my king.

SIMUS
Well, let him live: you can command me all:
This is a perilous mercy, seeding death.
How shall we take our sweet of easy hours,
Or sit at royal banquet thunder-proof,
Knowing this boy is roaming the void earth
To launch his exile arrows at our brows?
How shall I say, “to-night we sleep at peace
In purple,” as the years increase on us,
Tho' we new-gird our gates with mountain iron,
While he, disprinced in Hellas, carries round
His story at each idle tyrant's board
Who hungers for our pastures? Well, my queen,
We'll save this serpent, and we'll play with death,
And you shall thank me for it, when his knife
Finds me at last, with one sweet earnest gaze
As I slip down to silence. Come, my queen.

CHORUS